Part Three.

Chapter Four: The Legendary Dagger

8th January.

The group stayed up for the best part of the night planning just how they were going to visit James without being spotted by any of Makoto's followers. May, Drew and Amarante took it in turns to sleep for a few hours at a time but Jordan did not dare rest; planning out every little detail of their visit to the prison so that nothing bad could happen.

"You've got to be in and out within the hour" said Jordan to May, after letting the awake members of the group know that it was going to be her job to talk to James, he had given her the necklace after all.

"Right!" said May, clenching her fists, determined to do something for the good of the group.

"Drew" begun Jordan carefully, "You, Amarante and I will hide out together just outside the prison, we'll be sure to teleport into that location exactly so we draw no attention to ourselves. We'll be bringing all our belongings and especially the weapons Amarante packed, if anything goes wrong we're in a clear view of the Prison and can easily enter if May needs help" Jordan turned back to May, "May, you're going to have a one-way radio on you that I will be in the receiving end of, if anything happens, the codeword is 'Rabbit' Okay?"

May pursed her lips in confusion, "Why is the codeword Rabbit?"

Jordan looked at her for a moment, "Because it's unlikely you'll talk about it, making it easier for me to distinguish if you're really in trouble or not"

"Right!" said May again with the same determined look on her face, taking the radio off Jordan.

Amarante began looking through the bag she'd packed for May, "We've got weapons in here, and all the books we'll need. Oh-" Amarante pulled out a folded up rucksack and handed it to Jordan, "-Just in case you need to store any weapons"

Jordan took the rucksack with a smile on his face, "Thank you"

Jordan proceeded to take the sword he'd got at Amarante's home the previous morning and put it in the bag before zipping it up and flinging it over his shoulders. May looked between Amarante and Jordan, noticing the way she blushed as he smiled at her.

Wait a second, thought May, fighting the urge to giggle, Is there something going on between these two? May turned around to face the wall, pretending to be in deep thought about something, I need to gossip about this with Drew later.. May stopped her thoughts as she looked over at Drew sadly, …That's not going to happen anytime soon.

"Right!" Jordan said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically before standing up, "Are we ready to go? We'll make it for the start of visiting hours if we leave now; meaning there won't be too many people there who could recognize us"

The rest of the group stood up, May smiled at Jordan, "I'm ready to go, but could you go through the plan one more time so I'm certain I know what to do?"

Jordan sighed, "I suppose, after all I did stay up all night thinking about what we're doing today-"

"Then tell me" interrupted May sheepishly, "Because I kinda already forgot"

Jordan glared at May while Amarante looked mildly amused, Drew's face was as blank as usual.

Amarante looked into the bag again, "Don't worry, I'll just re-check we've got everything we need"

"And I'll just wait until you get the plan into your dumb head" said Drew sarcastically, leaning against the wall, "Honestly by now you should be able to remember something so freakin' simple"

May's eyes widened in shock at Drew's comment, this was the kind of thing he'd have said to her years ago when they first met, "That's- That's not very fair…"

"Anyway" interrupted Jordan quickly before the two could start arguing, "Which part of the plan don't you remember?"

May remained looking at Drew for a second before turning to Jordan, "You know what? I remember what I need to do now"

Jordan looked at her curiously, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah" said May, looking at Drew before adding darkly, "I wouldn't want to be such a bother asking about the plan, after all I'm not doing this for myself; who cares if I get it wrong?"

Drew did not answer, and simply turned away while Jordan and Amarante exchanged a look.

Amarante clapped her hands together, putting a cheerful smile on her face, "So are we all ready to go?" Amarante's smile faded as May and Drew were facing away from each other, angry looks on their faces while Jordan shrugged his shoulders. She sighed and grabbed Jordan and May's arms before turning to Drew, "Take one of their hands or I'm going to leave you in this cave"

Drew looked shocked by Amarante's sudden movements and nodded, grabbing Jordan's arm and waiting as Amarante teleported toward Sinnoh again.

After the initial strange feelings that teleported bought upon the group, they landed safely in Hearthome City outside the Prison. Amarante and Jordan both noticed where they'd landed and immediately grabbed both May and Drew and rushed behind the back of a shop opposite the Prison. May looked up at Amarante as she was pushed down the alleyway behind the shop, a mixture of shock and confusion on her face.

"What was that for?!" exclaimed May, after getting over the initial shock.

"We couldn't let you be seen!" said Amarante, "I was going to teleport back here but it doesn't look like it worked…"

"Obviously not" said May, a deadpan expression on her face.

Amarante shot May a look, "Hey! It's not my fault, I've been using my pokemons powers too much recently… all the teleporting is taking it's toll, I need to get to the pokemon centre or at least give them a break"

"Okay, Okay!" said May, "I'm sorry"

Amarante smiled, "It's okay"

"There's not enough time for apologies" said Jordan quickly, turning to May, "You know exactly what to do, don't you?"

May looked at Drew quickly before looking back at Jordan, "I think so"

"Okay" said Jordan, not entirely satisfied with the answer May had given him, "You'd better go, remember be in and out within half an hour; we don't want to give Makoto any time to get here. As long as you're quick then no-one will be able to alert him"

"Right!" said May, clenching her fists in anticipation before turning and beginning to walk out the alleyway.

"Oh! Wait a second!" exclaimed Jordan, getting May to turn on the spot with a curious look on her face, he continued, "Remember to flirt with the guard"

May's face was blank, "E-Excuse me?!"

Drew's eyes widened a little before he regained composure and narrowed them once again, "May has to flirt with someone?"

Jordan didn't bother looking at Drew, "If you can charm the guard enough so you don't have to give your name, it'll give us a greater chance of not being caught out by Makoto"

May thought for a moment before smiling at Jordan, "Right, I won't let you down!"

Jordan returned the smile, "We'll be waiting right here"

"Okay!" exclaimed May, running out of the alleyway excitedly, calling back to the group, "I'll see you guys later!"

May exited the alleyway in high spirits, confident that the plan would work and finally she could do something to help the situation, after all she hadn't exactly been much of a help so far. Getting Drew injured because she couldn't fight for herself, wearing around her neck one of the two things Makoto needed most and getting her friends in trouble for it; she wanted to be at least remembered for something other than getting rescued all the time.

May reached the main doors of the prison, and couldn't help but stifle a gasp at the place's sheer size. It was at least five stories high, and stood out against the skyline as a dull grey colour. No matter where she looked she couldn't help but feel threatened; it's size, colour and the giant fence surrounding where she presumed the courtyard was all made her want to turn around and run back to Jordan.

But you can't! May thought to herself, You've got to prove to them you're a valuable member of the team, if you turn around now you're letting Drew down.

May took a deep breath and pushed the front door open, it obviously had been there a long time as it made a loud creaking noise, which penetrated off all the tall walls inside the Prison. Several Prison Guards looked up at May as she entered, some with looks of confusion and some looked as if they were eyeing her up and down. May tried to ignore them and looked around for the main desk. 'Main Desk' was a stretch, a small wooden table was placed in the middle of the room with a grumpy looking guard sitting down on the other side of it reading through the sports section of the paper. May took note that he was the only one that hadn't looked up as she entered.

This might be harder than I thought. May sighed loudly, trying to get his attention. The guards eyes didn't move from his paper, either he was far too interested in sport or he didn't really care about his job and was about to make everyone else suffer for it. May guessed it was the latter.

May coughed a couple of times, drawing attention from some of the other guards but not the one in front of her. She sighed and placed her fist on the desk forcefully.

"Er… Hi!" Said May loudly, a large fake smile on her face, "I'm here to see James Christensen"

The guard looked up at May briefly, a deadpan expression on his face before he took a drag of his cigarette, "Name?"

May leant over the desk so she was closer to the guard, giggling, "My, My! You're quite forward, aren't you?!"

The guard exhaled the smoke over May's face, which was in close proximity to his, causing her to start coughing; not wanting to give herself away May attempted to disguise her coughing as a laugh instead, "Name?"

May giggled again, wrapping her hair around her finger, "How about you tell me your name first, Mr Guard, Huh?"

The guard took another drag of his cigarette, "Bob Hutchskins"

May paused for a moment, before tilting her head to the side and smiling, "What a… pretty name!"

The guard glared at May, "What's your name? If you refuse to answer I can't let you through"

"Oh! Right!" May giggled, but inside cursing herself, if she made a name up she'd never stick to it so she had to take her chances, "Silly me! I'm May Maple!"

The guard looked at May, a look of surprise on his face, which made May nervous, "Aren't you that judge that went missing at the Grand Festival in Hoe-"

"NOPE!" Interrupted May loudly, giggling manically, her cheeks blushing bright red from the stress of lying, "I always get mixed up with her- No, I'm May Maple from- um, Pallet Town!"

The guard narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Are you lying? I'm certain I recognize you as that girl from Hoe-"

"-No, No, No!" interrupted May again, adding quickly, "I'm far prettier than her- Can I see my friend now?"

The guard remained staring at May for a couple of moments before a small smile crept onto his face, "Sorry for the confusion, Miss Maple, Sign here", He pushed a pen and a piece of paper toward her and indicated where she had to sign her name, May did as she was told and waited as he paused thoughtfully before pointing to a door to the left of where May was standing, "If you go through that door and wait I'll make sure James is taken out to see you as soon as possible"

May smiled brightly, "Thank you so much!"

May quickly opened the door, her jaw aching from smiling so much and slammed it behind her. The room she was in was tiny, with just a glass barrier between her and where James would be sitting, it seemed a little much for one prisoner but May remembered just what James had been locked up for.

The time May waited in the room couldn't have been more than five minutes; but it felt as if she'd been waiting forever.

May gasped as James entered, his hair was longer than before and appeared to be stuck to his forehead, which was covered in sweat droplets. His skin was pale and the circles under his eyes were so dark they almost looked like bruises, May did a double-take, checking his face again; were they bruises? Was James now the victim in this prison?

"James" May muttered sadly, "What have they done to you here?"

James's eyes lit up with recognition as he set them on May, a small smile creeping onto his lips, "Don't worry about me, May. I'm just glad you're here to see me" James paused for a moment, "Have you done as I asked last time we met?"

"Have I done… what?" asked May.

James smiled, "Have you been looking out for Drew?"

"Oh!" May could feel the colour intensifying on her cheeks at the mention of his name, "O-Of course!"

James gave May a strange look, but did not say a word. May wanted to pursue the matter, tell him everything about Drew, talk to James about how he'd been over the past six months, what had happened to make him this way; but there was no time, she needed to find out the information they needed and get the hell out of there before someone realized just who she was and who was after her.

"R-Right- I'm afraid, James…" May paused, noting the hint of sadness of James's face, "This is about the necklace"

"Ah, the necklace" said James, his eyes boring into May, "I thought you'd have come before now, but either way I'm glad you're here. You want to know all about it, I presume?"

"Not exactly" said May.

A look of confusion was planted firmly on James's face, "Then… what do you want to know about it?"

May looked James in the eye and spoke slowly, so that she would not have to repeat herself, "We need to know if there's a way to- to destroy it"

James smiled, "Who'd have thought our first meeting since I've been here would be about that, huh?" James looked at the floor before looking back at May, "Of course there's a way to destroy it"

May smiled brightly, "Are you serious? This is great news!"

"You could say that" said James cryptically.

"What do you mean?" asked May, "What do we need to do?"

"Firstly" said James, "You're going to need a group of you to complete this task, each with their own abilities that can help you fight off Makoto at least for a little while as you destroy the necklace"

May thought for a moment, "We have Jordan, Drew and Amarante, I think we'll be fine"

James furrowed his brows, "Who's Amarante?"

"Oh, just this girl we met… she's pretty clever" said May, pausing before continuing, "Never mind, I've got to get this visit over with as soon as possible" May paused again at the expression on James's face, "B-But I'll visit soon!"

"It's okay, May" said James, looking thoughtful for a moment, "I hope that when you get back from destroying the necklace your group will still be complete"

May gasped, her eyes wide, "W-What do you mean?!"

"I told you" said James, leaning closer to the glass between them, "It's going to be difficult"

May wasn't sure how to react; cry? Shout? Scream at James for not telling her just what he'd done by giving her something as simple as that necklace on that day? No. She simply calmed herself down and looked James in the eyes, "Tell me what we have to do"

"Now that's the attitude you're going to need" said James, chuckling, "I have to say I wasn't entirely sure you'd be up to the challenge, but I'm glad you're here now" James rubbed his temples, his eyes closing for a moment before they met with May's again, "Now what I'm about to tell you, you're going to have to remember and do EXACTLY as I say, can you do that May?"

"Of course" replied May, a determined look on her face replacing the one of utter shock and fear she'd had upon it just moments ago, "Just tell me, I'm ready for anything"

James nodded, "As you wish" He paused thoughtfully, making sure he had her full attention, "There's a temple on the outskirts of Snowpoint City, inside it is the dagger of Solrock"

"Dagger of Solrock?" asked May, "What is that?"

"It comes from an ancient legend, sealed with the power of several thousand Solrock, hundreds of years ago; Even I wasn't sure it existed until an assassination took me to Snowpoint City and I discovered the temple there" said James, "Solrock is said to have the ability to read the emotions of others… it is said if you ask the dagger what you want it to do, it will use all it's power to do as you wish BUT only if your intentions are good, and not evil"

"That's it?" asked May in disbelief.

"That's it" repeated James, "However-"

"-Here we go" interrupted May, "What's the 'however' about?"

"When you enter the temple, there will be traps set down to kill you; what's been put inside the temple is merciless, and operates the same kind of way as the dagger, your emotions are read and if they're any extreme, like sadness, anger… the traps will be set off as you walk over them. Nothing but complete calm or happiness will get you through the temple" said James, checking for May's reaction, "But that isn't all you need to do"

"There's more?" said May, unimpressed, "They should've sent someone else to do this, I'm not going to remember anything"

"May!" interrupted James, "You're doing this for Drew, remember? Unless you want him to activate the power in that necklace and die for it, LISTEN"

May nodded meekly, an expression of shock on her face, "R-Right! Sorry"

"Okay, listen CAREFULLY; Once you've got the dagger, you need to ascend Mt. Coronet-"

"-We have to ascend Mt. Coronet?!" interrupted May, upon noticing the unimpressed look on James's face she put her hands over her mouth and mumbled, "Sorry- carry on…"

"You need to reach the summit of Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh, and destroy the necklace at midnight… that is the most important thing, it must be within the hour after midnight or you will have to wait another day" said James.

"Why is midnight so important?" asked May.

"The dagger of Solrock can cut through anything… that's for certain, but something as powerful and as dark as that necklace can't get destroyed in daylight… the power of Solrock should overpower the darkness, both outside and inside the necklace and completely destroy it"

"I see" said May, pausing thoughtfully for a moment, "What about if we get to Mount Coronet and destroy it inside, would it still work?"

"No" said James bluntly, "Let me put it in words you'll understand May; there is no other way to destroy the necklace except to follow my instructions exactly, if you attempt to destroy the necklace anywhere else it won't work, if you attempt to destroy the necklace with anything other than the dagger it won't work. And the quicker you do it, the better; Makoto isn't going to give you any mercy if he realizes what your plan is"

May gulped, looking at James sadly "Oh…" She paused when she noticed a strange look on James's face, "What is it?"

"Excuse me, Miss?"

May turned around upon receiving a tap to her shoulder, a large security guard stood behind her, running his free hand through his balding hair.

"Is there a problem officer?" asked May curiously.

"The amount of time you can visit this prisoner for is up" said the Security Guard, adding to James, "Sorry"

James nodded, although he remained looking confused at the appearance of the Guard, "I understand"

May continued to look at James as she stood up, a little taken aback by what the Security Guard was saying, after all she hadn't been told she was allowed a certain amount of time to visit James, "I'm sorry, James"

James smiled politely, "Just don't wait so long to visit next time"

"Right" said May, turning to leave before adding, "Thank you, for everything, by the way"

"It's no problem" said James pleasantly, "I'd better go back to my cell, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people wondering where I am so they can beat me up again" James paused at the shocked look on May's face, "I was only kidding, the people here are quite pleasant to me; I suppose it comes with being a convicted assassin?"

The look of shock did not leave May's face as she waved goodbye to James meekly, following the security guard out of the small room nervously.

As they begun walking down the corridor toward the Guard from earlier, the Security Guard turned to May, "What's your name? I'm going to need to sign you out"

"Oh" said May, "I can sign myself out-"

"-No" insisted the Security Guard, "I'm capable of doing it, I'm sure you have a lot to get on with"

May smiled at the Security Guard, "May Maple"

"Have a nice day, May Maple" the Security Guard called after her as she reached the front door of the prison, she waved at him with a polite smile on her face.

That was weird May thought, I signed myself in… why does he need to sign me out?

May pushed the thoughts out of her head as she exited the building into the sunlight; she'd missed being able to go out for walks in the city alone without having to worry about someone attacking her or capturing her. She made her way to the alleyway Jordan, Amarante and Drew were waiting in, breathing out a sigh of relief when she noticed they were all still waiting for her.

"I was worried something might've happened" said May as she approached the group.

Amarante stood up and hurried over to May, "Was everything alright?"

May nodded uncertainly, remembering the strange Security Guard who lead her out of the prison, "The whole plan was fine"

Jordan approached May, "So what did you find out?"

"You didn't hear it on the radio?" asked May, confused.

Jordan shook his head, "As soon as you got in I couldn't hear a thing, it was just static- then again, Amarante did pack it"

Amarante glared at him, "Hey!"

"There is a way to destroy it" said May quickly, a smile on her face.

Drew moved from his position further down in the alleyway to join the conversation, "And what is that?"

"In Snowpoint City there's a temple that holds a dagger which can destroy anything, once we get our hands on it we have to go to the top of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh and destroy the necklace at midnight" said May quickly, before adding, "That's all James told me…"

"Right" said Jordan, thinking for a moment, "I thought it would be hard but I didn't realize there would be so much to it…"

"We'll be able to do it, right?" asked Amarante, "I doubt it'll be too hard-"

"-Are you kidding?" interrupted Drew calmly, "Mount Coronet is the tallest mountain in the entire region of Sinnoh, I highly doubt we'll climb it in less than a week minimum"

"You're forgetting that we can teleport up there?" said Amarante smugly.

"Actually" started Jordan, "Because of the incredible height of the Mountain, we'd only be able to teleport up to a cavern just below the summit, if we attempted to go up to the top all at once I'm sure there'd be some sort of complication. And as it's you, not your pokemon, teleporting Amarante, I think it would be best for us to climb the rest of the way"

Amarante folded her arms across her chest, mumbling, "Whatever…"

"What was that, Amarante?!" exclaimed Jordan loudly.

May noticed Drew pulling a strange face, looking around the alleyway as if he were expecting to see something, she leant forward and whispered, "Drew, what is it?"

Drew flinched at the sound of her voice before turning to her, "I thought I heard something"

May's eyes widened a little, they couldn't have been caught already. They'd been in Sinnoh for less than an hour, if news was reaching Makoto so fast there'd be no way they could destroy the necklace without some sort of miracle.

May turned to Jordan and Amarante, who were still busy bickering, "Um… Guys?"

"What was that dumb 'whatever' about?!" exclaimed Jordan, ignoring May, "I was just trying to be sensible!"

"Sensible?! The sensible thing would be not to CLIMB up a mountain!" shouted Amarante.

May begun to realize what Drew had spoken about, she could hear a strange noise, like hundreds of footsteps and voices coming toward them. She knew it was impossible for this desolate part of the City to be so busy, even when it was summer and the rest of the city was heaving with people it would never seem so loud.

Drew cleared his throat, "Um, You two?!"

"I said we could teleport half-way!" said Jordan, his voice raised a little.

"Yes but you were questioning my powers, just admit it!" said Amarante.

"Yeah, maybe I was!" said Jordan, raising his voice a little more until he begun shouting, "What are you going to do about it?!"

May and Drew looked at eachother, their faces expressionless, May thought for a second about this being the first human exchange she'd had with Drew in a while.

"Why did they start arguing again?" asked May, her eyebrows raised at the argument going on in front of her.

"I don't know" said Drew in a monotone voice, "They need to shut the hell up"

"Right" said May, looking at Drew for a moment before they both turned to Amarante and Jordan and shouted, "HEY, SHUT UP!"

Amarante and Jordan looked at May and Drew for a moment before bursting out, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

May stepped toward the two, an angry expression on her face, "WE CAN HEAR SOMETHING, MAYBE IF YOU QUIT SHOUTING YOU'D HEAR IT TOO!"

The group fell silent, and surely enough, the sounds of voices and footsteps begun to advance toward the spot the group were in. Jordan's eyes widened as he begun to step back through the alleyway, his eyes firmly on the opening where the Prison was in eyesight.

"We'll go out this way" whispered Jordan, motioning for the others to follow him.

Everyone did as told, May walked forward a bit faster than the others to stand next to Jordan, "What do you think it is?"

"Either there's some parade wondering around the Prison… or it's Makoto and his followers" said Jordan, mildly amused before his face turning serious again, "It's quite obviously the second one"

May gulped, "How did they know?! I was only in there for twenty minutes at most.."

"You don't know how Makoto works" said Jordan, "It's unlikely he's underestimated us, and he'll have spies set up around the entire world, anyone in that Prison could've tipped him off"

The group begun to walk quietly toward the exit of the alleyway, Jordan rounded the corner, followed by the rest of the group and motioned for them to continue following him.

"Just round the corner…" said Jordan quietly, "Then we should be able to teleport without attracting any attention"

"Right" said May, following him nervously, she couldn't help feeling as if this entire plan had been a trap, "Why can't we go straight ahead down that alleyway? Or to the right..?"

"Just trust me, May" said Jordan, "These streets are made up of so many back alleys… the ones we're heading to are the most deserted, so we won't get spotted"

"If you say so" said Amarante, still visibly annoyed from Jordan's comments earlier.

"Yes, I do say so!" exclaimed Jordan, a little louder than he'd liked.

Amarante looked ready to argue back to Jordan as they rounded the corner, her face going slightly pink at the thought of keeping in her annoyance for a second longer.

"Can you two stop it?" asked May, continuing to walk a little ahead of the group as she turned the corner first, "Can't you see it's-OOF!" As she spoke she knocked into something, or someone just ahead of her, "Oh, I'm so Sorry!" May looked up at the figure in front of her and gasped, a similar reaction came from the rest of the group as they rounded the corner, "R-Roisin?!"

Amarante glared at Roisin, who was standing in front of a rather terrified looking May, with a group of men and woman she didn't recognize behind her, Amarante could only assume they were Makoto's followers.

"What a pity" said Roisin, drawing out her words slowly, "I expected some sort of interesting chase to find you all, but it looks like you just ran right into me"

May backed away toward Jordan and the others nervously, "W-Why are you here?!"

Roisin smiled sweetly, "You shouldn't go into such public places… you really thought we wouldn't be observing the prison where James is kept? It's the most obvious place you'd go… it turns out we were right, and you're going to have some trouble getting out of this"

May looked at the group Roisin was with compared to her three friends, it was quite obvious that there was no way they were going to make it out. Before May could voice her concerns she felt a tap on her shoulder, Jordan swung her around so that she was facing him.

"Run, NOW!" He exclaimed, pushing May off in the other direction with Drew following close behind.

May didn't have much time to think about what she was doing and continued running with Drew, the last glimpse she had of Jordan was of him and Amarante standing defiantly in front of Roisin and the crowd of followers.

"Where do you suppose we should hide, then?" asked Drew as they ran along together.

May looked ahead sadly for a moment, why was the only time Drew would talk to her when they were in serious trouble? She continued running and rapidly rounded a corner, causing Drew to nearly fall over attempting to follow in her footsteps, "There has to be a way out of the alleyways… We just need to look for it"

"We can't go back to where the prison was" said Drew, a little out of breath, rounding another corner with May following him, "We'll need to figure out a way to get out of here"

"Right!" said May, scanning the area as they ran, "Let's go this way!"

"Okay" panted Drew, "I'm right after you…"

Drew hung back while May turned another corner and entered a narrow alleyway, Drew couldn't help but notice the stench of the alleyway as they ran through it; it was almost like they were running through sewers.

Drew winced, "This is disgusting"

May continued running, "I know- I can't stand it-"

The two exited the alleyway, unharmed but otherwise unhappy about the smell they'd encountered, Drew coughed, "I don't think I can run for much longer… I'm out of breath…"

May rolled her eyes and grabbed Drew's arm, much to his dismay, and pulled him into a dark alleyway, practically dragging him along until they reached the end of it. Drew wriggled free from May's grip and glared at her.

"What was that for?!" he asked, "You've lead us into a dead end!"

May blushed, "I thought you'd want some rest… and I didn't know it was a dead end"

Drew sighed, "Just because we're talking civilly now doesn't mean I don't still have a lot I want to say to you"

"R-Right" stuttered May, "But for now..?"

"For now you're an idiot that drags me down dead-end alleyways" said Drew sarcastically, beginning to walk toward the exit of the alleyway, "Let's go"

May followed him silently, a small smile on her face; if they could begin to get along again, and perhaps he would eventually forgive her for lying. Drew turned back and looked at her for a moment.

"Are you going to walk with me or not?" asked Drew, "If you don't you're going to look pretty stupid with that smile on your face walking around these alleyways alone"

May moved closer to Drew, but was still walking behind him a little, "Okay, let's get out of here"

Drew stopped moving, causing May to nearly knock into him, he turned to her, "Did you hear something?"

The two of them stood silently in the alleyway, May shook her head, "The coast is completely clear"

"I can't sense that there's anyone there" said Drew quietly, "Usually people give themselves away easily by coughing, breathing loudly or moving from their hiding position"

"I haven't heard any of that" whispered May, "The coast is clear"

Drew nodded, "I thought I saw some opening in one of the alleyways we were running through just now… so if we retrace our steps and find a way to the city that way we should have no problem. They wouldn't cause a scene right in the middle of the city; and if they did we'd be helped by some of the citizens"

Drew begun walking again, May followed closely behind, "I wonder how Jordan and Amarante are doing"

As they reached the end of the alleyway, Drew felt a strange breeze pick up around him; a wind so strong it felt like it had cut him sliced across his face and moved around him causing him to shudder. May tapped Drew on the arm, determined to find out what was wrong, but Drew was frozen on the spot.

"What is that…?" thought Drew aloud, his eyes wide, "It feels really cold all of a sudden..."

"Drew!" shouted May suddenly, "Watch out!"

Before he knew it, Drew couldn't feel May's hand on his arm anymore, he was staring at the floor of the alleyway as he felt May being pulled away from him. Drew stood up shakily, looking around at his surroundings... they'd completely changed, where he and May had been standing there was a large hole in the ground, as if it had been broken apart by something. It took Drew a while to realize what had really happened as he noticed a familiar figure standing behind May, holding onto her tightly.

Makoto sighed, "I thought I'd try out a thunderbolt on the two of you... turns out I'm not as close to my Pikachu as I thought. It doesn't look like my pokemon intends to hurt you; lucky for you, I guess"

Drew could feel himself turning pale as he noticed the flash of a silver blade next to May's neck; he dashed forward, a sense of dread rushing over him.

"MAY!" yelled Drew as he got closer, "LET HER GO!"

"I don't think that's entirely appropriate" cooed a voice from just behind Drew as he stopped in his tracks, shaking with fear, "After all you haven't heard what we have to say, yet"

Drew didn't even have to look around to know who was with them, "Dean… You… Traitor…"

Dean laughed, before Drew knew what was happening, he'd made his way over to Makoto's side, who was observing the whole situation with a humoured look on his face; May was pale and shaking with fear as she understood what had happened.

How could he move so fast… thought Drew, unable to move, I didn't even notice him…

"Never let your guard down, Drew" said Makoto, holding the knife to May's neck, "And never work with such vulnerable people"

"Get off her!" shouted Drew, stepping forward before stopping in his tracks as he noticed Makoto press the knife a little harder on May's neck.

Makoto shook his head, "Now Now, Drew. That's not how we're going to play it"

Drew glared at Makoto; he couldn't deny the family resemblance between them it was almost creepy how alike they looked, "Going to play what? This isn't a game! This is a matter of life and death, how can you act so indifferent?!"

Makoto shrugged, feeling May shuddering in fear in his arms caused him to smirk, "I've got so used to it… now I don't believe life is precious at all"

Drew gulped, "Let her go!"

"Is that all you're going to say?" asked Dean, rolling his eyes, "You're so predictable, at least put up a better fight than that"

Drew looked at the floor, desperately trying to think of a plan to save May but his mind was so full of thoughts and emotions he couldn't begin to settle on just one, and begun to speak slowly while clenching his jaw, "Don't hurt her…"

"I agree" said Dean, "We shouldn't hurt her… but we'd have to make some sort of a deal"

"A deal?!" asked Drew, narrowing his eyes, "What kind of deal?!"

Jordan, Amarante… where are you? We need your help, now… thought Drew, If I can keep them talking until help arrives, well, if help arrives…

"Join us, Drew" said Makoto darkly, Drew noticed May wince at the sound of his voice, "We can offer you any amount of power you want…"

"I don't want power!" shouted Drew, "I want you to release May!"

"Perhaps you'd like to hear me out… I can be very persuasive" said Dean sinisterly, stepping forward, "After all," Dean paused, looking at Makoto, "It's not like you have a choice"

Drew clenched his fists, "Let her go, she isn't part of this… you want me, don't you?!"

Dean raised an eyebrow, "That is true"

"Then… then take me instead!" shouted Drew.

"Drew, you can't do that!" yelled May, who was quickly silenced by Makoto who placed his hand over her mouth.

Don't protest, May, thought Drew, I have an idea, if they're relying on their pokemon for power like the cowards they are, the only way I'll be able to get to them is when they're at a moment where it's virtually impossible for them to use their pokemon.

"Stop talking" said Makoto, "You insignificant little-"

"Hey!" shouted Drew, "Don't insult her like that! Let her go- take me instead!"

Makoto and Dean exchanged a look, Drew could see their lips moving but from where he was couldn't make out what they were saying, a few painstaking moments later they turned back to him.

"Why would you give up your life for her?" asked Makoto, "Or is this some trap?"

Drew shook his head, "I won't let you hurt her... just take me" Drew looked at the floor sadly, "I'm sick of being the person everyones trying to protect. No-one would've got hurt in the first place if I'd have just gone off on my own"

Makoto rolled his eyes, "I suppose you want us to applaud you for your bravery? Unfortunately for you, I don't see you as brave at all; a fool, maybe but not brave"

Drew sighed, "I don't care, just take me. Let her go, you can call me whatever you want; all I want is for you to let May go!"

"We'll let her go" said Makoto quickly, much to Drew's surprise, "But we'll take you first, how do we know you won't just run away?"

Drew nodded, watching as Dean ran over to him, taking both his hands round his back and holding them together tightly, Dean leant forward and murmured in Drew's ear, "Poor Drew... I suppose you thought you'd save the day by being so goddamn brave, or those friends of yours would come and help you. Such a shame, you're so incredibly stupid..."

That's what you think, thought Drew, I'm so close to the right moment, hold on May.

Dean walked closer toward Makoto with Drew being practically dragged behind him, "You can let her go, now, Makoto"

Makoto sighed, removing the blade from May's neck and releasing her, "You can go now- run and save your life, I don't really care what you do"

May nodded, petrified, and looked at Drew, "D-Don't go with them, Drew!"

"Hey!" shouted Dean, "You forget your place, girl. Now leave us alone-"

Dean was cut off by the sound of Drew beginning to chuckle, Dean corked a brow at this strange action, "W-What's so funny?"

"You should know by now, Dean" said Drew quietly at first, then raising his voice so that Makoto could hear, "I never run away!"

The perfect moment... it's right now! thought Drew suddenly.
Before anyone else could react, Drew wriggled free from Deans grasp and using all the strength he had punched him directly in the stomach, sending him flying backward into the alleyway. Drew winced at the pain it had bought to his fist, perhaps he wasn't as strong as he believed himself to be, but at least he'd got rid of Dean for now.

Drew then darted forward to grab May's hand, she darted forward so that their hands could reach each other easier but was stopped by Makoto's figure coming between the two of them. May moved back in fear, noticing that Makoto's back was to her, which meant he was willing to take Drew by force. May gulped, from what she'd seen of his fighting, she knew this wouldn't end well for them both.

"You may be able to overpower Dean when you catch him offguard" said Makoto darkly, "You may be able to sprout some nonsense about never running away or giving up; but you will never surpass my power" Makoto chuckled, looking at Drew's scared-looking face, "So talk all you like about not running away from anything; but my dear son, by the time I'm finished with you I'm going to make you wish you did"

A/N: First chapter of the new year, guys! I hope everyone had a lovely time last night, I did... Spent some time with my friends and drank cheap champagne when the clock struck twelve.. it was a blast. Anyway, Review the chapter if you'd like to, it's nice to know who's reading. This was a really fun chapter to write at parts of it, especially with May and the Prison guard... hahaha.