A/NAlright! Can you believe it? Fifty-two chapters! :D As you may have noticed/read on my profile, I am finishing up Long Division. No, that doesn't mean that I'm just going to stop here and never work on the story again. It means that the story is wrapping up, and that its final chapters are being written. I have big plans for the characters that I created, though, so keep your eyes peeled, and enjoy these final chapters! Thank you everyone for reading. :)


I remember being thrown onto a carpeted floor. The slam of a door startled me. I was still bound and blinded and unaware of my surroundings. Those factors alone startled me even more. "Help!" I called out. "Somebody help me!"

I got up on my knees and attempted to wobble on over to the door (or was it the wall?). Then, I slammed my body into the door, crying out, "Help!"

Eventually, I had to stop because my side began to hurt and my voice was faltering and weak. I collapsed to the floor and began to sob. I imagined N, Candice, and August in my mind. I wondered what had happened to them. I hoped that Candice was still alive, that August didn't fall into a trap, and that N still wanted to help me.

Then, I heard a squeaky little voice come from somewhere, but that somewhere sounded like it was inside of my head. It said to me, "Miss, are you okay?"

"Who is that?" I asked in panic. "How are you contacting me like this?"

"You smell like my friend, except you're not my friend. My friend used to live here with me, but he disappeared one day and left me here alone. Let me cut those ropes for you."

I felt soft fur rub up against my back as whatever-it-was broke the bounds for me. Once I was free, I rubbed my wrists and removed the blindfold. I looked around and saw a colorful playroom filled with toys. Then I noticed a cute little Pokemon staring at me. It was black with a red-tipped tuft of hair on its head. "Hi there, little guy," I said. "Did you bite me free?"

"I did," she said without moving its mouth.

I whipped out my Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon. "Zorua: the Tricky Fox Pokemon. To protect themselves from danger, they hide their true identities by transforming into people and Pokémon."

"I'm a stranger, but you don't think I'm dangerous?" I asked her.

She replied, "No. Like I said, you smell like my old friend. That's enough to convince me that I can trust you."

"Who was your friend?" I asked. "Can you change forms and show me?"

The Zorua nodded and suddenly began to change forms. She had become N with a Zorua tail. "N!" I realized. "This is N's room!"

"You do know him," the Zorua understood.

"Yes. He saved my life several times. I need to get out of here so I can find him. I need to talk to him. He's here somewhere."

"I want to come, too." N's Zorua changed back into her original form. "I miss him."

"Me too, little friend. Me too."

She scampered onto my head and clung tightly to my hair, much like Celeste would if she was out of her Pokeball at the time. I bravely opened the door and walked out into a long hallway lined with doors. I've got to be quiet, I thought.

I tiptoed down the hallway, being careful not to attract any attention to myself. However, the whole "stealthily creeping down the hallway" thing backfired. The Shadow Triad appeared out of thin air. "We meet again," the one on the left noticed.

"We're not letting you get away this time," said the one in the middle.

The one on the right added, "Now that you're here, we must keep you out of our way."

As the Triad closed in on the Zorua and I, something amazing happened. Someone swooped into the scene and knocked out one Triad member by kicking her rear and sending her flat on her face. The person then took the heads of the two remaining members and collided them with each other, temporarily knocking them out as well. "Missed me?" her voice asked.

I took a good look at her. It was Summer, and she was unscathed. "You're alive!" I realized.

"After beating up those three and a bunch of grunts, hell yeah I am!"

"The Triad stole my Cross-tranciever. I thought that you would've tapped into my watch's GPS to find me and end up trapped by Team Plasma."

"Please. I may still be a novice agent, but I'm smarter than that. I noticed suspicious activity, though, so I tapped into your Cross-tranciever's contact list and gave a certain gym leader a call." Summer brought her sunglasses down slightly so she could show me her eyes. She gave me a wink, as if I should've known who she was talking about.

And then it hit me. "You got in touch with Lenora?"

"You can't just break into an evil organization's headquarters unattended. What was even better was that she contacted all of the other leaders in the region, and they were all willing to help...except for Cilan, Cress, and Chili, that is."

I looked down at the Shadow Triad for a moment. Could it be—?I wondered. Nah. No way.

Then, the Triad began to move. One member's arm jerked. Another's head turned to the other side. One even tried to push himself up. "We need to run," I warned Summer. "Now."

That was when we sprinted down the hallway. We weren't sure where we were headed, but it was away from the Triad. As we ran, I tried to reach N. N, I thought, are you there?

"Cecilia? You made it!"

Did you find Candice?

"About that..."

What?

"Ghetsis has her here and won't let her go until you come and meet us here."

So, where's 'here'?

"There's a massive, grandiose door down here on the bottom level. Travel on the western slopes only, as they're the ones that lead down here. You'd better hurry."

I guess I'd better do that.

"You were talking to him, weren't you?" the Zorua asked me.

"Yes, I was," I admitted.

"Incredible," Summer mused. "She can talk without opening her mouth. How peculiar. I've met so many interesting Pokemon since I met you, Cecilia. Is she yours?"

"No. N's," I explained. "The Zorua wanted to come with me. Long story. Let's just keep on moving. N said to take the ramps on the western side until we reach the basement level."

"And then what?"

I exhaled loudly. "We'll just have to see."