"Yelllllowwwwwwwwwwww…"

"Not. Another. Word."

"But-"

"What did I just say?"

"Why did we have to go back here?"

"Because Blaine has it down on the map. I don't want us getting lost again! Thanks to you, we wasted who knows how long!" You probably do.

Being back in Viridian Forest again gives me both good, as well as bad, memories. It was the first place that I saw and met Red, it was the first place that I really saw Mew, although… it was also the first place that I met Team Rocket. Heh… all of that happened within an hour or two of each other, now that I think of it. Everything happened all at once… I was kinda sucked into it against my will. I probably would've asked to help, given the chance.

"We're back on the right track now, so don't keep reminding me!"

"Hey, Philippe?"

"What?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that you're being… watched?"

"Of course I do. You're always watching me! So quit it!" It's as if she thinks that if she takes her eyes of me for one second I'll end up lost! Seriously, that's Red's job!

"I can't! You're going to get yourself lost again, I'm going to have to follow you to make sure you don't get too lost, and then we'll end up hours out of our way again! Just follow the map!" I turn silent and follow.

"So… we take a turn here and…" Yellow continues mumbling to herself.

One question for myself. How was Blaine able to write such a detailed map on such a small piece of paper? Even if he had just written all the directions down in word form, there still wouldn't be enough space for all of it to be there! He's written precise instructions, from the distances we have to walk in each direction! Fifteen meters north, six meters east… seriously! How's he able to fit everything on that piece of paper?

Magic.

That explains it.

It has to be magic. Or the ever present PokéLogic that seems to be following me around all the time. Sometimes things just don't make any sense, and I know that Mew won't be of any help explaining it to me. She probably loves watching me suffer!

I hear a noise from above that snaps me out of my thinking.

"I think I know what you mean by the feeling of 'being watched' now, Yellow…" I warn her.

"You feel it too, huh?"

"Not just feel it. I hear it." The rustling increases in volume until we can see the branches and leaves moving above us. We both put our hands above our heads in order to protect ourselves from whatever's about to crash into us…

Only to have Blue come crashing into Yellow's arms. Oh my… Dammit!

Why do all the romantic things have to happen to her?!

Yellow just stands there for a good ten seconds in shock, not moving a muscle. Same goes for Blue. I guess she didn't really plan on crashing either.

"Uh…" Is all that comes out of Blue's mouth, which is really a shocker. She's usually so much more talkative than this!

Yellow continues standing there like an idiot. Although, I guess I'd probably do the same if Red came crashing into me. That, plus pass out. Cause I do that so often. No, seriously. I've never passed out once in my entire life before coming here, and now I do it almost every day!

"So… how are you?" Well, considering you just crashed into her, probably in a lot of pain.

"F-fine…" At least she can form words now.

"I'm just fine as well, if you consider having walked for countless miles with no stops 'fine.'" Blue finally notices me when I speak up.

"Philippe!" Now's my turn to be crashed into the ground. She gets up from off of Yellow and plows into me, throwing me onto the ground.

"You know, I'm all for equal treatment, but not when it involves pain." Yellow blushes for a reason I have no idea of. Oh well.

"So, what are you two out here for?"

"We're out here looking for Red, of course. Why else would we be here?" Blue's one of the few who knows how I feel, so she should've known that I'd be out looking for him. Unless she's not being serious in her question and I just looked like a complete idiot.

"So are we!" We?

"Who else did you drag along with you?" Blue's face turns from glee to shock.

"Oh no!" She spins around and begins running in the opposite direction, leaving both Yellow and I to follow. We catch up with her to find her apologizing to a worn-out Bill.

"Miss, why'd you have to go ahead and leave me behind? I had to fend for myself and you know how horrible I am at fighting!" Yellow runs up to Bill's Rattata – is it the one he fused himself with before? – and begins nursing.

"Hehe… sorry. I was just so excited to see these two!" But… how did she know we were here in the first place, before running off?

"Blue, did you chip us?" If this is how effective chipping is, I'm certainly going to do it to Red the next time we meet.

"Sorry, again. I just had to! I couldn't let you wander around by yourselves! Who knows what would've happened if you had gotten into any trouble any no one knew where you were!" Um… that's happened already. Multiple times.

"Anyways! Now that we're all together, how about we team up to tackle the Elite Four?" Blue suggests.

"How about we wait for night, first. It'd be a much better idea to hit them when they don't know what's hitting. If we attacked in broad daylight they'd be able to tell where we're coming from and completely obliterate us!" All of those books and games have come in handy after all. Although, that could just be common sense… Which Blue seems to lack.

"What would we do until then? I don't like just standing around!" Sounds like me! But I don't like endless walking either.

"We still have to get to the edge of the forest. Once we spot the island, then we should camp out and hide until nightfall."


"I never want to have to walk another step in that forest again."

"You won't. Look!" Yellow points ahead and I can see the Elite Four's island. It's… much larger than I expected. It's almost as big as Cinnabar! Untouched by man, full of life, natural… just like Lance wants it. To be away from man's influence.

"Thank goodness!" My legs practically give way beneath me as I fall to the ground.

"So, we just wait here until it gets dark? Sounds good to me… shouldn't be that long anyways. Seems to already be growing dark." Which means it's almost time for us to finally get back at the Elite Four for what they've done. Almost time to end this…

Bill and Yellow go together to make sure that his Rattata's fine, now leaving Blue and I alone. Or maybe Yellow's hinting towards something else…

"Hm… we sure do have a lot to talk about, don't we?" Blue has that evil smile again…

"Depends. I sure have a lot to talk to you about, that's for sure." Now, how to bring up the topic of Yellow without using her name…

"I heard about what happened between you and Green."

"So you did… there's not much to talk about that, really." My blushing says otherwise.

"Don't tell me… you actually have feelings for Green?!" No, of course not!

"Why would I ever be in love with that pervert?! Of course I don't have feelings for him!"

"It was a joke! Relax!" It had better be.

"Hm… Green. I never thought he was like that. He always made himself out to be the cold, silent type. Never the hidden pervert he really is." I'm still wondering what exactly he had said to Red at the League to get him to hate him so much.

"It surprised me just as much as it surprised you. He was molesting me with words!"

"But haven't you done that to Red?"

"No I haven't!"

"Yes you have."

"Not!"

"I have my ways of knowing things, Philippe. And I know that you've been just as perverted, if not more, than Green, towards Red." I sigh and give in.

"I knew it! Looks like you aren't the goodie-goodie you make yourself out to be!"

"You mean you didn't know if I was before?" She sure has a way of making people say what she wants to hear.

"Yep! And I have the same suspicion about Yellow. So… do you have anything on her?" Why so interested in Yellow all of a sudden, hmm?

"Not really sure what you mean."

"What I mean is… do you know if Yellow's as perverted as you? I know she can't be as perfect as she seems; you weren't!" My exact thoughts.

"I'm sorry to say that I don't know if she's betraying her outer appearance. After all of this time of being with her, she's still the perfect little girl that everyone sees her to be."

"Dammit. Hm… looks like I'll just have to do some more surveillance." And as if on cue, Yellow walks back with Bill, Rattata looking healthier and more energetic than before.

"Sorry about that! Just wanted to make sure Rattata was alright." Looks like someone's made a new friend while at it! Yellow's Rattata walks behind Bill's and the two start playing.

"So, it's almost time, isn't it?" Time sure does go by fast when you're nervous. The sun's halfway beneath the horizon. I'm finally going to see Red again…

"Finally!" Blue sends out Jigglypuff and has it begin puffing out its cheeks, inflating like a hot-air balloon.

"Alright everyone, hop on!"

"Blue, do you really think that Jigglypuff's going to be able to carry all of us?" I mean, sure, it was able to carry her, Red, and I, but is it going to be able to carry the four of us? Bill's much larger than any of us!

"Sure she will! Now, get on!" Yellow and I climb to the top of Jigglypuff and rest on its head. Blue climbs on next to us while Bill grabs one of its feet.

"One last thing… Horsea, Smokescreen, please!" Horsea sprays the air around us with a thick black mist.

"Hehe… perfect!"

"Don'cha think this is a little overkill?" I don't think so, but… hopefully it's dark enough that they're not able to see us.

"Blue, how'd you come up with this plan so quickly?" Yellow, A+ for complementing Blue like that.

"I'm a master of disguise, remember?" Isn't that master con-artist and master thief? Anyways…

"And no, this isn't overkill. Look down there." Blue points towards the ground where a group of Slowbro are searching for something… or someone.

"Gah! We'd be fighting all of them if we were down on the ground!"

"Exactly. Jiggly Airlines isn't the fastest means of transportation, but it is the stealthiest!" At least at night. During the day a giant black cloud wouldn't be the most inconspicuous thing.

"Alright. So… which way do we go?" Yellow pulls out the map once more and points towards the cave.

"Hm… so they're somewhere in there, huh?"

"Yeah. Too bad Blaine didn't give us a map of inside the cave. That would've helped tremendously!"

"But that also would've meant that he would've had to have visited the island before, and doesn't that sound suspicious to you?" I guess so.

"Where to land, where to land…" Blue has Jigglypuff land somewhere off to the side, away from the view of the Slowbro.

"It'd be a good idea if we were to have someone go in ahead and scout the area." Blue suggests.

"You're right. How about you go?" Didn't she say that I'd just go ahead and get in trouble if I was alone?

"What?! Why me?"

"It's 'Ladies first,' isn't it? Besides, you yourself said that you were the master of stealth!"

"'Master of disguise', to be precise."

"I've never once seen you in a disguise. I think you mean 'Master of thievery,' or 'Master of Con-artistry.'"

"Will you two stop arguing?!" Fine, Bill, fine…

"How about we all go inside together? It'd be much safer in case we ran into anything – or anyone – we didn't want to." Sounds like a plan. We all begin to head into the cave and not too long after run into a wild Pokémon. A Clefable, to be exact.

"Oh! That's a Clefable! I have one just like it! It's supposed to have extremely acute hearing… Wait…" Blue seems to be having an idea!

"Aha! Yellow, here, see if she knows anything!" Blue takes one of her pokéballs and thrusts it into Yellow's hands.

"A Clefable? But Blue… she's been with you this entire time! How would she know anything?"

"It doesn't matter, just try! It's our best bet."

Yellow closes her eyes and focuses on the pokéball, blocking all of us out.

"I think we should be quieter in the future… these caves echo our sounds, you know. And as if we're not being loud already, the echoes are even louder!"

"Blue, your Clefable seems to be picking up voices. Five distinct voices, to be exact." Five? Let's see which group of five it could be… There's four Gym Leaders who are on our side… there's four Elite Four Members, but they couldn't possibly know we're here! …Could they? Anyways, there's also three Rocket Admins, there's who knows how many Team Rocket members, there's four Gym Leaders who aren't on our side… gah! I don't know who they could possibly be!

"Clefable doesn't seem scared… surprised is a better word for it." Then they aren't our enemies. At least we know that.

"Could it be someone we know?" Quite possibly, Blue.

"Clefable says that the voices sound familiar. It has to be someone we know!" People who we know, and people who aren't our enemies… Blaine's probably one of them, but who are the other four?

"Let's go find out who they are!" Blue starts dashing off towards the direction of the voices – at least, she thinks it's the right way, – and we're forced to follow.

"Blue, slow down! You don't know if it's a trap!"

"Doesn't matter! If they're our friends and it is a trap, then we have to save them!" Stop sounding so much like Red, Blue. It doesn't suit you.

We turn around the corner to see five shadows in the distance.

"There!" Blue continues running… then abruptly stops.

"Huh…?"

The rest of us continue walking forward until the shadows become the outlines of five distinct people…

Lt. Surge.

Sabrina

Koga.

Blaine.

And…

Green… oh god… not him.

"Well, hello there."

I duck behind Blue to avoid being seen by Green, but…

Too late. Green smirks as he spots me.

"Blaine, what are you doing with… those people?" Yellow, it's not nice to point. Although, I do have to admit, seeing Blaine and Green with the Rocket Admins does seem a bit strange. Even if it's expected, it's still strange.

"I could say the same to you, too. Who's he?" I still have no idea why Bill's with us.

"I picked him up along the way!"

"Blaine, enough asking us the same exact question we asked you without answering it when we asked you. Why are they with you?" Hey, at least I didn't point.

"Green and I just ran into them not too long ago."

"Yeah. We're just here to take down the Elite Four. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' remember?" How many more times will I hear that saying? And coming from Green, nonetheless.

"I still don't forgive you."

"Does it look like we care?"

"Hey, hey! Didn't you just say that you shared a common enemy? Nothing will get done if we start here arguing. Now, put aside your differences for just a little bit and cooperate!"

"Speaking of a similar enemy… why do you want to defeat the Elite Four?" It's an honest question, really!

"After the events at the Silph Company Building," I receive a glare, "We find out that the mainland's being attacked and people are being slaughtered! We can't let that happen in the area that we're supposed to be controlling!" Sabrina explains.

"Alright, so we all have different reasons to want to defeat the Elite Four. I guess we're all just going to have to agree to work together for now, regardless of our reasons." I'm here for Red, Blue's here because… well, I don't really know why Blue's here. Same with Yellow. She's just been following me around. And Bill… I still don't know why he let Blue drag him along. Blaine's here because he wants… revenge? I'm not sure… I guess the only people I know why they're here is myself and the Admins. Strange… I know why my enemies are here, but I don't know why my own friends are!

"As long as we all agree not to get in each other's way, I think that we'll be able to work well together." Isn't that what we just said?

Sabrina sticks her hand into her pocket and Green tenses up.

"Oh, relax. I'm just getting something that'll help." She quickly withdraws her hand from her pocket and throws several objects into the air. The objects begin to float in mid-air and are revealed to be spoons. Each spoon floats to each one of us and lands in our palms.

"Interesting, Sabrina… the Spoons of Destiny." What a name.

"What are they for?" Just as I was thinking.

"You know that the Mainland's being attacked, correct? Well, with that being the case, it'd make sense to think that this island isn't very well defended. It'd make sense to think that all of their forces are out on the front lines. Well, that's not the case. None of the Elite Four themselves have moved from this island. Agatha, Bruno, Lorelei, and Lance are still here." Figures. They just love making our lives that much more difficult, don't they?

"Since there's nine of us and four of them, we'll be fighting in three groups of two and one group of three." One less and it would've been an even four groups of two… I guess I really am screwing up the numbers here.

"Alakazam will sense your thoughts and pair you up with the Spoons of Destiny." When did she send him out?

Blaine's spoon points towards Yellow's, and vice versa.

Koga's spoon points towards Green's, and vice versa.

Sabrina's spoon points towards Blue's, and vice versa.

Bill's spoon points towards… no one's?

"Hey, my spoon's not bent!"

"The Spoon of Destiny won't react to someone who has no will to fight, or who isn't worthy of a partner!" Then why isn't mine bent? I'm the one who has the strongest will out of everyone here! Or… should. I hope.

"Hey, mine's not bent either." Surge and Bill… I snicker.

"Hm… since none of you have partners, I guess you'll be our group of three." Great. Stuck with the two I want to be stuck with the least. Bill… he's an alright guy, but I don't know him that well. And Surge… he's the first one out of them all to try to kill Red and I, so I dislike him the most out of the three.

"Since everyone's decided, how about we get a move on?"