Chapter 20

Paul walks through the streets of Veilstone City. The largest Sinnoh prison is on Stark Mountain, which is near Veilstone, so a lot of Veilstone City criminals are sent there. That's where he was. Soon, Paul arrives at a house in the suburbs. He knocks on the door and a maid opens it.

"I'm here to see Maylene Sumomo." He tells the maid.

She shakes her head. "Maylene is not here."

Paul rolls his eyes. "Tell whoever is in charge that Paul Shinji is here." Before the maid can decline, he says, "Please?" and pulls out $200. The maid grabs it and runs inside. A few minutes later, she is back and opens the door wide for Paul. He follows the maid up the stairs and into an office.

"Thank you, Lana. You can go now." The pink haired woman says while looking down at her papers. Lana the maid nods and scurries off. "You can close the door, Paul." Maylene says without looking up. Paul shuts the door and sits on the chair across from her desk. She now looks up at him and smiles. "What brings you here?"

"Can you move to Twinleaf Town?"

She gives him a confused look. "Why would I do that?"

Paul keeps his gaze on her. "You owe me."

Maylene sighs and leans back in her chair. "Paul, if anything, you should be thanking me. I prevented you from committing murder."

Flashback

"Where are you going, Paul?" exclaims a fearful Maylene. Paul continues walking faster and unlocks his car. Maylene grabs his door to prevent him from closing it. She's scared of the look in his eyes. Those grey eyes are angry and empty.

"Let go, Maylene." he calmly tells her.

"No!"

"I know where that bastard is!" Paul shouts.

She flinches but keeps her resolve. "So what are you gonna do? Kill him? That's not going to bring Reggie back!" She fights back the tears. "I just lost my boyfriend! I can't lose my friend too!"

"Let. Go."

"Paul…" Paul shoves her when she isn't expecting and she takes a few steps back, which allows him to slam the car door. As she runs back up to it, he speeds off. Tears stream down her face while she pulls out her phone and types in 3 digits. She hesitates above the call button. After a few more minutes, she whispers, "I'm sorry, Paul." And hits the button.

A few hours later, Maylene watches the news at Reggie's funeral as Paul is escorted in handcuffs to the police station. There are many reporters and the headline is: Teen Attacks CEO of Galactic Co. She switches off the TV with tears in her eyes.

"The caption should be: Man Seeks Revenge for Wrongful Death." she says while crying. Now, she's lost both her boyfriend and her friend.

Paul had called Maylene when he was in jail as his 1 phone call. She told him she was the one who called the police and tried to explain herself, but Paul hung up. She never heard from him again.

Flashback End

Paul slams his hand on the desk. "You should've let me kill him!"

"You think Reggie would've wanted that?" Maylene glares at his angry eyes.

"Reggie's dead, Maylene! It doesn't matter what he wants." the purple haired man bitterly responds.

"Well, we still need to honor his life, Paul!"

"Like how you've been hiding away since his death? I heard you sold your gym." Paul crosses his arms over his chest.

"Why does it matter to you what I do? You're the one who quit talking to me."

"Because you got me arrested!" He stands up angrily.

"You got yourself arrested, Paul!" Maylene now stands up too. This is her home. How dare he come here and yell at her.

"That bastard needs to pay for what he did."

"Hate gets you nowhere."

"And hiding does?" He glares at her.

"And being locked up does?" she fires back with intensity.

Paul gets ready to retort when his phone pings. Still glaring at Maylene, he pulls out the phone to see the message in case it is Saturn. Troublesome, it reads as the sender. Where'd you go? Whatever anger Paul had is gone now as he smirks at the screen. He doesn't swipe the message to open it, so he can respond later, but he puts the phone back in his pocket. The man looks up at a confused Maylene and takes a deep breath. "You're the only one I can trust."

A Few Days Later

Paul and Maylene make their way to a harbor on the coast of Veilstone City. They see a bunch of people in black with guns, but fortunately, the duo is able to hide in the shadows of the night. They don't need to get too close to the action. They just need to take pictures of Cyrus meeting with the mobsters.

"There he is." Maylene whispers. Paul sees the familiar blue spiky hair and snaps a picture on the small digital camera he bought. Unfortunately, the angle isn't too good so they can't see the faces of the mobsters.

"I'm going closer. Be the lookout." Paul tells her and she nods as he moves around. Both Maylene and Paul are wearing all black including black masks and gloves. Paul manages to see the faces of the mobsters and snaps pictures. Soon, the mobsters, Cyrus, and Cyrus's bodyguards go inside a building. Paul expected this to happen, so he hurries back to Maylene. "I'm gonna take a closer look."

"It's dangerous." Maylene pleads with her eyes full of concern.

"I vowed my life to this. It's what kept me going in prison." He intently looks in her eyes, and she nods defeated.

"Fine. But I'm coming too." He rolls his eyes, and they head off. There are two guards by one of the doors to the building. Paul notices there is no one else in their line of sight. He signals to Maylene and she acknowledges it. They each knock out the unsuspecting guards with a swift hit to the back of the head. Before walking in, Maylene grabs one of the men's radios and opens the door for Paul to peek inside. Fortunately, it's just a hallway, so they enter. At the end of the hall, there is an open space where Paul hears voices. He assumes that's where Cyrus is. Paul signals to Maylene to stay at the door as a lookout while he creeps down the short hallway.

"Yes, take this $10 million into my foreign accounts." Cyrus says. Paul quickly pulls out the camera and is upset to see it doesn't do video. He's hiding behind some furniture and a statue and has a distant view of the deal, but manages to capture some good pictures. The purple haired man pulls out his phone to record the sound. He hopes the phone will catch the sound from this distance.

"I want 30% this year." one of the mobsters says. Paul recognizes him as the boss, Henry.

"It doesn't work like that, Henry. You get 10%, remember?" Cyrus leans back in his seat grinning.

"I also have to help you hide this from Galactic Co. It's a lot of money to move. I want 30%." Henry glares at Cyrus. "Or no deal." Paul notices Henry's men tighten their hold on their rifles.

Cyrus chuckles to himself. "Fine, Henry. 20%." He glares at Henry. "This better not happen again next year."

"Stay out of trouble and keep the money the same. The more money you take from Galactic Co., the harder it is to move."

"I have the numbers on Galactic Co. handled. You just do your part and move the money." Cyrus hisses.

"Watch your tone, Cy-"

"Boss! We have an intruder!" shouts a mobster as he runs into the room from a different entrance than the one Paul came in.

"Shit!" Paul thinks as he shoves the camera and phone securely in his zippered pocket. However, the frantic movement causes him to nudge into the table near him and it bumps against the wall.

"Over there!" Shouts one of the mobsters, and Paul manages to run down the hallway before bullets fly at his hiding spot.

He sees Maylene at the end, and she seems to understand what is happening. She reaches for the handle, but Paul shouts, "NO!" Fortunately, Maylene now reaches for the doorknob of a room, and it is open. She runs inside and Paul follows shortly after as bullets and men chase them down. Maylene quickly slides open a window and hops out while Paul is barricading the door. Soon, he slips after her as the mobsters break down the door. The duo sprint through the cover of the night and fight the few guards that are in their way since most of the guards are back at the building. Eventually, they find some brush to hide in and wait as the mobsters' cars drive by.

While hiding, Maylene says, "Why didn't we use the door?" Referring to why Paul told her not to open the door earlier.

Panting, he says, "They knew about us. And that's the only way they could've known.

"Unless someone told them."

Paul looks at her in shock. "I trust the only people who knew I'd be here."

Maylene gives him a concerned gaze. "Maybe someone working for them told."

Paul huffs as he and Maylene make their walk through the woods back to her car. The only people who know he is doing this are Saturn and Maylene. Dawn knows about the deal happening in autumn, but she doesn't know he's here right now...unless she's smarter than she puts on?

Once they reach Maylene's hidden car in the field, they look around for other cars before hopping in and making the drive out of Veilstone City. Maylene had packed a bunch of stuff since she will be moving to Twinleaf Town. Once they are a safe distance away from the harbor and are on the busy streets, Maylene glances at Paul. He looks really pale, and he is gasping hard while holding his right shoulder.

"Paul, what's wrong?" she worriedly asks.

"I'm fine." he says through grit teeth.

"I'm pulling over."

"No!" he exclaims and looks at her with fearful eyes. "I got shot, Maylene. But if we go to the hospital, then the police will be involved."

Focusing on the road, Maylene says, "Fine. We'll go back to my place."

At the Harbor

"They got away, sir!" one of the bodyguards runs up to Cyrus. Cyrus approaches the blood splatter on the ground and smirks.

I don't know Maylene's personality either, but I'm happy I brought her into this story. I didn't expect to do that. I also wasn't sure if she'd be a good guy or bad guy. I was about to make her the leader of a gang to take down the mob. Or I was going to make her be related to the guy who shanked Paul in prison, but I like having her as a long lost friend who turned Paul in. She taught Paul how to fight, which he used a lot in prison. That's why he was reminded of her when looking at his scar. Also, this was originally 2 chapters, but I felt they were too short so I combined them. That's why this chapter is longer that my usual ones. I'm pretty proud of myself right now. ;)