I would like to apologize to all my readers for the extended amount of time this chapter has been on hold. As much as I would like to keep a steady schedule of production with these chapters, life just doesn't seem to want to work that way for me. We're in the home stretch here as this story is aimed to have only about twenty-two chapters in it. I want to thank everybody for the patience and support so far...I hope you enjoy these last chapters of "Revelations."

Karuta had always vaguely felt that his traveling companions represented their own share of dead weight when it came to their usefulness, but right about now things were getting ridiculous.

As soon as they got out of there, he'd have to pester Amos until the big lug went on a diet or something. The huge man was trouble to haul off the platform and further into the pipe, even with Karuta's Ditrean-enhanced strength. He wasn't helping much in his meager attempts to walk with his uninjured leg...had Karuta not been so distracted he would've berated the man right then and there, but there were other matters to tend to.

Looking over his shoulder, he found Nozomi gradually following along behind him. On an absent thought he realized she'd done something to doll herself up...were it not for the grime, tear stains, and bleeding bullet wound, he felt she'd look rather nice. However, he was more concerned for the wound in her gut that she kept a hand clutched tightly over while she staggered along, her face showing the pain of each step even while she bravely fought back the sobs he knew she must have been wishing she could voice. Thankfully the bullet hadn't hit her in the lung by the sight of it, but she was bleeding far too quickly for it to be just a flesh wound; the blood had seeped into her shirt and dripped through her clamped fingers every time she took too heavy a step.

"Just a bit further now...we can't be more than fifteen minutes from the nearest subway track." Karuta reassured his companions as they struggled along.

Nozomi hurried as best she could, working through the burning pain that was turning her stomach into knots. She felt as though she would vomit at any moment, though feared to as if that would worsen her condition. Let's keep our insides inside for now; she thought through the haze that was slowly clouding her mind. She'd never been shot...why would she have been? It always looked so painless in the movies; either the person shot died instantly or it was just a glancing blow that they shrugged off within moments. Nobody ever told her about the burning wound it left behind that shot barbs up through her nerves with each inhalation of the mildew filled air. The warmth of her blood seeping down her leg made her realize she was wishing she'd never come at all...she was rapidly regretting ever agreeing to come down to this hellish place, for ever coming along with Amos to find Karuta in the first place...

Amos...

Her bleary eyes focused on the two men ahead of her, one struggling beneath the bulk of the other as they clambered along. A fierce jealousy of Karuta's healing suddenly bubbled up in her chest...well, it was either jealousy or bile; she didn't care to differentiate at the moment. This was all his fault...her foggy mind went over the recent events as best it could, trying to process memories to keep from giving into how suddenly tired she felt. She had to keep herself active...too much blood loss to be feeling tired now...

As soon as they got out of that place, she reasoned, she'd give Karuta a piece of her mind about all this...maybe a few blows to the head as well. It was the very least of what he had coming after all he'd put them through.

That was the last thought that crossed her mind as she felt the distant impact of her body hitting the cold, grimy floor just as her world faded into a dull white haze.

----

Hurry...hurry...

No time to stop now, she was in a hurry...places to go, people to meet.

The soft sound of sneakers hitting the dirt road was almost enough to lull her into an inattentive daze simply from the repetitiveness of the rhythm, but she kept her eyes active and moving among the trees that surrounded the path. She felt the breeze send her hair fluttering out behind her as the gust carried a cluster of golden autumn leaves whirling into the cool air. It was a bright new day, the first of many promising ones to come, at least just as soon as she got to that out-of-the-way lab just on the other side of the ridge.

Jogging along across the wooded paths outside Black Grove City, she simply vaulted over a mass of branches that had fallen into the path from last night's storm. Something like that wouldn't slow her down; nothing would today. Her spirits raised even higher as she spotted the skylight-capped roof of Professor Willow's lab tucked within the gradually sloping mountain range despite the crowd of people waiting outside already. She finally reached the edge of the crowd and went up on her tiptoes to see if she could find any familiar faces. Most of her graduating class should be here...

"Nozomi! Hey, Nozomi, over here!" a happy cry called out over the heads of the crowd.

She turned abruptly, spotting the origin of the familiar voice in finding her friend Suzume. The ever-smiling girl's face brought a similar grin to her own as she hurried over and met the greeting-hug halfway in, fighting the urge to giggle in excitement of the day.

"Geez, I was wondering when you'd get here...sleep in again, lazy-bones?" Suzume prodded with a smirk.

"What are you talking about? The lab won't even open for another twenty minutes and we've got orientation after that." She tried to defend herself, checking her watch. A quarter to six...what an ungodly hour to be awake in the first place. She felt herself absently missing her warm bed, but this was more important.

"Regardless, you should've known that everyone would be showing up extra early. C'mon, Shinosuke is up further in the group. We can cut in with him and get better places when it's time to line up." Suzume caught her hand and tugged her along through the crowd, not hesitating to use both her loud voice and elbows to open a path.

She felt a blush of embarrassment burn over her cheeks as her boisterous friend shoved a path for them through the crowd, apologizing to those who likely had their kidneys bruised from not moving quickly enough out of the way. Suzume was always like that, it would seem...when it came to doing anything, that girl would completely throw herself into it regardless of who or what got in her way. It would've been an admirable quality, she supposed, if it weren't diluted by the fact that it went in as broad a scale that even eating became a competition around her. She couldn't count the number of upset stomachs she'd suffered after giving into her friend's enthusiasm...

Shinosuke was indeed much further in the group, almost at the door itself...but that meant there was just that many more people to injure on the way there, in Suzie's case. Ever meek in comparison to Suzume, he seemed hesitant to greet them as they finally pushed their way up beside him. A faint blush glowed on his cheeks despite his efforts to hide it behind his bangs, his eyes on the ground. Just embarrassed about Suzie's entrance, she reasoned, else why would he be so flustered?

"G'morning Suzume...Nozomi." Shinosuke greeted quietly as he raised his face again, having managed to fight down the blush by the looks of it

"Mornin' Shino. How long have you been waiting here?" she asked, offering a smile for her friend. Shinosuke brightened a bit and started to answer, but Suzume broke in by putting him into a headlock.

"Are you kidding? Old Faithful here's been waiting here for at least two hours! He even brought breakfast." Suzume spoke for the boy as she nodded at the backpack he wore.

"Quit climbing all over him already." She scolded softly as she shooed Suzume away from Shinosuke. He rubbed the back of his neck gratefully and reached over into his pack to withdraw a few foil-wrapped sandwiches. The three friends ate their fare as they waited glancing about with growing nervousness at the crowd around them while the time for the lab to open grew nearer. So many people were there...she knew that the selection was on a first-come-first-serve basis, so there was no telling how many of the people here would go home disappointed and forced to wait another month for the next shipment.

----

That enveloping whiteness receded slightly to the edges of her vision, leaving Nozomi to grimace at the blurred world around her. She could feel the vague sense of movement and felt something over her mouth and nose...trying to swallow on a dry mouth made her gag suddenly as if there were something blocking her tongue. Above her a steady stream of bright lights flashed by as she whisked along as if she were flying flat on her back. She could faintly hear the sound of rushed, faded voices talking very fast as she went along...

"Alright, on three. One, two..." there was an abrupt lurch that made her stomach roil. She was too far out of her head to worry as she felt her shirt being pulled open. All she knew was the blinding light above her and a heavy feeling that pulled her back into nothingness.

----

She lay flat on her back in the open fields, staring blankly up at the cloudy sky. Gray afternoons always seemed so dull...they just seemed to suck the energy out of her with their dreariness. Even the excitement of potential represented in the pokeball clutched in her fist did not rouse her. She turned her head slowly to the side to stare at the polished surface of the orb. It looked like any other pokeball save for the small, stylized leaf etched above the activation button that marked it as one that held a starter pokemon of the grass type.

"Shino...why did you give this to me?" she asked softly, her voice almost lost in the wind as it blew across the grass.

Shinosuke didn't answer for a long moment. He remained still beside her, her green hair strewn over his chest as she rested her head upon him. This field was their favorite resting spot just to waste away the day talking or playing...Suzume was already snoring softly in the grass nearby, her energy temporarily spent from the sheer amount of enthusiasm she'd given off after receiving the ball containing her Charmander. After a long moment of quiet consideration, he replied in an equally soft tone.

"You were so excited when you passed your trainer's exam last month...I remember all those nights the three of us stayed up late cramming for the test--" he began.

"You mean all those nights Suzume and I crammed...you already knew the textbook by heart and spent all your time correcting our practice tests." she smiled faintly, interrupting her friend with a laugh. He shared the laugh as well before continuing.

"That's not really the point. Your grades were lousy at that time, but you've really improved since then and you're far more capable now. I couldn't stand to think that your potential would be wasted just because Professor Willow didn't think you were ready for the responsibility."

She gritted her teeth in anger at the brief memory of the events at the lab. Suzume and Shinosuke's grades were better than hers, sure, but that didn't mean she wasn't able to take care of a pokemon. How could Willow have been so harsh to make such an accusation right to her face? At that moment she'd felt so enraged, but so helpless...the professor had final say on who did and did not get their starter pokemon, even if they did have a license from passing at the local academy. She couldn't even remember how fast she'd run to this very field, hot tears pouring down her face at the unfairness of it all. That long year of near constant study and hard work, all those dreams and plans she'd made with her friends...for nothing.

"You know how stubborn Professor Willow is. Once she gets an opinion into her head, it's easier to move a Snorlax than to change her mind. You'd have to attend academy all over again in a different city to get a starter and by then you'd be a whole year behind everyone else. I know that you're going to be a great trainer...there's no way I could just pass you by without doing something about it." Shinosuke said quietly.

"She'll be pissed at you if she finds out...what if she decides that you're irresponsible for giving Bulbasaur to me? Then you'd be stuck going to another city...you're already going to have to wait another month to get a new starter...how are you going to explain why you don't have this one?" she tilted her head upwards to look at him. He was staring off into the thick clouds with a thoughtful expression.

"I can just tell her it ran away or that someone stole it. You know how much she favors me; high-grade students make the local academy and labs look good to the League, so then they get more funding. She'd sooner cut off her own leg than risk me going off to a rival academy." He reasoned. It made a good deal of sense, she had to admit, though it didn't make her feel any better about it.

"Suzume and I could always stick around until you get your starter. We could just train locally and then we can all set out together..."

"You could, but what if someone finds out that you have Bulbasaur? A month is a long time to hide an animal and there's no way you'd be able to train it properly without being spotted somehow. Besides, knowing our luck, Suzume would end up letting the Meowth of out of the bag on accident and then we'd have Professor Willow coming down on all of our heads. She's got the authority to revoke trainer licenses, y'know, not to mention that you'd go to Juvenile Correction for having a training-level pokemon against her order. You'd have to spend a few months there, pay a big fine, never have a license again, have to get a normal job..."

"Okay, I get it already! Geez, how come you can always talk us into things?"

"I only speak the truth..."

"You're a manipulative bastard..."

"You know you love me."

"Shaddup."

The two friends shared a laugh as they lay together, though she couldn't help but wonder when the next time they'd be able to be together again would be. She couldn't stay within the local area for fear of being found out by Willow and a month was a lot longer than it sounded when it came to traveling distances. Would Shinosuke be able to catch up to them? Would she and Suzume even stay together the whole time? What if she never saw either of her friends again? What if...what if she never saw him again?

"Hey Shino...you're aiming for the Indigo League in Kanto, right?" she slowly sat up, fixing the wrinkles in her shirt.

"That's right. Two years of training for Gym battles, conditioning, and study before the League. It'll be a lot easier for me to get a license to be a Breeder if I get a Master's title first. That'll let me get funding from the League itself." Shinosuke sat up as well and ruffled his hair to rid it of stray bits of grass. He smiled faintly. "And you're aiming for the League so that you can get certified to open a Gym, if I remember correctly."

"Right again. Shino...promise me something, okay?" her suddenly serious tone caught his attention. "You've done a lot for me all these years...I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you for everything. In case we can't find each other during our training, then let's meet at the Indigo League."

"It's not like we'll never see each other at all. There'll be ways for us to contact each other while we're out on the road." Shinosuke smiled faintly at the request, shaking his head a bit. "You've been reading to much manga..."

"C'mon, I'm being serious for once! I'm not saying that'll be the only way we'll meet, but it's just in case." She pouted from his flippant response. Shinosuke became a bit more somber at this and nodded. He held up his hand, pinky-finger extended to her. "Y'want to pinky-promise on it or something then?"

She brightened, giving a little giggle in reply as she hooked her pinky around his and shook...it was something they'd done since they were just kids and was a concrete contract to them. For some reason it felt different this time though. She felt a faint heat coming up on her cheeks as her hand touched his...she'd noticed such reactions for quite a while now, but could hardly believe at first that they were coming because of her childhood friend...but then again, why not him? There was nobody she trusted more, or felt as safe or content with...

"It's a promise, then? Two years from now, we'll meet at the Indigo League." Shinosuke grinned. "Hopefully not having to go against each other in the preliminaries, though...that's just be plain akwa--"

He was cut off yet again as she suddenly moved her grip around to hold his wrist and pull him forward towards her. She did not know which of them was more surprised by her boldness as she caught his shoulder and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, the same dark blush spreading over both their faces simultaneously. They held frozen like that for a long moment while panic rose in her stomach...was this too much? It just felt like a good idea at that time and...and...

Her panic quickly quelled when she realized that he was kissing her back, his eyes closed softly as he moved to hold her hand. The kiss was reluctantly broken but the two remained within inches of each other, hesitation and vague excitement on both their faces. What a strange development that was...she smiled softly as he squeezed her hand fondly.

"Yeah...it's a promise." She nodded.

"Well it's about damn time, that's all I can say." Suzume's cheery voice chimed in from where she lay, her head propped up on an upturned palm. The two yelped in surprise and jerked away from each other blushing even darker than before, leaving Suzume to roll in the grass holding her sides from laughter.

----

Slowly, the world came back into focus.

Nozomi found herself still on her back, a soft mattress beneath her and a rather itchy blanket pulled up to her chest. The soft sound of humming and beeping machines was somewhere nearby her, pulling her attention out of the fogginess of her mind and bringing it to full clarity on her surroundings. The brightly lit, sterile room around her was unmistakable...she was in a hospital bed, it would seem.

Looking around the room, she found it to be nearly identical to all other hospital rooms she'd seen in the past. She was laid in a padded bed with metal braces on either side to keep the patient from falling out...a rather annoying IV needle was taped into her forearm, slowly dripping the contents of its bag into her veins. A bad memory flashed in at the sight of the IV bag and she quickly moved to pull the needle out in a moment of panic. Her hand was caught before she could remove the needle, held fast in a surprisingly gentle grip.

"It's okay, Nozomi...you're safe now." Karuta said quietly as he released her hand.

"What...what happened? The last thing I remember is passing out in the sewer..." Nozomi groaned as she lifted the blanket and quickly tugged it back down again as she found she was topless save for a bra. Keeping the blanket closer this time, she peeked under the look at her belly. She was heavily bandaged across her torso but felt no pain...whatever was in that IV drip must've been good stuff...

"You lost a lot of blood when you took that bullet for Amos...the doctors said I just barely got you here soon enough before you would've been too far gone to help." He muttered in reply, his eyes down on his folded hands. "It's been two days since the sewer...you were in the emergency room for quite a while before they deemed you in stable condition and they've just taken you off the sedatives a few hours ago."

"Amos...where's Amos?"

"Relax, he's here as well, just in a different ward. His leg is really messed up, but he should be fine." He reached out to gently pat the back of her hand. "You've had it hard...rest up for now, okay?"

"Heh...you're actually worried about me? That's a first." She mumbled groggily.

"Don't get too used to it. I'm gonna have to leave for now...doctor's orders, y'know. Sleep tight." Karuta pushed back the chair he was seated in and slank out of the room closing the door behind him.

Nozomi's mind was still hazy as she stared up at the ceiling. Karuta was fine, obviously. Amos was recovering, which was great. She was recovering as well, so there was little reason for concern anymore. She knew that the surreal events that had happened in the Underground were going to hit her sooner or later...but for now, she was more concerned with drifting off into a heavy sleep.

Everything was going to be all right now...

----

Karuta closed the door behind himself quietly, resting his forehead against the cool wood for a long moment. He didn't want to open his eyes and turn around to the sight he knew was there. He could not ignore it though as his hands were taken and held behind his back, his wrists pinned together as metal cuffs were locked over them tightly. A firm hand rested on his shoulder to urge him away from the door and he willingly stepped away, turning finally to face Goldenrod's Officer Jenny and the five other officers she'd brought with her, all armed with shotguns and tazers at the very least.

"Thanks for letting me speak with her first." Karuta said quietly to Jenny as she led her troop down the hall, the officers surrounding him with their weapons ready just in case.

"I've held up my part of the bargain by letting you stay with her this long now. I trust you'll keep your side and not try any stunts while you're with us now." Officer Jenny looked over her shoulder at him with a faint smirk, content to have been able to get this criminal to surrender himself. "You can imagine how surprised I was when you showed up with that Iziuma girl at that corner patrol station...I didn't think a hoodlum like you would be so honorable as to turn yourself in."

"I had to get her to the hospital fast and what better way than by police escort? Seems like a fair trade to me."

"I'm curious though; why'd you lie to her about McCaugllen?"

"She and Amos seemed like pretty good friends...I didn't have the heart to tell her..."

"You're a weird guy..."

"I get that a lot."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised. You'll be held at the main station until we can transfer you to a higher security-holding center. You're going to be away for quite a long while, Aoyama Karuta."

"No...it's just Karuta."

"Your name's going to be a moot issue pretty soon. Destruction of public property, endangering the public, possession and concealment of a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, assault on a multiple officers...you'll be lucky to even be able to dream of parole at this rate. I suppose we'll have to assign you an attorney?"

"Don't bother...the deal was my willing surrender, remember? I'm not going to deny anything..."

"Good. It's easier that way...don't think that just because we're chatting that I like you, Aoyama. You're a big waste of a human being if you ask me...you nearly killed my cousin back in Olivine. She still hasn't fully recovered from that attack."

"I'll be sure not to delude myself."

Officer Jenny just scoffed at Karuta as the young man was led out of the hospital, the entire group greeted by a small mob of media to record the capture of the elusive criminal. Karuta made no effort to hide his face from the cameras nor did he answer any of the many questions shouted out to him by the eager reporters. He remained in stony silence as he was ushered into a patrol car and driven away further into the city.

Yeah...this was a fair trade.