Fifteen: Part 3

Relena was a bit exhausted but she found that the feeling was well worth it. She had put everything she had into planning the party for Mike's birthday and for once things were working out well. For once, she was happy that she was the disliked child. Her mother was at her brother's Pokéathlon tournament in Johto and her father was on yet another business trip which meant that their large home was hers to do with as she pleased, not that it ever felt like home in the first place.

As she rummaged through her swimsuit collection, hoping to find the one that Mike would like the most, Relena's mind went back to her family. Her friends had always been more of a real family to her while thinking about her actual family only made her want to scream.

If she had to pick the person that she had the worst relationship with, it was her mother, no contest. She remembered how she was told by her mother that private school would be "too challenging" for her while it was "just right" for her brother. She had gotten used to being berated by her mother for being "too stupid" but ever since the diagnosis, it had shifted to being "too crazy." Of course, Relena had never suffered in silence. She'd constantly argue back with her mother until they devolved into screaming profanities at one another. These arguments were even worse whenever Relena was off her medication. She recalled a recent shouting match that ended with a teacup being thrown at her. Fortunately, her mother missed on purpose, but Relena had been caught off guard since that was the first time that her mother actually made a physical move. After that, she was certain that she disliked her mother to the point of hatred.

Relena basically had no relationship with her brother, Chris. For as long as she could remember, she was always off with her friends while he was taking private lessons or participating in tournaments for various activities. They almost never interacted which seemed to suit both siblings. After all, she really could not hate someone that she barely knew. In a way, Relena found another reason that her mistreatment sometimes worked in her favor. She was essentially allowed to do whatever she wanted without any restrictions because no one cared.

She was mixed about her father. He was typically indifferent towards everyone in the family during the rare times he was actually home. Still, he seemed to have a somewhat softer spot for Relena over her brother. There would even be moments when she was shown favoritism, though nowhere near the extent that her mother showed Chris. Still, her father always seemed more amused at his daughter's aggressive tendencies than anything else. Obviously, he didn't care enough to intervene when her mother was berating her. Yet, his small scraps of affection were probably the only reasons he had not ran away from home years ago. As a bonus, her mother directed her scorn that she usually reserved for Relena at her father whenever he was home which provided a much-needed break.

"Between you and me," Relena heard her dad's voice echo in her mind. "You've definitely got more guts than your brother. It's good to be tough, means you can handle anything."

Relena was tough, she could handle anything. So, when she heard Ellie's scream, she instantly ran out of her room ready to attack the disturbance. However, even she came to a full stop when she saw the cause of the scream.

Mike and Elyse stood before the small crowd with Mike breathing hard and clutching to Elyse while Elyse herself was staring off into the distance wordlessly. They looked like something out of a horror movie. Mike had blood running from his bicep to his fingertips and a large bruise across his neck. The sleeve of his shirt had been torn and stained red. Elyse looked even worse. Her dark blonde hair was caked with so much blood that it was dripping down her face and into her trademark bright blue eyes. Her pink shirt and white pants had become a mixture of red and brown.

"Lys!" Loki said to Elyse in a horrified whisper, struggling to look at his best friend in such a state.

"Give them some room!" Drake shouted, shoving a few of the partygoers out of the way.

"Everybody, go to the backyard!" Relena followed up and pointed towards the backdoor. "Right fucking now!"

Jennifer, Laila, Nadine, and Lilly helped to usher everyone out. Relena was confident that Jennifer or Laila would phone Amelie and let her know that she needed to get to the party as soon as possible if she wasn't already on the way. Once everyone was outside, Nat and Xander stood in the backyard, guarding the door.

The only people left inside the house were Relena, Ellie, Drake, and Loki. Almost immediately, Mike went into an explanation of what happened. His words were so fast that it was difficult to keep up. He told the four of them how they had been ambushed by a member of the federation, how his device recalled Pokémon to their balls, and how the federation member started attacking them with a knife.

"…He was choking me…" Mike said. "And then…and then I…I got him off me and picked up the knife-"

"No!" Elyse interrupted sharply. It was the first time she had spoken since they had arrived. "I'm the one who…I'm the one who-"

"We both did, alright!" Mike cut her off. "We…we killed him…"

Relena knew that in Mike's mind it did not matter who technically killed the thug. When you messed with one of them, you messed with all of them. If they were together and something happened, it was on all of them. Relena could tell that Elyse wanted to argue back, but she bit her tongue. She had never seen the other girl look so distraught.

"Okay, okay," Loki started. "Self-defense! We got to the cops and-"

"No!" Drake said. "Why would we do that?! So, they can get charged with murder?"

"They won't get charged if it's self-defense!" Loki defended.

"They have to prove it was self-defense!" Drake replied. "Plus, the federation's going to be after them once they find out. It'll be better to just help them go on the run or something."

"That's stupid!" Loki shouted.

"So is running to the cops!" Drake shouted back.

"Hey, shut up!" Relena yelled as she began walking down from the stairs. "Both of you! This isn't helping!"

"Calm down!" Ellie spoke up. "First thing is, we need to get these two cleaned up. After that, we'll sit down and talk since Amelie will probably be here by then."

"Should we send everyone home?" Drake asked.

"No," Ellie answered. "They've already seen them, so we need to keep them here right now."

Relena did not know if that was a good idea, but Ellie was the smartest one of them, so she figured it was best to just agree with her. More than that, she was going to stay strong or she felt like she would be no use to Mike or Elyse.

"Drake," Relena started. "Take Mike to my brother's room. Make sure he gets cleaned up and then find some of Chris's old clothes for him. Ellie, you and Loki keep everyone in the backyard and make sure they don't leave. Let Amelie know what happened once she gets here and then send her up to my room. Elyse, come with me…"

Felicity was in the den of the mansion drifting off into a light slumber. Ivan was already asleep, the Venusaur snoring lightly next to her on his custom-made bed. The day had slowed down after Tyler and Johnny left and for obvious reasons, she had not been invited to Mike's party by Relena, not that she cared.

Relena was just jealous that her skills as a coordinator were average at best while Felicity excelled. The girl also had a nasty temper that held back. Being nice was a drawback as well but throwing tantrums like a child helped no one. No one understood that except for Felicity. If being nice helped her get to the top, she would have been nice. However, being nice just made you Amelie McKinley. All that time she spent trying to save the world could be spent bettering herself. That's what she disliked the most about the redhead. For the life of her, she did not know what Tyler saw in Amelie.

Tyler. He had always been an enigma to Felicity. The two of them had grown up in very similar circumstances, so she could not understand why he would rather spend time being on the battling team, being in a garage band, and hanging out in parking lots with Johnny and the others. She felt like he should understand her better than everyone else. He frustrated her and fascinated her at the same time.

The loud banging on the door immediately grabbed Felicity's attention. Ivan started stirring and she wondered who would be at her house. Darren was supposed to be at the party, but she figured that maybe he wanted to come hang out with her instead. The company would be appreciated even if she would never admit it to him. Felicity made her way to the door and became fully awake once she opened it.

"Leave!" she told Craig. "Now!"

"Come on, Felicity," Craig said. "I just want to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Absolutely not," Felicity snapped, stepping outside. "What is this, Craig? I stopped answering your calls, so you show up to my house? How many times must I tell you? I've heard about what you've been doing with that federation gang. You're nothing but trouble and you're not dragging me down with you!"

"You think I want to be doing all this shit?!" Craig yelled. "You, Johnny, everyone turned their backs on me! I didn't have anywhere to go. Warrick got me off the streets which means I have to do whatever he says or he is going to kill me, Felicity! Don't you understand? Actually no…no you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Felicity countered. "We all have bad things happen to us. It does not make it okay to become a criminal and steal from hard working people."

"Hard working people?" Craig mocked with a laugh. "You mean like you? Some of us don't have the luxury of having a rich daddy to bail us out. You guys all judge me like you're better, but you're more like me than you wanna admit."

"I am better," Felicity said glancing down at the locket on her chest. "The money is nice, but I don't care about it. All I care about is my goal of-"

"Of what?!" Craig shouted. "Your goal of being a super famous celebrity?! Your mother's going to be so impressed that she's going to just come back into your life? Newsflash, even if you did accomplish that, it's not bringing your mom back! She ditched you, just like my dad ditched me! She didn't care about you when you were a baby and she's not going to care about you when and if you make it big. You're all alone just like me!"

Felicity slapped Craig across his face with all the force she could muster, tears welling in her eyes. She was shivering with anger and her teary eyes darkened as Craig glared at her and straightened up. She was unafraid, he would never physically attack her, they both knew that. Even if he did, nothing could wound her as much as the words that had been coming out of his mouth.

"Why…" she cried. "Why did you come here?! What do you want from me?!"

"I came because I needed to see you…" his voice was much calmer now. "I love-"

"Stop," Felicity cut him off sobbing. "Please! Just go!"

Craig did not love her, he never had. She did not even know if he was capable of love. He was only saying it now to get her to help him in some way. Felicity realized that was all she ever was to Craig; a mansion to relax in, a bank to make withdrawals from, and a rich girlfriend for him to brag about to his friends. That realization hurt even more than his scathing words from earlier.

"After running into Johnny and Tyler at Slurpuff's, I thought about making things right with you guys," Craig told her, noticing that Ivan was slowly making his way towards them. "I thought you'd be different, but you're the same as they are. Whatever, I don't need any of you."

He hurried to his motorcycle and sped off by the time Ivan made it all the way outside. Felicity clutched her fists in anger, not at Craig, but at herself. She was furious that she had showed weakness to Craig all those years ago and how he had used that against her.

Felicity decided to go to the bathroom to collect her thoughts and the moment she was finally able to get herself together, she heard a car entering her yard. Sighing, Felicity was greeted by the sight of Johnny and Tyler emerging from Johnny's car.

"That motorcycle," Johnny started. "Was it Craig's?"

"Yes," Felicity answered. "But he was only here for a minute. He left and you should too. I want to be alone."

"They smashed up Slurpuff's…" Tyler explained and shot a frown at Johnny. "We battled them, but-"

"Look man!" Johnny interrupted. "I said it was a mistake!"

"You let him go on purpose!" Tyler said. "After you were the one talking about how we absolutely had to stop him. I get that he was your best friend, but we could've won and turned him in to the police."

"Man, it's so simple for you…" Johnny said with a sigh. "He was my friend before you even…Look, I'm not about to fight with you over this. We couldn't even get the cake for Mike, so I'm just going to head home. Do you want a ride?"

"I think I'll walk home," Tyler replied with obvious frustration.

Johnny opened his mouth to protest but decided against it at the last second. He got in his car and drove off into the night. This was too much for Felicity. She was just in a big argument and now she was forced to deal with Tyler and Johnny's banter. Ivan could sense how irritated his trainer was and hissed at Tyler once they were left alone.

"It's fine, Ivan," Felicity told her Pokémon. She turned to Tyler. "I didn't need you two to check on me."

"Every time I try to do something that I think is right…" Tyler muttered. "It just goes wrong. With my parents, with Amelie, with Johnny, with everything. Things are just so much easier if I just go along with what my parents want."

"Like the gala?" Felicity asked curiously. "I didn't want to go either, but I went because my father wanted me to go. You see that door past the den and to the left?"

Tyler nodded and Felicity led him inside the house. By all intents and purposes, she was not in the mood to deal with any visitors and should have sent Tyler off. Something compelled her to engage with him, it had been like that since the gala. They walked to the door and Felicity felt a sense of pride when Tyler's eyes widened at the sheer amount of trophies, medals, and awards in the room. Only first place because Felicity did not accept anything less than perfection. Second place and lower accolades went in the garbage where they belonged.

"All these trophies are amazing, Felicity," Tyler noted. "But I don't get the point you're trying to raise."

"The point is," Felicity said holding up the trophy she had won at a chess tournament years ago. "I didn't even want to do all of these things. My ignorant father wanted me to do them and things were easier for me to just do whatever he wanted. When I disobeyed him and tried to sneak to Goldenrod earlier this year, I got in trouble. I'm starting to realize that for people like us, we have to do certain things, act a certain way. I thought I was doing that, but I really wasn't. That's why I wasted so much time on Craig…"

Felicity cursed herself for mentioning him. He had too much control over her thoughts, but she made it a goal to push it down, as far down as it could go. Tyler seemed to be in deep thought and Felicity wondered if he was listening to her or if she even wanted him to listen.

"When I heard you sing at the gala…" Tyler started. "I…I felt like you were the only one who knew what it was like. I couldn't talk to Johnny or anyone else about my life because I felt like they wouldn't take me seriously. I haven't talked to Amelie ever since my fight with Craig when I snapped at her. It seems like everything just went wrong after that."

"Amelie's a good person," Felicity forced the words out. It may have been the truth, but it still hurt to admit. "But she's the primary example of making things hard on yourself to make sure everyone else is taken care of. Her life would be easier if she focused on herself. If you were with her, would she even have time for you? Or would she be too busy saving the world? Dealing with Craig has caused me nothing but problems. Don't make the same mistake that I did."

Tyler seemed taken aback by Felicity's words. She thought it was a bit harsh, but it was what he needed to hear. It was the same back when she told him what his father said about him to others. Tyler admitted to knowing what it was like to walk in her shoes, so she owed it to him to be honest. He knew that she understood him in a way that Amelie, Johnny, and the others could not. He looked around the room at the various accolades before turning his view back to Felicity and nodding his head in acceptance.

"I guess…I guess you have a point," Tyler said. "The first time I just did what my parents wanted, I was rewarded with a Pokémon. Maybe it's just worth it to shut up and reap the rewards."

"If we need an outlet, we can complain to one another," Felicity added.

"Yeah, I suppose we can," Tyler replied with a slight smile. "Um, I'm going to go ahead and head home. I need some rest after today and I'm sure you want some peace and quiet."

Felicity walked him out, mainly to make sure that there would be no more disturbances from visitors, but also to spend a few more moments with someone who was almost a mirror image. They were so similar and even their nights had gone the same way when she considered her argument with Craig and his argument with Johnny.

Tyler turned around once he made it a few steps out the door and extended his hand. Felicity could not tell if he was offering a truce, if he was thanking her for the advice, or both.

"I suppose you're welcome," Felicity told him but failed to keep herself from forming a smile when she shook Tyler's hand.

They released the handshake and then they were somehow closer. She did not know which one of them had taken the steps or when they had even done it. Felicity recognized the look on Tyler's face. The one where he gave a full smile and showed his teeth; the one where his teal colored eyes lit up. It had disgusted her in the past because everyone knew that it was the same look that he always gave Amelie while they were talking. It no longer disgusted her because now it was directed towards her. At that moment, she forgot about Amelie, forgot about Craig, forgot about everything.

In front of the empty mansion and the gardens surrounding it, Felicity Cole kissed Tyler West.

Craig drove his motorcycles around in circles in the empty parking lot that he found himself in. He had received orders to go there, but no one had shown up yet. It had been half an hour since he had left Felicity's home and his anger had not subsided.

Craig knew that he was not perfect, he was far from it. He just hated that everyone else could mess up and had people they could rely on to clean up their mistakes. Felicity's problems were not real. She lived in a mansion with father who bought anything she wanted. It was the same with Tyler West. It was bad enough just having him around, but now he had stolen all of Craig's friends. Seeing the rich boy battling side-by-side with Johnny today against him infuriated Craig.

He suddenly came to a halt on the bike. Craig knew that for the time being, it was important to focus on the reality of his situation. One thing he was certainly going to do was train the Sneasel that he had received from Warrick so that it could catch up with his other Pokémon. He figured Raticate would be a good partner for Sneasel to learn the ropes.

Before he could reach for his poké balls, Craig noticed the motorcycle that had pulled into the parking lot and was now quickly approaching him. He did not move because he knew whoever was driving would stop before they hit him. After everything he had gone through, he almost hoped that they actually hit him. As predicted, the cyclist stopped a few inches in front of him.

"Kelton, right?"

Craig was able to get a clear view of the federation member in front of him thanks to the streetlight. She was tall and slender with sharp features that Craig found intimidating but attractive, nonetheless. Her most striking feature was that she did not have the mohawk like most federation members donned. Instead, she had long hair dyed white on one side and was shaven on the other side. Her eyes were a stone gray and her face and ears were adorned with various piercings. She was a welcomed distraction.

"You can just call me Craig," he said with a grin. "You have a name?"

"Mona," she answered. He noted that her voice was raspier than he imagined. "Look, you're in a lot of trouble with Warrick…or at least you're going to be when he finds out that you let Zeb die."

"Huh?" Craig asked in confusion. "Zeb isn't dead."

"Warrick sent me to look for him when he didn't reach his quota tonight," Mona explained. "Lo and behold, I find Zeb in a pool of his own blood looking like roadkill."

"What?!" Craig said in disbelief.

He hated Zeb and was more surprised than upset that he was dead, but the sheer nonchalant demeanor of Mona caught him off guard. Then he noticed the bloody glove that Mona pulled out of her bag. It was Zeb's glove.

"Something you should know about these gloves," she explained. "They don't just lock poké balls, but they also track federation members and function as cameras. Why don't you take a look?"

She entered a code on the buttons that were placed on the fingertips and the dial on the gloves shifted on its own. A small screen emerged as Mona handed it to Craig. There was so much going on in the video that it was hard to make out. Zeb was clearly attacking some people, that much was obvious.

The last thing he expected to see was Mike Snowe rushing at Zeb with a pipe. There was no mistaken it. He thought for a split second that the girl with Mike was his girlfriend Relena Serene, but after a closer look, he identified Elyse McKinley. The last image of the video was an out-of-focus view of the two students fleeing after killing Zeb.

"They…they killed him…" Craig said stunned.

"Warrick's not going to let this go," Mona warned him.

"So, what do we do?" Craig asked her.

"You mean what do you do?" she corrected him. "You and Gino were partnered under Zeb. It's your responsibility to fix this. A message has to be sent, so I called in some help."

Mona fiddled with her own gloves and Craig knew that she was signaling the other federation members nearby to meet them. Gino arrived first; his nose bandaged from Lyndon's kick earlier. It was obvious that Mona had tracked him down before she got to Craig. In a few minutes, the parking lot was filled with over a dozen members of the federation on their motorcycle.

"Absolutely not!" Craig yelled charging at the last arrival only to be held back by Gino on Mona's command. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Holt Wullinger still had the same beady eyes that Craig hated so much. However, he seemed to have gained even more muscle from jail and had grown his buzzcut into a mohawk. Craig remembered how much he wanted to kill him after he stabbed Johnny and now, they were part of the same organization. The insanity of it all made Craig want to scream.

"Long time no see, Craig," Holt taunted. "Still mad about that papercut I gave your boyfriend, Johnny? That's nothing compared to the two little murderers from your school."

"I should've killed you when I had the chance you piece of shit!" Craig shouted.

"Shut up," Mona told them. "Both of you. I don't care what issues you two have, you're going to work together now. Otherwise, I'll kill you both and be done with it. Craig, it's time to prove yourself…"

This was not fair in the slightest in Craig's mind. He was in danger because some kids from his old school killed someone that he did not even care for. Out of everyone, the fact that it was Mike Snowe of all people made it worse. Johnny, Felicity, Amelie, and even Tyler to an extent were people he considered on his level. Mike had been so far beneath him for so many years and now even he was making Craig's life worse.

"Mascot Boy…" he thought.

He wanted, needed someone to blame and in that moment it was Mike Snowe.

Elyse found herself sitting on Relena's bed. She had washed the blood and grime off her hair and body and borrowed some of Relena's clothes. The bruises were still present, but they would fade eventually. However, nothing would change the fact that she had killed someone.

Mike would have done the same for her, she knew it. As far as he was concerned, they both killed Zeb. That was how everyone from their friends and families to the police to the federation was going to see it anyway. Still, she was the one who had slit Zeb's throat. Mike was unconscious and didn't hear the criminal choking on his own blood, didn't see him gasping for air as it sprayed out of his neck. Elyse saw it all.

"That top looks way cuter on you than it does on me…"

Relena's voice had interrupted her thoughts and Elyse was actually thankful for any kind of distraction.

"Thank you…" she uttered. "For…everything."

Elyse never knew what to think of Relena. The two of them had always been more friends by association than anything else. The group of Mike, Ellie, Drake, and Relena was what most people thought of as the real friend group. In the early years, Elyse was often off with Loki trying desperately to imitate the close friendship that Amelie had with Lyndon. In the last few years, she spent more time with Nadine and Lilly. Elyse realized that trying to replicate Amelie when it came to friendships was not what she wanted. She enjoyed having a lot of friends than one single best friend. Loki would often call Elyse his best friend, but he would do the same with Esther, Mike, and Drake which was fine with her.

Relena was the only one that Elyse did not really spend any one-on-one time with. Being close with Mike was always something that she felt might become an issue with Relena and now was the perfect opportunity for the other girl to bring it up. Despite that, Elyse was confident that she would have done the same thing if Zeb had been strangling Relena regardless of any differences between them.

"You two did the right thing," Relena told her, taking a seat next to her on the bed. "We're going to help you out of this mess."

"Elyse!"

Amelie rushed into the room completely out of breath. She looked like she had skipped every step on the stairs on the way up.

"I'm going to go check on Mike," Relena excused herself. "Meet us in the backyard when you come down."

This was the one time that Amelie would not be able to help her. Nothing she had to say would change what happened earlier. Relena shut the door and the two sisters were left alone. Amelie took Relena's place next to Elyse on the bed and the two of them sat in silence. This happened whenever Elyse did not feel like talking. The two of them would get in a battle of willpower. Either Amelie would get frustrated and leave or Elyse would get frustrated and start talking. As for today, Elyse was done with any and all battles.

"I know I have to turn myself in," she resigned herself to her fate. "If that's what you're going to tell me, just know that I'm already planning on doing it."

"That doesn't matter right now," Amelie replied. "What matters right now is that you and Mike are alive and safe. Elyse, I-I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now, but no matters what happens, I'm in your corner."

Elyse nodded her head in appreciation. She wanted to say more, but she could not or rather did not want to talk anymore than what was necessary. Amelie could sense it but did not seem offended or anything of the nature. Elyse could tell that she was examining the bruising on her younger sister, but Amelie tried her hardest not to draw attention to it.

As they walked downstairs and made their way to the backyard, Amelie told Elyse about Lyndon and what happened at the police station. The main connection made was the gloves that the federation members carried. Now that the police had the information, it was only a matter of time before the public knew.

Entering the large backyard, Elyse was greeted by the whispers of the attendees. Lyndon was talking to Ellie and Drake about something near the pool, Loki was leaning against a nearby tree in deep thought, and Mike was on the couch inside the pool house resting his head in Relena's lap while she stroked his long hair. The food and decorations for the party had a lot of thought put into them with the Poliwhirl cookies and balloons representing Mike's role as the mascot. Elyse felt sad that all the hard work had essentially been in vain.

"Okay, everyone!" Relena began as she and Mike walked out from the pool house. "I know we were all expecting a party but-"

"NIIIIIDOO!"

She was cut off by a loud boom and the sight of the door to the backyard gate flying off its hinges. Nidoking stomped into the yard as his trainer emerged behind him. Craig Kelton stood in front of his former classmates as Relena's backyard was suddenly swarmed with federation members and their Pokémon. The girl with the half-shaved head glared at Amelie with a sense of familiarity, but Amelie seemed confused as to who she was. Elyse immediately recognized Holt from the battle games, and he locked eyes with her before shifting his view to Drake.

"Since I don't see Johnny," he started. "I guess I have to go with the next best option."

"Hey, Craig, what's the deal man?!" Nat spoke up. "Why are you here?!"

"Came to give the birthday boy his present," Craig answered mockingly. "It's not everyday someone becomes a killer on their birthday after all." He turned to Amelie and Elyse. "Imagine being so holier-than-thou and having a murderer for a sister. Talk about irony."

"Mike and Elyse didn't murder anyone!" Loki shouted. "It was self-defense!"

"Your shithead federation member got what he deserved!" Relena yelled. "Now get the hell out of my yard!"

"Not until Baby McKinley and your stupid little mascot boyfriend turn themselves over to us," Holt said. "Or we'll drag them out of here kicking and screaming."

"You're not going to lay a finger on my sister!" Amelie told him. "Or Mike." She turned to Craig, looking directly into his eyes. "Craig, please, you don't have to do this."

"Oh, he absolutely does," the woman with the half-shaved head interjected.

The attendees began summoning their Pokémon with Drake, Ellie, and Loki being the first and Nat and Xander being the last, obviously hesitant to take on their former friend. Relena stood on top of a nearby table and summoned Ninetales.

"Last chance, Craig!" she warned. "Take your little band of dirty bottom feeders and get the fuck off my property!"

Craig frowned, clenching his fists, and glaring at Amelie before zeroing in on Mike.

"You brought this on yourself, Mascot Boy," Craig spat. "Just know that whatever happens here tonight is all on you!"

"Drop dead, Craig," Mike shot back stepping forward and summoning Wartortle before spitting at Craig's feet displaying his utter disdain for his former bully. "Let's finish this once and for all!"

"Gladly!"

The woman with the half-shaved head gave the signal and the members of the Kanto Pokémon Federation continued storming into the yard. The McKinley sisters clung onto one another in a way they had not done since they were children but stood their ground alongside their friends and their Pokémon. And then they were upon them…

A/N: Sorry about the long break yet again, but as I'm sure many of you can relate, it's been a bit of a rough 16 months for me. Luckily, I'm in a much better place now! This was a set up chapter, but important nonetheless. Get ready for an intense, action packed chapter next!

POV Characters: Relena Serene, Felicity Cole, Craig Kelton, and Elyse McKinley

Until next time!