Chapter 42

"Whoa!" Solidad falls to the ground after colliding with someone. Norman, Caroline, and Harley reach for their pokeballs ready to battle this person. However, everyone relaxes once they see who Solidad ran into.

"Pam?" Caroline curiously asks.

The purple haired woman is relieved that they ran into these four instead of powerful pokemon again. Pam and George are almost out of pokemon. Standing up, she greets them. "Hey, guys! We found a boat!"

George nods. "I think it's the one Shelly uses, but we left to look for help." The boat is too large for the couple and their pokemon.

Solidad stands with a smile on her face. "You've found help." She then grabs Harley's arm. "Show us where this boat is." They might as well work on the getaway plan while everyone else searches for Kai. Running around this trap infested base is leading them nowhere. Stealing the boat is a better use of their time.

Norman worriedly looks down the hall. "Everyone is still looking for Kai." That earthquake earlier doesn't sit well with the man. He hopes everyone is okay.

"Solidad is right. We should help with the boat." Caroline tells her husband. Reluctantly nodding, Norman follows. He's the best trainer in this group while Harley and Solidad are strong coordinators. Thus, Norman needs to stay with the Enbar parents and his wife.

Basement

"Shelly!" May shouts while protectively standing in front of the children.

Smirking, the pinkette looks at them all. She sees Kai with his head hung low as his gaze is on the ground. "Son, you're an Aqua grunt now. Come here and battle alongside me."

Kai flinches, so Shay hugs him tightly. "No, Kai! You're with us forever!"

"You know what happens when you disobey me, Kai." Shelly reminds him.

Closing his eyes, Kai hugs Shay tightly. He then pries himself away from the girl, but Drew stops him with a hand. "We'll protect you." The man confidently says.

Kai shakes his head in defeat. "Let me protect you."

"You're not going anywhere." May glances at the boy.

"Please, May. She got my dad killed." Kai chokes back a sob. "I can't let her kill you guys too. I love you."

"No way!" Shane grabs Kai's hand. "You're not going anywhere! I'd rather die than let you sacrifice your happiness for me!"

"Same!" Shay grabs Kai's other hand, keeping the boy there. The Enbar siblings won't let him go. "You're my best friend, Kai! I'm not losing you again!"

"Tsk tsk." Shelly annoyedly waves a finger at them. "Suit yourselves. Don't say I didn't warn you." A Crawdaunt, Sharpedo, Walreign, Tentacreul, and Peliper emerge from their Pokeballs.

May looks over at her team. "Protect Kai!" She tells Shane since Shay doesn't have pokemon. Locking eyes with Drew, the brunette blushes, especially when he gives her his trademark smirk. "Beautifly!"

"Masquerain!" The bug pokemon come out ready to fight.

"Kick her butt!" Shay cheers for her friends.

"You're gonna leave Kai alone once we're done with you." May glares at the other woman.

Shelly giggles at the threat. "How cute, May. Brendan always said you're like a little Zigzagoon. Cute but feisty at the same time."

"You don't have the right to talk about him anymore!"

"He's dead. Someone's gotta talk about him." Shelly indifferently shrugs.

"Enough!" Drew hates seeing May upset, especially since Shelly's insensitivity is harming both May and Kai. "Silver wind, Masquerain!"

"You need more than 2 pokemon!" Shane tells the adults. "Shelly has 5!" Shane wants to send out his pokemon, but half of them have fainted. The other half he needs to save in case Kai gets away.

"Got it." Drew winks at the kids. He then releases his Roserade and Flygon.

"Let's go, Glaceon! Venusaur! Blaziken!"

"Oh. 7 on 5. That's not very fair." Shelly snickers. "Let's even the playing field." She clicks a button on her remote, which causes a wall behind her to lift. More water pokemon emerge from the wall.

Drew gives his best friend a knowing look. "Quality over quantity, June." His Butterfree also enters the battle. Drew's last pokemon, Absol, is out from the earthquake earlier.

"This is no joking matter, Drew!" She mutters and releases Wartortle and Munchlax. Munchlax is still weakened from his battle with Kai so she has him stay on duty protecting Kai. Kai hugs the pokemon he's missed a lot. Munchlax made him feel safe when he first arrived in Johto. Thus, Kai hates having to hurt the pokemon.

The Pokemon engage in a heated fight. Drew's and May's pokemon are outnumbered where they each have to battle two Pokemon. Shane closes his eyes in frustration. This isn't fair! This is for Kai! He throws out his remaining Pokemon. "Feraligatr, Electabuzz, Marowak, help them!"

Outside

"We did it." breathes out the relieved man with his back to the cave they just managed to block. The strong wild pokemon are behind it, so he can feel them trying to move the boulder.

"I did it." Gary narrows his eyes at his childhood friend. "You just distracted them!" Gary and his pokemon were the ones who moved the boulder.

"We all did it!" Leaf knowingly remarks. She was also with Ash on distraction duty because it's a lot more fun than boulder duty.

"Can we not argue about this?" Misty groans now that she reaches them.

"Yeah. Paul and I have been here all day. We didn't get to explore the base." Dawn pouts.

Misty raises an eyebrow at the bluenette. "Believe me, Dawn. You were better off out here than in there."

"Why?"

"That's not the point right now, troublesome." Paul gruffly says to his wife.

"All I'm saying is, we haven't searched for Kai." Dawn glares at him.

After returning their pokemon, Ash walks over the rest of his friends. "Dawn's right. We still gotta find Kai." The signal hasn't been set off to indicate someone's got the boy.

"Thanks, Ash!" Dawn sticks her tongue out at her annoyed husband.

"Whoa! Y'all just got married. Don't get divorced already!" Gary laughs, earning him a glare from the Shinjis.

Misty loves these people, but they are the most annoying. She can only interact with them at their yearly hangouts. Grabbing Ash's arm, who has Pikachu on his shoulder, she drags him back towards the inside of the base. "C'mon, guys. Let's find Kai."

"I'm not walking with Ash again." Leaf yells ahead, though she still follows.

"Why?" Dawn curiously asks.

Gary chuckles as he wraps an arm around his wife's waist. "You'll find out."

Basement

"Thanks, Blaziken." May returns her starter pokemon. He had put up a great fight despite being at a type disadvantage. Currently, Shelly is down to her last pokemon, her Mega Sharpedo, and May only has Munchlax who has been guarding Kai. Drew's and Shane's pokemon are all knocked out.

"I'm sorry to do this to you again, Kai." Shelly grins. She knows her Sharpedo has more energy than Munchlax.

"Leave him alone!" Shay steps in front of her friend protectively.

Before Shelly can give a snarky reply, May speaks, "Brick break, Munchlax!"

"Munch munchlax!" he charges at the shark. There is a decent amount of water in the basement, which Shelly created. This makes Sharpedo very fast compared to Munchlax. Munchlax gets hit by a headbutt attack, sending him flying back towards May. He splashes into the water a few feet in front of May.

"Munchlax! Are you okay?" She worriedly calls to him. He's her last pokemon, and their last hope.

The normal type knows this, so he forces himself to stand up. Struggling, Munchlax fully emerges from the water to glare down Sharpedo. He will fight until the end for Kai. "Munch!"

"Pathetic." Shelly waves her hand. "Finish it."

"No!" Kai, with no one holding him, runs out to the water where he protectively stands in front of the panting Munchlax. Shelly wants Kai, thus Shelly won't let him get hurt, right?

"Kai!" everyone else shouts as the boy closes his eyes to brace himself for the attack.

Flashback

"You killed me, Shelly."

The woman frowns as she deletes the voicemail. Her ex needs to stop being dramatic. Looking over at her boyfriend, Shelly says, "Brodie."

"Hm?" the man groans. He's only with her because they have a child together.

"What happened when you battled Brendan yesterday?" Brodie came back victorious, so Shelly didn't need to ask him anything.

Brodie shrugs. "I beat him."

"Anything out of the ordinary happen?" Presses the woman.

"His Sceptile probably died. It wasn't looking too good, and the nearest Pokemon Center is far." Brodie doesn't care. He's a mercenary, so his job is to hunt and kill.

Shelly frowns because she knows how important Brendan's Sceptile is to him. Sceptile is the closest thing Brendan has to family since his father disowned him. "That sucks for him." Kai is currently in the room next door sleeping with Walrein. The boy asks for his father every day, and Shelly tries to get him to call Brodie his dad. Unfortunately, Kai only wants Brendan. He cries often for Brendan, which annoys Brodie. Thus, Kai is left with the Pokemon watching him. Occasionally, Shelly will check on him, but she still has her own work as an Aqua Admin.

1 Week Later

"He's dead!" exclaims the pinkette storming into the room.

Her boyfriend doesn't look up from his knives he's polishing. "Who?"

"Brendan! He's really dead!" She thought her ex's voicemail was just him being dramatic to get Kai back. However, when Brendan hadn't come after them for a few days, Shelly grew concerned. She just learned that he really is gone. "Did you kill him?"

Brodie shoots the annoying woman a glare. "He was very much alive when I left him." Only his Sceptile was dying.

"Then how is he dead?" The Brendan Birch Shelly knows wouldn't kill himself! Not while Kai is gone. Brendan is a strong person and trainer.

The man shrugs. "Not my problem." He raises an eyebrow at Shelly. "Why do you care so much about your ex? Aren't we together?" Though he'd rather be single.

"Just because he's my ex, it doesn't mean I don't care about him!" Shelly hisses.

"Then why'd you leave him?"

"Because I love you! I just needed help while you were in jail."

"So you're mad because your rebound died?"

She narrows her eyes at him. "I'm mad because I don't like having blood on my hands."

Brodie groans and stands up. He walks over to her where he presses one of his knives to her throat. Of course, Shelly is unfazed as they glare at each other. "You're in love with a mercenary. I have enough blood on my hand for Team Aqua and Magma combined." Rayquaza, he regrets sleeping with her, but Shelly is good at getting what she wants. She was always his hookup buddy whenever they were in the same city.

"Are you threatening me?" Shelly growls.

"No, babe. I'm warning you to stop questioning me. You know what I'm about."

"Did you kill Brendan?"

Rolling his eyes, Brodie puts his knife away. "Like I said, I didn't. I'm a mercenary, I wouldn't lie about who I killed." He sits on the table and looks at her angry eyes. "Seems like you like him more than me now. You can't believe me."

"Because Brendan actually loves Kai! You haven't done anything with him!" Shelly never wanted to bring this up, but learning about Brendan's death is making her lose her cool.

Brodie scowls. "That kid wants nothing to do with me! All he does is cry! He says I'm not his father!"

"Because you're not making an effort!"

"I never wanted him!" Brodie exclaims. "I told you to get rid of him! I never wanted to be a father!"

"I would never get rid of a child with the man I love." Shelly fights her tears. He's really breaking her heart. Did he even love her? Despite their relationship never being anything more than bed buddies, Shelly thought there was something else unspoken. She felt it.

Brodie scoffs. "I never loved you. I'm only with you now because of that kid, but he doesn't want me." The man walks past her and to the door. "I don't want or need you two. I'm out." He's tired of this. The only reason Brodie agreed to be with Shelly is because they have a child together. However, this boy wants nothing to do with Brodie who also wants nothing to do with them. Therefore, this is Brodie's out. He doesn't need to feel guilty about it anymore. Besides, Shelly doesn't trust him.

Days Later

"Where are you going?" sniffles the boy.

The pink haired woman bends down to kiss his head. "Mommy has something important to do.

After Brodie left, Shelly hasn't been able to contact him. Plus, with Kai's constant crying about Brendan, Shelly can't handle her emotions anymore. She loved Brodie who left her with their small child. Brodie never loved her and he still doesn't want Kai. Why did he agree to date her when he escaped prison then? Why did he agree, which made her leave Brendan? And now Brendan is dead! All because of Brodie!

The woman's heart is hurting immensely. She blames herself a lot for Brendan's death. Once she found out he took his own life, she broke down. Did she love him? A part of her did. She knows how much he loved her. It's why he always took her back with open arms. He was completely attracted to her the moment he met her over a decade ago. Now that he's gone, she feels terrible for using him. She took his son away from him. Kai has a father, and now he's gone. No. Not Brodie. Brendan.

"I don't want you to go!" cries the boy clinging onto her.

"Kai, please. Mommy will come back." She's not sure. A part of her just wants to join her ex. He'll still welcome her back, right? He always does. Anyway, all Shelly knows is that she can't care for Kai right now. She wants to find Brodie and get revenge for Brendan. What if Brodie kills her? That's a real possibility. But if he doesn't, she feels like she can care for her son again.

"No! Why can't I be with daddy?" Kai hasn't seen Brendan in almost a year. He's been very lonely just living with Pokemon and hiding in Shelly's Mirage Island base.

Shelly closes her eyes to keep her tears back. She really needs to leave Kai. He's better off anywhere but with her. It's why she'd always leave him in Brendan's care while she was out on Aqua duty. She thought that Brodie would help her raise Kai, but he never wanted to. Nevertheless, Shelly needs to leave Kai here while she still has the resolve to. She's already ruined his young life enough.

Taking in a deep breath to level her voice, Shelly opens her eyes to coldly look into Kai's blue ones. The same blue eyes he got from Brodie. "Because I killed daddy."

The fear on her son's face makes Shelly want to vomit. However, this needs to happen. Kai needs to hate her. She has never done anything good for him. It was always Brendan. "You're lying." Whispers the boy.

Shelly smirks at Kai. "You know I don't lie, Kai. Be good. Maybe I'll come back for you."

His arms weakly slide off of her, and Kai hangs his head low with tears. Shelly is right. She's never lied to him. Even when he was living with his father, and his mother would come in and out of his life, Kai would always hear the truth from her. His father is dead, and now his mother has abandoned him. Why did this happen? What did he do?

With Shelly walking away from the orphanage, the workers run out to bring the crying boy inside. Shelly always left paperwork and a note she forged with Brendan's name and signature on it. Taking in a deep breath, the woman freezes her aching heart again. She just lost everyone she cares about. Now, she can start anew. It's what she's best at anyway: hiding her emotions.

Walking to a payphone on the street, she has one last thing to do before she can fully move onto the next chapter of her life. As soon as the call is picked up, Shelly says, "Go to Petalburg City orphanage."

"Who's this?" comes the confused voice as Shelly ends the call. That's it. She's followed through with Brendan's last wish. Now, Shelly can move on. Looking back down the street where the orphanage is, Shelly sighs. While she didn't spend much time with Kai, she still loves him. It is motherly love, though she knows she was never cut out to be a mother. It's like how Brodie never wanted to be a father.

Brendan is best for Kai, but with him gone, the next person is May. Despite Shelly not knowing too much about Brendan's childhood friend, Brendan wants Kai to go to her. Shelly just has to trust him, and she knows she will. Brendan believes Kai is best with May, so that's where Kai hopefully will end up. Calling out Pelipper, Shelly takes off from Petalburg City, never to return again.

Flashback Over

"Return!" Shelly returns her Mega Sharpedo before it can attack her son. This makes everyone curiously look at the scowling woman. Kai opens his eyes to glance at his mother, though his arms remained tightly wrapped around Munchlax. Everyone hesitantly watch the Aqua Admin for her next unpredictable move.

Kai's blue eyes meet his mother's red ones. "Mom."

"Kai…" May softly speaks to the boy. She just wants to protect him, but he finally lets go of Munchlax. Drew reaches over to hold May's hand reassuringly. None of them will be leaving without Kai. This is Drew's resolve. Even if he has to sacrifice himself for May and everyone to escape with Kai, he will.

Taking a few steps forward, Kai's gaze doesn't waver from Shelly's. "I'm not happy, mom."

"What are you talking about?" snaps the pinkette.

Kai takes in a deep breath. "My family is dad or it's them." He motions to the people behind him. "They make me the happiest."

"I'm your mother."

"But I don't wanna be with you." Kai's eyes gloss over. Has he ever loved his mother? Not as much as he loves everyone else, but he only loved her because she's his mother. "I wanna be with dad, or I'll be with them."

Shelly furrows her brows at the boy. Glancing at the people behind him and then back at him, she responds, "I am your mother." When the boy's face falls, Shelly adds, "I always want you to be happy. I always want you to feel loved." Sighing, the woman closes her eyes sadly. "Like your biological father, Kai, I was never meant to be a parent."

May squeezes Drew's hand. She has no idea what Shelly is going to do. No one does. They're all very nervous. This is a side of Shelly they've never seen before, especially May who's ran into Shelly a few times before. Shay clings onto her brother in fear and anticipation too while Munchlax glares at the pinkette in case she tries to harm Kai.

"I took you away from your dad because I didn't want to be with him anymore. You're not related to Brendan by blood, Kai, but he loved you more than your blood father ever could." Shelly smiles nostalgically at the memories of Brendan playing with a young Kai. "I just want you to be that happy again."

"We can, mom!" Kai insists. She's his mother, so of course he'd want her in his life.

Shelly shakes her head. Opening her eyes, she gazes past Kai and at May's wary blue orbs. "Like I said, Kai, I'm not meant to be a mother." Shelly motions to May, which makes Drew defensively move in front of the brunette. Smirking slightly, Shelly says, "Calm down, Mr. Hayden, I won't hurt you."

"Mom, what are you doing?" Kai takes another step towards her.

"Letting you finally be happy." Shelly nods at May and Drew. "Your dad is gone, so you'll be going with them."

"You can come too!" pleads the tearful boy. Why can't everyone just get along?

"No, Kai." Shelly sternly tells him. Her eyes dart back to his where she gives him a small smile. "You've grown up a lot since I left you at the orphanage. You don't need me anymore-"

"But I want you! You're my mom!"

"No. I was never a mother to you." She was always in and out while Brendan did all the caretaking. "I won't bother you all again. I'm not your mother, Kai."

Sobbing, the boy chokes out, "No! Why can't you come with us?"

"Because I love Team Aqua more than I love you." Kai's mouth falls open in shock, though a part of him always knew this. "May and Drew love you more than I do."

Shelly recalls the battles she had with them as well as her encounters with May these past couple of weeks. This whole journey as well as May willing to sacrifice herself for Kai just reminds Shelly of Brendan. Shelly already got someone important to Kai killed once. Thus, Shelly won't let it happen again. The pinkette has grown somewhat since that traumatic time.

Meeting May's surprised eyes, Shelly smirks at her. "He's all yours now. I'll be out of your hair."

"Mom."

The weak voice makes Shelly look down at Kai again. She can't help but smile at his red bandana and the white hair that looks like Brendan's white beanie. Kai really does look like a mini version of Brendan, especially with that intense strong look in his little eyes. Brendan may not be Kai's biological father, but Kai has taken after him the most.

"Yes, Kai?" She'll stop calling him her son. It'll make all of this easier.

Kai won't let his voice crack. No. He needs to be strong doing this. "Thank you..Shelly."

Nodding, the woman turns around. She clicks a button on her remote, which makes everyone start to panic. This was a trap! Drew curses himself for letting his guard down over this sinister woman's kind act. However, nothing happens when the button is clicked. Shay and SHane exchange confused glances.

"I disabled all the traps. Your friends are in the boat house on the first floor in the east wing." Shelly is glad her back is to them so that they can't see her tears. "You better keep loving him more than me, May."

May blinks in confusion at the retreating woman. Before Shelly gets too far away, May's face breaks out in a smile. "Thank you, Shelly! I will always love Kai!" He's her family.

Once Shelly is out of sight, Kai wipes at his tears. He turns back around to see his friends. No. His family. Meeting May's gleeful blue eyes, Kai sprints over to tackle her in a hug. "I love you, May!" He tightly holds her for fear that once he lets go, she won't be here anymore. That this is all a dream.

Sniffling into his shoulder, May's tight grip keeps him close. "I love you too, Kai. I'm so happy you're back."

"Munch!" Munchlax joins in, and soon, everyone else does too.

After a few minutes of their second group hug and crying, someone says, "You found Kai?"

Everyone releases themselves from the hug, though Kai remains by May's side. They look towards the voice to see a man with glasses on and a woman. "Max?" May gasps out. "Vivi? Where's mom and dad?" Max and Vivi are supposed to be with their parents.

Max shrugs. "We got separated. How are you guys together?" He points to the Enbar siblings and Drew and May. They were supposed to be in different groups.

"Same." Shane sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "But Shay and I ran into Drew and May."

"And then we found this guy." Drew wraps an arm around Kai's neck. The man is glad Kai is back. They feel complete with him here.

"I'm glad!" Vivi grins. She really wants to meet Kai after learning how much everyone is going for him.

"Well, I think the traps are disabled, so we should get out of here." Max mentions. His trap reader hasn't gone off for a few minutes now. It's how he was able to enter the basement safely. He and Vivi were headed down here because they could feel the ground shaking from the large battle. They figured some of their team must be battling.

May nods. "The traps are disabled. We should meet everyone in the boat house."

"Where's that?" Vivi asks.

"East wing, first floor." Shay answers.

Max and Vivi are confused about how calm this group is, but like everyone else, they just want to leave now that they have Kai. "C'mon. Let's go." Max leads them out of the basement.