Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.

The beeping noise coming from the big machine pumping oxygen directly at the unconscious patient's lungs is the only thing sounding inside this particular hospital room. Sitting alone on a familiar padded armchair, Steven is silently looking at his father, both hands pressing against the lower half of his face barely hiding the grimace that took over him.

"Why…?" This question has escaped his lips too many times now, like a mantra Steven continues to ask the same thing as he waits for any changes on his father's condition. He sighed and slid his hands upwards, hiding his face completely as his mind wandered to the traumatic events of a few hours earlier.

Steven reached the last floor of the Devon Company building, he couldn't hear any voices or screams. Yet his body pushed itself inside the unstable ground, his eyes frantically looking for someone. Each stern and mindful step making his mind get even more agitated and restless. Is his father not here anymore? Or is he but something happened to him? Each popping question hitting Steven hard on his already racing mind.

"Please… answer me." A faint weeping voice sounded from the west side of the office room, this little sign of hope and distraught cause Steven to rush in, ignoring the crumbling tiles and the raging noise coming from the entire building.

As he turned a corner over a collapsed bookshelf, he saw the company's financial chef holding onto the president's hands, the aged old man with his eyes shut and a large stone column lying on top of his lower body. "Father! What happened to him?" Steven asked the woman, who jumped frightened after hearing his voice pop-up from nowhere.

"T-the President… He saved my life." The woman that Steven grew up knowing as a fierce, strict and sometimes cold person; is now breaking down in tears, clinging to Mr. Stone's body like a scared child. "He pushed me away before the column could fall on top of me, but…" She shrunk even more on her spot, glancing at the unconscious man. "I'm so sorry Steven… I'm so sorry President."

"Miss Hannah… You have nothing to be sorry for." Steven placed one hand on her shoulders and slowly pulled her away from his father. He kneeled down, leaning closer and placed one hand on his father's back, he closed his eyes and simply cleared his mind. "He's alive!" Steven said after feeling a faint heartbeat coming from his father. "We need to get him out of here." He jumped from his spot clearing away some space as he reached for one of his Poké-Balls.

In a show of glowing light, a sparkling grey Metagross appeared beside his trainer. The ever-faithful Pokémon saw Joseph's unfortunate condition and let out a saddened cry, with no need for orders or anything of the sorts, Metagross reached for the heavy and large stone bar and lifted it away from Joseph, tossing the damned thing to the other side of the room.

Steven promptly rushed back to his father side and surprisingly raised him up, taking the older and fairly chubby man on his arms. "We have to exit the building, with a hole that big on the walls, the structure is bound to fall at any moment." He said looking to Hanah, who just stared at him in disbelief.

"Steven, do you know what- Ahhh!" Hannah yelped in surprise as her balance was taken away from her, a sudden shock wave forcing the woman on the floor again.

A loud explosive sound came from below, making the whole building shake like a green leaf standing against the wind. Large cracks appearing on the walls, huge parts of the ceiling falling down, some missing Steven and Hannah by just inches. Steven held his father close to his chest, leaning his back on his Metagross in an attempt to stay standing inside the turmoil happening around him.

"What on heavens is happening downstairs?" Hannah asked, clear signs of panic showing on her voice. Without notice the other half of the room shook violently and came crashing down on top of the lower floors, leaving a large open gap on the president's office. In an utter shock of the scene, the woman jumped from the ground, wrapping her arms around Steven's right leg, her entire being shaking in fear.

"We are trapped…" Steven glanced at what used to be the exit from where he came from, now there is nothing but the open sky on that area. "We have to jump out, or we will get squashed by the other half."

"What?" Hannah stood up and stepped away from him. "We can't jump out, look how far up we are." She pointed to the side at the clear view of the city below.

"I have an idea. Please hold on to father for a moment." Steven rested Joseph's body next to Hannah, putting his head on her hands. He then reached for another Poké-ball and called out his Aerodactyl. The big flying dinosaur flapped his wings proudly as he landed next to his trainer and with a quick nodding from the man, the big-mouthed Pokémon rested its belly on the ground, opening its wings as far as he could.

"Get on top of him." Steven practically ordered as he once again picked his father up.

"But."

"No buts, just listen to me. Please." Steven said pleading, the tone of his voice and the colorful glint of his eyes winning over the woman's hesitation.

Hannah nodded and climbed on top of the Aerodactyl, the peaceful breathing rhythm coming from the pre-historical flyer calming her down, making her shaky arms finally rest. "What now?" Her question was quickly answered as Steven placed Mr. Stone in front of her and grabbed her hands, putting them on top of the older man.

"Take care of him." He looked at the woman in her eyes and nodded. "Go!" He shouted with all his might, ordering his flying Pokémon, who quickly flapped his wings and took flight, going as fast as possible away from the collapsing hell of stones and metal.

Metagross walked over to Steven and cried out, sounding his concerns about their situation.

"Don't worry, big guy." Steven patted his friend right above his golden cross. "We will see each other later." With that he called his metallic Pokémon back to his Poké-ball, quickly reaching over to another one. "Let's jump out of this mess." Steven didn't even wait for his Skarmory to assert the situation and jumped at the back of the silver bird.

Skarmory cried out and growled in confusion, shaking her body in reaction.

"I will give you any treat you want later, but for now. Just please fly away as fast as you can." Steven said, nuzzling his cheeks on the metallic sky terror's back. With a happy squeal, Skarmory flapped her wings rapidly and jumped out from the huge open gap on the office, flying away as her trainer asked.

"Wait." Steven tapped her on the back again. "Down! Go down, now." He shouted loudly, much to Skarmory discomfort, yet the bird obeyed and made an impressive dive going with her nose pointing directly at the ground.

Steven extended his right arm out while keeping a tight hold to his Pokémon with his left hand. He felt a forceful dug on this hand, making him grit his teeth in pain.

"Steven?!" Brendan said, surprised to be caught in midair by someone. The young champion quickly turned his body to grab hold of Steven and the flying Pokémon. "I love you. God, I love you so much right now."

"Do I even want to know why are you naked?" Steven pointed out the lack of shirt on the other man's part.

"Because the fire got me!" Brendan shouted to make his voice louder than the strong winds hitting his face.

Steven nodded understanding that now is not the time for a little chat. He sighed in relief for saving his close friend but also sighed in frustration with the sight of the Devon Company complex collapsed and burning with wild flames. 'What happened here today?' Steven asked himself.

A soft click of the door handle got Steven attention; he glanced to the side and watch as Brendan slowly opened the door.

"Hey… I got something for you." Brendan entered the room holding a small plastic mug with little transparent vapor coming out of it. "You can't probably sleep right now, so this might help."

"Thanks." Steven gladly received mug giving back a short smile of appreciation. He held the base of the hot cup with his right hand and the body with his left one. With a soft blow, he cleared away the smoldering clear steam, a sweat scent invading his nostrils. The welcoming fragrance made him raise the cup even more, taking a quick sip, just enough to feel the taste of the beverage. "Strawberry tea?" He glanced at his friends, eyes widen in surprise.

"Strange, right?" Brendan replied with a smile. "I found a little on a kitchen down the hall. I liked, so I brought you some."

"I liked it too… Thank you, really." Taking another sip from his little mug, Steven turned his gaze back to large bad in the other side of the room and sighed. "What a night."

"I know…" Brendan clinched his fingers on the borrowed shirt he got from the hospital, the green fabric wrinkling at the force of his gesture.

Steven could not help but notice a strange behavior coming from his friend, Brendan has always been a bit silent on the last years, but this right now is beyond even him. His breathing is restless; his eyes are in alert, glancing behind his shoulders at every odd minute as if he is afraid of something popping up behind him at any moment. "Brendan, you have something you want to talk about?" Steven asked, watching Brendan's reaction.

"I… No, I don't." The reply was short but without any conviction. "I'm just a bit shocked with that explosion and all that… I guess…" Brendan lied, and he felt bad for doing it. Never once in his life he liked to lie, but lying to his best friend is just extremely wrong in his eyes, and yet he cannot bring himself to tell the truth.

"That second explosion, you saw it, didn't you?" Steven gulped down a mouthful of his tea, his eyes still focused on the other man. "Anything to say on that?"

"I… I didn't even notice until it happened." Brendan bit his lips for a moment but continued anyway. "That was when I got burned and all that. Right after I jumped out of the building and you saved me."

'What is he hiding away from me? And why is hiding something?' Steven pondered to himself, holding the tip of the plastic mug on his lips. "I can barely get my head to think on a reason for why and how would a building that tall and sturdy to start exploding like that." He lowered his head and let out a sarcastic little laugh. "Any guesses?"

"Just as clueless as you are." Another short reply from the young champion. A sign that he is not about to spit whatever he is holding inside of him and Steven decided to respect that.

He stood up from his seat and walked over to his father, he stood there for a few minutes just looking at him with a saddened frown. "Then I guess is my time to talk." He said with a strange cold feeling to his tone. "I called you to Rustboro for a reason, remember?"

"I do." Brendan said back.

"Let's talk somewhere else. We should let him rest a bit." Steven nod with his head, pointing to Joseph's unconscious form.

With Steven leading the way, they both stepped out of the room, making as little noise as possible. The quiet atmosphere that accompanied them inside that room, is now completely gone, the wide hallway is buzzing with voices and sounds, people walking around in a frenzy, both the hospital staff as bystanders that came after the terrible news spread quickly around Hoenn.

"I thought they would reserve this floor a little better." Steven said feeling a bit agitated and annoyed by the number of people bumping into him.

"And they are." Brendan said back. "Compared to the rest of this place, this floor seems like a zen paradise." He stopped for a moment which in turn made Steven stop as well. "I know you don't want to hear this but… You will probably need to go downstairs sometime soon or those reporters will end-up storming up to this floor."

"I suppose so… Did you see how many are there?" Steven asked with hesitation.

"One hundred of them? I couldn't count with so many people barging in together, asking a buttload of questions to everyone they could find." A troubled frown formed on Brendan's expression, he shook his head and continued. "I was lucky to be watching from the third floor or they would have ambushed me too. But I guess some of them saw me since they started shouting: 'Look is the champion.'

"That my friend, is the burden of being a celebrity. They will track you down for any bit of juicy information they can get." For the first time since this awful incident happened, Steven laughed. It was a short and dry laugh, but a genuine one nonetheless.

"I never asked for that. Sadly, on the job description you gave me, it failed to mention this tiny bit." Brendan snorted, a bit annoyed, but smiling friendly. "Fame does not suit me."

"That is something for neither me or you to decide. Another burden of being famous, I guess." Steven made a signal with his hands, asking for Brendan to follow him again. "Anyway, if we can't go down without getting devoured by the cameras, there is only one place left that will offer a bit of privacy."

Steven changed his attention to the path ahead, his mood going back to what it was a few minutes ago and the strange coldness coming from him unsettling Brendan a little bit. This led to an awkward silence between then, Steven pacing his steps quickly on the clean floor with Brendan following close by, staring at his back, feeling increasingly nervous at each step.

"This is a good spot." Steven said pushing open the door out to the hospital rooftop. The chilly breeze rushing at him brought a soothing feeling, comforting his skin on its touch.

Brendan on the other hand, shivered slightly holding both arms close to his chest, the force of the wind pushing the fabric of his shirt against his body, making him hiss in pain and reach for the wounded part of his back.

"I specifically asked you to show that wound to a doctor, didn't I?" Steven's voice carried a disapproving tone on it, as did his gaze. "Why are you so stubborn at times?"

"Because I'm fine, really." Brendan frowned and shifted his gaze to the side, just like a kid would do when scolded by their parents. "There are a lot more people who need medical care, this -" He pointed to his shoulder. "Is just a little burning mark, give it a few hours and it will stop itching." Closing the door behind him, the young trainer walked forward, his eyes wandering far high to the shining dots in the sky. "You didn't bring me here to nag about my injury, did you?"

"No, I didn't." How to say it, how to break down to his friend something that will hurt him way more than any flesh wound. Steven's mind raced around itself, looking for a simpler or easier way of doing this. But there is none, nothing about this is going to be simple or easy, yet he has to do it, he has to say it. "Brendan… you have to stop seeing that girl." Steven finally said.

"Zinnia?" Brendan turned to Steven, looking lost as he did. "Why would I do that?"

"Because she is trouble and she will hurt you." Even Steven knew that he sounds like a madman, speaking incoherently about someone.

"Again with this? I thought you were just joking on the first time." Frustration venting out of Brendan's mouth.

"How can you so blindly believe someone like that?" Steven basically shouted his answer in anger. "Remember how volatile she is, she almost killed all of us."

"But she didn't, she was doing what she thought it was right. Hell, if was not for her, maybe that thing would have crashed on top of us." After another heated outburst, Brendan collected himself, brushing his eyes slowly with two fingers. "She saved me, Steven… After…" He lowered his head, hiding away the pained expression on his face. "I can finally smile again, I feel loved. She is the light that makes everything in my life so bright and alive. And you are asking me to throw that away… Why?"

"Just trust me…" Steven bit his lips, to break his friend's heart like this pained him even more after hearing how much Brendan likes her. But the other option is even worse, to let his friend stay oblivious to what he saw that day, is just… wrong. "You have to break away from her."

"WHY?!" Brendan raised his head in a jolt, shouting so fiercely that even the sky seemed to shake at the weight of his voice.

'BECAUSE SHE IS CHEATING YOU!' Those words exploded on Steven's head, he gritted his teeth in anger, in desperation. He wants to shout that so badly, at this point no to just warn his friend, but to prove that he is not wrong, no that snake of a woman is the one wrong here. 'She is having an affair with another guy, she is rotten, she doesn't deserve you.' Words after words, none of them came out, Steven couldn't say them, he cannot do this to Brendan.

"Steven!" Brendan called, his eyes demanding an answer but at the same time looking at him pleading for honesty, for… safety.

"I don't trust her." It was all that Steven could say. His shoulders shaking with frustration, he hated himself for being weak at this moment. "Sorry Brendan, but I don't trust her."

"I do." Brendan replied, turning away from Steven. "I love her."

That was it, Steven failed to do what he needed and those last three words coming from Brendan killed the conversation instantly. Looking at Brendan's back, Steven frowned, sighed and cursed himself again for being weak but at this point… he did the only thing he could. He turned away and left. "Sorry… Brendan." He said again, but only he knew the real reason behind those words.

"Where is he?" A loud, wild and energetic feminine voice came from the hallway. Steven could not point out from where he recognize this one, but he sure remembers this tone of aggravating voice.

"He, who?" Another woman asked with a certain confusion clear on her voice. "Hey, wait a minute. You can't enter there."

The door to Joseph's room exploded open, falling pretty to a fearsome kick from a raging draconic woman. "Brendan!" Zinnia exclaimed in full voice, her eyes directly going to the man on lying on the bed.

"Not here." Steven responded with a cold voice. The former champion raised from his seat, shooting a warning glare to the newcomer. "Please don't raise your voice in a hospital."

"Sorry, I got the wrong room." She slightly bowed; an etiquette that Steven believed she would never have. "Heh, my bad for breaking in like that. I'm looking for someone." Zinnia put her hand a little above her head and cleared her throat. "He is somewhat this high, long hair and has a cute face. Have you seen him?"

"I know Brendan, he is my friend." He responded with a tired sigh.

"Oh, great. I was getting kind of desperate here." Zinnia smiled genuinely to the light-blue haired man. "Nice to meet ya, my name is-"

"I know you too, Lorekeeper. You already know me as well, but you probably don't remember me, I doubt you would have the decency to remember about that." Without giving mind to her presence or even caring for her opinion, Steven eyed her from head to toes, his stern gaze sending chills down her spine.

"Yeah… nice talking with you and all that. But I need to go." She quickly turned away, eyes wide open in the strangeness of what just happened.

"Say, do you even love him?"

The question that came out of the blue caught her by surprise. "Excuse me?" She only turned enough to look at the man with the corner of her eyes. She noticed the disgust in his eyes, something that prompted her to glare back at the man with the same intensity.

"Brendan, do you even love him?" He pressed on, his glare unrelenting the pressure on her.

"What are you, his mom?" She said with a mocking smirk. "I don't know from where you get this familiarity with MY boyfriend or even with me. But I don't need to answer you anything… you weirdo."

"That answers my question pretty well." Steven got back on his armchair, crossing his legs and averting his gaze away from the woman. "Brendan is at the rooftop, you can get there from the entrance at the end of the hall."

"Thanks a bunch…" She gave a sarcastic reply, sticking her tongue out to the unpleasant man. Her first step towards the door was heavy and angry, something she did to make a point, what point that was? Not even Zinnia knows, only that she is pissed as hell.

"If you like him… even a little bit. Get the hell away from Brendan." A plead that sounded a lot more like a threat was the last thing Steven said before she slammed the door behind her, leaving him alone with his father on the bedroom.

"Wow… an angry fella, that one huh?" Max commented as soon as Zinnia walked out of the room. The snooping happy going man is leaning against the wall next to the door, his trusted bag resting at his left side. The man looked at Zinnia and gave her a cocky little grin.

"I prefer to not even comment on this one." She replied fuming and her cheeks red with anger. 'Stay away from Brendan?… who that one thinks he is?'

"What's the plan? We can fairly certainly deduce that our guys are the ones behind this mess." Max asked getting away from his little spot and following his partner down the hall. "You think that cute lover boy knows anything?"

"I don't know." She said dry and short.

"So why are we here?" He said raising his eyebrows in a questioning way.

"You? I do not know. I'm going to see how Brendan is, this may come as a surprise to you but I really care about him." Her mind trailed back to the unfortunate little talk of just before, making her puff annoyed. "Apparently that is something people don't believe in."

"Geez, no need to bark at me. You can cuddle him all you want just don't forget that we are in a tight deadline here." As he finished his sentence, Max persona changed; his eyes that are always hazy and lazy are now focused and serious, his face features going form friendly to dangerously intimidating. "People lives are on the line and something tells me that this night was just the beginning."

"You are the cop, not me." She said back, not showing signs of caring for his sudden change of tone and behavior.

"Aw… but I need your help to resolve this. If the last case is anything to take notes on, your presence was instrumental to nail those criminals." In a blink of an eye, the playful Max was back as if he had never left. "Well, for now, I will leave you to your lover. I will just work on getting some clues… all alone… by myself." Like a dejected puppy, the tall man wandered down the path they came from, his shoulders sagging down and his head laying low.

"How he managed to get married is beyond me…" Zinnia smirked at her own comment, watching Max walk away until he got out of sight. And with nothing else holding her down, she glanced at the door a few steps away, yearning to see her innocent champion once again.

"Isn't she the cutest thing ever?" A beaming mother with the widest grin showed her little baby's face to Wally for what is now the fourth time. "Look, look. She is smiling at you; big brother is going to be jealous."

The green-haired youth let out a troubled smile, while he is not the greatest person with kids, he doesn't mind playing with a baby. However, when her mother keeps rubbing the little girl cuteness on his face all the time, it is getting a bit overwhelming.

"Honey, let the boy breath." Norman walked over from the kitchen, holding a tray with three cups full of cold tea. "Look, he is looking all red on the face."

"I don't mind." He actually does and is very glad that Norman stepped in. "Jully is very cute, She looks like a sleepy Torchic with that fluffy clothes."

"Hahaha, my little Torchic." The woman nuzzled her cheeks on Jully's little belly making the baby girl giggle happily. "Oh, looks like this tiny chick prepared me a little present." She waved one hand in front of her nose, making a funny face. "Let's take a look at this, shall we?" Humming happily, she walked over to the second floor of the house carrying the little girl on her arms.

Wally took one of the cups in his hands and blew the steam away, he gave it a quick sip and his face wrinkled with the strong bitter taste of his beverage.

"Haha, you don't drink black tea very often, do you?" Norman took a cup for himself and gladly drank a large sip out of it. "It gets better with time, trust me."

"Jully is like a shining little light isn't her?" Wally commented.

"Yeah, she is… And she is not the only one." Norman sighed happily, resting his cup on the table. He closed his eyes taking a short trip to the past. "The last time I saw my wife giggle and smile that much, Brendan was a little toddler himself. After he went to find his own path in life, it was hard for her… and for me. He grew up to fast in my opinion."

"That sounds a bit dramatic in my opinion, but I guess only a parent would understand that."

"Something like that, you will get the idea when you have your own kids." The older man chuckled at Wally's faint blush.

"Maybe one day… Who knows?" The young Gym Leader grinned back to his mentor. He then took another sip of his tea; the bitter taste overwhelmed his throat again, making his body cringe on the chair.

"Hahahaha! Don't give up, kid." Norman casually drank another large gulp of his tea giving a challenging look to his pupil. Wally felt compelled to respond in kind and drink the whole thing in one go, but it tastes so bad… Oh, the dilemma.

"Today, that mark is the only thing that I will leave on you." Red shining eyes flashed on Brendan's mind, his head still being tormented with the memories of a couple of hours early. He felt a movement to his left side, his eyes quickly following on instincts. For a moment, a shadowy silhouette appeared before him, the same red eyes from before gazing at him, mocking his weakness, making Brendan gasp for air and hold his chest tight with one hand.

The shadow faded away as the full moon bathed the area with its pure light. Brendan could finally breath normally again, the faint pain on his chest vanishing together with the dark image that is now haunting him. "Get a hold of yourself, Brendan…"

Then a second image appeared right in front of Brendan, another shadow of a person. However, this time it is not the man he saw earlier on the Devon Company, no… it is a shadow of himself with deep and enraged red eyes. "Weak." His own voice ringed on his mind followed by a piercing pain on his chest, the shadow quickly faded, but its voice continued to echo on his mind, never going away.

"Hey, there you are. Heh, why are you so hard to find sometimes?" The exit door opened up and a smiling Zinnia came out. Her bright red eyes looking ever so longing to the man sitting next metal grids at the corner of the roof.

"N-no way." Brendan said in panic, he backed away onto the metal bars hitting his back on its cold surface. Yet he didn't care about the burning pain on his shoulder, he didn't care on how close he is now from the edge of the building, the only thing on his mind are those bright red eyes staring at him, staring directly at him.

"Brendan?" Zinnia walked closer reaching with one hand toward him.

"Stay away!" Brendan shouted, banging his side at the metal grids. "Stay the hell away from me." He jumped to his feet, standing in defensive stance. For a moment he threatened to run, if he was running forward directly at those eyes or to the opposite side, he could not even process that right now. Then his knees gave away throwing him down on the floor, he took both hands to his chest squeezing the fabric of his green shirt within his fingers. Brendan gasped for air, again and again, a panic attack forcing him to close his eyes in pain and confusion.

The draconid woman ran as fast as she could, throwing herself on the ground to envelope Brendan in a tight embrace. "Brendan. It's okay, I'm here now." She tried to sound calm, but his frantic state making her own voice crack. "Please, calm down. Just listen to me and calm down." Her voice made his body go wild, twitching and jerking out of control, she pulled him even closer and continued to beg him to calm down. The desperation building inside of her making a few tears appears in her eyes.

"Ah… Ah… Zi-Zinnia?" Brendan said with a broken voice, he finally began to come back to his senses even though his eyes are still shifting all around out of control.

"Yeah, it's me." She said looking at him sadly. She noticed that he calmed down with the sound of her voice, but gave no signs of actually understanding her. "Oh, Brendan… what happened to you?"

Took some time for him to stop shaking, but Zinnia's touch made wonders to ease his state. "There were so many…" He said quietly in a rush of his breath.

"Huh?" She asked, brushing his hair with her hand.

"So many deaths… I saw them, lying on the floor. Their bodies…" Brendan made a motion to throw-up buck somehow was able to keep it inside of him. "I couldn't stop that guy. Forgive me, I couldn't… " As he finished his sentence, Brendan passed out and just like he became a hot pile of nerves in a moment, now he withered down, going null and soft like a ragdoll.

The weight of his body suddenly falling down on her, buried Zinnia beneath Brendan's unconscious form. She carefully fought her way out of this lock and embraced his upper body like a protective bird mother. The awkward position he landed himself in, pushed his borrowed shirt to its limit. The little buttons at the back of the clothing gave away and slid in two separate ways on his back, revealing the large red mark still fresh on Brendan's skin.

She winced at the sight of his burned back, her hands traveled down to the injured spot, tracing the red mark with care so to not hurt him even more. "If I get my hands on who did this to you…" Zinnia gritted her teeth, a few more tears sliding down on her cheeks. "They are dead." Her features turning into a mess of rage and sadness, an exact contrast from her normally cherishing and easygoing way.

A horde of reporters is waiting on the first floor of the hospital, more accurately, at the reception. There are so many people at the entrance that they have become an entirely new problem to the staff and anyone in need of medical care. Some of the more invasive and less scrupulous professionals have sneaked their way to the other floors, interviewing the victims and their family members.

'This cannot wait.' Steven frowned at the disastrous scene unfolding in front of him. A bit of hesitation still lingering inside of his heart as he made his way down the stairs, he doesn't want to go through this right now, but he needs to, it is his obligation as his father's heir.

"Someone is coming." A curious reporter pointed at the stairs.

"It's Mr. Stone's son." Another one shouted in surprise. "Steven, can you spare a word on this incident." He and all his other colleagues barreled themselves toward him, filling first steps with cameras and microphones.

"While I understand that this is something big and everyone wants answers. I will have to ask all of you to leave, this is not the place for a public speech and this undesired commotion is just making the entire situation worse." Steven voices echoed on the first floor but made little to quench their thirst for answers.

"What is the status on Mr. Stone?" A female reporter asked.

"Any clue on what happened?" A male on shouted from the back.

"Please stop this madness!" Steven shouted louder than every one of them, the shock silencing the curious snoopers. "Tomorrow I will receive everyone in front of… what remains of the Devon Company building, then I will answer any and all of your questions." He raised one hand to sign that he is not done and continued. "My father is not on condition to talk, so I will take his place as the spokesperson of the Company."

The reporters aren't especially satisfied with so little information, but the stern gaze coming from Steven deflated any attempt of starting another riot inside these walls.

Steven clenched his fists, he knows that he should not do this. It is stupid and reckless, it will probably do more harm than good, but he can't contain himself, he is biting his lips so hard that a faint taste of blood touched his tongue. "On a final note, I will like to add something." He pointed at the direction of the cameras, glaring ever so angrily at them, his eyes are not really focused on the electronics pointed at him but rather at someone that would probably see him through them. "To whoever was responsible for this incident… responsible for this attack. I will say this: I will find you and I will bring you to justice."

His reckless mistake got the entire crowd riled up again, another uproar exploded on the already tumultuous floor, questions after question flying in the air. While Steven gave those people so little to work with, what he said on the end was enough to start a spiral of things that until tomorrow will blow out of proportion.

If you are liking the story so far, please leave a review. :)

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Kersplunk chapter 9 . Mar 18 – Pardon my ignorance, but what is a Mofo?

Oh and don't be so harsh on Birch, any Poké-Professor would get excited after seeing a new legendary Pokémon in front of them.