Alright, guys, new chapter! And I hate to say it, but this might be the last on time update for a little while. I'm SUPPOSED to go back to college next week, but I'm trying to transfer schools. If it doesn't work, my parents are going to try to send me back there. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I DON'T get sent back, but I literally have no idea where my life is headed with next week. So, wait and see. But for now, enjoy this update, since it's on time and ready to go!

Last time: Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon reached the Saffron Gym, and discovered it's also the home to the psychic institute. They are stopped by a teenage boy named Jared, however, who claims the building isn't the gym. His plan is foiled by his older brother, Franklin, however, who explains that they are Sabrina's sons, and that it is in fact the Saffron Gym. Angered, Jared challenges Aiden to battle. After Aiden wins, Sabrina arrives and discovers her youngest son's indescretion, punishing him by forcing him to clean up the battle field. After chatting with the gym leader, Sabrina begins her battle with Aiden. But the battle doesn't go completely as planned: right in the middle of the match, Aiden's egg starts to hatch! (hey...that rhymes!)

Chapter 21: Surprises and New Arrivals!

"Aiden, your egg is hatching!"

The young trainer stopped. Just completely stopped. His body grew rigid, his brain no longer processing anything. Absol sensed his trainer's distress and stopped in his tracks, standing up straight on his four legs and staring over at Aiden.

"Ala?" Alakazam asked, lowering his own arms. Even Sabrina had to admit that she was a little confused as to what was going on.

Finally, something in Aiden seemed to have snapped. He whipped around and ran right off the battle field, grabbing his egg case and pressing his nose against the glass in order to examine the colorful oval held inside. It was indeed flashing white, which meant that it was on its way to hatching.

"Sabrina!" Aiden gasped, turning back around so she could see the case in his hands. "Do you think maybe we could postpone the battle? Please?"

"Of course," Sabrina giggled softly.

"Ah, what do we do?!" Aiden panicked, holding the case closer to his body. "Do we take it out of the case? Get some towels? Where are the towels?!"

"Would you relax?!" Michelle stood up and yanked on her brother's ear, causing him to yelp in pain. "You're worse than a real dad!"

"Come, we'll take the egg to the Saffron Pokémon Center," Sabrina had walked the length of the battle field in order to join the two rambunctious siblings. "Nurse Joy will be able to help us out there."

XXX

"Nurse Joy! Help us! Quick!"

The pink haired nurse, who was standing behind the desk, whipped around with wide eyes at the sound of Aiden's cries. When she saw the boy holding an egg case, which contained a flashing oval, she gasped and ran out from behind the desk.

"Oh my, that egg is about to hatch!" Nurse Joy exclaimed.

"Uh huh," Aiden nodded. "Can you help, Nurse Joy?"

"Of course I can," Nurse Joy smiled at Aiden, taking the case out of his hands. "Just follow me into the back! Chansey, come along now. We've got work to do!"

"Chan-sey!" The happy pink Pokémon nodded, following after the human nurse.

She carried the case into the back of the Pokémon Center, with Aiden and his travelling companions trailing behind. Reaching the examination room, Nurse Joy placed the case down on the silver table before opening the top and removing the flashing oval from inside, instead resting it on a soft, white cushion. The flashing was only becoming more and more regular, causing Aiden to grow nervous. He was excited, too, especially to see what kind of Pokémon he'd have once the egg actually hatched. Bu the anxiety, at the moment, was overwhelming.

"Chanse!" Chansey chimed, handing a stethoscope over to the Pokémon nurse.

"Thank you, Chansey," Nurse Joy smiled and took the doctor's tool from her partner Pokémon. She stuck the buds into her ears and held the silver circle against the egg's surface, listening intently to the inside of the rapidly flashing oval. As Nurse Joy opened her mouth to say something, the egg's glow became a solid white, no longer flashing. She gasped and put the stethoscope down, her eyes widening and face paling a shade. "That was…fast…"

"That doesn't sound good," Brandon muttered, causing Aiden's heart to race even faster.

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked, her own voice laced with nervousness.

"Uncle Brock tells me about this kind of stuff, since he is a Pokémon doctor who deals with hatching eggs all the time," Brandon bit his lip. "Sometimes, an egg will begin hatching too quickly, or too soon. And trust me, you know when that's happening."

"So you think Aiden's egg wasn't supposed to hatch yet?" Michelle's shoulders fell.

"It seems that way to me," Brandon nodded. "But we can't be positive until it actually happens."

Finally, the egg's oval shape changed into a bipedal form, with a tail. The glow soon faded away, revealing a blue, dog like Pokémon who was very well known to the three young trainers standing before it.

"Riolu…" Michelle breathed.

"No way…" Aiden's eyes were wide; as big as saucers. He couldn't believe he had a Riolu! It was an amazing feeling. Aiden had always thought of Riolu as such a cool Pokémon…and now it was all his! "Hey there!" Aiden greeted softly, kneeling down in front of the newly hatched creature. "My name is Aiden. I'm your trainer, Riolu!"

Unfortunately, the fighting type didn't seem to be listening. Its eyes were sealed shut, and a severe blush was painted across the baby Pokémon's nose. Leaning in closer, Aiden was also able to see that Riolu's body was trembling.

"Hey, Riolu…" Aiden gently touched the Pokémon's paw. As soon as they made contact, however, Riolu fell backwards, fortunately keeping all of his body on the white cushion below. "Riolu!"

"It's exactly what I was afraid of when I saw that rapid flashing," Nurse Joy shook her head and began to examine Riolu, pressing her hand against the baby's forehead. "The egg hatched too soon. Riolu is very weak…and he's running a fever on top of it."

"What do we do?" Aiden asked, his voice wavering.

"I'm going to put Riolu in a special incubator to try and settle its body temperature," Nurse Joy motioned for Chansey to get a stretcher for the ill Pokémon. "It might also have some respiratory issues, so that will help as well. I'll give Riolu a full examination once I get it into the incubator."

"Do you think it'll be okay?" Aiden practically whimpered as Chansey reappeared with the stretcher.

"I can't say anything for sure until I give Riolu a complete analysis," Nurse Joy frowned. "For now, you three can just wait in the lobby. I'll come out after I finish checking out Riolu."

Aiden nodded slowly and mechanically, much like a robot. Although he felt numb, Aiden managed to follow his sister and best friend out of the Center's emergency room and back into the lobby, where Sabrina was still standing in the middle of the room. Aiden, despite his downtrodden state, was admittedly surprised to see Sabrina still there. She was a caring woman, despite her lack of visible emotion.

"Well?" Sabrina prompted. "What kind of Pokémon do you have, Aiden?"

"A Riolu," Aiden replied with a frown.

"Is something wrong?" Sabrina's own lips bent down as well.

"It turns out the egg hatched too early," Aiden scuffed his sneaker at the shiny linoleum floor of the lobby. "So Riolu is sick."

"How badly?"

"We don't know," Aiden sulked. "Not until Nurse Joy gives it a full examination. She's going to do that now."

"So we'll wait," Sabrina softly informed the trainer, causing him to glance up with confused brown eyes.

"Huh?"

"For the battle, I mean," Sabrina smiled gently at the boy. "We can hold off until you know that Riolu's healed. I want to battle with a fully focused Aiden, and you certainly can't do that when you have an ill Pokémon."

"Right," Aiden muttered, his eyes going downcast once again. "Excuse me…"

He skirted past Sabrina, much to Michelle and Brandon's surprise. The raven haired boy was trudging over to the video phones, sitting down in front of one and picking up the phone in order to dial a number.

"Aiden is…making a phone call?" Brandon questioned.

"To who?" Michelle furrowed her brow.

Smirking, Sabrina let out a small giggle and peered over her shoulder at the boy, murmuring, "I think I know who he's going to."

Aiden waited a few moments, and was relieved when the screen in front of him finally came to life with the image of his mother. She was beaming, obviously thrilled that her son had actually taken the time to call her. That look of joy was replaced with one of concern, however, when she realized that the boy seemed downright miserable.

"Aiden, sweetie, what's wrong?" Misty pressed.

"My egg hatched," Aiden begrudgingly answered.

"Well, that's great!" Misty smiled again until she let those words sink in. "Did something happen to the Pokémon?"

"It hatched into a Riolu, Mom, but it's sick," Aiden fretted. "The egg hatched too soon. And now I'm…I'm worried."

Sighing, Misty gave the boy a sympathetic smile, which only bewildered him. "There's no need to be worried, sweetheart. I'm sure that Riolu will be just fine. You have to have faith in it."

"How?" Aiden seemed genuinely curious.

"I know that it's scary, and that you're really worried about Riolu," Misty explained. "But just because it hatched early, doesn't mean there's no hope for Riolu. No one knows this better than me and your Dad."

"But how do you know?" Aiden sighed.

"Because I didn't have a single one of you when I was supposed to," Misty shook her head. "You and Michelle, and then Elizabeth. You were all born too early. And you three are all okay, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah…I guess so…" Aiden trailed off. He actually hadn't known that about him and his sisters.

"And you weren't the healthiest babies in the world, either," Misty continued. "Elizabeth was better off than you and Michelle, but even she had her times of weakness. I worried about all three of you more than anything else I ever had in my life. But over time, I learned that I just had to take care of you all and believe that you'd be fine. And you all are!"

"Thanks, Mom," Aiden finally smiled at his mother. "That helped, actually."

"I'm glad I could, don't stress so much," Misty winked at her son. "I'll believe in Riolu, too!"

"That'd be great," Aiden's eyes shimmered.

"Now, where are you, dear?"

"Saffron City," Aiden replied. "I was right in the middle of my gym battle when the egg started to hatch."

"Ah, so you've met up with Sabrina, then," Misty's own eyes were now twinkling with intrigue. "What did she think of you? Is she surprised by how much you've grown up?"

"Uh…I don't know…" Aiden was blushing heavily now. "Why don't you ask her?"

"What do you mean?" Misty blinked.

"Hello there, Misty," Sabrina had suddenly appeared behind Aiden, alarming the boy. "How are you doing today?"

"Sabrina, hi!" Misty giggled. "I'm just fine! And you?"

"Very well, thank you," Sabrina smiled. "Aiden has really grown since I last saw him! And he's just like Ash; amazingly so."

"He hasn't given you any trouble, has he?" Misty sounded genuinely concerned about such an issue.

"Mom!" Aiden's blush intensified.

"No, he's been wonderful," Sabrina refuted with a small smile. "It's my son who's been giving me trouble. You needn't worry about Aiden."

"Which son of yours is misbehaving?" Misty giggled. "Jared?"

"How did you know?" Sabrina smirked, her tone sarcastic.

"He'll come around eventually," Misty reassured the psychic trainer. "I'm sure of it."

"I certainly hope so," Sabrina sighed. "And how is little Elizabeth? Still outsmarting her father?"

"Of course!" Misty laughed. "Elizabeth is a little genius. I swear she gets smarter every day! So, when are you and Aiden going to finish up your battle?"

"I told him we would resume as soon as we got Riolu's diagnosis," Sabrina explained. "That way he can have the proper focus."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Misty nodded. "By the way, is my daughter there as well?"

"Yeah, I'm right here!" Michelle jumped forward, smiling at her mother. Pichu, who was perched on her trainer's shoulder, twitched her big ears in her own greeting.

"Hi, sweetie!" Misty's whole face lit up. "You did so great in your last Contest! Congratulations on your second ribbon!"

"Thanks!" Michelle giggled.

"May called me right after and told me all about how you guys hung out with her during the Contest," Misty continued. "That must have been great! She was very impressed by you, Michelle. I had to get her to stop gushing because I thought we'd be on the phone for hours!"

"That's amazing!" Michelle was beaming. May was one of her idols, along with Dawn, and she had aspired to be just like them ever since she was a little girl.

"I suppose I should let you all go, for when Nurse Joy comes out to speak to Aiden," Misty concluded. "But good luck once you resume your battle with Sabrina, Aiden! She's a tough one, as I'm sure you've already figured out."

"Yeah, definitely," Aiden's smile actually managed to strengthen.

"And don't go easy on him just because he's my son, Sabrina," Misty winked playfully. "Make him work for that badge!"

"I wouldn't battle any other way," Sabrina nodded.

"Great," Misty smiled. "Say hello to Brandon for me, sweethearts! I love you both!"

"Love you too," Aiden and Michelle replied at the same time before Misty's image disappeared from the video screen.

"Aiden!"

The black haired boy turned around at the calling of his name. He found Nurse Joy to be walking over to the group, the expression on her face conveying neither relief nor concern.

"Is my Riolu alright?" Aiden frowned.

"He's going to be just fine," Nurse Joy smiled and nodded, much to Aiden's joy. "But, for now, he's very weak. His respiratory system is weak, but not failing, like I was afraid it might have been. As for the fever, I managed to give him some medicine that will bring that right down. All he needs to do is stay in that incubator for a few more hours, and he'll be just fine!"

"Thanks so much, Nurse Joy!" Aiden's eyes were gleaming.

"Don't mention it!" Nurse Joy smiled. "It's my job!"

Once the pink haired nurse had retreated back behind the desk, Sabrina turned towards Aiden and asked, "well, Aiden, are you ready to finish our battle?"

"Yeah!" Aiden nodded. "Now that I know Riolu will be okay, I can win my third gym badge!"

"We'll just see about that," Sabrina smirked.

Before the group could turn towards the front door of the Center, however, someone else was walking through that same glass portal, and as soon as they caught sight of Sabrina, an obvious spark of interest appeared in his eyes. That was the only way you could tell, however. Otherwise, the boy's facial expression hadn't changed one single bit. Why, not even a twitch of the mouth to hint at a growing smile. It was very much like Sabrina, in fact.

He made his way over to the green haired gym leader, with her and the rest of the young trainers watching. Michelle had furrowed her brow, sensing something familiar about this new arrival. It was almost like they had met before. Maybe not even introduced to one another, or even spoken a single word. But it was as though she had seen him before. Years ago, in fact. She wished she could figure out just why this guy looked so familiar to her.

"You're Sabrina, aren't you?" He asked, stopping a few feet in front of the psychic type expert.

"Indeed I am," Sabrina gave a single nod.

"Then I'm here to challenge you to a gym battle," the boy continued just as calmly, not a flicker of emotion in his staid voice.

"And you are?" Sabrina inquired.

"Jake."

Michelle's eyes widened only slightly. Aiden and Brandon just continued to look confused, although a hint of annoyance was playing behind Aiden's chocolate brown eyes.

"I see," Sabrina murmured before continuing, "well, I must apologize to you, Jake, but there's another challenger ahead of you. You'll have to wait until his battle is over."

Jake scowled and set his steely gray eyes on Brandon, who chuckled nervously and took a cautious step back.

"Not me, sorry," Brandon apologized quickly.

This next caused Jake to set his sights on Michelle, who blinked in confusion. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jake closed his eyes and drawled, "You? Taking on a gym leader like Sabrina? I don't think so."

Michelle growled and was about to fight back with the boy, but Aiden was quick to jump in her place, much to the girl's disdain.

"Hey, she's not Sabrina's challenger, I am!" Aiden shouted. "And no one makes fun of my sister except for me!"

"Who said I was making fun of her?" Jake sounded completely uninterested in the whole argument. He lowered his head slightly, strands of dark purple hair falling into his uncaring eyes.

"You called her weak, without using the word," Aiden explained darkly. "That's making fun of her in my book!"

"And for your information, pretty boy, I'm not weak!" Michelle snapped. "I'm a coordinator, and I'm plenty good at my own Contests! You don't know anything about Contests anyway!"

"And I don't have to," Jake huffed. "They're stupid."

Michelle nearly lunged at the boy, and she probably would have had success had Aiden not grabbed her and held her struggling being back. From Aiden's arms, Michelle growled and continued to glare at Jake, who didn't seem affected by such a look.

"Alright, let's all settle down," Sabrina's calm voice infiltrated the air. "There's no need for such hostility. We can all head back to the gym and I'll finish my battle with Aiden. Then you'll be next, Jake."

"Fine," Jake looked over his shoulder in disinterest. "I guess I can stay and watch the battle. I'll see just how good this kid thinks he is."

Aiden clenched his teeth together and thanked Arceus that he was holding onto his sister at the moment. If he hadn't been holding her back…well then, he might have just lunged at the purple haired trainer himself.

XXX

"The battle between Sabrina and Aiden will now resume!"

The group had made their way back to the gym, with Tyron once again officiating. Sabrina and Aiden had retaken their positions, standing across from one another on the battle field. On the bench behind Aiden, Brandon and Michelle were once again sitting down and preparing to watch. There was now a third person sitting alongside them, however. The seemingly perpetually angry Jake, who was seated on the far left side of the bench, leaving a good amount of space between him and the two other trainers.

"What is this kid's deal?" Michelle muttered to Brandon.

"Chu," Pichu grumbled in agreement.

"He's definitely not a happy guy, that's for sure," Brandon was talking in a low voice so Jake wouldn't hear him. "But some people just aren't."

"Well, there's a difference between being grumpy and being a jerk," Michelle rested her head in her hands, her tone growing dark. "And he's definitely a jerk."

Back on the battle field, Aiden and Sabrina had re-released the same Pokémon they'd been using in the battle before it got interrupted by the hatching of Riolu's egg. Absol was standing proudly in front of his raven haired trainer, staring down the unbothered Alakazam that belonged to Sabrina. Both Pokémon were obviously ready to go, so Tyron decided not to make them wait any longer.

"Battle, continue!" He threw his arms up.

Aiden still felt like he was in control from when the battle had ended, so he didn't plan on letting that power slip away. "Absol, night slash!"

The dark type charged forward and took a striding leap, throwing forward his claws, which were once again glowing a bright crimson. He got just the tips of his claws on Alakazam's face before the psychic type disappeared, leading Absol to land back on his paws without having gotten a full hit.

"It used teleport without Sabrina even asking it to," Michelle marveled.

"She must be using her psychic abilities again," Brandon nodded.

Alakazam reappeared behind Absol, and this time, the white furred Pokémon was more in tune to Alakzam's whereabouts. The previous battle experience with the same Pokémon had certainly helped.

"Gotcha," Aiden smirked. "Absol, try night slash again!"

It didn't take long for Absol to take a sharp turn on his claws and run towards Alakazam with the intention of using his signature dark move. Sabrina, however, had a different idea on how to avoid the attack, and this time, it wasn't going to be through teleportation.

"Alakazam, disable," Sabrina ordered calmly.

Alakazam crossed his spoons in the air, the utensils glowing a bright red. Suddenly, just when Absol went to jump through the air, a red shock hit him in the middle of his body, causing the dark type to howl in pain and land shakily on his paws. That same red shock soon spread throughout Absol's body, casting the disaster Pokémon in a bright red light that left him unable to move.

"Absol, no!" Aiden gasped. From behind him, Brandon and Michelle looked very nervous, while a seemingly bored Jake just shook his head.

The raven haired boy was extremely frustrated. He wanted to use night slash, since it was a dark type move and would give Alakazam a whole lot of damage. But Sabrina was so good at dodging it…and he just kept on ordering it and ordering it. Sabrina wasn't dumb; anything but. She was ten times smarter than almost anyone Aiden had ever met. He knew he'd have to come up with a new strategy if he really wanted to beat Sabrina.

But without night slash…what can I do?

Aiden ground his teeth together. Sabrina's psychic was making this battle a very difficult one. A normal gym battle was hard enough, but throw in Sabrina's psychic abilities and it was an almost impossible task. There just had to be some way to take advantage!

"Psybeam," Sabrina's cool voice once again reached Aiden's ears.

He looked up from his feet in shock as Alakazam fired off two rainbow colored beams at his Absol. Aiden's throat tightened, but he managed to make a call of, "Absol, double team!"

The Absol clones appeared, and Alakzam's psybeam instantly took out one of the copies. The psi Pokémon was now adapt to Absol's double team as well, however, and had a plan on how to combat it. He began to spin around, shooting away each clone with his psybeam until; at long last, he hit the real Absol, sending the dark type flying backwards until his body hit the ground.

Aiden growled and clenched his hands into fists. From her own battler's box, Sabrina was looking a bit smug. She was obviously pleased with how the battle was going. But Aiden wasn't. Nowhere near pleased.

Come on, Aiden, think! There's gotta' be a way for you to get the upper hand on Sabrina! But how…night slash isn't working…I've got it!

"Absol, use future sight!" Aiden called.

The dark type leaned down on his legs, eyes starting to sparkle and glow blue. After a short moment, that bright hue disappeared, returning Absol's eyes to their normal red state.

"In the meantime…" Aiden smiled, "let's try quick attack!"

Absol made a running start towards Alakazam, moving so fast that streaks of white appeared behind the quickly zooming dark type.

"Alakazam, teleport," Sabrina narrowed her eyes.

Before he could go through with the attack, however, Alakazam was knocked down by Absol, who had run right into the psychic type. Alakazam fell right to the ground, and with a low growl, Absol jumped off of him and began to trot around the battle field, wanting to be out of Alakazam's way. Already, the psi Pokémon was struggling to get up, and before he could fully reach his feet, a strike of lightning appeared out of nowhere, coming down hard on Alakazam and causing the psychic type to cry out in pain.

"No…" Sabrina murmured.

"Great job, Absol!" Aiden cheered. "Quick, while Alakazam is still down, use night slash!"

Aiden watched proudly as Absol, who had managed to cut a sharp turn near Alakazam once he was sure that future sight was going to strike, jumped right at the psychic type with glowing claws, slashing them right across the psi Pokémon's face. Alakazam cried out in pain, and while he was still unable to move under Absol's weight, the dark type took advantage and used night slash again, this time across the psychic type's body.

Alakazam was still down, writing in pain, and with his work accomplished, Absol finally took his weight off of the struggling psychic type. He stood now just a few feet away, watching the psi Pokémon with distrustful eyes. From behind Aiden, Brandon and Michelle sat with baited breath, while Jake, who still looked pretty irritated, was also beginning to reflect a quiet sense of intrigue.

"Alakazam, get up," Sabrina tried.

The psychic type pressed his hands against the ground, trying to push his weight up. He was obviously struggling to do this, however, and after a valiant effort, he fell back down, eyes closed tight while letting out weak, defeated moans.

"Alakazam is unable to battle," Tyron threw his arm out towards Aiden. "Which means the winner of this battle is Aiden Ketchum from Cerulean City!"

"We did it!" Aiden cheered, running over to Absol in order to lunge down at the dark type and wrap his arms around the disaster Pokémon's neck. Absol, who was cool and collected as always, simply huffed and held his head up in pride.

After returning Alakazam to his poke ball, Sabrina walked over to Aiden and offered a hand to the still beaming boy. Standing up, Aiden chuckled and shook hands with Sabrina, staring up at the psychic leader with shimmering brown eyes.

"You are truly an amazing boy, Aiden," Sabrina complimented. "Very much like your father."

"Thanks, Sabrina!" Aiden's smile only widened. From behind him, Jake raised an eyebrow. The fire of interest had definitely been sparked in the boy.

Tyron had now walked over to the gym leader and her young challenger, a cherry wood box held in his hands. Curious, Aiden peered into the chest and found a red velvet covering, with a small golden circle lying in the center.

"Aiden," Sabrina plucked the circle out of its case and instead held it out to him in the palm of her hand, "this is the Marsh badge. Congratulations; you've earned it."

Awing, Aiden took the badge from Sabrina and studied it quietly for a few seconds before jumping up and down and holding the golden circle in the air.

"Yes! I did it! The Marsh badge! I finally got my third badge!"

"Pi!" Pichu clapped from Michelle's shoulder.

"He sure is excited," Brandon chuckled as he crossed his arms.

"It's a little pathetic, if you ask me."

His jubilant expression instantly transforming into a scowl, Aiden spun around and glared at the purple haired visitor.

"What'd you say?" Aiden's eyebrow twitched.

"What kind of kid gets all excited about his third badge?" Jake narrowed his eyes. "That's about as novice as you can get."

"Hey, I would have had four badges if my Mom had battled me!" Aiden barked.

"Your Mom?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, my Mom. She's a gym leader. Don't you know that?"

"I'm not from this region, so I don't care who your gym leaders are," Jake scoffed, the short flicker of attentiveness in his gray eyes melting away. "And you being a lousy trainer has nothing to do with your Mommy, I can tell you that much."

"Oh yeah?" Aiden barked, turning around fully so he could face the other boy. "Well, if you think you're so tough, how about you and I have a battle?"

"With pleasure," Jake replied coolly. "But first I have to get my Pokémon from the Center." And, without another word, he walked right out of the gym's battle area.

"What is with that guy?" Aiden grumbled.

Michelle stared after the boy, watching him leave the gym with a certain arrogance about himself. There was still something very odd about him, and Michelle was slowly getting to the bottom of it. But first, she had to approach him. And she didn't want her quick tempered brother around for when she did it.

"I'll meet you guys over at the Pokémon Center," Michelle informed the boys slowly before getting to her feet and quietly following Jake.

Aiden and Brandon just watched Michelle leave, neither one sure of what was going on. Aiden, however, did feel a sense of concern, since that was his twin sister. He loved her just like Elizabeth, and even like Elizabeth, he was protective of Michelle. His Dad had always taught him to look out for his sisters, after all.

"I think I should go, too," Aiden murmured.

"Aiden, that might not be such a good idea," Brandon piped up.

"But, Michelle-"

"She'll be fine," Sabrina added, causing Aiden to turn around and give her a wide eyed stare. "Trust me. You're just like your father, but she's just like your mother. Michelle's got that Misty spark. I say we head out to the Center in just a few minutes. Give Michelle some time alone with Jake. She seems to know something about him, if I don't know any better."

"And I'm sure you do," Brandon smirked. "You're psychic!"

XXX

Over at the Center, Jake was standing at the front desk, waiting to get his poke balls back from Nurse Joy. Michelle, who was still outside of the building, just stared at the boy's back and waited with a pounding heart. While she was good at it once she got into the swing of things, Michelle didn't exactly love confrontation. Sure, if she was provoked, Michelle was going to stand up for herself. But she wasn't her mother. Michelle wasn't going to just start something solely because she wanted to.

Taking a deep breath, Michelle stepped in front of the doors so the sliding glass would open and she could enter the building. Even from the back, Jake was rather intimidating, wearing that dark blue leather jacket and the black pants. So, she just stopped in the middle of the lobby and waited.

It didn't take long for Nurse Joy to hand a tray with four poke balls on it over to Jake. He seemed to thank her-at least he was somewhat polite-before taking his poke balls and turning around. As soon as he did, his silver eyes locked on Michelle, and he seemed fairly surprised to see her.

"What are you doing here?"

Okay, maybe not surprised.

"I followed you," Michelle replied dumbly. After those words came out of her mouth, she mentally rolled her eyes. Who says that? Now I sound like the ultimate creeper.

"And what encouraged you to do that?"

"Because, and this is gonna' sound strange, but…we've met before," Michelle started slowly.

"I don't think so," Jake quickly dismissed such an idea.

"No, we have," Michelle's voice became stronger. "A long time ago, when we were still little kids. I remember seeing you, because I'd never seen a kid like you before. And when you said you were from a different region…it all adds up."

"Fascinating," Jake drawled before shrinking his poke balls down and clipping them back onto his belt before beginning to walk away, "and just who do you think I am?"

"You're Paul's son."

Teehee.

Yes, another cliffhanger. You'll all have to wait to see Jake's reaction! HOPEFULLY it'll be next week but...no promises.

And Aiden's egg was, in fact, a Riolu! Some of you guessed it, so props to you guys. I love Riolu, and always wished Ash had one. Now it's Aiden's turn!

So, leave a review and tell me what you thought. You can even tell me what you think might happen between Jake and Michelle next chapter! It's going to be good.