HOW'S EVERYONE DOING?

That's right, your eyes do not deceive you. This is a brand new chapter! I know many of you have been waiting a long time for this, and are DYING to know who the special visitor is, so without any further hesitation, I present you with the latest installment! Enjoy!

LAST TIME: Aiden and Adam face one another in a rematch at the Viridian City gym. The battle is close, but in the end, Aiden wins and earns himself an Earth Badge, leaving him just one badge away from the Indigo League.

Chapter 47: Special Visitors and Specific Vandals

"There it is…Honeydew Town! Home of my fifth ribbon! Err…maybe!"

"Hey, I like that confidence!" Aiden chirped, looking over his shoulder and smirking at his sister. "That'll sure help you out in the Contest."

"Hopefully," Michelle hummed.

"Michelle, where did you saw this special surprise visitor would be?" Brandon piped up, lifting his eyes from the pokenav.

"She said she'd be meeting us by the Pokémon Center, which is located right by the town gate," Michelle replied.

"I wish you'd tell us who it was," Aiden grumbled. "You know I don't really like surprises!"

"No, you just don't like waiting to find out what the surprise actually is," Michelle corrected. "This is a good one, I promise! Just wait until we get to the Pokémon Center. It shouldn't be too much longer, since the town limit is right up ahead."

Michelle pointed at a brick arch, the cement sign plastered on front reading 'HONEYDEW TOWN' in bold, deeply engraved letters filled in by black ink. The group kept walking, stepping right beneath the arch and being met with the sight of a somewhat small, but cute town. It was lined with little shops and cafes with black iron tables and chairs outside. People walked along holding shopping bags and cups of coffee and tea, chatting and giggling with one another as they strolled.

The trio of young trainers, however, didn't have to walk too far to find their destination. The Pokémon Center, just as Michelle had said, was only a few stores down from the town's arch. It didn't have much space around it; it was nestled next to other shops, just like the rest of the stores on the street. It was wider, however, promising for lots of space inside. Its exterior fit in perfectly with the other shops around it: a natural colored paving on the top, and brown and gray stones adorning the bottom half. The front door was made of rich, dark wood, as was the roof, which displayed the ever familiar poke ball emblem.

"She's right in there!" Michelle promised the two skeptical boys standing next to her. "Come on!"

Michelle led the way, Aiden and Brandon trailing behind. Placing her hand on the wrought iron bar that served as the door handle, Michelle pushed back the wooden door, granting her access inside the Pokémon Center. Aiden and Brandon peered over her shoulders, finding that the center's lobby was predominantly made out of wood; from the ceiling, to the walls, to the floor. The furniture was sleek and fit in well; all wooden frames with natural colored cushions on the chairs and couches that surrounded a unique tapestry rug. The video phones were also stored in wooden cubes, with wooden chairs in front of each monitor. Large windows that stretched from nearly the floor to the ceiling were spread all around the lobby, letting in natural sunlight. Between each window was at least one piece of framed artwork, paintings, and photographs.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center!" Nurse Joy greeted from behind the wooden desk. "May I help you?"

"Hi, Nurse Joy!" Michelle greeted cheerfully. "We're meeting up with somebody here, but I was wondering if you would mind giving my Pokémon a checkup for me?"

"Not at all!" Nurse Joy replied. She pulled out one of the poke ball trays and put it down on the counter. Michelle placed all five of her poke balls on the tray before picking Pichu off of her shoulder and sitting the baby mouse down beside the red and white spheres.

"Be good for Nurse Joy, okay?" Michelle requested.

"Pi-chu!" Pichu squeaked.

"Aiden, it might be a good idea to have our Pokémon checked out as well," Brandon said. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, great idea!" Aiden agreed. "Would that be alright, Nurse Joy?"

"Absolutely!" Nurse Joy giggled.

Aiden and Brandon handed over their poke balls as well, placing on them on two of the same trays that Michelle had used. Once their Pokémon had been whisked to the back courtesy of Nurse Joy and Chansey, Michelle waved the boys away from the counter, walking towards the center of the lobby.

"Okay, so where's this special visitor?" Aiden prodded.

"I'm…not really sure," Michelle admitted, nearly causing Aiden and Brandon to fall over. "She said she'd be here! I don't have a tracking device on her, you know!"

"Yeah, but it'd be great if you actually knew where she was!" Aiden stormed.

"Maybe she's running late!" Michelle cried.

"Oh, you two are just so funny! You never fail to make me laugh!"

Furrowing their brows, Aiden and Michelle both swiveled to face the corner of the room. There sat a large, plush chair, lined by brass spheres. A woman sat in the chair, almost all of her face covered by a magazine save for the top halfs of her piercing blue eyes.

"I knew it!" Michelle squealed with delight.

"Huh?" Aiden muttered.

Giggling again, the woman stood up and placed the magazine on the seat of the chair, walking over to the group of young trainers. She wore a deeply low cut, sapphire blue tank top, a strip of her light skin visible between the top and the skin tight black skirt that ended just above her knees. Her blue hair was tied back into a high, preppy ponytail, and her height was bolstered by a pair of patent leather, sapphire blue pumps with stiletto level heels.

"Long time no see," she greeted with a teasing smirk of her glossy pink lips.

"Dawn!" Michelle cheered, running up to the woman and giving her a huge hug.

"You knew I'd be here!" Dawn laughed.

"Yeah, but I'm still super exited to see you!" Michelle replied.

"Michelle, why couldn't you just tell us it was Dawn?!" Aiden demanded.

"Because I wanted to surprise you!" Michelle bit. "It was a good one, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Aiden sighed.

"Aiden, you become more and more like your dad every time I see you," Dawn remarked, letting go of Michelle in order to walk over to the boy and remove his hat so as to ruffle his hair. "How is that possible?"

"I dunno," Aiden grumbled, furrowing his brow. "Can I have my hat back?"

"Such a boy," Dawn sighed, returning the hat to him with a smirk. "I hear your own journey has been quite the success!"

"Yeah, I've got seven badges now!" Aiden exclaimed. "Just one more to go."

"And it's from your mother," Dawn teased.

"I can beat her," Aiden muttered, nervously scuffing at the floor with the toe of his sneaker.

"I'm sure you can," Dawn giggled. "Don't sound so unsure, Aiden!"

"I'm not!" Aiden whined, blushing at the prospect.

"Brandon, I bet these two just drive you crazy!" Dawn remarked, playfully winking at the boy.

"Maybe just a little," Brandon laughed.

"HEY!" Aiden and Michelle cried simultaneously.

"Just being honest," Brandon replied with a shrug.

"Did you guys have a chance to look through town at all?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"Nah, we just got here," Aiden answered. "Why?"

"Honeydew Town may be small, but it's renowned for its little cafes and fashion boutiques!" Dawn elucidated, her eyes lighting up. "A lot of the things here, including the designs of all the buildings, are inspired by Kalos culture. I think it's so cute!"

"This place definitely seems right up you alley," Brandon agreed.

"Why don't we all take a walk around town and see what we can find?" Dawn asked. "I know that at one shop down the street, I saw the most adorable light blue coat! I bet you'd love it, Michelle."

"I'm up for it!" Michelle chirped.

Aiden and Brandon, on the other hand, were not so excited about that idea. They exchanged looks of distaste, quickly wiping them off in order to give Dawn a more acceptable expression; one of a sympathetic smirk.

"Sorry, Dawn, I think we'll skip out on the shopping trip," Aiden replied. "I want to start getting ready for my gym battle against Mom, so I want to try and get some training in. I don't think I've done enough lately."

"And I think Aiden needs me as an opponent to practice on," Brandon added.

"Oh, you two are so funny!" Dawn giggled. "It's just fine that you two don't want to go shopping. I was pretty much expecting you both to say no. We'll all have plenty of time to be together, since I'm staying for the contest!"

"No way!" Aiden exclaimed. "You're going to watch Michelle?"

"Of course!" Dawn chirped. "I've wanted to watch my goddaughter compete in one live and in person ever since you both set out on your journeys, and I just so happened to have had business here in Honeydew Town this past week! It coincided perfectly."

"Isn't that awesome?" Michelle squealed. "I know Dawn's been watching me on TV this whole time, but having her there to cheer me on in person is totally different!"

"That is great!" Brandon agreed. "I bet it'll give you a real boost!"

"Aiden, if you're interested, there's a battle field out back," Dawn informed her godson, pointing towards the back door of the Pokémon Center. "It's the perfect place for you to train!"

"Thanks, Dawn!" Aiden breathed excitedly.

"And when Michelle and I come back later, we can all have dinner together," Dawn continued. "There's so many delicious restaurants here! Just wait until you try the food this town has to offer."

"Now that I can get into!" Aiden cheered.

"What did I say?" Dawn hummed. "Just like your father!"

"You don't even know the half of it," Michelle quipped.

"We'll try not to be gone too long," Dawn promised the boys. "I know you're both probably going to get hungry fast!"

"Take your time," Brandon assured the woman. "Aiden may love food, but once he gets into his training, there's no tearing him away from it."

"Just like Dad!" Michelle teased.

Giggling, Dawn wrapped her arm around Michelle's shoulders. "Come on, Shelly! Let's start looking around town while the boys get to work!"

"Alright!" Michelle chirped, allowing her godmother to lead her towards the front door of the Pokémon Center. "Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone, guys!"

"Yeah, we'll try," Aiden replied sarcastically, smirking at Brandon.

Once Dawn and Michelle were out the door, Aiden gasped dramatically, still staring at Brandon with now wide eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" Brandon asked cautiously.

"I totally forgot that we gave our Pokémon to Nurse Joy to be checked out!" Aiden groaned.

"Oh yeah," Brandon murmured. "Guess we can't do any training right now then, huh?"

"No," Aiden grumbled, his shoulders sagging.

"There's still time to catch up with them, if you want…"

"Definitely not," Aiden scoffed, shaking his head. "You'd have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming to go shopping."

"Then how about we just hang out for a while and relax?" Brandon suggested. "I feel like we haven't been able to do that in a long time. We're always running around from town to town, gym battle to contest! It might be nice to just chill out for a bit."

"That's actually not a bad idea," Aiden mused. "I miss watching TV!"

"The lobby is nice and quiet…empty too," Brandon noted, looking around the room. "Let's just crash here until our Pokémon are ready! Then we can start training."

"I like the way you think, Brando! I knew we were best friends for a reason!"

XXX

"Dawn, what kind of business did you have here?"

The top coordinator smiled as she put down her cup full of lavender tea. After doing a healthy dose of shopping, Dawn and Michelle had both decided they were in need of a break, and Dawn had brought them to one of the town's little cafes, which she had declared to be the best one.

"You remember Hermione, don't you?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, she's that poke stylist, right?" Michelle questioned.

"Yes," Dawn replied, nodding her head. "She's hosting a fashion show back in Sinnoh in the next few weeks, and the theme of the show is styles from around the region. So she wanted me and Paris to travel around and find some different pieces to bring back to her for inspiration! I called dibs on Kanto right away, since I knew I wanted to watch you compete in person!"

"That's so cool!" Michelle breathed.

"I thought you weren't into fashion and those kinds of things," Dawn teased. "That's much more up Elizabeth's alley than yours!"

"That's true," Michelle admitted, blushing at the fact. "But I still think it's really awesome that you're a poke stylist in addition to being a top coordinator! It's like you can do everything!"

"Well, I don't know about that!" Dawn exclaimed, now blushing herself. "I've just got a lot of different interests is all, and I try to get involved in each one as much as I possibly can. It's fun to switch things up!"

"But you have Kady, too," Michelle murmured, taking one of the pastries off the plate in the middle of the table and nibbling on it.

"I do," Dawn laughed. "And as much as I love my little girl, she's been a real nightmare lately, like most two year olds are! I almost feel bad for leaving Kenny alone with her for the week."

"Almost?" Michelle asked mischievously, smirking at her godmother.

"She flushed a good fraction of my lipstick collection down the toilet," Dawn groaned, smacking a hand against her forehead. "So…I can't say the break is a bad thing."

"Wow, I don't think even Elizabeth did anything that bad when she was little," Michelle remarked. "Mom would've freaked!"

"We don't have to keep talking about me, you know," Dawn teased. "You've accomplished quite a bit yourself! You're only one ribbon away from the Grand Festival!"

"Yeah…" Michelle sighed. "It's kind of scary."

"Scary?" Dawn repeated. "How come?"

"I don't know, I feel like I just left on my journey," Michelle explained. "And now I'm so close to the end!"

"But this isn't the end, it's just the beginning!" Dawn exclaimed. "Your first journey is just a small step into the rest of your Pokémon career. I felt the same way as you when I finished traveling through Sinnoh. It was so upsetting. I didn't know what I was supposed to do next! But I looked up to your dad for inspiration. He'd already been to three different regions before Sinnoh, and he didn't even stop after that! He went everywhere. He learned and experienced as much as he could. That's why he's been so successful."

"That's true," Michelle murmured. "It's just hard for me to see it sometimes. I get worried that I'll never really be as good as Mom or Dad."

"You don't have to worry about those kinds of things, sweetheart," Dawn soothed. "You just have to be you, and that's all that matters. You're going to become a great coordinator all on your own!"

"Thanks," Michelle replied, subconsciously grinning. She had always loved and respected her godmother, and as a result, Dawn never failed to make the girl feel better.

"Besides, all you have to focus on for now is the contest tomorrow," Dawn continued. "And there's no need to worry, because I'll be in the audience serving as your good luck charm!"

XXX

"You're really going to watch battles all day?"

Aiden narrowed his eyes and looked over at Brandon, who looked positively bored. "It's helping me come up with ideas for new strategies! I already know I'm going to need to try some new things if I want a chance at beating my mom."

At this, Brandon smirked. "So you admit she's good."

"I know she is," Aiden groaned, sinking back against the couch. "I've always known how good she is! Dad compliments her all the time, and I know it isn't just because they're married. He's actually really impressed by her."

"I wonder if that's part of the reason they love each other so much," Brandon mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Your dad is obviously drawn to her talent," Brandon explained. "You just said he wouldn't lie about how good he thinks she is."

"He definitely wouldn't," Aiden agreed. "He thinks Mom is great, and he compliments her all the time, but he's still pretty constructive. I've heard him giving her some pretty tough advice from time to time."

"And how does she react to that?" Brandon snickered, already knowing the answer.

"Not too great," Aiden scoffed.

"We have breaking news coming out of Viridian City!"

Aiden whipped his head around, setting his eyes back on the TV screen. He groaned out of aggravation once he realized the battle he had been watching had been replaced by scrolling, bright red banners and the logo of the Kanto news channel.

"Man, I hate when they do this kind of stuff," Aiden grumbled. "I was really getting into that battle!"

"You've really gotten into the past five of them that we've watched," Brandon chuckled lowly.

"It has been revealed that overnight, the orphanage located in the heart of the city was apparently raided. Several infants and young children have gone missing from the facility, and haven't been seen since last night."

"Whoa, what?" Aiden breathed, leaning forward as his eyes widened.

"Orphanage officials say that the missing children were last seen last night around 10 p.m., when they were put to sleep by staff members. Police are not sure how exactly the children were kidnapped, or by who, but they suspect it to have been a stealth operation."

"That's terrible," Brandon breathed. "What kind of sick creeps do this kind of thing?"

Aiden's mouth sat agape as he continued to stare at the TV screen. His eyes were starting to glaze over, a sign that he was in deep thought. Brandon, who knew his best friend like the back of his hand, caught onto this very quickly and instantly became curious.

"Aiden, what's up?" Brandon asked.

"I…I think I know who did this, Brandon…"

The aspiring breeder's eyebrows shot up. "You do?"

"Yeah, I do."

"What've you got?"

"Do you remember back in Celadon City, when we broke into Team Rocket's secret underground lair with Eusine?" Aiden asked.

"Yeah," Brandon replied. "That was insane. They're insane."

"Exactly! Brandon…Team Rocket are the ones who broke into that orphanage and kidnapped those kids."

"What?!" Brandon gasped.

"Eusine and I, while we were down in that underground, we ended up eavesdropping on a conversation between Team Rocket's boss and his son, Magnus," Aiden elucidated. "Don't you remember?"

"My memory is a little bit foggy," Brandon admitted.

"They were planning on raiding an orphanage that night," Aiden continued. "But because we heard them, I think they delayed it until now. They waited until they were sure no one would catch them, that the high alert was off. It had to be them, Brandon. I know it."

"I remember," Brandon gasped, punching the couch cushion he sat on top of. "Yeah, I remember! Those creeps!"

"We should call up Eusine and tell him," Aiden decided. "I'm sure he's already gotten word by now, but it'll kill me if we don't do something to try and help out."

"I agree," Brandon replied. "Come on, let's go give him a call."

XXX

"Father, the raid on the Viridian City orphanage was a success. We're transporting the children back to the underground as we speak."

"Excellent work, my boy. We'll debrief when you and the rest of the agents return."

With a smirk, Magnus ended the call and got up from his chair, straightening out his dark overcoat. He pressed the bright red button imbedded by the side of the sliding metal door, opening it up as he stepped out into the main hallway of the airship. Once he heard the door close behind him, Magnus kept on walking, into the glass fronted cockpit of the airship.

"Status report, Mickey."

The woman controlling the wheel spun around in her chair, long, dark brown hair falling over her shoulders and nearly curtaining her piercing orange eyes.

"We're just about an hour away from base, sir," she calmly replied.

"Thank you," Magnus replied gruffly. "Keep up the good work."

"Absolutely."

Magnus spun back around and exited the cockpit, heading to who knows where. Once the door shut behind him, Mickey let out a tired sigh.

"You can come out now, Kira."

A young teenage girl with short, dark brown hair and wide, sea foam green eyes filled with fear popped out from beneath the control panel, looking around the cockpit nervously.

"I wouldn't lie to you," Mickey continued. "Magnus is gone."

"Okay," Kira replied softly, taking her seat next to Mickey.

"You shouldn't be afraid of our boss' son, you know," Mickey muttered.

"I can't help it," Kira nearly whispered. "He's very intimidating."

"You could learn a thing or two from him, then," Mickey said. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to go on a mission. I can't have Giovanni thinking I've failed him as a mentor."

"I know," Kira sighed, folding her arms and resting her head atop them as she stared out the large glass windshield. "I'm sorry, Mickey. I'm trying my best. I just-"

"Don't want any part of this," Mickey grumbled. "I'm well aware, Kira. But you know you don't have a choice. Without us, you'd have absolutely nothing. You'd still be an orphan. You'd still be fighting for attention with all of those other children. It wouldn't be a good life. You were saved by us. I know you don't see it that way, but it's the truth. Team Rocket saved you, Kira. We wanted a bright future for you. We had a plan for you. Just like we have a plan for all of the children we've rescued today."

Kira furrowed her brow, but kept silent on the matter.

You call this a rescue? She thought bitterly to herself. Hardly. What we did was a kidnapping…and those poor kids are practically getting a prison sentence.

So you all found out who the special visitor was, but I would say she isn't as important as who we meet at the end of the chapter. In fact, we've already met her once before...hmm.

So, Team Rocket is really up to no good, and the kids are finally realizing just how serious this is. We're really getting to the big climax of the story now, so you've gotta keep sticking around to see what happens!

Michelle's contest is up next. Will she win her fifth ribbons? Will any of her rivals show up? Spoiler to the last question: the answer is yes ;)