Chapter Six

I nearly finished packing my bag later on that evening in my room. While I looked focused on the task, my body switched to auto-pilot while the brain had reviewed events that happened earlier in the day. Professor Sycamore was insistent about leaving town with me shortly after Birch and Brendan, but was unable to override my parent's wishes of my staying until the morning. He showed no qualms about the final decision; only smiling that smile in a way to make me feel a mix of throwing up and being dizzy over as he bid us a 'wonderful evening until the morning' before going back to the now vacant lab. I didn't think much about it at the time because my line of sight then forcefully focused on his shoes, but there was a hint about his stance looking antsy and impatient.

Back in the safe haven that was my room, I put up my packed bag and took my pokenav to turn it on…only to realize that it wasn't working. Huh? My eyes narrowed at the timely inconvenience before shaking and hitting it a couple of times. Still nothing.

I kept abusing the device in many ways I could think of to attempt to make it work when several knocks came to my bedroom door. "Come in!" I said frustratingly as my focus was still absorbed with getting the now stupid thing to function. The door opened to reveal dad, who had a glass of water in his hand. Now in relax mode, his jacket was off and house slippers had replaced the sandals he had on when out in public. While his face still looked extremely scary, I knew him long enough to know that he only had a puzzled expression on it.

"….May, what are you doing?" He asked with a raised brow, for my hand was frozen in midair with the device in its grasp. I steadied it towards the desk to hit it on the edge.

"This stupid thing won't turn on! I hot it a thousand times and it STILL won't work!" I complained while scrunching up my face in irritation. Thinking back on it now, receiving a rough blow had been the reason my pokenav stopped working in the first place. My father sighed and thought for a moment on how to fix my dilemma. He stole a glance at his watch and spoke.

"Why don't you go over to the lab and ask Professor Sycamore to fix it? He might know something,"

Just hearing his name made my heart start to pound fervently. The thought of going to see the foreigner by myself at night brought flashbacks of the first encounter. Wait, what was I thinking?! I'm a foreigner too! I only got here around the same time as him! The only difference was that he wasn't staying in Hoenn permanently.

"Ugh…I guess. I'll just um…er, I'll be back!" My voice blurted out before running past dad to get my shoes.


The night sky was wonderfully dotted with stars and the yellow hued crescent moon hung vibrantly over Professor Birch's lab. Wingull gave out a short cry as it was perched on my arm with a look of interest while staring at my nervous face. I tensed up and prayed that I wouldn't faint like last time. If I did, then it would be all the more embarrassing with Brendan and his dad not here. I sucked in air and stepped inside.

Pretty much everything in the lab was the same as it was during the day…except a lot darker… and scarier…and there was a lot more soft creaking to be heard. Fortunately the now creepy-looking lab wasn't that large and my eyes caught sight of a bright glow in its far corner. With my Pokémon in hand, I got closer to the source with nervous feet.

Upon closing in, I saw that it was the tall professor himself; seated in Birch's office chair and on the computer in the corner of the lab. He was occupied with typing in stuff. Already my stomach twisted into a knot from looking at him from the back. As much as I wanted to forget the whole thing, I needed to get my pokenav fixed.

"Professor Sycamore?"

The sound of typing that came from his slender fingers pressing on the keys stopped as his head turned to see a timid me with an unsure look on my face and my Wingull that was grooming her feathers. His ocean blue eyes gleamed delightfully and he moved the rest of his body around to face me. His lips stretched into an amused smile. The white lab coat he wore was off and I unfortunately noticed that more of the buttons on his shirt had been undone. Well, Hoenn was a pretty humid region… maybe it was too hot of a place for him? Despite my assumption, the professor's overall appearance looked strangely out of his usual, naive character that I was used to seeing. Almost like someone else that hid poorly behind a mask of polite pleasantries and seemingly strange mannerisms. Even though I should be more wary of this new development, his charming looks manipulated my brain into perceiving it as a simple case of Sycamore looking overly friendly.

Right on cue, my face burned a bright red. I needed to stop looking directly at him! My eyes quickly focused on the dark wall behind him. "May, my darling little Birdie! Fluttering here all alone in the dead of night! Pray tell, what brings you over here at this late hour?"

What was I doing over here anyway? Didn't I have something to fi-oh right! I put down my Wingull on one of the computer desks and fished out the non-functioning device from my pocket. "My uh, my pokenav is busted. My dad thought you could fix it," I replied while holding out the machine and continuing to prevent myself from making eye contact.

I could feel the professor's eyes studied me from head to toe before laughing cheerfully when he noticed my obvious avoidance of looking at him. Dam, why does he have to have a nice laugh on top of it? Why did I notice that he has a nice laugh? I usually don't care about stuff like that!

"Dearest, you are quite far away! You must come closer for me to see it. Otherwise I won't be able to…satisfy your needs,"

The tone of his voice near the end of that sentence sounded very odd; almost like he was insinuating something else. But he was right about the distance however, because I was a good five feet away from him. Nervously, my feet inched ever more closer towards the overly charismatic professor. This slow action went on for about a good five minutes. Alright, just one mor-"EEEK! What are you doing?!"

Just as I was going for my last step, Professor Sycamore seized my arm and pulled me in a way that forced me to land and sit awkwardly on his lap…ON HIS LAP. My insides were screaming in alarm at our closeness. I could feel his warm legs through his perfectly wrinkle-less slacks. Why…why the hell did I think it was a great idea to wear shorts?!

But that wasn't even the worst part. It took me a minute for the bare part of my back to feel…Arceus, I couldn't even think about it! My face heated up as the back of me could feel his toned chest through his unbuttoned silk shirt. Even I tried to justify my earlier presumptions about that matter, my current state of mind now changed into a more judgemental one. Something like: 'Why did he leave himself so indecently exposed anyways?! What an awful foreigner!' I didn't care if I was being hypocritical at this point. Hoenn was far more familiar to me this…this terrible Kalosian!

Despite my thoughts, I couldn't utter a single word of protest. My body wouldn't let me move off of him; much less move my pinkie finger. Being shielded from everything that involved non-parental intimacies by my father rendered me helpless.

Sycamore on the other hand, remained calm, but started to get pretty touchy. From judging him on how his movements were behind me, I could tell that he was enjoying my new misery. Meanwhile, one of his hands took my pokenav while the other grabbed some of my brown locks and played with it between his fingers for a minute.

"My goodness, Miss Maple! You are so stiff! Please allow me to loosen you up. Pretty little girls such as yourself shouldn't be so tense,"

Wait, what?! NO! there's no way that I was going to le-"OOOOOOH!" A very strange sound that I never made before came past my lips. I still had a hard time believing it was me.

Before I could verbalize any denial of the request, his slender fingers touched my vulnerable back. They rubbed ever so intimately against my flesh and eased my muscles. My body started lurching forward; the foreign touch relaxing me in a way that I felt uncomfortable experiencing. However, the professor stopped to wrap an arm around my waist and pulled me tighter against him to prevent me from falling face first on the floor. As I began to melt under his touch, I hoped that this torture of his would be over with as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that hope was a fool's dream as I could feel his stare burdening me.

"My darling, I would be more than willing to repair your pokenav…" He started saying as he breathed the sentence in a dangerously low tone that was close to my ear. The way he said it made it feel so wrong! "…however, it would be very rude of me as to not be attentive to your needs first,"

Needs?! What needs?! I didn't have any needs beyond getting that stupid device fixed! This time, I desperately tried to speak up to defend myself. All that came out of me however, was that weird moaning sound again. Sycamore chuckled deviously at my expense.

His fingers that were working on my shoulders subtly moved their way down my back until they came to and went under my shirt. I could feel his hand groping my soft belly and working his way up towards my chest.

"I…I ne-ne-"

"Hm? What is it darling?"

"I-I need to-"

"You must speak clearer dear. Your voice is too soft for me to hear," he interrupted rather casually in a seductive tone while his face got close to my exposed neck. I thought it couldn't get any worse than this moment. Surprisingly, I was right. That's because it wasn't worse; it turned unimaginably terrifying! Inside my head, it felt like all of my controls crashed and my body went limp the second my neck felt his lips kissing against it.

Oh Arceus! What was he doing to me?! It was hair-raising and skin-prickling! Every sense down to the brain itself got too shocked to move!

Pleased that I couldn't give any more protests, continued to tenderly kiss up towards my neck; already at the side of my face. His arm that held my waist unlatched itself there only to use his fingers to grasp my cheeks and turn my head to meet his stare. My eyes were wide open in alertness; seeing that predator-like expression on Sycamore features. And while his smile was wicked for certain, I could only shiver as my mind tried to reboot itself.

"What's this? You seemed to have lost your tongue…" He whispered teasingly as his forehead touched mine. The professor's eyes bored so deeply into mine. "…well, fret not…I can help you find that too while I am at it, yes?"

There was nothing I could do as he advanced. His warm lips just seconds away from my untouched pair.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound startled the two of us back; more importantly, it shocked me out of his spell. Now back in control, I tore away from his grip. Well, I also fell on the floor but quickly picked myself up. My head turned to the source of the abrupt noise, which turned out to be my now distressed Pokémon. It cried out for me as it was tangled up in many computer wires from the large machine it dragged to the floor and broke.

THANK ARCEUS! I stumbled towards Wingull and freed it from its bonds. As I finished, I heard the sound of Sycamore getting up from his chair. My body shifted to see his disturbingly composed face. Goodness, he looked so-SCARY! Very, very scary! Get ahold of yourself idiot!

The professor stretched out his hand to reach for me, but I dodged him. I held up my still shaken Wingull up as a shield; hoping at least that it would squirt his face with water if he got any closer while I made my escape.

"Sorryprofessoritslate!Gotta go!" I exclaimed while not giving him any room to talk.

My feet flew like bat outta hell as I dashed towards the exit and quickly closed the front entrance. My heavy breathing eased while sinking down to the floor with my confused bird in hand and wondered how a simple visit turned a nightmare. If this guy got all weird because I asked for something, how was he going to act when we traveled in the morning?! GOOD ARCEUS! I need to talk with Professor Birch and tell him to call it o-GOOD ARCEUS!

During my angst, I had forgotten that the lab had double doors. Needless to say when I saw his arm wiggle from the door to my left so suddenly, my reaction of fright was justified. I jumped back in shock and scrambled to my feet right on time as Sycamore coolly stepped outside with a mischievous grin.

Yep, that was my cue to leave. A five second head start was very helpful for me, because the scary professor just put no effort his running; trailing along if he was on some leisurely stroll. I should've guessed that those long legs allowed him to walk much faster than short, old me can run. Meanwhile, I was fucking gasping for air while my lungs could have combusted from the crazed sprinting.

"Miss Maple?! Where are you going?!" he shouted after me. "Did you not want to continue our friendly chat!"

CHAT?! What nonsense was he spouting?! Was that what he called chatting?! If it was, I dreaded to know what else he called any other of his sinister acts of torture.

Hearing that soft, songy voice call out to me in such a suggestive way made my eyes wider in terror and have a yelp escape my mouth. I ran faster towards my house; praying that he wouldn't catch up to me. However, what made things tip into the professor's favor was the fact on how dark it was on the way. If there were only streetlights or a full moon, then it would have been so much easier!

My heart kept thumping in my ears as my pursuer continued to call out for me. I made a sharp turn around the corner of a house and stumbled towards the door. The hindrance in my flight gave Sycamore the opportunity to close in and trap me. He used his arms to block both sides of me and leaned in closer. His blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Well played, my flighty little Birdie. Taking advantage of a distraction to escape me," he said while he face got closer to mine again. Those beautiful features invading my personal space. "However, I must quell this naughty behavior now before it becomes a terrible habit…"

I became paralyzed by his spell once more. Not a single part of my being obeyed me as his lips lingered closer to mine once more. NO! NO!NO!

Just when I thought it was over, I fell back…right on top of my surprised mother. It took me a second to realize that the calculative professor had indeed cornered me, but it was on home base; literally. How lucky I was! Well it was really all thanks to my unintentionally destructive Wingull!

I got up as my Pokémon flew in and landed by me. My gaze dared to turn back back to Sycamore. The once hungry look he had on his face morphed back into his default naive, excited expression. Be looked as though nothing crazy happened! "My goodness May Maple! What on earth?!"

Mom rubbed the back of her head as she sat up. Apparently she heard the sound I made from colliding with the door and went to go check. Clearly that didn't go well for her. "Oh dear! Here, let me help you up Mrs. Maple! I admit that it was my doing that led you to have such an unfortunate accident," he said as he helped her up. That's right, you strangely alluring bastard! Fess up to your crime! "I was walking your lovely daughter home when I unintentionally frightened her in a state of panic…which led to your unfortunate fall. I do hope that you find it in your heart to forgive me," he said as he turned on his charm to appease my parent. What?! That's not even close to what happened! I frowned as I couldn't believe that for one second, that she's buy such a half-assed lie! The powers of a mother were mysterious and had the ability to detect any fibbing.

For some reason though, her powers must have been malfunctioning that night because no hint of suspicion crossed her face. My mom put on a polite smile. "It's no problem at all Professor! I'm just glad my baby is home safe. You know, she tends to get lost easy so I'm grateful that you were kind enough to walk her here!"

The professor's seemingly harmless gaze locked onto me at this new piece of information. "Really?" I unconsciously backed away in fear that he would lunge for me despite my mother's presence. Thankfully, he stayed where he was while his attention went back to mom. "I will be sure to keep your precious daughter within my sights at all times then. For now however, I wish you both a wonderful evening. I must return to the lab to repair Miss Maple's pokenav before we leave in the morning,"

My mother responded accordingly while my mouth remained firmly shut. Unable to say anything back.

The last thing I saw before she closed the door were a pair of ocean blue eyes deviously staring back at me while calculating their next move.

*Continued in Chapter Seven*