Day 5: Silence or No Silence?

The next day dawned bright and early for Alain. Gordon was still snoring away when he got up and around. He was just securing his bag around his waist when Gordon awoke, and, rather loudly yawned and asked what time it was. Alain chose to ignore him. When Gordon repeated his question, he just pointed to the clock on the table between the beds.

"Six-fifty already!" Gordon shouted, jumping out of bed and grabbing things out of his suitcase. "I've got ten minutes to be ready!"

Alain just glanced at him before going to open the door. He turned the knob... and nearly got his nose punched by Brittney's hand. Evidently, she had been about to knock.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, putting her hand behind her back, "is Gordon here?"

Alain glanced back to see Gordon shoving things into his suitcase, and frantically shaking his head.

"Yeah, he's in here, but he's busy," Alain answered.

"Oh. Well, I'll just wait here for him. I'm waiting for-"

"Good morning, Sugar. Sleep well last night?" a very familiar voice asked. Jacklyn came up and grabbed his arm.

"Stop bothering me," he growled, but she only replied innocently, "I said I would come walk with you to breakfast." Thus she dragged him down the hall and the stairs to the cafeteria, with Gordon and Brittney following at there own pace.

Jacklyn chose a seat next to Tracy, and Alain was forced to sit next to her. She did release his arm to talk to her violet eyed friend, but soon was tugging at his sleeve to get him into the breakfast line. Alain just sat there and did his very best to ignore her. She made this rather difficult when she dug her nails into his arm, but she finally gave up and left him, preferring to have food than a boy at the moment.

When she was gone, Alain put his head in his hands and groaned to himself. Why him?

"Morning, sleepy head," someone chuckled next to him. Looking up, he saw it was Zara.

"I've been up for an hour," he said, confused.

"Then why do you look like your exhausted?" she asked, concern in her voice.

Alain groaned again. "Not exhausted, just fed up." Why is she so concerned about me?

"With Jacklyn?" Zara guessed.

Alain nodded.

"Well," Zara said as she looked Jacklyn's direction, an amused look on her face, "she's quite a character, isn't she?" After Alain didn't respond, she went on, "I just wanted to thank you again for saving Wally. It means the world to me. If there's anything you need me to do for you, just let me know."

Alain just said, "You already thanked me."

"I know, but I really am grateful. If you want, I could-"

"Hey, w-watch out-t-t!"

Both trainers' heads jerked in the direction of Wally's excalmation. The green haired trainer was standing a few feet away, balancing two trays rather precariously, one in each hand. He had shouted at Brittney, who was carelessly rushing by him. She brushed past Wally, and Wally stumbled, causing the trays he carried to go flying.

Alain was on his feet in an instant, and Brittney quickly turned around, but neither of them were close enough to have grabbed anything. Zara, however, leaped forward, grabbed both trays and swinging them upward, caught almost everything that had been sent flying on them, biscuits, sausage, and even a bowl of cereal. She missed two apples; instead, she kicked one of them back up into the air with her shoe and caught it, the other she balanced on top of her head for a few seconds before letting it roll off onto a tray.

All eyes turned to stared at her.

"Zara, look out!" Wally shouted, and she whirled in his direction, only to have a glass of milk, the only thing she clearly hadn't seen, hit her in the face and splash all over her. "Are you OK?" Wally asked, rushing up to her and taking one of the trays.

"Well Wally, even though we don't have to pay for these meals, it looks like this one is on me," she replied chuckling nervously, and looking down at her wet shirt.

"Sorry!" Brittney cut in, "Everyone always tells me I'm a klutz. Can I help with...something? That was amazing, by the way."

"How did you do that?" several people asked.

"No, I think we've got it. No use crying over spilt milk, right?" Zara replied hastily, chuckling nervously at her own joke. Turning away, she left the cafeteria, and Wally went to find a seat far away from Gordon.

Alain's brain was working hard and fast. How had she pulled of that catch? He hadn't seen many people who were so coordinated. How had she learned to do that? What other talents was she hiding? No, not talents. Secrets. That's better. And why do you care anyway? Everyone has secrets, and you shouldn't be interested in anyone else's.

Jacklyn came back to her seat, with a tray full of food in her hands. "So, what was that all about?"

Alain, as usual, just ignored her. And when she wasn't looking, he slipped away and went to get his own breakfast.

A few minutes after he finished, someone said, "Attention!" It was Sydney. "We're ready to begin today's class, if you'll all head out to the battlefield."

Everyone filed out onto the battlefield. Outside, Phoebe stood, stretching, with her Duskinor floating beside her. "Good morning, everyone. As some of you already know, I am Phoebe, Ghost type Master of the Hoenn Elite Four. I've been asked to teach you all something about by battling strategies. Unfortunately, I doubt if any of you could actually replicate the strategy I'm teaching today."

Several students glanced around in confusion.

"As those of you who have challenged me before know," Phoebe went on, "I have the ability to communicate with my Ghost type Pokemon. I often use this to confuse and confound my opponents by attacking without them knowing what attack is coming or when. As I said before, I doubt any of you could truly replicate this strategy. So instead, I'm going to teach you a simplified variation of this. We are going to battle non-verbally."

More confused looks among the students.

When no one said anything, Sydney began to explain the rules. "We are going to have you all battle once. During these battles, you will not be permitted to speak. Instead, you'll have to direct your Pokemon with hand gestures or sounds like clapping or stomping. Any talking will end your battle immediately, and you'll lose. We'll give you a few minutes after we explain all the rules to agree with your Pokemon on what signals you'll use. Also, while other people are battling, we ask that the rest of you be quiet so the Pokemon can hear any signals that require sound, and so we don't confuse your talking with the battling trainers' talking."

Phoebe took back over with, "Now this is rather tricky to get the hang of, so we will give you a warning the first time we catch you talking, but that's all the warning you get." She stopped and turned to a table behind her, but then turned back around and added, "Thank you Duskinor, I almost forgot, when your finished, you can go outside and practice some more. Battlefields have been marked out for you out there. Now," she said, turning back to the table and grabbing a clipboard, "if there are no questions, we'll get started."

No one raised there hand, and the students broke up and released their Pokemon, speaking in hushed whispers with them. Alain tossed Charizard's pokeball, and the Fire type flared its wings when it came out.

"I'm guessing you heard most of that," Alain began, and Charizard's voice rummbled in its throat to show its assertion. "What should I use as signals?" and he rubbed Charizard's neck. "How about I hold out a hand like a claw for Dragon Claw, and punch the downward for Blast Burn. I can punch my other hand for Thunder Punch," and he demonstrated by putting a fist in his open hand like he was threating to give someone a knuckle sandwich. "But what for Flamethrower?"

Charizard opend it's mouth and stretched it's wings outward toward him. Alain studied his Pokemon for a moment before mimicking it's actions with his arms. "You'll understand that?" Charizard nodded. "Okay. I'll point in a direction if I want you to move or dodge that way. Anything else?" Charizard shook its head, "Alright, now that we have that settled, we can just focus on winning the battle," Alain said decisvely, and returned Charizard to its pokeball.

"Alright, who would like to go first?" Phoebe asked.

No one raised their hand.

"Come on now people, don't make me pick!" she prompted.

Still no one raised their hand.

"Then I guess I will have to pick. Okay, you with the green hair, and you with the blonde. Sorry, I don't know all of your names yet," she said, pointing at Wally, then at Zara. They both stepped forward and up to the battle field.

Sydney went to the side of the field to referee. "You both under stand the rules?"

Both trainers nodded. Alain noticed that Wally looked strangely calm, instead of his usual, jittery, self.

"Then as soon as I begin the battle, no talking. Battle begin!" Sydney cried.

Zara and Wally both threw their pokeballs, and Gallade and Sceptile burst onto field. Silence reigned over the field for a few moments, both Pokemon studing their trainers, waiting for any movement, any command.

Then Wally put two fingers in his mouth and whistled a single loud blast. Gallade leaped into action, charging down field at Sceptile. Its arm began to glow, readying a Psycho Cut attack.

Zara responded by punching her fist into her other hand, then sliding two fingers down her arm from her wrist to her elbow. Sceptile readied a Leaf Blade attack. Gallade jumped and Sceptile leaped to meet it, both attacks colliding and both Pokemon falling back, evenly matched.

As Gallade fell, Wally whistled two short blasts, and the Psychic and Fighting type touched the ground for only a second before leaping at Sceptile again. Sceptile didn't move away, and was struck by Gallade's Close Combat.

Zara whistled between her teeth, and Sceptile turned its head so it had one eyes on her and one still on Gallade, who was drawing back from the Close Combat. Zara put one hand over her mouth and then threw the hand forward. Sceptile turned its head back to Gallade and let loose a Dragon Pulse. Wally whistled another order, but he wasn't fast enough, and Gallade took the Dragon Pulse attack.

Silence fell as Gallade stood back up. After a tense moment, Wally touched his keystone and it reacted with Gallade's Mega Stone. Gallade Mega Evolved, and Wally whistled one high blast and two low ones. Gallade raced at Sceptile once again, this time charging a Leaf Blade.

Zara watched all this without giving any signs that she was worried. She whistled again, and threw both her hands to her left. Sceptile dodged Gallade's Leaf Blade by jumping to the left. Zara whistled again, and drew two fingers down her arm, just like before, and Sceptile responded to the command by slicing across Gallade's back with a Leaf Blade attack. The Blade Pokemon was knocked across the field from the blow.

Wally whistled one long blast again, a little shrilly, and Gallade turned quickly to face Sceptile. It once again charged the Forest Pokemon, this time with a Pschyo Cut readied.

Alain saw Zara glance at Sceptile, and it nodded back at her. She touched her keystone, and Sceptile Mega Evolved. Her Pokemon roared, and whipped its tail around to put it between itself and Gallade. Zara held both hands in front of her eyes, open, palms outward.

Just like Steven did when he ordered Psychic, Alain though, remembering his battle with Mega Metagross.

Sceptile's eyes suddenly glowed blue. It used Detect, and dodged the Psycho Cut. But Wally was ready. He whistled two short blasts, and Gallade jumped at Sceptile in a Close Combat attack. Zara didn't have a chance to give the order to dodge, and Sceptile was struck left and right by Gallade's arms and legs.

As Gallade jumped back from the attack, Zara threw her hand out from her mouth again, and Sceptile launched a Dragon Pulse straight at Gallade's chest. The attack hit Gallade before Wally could whistle for it to dodge, and Gallade tumbled across the field, stopping on its knees several feet away from Wally.

Zara ordered another Dragon Pulse. Wally whistled, very shrilly, a Psycho Cut, which Gallade executed and broke through Sceptile's Dragon Pulse.

As the dust settled, perfect silence fell over the whole group. Gallade, Wally, Sceptile, and Zara all stood staring at each other, waiting for the other trainer to make a move.

Then Zara whistled and threw both hands above her head vigorously, and with a roar, Sceptile plunged it's tail into the ground. Huge plants started to grow rapidly toward Gallade. Wally frantically whistled a Close Combat, and Gallade manage to take out the first couple of plants before they simply overwhelmed it.

Or they would have.

Instead of striking Gallade, the Frenzy Plant collided with a Fire Blast that came from outside the courtyard walls. The attacks exploded, and smoke and dust momentarily covered the field. Alain put a hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the dust, and tried to look up at the walls to see who or what had launched the Fire type move. What was going on?!

X*X*X*X*X*X

Zara spotted the Fire blast coming down from the wall only seconds before it intercepted Sceptile's Frenzy Plant. As smoke and dust covered the courtyard, she noticed several people trying to peer through the cloud to see who had launched the attack. She didn't try to peer through; she didn't need to. Her stomach clenched in fear as she guessed who it was.

No. Not here, not now. I thought I could forget about that for just a couple of weeks.

"What was that?!" Steven shouted as he, Drake, and Glacia raced into the courtyard. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, not that I can tell," Phoebe answered.

"Where did that explosion come from?"

"From over the eastern wall," Sydney said. In much softer tones, Zara barely heard him add "I think we may be under attack."

"I'll go out and see who it is," she volunteered immediately.

"No," Steven said back just as quickly, "absolutely not."

"Steven, please just-!"

"No. I don't want you getting hurt. Stay here with the other students," Steven ordered, then motioning for the Elite Four to follow him, he went out the main door to face whatever danger awaited.

Phoebe addressed the whole group, telling them to stay calm and stay in the courtyard while the five of them investigated. Zara watched them leave anxiously.

The whole group of students burst into hurried conversation as soon as they had gone. Zara glanced around the courtyard, seeing everything, but taking in none of it. Her mind was outside the building, worrying the combat that was sure to come. When she was sure the Elite Four were outside and weren't coming back, she walked up to Sceptile and whispered softly to it, "Let's go on the roof and see who this is."

Sceptile flashed and reverted from its Mega form, then turned so Zara could climb on its back. She jumped on, holding onto the seeds on her Pokemon's back, and Sceptile ran to the wall of the courtyard and climbed up.

Once they gained the roof, Zara leaped off Sceptile and raced to the outer edge of the roof. Dropping to her knees, she peered cautiously over the edge. Below her, Steven stood behind Metagross, facing a whole crowd of Team Magma members. At the head of the group stood Maxie, his Camerupt before him. The team leader seemed to be talking to the Champion, but Zara couldn't make out any of the words. Suddenly, Maxie raised one arm and shouted something uninteligible, and Camerupt attacked Metagross with a Rock Slide. Steven ordered a Flash Cannon back, and soon everyone was firing attacks back and forth.

Zara stayed on the roof for a few minutes, looking for an opening to send a Dragon Pulse at one of the opposing Pokemon, but the Elite Four held their own. They steadily drove Team Magma back from the school.

Well then, I guess there's nothing to worry about. Give them a few more minutes, and this will all be ancient history, Zara thought, relieved. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of red. Directing her attention in that direction, she ran down the roof, till she had rounded the corner of the building. Below her were two Team Magma members, slinking in the bushes. And one of them had purple hair. Where is she headed, and what is she up to? Zara wondered Whatever it is, it can't be any good.

Climbing back onto Sceptile, she ordered the Forest Pokemon back down the wall. They were headed away from the fight. Must be headed to the back of the school. But what in the world are they after here? She returned her Pokemon to its pokeball, and raced for the back of the courtyard. Whatever it is, I'll make sure they never get it.

"Zara, what's going on?" Oh, right, Wally.

Wiping all signs of anxiety from her face, she turned to him and said, "We're being attacked by Team Magma, but don't worry, Steven and the Elite Four are about to send them packing."

"So, where are you going in such a hurry? You're not going to disobey Steven's orders, are you?" Wally asked, disbelief in his voice.

Zara hesitated. "I'm just going to check the other doors, make sure they're locked, stuff like that." I can't stay here much longer, or Team Magma is going to get into the school.

"Then I'm coming with you," Wally said firmly.

"No, you need to stay here," Zara said, then seeing Wally's face grow indignent, she quickly went on, "to keep everyone out here safe. Who knows when another Fire Blast could come over the wall?" You know that's not the real reason! she thought guiltily, but quickly shoved the thought aside. He can't come, and he can't know the real reason why he can't.

Wally frowned, but didn't protest. Zara hated to leave him upset with her, but she couldn't wait any longer. She turned without another word, and raced to the back of the building.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Alain listened to the sounds of a battle coming from outside the building with impatience. He wanted to go out and fight whoever this was himself, but he had been told to stay in the courtyard by that Phoebe person. He watched the group of students around him talking and whispering, some worriedly, some confidently, some interested.

He was glad Marian was back in the Kalos region, away from all this. Safe and sound with Chespie.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a door opening on the far side of the courtyard. Turning to look more closely at it, he saw a something green disapear inside as the door swung closed.

That couldn't be a student, could it? he thought. But if it is, and it has to be, since all of the Elite Four and Steven are still outside, who is it? Tracy? Luke? Wally? No, I can see all of them from where I'm standing.

Then it hit him. It was Zara. What was she doing, disobeying orders, and going outside when there was a fight going on? She could be hurt or something! Why does it make any difference to you what she does, or if she is hurt? he thought harshly to himself.

But what if this was why Lysander told me to keep my guard up...

That made up his mind. Turning toward the door, he raced after her.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Zara moved cautiously down the hallway, ducking from one doorway to the next, constantly watching for any signs of movement. She knew the Team Magma members were here somewhere, and she didn't want them to see her if at all possible. The quicker she could get this over with, the better.

Then, from the back doorway, "Miss Courtney, it's open."

"Good. Enter."

"Yes, ma'am."

They were inside, and headed her way. In a rush to find something better to hide behind than a door frame, Zara ducked behind a drink vending machine. She longed to be outside where she could duck into a tree to hide. Anything would be better than this open hallway.

Footsteps, coming closer, then stopping only a few feet away from her. Zara's breath caught in her throat.

"Where do we start looking, ma'am?"

"Storage rooms."

It's now or never. Get them out now, Zara thought. Drawing Sceptile's pokeball out of her pocket, she tossed it around the vending machine. Sceptile burst out of the pokeball with a growl

"Miss Courtney, look!" the grunt cried. "Isn't that the same Sceptile from before at the space center?"

Zara couldn't see Courtney's face, but because she didn't say anything, she guessed her face was bored as usual.

"Now I don't want to fight you," Zara began from behind the vending machine, "but I will if it comes to that. Just leave, and no one need ever know any of this happened." She hoped her voice wasn't shaking.

"Amusing. Leave. Now," Courtney said. Zara thought she heard a trace of amusment on her words.

"No, you leave. You're the one who doesn't belong here."

Courtney turned to the grunt. "This girl is getting increasingly anoying. Fight her with me."

"Yes ma'am!" And the grunt released a Poochena.

"Camerupt, go," Courtney ordered.

"Alright, you asked for it. Sceptile, Dragon Pulse!"

"Use Shadow Ball!" the grunt ordered.

The Dragon Pulse easily broke through the Shadow Ball, and Sceptile's attack slammed the Poochena against the wall. It collapsed, knocked out.

"Impressive, but just that will never stop me, as you well know," Courtney said rather flatly. "Camerupt, use Earth Power."

Sceptile was struck from below by the Ground type attack, and tiles on the floor were left cracked and broken from the move.

"Leaf Blade!" Zara cried.

"Eruption!" Courtney shouted.

Sceptile dodged around the Eruption and sliced Camerupt with its leaves.

"Use Dragon Pulse!" Zara ordered.

"Why are you still trying to stop us? What did we do to you? Oh, wait, that's right, your parents. When will you get it that we of Team Magma didn't cause that. Camerupt, Rock Slide!" Courtney ordered.

"Be quiet," Zara said, her courage starting to waver. "Whatever your going to say, I don't want to hear it."

"Why not? It's the truth, isn't it?"

Sceptile threw its head back and released a Dragon Pulse straight at Camerupt. Camerupt roared and stamped it's feet just before the attack connected, and it fainted when the Dragon Pulse struck.

"Not. Again. You. Insolent. Pest!" Courtney exploded. "I wish I had been the one who hurt you in your miserable past, since I can't seen to do it now! Grunt, let's go."

Then the Rock Slide attack started to fall. Sceptile dodged around most of the rocks. Courtney recalled her Pokemon, and the two Team members raced for the door, their heads covered by their arms. Zara watched them untill they were outside then returned Sceptile to its pokeball. But the Rock Slide was still falling, as were some pieces of the ceiling.

Shouldn't that be over by now? Zara thought absentmindedly, wondering when she would have to clean up the mess so Steven wouldn't find out about her disobeying his orders. She was considering leaving to follow Courtney and make sure she had left, when chunk of the ceiling fell on the vending machine beside her, and crushed it like a tin can.

That brought her back to reality. She sceamed, and turned to run, just as a huge chunk of rock fell straight at her head. She ducked and covered her head with her arms, waiting for the impact.

But it never came. After several moments, the sound of the Rock Slide died out and silence reigned in the hall. Zara slowly uncovered her head, shaking a few pieces of rock off of herself, and looked up.

Standing in the hall just a few feet from her were Charizard and Alain. Charizard's claws, she noticed, were fading from green to their normal white colour.

"Are you alright?" Alain asked, his face and voice unreadable as usual.

Zara felt relief spread through her. "I'm fine," she responded. "How did you know where I was?"

That when she realized she had no idea how long he had been standing there. "Just how much of that did you overhear?" she asked.

Now his face showed slight surprise, but only for a second. "From when you told them to leave."

Zara's stomach knotted, and suddenly she felt sick. Pushing past him, she raced down the hall as fast as she could, and didn't stop untill she was in one of the classrooms with the door shut tight behind her.

First Team Magma strikes, then I almost get flattened by a giant rock, and now Alain has heard Courtney talking about my past. That was exactly why I told Wally to stay behind. At least he wasn't the one who followed me. But what do I tell Alain about what he heard? I promised myself no one would ever know the truth.

Zara let her head fall back against the wall as tears slipped down her cheeks. Could this day get any worse?

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Alain stood in the hall, staring after Zara. Why had she run off? All he asked was if she was alright, and yet she acted like he had asked some deadly question. And more importiantly, who were those people, and what were they talking about, hurting Zara in her past? And why did it matter that he had overheard her conversation?

He returned Charizard to its pokeball, and turned to go back out to the courtyard, when something shiny caught his eye. Looking down at the place where Zara had been crouching, he spotted a ring lying amongst the rubble from the ceiling.

Zara must have lost it, he thought as he picked it up. It was just an ordinary silver band, set with a green stone, with two S-shaped symbols on either side of the stone.

He looked up in the direction she had run in, but decided against following her. He had no idea where she had run off to. I'll see her later, and I'll give it back to her then, he thought.

But he didn't see her. He fought his non-verbal battle, against Mary and her Mega Mawille, and won, but Zara wasn't there. He watched several of the other battles, and practiced battling silently with Astrid, but Zara was nowhere to be seen. He was dragged to the cafeteria for supper by an estatic Jacklyn, much to Astrid's amusement, but even then, he still couldn't find Zara. He even asked Wally where she was, but he hadn't seen her either.

It wasn't untill he climbed up onto the roof that night that he found her. She was curled up next to Sceptile, looking out at the forest and talking to her Pokemon quietly.

He took a step forward, and she turned to look at him. "Hey, what's up?" she asked. Strange, she seemed perfectly calm and relaxed, nothing like how she had been just a few hours before.

Alain crossed the roof and sat down beside her, releacing Charizard from its pokeball, just like he'd done every other night he'd come up here. After a long moment of silence, he asked, "Are you sure your alright?"

Zara smiled and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine, just scratches and bruses, thanks to you and Charizard. I never really got to thank you properly for saving me."

"It's fine." He pulled the ring out of his pocket and held it out to her. "You dropped this in the hall earlier."

Zara took one look at the ring, and her eyes widened. Her right hand flew to her chest, clutching frantically at the fabric of her shirt. After a moment, she lowered her hand and extended it toward Alain. Alain dropped the ring into her hand and her fingers closed quickly around it and she clutched it to her chest.

"Thank you," she choked out. Alain looked up and saw tears running down her face. Puzzled, he rose and started to go, intending to leave her alone, and not wanting to have to deal with whatever had caused her to cry.

"Sceptile!" Sceptile said firmly, looking first at Zara, then at Alain. Charizard raised its head and growled at Alain. Alain stopped walking away and looked at his Pokemon.

Zara let out a shaky sigh, and keeping her eyes lowered, said slowly, "Thank you for saving me from that rock earlier. I guess your wondering about what was said back there. And why I ran off. And why I'm crying." And she sniffed.

Alain turned back to her. "Yeah."

Zara swallowed hard, and Sceptile nugged her shoulder to encourage her to go on. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't tell anyone about it, ever."

Alain watched her, unsure if he really wanted to know or not.

Zara suddenly raised her head and looked him straight in the eye. "You promise?" The plea in her eyes told him how important this was to her, and the intensity surprised him.

This must be something she's kept back for a while. "I promise," he said firmly.

Zara took a deep breath. "You may want to sit down, this could take a while." Alain sat down in front of Charizard, and the Flame Pokemon curled up behind him. "Well, I guess it all started about eight years ago, at my house just outside of Fourtree. I lived with my parents, and they ran a Pokemon Daycare Center there."

She took another deep breath, and pressed on, "My parents were scientists, in their own right, and did studies on some of our Pokemon in there spare time. They never told me what they were studying though, and I never asked, always found playing with the Pokemon more interesting. I remember there being a lot of green rocks in the house at some point in here, so I suppose the research had to do with that. But what ever it was about, word got out, and it attracted the attention of some notable scientific group," and she drew air quotes when she said "notable scientific group". "This group came over to the house one day and asked if they could buy a large supply of what my parents were researching. Said something about using them to improve life in a city, or something like that."

Alain arched an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, this was eight years ago, and I was in my room listening to their conversation through the air vent, since I wasn't alowed to be out there when people came to discuss business matters," Zara spoke up defensively, "Anyway, my parents agreed, and started looking for more of these rocks they were studying. That went on for a year. Then the notable scientific people came back asking for their rocks. My parents got into an argument with them, I still don't know why, but there was a lot of shouting involved. After that, these people left, and didn't come back for about three months. I didn't think too much about them during that time. Life went back to normal, my parents cleared all the rocks out of our house, and I forgot all about it."

Zara swallowed hard. "Then one day, about two weeks after my tenth birthday, my dad rushed into the house and started talking quietly with my mom. I remember they seemed really worried about something. Then my dad started grabbing things out of our living room, things like picture frames, toys, and books, and shoving them into cabinets, drawers, closets, you name it. But my mom just stood there stock still for the longest time. When she did finally start moving, she called me over to her and told me to take my Treecko, which I'd just gotten, and go check the Pokemon out at the lake. Now the lake was all the way on the other side of our property, and I knew she was just trying to get me out of the way, but she looked so worried that I went anyway. But before I could get out the door, she called me back and gave me this." And Zara held up the ring. "All she told me was 'Keep it safe for me,' and then the next thing I knew I was out the door, headed for the lake as fast as I could run with Treecko on my shoulder."

"I don't know how long I stayed at the lake, but when I got back, several people dressed all in red were standing outside our house. I knew they were the notable scientific people, even though I'd never seem them before, because my dad was in the doorway, shouting at them. He slammed the door in their faces, I remember that because he never slammed doors."

"The people stood around in our yard for several minutes. One of them seemed to be addressing the others. She, I think it was a she considering what she was wearing, stood at the head of the group. She was dressed all in red, had short purple hair, and glasses. She said something to the others, and they all left. I'd been hiding in some bushes during the whole time they were there, but I came out now because I thought it was safe."

Alain watched as Zara's eyes screwed shut, and tears leaked out of them. "I was wrong." she choked out, "I took two steps from my hiding place, and the house blew up. Yes, just exploded before my eyes, no warning signs, no nothing. After that I don't remember much. I remember diving back into the bushes with Treecko, and I remember getting up and seeing nothing but a smoking crater where the house used to be."

"After that I hid in the woods around our property for three years, hoping those people wouldn't come back for me, and hoping that somehow my parents had survived the explosion and were out there in the forest looking for me. I lived with the Pokemon that lived around there and they took care of me, and taught me some of their skills. You saw me catch all those things down in the cafeteria. A Meditite taught me how to do that coordination stuff, and how to throw punches. And the climbing trees thing Steven was talking about the first day, I learned that from a group a Nuzleaf. And some Marill taught me how to swim."

She looked up at him. "After those three years, I decided it was safe to leave the forest. These people had had three years to try and find me, and I hadn't seen them since that day. Not to mention, these people had never seen me before, and I didn't even know for sure if they knew I exsisted. So, I came out of hiding and decided to go on a journey with Treecko, which by now had evolved into Grovyle. I traveled for a few months, battling other trainers, chalenging gyms, everything I would have done three years earlier if my parents had still been there."

"I probably would have been able to put the incident in my past for good, if I hadn't run into Team Magma. You saw them for yourself today, so you know what they look like."

Just like how she decribed the "notable scientific people", dressed all in red, Alain realized.

Zara sighed heavily. "The first time I saw them was in Slateport City, which is due south of here. It was just a group of grunts stealing some parts from a wealthy shipyard owner, but it scared the daylights out of me. I thought for sure they were after me. I ran away from there as fast as I could, and didn't stop till I was halfway across the city. I considered running all the way back to my forest and spending a few more years in hiding. I didn't, but I wanted to. After that day, I had my guard everywhere I went. I never slept without at least one Pokemon out of its pokeball on watch, and I never went into a city without asking someone nearby it if there had been trouble going on lately."

"Life went on like that for a while. Then came the day I met Courtney. I was on my way to Lilycove, which is on the eastern side of the Hoenn Region, near the ocean, and I met her on my way. I knew it was her as soon as I saw her, she was the one in command of those grunts, and she had caused my house to explode with my parents inside. I challenged her to a battle as soon as I could get my hand around a pokeball. We fought, and during the battle I told her that I knew she had killed my parents. Not the smartest decision, but I told her anyway. I had to know why she killed them."

"Why?" Alain asked.

Zara looked up at him with a puzzled expression. "Why, what?"

"Why did you want to know why she killed your parents? Why not just fight her and be done with her for good?"

Zara's eyes flashed with concern. "You think I wanted to get even with her?"

"Why else would you battle her?"

"I didn't want revenge," Zara said, "I wanted to understand. Revenge wouldn't have made things any better for anyone, myself included. Just would have made me feel guilty for hurting someone else, and probably even more scared that Team Magma would be after me. And I battled her to stall her, and so I would have a Pokemon between me and her while we talked."

Alain stared at her in confusion. That didn't make any sense to him. If it had been him, he would have battled her untill she was on her knees begging for mercy. That sounded like what she deserved.

"She didn't tell me though. In fact, she laughed at me and told me she had no idea what I was talking about. I beat her right after she said that, and she left before I could get any more out of her. I know it was her though. Either she doesn't remember the mission I asked about, or she's lying."

"Ever since then, every time I see Team Magma, I do everything I can to to stop them, but I make sure I never show my face. I want their organization and everything it stands for to be destroyed before they do to anyone else what they did to me. But," and here she looked pointedly at Alain, "I don't want to hurt the people. They can still change." Quietly, she added, "I think."

Zara leaned back against Sceptile, and her Pokemon rubbed its head affectionatly against her. "I didn't say when I met Steven. It was actually just a few miles from here, and that was before all this Courtney mess. I challenged the Elite Four about six months after I ran into him, two years ago, and I beat all four of the Elites, but I lost to Steven. He offered to take me on as his student and I've been here learning from him ever since. At the time I only agreed to be his student because I knew I would be safe if I was around the Champion, but now I really want to beat him and become Champion myself."

After a pause she finished with, "I think that's everything. Anything I didn't answer?"

Alain thought for a moment before asking, "Does Steven know about all this?"

Zara hesitated before answering. "No, he doesn't, and I don't want him to."

"Why not?" Don't you have to tell him? What would he say if he found out the truth? Alain thought, and images of Lysander finding out he had been lied to flashed in his mind. None of them were pleasant.

"Ever since that day outside of Fourtree, I've tried to put all that in my past. I don't want anyone to know about it, because they'll just bring it up and try to have me talk about it. I don't want to talk about it, I want to forget it. I want to start over. I want my past to not exist." Her voice broke as she said the next words. "I want all the worry, and all the fear, and all the pain not to exist. But they do. So I just try to put it all as far away from me as possible and go on with life."

Alain suddenly realized what that meant. It meant she was showing him a side of herself that she never showed anyone else. Ever. The side of herself that was open and exposed. The side of herself that held her greatest fear. Suddenly he felt a stab of pity for her, and wanted to say something to comfort her, though he had no idea what that would be.

Then another question surfaced in his mind. "Why are you telling me this, if you won't tell Steven?"

Zara hesitated again. Finally, she answered, "I'm not entirely sure. Maybe it's because I think I owe you the truth, since you did save my life and all. Or maybe it's because I'm tired of trying to keep it a secret and it won't matter if I tell you since after this two weeks is up, Hoenn will probably never see you again, much less me. Or maybe I think you would have figured it out anyway, and I'd rather tell you myself than have you digging around in my past."

Alain shiffted his position so he could stand up more easily. So she's only telling me this either because she needed someone to talk to, and I'm the only one availble, or she thinks she owes me something and is just trying to pay off a debt. Maybe I should leave her alone now. He rose and reached into his pocket for Charizard's pokeball, but before he he could have even said "return", Zara went on:

"Or maybe it's because I trust you."

Alain stopped with the pokeball halfway out of his pocket.

When he didn't say anything, Zara went on, "I mean, you were the only one who jumped in to save Wally, and you did save me from a giant falling rock, and you brought my ring back, so that's got to count for something, right? Most people wouldn't have done all those things, especially without bragging about it at all. I guess I think that's trustworthy."

Now Alain really felt like he ought to say something to comfort her, but nothing came to mind. He honestly wasn't sure what to do. Silence fell over the two of them for several moments.

"Well," Zara said, breaking the silence, "I guess that's everything I was going to say. I'd prefer if you just forgot about this conversation completely. Now to get things back to normal, what should we do?" And she wiped the tears from her cheeks, and put on an almost completely casual face.

Alain sat back down slowly. He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to hear her sing again, but he wasn't sure he should ask. He'd been fighting with himself about this ever since last time, and he didn't want to get attached to Zara in any way, but at the same time, he really wanted to hear her again. And you want that content feeling to come back too, his mind told him, but he pushed that thought aside.

"You could sing again, if you want," he said, not looking her in the eye.

Zara looked a little taken aback, but Sceptile gave a happy cry and started nosing Zara's pockets. "Alright Sceptile, alright, I get it, I'll do it, I'll do it." She drew her pitchpipe, her dead father's pitchpipe, Alain thought, out of her pocket, and after fingering it for a moment, blew two notes on it.

Then she started to sing.

The sound of her voice, and Sceptile's, washed over him. He leaned back against Charizard and closed his eyes. As he listened, all the thoughts he'd been having of Marian and Chespie, of Lysander, of his goals to become the strongest, and of not being able to protect the people he cared about, stopped bothering him. Just for those few minutes he forgot about everything else, and for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace.

The song didn't last nearly long enough. When Zara finished, the four of them sat in silence. Alain watched the forest for a while, not wanting to break the trance that had fallen over them. Finally, he stood up, and reached out to put a hand on Zara's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me."

Zara looked up quickly, and then smiled an almost cheerful smile. Alain turned and recalled Charizard, then went to the fire escape and climbed down. He went to his room, showered, and lay down in his bed. It was a long time before he fell asleep, and it wasn't because of Gordon's snoring. He couldn't stop the thoughts that rolled through his mind, or the feeling of pity that he felt for Zara. At last, sleep claimed him.

Maybe tomorrow would be less complicated.

X*X*X*X*X*X*X

Zara sat staring at the place on the roof where Alain had been sitting. She hadn't been sure if Alain had really cared about what she was saying untill just a moment ago. But when he had put his hand on her shoulder, well, she couldn't really describe it, but she had felt that he truly did care, and maybe he even understood. He seemed to be passionate about his goals, and uninterested in everything else all the time, but maybe there was something else to him that, like her, he always kept hidden. Maybe there was more to him that the cold exterior he always showed everyone. Maybe he was a good person to have as a friend.

Only time will tell, she thought.

She returned Sceptile to its pokeball, and went to the place on the roof directly above her window. Gripping the edge of the metal roof she swung over and through the open window below. Shutting it behind her, she lay down to get some sleep. It had been a long day.

Perhaps tomorrow would be less eventful.

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OK everyone, I really want to apologize for the long update on this, but as you can see it is very long, and I've beenrather sickly lately, so please don't think that this is going to become a habit.

Please review! :) Because seriously, I've gotten only two reviews for this story total. :\