Chapter 33

"What do you want, noob?" Kim sighed as she leaned against her door and peered at Mark.

"Couldn't you be a little nicer?" he asked.

"Nope," Kim shook her head, "I'll be nice to Maple. I'm friends with her."

"That doesn't sound very fair…" Mark groaned.

"She's cuter than you, get used to it," Kim patted Mark's shoulder in mock sympathy, "anyways, I'm just screwing with you. Come on in."

Rolling his eyes, Mark did as he was told and entered the room. It was the perfect mirror image of him and Maple's room, right down to the paintings on the wall. The only difference was the Raichu-boy sitting at the wooden table.

"So, what's up?" Kim asked, flopping down on the nearest bed.

"I need advice," Mark admitted. There was no point in hiding it, "I may have done something stupid."

"Goddamn it…" Kim moaned, "stupid teenagers…"

"I didn't even tell you what it is, yet!" Mark snapped.

"Alright, fine," Kim sat up and tried to pay attention, "start talking."

"Well…" Mark gathered his thoughts, trying to pick out where to begin, "you see, me and Maple went on our first date today. The thing is; I've never been on a date before. And, I guess, for one thing I'm not sure what's supposed to happen…"

Kim raised an eyebrow, "are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious," Mark sighed, "I guess, I never really got the chance while I was training Pokémon or-"

"I'm not asking about how you've never been on a date," Kim smiled a sly half-smile, "I mean the other part. About 'what's supposed to happen' on a date."

"What about it?"

"You honestly think there's an answer?" Kim asked, fighting back laughter as she did so, "like, what'd you do? Dinner and a movie? Did you hold hands and spout cliché lines to each other under a starlit sky?" She couldn't hold back anymore and she burst out into high-pitched laughter that was virtually a cackle.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Mark gaped at her. Across the room, Volt turned around and stared at his trainer. He had never seen her like this, but he thought he knew where this reaction might be coming from.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kim regained control of herself, "teenagers, honestly…so, what? I'm guessing you said something stupid that upset her?"

"Not exactly," Mark shook his head, "I think she just…figured something out."

"Like what?" Kim asked. There was genuine concern in her voice this time.

"Well…the thing is…" Mark spoke barely louder than a whisper, "I think she's in love with me. But I don't know if I'm in love with her."

"Hmm…" Kim thought it over, "okay, now we're getting somewhere. So…what? Does she come on too strong for you, or something?"

"No," Mark hung his head while he thought, "she's been great. It's just that…she doesn't know. And I don't know what to do. She's been great, but…I've been awful…"

Kim nodded. That made sense. Mark was doing what he always did. He was worrying too much and trying to fix something that didn't need fixing. In essence, he was beating himself up over nothing.

Still, Maple should know that he didn't really feel the same way about her. In time, he might be able to return those feelings, but not just yet. He was certainly willing enough to try. The irony of it was that if he was too worried about scaring or disappointing or hurting her, he would end up doing exactly that.

"It doesn't seem to me like Maple thinks you've been awful," Kim suggested, "She seems fine with the way you've been treating her."

"Really?" Mark hadn't thought about that.

"You probably hear this all the time, but you think too much," Kim smirked.

"I can't help it," Mark sighed and hung his head.

The trip back to the hotel room was a somber one, for Maple. She had avoided answering any more prodding questions from Fernelia, Eric and Tsunami, but she couldn't keep herself from asking those questions.

What was Mark worried about? What had she done wrong?

She had been pretty selfish lately. Everything they did revolved around Maple. They trained so she could get through their fight, a fight that she had just about forced Mark into. They went shopping for her clothes and had generally done the things she wanted to do. But they hadn't done anything that Mark wanted to do.

That must have been it. Maple had been selfish and she didn't even realize it. Why hadn't she thought of that? Mark deserved to have time for him, he didn't exist for Maple. She was so stupid for not seeing that.

The hallway outside of their room was empty. That meant Mark was still talking to Kim. Maybe that meant that she had seen something suspicious. Or maybe not, but either way, Maple had to wait for Mark to come back. He had the keycard, after all.

Well, that was no big deal. It would give her plenty of time to think about how she was going to apologize to Mark for being so selfish. She wanted to get the words right and that would take some time.

Calm down, man, just calm down, Lionel was so nervous his hands were shaking as he rode the elevator. He still didn't have a plan and nothing was coming to him. The collar was tucked safely away in his pack, but he doubted that he could use it in the state that he was in.

What the hell was he going to do? He was walking right into the dumbest thing he had ever done. One mistake and Mark might just have Maple slice his head off. That image came forth in all too gory detail and he shuddered.

Still, whatever they would do to him for real, Farin would do something far worse if he failed. Never mind getting his head chopped off, Lionel didn't want to imagine the horror Farin would inflict on him.

Somehow, this steadied Lionel. There was no more room for error. No more questions to ask. It was do or very literally, die.

The elevator dinged its arrival on the eleventh floor. The doors slid open and Lionel stepped out. A second later, he almost jumped right back in.

Right down the hall, in plain sight, stood Maple. She was alone outside of their hotel room, waiting for Mark to return. She seemed lost in thought and couldn't sit still. She twitched and fidgeted and muttered to herself. She was thinking out loud and had no idea that she wasn't alone.

Was this really happening? She was right in front of him, completely alone and vulnerable. No Mark…no witnesses at all.

Lionel couldn't believe it. Were things finally going his way? After all of the planning and all of the worry, she was right there, practically gift-wrapped for him. All he had to do was walk up and take her.

I can do this, Lionel thought, it'll be easy. She won't suspect a thing and then I'll have her. It just has to be now, or it'll never happen.

As quietly as he could, he reached inside his bag and removed the collar.

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?" Kim asked, trying to change the subject. She was nearing the limit of what relationship advice she had to give. Worse, what advice she did have didn't have any effect on Mark's attitude.

"Huh?" Mark shook himself out of his thoughts, "uh…yeah, actually. There's something I wanted to ask both of you." He checked to make sure he had Volt's attention before continuing, "Have either of you seen anything suspicious?"

"Suspicious, how?" Kim opened her mouth to speak, but Volt beat her to it. The human Raichu was on edge immediately.

"Well, I'm not asking for me," Mark explained, "there's a trainer named Lily who's missing a human Meganium."

"Missing?" Volt narrowed his gaze. This was it. He could tell them everything he had seen Lionel do. But maybe not. Ratting out one of their friends would be tough without good proof. Still, this could be exactly what he needed to be able to break it to them.

"Yeah," Mark nodded, "she went missing two nights ago. Nobody's seen her since."

"Two nights ago?" Volt asked. Dammit, he thought. Two nights ago was the same night he had tailed Lionel to the edge of town and overheard his little tantrum. Lionel already had an alibi for this one, the lucky little bastard. Still…Volt already knew he wasn't alone. The kid couldn't be totally innocent…

"Yeah," Mark continued, "the first night of the tournament. We're almost positive she was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Kim spoke up, "would somebody do that? I mean, I've heard rumors about people like that, but during the tournament? Would somebody really have the balls to do that?"

"Oh, yeah," Volt smirked, "I don't doubt that for a second."

"Why's that?" Mark asked. He had come to the right people.

"You're not gonna like it," Volt continued to smirk as he shook his head.

"Hi, there!"

Maple jumped a full foot into the air when Lionel's over-cheerful voice broke the silence and the stream of her thoughts. Her heart racing, she turned to face the boy and saw him standing with his hands behind his back and that old grin firmly in place.

"H-hi," Maple stuttered, recomposing herself, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, just…wanted to check in with you guys," Lionel explained, "see how you were doing."

"Right…" Maple nodded, "well, we're doing good…"

"Awesome, awesome," Lionel nodded, "is Mark around?"

"Not right now," Maple started, "he's talking to Kim."

"What about?" Lionel asked. Mark was just down the hall. Dammit, Lionel would have to be a bit more careful. Good thing he checked.

"It's about a Meganium-woman that went missing," Maple explained, "we think she was kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Lionel had a pretty good idea of who it was, "who would do something like that?"

"We don't know," Maple shook her head, but then realized that she had a second chance at completing her mission, "have you seen anything weird like that?"

"Can't say that I have," Lionel shook his head. Then he remembered that Cal had brought in a human Meganium two nights ago. The odds of it being a different Meganium-woman were slim, nearly impossible. Most of the human Pokémon in existence were unique, only a handful of Pokémon were known to have more than one human counterpart.

"Oh, I see…" Maple's ears drooped as she realized that she had failed a second time, "I really wanted to help them, too…"

"Wait a second," Lionel had to be careful to keep the excitement from overpowering him, "I think I actually do remember seeing something suspicious."

"Really?" Maple's ears shot back up with excitement, "where? When was it?"

"There's a really suspicious guy on the floor below us," Lionel began, he was moments away, he tightened his grip on the collar, "we can go check it out."

"That's perfect!" Maple chimed.

Got you, Lionel thought and he grinned even wider.

"I'll go get Mark," Maple turned to leave, but Lionel grabbed her wrist.

"You think that's necessary?" Lionel asked.

Maple stared at his hand around her wrist. It was shaking and covered in sweat. And he was gripping much too tightly. His nails dug into her skin.

"Lionel, let go," Maple whimpered.

"No," Lionel breathed harshly, "I'm not letting you get away, again."

"Lionel, let go!" Maple made an attempt at pulling away, but Lionel tightened his grip.

"You're coming with me," Lionel hissed. He started to bring the collar around from behind his back.

Maple didn't hold back on the second attempt and she easily broke from Lionel's grip, shoving him to the ground. Rubbing at her wrist and panting, she wondered what to do.

Mark, she thought, I have to get Mark. She ran for Kim's room and started knocking furiously. She glanced back at Lionel as she did so, but he was already running in the opposite direction, heading for the elevator.

At last, the door opened and Maple flung herself inside.

Something wasn't right. Fernelia could feel it.

Maple had dodged most of her questions and had just about run from the room. Even if Fernelia didn't know what it was like to be a human girl at her age, she knew enough to know that she was lying. However, Eric and Tsunami did not.

A mother's instinct, she supposed. Technically, she wasn't a mother, but she worried and cared about Eric enough that it made little difference. She wasn't his first human Pokémon, but her presence had done wonders to heal the damage that his biological mother's passing had caused. They were family, whether Fernelia and Tsunami were Pokémon or not.

Perhaps that was why she didn't tell them why she was going. If something was wrong, Fernelia could handle it. There was no need to make them worry.

As she thought about it, she decided that Maple had a strong sense of independence. She didn't want to burden them with her problems and had resigned to deal with them on her own. Again, maybe Fernelia had never felt those emotions at Maple's age, but it still seemed odd for a girl like that. And yet, she was naturally comfortable around Fernelia. As if that same maternal characteristic of Fernelia's gave Maple some comfort. Did something happen to her own parents?

In any case, Fernelia could sense Maple's need for support. If she could help the young Leafeon-girl in any way, it would at least put her mind at ease. She had to try.

What floor was it? Eleven? She climbed inside the elevator and pressed the button for that floor. The doors closed and the elevator lurched out of place and started downward.

A few moments later, the elevator doors slid open and there was an oddly familiar face standing there.

"Oh, I remember you," Fernelia recognized the blond-haired boy in front of her, "your name's Lionel, right? How are you?"

Lionel blinked as recognition sank it. He remembered her. They had met once before on the boat trip to Himitsu Island. He blinked a few more times and then realized something. He was still holding the collar.

"What's that in your hand?" Fernelia asked.

AN: I hope the frequent scene changes weren't too confusing. It helps keep the tension high, even though each section is kinda short.

I'll see you all next week and happy holidays!