Chapter 37

Just a few minutes before Silver and the others had infiltrated the base; the Charmander-girl was peering through the window of her room. She looked out at the boy that she now knew as Lionel with an intense curiosity. He seemed different, somehow. It wasn't in a good way, either. He looked distant and distracted. His eyes didn't have their usual energy and his grin was nowhere to be seen.

A human Tropius was at his side with another one of those weird collars around her neck. Charmander hadn't seen them until just a few weeks ago. Now they were everywhere. Every new human Pokémon that came in had one on. It was strange, the Tropius-woman was crying.

"Miss Aroma," she called through the wall, "they're bringing in somebody new!" She bounced up and down a few times with excitement. Somebody new to tell stories and help think of names!

"Oh, no…" Aroma's voice was tragic, "not another one."

"It's okay," Charmander assured her, "now we'll have help with coming up with names."

She watched intently as the blond boy handed over some sort of remote control to the guard. The guard took it and after exchanging a few more words with Lionel, the boy departed, leaving the Tropius-woman behind. Then the guard started pushing a few buttons on the controller and the newcomer walked obediently to another room. He had picked the room that was on the other side of Aroma.

Rattata, Charmander mentally swore. The Tropius-woman was going to be placed in the room that was two doors down from her own, next to Aroma. She wouldn't be able to talk directly to the newcomer, but at least Aroma would be able to hear her.

She watched the guard for just a little bit longer. He walked back to the desk on the opposite side of the room. Then he pulled out a label-maker and stuck one on the controller that Lionel had given him. He pressed a few more buttons on it before opening a drawer and dropping it inside.

There was a lot of other stuff in the drawer, but the most important things were the controllers for Aroma and the newcomer. It was also where they kept Charmander's Pokéball. She didn't know why they kept it here. Maybe Master Vince didn't want to lose it and they could keep it safe. That way the Charmander-girl would always be right near her Pokéball, even if they didn't use it.

There were also a few other empty Pokéballs in that drawer. Charmander had seen them do it before.

There was a problem with the Pokéball system. If a Pokémon remained outside of and away from their Pokéball for long enough the Pokéball began registering that it was empty. Then you could transfer a previously captured Pokémon to a new Pokéball. Of course, anybody who knew anything about stealing Pokémon knew that. Without it, stealing Pokémon, without also taking their Pokéballs, was outright impossible.

Naturally, she had asked before what Team Deus needed to steal Pokémon for. The answer didn't make much sense, especially after hearing Aroma's stories, but Charmander hadn't really expected to hear the truth anyway.

One of the scientists, Michael was his name, had told her that they weren't really stealing Pokémon. For one thing, they were only after human Pokémon. And they didn't steal them, but they rescued them. Michael said that a lot of human Pokémon don't like their new lives with their trainers and wanted to break away from them. But they couldn't help themselves. So, instead, Team Deus rescued them, gathered them together and gave them a real home.

Charmander thought about asking why she never saw one of her old roommates after they had been transferred to a new Pokéball, but she thought better of it. Sometimes asking questions made them discipline her.

Aroma and the newcomer were already talking to each other. Charmander couldn't quite make out everything they were saying, but it sounded like the Tropius-woman was really upset. She didn't pity herself, but she was really worried about some people that were still outside.

In any case, Charmander was happy to have a new friend, even if she couldn't hear her. She would have to have Aroma introduce her at some point.

A few minutes later, Charmander heard the faint sounds of fighting coming from down the hallway. It was over quick, but she was almost positive that she had heard it.

"What was that noise?" Aroma's faint voice drifted through the wall, "did you hear that?" She sounded excited, even hopeful. But the Charmander-girl wasn't so sure this was going to be pleasant.

The guard slowly stood up to check on the disturbance. Charmander watched him closely as he edged forward out into the hallway. A split second later, the girl jumped as a black and gold blur rammed into the guard and he was knocked unconscious by a human Ninjask.

Crouching on top of the guard's unmoving body, he scanned the room with insect-like movements. Then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared, leaving the others alone, again.

What's going on? Charmander wondered. She suddenly started to feel afraid. Somebody was attacking Team Deus.

Her thoughts came in a frantic, disjointed rush. What could she do? She had never seen anything like this happen before. If the guard was knocked out, who else could protect them? What if these intruders had come to take them all away? What if they had come to take her away from Master Vince?

Just a few seconds later, a human Absol followed by two other human Pokémon and two regular humans entered the room.

Who were these people?

Lionel huddled where he was for a minute that felt like an hour.

Everything was falling apart. He had missed getting Maple and they had followed him back to the base. There would be no escape now. He had screwed up beyond repair. There was nothing that he could do to fix it.

He started to cry.

He hadn't cried since he was little, but he did now. Never in his life had something gone so horribly wrong. Even if he ran, Farin was going to kill him. And that wasn't even the worst part…

A shadow cast itself over Lionel as a figure stood over the boy.

"I told you that you didn't know what you were doing," Cal stared down at the pathetic kid. He was no longer amused by Lionel's failures. It had gone too far. Now, it was just pathetic and hopeless.

"How did-"

"How did I know?" Cal was more than happy to explain what led him to find Lionel crying in the hallway of the Himitsu Island hideout, "It's easy. I followed the people following you," he paused and waited for Lionel to lift his head, "I knew you would screw everything up. So, I followed you and waited for you to do it. After that, it was easy to follow the others. You see, they're amateurs, just like you are. They just have better human Pokémon."

None of those words offered any comfort to Lionel, but that wasn't really what Cal was after.

"Look, kid," Cal crouched down in front of Lionel, "I knew you were going to screw up, and I'm betting that Farin knew too. We gambled on you and it didn't pay off. It's not as big of a deal as you think."

"Huh?" Lionel stared at Cal, "they're in the base! What could be worse than that?"

"Damned if I know," Cal shrugged, "but Farin's got some sort of plan up his sleeve. He let it get this far, after all."

"I thought you hated Farin?" Lionel couldn't help but asking. To his knowledge, Cal hated everybody but the head of Team Deus. And Cal only respected him because he terrified Cal. Lionel had never met him, but he wondered how terrible a person needed to be to scare Cal…

"I do hate Farin," Cal nodded, "but I'm not going to get my hands dirty unless I have to. I already sounded the alarm, that's enough for me," he stood up to leave, but when Lionel didn't move, he extended a hand, "come on, let's get you out of sight. With your reputation, they'll probably rip you apart if they find you."

Lionel stared at his hand. There was no question, he had screwed up. But Team Deus wasn't punishing him for it. He was still welcome with them.

Or could he walk away now?

This wasn't the life he wanted for himself. How could any Pokémon trainer actually want a life like this? But, like it or not, here he was. Now this colossal failure was offering itself as an excuse to turn tail. He could just blame himself for the failure and run away from the horror and abuse of Team Deus. But where could he run to?

Suddenly, footsteps began echoing down the hallway. Someone was running towards them. Someone who had overheard the fight…

"Last chance," Cal grinned.

Reluctantly, Lionel took Cal's hand. What other choice did he have?

Silver thought he caught a glimpse of bright red hair in the far left window, but it was gone before he could be sure.

The holding area wasn't exactly what he had pictured. The mental image he had prepared included dank, dark and rotting iron cells designed to crush the spirit of anyone held inside. Instead, he was looking at a set of five doors that led to five different cells that were more like patient rooms in a psychiatric ward.

Not wasting any time, he went to the door directly in front of him and examined the electronic lock on it. He looked back at the desk and the unconscious guard as Shinobi, Lily, Mark and Maple followed him into the room. There had to be a keycard…

"Check the-" another wave of pain passed through Silver as the poison in his system attacked him from the inside, "check the guard for a key." Mark checked the guard's pockets and came up with three separate cards, which he handed to Silver.

"Silver?" Aroma's voice drifted out of the second door, "is that you?" Her soft voice was music to Silver's ears and her gentle face appeared in the window a moment later. At the same time, Silver's anger flared again when he recognized the fear in her eyes.

"Aroma!" Lily cried and rushed forward to the door, "get her out! Get her out!"

"I'm on it," Silver assured her as he fumbled through the keycards. He would have to try them all.

But Maple sped up the process by slicing through the lock with her Leaf Blade.

Stunned, Silver stared at her for a moment as the door hung limply on its hinges. The Leafeon-girl beamed at him as though she had done nothing at all.

"Aroma!" Lily flung the door aside, nearly hitting Silver with it, and hugged her human Meganium, "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have left you!"

"No, no," Aroma patted the young girl's back in an attempt to soothe her, "it's my fault. I should have waited for you." She looked up at Silver, who tried to look cool and casual, leaning against the door-frame.

"Hello, Silver," Aroma smiled, "I'm glad to see you didn't run away."

"I couldn't leave with you gone," Silver remarked as he gestured to Lily and Shinobi, "these two are crazy enough with you around." Aroma's smile broadened at him and she ignored the obvious lie.

Mark left the group to their reunion and examined the other rooms. The two on the far right were empty, but the one in the middle…

"Fernelia!" Mark exclaimed, "Maple, I need your help." Maple was by his side in an instant and she destroyed the lock just as easily as the first. Mark opened the door and Fernelia stood up to greet them.

"I knew you'd come," she smiled warmly despite the dull red color in her eyes, "Are Eric and Tsunami with you?"

"Yes," Mark answered, "they're in the base. We split up to look for you. We need to find them and get out of here."

"Of course," Fernelia nodded, "lead the way." Exiting Fernelia's cell, Mark noticed Silver shudder and cough up another mouthful of blood.

"You're hurt," Aroma walked up to Silver, "what's wrong?"

"Ugh...poison," Silver admitted, "from that damned Seviper."

"Stay still," Aroma instructed. She held her hands so that her fingers lightly brushed against Silver's chin. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, Aroma's body shook slightly and she cringed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Silver panicked and held Aroma's shoulders. Too late, he noticed the strange collar around her neck.

"It's…it's…" Aroma strained to speak, pointing at the collar.

"Shinobi!" Silver called to the human Ninjask. With absolute precision, Shinobi cut through the collar with X-Scissor. It slipped off of Aroma's neck and fell to the floor with a metallic clang.

"Thank you, Shinobi," Aroma smiled, grateful to have the collar off.

Silver once again coughed and shuddered, even more violently this time. He was getting weak. He needed help.

"Here," Aroma picked up where she left off, placing her hands underneath Silver's chin again. This time, a bright pink vapor began wafting out of her hands. The smell of lilacs and lilies and roses and hyacinths and a dozen other flowers began to fill the air. Silver closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled deeply. He had smelled Aromatherapy many times before, but he never got tired of it. The poison inside his body seeped away as he breathed in that wonderful scent.

"How do you feel?" Aroma asked as the tiny pink cloud began to dissipate.

"Much better," Silver nodded, "thank you."

During the display, Maple noticed that Lily was looking away. While everyone else was watching as Aroma healed Silver and the sweet scent of wildflowers filled the room, Lily did not. In fact, she seemed embarrassed to even be in the room. Why was that?

"Better get that collar off of her, too," Silver nodded to Fernelia. Without waiting for confirmation, Shinobi disabled Fernelia's collar, as well. Mark was stunned by how quickly and effortlessly he had done it. Fernelia never even had the chance to protest. Mark hated to think what it would be like to face Shinobi in a Pokémon battle…

"Wait," Maple's ears suddenly stood on end, "what's that sound?" Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to listen. Soon they could all hear the soft thudding of someone running down the hallway. Someone was coming towards them.

Shinobi was the quickest to act. He rushed to the door and looked out in the direction that they had come from. The sounds were getting louder all the time.

But a moment later, he discovered that it wasn't an enemy, but it was their allies. Kim rounded the corner followed by Volt, Tsunami and Eric. Without a word, Shinobi dashed back into the holding area, leading the other half of the group inside.

Kim and Volt skidded to a stop, but Tsunami and Eric didn't let up until they were both embracing Fernelia. Tsunami thanked Arceus over and over again while Eric broke down into tears of joy at finding his mother. Their family was reunited again.

"We heard fighting," Kim panted, "are you all alright?"

"Better than alright," Silver assured her, "but we need to get the hell out of here."

"Silver, wait," Aroma spoke up, "we need to take the other girl with us. We can't leave her here."

"What other girl?"

Maple was the closest to the door leading to the last cell. She looked in through the window. Sure enough, crouched in the corner of the cell was a small Charmander-girl. She looked afraid, but it wasn't a fear that suggested that she was weak. It was more accurate to say that her fear was giving her strength. As if she were a cornered animal that was ready to fight to the death.

Maple sliced off the lock and let the door hang loosely. Aroma opened it and stepped through.

"You can come out now," Aroma spoke softly, "these people are our friends. We're escaping."

"You're leaving me?" the Charmander-girl's eyes narrowed at Aroma, "fine, then go. I don't need you anyway! It's not like it's the first time somebody's left!"

"You won't come with us?" Aroma asked, baffled by this unexpected reaction.

"I'm waiting for Master Vince," the girl snapped at Aroma, "he promised he would come. I have to see him again."

"But…" Aroma couldn't think of what to say, "But…he's not going to come."

"YES HE IS!" the girl screamed at Aroma. The fire at the end of her tail flared brightly, causing the others to look away.

Wounded by the Charmander-girl's harsh rebuke, Aroma stepped back. She had thought that she was becoming friends with the girl, but now it amounted to nothing. She couldn't come between the girl and her trainer. That bond was too strong, especially if she had been his first Pokémon. What could they do to convince her to leave?

"Who's Master Vince?" Mark asked, stepping forward into the small cell. He didn't think about what he was doing. He just wanted some answers.

"My trainer," the girl answered, "he promised he would come back for me! I'm just here until he comes back for me!"

Mark bit the inside of his lip and thought. Something wasn't adding up. She wanted to stay there. That must mean that she wasn't recently captured, like Aroma and Fernelia. In fact, she probably hadn't even been forced into her cell at all. This was home, for her. But who was this Vince person if he had left her here on purpose?

"What's your name?" Mark asked.

"I don't have a name," the girl's tail flared again, less harshly this time, "Master Vince never gave me one. I don't need to be anything other than Charmander." She knew it was a lie the instant she said it. Not having a name left a hole in her that needed to be filled. But she couldn't show any weakness in front of these strangers. Whatever they wanted, she wasn't going to give it to them.

"Okay, Charmander," Mark remained calm, "what is this place?"

"Why should I tell you?" Charmander hissed.

"We don't have time for this," Silver urged Mark.

"Just a minute," Mark replied, "I just want to know more about you and about your Master Vince."

The girl hesitated, wondering if sharing what she knew would in any way betray her trainer. But she decided that it couldn't hurt. Master Vince and the rest of Team Deus would undoubtedly be strong enough to defeat these people.

"This is one of the headquarters of Team Deus," Charmander answered, "Master Vince…works for them."

That simple statement said a lot. Now they knew who they were up against. This group of human Pokémon thieves had a name. But it was one that Mark didn't recognize. There had been others in the past, of course. Team Rocket had been the most famous, but even that group was long gone. This new group probably wasn't a far cry away from the others. But they were dealing in human Pokémon. That fact alone would make them much more dangerous.

Not only that, but if Charmander's trainer worked for this "Team Deus" then that would explain her reluctance to leave. Maybe he really would return for her. In which case, she was an enemy. But why keep her in a cell? Why not keep her in a Pokéball with her trainer?

"What do they do here?" Mark continued.

"I don't know."

"Alright," Mark paused. He considered what questions needed answering and which ones she could answer. Even as a willing captive, they wouldn't tell her much. Maybe they wouldn't tell her anything.

"How long have you been here?" he tried.

"I've been in this base for four days," the girl answered.

"Just this base?" Mark pressed, eager for answers, "have you been anywhere else?"

"Mark, there's no time for this!" Silver warned, "Leave her. We need to get out of here, now!"

"I've been with Team Deus ever since I turned human," the girl answered, ignoring Silver, "I don't know when that was, though. At least three months. You should listen to that Absol and go. Master Vince will destroy you if he finds you."

"Three months…" Mark reflected. Silver was right, they were running out of time. They had already been in the base for too long and they had gotten what they came for. They had to assume that Lionel was going to sound an alarm. Still, Mark wasn't ready to leave quite yet.

"When was the last time you saw Master Vince?"

The girl's eyes widened in shock at the new question. Her gaze lowered to the floor.

"About a month," she admitted.

At last, something clicked in Mark's mind. He knew what had happened and who this girl was. He immediately felt sorry for her.

"Is he in this base?" he asked.

"No…"

"Did he tell you when he would see you next?"

"No…"

"Does he train you at all?"

"No…"

"When was the last time you had a battle?"

"I don't know…" every new question made Charmander's heart sink. They were questions she should've been asking herself. Why hadn't she? She had seen everything that Master Vince and Team Deus had been doing, but it never bothered her. Now this strange boy was asking so many questions that she couldn't answer. What did it mean?

"When was the last time Master Vince talked to you?"

Charmander couldn't answer, right away. Her lower lip was quivering and she had dropped her gaze so far that she was now staring at the ground. She couldn't take what this boy was making her see. It was all true. But what did it mean? Why did Master Vince pay so little attention to her?

"Before I evolved," she answered, squeezing her eyes shut. She didn't want to see it. She didn't want to know. The truth was right in front of her, but it hurt to look.

A gentle hand settled on her shoulder. She looked up to see the boy kneeling in front of her. He was smiling. Ever since she had evolved, nobody had ever smiled at her. Not even Master Vince.

"I won't force you to come with us," Mark reassured her, "but if you do. We will not abandon you. I promise."

The girl without a name started to cry. Then Mark put his arms around her and hugged her. It was warm and comfortable in his arms. No one had ever hugged her before. She liked it.

AN: and thus Mark earns his second human Pokémon.

This scene turned out better than what I thought would happen. I thought maybe Maple would have to step in to convince Charmander to come with them, but Mark's naturally questioning nature took care of that one. Hurray for the main character!

Oh, and for those that wanted Lionel dead…yeah, sorry about that. If it's any consolation, he's not going to be doing anything for a while.

I don't really have any plans to kill any characters for a long time. I won't say that I'm not going to do it at all, but it's not going to happen in the near future. And if I'm doing my job right, you probably won't even see it coming!

Besides, Lionel's plotline isn't done yet. The guy still has two more human Pokémon we haven't seen and he's registered in the tournament. He'll be gone for a while, but he'll be back for you to love to hate all over again

I guess that's it, for now. Thanks for reading!