Chapter 28: No Goodbyes

"Rita, I'm leaving you in charge." My stomach physically hurt from uttering those words.

"Don't get me wrong, Jamie—"

"That's Sir Arkle to you," I corrected.

"You're not a knight," Rita snickered. "Anyway, Jamie, though your departure makes my heart overflow with syrupy happiness, what exactly are you going to tell the Master?"

"The same thing I told you," I said curtly. "There was a family emergency—"

"I didn't even know you had family. I was fairly certain pigs gave birth—"

"And you fell out of a pigeon's uterus. Go fuck yourself." I slammed my suitcase shut. "I'll be back by the end of the week. Do anything to damage my career—"

"As a suck-up—"

"And I will personally shave the skin off your body and feed it to your precious pigeons." I walked out of the office, leaving the witch with everything I had worked so hard to obtain. I almost regretted my efforts to keep competent Team Glop'emm members out of the Master's most trustworthy circle. Almost. Any person with power and competence had the potential to be named the next Team Glop'emm Master, and would thus be detrimental to my career.

I yearned for a trustworthy trainer to do this grunt work for me. Trustworthiness, however, was a hard trait to come across in Team Glop'emm. I've had much experience in the matter.

When I finally arrived outside, I pulled out a Pokeball. In a flash of red my Togekiss appeared.

"Skampi, to Globert City," I ordered as I climbed over Skampi's unusually large wings. Drape town quickly faded below us, until only the stubborn City Hall was visible. The despised City Hall…

As the City Hall failed to provide me with information about the Mendol family, I was forced to find another means of gaining this knowledge. The only people who possibly knew Master Mendol Senior better than me were the little Mendol twit himself, the gym leaders, and Harvey Darcleye.

Harvey Darcleye was the least dangerous of the bunch and likely knew the most. After all, he had been the gym leader of Drape town before the Mendols arrived…

The Sneasel slashed at the Butterfree with a claw, but the butterfly Pokemon swooped away just in the nick of time. The Butterfree sent a few whirlwinds at the Sneasel, but the Sneasel took the opportunity to use an ice attack. The ice shards got caught in the whirlwind and hit the Butterfree—

"Yo, Jamie!"

The sudden voice nearly made me fall out of the tree I was sitting in. I looked down at the moron who had startled me.

"Jamie, you've gotta come see—Ryan and Drake are decking each other over some blonde chick. What're you doing up there?"

"I'm on an assignment."

"Spying on the gym leader through a window? Dude, the battles are open to the public."

"I'm not supposed to be seen." I did not tell the idiot that I was actually waiting for after the gym battle, when the gym leader was supposed to meet with a new potential gym leader after the match under this very tree. Gym leaders were a nasty business for Team Glop'emm, always foiling plans and sending about half the crew to jail. Whenever a new one came around, the bosses always wanted to know what the team would be dealing with next.

"Yeah, well, I saw you so you might want to go higher."

The moron had a point. I climbed into higher branches.

"Jamie, I was kidding. Ger your ass down here to see the fight!"

"I'm on duty."

"Fuck duty! You love this stuff! Man, ever since you joined that gang you haven't been the same. You too cool to hang with us now? Is that it?"

"You were never cool to begin with," I said, losing my patience. The Butterfree had fainted and the gym leader was shaking a teenager's hand.

The moron raised his hands in defeat. "Whatever, Jamie. Just don't come crying back to us when that gang kicks your ass out on the curb." The guy turned and walked away, disappearing among Drape Town's busy citizens walking up and down Main Street.

Forty minutes later, the sun was starting to set and the damn tree was making my legs uncomfortable. Just as I was adjusting my position, the gym leader walked out of the gym, turned a corner, and approached the tree. I noticed the gym leader walked with a slight limp, supported on one side by an Umbreon whose eyes glowed eerily. A man with dark hair approached the tree from the opposite direction. I froze.

When the two men and the Umbreon arrived under the tree, the gym leader held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Mendol."

The man with dark hair took the gym leader's hand. "Mr. Darcleye, the pleasure is mine."

"To what do I owe this delightful encounter?" the gym leader asked.

"I heard you were retiring."

"I'm sorry, you were misinformed."

"I heard you were retiring once you found a replacement," Mendol said.

"Where?"

Mendol shrugged, and the gym leader eyed the man warily. "Psychic," Darcleye ordered. The Umbreon's eyes glowed purple and Mr. Mendol was shoved against the gym's brick wall. "You are not gifted."

Mendol pulled out a Pokeball. "I am gifted in other ways." A Houndoom appeared as Mendol pressed the release button. "Crunch."

The Hondoom rushed at the Umbreon. The Umbreon disappeared and reappeared behind the Houndoom in a faint attack. Just as the Umbreon hit, the Houndoom twisted around and spewed a blast of fire in the Umbreon's face.

"Toxic!" Darcleye yelled.

"Sludge Bomb," Mendol retaliated.

Both Pokemon, still physically intertwined, were covered with a purple, oozing liquid. The Houndoom bit down hard on the Umbreon's back, only to be roughly pushed away.

"Wait," Darcleye called as the Pokemon faced each other, about to attack once more.

Mendol nodded to his Houndoom to do the same.

The two Pokemon stared at each other, watching the poison seep through the veins of their opponents. After several minutes, both Pokemon were struggling to stand.

Finally, the Umbreon fell.

Darcleye pulled out a Pokeball and released his Sneasel. Mendol took a step back to prepare for the attack. "Go fetch," Darcleye ordered the Sneasel. Surprisingly, the Sneasel fled from the battle toward the street. I saw him enter the gym from my window view. "You have a lot to learn," Darcleye told Mendol as he picked up his Umbreon.

Mendol did not say anything. He returned his Houndoom to a Pokeball.

The Sneasel returned with a Pokemon egg between its claws. Darcleye took the egg and held it out to Mendol.

Mendol took the egg. "What is this?" he asked.

"An Eevee egg. Your training starts tomorrow at eight-o-clock. Goodnight." Darcleye returned the Sneasel and limped away from the tree with the Umbreon in his arms, walking into the lamp-lit street.

Mendol smirked as Darcleye vanished down the street.

He then looked up into the tree, directly at me. His smirk widened.

"Call me," he mouthed, holding his hand like a phone up to his ear. Then he departed into the darkness.

I smiled as I climbed down from the tree, knowing I had some interesting news to tell my boss.

And probably a promotion.

The air was smoggy and smelled of gasoline. I forced my eyes open as Skampi descended into Globert City despite the ashy particles that made my eyes sting. The air was more breathable on the ground. I returned Skampi to his Pokeball and walked two blocks, carefully avoiding the Grimers oozing along the sidewalk. I kicked a Koffing out of the way when it rolled in front of my feet.

I found the small, grimy house I was looking for. It was slightly bigger than the tree house I had played in as a child and eventually set fire to. This house looked already burnt-out—it was less homey than a pile of rubble, and was in fact located next to a dump.

I wrapped on the door.

"Go away!" a gruff voice shouted through the door. "I already told you, I have no idea where the boy is!"

"Sir, I'm not a reporter," I called.

"Eh? So you're just another curious citizen." A lock clicked and the door opened. Harvey Darcleye, grey hair, large nose, walking cane and all stood in the doorway. "I still have got nothing to say to you. I'll tell you what I told the gym leaders' people, the reporters, and all the other folk who decided bothering me was worth coming through the g-d-forsaken city for—I don't know shit. I have not spoken with either Mendol since the day they took over my gym." The man tried to slam the door, but I put my hand out and stopped the door from shutting.

"I'm a graduate student at Zahavah University, sir. And I'm researching you, not—"

"Bullshit. What, do you think I'm an idiot? First of all, if you were just doing research you would have tried calling me. Granted, I unhooked my phone, but I still get messages, and I've got nothing from you. Second of all, you're not carrying anything but Pokeballs—not even a pad of paper. Thirdly, you are not wearing the protective mask all university students are required to wear before entering Globert City."

"Maybe I don't like the masks."

"And maybe you're not a graduate student. Let's see… you can't be from our beloved gym leaders because I've already given them all I know, you aren't a reporter or a student, you're certainly not a curious citizen because Globert City doesn't have curious citizens, which leaves… Team Glop'emm." Harvey Darcleye raised a white eyebrow at me.

I snickered.

The old man opened the door wider. "Well, do come in." Harvey led me into a surprisingly clean room comprised of a small kitchen, a bed, and a couch. He nodded to an Umbreon lying on the couch. "Try any funny business and she'll tear you to shreds." Harvey seated himself next to the Umbreon and pointed out a stool for me to sit on. "So Team Glop'emm's missing their leader, too?"

"Not quite. Tell me what you know about the Mendols."

"Getting right to the point, are we? Well, frankly, the more people looking for the idiot boy, the better. A disgrace to my former gym… The Mendols, well, they came to Drape Town back, oh, seven years ago. The father was a real battle protégé—never knew the son much, but heard he was as well. Not much more to be known. Black hair, greenish eyes, good with dark Pokemon—"

"Gifted?"

"The son was, father wasn't. But you already knew that, otherwise you wouldn't have known to ask about the gift. What, are you testing to see how much I know?" As an afterthought, Harvey snapped, "Or how much I'm willing to tell?"

"How do you know the boy is the leader of Team Glop'emm?"

"Oh, his father told me outright as soon as he was gym leader. Said he was going to use the team for good. I wasn't working for the government any more so I didn't feel the need to run to the other leaders. I figured he wouldn't last long—leaders of Glop'emm never do—so when he died I figured the position was probably passed on. I figured right, apparently."

"Use the team for good?"

"What'd you think he joined the team for? Money? Power? He already had all of that as a gym leader, youngster. No, he said he'd use the team's resources for something that would benefit all of humanity—and, before you ask, he never did give me the details and I never asked. Moved to a cottage by the ocean until the man went and died and my house was bombarded with reporters—then I moved here to avoid all of that. I think it's time to pack up again…"

"Did they have any relatives?"

"Not that I know of."

"Where did they come from, before Drape Town?"

Harvey scratched his head. "Vintage Villiage, if I recall correctly. Didn't talk about the past much…"

I got up. The man had given me all the answers I needed.

"Hey, where are you going? You're not going to ask me where I think he might be? What Pokemon he'll be using? If he visited?"

"Did he?"

"No."

I opened the front door. "You're not trying to find him, are you?" Harvey called after me. The door slammed shut, but I still heard his voice. "You're trying to make sure he'll stay gone!"

I touched Hypno's Pokeball. With the information Harvey knew, I should kill him. But he was gifted. He might be hard to kill and there was a chance the gym leaders would check on him. I glanced through a small window and saw Harvey watching me. "Good luck," he mouthed.

I smiled coldly and walked away from the door.

Needless murder just wasn't my thing.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

{Anita, I don't think you're ready for this,} Apple said, playfully rolling in the pile of Pikachu covers on top of my bed. {You still can't make a barrier move with your mind—you keep treating it like just one barrier when you really have to imagine it as several barriers, one disappearing as another one is made in almost the same spot as the first—}

I pulled on my shoes. {I'll be okay.}

{And you utilize the dispersed energy from each disappearing barrier—}

{Apple! I know what to expect this time, and we spent the last two days improving speed. I swear, a Suicune couldn't move as fast as Splash's quick attack—}

{But you still can't move barriers—}

{I don't need to. I just have to hold back Sparky, and I've gotten a bit better at splitting my focus—}

{But—}

{Enough! Ready or not, I'm challenging that gym again today.} I clipped my Pokeballs onto my belt, touched Erin's Cheeto rug for good luck, and left Erin's bedroom with Apple trailing behind me.

I found Erin lying across her living room couch reading a book. I softly stepped across the carpet until I was close enough to see the words over her shoulder. "Whatcha reading?" I asked after glancing over the first phrase on the page. "There once was a boy who will went…"

Erin sat up quickly, startled. "It's a book of poems. They were my favorite when I was younger." She hastily closed the book and crammed it into her backpack.

"You ready to go?" I asked. "Where's Mel?"

{Hmm, no wonder it's been quiet—I haven't seen him all morning,} Apple noted.

"My mom walked him and Liam to Professor Blubber's lab on her way to work before you got up."

"Why are they going to the lab?"

"Apparently, Professor Blubber asked Liam to help him out with something," Erin said harshly. "Guess I wasn't qualified."

"Erin, you know he's just probably trying to avoid any awkwardness between you guys—'cause you're leaving him. I mean, you're family friends and all." Trying to lift Erin's mood, I added, "So why'd Mel go?"

Erin snorted. "I bet he abandoned the lab and went to the gym again. Liam wouldn't care, even if Sparky's insane. For some reason Mel seems to have grown attached to Mister-Violent-and-Wacked-Out-Electric-Crazy-Man."

"Two peas in a pod…" I muttered.

"No, they're more like two grenades in a box that someone is shaking and has the potential to explode at any second."

"Huh. Shall we go blow up?"

Erin got up from the couch. "Let's."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

The moment Mrs. Kendle was out of sight, Mel gave me a salute and disappeared. "Off to see Sparky, see ya later!"

That was fine by me.

I quietly opened the front door of Professor Blubber's laboratory. The hall was dark, aside from a dim light spilling out an open door of an experiment room at the end of the hall. Silently, I approached Professor Blubber's office door and tested the handle. It was unlocked.

I slipped inside.

I did not bother turning on the lights—I could see every object perfectly in the dark. There were several papers, research documents, and letters piled messily on his desk. I skimmed the documents and found that most of them pertained to the Eevee experiment. The letters I examined more carefully, but I failed to find the particular correspondence I was seeking.

I tried to open the desk drawers, but discovered they were all locked. Where would Professor Blubber keep an extra key? I eyed the shelves that held a crank Pokeball, a tool kit, and several roles of tape, among other peculiar objects. A lot of the objects were dusty… Except…

I peered closer at the tape. There was a roll that wasn't quite as dusty. I pulled the tape roll off the shelf when I noticed a slight bulge in its side. I peeled back a strip of tape, and found the spare key under the tape.

As expected, the key unlocked the drawers. The first two drawers contained data from every experiment ever performed in the laboratory. The third drawer held files on all of Professor Blubber's correspondents. Perfect.

I found Rita Teal's file, glanced over her bio, and perused the letter she had recently sent Professor Blubber. There was nothing in the letter Professor Blubber had not told me. I flipped to the next letter—

There was a quiet clicking, rubber soles against a tiled floor. Someone was approaching. I rapidly put the file back together and returned it to the drawer, careful not to shove it more than necessary so it did not appear to be tampered with. I closed the drawer and put the key back under the tape—

The doorknob started to move. I tensed my biceps, quads, and calves, calculating my next movement. A millisecond later, I was in the air above the desk. I snatched a random book from the shelf and landed in the visitor's chair on the other side of the desk just as the door opened.

The lights flickered on.

I fluttered my eyes groggily and winced at the light, pretending to have just woken up.

"Liam?"

"Huh, oh hey, Professor Blubber."

"What are you doing in my office, in the dark?" the professor asked sharply.

I feigned embarrassment and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, I came by a little while ago to ask you—but I saw you were busy with something that looked important. The office door was unlocked so I grabbed a book—" I waved the random book opened to the first page I had grabbed off of the shelf. "—and was planning on waiting until you were finished. Only, it's early and I was tired so I ended up turning the lights off for a quick snooze."

Professor Blubber narrowed his eyes. "What's the name of the book?"

"Mysteries of Nature," I replied without looking at the book. "It's a book of poems."

"You did not behave this foolishly when I met you two days ago," Professor Blubber said bluntly, walking into the room and sitting down across from me at his desk.

There was nothing to do but look at the professor innocently. Professor Blubber sighed and scrutinized his desk for a moment. I noticed his eyes flicker to the key in the tape, and then back to me.

We stared at each other for a moment, but when the professor did not say anything, I turned my attention to the poetry book. The preface was a short poem, entitled The Boy Who Will Went.

There once was a boy who will went,

To greatest despair he was sent,

But never could it be

If not for me,

The boy's time would be ill spent.

So dear reader you see,

If you happen to be he,

When all rules are bent

Leap through that vent

And remember me, I plea!

"Are you going to tell me why you're in my office?"

"Why do you have a poetry book in your office, Professor?"

"It's written by a colleague of mine, Professor Seth Hastings."

I flipped through the book. "A researcher wrote this? These poems are extremely vague. Shouldn't they be about nature?"

"Yes, well, Professor Hastings has, in recent years, become a rather vague person. He was never at the top of his field—always seemed to have his head in the clouds. But then he just snapped. Now, he's… a raving lunatic. The words that come out of his mouth just don't make sense. He published this book and sent a few copies to me." Professor Blubber checked his bookshelf. "Hmm, I could have sworn I still had another copy." He glared at me.

"Don't imply that I took the book. There's nowhere for me to have put it. What did you say Professor Hasting's field was?"

"I didn't. Ancient Pokemon."

"Is there any way to contact Professor Hastings?"

"I'm not the one to ask—haven't heard from him in years. I'm pretty sure he lives in Winsk City now, so he might be hard to reach."

"Nobody lives there."

"Nai, the gym leader, does."

"Yes, but she's a gym leader with ice Pokemon. That place is completely cut off from the world."

Professor Blubber looked irritated again. "Are you ever going to tell me what you are doing in my office?"

I closed the poetry book. "Oh, right. Well, Mel and Erin went to watch Anita get her ass kicked by Sparky. I don't particularly enjoy watching Anita's Pokemon battles and I thought that I might be able to help out here."

Professor Blubber blinked. "Well… we just received a shipment of new supplies. You can file and organize them."

"I'd love to, Professor."

We rose from our seats. On the way out of the office, I swear I heard Professor Blubber mumble, "Lying, manipulative twit."

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Miss Anita Parkwood,

Please walk around the gym.

Love,

The All Awesome Sparky and Mini Awesome Mel

Erin, Apple, and I stared on the note on the gym door. "I can't believe he signed it love," Erin muttered.

"We should be really careful," I said. "Sparky probably set up a ridiculous man-eating-robot or something." As we cautiously walked around the gym, I sent my mind out to avoid surprises.

{AHHH!} Apple suddenly yelled. I thrust a barrier around her.

{What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?} I looked for the source of Apple's pain, but didn't see anything. Erin watched Apple and me in confusion.

{It's terrible!} Apple lifted up a paw. {I stepped in goose poop. Hmm, or maybe it's Swellow poop. I've always had trouble telling the difference…}

{Apple! I thought you were hurt or under attack or something! Don't scare me like that!}

Apple shrugged and dragged her paw across the grass as she walked in an attempt to get rid of the gunk that covered her paw. Irked, I picked up my pace. Apple had to give up on her paw and half-run, half-trot to keep up.

We reached the backyard without further incident. In fact, we found Mel and Sparky peacefully sitting across from each other several meters away from the cliff that overhung the Palute Sea. Sparky was chuckling at something Mel said. Mel spotted us first.

"Ugh, they're here! And we forgot to set up all the cool traps we were designing! There was this one with invisible lightning and a trap door—"

"—and a mechanical arm—" Sparky added.

"—and this cool laser water evaporating thing—"

"—and several evil laughs—"

"—and a crazy old man and an annoying kid getting their butts handed to them," I interrupted.

A look of confusion crossed Mel's face. "I don't get how that would work," he said. Sparky grinned madly.

I turned my attention to him. "What, no immediate electrocution? You're starting to slack."

{Anita, don't suggest that,} Apple said.

"Please pick one Pokemon for the prelim and three for the later battle."

"Hey, I already beat your prelim!" I complained.

Sparky shrugged. "You lost."

I grimaced and unclipped three Pokeballs—Splash, Vanilla, and Fiery. During the speed training, Splash was the fastest, followed closely by Apple and then Fiery. However, after practice, when Splash covered himself in mud and started chasing Vanilla, he was never able to catch her. Despite Splash's and Vanilla's lack of experience, I needed to use my fastest Pokemon in battle to keep up with Sparky. I would use Fiery for the prelim.

I released Fiery and handed Sparky his Pokeball, along with Splash's and Vanilla's. Apple trotted near Sparky, but ensured that there was at least a two-meter gap between her and the gym leader. "Mel, take Anita's other Pokeballs and backpack and head inside. Go with this other young lady down the staircase I showed you earlier. I'm going down a different way and I'll meet you at the bottom."

Mel nodded and did as requested. Erin mouthed, "Good luck!" before following Mel around the gym.

{I thought I wasn't battling,} Fiery grumbled.

{Prelim,} I replied.

"Come here." Sparky motioned to follow him as he approached the cliff edge. Fiery and I took a few steps forward and then stopped. Sparky's smile widened and a spark danced across his teeth and then up his hair. "Closer."

I reluctantly took two more steps. Call it fear, common sense, instinct, or whatever—approaching a lunatic with the power to control electricity standing on a cliff edge just did not seem like the best idea.

"Come right here." Sparky gestured to the area next to him. Sparky waited until both Fiery and I were right next to him before cackling, "There's a cavern at the bottom of this cliff. If you follow the cavern far enough, you will find the battle area where I'll be waiting. Your prelim is to get to the battle area."

I peered over the cliff and watched the sparkling ocean crash against the rocks.

Then, suddenly, sharp knives jabbed at my skin—my heart—my lungs. My mouth was open but I couldn't scream.

My feet weren't touching the ground any more. The ocean rushed toward me—

{ANITA! FIERY!}

And then I abruptly stopped plummeting. An invisible force held me above the rocks. I noticed Fiery was beside me, watching the ocean below. Water sprayed up from the rocks, but we were still too high for it to reach us.

I felt a surge of anger from Apple above us, and automatically thrust my mind into hers. She was running forward, sizing up Sparky and looking for a good place to bit him. {Stop!} I yelled. Through Apple's eyes, I saw that Sparky held a long string of lightning between his hands.

Apple continued running at him.

{STOP!} I yelled again, putting a psychic force behind my words. Surprisingly, Apple actually halted.

{He pushed you and Fiery OFF OF A CLIFF!}

{It's the prelim. Apple, save your energy for the battle. Then, I promise, you can bite him all you would like. Thank you for saving us. Now follow Sparky wherever he's going to take you.}

{No.}

{Apple, we don't have time for this. We're both wasting psychic energy. We need all the energy we can get to fight Sparky.}

Apple's will wavered slightly. That would have to be enough. It was difficult to endure a connection for such a long time over a great distance. I retreated to my own mind.

Fiery was still watching the ocean.

{It's okay,} I told him. {I won't let you fall.}

I surveyed our distance from the ocean below us, and approximated it to be about the height of twelve Pokemon Centers.

I sighed and mentally prepared myself for the strain I was about to put my mind through. I forced my mind forward to create a barrier about a yard below the barrier we currently stood on, only a little farther away from the cliff. I jumped and landed on the barrier.

{Fiery, come on.}

Fiery didn't move. He could not take his gaze off of the ocean.

I reached up to the original barrier and pulled Fiery into my arms. He was warm and fairly heavy, but I held on to him anyway.

I continued the make a barrier, hop, make a barrier, hop pattern for a while. After a while, my legs began to ache so I made the leaps smaller. Eventually, I was just walking down an invisible spiral staircase.

Once, Fiery squirmed in my arms, and my concentration broke. We fell, but I managed to regain my concentration and create a new barrier in less than two seconds.

When we reached the cavern right above the rocks, I took a few steps in so Fiery would not get splashed with water, dropped Fiery on the ground, and slumped against the wall. My brain hurt like a muscle that had been pushed to its limit, but I felt surprisingly good. I had managed to get us to the cavern without allowing Fiery to get wet and with very few mistakes.

It was weird. For the first time, I had confidence in my psychic powers.

Fiery put a paw on my leg. I looked into his red-tinted eyes and he leaned forward to lick my face. I was too tired to reach my mind out to hear what was saying, but I smiled and patted his head.

We sat in silence for several minutes until I finally got to my feet. We walked into the cavern. I wanted to check on Apple and Erin and Mel, but I lacked the strength to even create a connection with Fiery. It was not long before I could see a bright light.

Fiery and I entered what appeared to be a battle arena. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of dirt and stone. There were no light bulbs. I squinted at the walls, trying to figure out where the light was coming from. When I remembered our previous battle, I realized the other arena had been illuminated the same way.

A deep laugh echoed around the arena. "It's called bright powder," Sparky said. I finally noticed him casually standing by a wall on the other side of the arena. "Run a current through it and it lights up." Sparky pointed to my left. "Behind that door are your Pokemon."

I turned around and saw the door. Aside from a small bronze handle, it looked like part of the wall. I swung the door open.

I stood motionless. A pebble tumbled somewhere in the cavern. Slowly, I turned to face Sparky. "Where—"

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"—is this stupid place anyway?" I asked, forcing my tired legs down yet another four steps. "And Sparky said he'd meet us at the bottom. How'd he get there? Why couldn't we go the same way? When will these stairs end?"

Mel seemed unaffected by the never-ending staircase. He continued leaping down excitedly, impatiently waiting for me to catch up at every turn. "Sparky's way is a hundred foot drop through the ground. He thought you'd be uncomfortable using it. He does something funky with controlling electricity for it to work."

"He cares about my well-being. I'm flattered," I said sarcastically.

"He's not like everyone thinks he is. Like your mom. She talks really bad about him. But he isn't really like that—he's like me!"

"That doesn't help his case."

BANG

"What was that?" I asked.

"The battle must have started! And we're missing it! Come on, go faster!"

"My legs won't move any faster, Mel. They feel like they're going to fall off."

Mel grabbed my hand. "Come on!" Suddenly, my feet weren't on the ground any more. I couldn't feel my legs—I couldn't feel anything.

Mel pulled me down a few stairs. "What—stop! Mel, let go!"

And then I was in the ground. It was so bizarre having dirt and rocks and an occasional Diglet pass right through my body that I did not think to scream. I wondered what would happen if I became tangible again while passing through the dirt.

There was another loud bang and then a louder crash. Mel pulled us towards the sound.

We came upon a cavern with a bright light at the end of it. I heard Anita's voice yelling something, but the echoes distorted the sound and I couldn't make out what she was saying. Mel made us solid again and ran towards the light. I sprinted after him.

Mel stopped abruptly at the arena's entrance. I gazed past him. The walls of the arena appeared to glimmer, giving off random light. I suspected the dirt was partially composed of bright powder and would have taken a sample to test later if it had not been for the intense scene in front of me.

An invisible force held Sparky five meters off of the ground against the wall to the left of where Mel and I stood. I was astonished that despite his situation, he continued to cackle. Beneath Sparky, a Jolteon, Flaffy, and Electabuzz were helplessly pinned to the wall as well. In the back left corner of the room, Vanilla and Splash cowered behind Fiery, who sat like a statue.

Everyone had their eyes on the center of the arena, where Anita stood. The air around her was strange, wavering slightly. Her hands were clenched into fists and her face taut.

It was her eyes, though, that really scared me shitless.

Her eyes glowed a bright purple and seemed to pierce right through Sparky, who she was staring at intently. Sparky's head was slammed into the wall. "Where is she?" Anita said icily.

Sparky didn't answer. For the first time, I saw his mad grin falter.

"What the hell did you do with Apple?"