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Hello, my readers. If you are reading this, I give you significant credit for not giving up on this story. I will once again PROMISE this story will be finished. I don't think its fair of me to promise it will be done in a timely manner, but I promise it will be done. I've approximated there are 15-25 chapters until the end.

Due to the immense number of personal notes necessary, I've posted these at the end of the chapter. Notes are posted for both chapter 45 and 46. While I don't think I'll have as many reviews of future chapters as I have of this past one (because I plan to have my chapter out at the beginning of next month not six months from now), if I do have 7+ reviews, I'll only provide messages for those who leave more in-depth reviews in future chapters (while comments like "Lolz" are not unappreciated, it seems silly for me to write back…)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my readers for your patience. Thanks to my wonderful editor. Here ya go:

Previously on Apple a Day:

Anita and company successfully cleared out Cereal City of poison Pokemon. Thus, Kyle, the gym leader decides to hold the annual New Blue catwalk on schedule. As the opening event, Anita is supposed to battle Kyle.

While helping to arrange preparation for the catwalk, Anita runs into her childhood rival, Carly Goldenthrill. After viewing her memories, Anita accuses Carly in being involved in the poison Pokemon attack on Cereal City. Kyle tells her not to make a scene—it will be investigated.

Anita also meets Erin's sister, Melanie, a professional actress and model.

After going back in time and rescuing his cousin Landon, Liam returns to Drape Town (splitting up with Anita and Erin before they go to Cereal City). Landon breaks into the Team Golp'emm Drape Town facility by pretending to be Liam. Rita Teal catches the act. Liam brings Landon back to his apartment, where they fight. Liam is knocked out.

Meanwhile, Team Glop'emm assistant Jamie Arkle is working with Professor Hastings to gain gifted powers. Mel's chilling at home with his new foster father, Sparky Storm (the electric gym leader of Cape Caution), and Jake Veneer was left behind in Artemis Town.

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Chapter 47: Fashion Crashin'

Hey Mel,

Zombie attack yesterday morning. I'm sure you saw on the news. Too bad you and Liam weren't here for it—you guys would've been pretty handy to have around.

Anyway, its dramafest here in Cereal City (that's right, already beat Artemis Town gym—take that Jake Veneer). The Cereal City gym leader insists on going through with the famous catwalk scheduled for later today, and Erin and I've been helping out. Unfortunately, Carly My-hair's-so-bouncy-and-pretty-eveyone-just-oooh Goldenthrill is one of the models… she also happens to be my peachy childhood bully. Erin's sister Melanie is here as well, and the two of them can't even be in adjacent rooms without starting a screaming contest.

So that's been fun.

Let me know how life's been this past week, if Sparky's feeding you, yada yada.

~Anita

"Mel, dinner time," Sparky called. I floated through the ceiling, waving the PokeTech Sparky had bought me. I solidified my body, landing in my place at the kitchen table across from Sparky.

"Look, Anita wrote me," I said. I held the PokeTech out to show Sparky.

"That's nice," Sparky said. He watched the living room TV through the kitchen door while serving himself a spoonful of mashed potatoes. He didn't even look at the message!

"My old father used to say no TV at the table. Scary agrees." Scary wasn't in the room, but Sparky didn't know that. Scary was up in the attic, reading the cucumber and violet journals again. I didn't get the point, but Scary said he was just trying to understand. I didn't even think there was anything to understand—it's not like the journals had math equations all over them.

I glanced back at the TV. It was news. The news lady was still talking about Cereal City a lot, but was now discussing some guy in a cloak who was hurting people.

When I turned back to the table, Sparky was watching me.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked. I rubbed my nose because sometimes I didn't notice potato flecks that got flicked up there.

"Mel, there's something I want to discuss with you."

"Okay." I decided not to turn my potatoes into a volcano just yet. Sparky sounded serious.

"Remember how we discussed your fath—"

"No."

Sparky narrowed his eyes. "We talked about your father being sent to jail and how he was accused of child abuse." Ever since Sparky'd first brought my old father up in conversation it always felt like Sparky was trying to get me to admit something bad had happened.

Scary recommended ignoring that kind of look so I ate a spoonful of potatoes instead of answering.

"Professor Hastings escaped from jail early this morning."

All right, this was silly. Volcano time.

"Mel." A small sharp zap up my hand forced me to drop my spoon. I gave Sparky my meanest look, but Sparky continued talking anyway. "I'm telling you this because we don't know what he's after or where he is—you could be in danger. I'm also telling you this because some of the gym leaders have been pressuring to use your ability in a way that could endanger you. Tamara… well, Tamara's run off to Saffron, though why she would leave just after Cereal City's crisis…" Sparky shook his head. "I just want you to be careful, and if anything happens, I want you to come straight to me, okay?"

If I could help the other gym leaders, I'd be glad to. Sparky was giving me a look that sent the non-shocking kind of sparks down my back though so I nodded.

Sparky served himself some mashed potatoes. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on my volcano, he pointed the serving spoon at me. Even though he looked kinda funny, with potato dripping from the spoon onto the table, his face was more serious than the dead—and I'd know 'cause I've got experience with the dead.

"And under no circumstances are you to go looking for Professor Hastings."

I rolled my eyes and poured the gravy into my volcano. I don't know why he was so worried.

He seemed to think some huge volcanic explosion was about to happen where there was really just a lump of potatoes dripping in gravy. Tasty potatoes in gravy, anyway.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Allo and I stood behind curtains backstage, waiting for the fashion show's opening ceremony to start. I could hear the murmurs of the crowd and was trying to pretend that having hundreds of people watch me and Allo battle wasn't making the butterflies in my stomach flap like there was a fire.

"Stand still, will you," Melanie said, fussing over my way-too-ruffly shirt. She stuck a pin near my shoulder, making a particular patch of ruffles stick up more. Erin's sister had taken it upon herself to on pick out my outfit for the commencement battle, something Erin probably would have done before her sister showed up. Now, Erin wanted nothing to do with "fashionable" clothing and had actually borrowed one of my t-shirts to wear today.

I never really understood sibling relationships.

Allo wrinkled his nose disdainfully when Melanie almost stepped on his tail. {Any news about smelly witch-girl?}

I sighed and sent a psychic tendril out to Carly, deemed smelly witch-girl by Sunflower, of all my Pokemon. Although I argued adamantly that smelly witch-girl should be arrested and sent to juvie, Kyle thought that she might lead us to more criminals if we kept an eye on her. Me and half a dozen other psychic Pokemon had been given the task of periodically probing her mind for malicious intentions and associations she had with other people.

Obviously because Allo and his siblings had suffered at Carly's hand, they were fairly hell-bent on ensuring she was caught thinking malevolent thoughts so she'd be locked up sooner.

I'd probably be more excited to get some revenge on Carly if it didn't involve me constantly peeping into her mind.

Carly and I've upheld a hate-hate relationship since the day I first walked into first grade and asked out of genuine curiosity if her pointy shoes were for collecting Pokemon poop samples. Her thoughtless frivolousness has grated my nerves year after year.

Now to enter Carly's mind and find she was, well, human—how she felt trapped by her mother but constantly worried about her, how she hated losing, and how she wanted to prove herself, although it was unclear to who—was… disturbing. I found myself pitying her and worse, relating to her.

I couldn't quite hate her with the same hate I held the day I found Fiery and his siblings outside her door. It was rather irksome.

Currently, Carly was radiating genuine excitement for the night to come. Not a hint in her mind of nasty plots.

{Nothing new,} I told Allo. Even after examining the whole poison Pokemon scheme through Carly's memories, we hadn't discovered exactly where the plot had stemmed from or who else was involved. Well, except Reece. But that wasn't exactly surprising. {I'm not all that sure Kyle's told us everything. If Carly was just a tag-along part of the poison attack, I don't see how she'd be able to lead us to who else was involved with the attack.}

{Read Kyle's mind,} Allo suggested, coiling his legs and pouncing onto my shoulder in a move he must have picked up from watching Apple. This, of course, forced Melanie to quit fussing with my shirt, which I sensed was Allo's original intent. {She's making you look like a cream puff,} Allo explained.

{Kyle's mind is like a cream puff—mostly full of air. He keeps his outer thoughts clear through meditation, I think.}

Allo shrugged, the movement of his claws flattening some shoulder ruffles.

Melanie frowned and probably would have scolded Allo and me, but the lights suddenly dimmed, indicating the start of the ceremony. Melanie put her hands on her hips, taking one last look at my shirt and nodding to herself. "Good luck," she whispered before scurrying off to get herself ready for the actual catwalk.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Pokemon and trainers, welcome to the annual New Blue Catwalk!" The commentator's voice boomed. There was loud applause. "We've gathered here today to show the world that Cereal City's spirit remains unbroken…"

I reached my mind out to Erin and peeked through her eyes for a moment. Gordon, apparently, was the commentator. Melanie must not have gotten to him because he was still wearing his blue flannel pajama bottoms... and a suit top? Erin couldn't think of a more awkward combination.

From the back of the room Erin scanned the crowd, all seated at round tables about the gym. Blue luminescent lights shining through the water from beneath the glass floor gave the room an ethereal feel. A soft creek brought Erin's attention to the door she was standing beside. Four men wearing dark suits slipped into the room and quietly sat at a half-filled table. One of the men heartily bit into a piece of bread on his plate, only to have his hand slapped in rebuke by the man next to him. Both were wearing black bracelets.

Erin frowned. Everyone was supposed to already be seated. Did they even have tickets? Irritated, Erin considered telling them off…

I subtly nudged Erin to look at my Pokemon for a moment. They fidgeted in chairs near the stage, watching the empty battlefield onstage intently.

{Anita, is that you?} Erin asked, a sudden anger seething in her throat. So maybe I wasn't as subtle as I thought… {HOW MANY TIMES—}

I tugged myself out of Erin's mind, automatically bouncing towards Apple.

She was amused. {What, think you can psychically bounce about the room and not pay me a visit?} Her insides were fizzing with a warm feeling that had everything to do with how her tail rested atop Fiery's. I was rather unnerved how openly she shared her happiness. Apple only grinned and shifted closer to Fiery.

{Anything to report?} I asked.

{Yeah, you're about to be pushed on stage.}

Half of a second later, I was flung back into my own body as a stage assistant elbowed me through the stage curtains. The bright lights and cheering were disorienting, and I nearly stumbled in a daze. My stomach was filled churned with a strange foreboding. Allo gently nipped my ear, reminding me to stand up straight as I walked forward, like I had practiced with Kyle several hundred times today and yesterday.

My heart thudded loudly. I was nervous. I'd battled in front of crowds before, like at the boarding school near Mint Mountain, but there was never such a fuss made. It was likely the highlights would be on national television. What would my mom say? What would Jake say if I lost?

The sight of my Pokemon seated at a table near the stage was comforting. Well, more or less seated. Splash was standing on the table, his teeth glowing an eerie blue.

I stepped into my place across the stage from Kyle, who was already in place and dressed in a flamboyantly colored suite. The commentator introduced us. "And now, the opening battle will commence. Anita Parkwood challenges our very own Cereal City gym leader, Kyle Lamar!"

{Ready, Allo?}

Allo jumped off of my shoulder in response.

The lights went out—even the underwater lights beneath the glass floor. The room was pitch black.

Kyle hadn't mentioned this part of the event.

The crowd murmured in confusion. A few clapped.

Allo spun around and growled, lunging past me. Suddenly, there was a gloved hand over my mouth. I breathed in and the world flipped sideways.

A burst of red twinkled in the distance, like a pretty firework.

I fell backwards and saw no more.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

"How much time till this thing starts?" Vanilla grumbled in the chair next to me. "This announcer has been rambling forever."

I shifted my paw to touch Fiery's. Fiery gave me a sidelong glance, but didn't move away.

Vanilla scrunched her nose in disgust. "Ugh, never mind. Lovebirds…"

And I didn't feel the need to retort. In fact, I didn't particularly care that we were at a ridiculous human fashion show or that the blue lights under the gym's water hurt my eyes or that because we were so close to the stage it felt like everyone was watching us, not the announcer on stage. I didn't care that on one side of us Vanilla was grossed out and the other Sunflower was fighting back a grin. I was next to Fiery. Anita was about to have a good battle. I was next to Fiery.

Splash jumped on the table, barely managing to stay upright when the tablecloth slid under his paws.

"Where have you been?" Vanilla snapped. She'd been in a bad mood since the electrical tape she'd got caught in pulled out tufts of her fur.

Splash smiled widely. His teeth were glowing blue. "Iis szat aneeh ay zu szeet zoor zaforite other?"

Vanilla stared at him.

Splash spit a water stone out of his mouth onto the table. "Is that any way to treat your favorite brother? Look what I brought for you."

"You mean stole," Sunflower said.

Splash and Vanilla looked at her in surprise. I slyly laid my tail atop Fiery's, allowing his warmth to seep through my skin. Fiery pointedly didn't look at me, but he also ignored his siblings. He was totally secretly enjoying this, too.

"I-I just mean, Splash didn't pick it up or anything." Sunflower looked away, uncomfortable with confrontation. "He stole it."

Vanilla returned her glare to Splash.

"Well, duh." Splash sat and absentmindedly scratched at a prick standing oddly on his nose. "Kyle wasn't really paying attention to it so I took it for you."

"What is with you and evolution stones?" Vanilla growled.

"Well, it was for you. Now you can evolve and be stronger like me and Allo and Sunflower. Anita never chooses you." I opened my mouth to adamantly defend Anita, but then Fiery's tail moved from beneath mine to on top and it was all I could do not to let out a high pitch un-Umbreon-like squeal.

"I don't like battling," Vanilla snapped, angrily. "And no way would I evolve to be weak against you."

"It's starting," Sunflower said.

I felt Anita's mind wander, and when it came to me, I didn't bother hiding my happiness. I was even nice enough to warn her when she was about to be shoved on stage.

"Put the stone away, it's hurting my eyes," Vanilla hissed.

Splash gobbled up the stone just as Anita was pushed on stage.

"You're not going to scold Splash for stone stealing?" I quietly asked Fiery, my nose very close to his. Fiery backed up, moving his paw away from mine. Ah well, I figured I'd only be able to push it so far.

"You know, we're all right here. Splash included. Just like yours, our ears are good enough to hear over this obnoxious announcer," Vanilla said disdainfully.

Suddenly, the lights went out and the table tipped over, forcing us out of our seats onto the floor.

As the only member of Anita's team that could see in the dark, I was the only one who could watch in horror as the glass floor beneath Fiery's feet exploded.

Ignoring the rest of the chaos around me, I concentrated my psychic energy on hoisting Fiery out of the water. That much water… he'd die. I felt my tendrils grip him.

It wasn't enough. Damn Celebi, even weeks after the draining I didn't have enough power.

A vine twisted around my ankle. I yanked my foot up and sprinted to the hole in the glass. {Hold on, Fiery.} I dove into the water.

When I was younger, Anita and I took swim lessons together—I typically took the form of a Whooper and flaunted how easily I moved through water while Anita struggled to make it across the pool. I now regretted never learning as a non-water Pokemon. Treading water was easy, of course, but diving down beneath and dragging a fifty-pound Flareon to the surface…

I chased down after Fiery's body, frantically moving my paws. I was thankful for the darkness, which I could see perfectly in. I'd have been blinded if the blue lights were still on.

From Fiery's limp form, I could tell he was already knocked out. The water around his body was boiling, an automatic reaction to being plunged into a substance that could kill him. He would release heat from his body until there was no more to release.

At least the trapped vapor created by the boiling water would make him lighter. I reached Fiery's body. Ignoring the blistering temperature, I bit down on Fiery's leg and refused to let go even as my taste buds were singed off.

My throat tightened. I needed air. I pulled Fiery upwards. It seemed like hours before we hit the glass.

The glass. The glass was solid. Where was the hole? I looked above me, but my eyes seemed to lag. There were dark spots in my vision… or were they the holes in the glass?

Fiery's body was cooling. It didn't hurt to bite him any more. {Anita? Anyone?}

Someone needed to tell me where the hole was. I was so tired. Maybe I should breathe…?

I could make a hole in the glass with my tail, I remembered. But I was so tired. I needed air. I breathed—

Something smashed through the glass. I was dragged out of the water and gripped Fiery so hard his blood was trickling down his leg into my mouth.

My breath came out harsh and high-pitched.

I sputtered and fainted.

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

When the lights went out, everything was quiet for a beat.

Then there was a series of crashes, a splintering of glass, and several screams voiced from the front of the room. I stood up and released Tweal from his PokeBall if only to briefly illuminate my surroundings. A quick glimpse of my surrounding tables revealed nothing but confused audience members whose attention turned to me with the light.

Chaotic noises came from the front of the room. Someone turned on a flashlight. There were dark figures moving near the stage, but the light was too weak to make out much more. I squinted. I couldn't see Anita.

"Anita!" I called. {Anita?}

{Griffy, is something wrong with the electric generator?} I asked. Griffy was outside on guard duty scanning spectators' minds as they entered.

There was no answer. "Tweal, do you know what's going—"

The lights turned on.

There were two jagged holes the size of bowling balls in the glass floor. The table Anita's Pokemon had been sitting at was overturned, the ripped tablecloth strewn on the glass floor like a rag. One end of the tablecloth dipped into a hole, glowing blue with the rest of the water. Shattered dishes and fallen chairs littered the floor around the toppled table.

Anita and her Pokemon were nowhere to be found.

The audience let out a collective gasp. People in front of me were staring past me. I turned around. A man in black—one of the ones who'd come in late—was casually walking towards the doorway with Anita slung over his shoulder, passed out.

What. The. Hell.

"Tweal, wing attack!" I ordered.

The man disappeared through the doorway, slamming the door before Tweal was even close. I ran for the door. Kyle apparently had similar ideas. He reached the gothic double doors first.

"Tweal, after them," I yelled as Kyle pushed open a door. Kyle paused, holding the door open. "What are you doing? Move!"

Beyond Kyle, I saw a truck speeding down the road into the night. Griffy would be able to track Tweal over long distances if Tweal could stay with the truck. I pushed past Kyle to find my Griffy. I didn't have to look far—he was knocked out to the right of the doors. From the bite marks on his hind legs and the fact he hadn't telepathically contacted me, a dark-type Pokemon likely attacked him with a strong crunch attack.

"Yes, it's an emergency, Aden—Anita Parkwood was kidnapped right in front of me. If we don't act immediately the media's going to have a field day. Yes, I mean all of us…" I ran past Kyle back inside, disgusted. He was worried about his public image when my best friend was in danger.

Several audience members had risen and crowded around the doorway. I pushed past them, not caring who I knocked into. I climbed atop a table. Where was she? Where was that girl Anita found out was involved with the poison attack on Cereal City?

I spotted Carly in her baby blue dress sitting three tables away, feigning panic. A woman next to her had a hand on Carly's shoulder to provide comfort.

Jumping off of the table and ignoring the clamor I'd caused, I accosted Carly. The woman who'd had her hand on Carly's shoulder backed her chair up considerably. Carly turned around, doe eyes wide. I grabbed the front of her dress and pushed her into the table.

"What did you do with Anita?"

"I—I have no idea." Carly tried to pry my hands from her dress. I held tight.

"Bullshit." I shook the girl. "Tell me everything you know and I'll refrain from turning this nice blue dress purple."

Carly gasped, looking around for help.

"Don't play the victim. You know where she is."

A hand touched my arm. "Erin, that's enough." I glanced to my right. My damn sister stood next to me. "Let go," Melanie said.

"Don't tell me what you do," I spat. "My friend was just kidnapped and your fluff-filled brain can't comprehend what's going on."

"I don't think scaring this girl shitless is going to find your friend."

"I don't think your opinion matters."

Melanie sighed. "Fine. How about: there's a faster way."

I dropped one hand off of Carly, turning to swipe at Melanie. I stopped mid-swing. Melanie dangled car keys in front of my eyes.

"Want to reconsider my offer to drive?"

o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Bree used quick attack, and my eyes could barely keep up with her speed. I leaned out of the way at just the right moment, quickly calculated the approximate location of her tail based on the amount of force she'd put into her back legs when she pounced, and snatched at the calculated location. My hand grasped at strands.

Too slow. I took off, running across the gym floor. An Umbreon's sight, and the sight of most Pokemon for that matter, was superior to that of a human. If I stood in one place, Bree would make use of my disadvantage and attack before my eyes could adjust to following her speeds.

When Bree attacked again, I saw an opening and punched her stomach. She didn't even flinch, just darted ahead, flickering out of sight in another quick attack.

It was a speed-training day.

I'd missed it while traveling with Erin and Anita; it wasn't the type of training I could do with Anita, or any other human… well, there was that one time with Sparky, and Dustin was pretty fast…

I heard the gym door click open as Bree dove at my right leg. I decided she wouldn't jump—Bree had the tendency to flick her eyes up just before she pounced—and I leapt over her. Bree snarled. Heels clicked on the gym floor.

"Report," I said without looking back at the gym door. I couldn't afford to take my eyes off of Bree. "Have you found him?"

"No," Professor Teal answered. "We discovered that he used one of our computers to look up a list of Acceber's current gym leaders before he left, but this information has proved unhelpful."

I grit my teeth. Unbelievable. Landon had not only managed to knock me unconscious for over seven hours, he'd managed to escape Drape Town completely undetected.

Bree's next attack was timed poorly, and my kick collided with her shin. She still landed gracefully on three paws, but her front right leg was injured, probably sprained from her stance. Bree growled angrily. I'd broken our tacit agreement to keep the force of our attacks to a minimum during speed training. I'd offer my apologies when Rita left. It would not due to illustrate such sentiment in front of Professor Teal.

"And is the tracking device fixed?" I asked, finally looking at Rita. She was wearing her usual pristine lab coat, but the bags under her eyes and the brown hair roots visible under her mop of dyed-blue hair revealed her fatigue. Between Landon, the FTD, and the tracking device, I suppose she needed a break. Unfortunately, as head researcher, she was not in a position to attain such luxuries.

"Almost. The technician is working with Tal now."

I turned and approached the medical cabinet built into the wall to supply Bree with a potion. Bree hobbled beside me.

I had left for less than a month and the whole organization had, as Anita or perhaps Jake would say, 'Gone to shit.' My first mistake had been leaving Jamie in charge. Well, no, not quite.

Compared to Professor Teal, Arkle had done quite well until he'd chosen to defect.

My first mistake was leaving. Arkle… Well, I'd known Jamie Arkle was power-hungry. It was for this quality that my father had chosen him as an assistant—Arkle's hunger made him quite easy to manipulate.

I had foreseen that giving Arkle power over Team Glop'emm would inflate Arkle's self-image and eventually eliminate my ability to use Jamie as a pawn. Unfortunately, I had overlooked Arkle's lust to eliminate me. When my uncle called and relayed Jamie's threat, I had no choice but to tip off Dustin and take Jamie out of the picture, terminating his usefulness sooner than anticipated.

My second mistake was entrusting the gym leaders to keep Jamie subdued. Escaping from Zahavah City's prison… Tamara must be losing her edge.

Now, along with a defective tracking device, a damaged FTD, and a missing cousin, I had a more or less 'loose cannon' to deal with. From the depleted number of Team Glop'emm employees in Drape Town, the quiet rumors my underlings believed I was ignorant of, and the breakdown of the DNA tracking device, it was quite obvious Team Glop'emm was at risk of dividing into two factions, much the way Team Magma and Team Aqua had come about in Hoenn.

A division would cut my resources. Resources used to find Mew… and now Landon.

Jamie Arkle wanted to become the Master. If I could step down from the position without surrendering my resources, I would do so in a heartbeat. This simply wasn't feasible.

Currently, Arkle was hiding out at one of the other Team Glop'emm bases. The fact that I didn't know which only further illustrated the growing division within the team.

I frowned when I opened the cabinet. Someone had reorganized my supplies. I located the potions on the second shelf and pulled out one of the stronger variation. I also grabbed bandaging. Bree was already holding her paw out in an indignant manner. I bent down and applied the potion to her leg.

Arkle would try to kill me, certainly. But why break the tracking device? The memory card was missing, indicating the device had been purposefully tampered with.

Marcus Ingblot, the man who Rita confirmed had been watching the tracking monitor when the hardrive broke, had worked under Arkle through several capture missions. His disappearance immediately after suggested he was either terrified of punishment or currently working for Arkle.

Given his veteran background and his previous association with Arkle, Ingblot was likely working for the man. Was Arkle attempting to use the breakdown as a threat? But no, he would have broken the tracking device himself if he wanted to threaten me…

"Professor Teal, remind me when precisely the tracking device broke." Bree pulled her leg back when I began to bandage it, but I held tight. She would only further exacerbate the injury if she continued to step on it.

"Two nights ago, July 30th. The incident was reported at 11:54 pm." That was the night I travelled back in time. The night Anita and I had battled Dustin and Tali. The night Arkle later broke out of the Zahavah City jail. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Only the data from the last hour of the device's functionality had been lost; the backup system ran when memory cards were swapped once every two hours. The only occurrence I could think of that would trigger Arkle's destruction of the device was the device detecting Mew's location.

If Arkle managed to catch Mew before I did, he would obtain both the power of Mew and the bargaining chip he needed to have me at his mercy.

And, if this were the case, Arkle's next move would be to attempt a capture. Perhaps he already had.

My PokeTech rang. I paused in my wrapping. It was Erin. For a moment, I considered not answering. "Yes?"

Erin's voice was frantic. "Anita's gone. Shit, Liam, she was kidnapped right in front of us. Kyle's called some sort of emergency gym leader meeting—but I don't think he actually cares—he already took off after whoever… hell, we don't even know who took her."

I blinked. "Hold on," I told Erin.

"Like hell I'm going to hold on, you asswipe—" I muffled the volume of the device with my hand as Erin started shouting expletives.

"Professor Teal, you're dismissed." I waited until I heard the gym door close before taking my hand off of the PokeTech. I interrupted Erin's rather detailed description of how she'd tie me to a tree and have a Rapidash gouge my eyeballs out with its horn. "Tell me the exact circumstances of Anita's abduction."

"It was right in front of everyone at the New Blue fashion show. The room went dark, and there was some fighting going on I think, but I couldn't tell who it was between. I tried to mind speak with Anita or Griffy, but neither answered, if they even heard. Then the lights turned back on and some middle-aged guy in black by the back door was holding Anita over his shoulder—I saw the guy and a couple others walk in late, but I think only that guy was around when the lights turned on. Anita was totally knocked out. The guy carrying her left before anyone could attack him—most people probably thought he was part of the show. Later I found Griffy knocked out by the door, too. The scene turned pretty hectic when Kyle tried to run after the guy. The kidnappers couldn't be traced psychically, but Kyle set some police Growlithes on the trail."

Anita certainly was not the best of fighters. However, with her psychic gift, she should have been able to pick up on any person or Pokemon with malicious intentions. Even if Anita didn't sense anything, Kyle had always had tight security around his fashion shows, psychic Pokemon included; I'd know, New Blue's top sponsor was Team Glop'emm.

Thus, it was likely the kidnapper had dark Pokemon, was darkly gifted, or had a dark band.

"Erin, do you remember if the man who kidnapped Anita was wearing any strange jewelry?"

"I was too busy fighting to get back my friend to notice… oh, shit. Shit. They were wearing dark bands. The band Anita had to wear when she fought the grass gym leader. That's how they got past Griffy undetected. I saw the bands—why am I such a…? I should've known…"

Dark bands were difficult to obtain. Imbuing dark properties into an object, twining, was actually something of a family secret. My father had taught me when we first moved to Acceber, and I had yet to reveal the method to anyone. The only dark bands readily accessible within Acceber were those my father and I had created. At Tamara's request, my father had provided dark bands to each of the gym leaders.

And I had created a few dozen bands for Team Glop'emm to be used on missions only with the authorization of the Master. Unfortunately, there was now a large division of Team Glop'emm that now considered Jamie Arkle the Master.

As a sponsor, Team Glop'emm had close relations with New Blue executives. It would not be difficult to obtain floor plans. Team Glop'emm was also the only organization in Acceber with the resources and a reason to track Anita.

All evidence given, it was highly probable that Team Glop'emm was behind Anita's kidnapping.

The only person, discounting myself, with the leverage within Team Glop'emm to successfully pull off this scheme was Jamie Arkle.

If Arkle had destroyed the tracking device because the device had located Mew, Arkle's next logical course of action would be attempting a capture. If Arkle was behind Anita's kidnapping, this implied he believed Anita was Mew. Or…

"What of Anita's Pokemon?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Were Anita's Pokemon taken?"

"Yeah, I think so. They were also gone when the lights turned back on."

My heart thumped loudly. Anita was not Mew. However, I hadn't tested all of her Pokemon. At the approximate time the device broke, Anita and I would have still been battling Dustin and Tali. I'd seen all of her PokeBalls, and assumedly, all of her Pokemon were within, but if not all of her Pokemon were with her…

I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. I had yet to determine Anita's relationship with Mew. Anita claimed to be a simple errand girl. The veracity of her assertion was unverified. It was very possible one of Anita's Pokemon was Mew. Fiery and Apple could be ruled out; Erin had witnessed Fiery's transformation and I had witnessed Apple's. Transformed Pokemon couldn't evolve.

Splash was also unlikely. The tracking device would have detected Splash's transformation back into Mew before he transformed into Jolteon if the evolution had be faked—assumedly, Arkle would have acted then to capture Mew.

That left Allo, Vanilla, and Sunflower. I hadn't seen any of them the night Anita and I'd battled Dustin and Tali. Thus, Arkle could very well currently have Mew in his clutches.

Even if Mew was not among Anita's Pokemon, Arkle would no doubt torture Anita for information regarding Mew's habitats and whereabouts.

The idea was unsettling. More than unsettling. I should be the only one allowed to interrogate Anita.

"Where is Kyle?" I asked.

"Like I said, he immediately got the gym leaders on the phone and, as far as I know, they all rushed after the kidnapper on various fast Pokemon. Except the psychic leader. I heard she's in Kanto." Erin paused. "Um, now that I think about it, shouldn't you have been contacted? As the dark gym leader and all?"

Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised that she figured it out. It was public information. Yet, I'd been hiding the fact long enough that it felt… odd… to be directly confronted.

"Yes, I should've been contacted," I replied. "However, since my public disappearance, the other leaders don't regard me with the same trust they used to."

"Oh."

It was no matter now. The other gym leaders would already be gathered—such a blatant kidnapping required immediate action for us gym leaders to save face. They would all be on Arkle's trail…

That couldn't be right. I stared past the PokeTech at Bree, who was licking her paw. She cocked her head.

I closed my eyes. If Arkle had simply wanted to capture Anita, he could have teleported her to a designated location where dark bands were positioned to throw off psychic trackers. This was a tactic implemented often in Team Glop'emm missions. However, Arkle had flaunted the capture. I opened my eyes.

"Where are you right now?" I asked.

"Huh? In my sister's car. We're following Kyle! Or trying to anyway—her car hasn't caught up—"

"Do you have any way of contacting Kyle?"

"What, no! If I thought he had the situation under control—"

"Erin, pull over."

"Are you shitting me, Liam? I'm not going to stand by and let my friend—"

"Erin, you need to pull over. I know who took Anita. It's a trap."

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Saphira123574 – Thank you. I've tried.

Last Warrior – Thank you for your patience. I'm so glad to have a reader who cares so much about this story. More Apple/Fiery action promised. ;)

StattStatt – Yup, Liam and Landon's situation is pretty horrendous. And Carly. Ahh, no comment. Thank you for the compliments.

TheNerdyGamer1998 – Thanks!

Obsessed-beyond-reason2001 – Heh, your comment matches your name. Congrats on being in college. Best years of life. I did have a super awesome time in Japan (and bought an Umbreon stuffed animal tehe).

Flare Blitzle – I can only recommend practice. Honestly, I go back and read the start of my story now and cannot imagine how anyone can actually get through the first fifteen chapters or so—I wrote so awkwardly. But over the 5 years (maybe?) I've been writing this story, I truly think my writing style has improved significantly. Put in enough hours and your writing will be great!

Dewott – Team Glop'emm was never chasing Apple's "father" Mew (the Mew who preceded Apple). Velkan Mendol started chasing Apple when Apple was born near Vintage Village because the explosion at her birth caused several deaths, including the deaths of Lilly's parents (close friends of Velkan). He vowed to destroy legendary Pokemon. Velkan lost track of Apple after the very first scene in the story, when Anita rescues Apple. Thanks for the review. Heh, my favorite character switches between Apple and Liam, though sometimes I really like writing Reece and Hastings.

Japaneserockergirl – Think I've failed you on that "soon" part, but hopefully more will be revealed in future chapters.

L. – Lol, glad you like this story. Jamie Arkle was originally the "psychotic killer" in the story description… but I guess so far he's only killed Velkan Mendol. He's more just phychotic.

MikeyMcool – Your review made me laugh. "I am probably going to sound impatient, but I'm willing to take that chance." As far as I can tell, anyone who's stuck with this story is extremely patient. I apologize for the wait, and as usual, will attempt to get chapters out monthly. This past year was insane—last year in college + worst job of my life over the summer—and I'm off to grad school in a couple of weeks. I promise that the story will be finished. If you, or any reader, would like to PM me to make sure I'm alive and writing at any point, I do check that about once every two weeks.

TheMysteriousArtist – Thanks!

Guest – I had not posted a chapter yet.

The Meditating Espeon – No worries, I assure you this story will be finished.

Awkyreadsfictions – You nearly doubled the number of reviews to this story. 0_0 But glad you like!

Cherrypetal – You've got me figured out. ;) Don't think anyone else has noticed. Don't put any meaning to it in the story – it's just my name.

Blue phoenix – Thanks!

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