I must have forgotten to mention that I own Pokemon. All of it. Seriously, I bought it off of eBay last week.

Just kidding. Isn't it obvious I don't own Pokemon? ;-;

RebirthFlame: Thanks for the comment. :) I try my hardest to not make any grammar mistakes, because it is really annoying when someone doesn't bother to spell check their stories... . ;

Skylimit: Thanks for all the comments! Don't worry; I'll try to update once a day. :)

Now, without further ado, I present to you chapter 10!

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"Alright, Koga, ready to be owned?" Katsu said confidently.

The gym leader chuckled. "Not likely, little boy. I've toughened since I first became a gym leader, and I think you'll find my Pokemon to be surprisingly strong. Go, Koffing!" He threw the Pokeball in his hands, releasing a large, rock-like, lumpy purple Pokemon with gas floating around it, grinning stupidly as it looked around. Oh, gross... I thought as I was able to smell the stench.

"Go, Treecko!" called Katsu, and Treecko popped out of his Pokeball and glared at Koffing with piercing yellow eyes. Koffing glared back, and immediately released a toxin in the air so powerful you could faint if you were close enough to it. "Treecko, quick, use dig!" Treecko dug underground and dug frantically away from the toxic gases that were chasing him through his tunnel. Eventually, with Koffing looking around in confusion, Treecko suddenly leaped out of his hole, directly under Koffing and sending him flying. Koffing fainted right away.

"Stupid kid..." Koga muttered, and released his next Pokemon - a similar one to the last, but with a smaller version of itself attatched to its side. With Treecko's ground and bug moves, he took out all of Koga's Pokemon easily - except one. Muk.

"Go, Muk!" The Pokeball released a gigantic blob of purple goo, which gave off a horrifying smell. How on earth could anyone else notice it? The Muk had arms that could sink into itself for when it didn't need them, and a huge, gaping mouth that was dripping with ooze. Two, emotionless eyes were only half open as it looked lazily around the room for it's opponent.

"Muk, use Toxic!"

"Treecko, use dig again!"

Muk hurled glops of purple sludge at Treecko as it scrambled down a hole, weak already from being poisoned by one of Koga's other Koffing's. He was getting weaker by the second, and when he leapt up from the hole...

"Uhh... Where is Treecko?" asked Katsu after noticing that his Pokemon had mysteriously disappeared after using dig on Muk. Muk snapped to attention when he felt Treecko attack him. Reaching inside of himself, he pulled out a fainted, and very slimy Treecko, who's eyes were wide open, probably from the stench.

"Agh! Treecko!" exclaimed Katsu, running up to his Pokemon desperately. "Treecko, return." He said reluctantly, and sent out his next best bet - Shuppet. Shuppet looked around, blinking confusedly - and then saw Muk. He glared for a moment, and without Katsu saying a word, Muk was fainted by a powerful Psychic blast of energy.

"Woohoo, go Shuppet!" exclaimed Katsu happily, while Shuppet just looked at him with a vacant expression. Koga sighed and walked over to Katsu, handing him the Soul Badge. "That was just luck." Koga mumbled gruffly, and walked away. "Good luck on the next gym, kid!" He called, before heading back into the back room.

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To tell you the truth, writing about so many battles really hurts my hand. So I'll once again spare you the details of my battle, but it was pretty easy with Rune. Although Muk was a struggle, I beat them all with a few blasts of Psychic and Confusion. Kasumi was a little scared from seeing two Pokemon fight, but I told her that they never got badly hurt.

As we left the gym, Kasumi was digging through my backpack when she found the forget-me-nots, and she held one of them up in the air squealing with delight. I looked at it. The bud was slowly opening, a violet flower ready to bloom. I twirled it around in my hand for a few moments, thinking. Maybe Katsu was right; maybe these flowers were cursed? Or just a sign? But of what?

"Keiko? You ready to get to bed yet?" Katsu asked, pointing at the Pokecenter. "We could walk around a bit more, but it's getting really dark. Dark Pokemon come out during the night and that includes..."

I glared at him before he could finish his sentence, and he shut up and turned back towards the road. "No way, Katsu. It's only about nine o'clock, and I think we'll make it to Saffron by ten. Or are you too tired for that?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him angrily. He blinked in confusion. Neither of us knew why I was in a bad mood right now.

"Okay then," He muttered in reply. "We'll go to Saffron."

I shivered as I pulled my coat around me, a cool night breeze blowing through the air. I could see a few Dark Pokemon emerging now; Murkrow, Poochyena, Sneasel and others. Amaya was admiring all the Umbreon that were gracefully striding through the night, with their glowing golden rings. She tried to imitate their midnight prowls, pinning her ears back and crouching as she walked - she only ended up tripping over her own feet.

Katsu yawned groggily, slouching over as we walked. I sighed. "I'm tired too, Katsu, but look. We're almost there, and then we can get a room in the Pokecenter." He nodded weakly as we continued to trudge on. Up ahead, I could almost see it; the most noticeable thing was a giant building in the center of the city, probably a big company of some sort.

Finally we made it to the city. I wanted to look around, but Katsu protested and eventually we ended up renting a room in the Pokecenter. All of my Pokemon were in their Pokeballs, sleeping soundly, except for Sakura and Rune as always. Sakura was already conked out from our long journey, and Rune was a bit more tired than usual; I couldn't blame him. He had been battling a lot, lately.

"Nighty night," I whispered to Sakura, and before I fell asleep, I could've sworn I saw a pair of angry yellow eyes looking through the window... I was creeped out, but I just shrugged it off and went to sleep.

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Morning time. The worst time of the day. The sunlight was directed right onto my eyes, burning them as I squinted and sat up, groaning. And before I could stand up, a Mightyena leaped at me!

"GRRRR!"

I screamed, causing the Nurses to wake up and rush into the room. I quickly realized it was just Katsu in a Mightyena mask, rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, Keiko," he said, standing up, "I just couldn't help i-"

SLAP!

After a long lecture and a slap on the face, Katsu walked out the door grumbling about how I couldn't take a joke. I sighed and put on some fresh clothes, my heart still racing from a few minutes ago. I was cursing Katsu under my breath, about how rude he could be and what a jerk he was.

"Wake up, Sakura." I whispered, lifting up the Cherimu. She half-opened her eyes and yawned, and when she saw me she began to squeak with delight. "Rrriiiiii!"

I smiled and walked out the door with Rune and my other three Pokemon in their balls, which were hanging on my belt. "Come on, Katsu," I called, knocking on his door. He opened it swiftly and knocked me out of the way as he brushed past me. "Someone has I bad attitude," I muttered, and followed him out of the Center.

"My Pokenav says there are two gyms here," I said, and Katsu snatched my Pokenav and looked at him for himself.

"You're right! And one of them gives out a prize instead of a badge. I wonder what it is!" He exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face. "Apparently, nobody has beaten it yet. They use fighting Pokemon, so that means..." He grinned and looked up at Shuppet, who seemed rather busy glaring at me. "Fighting type-moves doesn't affect ghosts. And since Shuppet knows some Psychic moves, he'll take those guys out easy."

"I'm sure Rune could help me out some, too. Although he's been pretty worn out lately. Think you're up for it, Rune?" I looked down at him, and he smiled at me with a confident look on his face.

Sure I am! I'm rested up enough, I'll be able to take on a few fighting Pokemon. He replied. I nodded and grabbed my Pokenav back from Katsu. "And there's a Psychic gym, too. You can beat them with Poochyena alone." I said, astonished that Katsu could have such an advantage over both gyms. "I guess I could use Minoru, if he knows any bug moves. And Rune does know Thief, and he could use that a couple of times, I'm not sure how long it would last, though." I added. I shut off my
Pokenav and put it in my pocket as we headed to the gyms.

"Well, I'll go to the Fighting gym first. You can take a shot at challenging Sabrina. If it doesn't work out, I could lend you Poochyena for the next time you try." He offered, smiling. I smiled back, though a bit surprised at his offer. "Thanks, Katsu. But I think I'll try it with Rune and Bulbasaur first." He nodded, and we parted ways and entered the gyms.

-----

I aimed my Pokedex at Minoru, and it showed me all his information - level, type, Pokedex entry, and moves. I scrolled through his moves, looking desperately for at least one bug one I could use. After finding Fury Cutter, I sighed with a bit of relief. "Okay, he knows one Bug move... He might be able to defeat a few opponents with it." I closed my Pokedex. Amaya was resting on my shoulder while Bulbasaur was gazing at her lovingly. She hissed at him, pinning her ears back angrily.

Rune looked up at me, looking a bit confused. Keiko, I'm completely immune to Psychic attacks. Why are you using Minoru instead? I'm just wondering, is all.

"Well, I'm going to try and train Minoru so he can possibly get stronger, and maybe evolve. I'll use you if he faints. I think you deserve a break from battling, anyway." I replied. He nodded.

"Alright, how do we get around this place..." I muttered, looking around. I saw a tile that looked like the one Giovanni had teleported away on. "Teleporters! Of course!" I stepped on the teleporter, with Rune and Minoru standing next to me, Sakura in my arms, Kasumi in my backpack, and Amaya on my shoulder.

We appeared before a young-looking girl, perhaps about 16 or so, with long, straightened black hair. She gave us a small frown. "You may not want to challenge Sabrina today..." she whispered, and as if she read our minds, she continued. "Something has been going on with her. She just hasn't been acting herself, since last night. Random mood swings. Really bad ones, too."

I shrugged. "Well... I'll just try not to make her mad. I'm sure it's just, uh... hormones, or something." I was glad that Katsu wasn't here; knowing him, he'd probably make some stupid joke and tick off Sabrina by the time we got to her.

"Very well. Your choice." the girl replied, and her Pokeball floated in front of her, releasing a small, pink otter-like creature. "Sloooooowpoke." It said, very, very slowly. I blinked. "Righty-o, then. Go, Minoru!"

Minoru hopped in front of the Slowpoke, and noticing it was a female, began to drool and stare at it, dumbfounded. "Saurrrrr..." I smacked my forehead. "Minoru, just use Fury Cutter until he's fainted." Bulbasaur nodded, and began to slash at Slowpoke with vines, that were edged with sharp leaves. Slowpoke groaned, and blasted the vines away with Psychic.

"Slowpoke, Ice Beam."

Slowpoke nodded slowly, and began to form ice in it's mouth, and blasted it out at my Bulbasaur who fell to the ground. Minoru slowly got up, and then it was a frenzy of ice and whips.

In the end, I lucked out with a Potion on hand, and Minoru got a critical hit at the last second. I sighed in relief, hugging Minoru and stepping onto the next teleporter.

We did beat all the trainers, but Minoru fainted, leaving me to rely on Rune. But that's not so bad, is it? Rune is completely immune to Psychic attacks, so we should have been able to beat Sabrina with ease. But when we got there, something defiantly wasn't right...

Although I had heard of Sabrina being pretty emotionless and even at times cruel, I knew that this couldn't be her at all; by emotionless, I knew it meant she was mostly angry or even crazy. But her red eyes were now a dark purple, and held no emotion at all as she stared at us blankly.

"Do you wish to fight?" she asked in a monotonous voice. I nodded slowly, and she didn't move at all. Only talked. "Very well. If you lose, I get to have my way with you and your weak Pokemon."

Thank God Katsu wasn't there.

"Um... I accept?" I replied nervously, and a Venomoth appeared from it's Pokeball, fluttering above Rune.

"Venomoth, use Absorb."

"Rune, use Fire Punch!"

Before Venomoth could take Rune's health, Runes hand glowed with fire and he hit his opponent without mercy. Venomoth immediately fell to the ground, fainted. Sabrina looked at her Pokemon, and her frown grew bigger, and her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes began to glow purple with rage as she clenched her fists.

"How... can... you... defeat... my Pokemon?" She hissed, psychic energy glowing around her hands. "Nobody defeats my Pokemon!" Sabrina clenched her teeth, as the energy glowed stronger and her expression was more furious by the second. "YOU. WILL. PAY!" She began to scream, shooting Psychic blasts all over the room.

"Everyone! Get behind me!" I screamed, and all my Pokemon scurried behind me into a corner as I stood defensively in front of them. Sabrina was surely going insane... The room was filled with cries, screams, and explosions. Eventually, there was one last blast that filled the room with light.

We were all okay, but I had a simple headache. I looked over at Sabrina, who's eyes were shut tightly as she clutched her head in pain. "Help... me..." she groaned, and she fell to her knees, squeezing her head in agony. Out of nowhere, we heard a mischievous laugh - and then Sabrina began to glow with a purple aura. Her high-pitched scream filled the room, and then...

A purple ghost Pokemon floated out of her, laughing evilly and waved goodbye with a floating hand. A Haunter was controlling her...? But how? That's when I heard a loud thud, and looked down to see Sabrina collapsed on the floor. We all ran over to her.

"Sabrina? Sabrina, wake up! Wake up...!"