When I finally came to, I was alone in my cell again, as I had expected. I sighed, rubbing my pounding head and sitting down in the corner of the room. Everything that had just happened in the last half hour or so was way too much for me to handle right now.

I felt scared. Weird, right? I mean, they told me straight out how they were going to keep me alive and healthy, so what was I to be scared about? Even now, I'm not sure, but all I know is that when I think about that day, shivers run down my spine.

Maybe it was the fact that I'd never see Rune, Kasumi, Sakura or Katsu again; though I guess I should have gotten used to seperation by then, I really hadn't.

But I digress.

They fed me barely-tolerable, though seemingly safe food three times a day, nothing more and usually nothing less. I'm not sure how to describe it, really -- it was often just a cheap imitation of normal foods, and every bite tasted either sour, bitter or rotten; even the water tasted like it had been left outside for days. Regardless, it was the only food I was being given, so I learned to tolerate it.

For the time I was there, I did learn something useful; those Rockets must think the prisoners are deaf. That, or they never learned how to whisper. Anyway, I overheard quite a bit of some of their goals; as it turned out, they didn't just want the power of the three legendary birds, but it seemed that they were planning to also go after the three legendary beasts, Lugia, Ho-oh, and a few others that I hadn't even heard about -- Celebi and Jirachi were among those, though I soon managed to find out what they were, and why Team Rocket -- or anyone -- would want them.

"What would they do with all those Pokemon?" I muttered to myself one day, pacing the room and staring at my feet. "They've got to have a bigger goal than just using them to take over the world... Unless, maybe, they're using them to get to a higher being? Perhaps... Mew?" I let out a restless sigh and sat down on the bed, leaning on the wall. What did it matter? I was going to be here for as long as I would live, so whatever their plans were wouldn't really affect me.

I kept thinking that until about a week into my stay. I heard chaos going on outside the jail room; screams, commands, and even Pokemon being let out of their Pokeballs. Everyone who was in a cell, including me, was now right near the doors, gripping the iron bars and peeking out.

Eventually, the noises died down, and all of a sudden, the heavy door was thrown open, crashing loudly into the stone walls. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Katsu, being dragged in forcefully by the arm. The door to the empty cell across from me was opened, and Katsu was thrown roughly against the wall, causing him to land on the ground, wincing.

"Your execution is in ten minutes, kid. Enjoy your final moments," the Rocket said emotionlessly.

I could only stare into his cell in horror, jaw dropped. My head felt light; I was having troulbe comprehending everything that had happened within the last week or so. World ending... The old lady was me? And now Katsu was here, and he was going to be executed?! I would have fainted -- again -- right then and there, if the majority of my mind wasn't telling me to stay focused on the fact that Katsu was going to die in a half hour.

"Katsu...?" I whispered, voice wavering, "What did you do?"

"Hey, Keiko," he responded, getting to his feet weakly and walking over to the door of his cell. "The Pokemon and I tried to free you. We made it pretty far, but... there were too many Rockets, and so here I am. I guess they don't want me causing any more trouble, so the only solution for me to... die."

I still had trouble believing it. My whole body was shaking, and I backed away from the bars slowly, my mouth still hanging open. I kept walking until I hit the cold wall, and all I could do was hold both my hands to my mouth. "Die...?" The very word made my blood run cold. I could feel my face paling; even my hands seemed to be getting whiter. My knees began to give out beneath me, and I slowly lowered myself to the ground, shaking visibly.

"Yeah, and I only have a few minutes left..." Katsu paused for a moment, then looked directly at me. "Keiko..." he started quietly, gazing at me through the bars, "Listen to me. There's a few things you need to know."

I looked back up at him. "What?"

"You know you're my best friend, right?" He started simply, and I nodded. "...Good. Just remember that. Oh, and, before I go... take this." He pulled something out from inside of his jacket, and rolled it through the bars and over to me. I slowly stood up, walked over and reached my hand out of the bars and grabbed it, and in the dying light, I could see that it was the scratched up pokeball that belonged to Rune. I stared at it for a few moments. "They took the rest of our Pokemon," Katsu said suddenly, causing my head to jerk up. "But I managed to smuggle Rune in here with me. Maybe you can use him to..."

At that moment, the door to the room began to open, and I quickly hid the pokeball in my pocket. The Rocket opened the cell door and took Katsu out roughly, and I clutched the iron bars to my cell so hard my knuckles turned white. Both of us were silently crying.

"Just don't do anything I wouldn't want you to do, okay, Keiko?" he whispered.

I nodded my head. "I won't, Katsu... I won't. ...Goodbye."

"Bye," he replied, before he was finally pulled out the door.

--------------------

Barely a minute had passed before I finally took Rune's pokeball back out and released him. For a few moments, he seemed confused, until I explained to him what had happened to Katsu and why he was with me.

"We're going to save him, Rune," I said after a few moments of silence.

The Alakazam nodded his head. Of course -- and I know just how to start.

He shut his eyes tightly as his hands began to glow and the air around him grew cold. Keiko watched silently as the lock began to shake and rust, seemingly on its own; however, right as it was about to shatter, a sudden beam of black and purple was fired at Rune. My Pokemon tumbled to the ground, shocked by what had just happened.

Shuppet began to appear, this time in his natural form. I clenched my fists, shaking with rage. "Just go now, Shuppet," I hissed, "I don't want to have to make Rune hurt you."

"Oh, I have plenty of dark-type attacks fit to kill that pathetic excuse for a Pokemon," the ghost-type replied, grinning wickedly, "But right now, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to keep you from leaving." A dark, translucent wall of energy suddenly appeared from Shuppet, spreading around the entire cell. "And a wall of dark energy is just the thing to stop a psychic Pokemon from trying anything funny. Clever, aren't I?"

I ignored him, and looked at Rune, who nodded at me. "Rune, do you know any attacks that aren't psychic-type?" I asked quietly. He nodded. "How many?"

I know enough, he answered simply, and without another word, he closed his eyes again. Electricity began to spark and crackle around him, and in an unbelievably quick amount of time, a bolt of lightning was shot at Shuppet, hitting him dead on.

The Shuppet was shaking visibly after the attack, somewhat shocked. He quickly shook it off, however, and glared fiercely at Rune. Shuppet began to fade away quickly; he soon appeared behind Rune, a ball of dark energy hovering in front of him.

"Rune, use Protect, quick!" I shouted desperately. The psychic-type turned his head quickly and saw his opponent about to fire, and created a strong forcefield around him. However, the second the barrier was created, the blast was fired by Shuppet, and it collided with the other mass of energy, sending it flying back at the ghost.

This would have been to our advantage, if I was not standing so close to Shuppet as I had been. The remains of the attack hit me head-on -- literally. I screamed loudly, clutching my head in pain. It was throbbing, it was heavy, it was aching, it was spinning; every kind of headache you could have, I had it. Rune looked at me, shocked, but I waved him away, begging silently for him to keep on battling Shuppet.

Luck was on my side, and he understood. All I could hear were the cries of the two Pokemon as they fought ferociously, battling with thunder, fire, and any other elements they could.

Finally, my head felt well enough for me to tolerate opening my eyes and watching the remainder of the battle. Both Pokemon seemed weak, and the dark forcefield around us was flickering and getting weaker by the second. Just as Shuppet looked ready to attack again, Rune quickly managed to zap him with another powerful Shock Wave.

Miraculously, Shuppet fell to the ground, shaking painfully. The forcefield around us slowly dimmed, and eventually it was gone. I didn't even need to tell Rune to break the door open; he had already shattered the lock, and I ran to the door, opened it, and ran, pulling the iron door to the main part of the building as I sped out. I could hear Shuppet's wavering, weak voice shouting to us as we ran.

"I'll get you, you little bastards! You hear me?! You'll be seeing me again!"

--------------------

We ran as fast as we could, following the arrows on the signs to the "Execution Room". Of course, we didn't get far before we met up with a Rocket, who instantly recognized us as prisoners. He charged at us, holding a taser gun in one of his hands.

"You know what to do with him, Rune," I commanded, and I just smirked to myself when I heard an explosion and a couple of screams.

Rune was quickly back with me, running equally as fast -- if not faster than I was. Rockets were chasing after us, fumbling for their pokeballs, but my loyal Pokemon just created explosions behind us, sending them all flying backwards.

We eventually made it to the Execution Room; the door was locked tightly, and I peeked in the window to see a dimly lit room. It was rather plain, and in the center there was Katsu sitting in a chair, bound by chains around his neck, wrists and ankles. A few Rockets stood nearby, idly talking to each other. My blood went cold when I saw one mutter some words to Katsu, take a syringe out, and put it dangerously close to my friend's arm. Tears stung at my eyes as I watched in horror.

Without a word, Rune had already forced the door open and we ran inside, quickly locking it again behind us.

"Rune, use Protect on you, me and Katsu! Blast everyone else away!" I commanded quickly, and before the Rockets could react, they were suspended in the air. In less than a second they were all screaming, clutching their heads in pain. Finally, they were dropped to the ground -- every one of them unconcious.

"Rune, break the chains." My command was essentially pointless, however; he had already begun to make them rust, causing them to crack and break.

The poison had already started to take its course through Katsu's bloodstream; he was struggling to breathe, gasping for air helplessly. I could only watch, tears in my eyes. I felt terrible that I couldn't do anything for him. It wasn't long before the chains completely shattered. I grabbed Katsu by the arm, helping him up.

It was then that he began to cough, and I was horrified when I saw blood trickling down his chin. He fell to the floor, coughing up blood and breathing weakly. "Katsu, please try to hold on," I pleaded, "Rune, see if you could carry him using Psychic. Keep him concious for as long as you can."

He obeyed, and we ran as fast as we could out of the room, blasting away any Rockets that tried to meddle with us.

When we finally made it out of the building, we ran past the endless rows of trees; we seemed to be dangerously far from civilization.

When I decided we were far enough away, I fell to my knees, shaking and crying as Rune stopped next to me. He gently Katsu down to the ground in front of me.

I lifted Katsu into a sitting position, holding him up with my hand on his back. His shirt was covered in blood, and his face was deathly pale. My eyes met his, and he managed to talk despite his labored breathing.

"Promise you won't forget me?" He quoted me, smiling weakly.

Tears blurred my vision as I held onto him tightly. I wanted to run away and cry, but I didn't; I had to stay there with him. I managed to half-force a smile back at him, quoting the reply he gave me a week ago, "I wouldn't dream of it."

With that, his breathing began to die away, his eyes slowly closed, and he went limp in my arms.