Note: Firstly, sorry for the long wait! The suspense must have been killing you :P Not much else to say really, except enjoy!

Silent Wishes

Conan stared hard at the twins, their Zubat flapping its wings just above them menacingly. So this was who their final battle would be with. He couldn't say he was all that surprised, seeing as how his team were such a crowd pleaser and Zoe and Zack had ties with the training school. They didn't look any different from the last time, perhaps a little more pasty-faced if that was possible. The two opposing teams met in the middle, as was the custom, to shake hands. Zoe turned her nose up at the thought of touching Daphne's hand and flat out refused to, although her brother wasn't as picky. When Zoe caught him solemnly shaking Conan's hand she glared at him with such venom that Zack hastily retrieved his hand and stared down at his shoes, looking remorseful. Daphne almost felt bad for him – almost, but not quite. Zoe flipped her fiery hair out behind her, her green eyes blazing.

"Ready to be humiliated?" she asked them with mock-sweetness. Sensing conflict the crowd cheered wildly. Most of them didn't like Zoe and Zack much and were counting on Daphne and Conan to put them in their place. Conan and Daphne didn't want to disappoint them. Zack and Zoe were just two stuck up rich kids who thought they were better than everyone simply because of their family connections. It was about time someone set them straight. Amina scoffed.

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen! I've been waiting for this moment a long time," she said smugly. She was really looking forward to taking down the twins and their Zubat. She had been building up towards this moment and finally, her persistence was going to pay off. She couldn't wait to embarrass the twins in front of the entire school. Zoe smirked and nudged her brother.

"They don't stand a chance, do they Zack?" Zack grinned and shook his head. Daphne frowned. She knew there wasn't going to be time to ask what she wanted – after a quick look she saw the referee ready with his whistle – and urged Conan and Amina to go to their side of the mat. What she wanted to find out would have to wait for after the battle.

With both teams on their correct sides, the whistle was blown and the crowd erupted, many of them cheering on Daphne and Conan. Zoe, ever conceited, thought they were cheering for her and grinned to herself. She ordered Zubat to start the battle off with Confuse Ray. A light ball of astral energy emitted from Zubat's mouth and travelled towards Amina, who saw it coming and tried to dodge. The light ball followed and hit her square on. Just like that, Amina became confused. It was only the beginning of the battle but it was like a bad omen for the rest of it. Daphne cringed, knowing that Amina getting confused was a sign. Zubat's moves were also likely to be super affective on the Ghost-type Pokémon. All she and Conan could do is hope for the best.

The best didn't exactly look like it was going to come to them, especially when Amina started spinning around in circles crying 'wheeeee'. On the other side of the mat, Zoe and Zack giggled while the audience stared on dismally. Eventually Amina got too dizzy to maintain her position in the air and crash-landed dangerously on the mat. Daphne gripped Conan's arm worriedly. She heaved a sigh of relief moments later when Amina got up, sniggering at her own behaviour. Taking a risk with Amina's mental stability, Conan told her to use Curse on Zubat. It was a gamble; one that Conan wanted to win.

It was a pity then, that Amina turned to face Daphne and before anyone knew what was going on, used Lick on her cheek. Daphne scrunched up her nose and pushed Amina away, trying to snap her out of her confusion. Zack and Zoe were in stitches and a few others in the stands began tittering as well. It was pretty funny to watch a Pokémon lick its owner in confusion. Daphne and Conan glared at the twins who didn't hide the fact they found the entire thing so hilarious. Almost lazily Zoe instructed Zubat to go after Amina with Wing Attack. Normally Amina would have just moved out of the way but because she was confused, all she did was stare dopily up as Zubat descended. Conan groaned inwardly and Daphne buried her face on his shoulder. She couldn't watch Zubat slice at Amina with large, imposing wings. Amina fell to the mat once more, a look of pain displayed on her face. She had snapped out of her confusion and even though she wanted to get her own back at Zubat, was too weak to do anything about it. Amina slowly got up and let her owners know she was ready to attack back. She shook herself off and realised she wasn't hurt all that badly; it had mostly just been shock at first. She wanted Zubat to pay.

Daphne called out to Amina, telling her to use Lick followed quickly by Night Shade. Amina nodded and shot towards Zubat. Amina managed to attack Zubat with Lick but before she could get around to using Night Shade, Zoe had already advised Zubat to attack with Bite. Since Amina was dangerously close after Lick it wasn't all that difficult for Zubat to open her mouth and bite down on her. Zoe grinned superiorly. She had guessed that her rivals would get Amina to use Lick at some point and had simply been waiting for that to happen. By itself, Bite was already an incredibly strong move but as a Ghost-type Pokémon, Amina was particularly weak to the Dark move. Daphne winced when a look of pure hurt passed over Amina's face before she fell to the floor for the third – and final – time.

Amina hadn't fainted yet but she was close. She didn't have the energy to get back up and was barely able to keep her eyes open. Conan bit his lip. They had lost three other battles but none of them were this bad. Conan started when he realised Daphne had left his side and had rushed over to their Pokémon. Gently, Daphne cradled Amina in her arms and looked tearfully at how battered she was. Rage bubbled inside the young teen – rage unlike she had ever felt before. Her hands began to shake with the force of the emotion. Little by little the quiet, serene girl Laurel had taught her to be was stripped away leaving the old Daphne behind: the one who wasn't shy about sharing her emotions or expressing them physically. She directed a look filled with utter contempt towards the twins and Zoe, noticing where Daphne was, smiled unpleasantly. She whispered in her brother's ear hurriedly and he stared back at her, dumbstruck. Deciding to ignore his lack of support, Zoe rolled her eyes and turned to Zubat.

"Wing Attack," she said wickedly. Zubat was unsure but when Zoe told her again with more certainty, she knew she had to obey. Sorrowfully Zubat soared up into the air above Amina and Daphne and paused for a moment. Conan had his mouth open in shock. Zoe couldn't seriously want her Pokémon to attack his partner. Her steady expression said she did. Daphne's head was facing Zubat defiantly, almost daring her to follow her owner's insane command. Conan could tell a plan had formed in Daphne's mind and he made a resolve not to interfere, how ever much he might want to. He'd probably only get caught in the cross-fire. When Daphne wanted Conan's help, he would know about it.

The crowd held their breath as they watched Zubat sail down towards Daphne and Amina. Zack hid his face in his hands, not able to bring himself to watch the events unfold before him. Zubat dropped like a rock and as she was about to land her attack, Daphne rose to her feet with her fist above her. The force of the Pokémon's weight added to the speed she had been going at hit Daphne with surprising strength and a sickening crunch was heard. Zubat bounced off Daphne's fist and fell to the floor. Zoe screamed angrily at her plan being foiled and when Zack heard that he opened his eyes. Conan ran over to where Daphne was to see if she was okay. The audience were tensely silent.

"I'm fine," murmured Daphne, swaying on her feet. Conan could tell she was far from fine. Her hand looked like it was broken or the very least sprained. Conan was furious. How dare Zoe do such a thing? Sure Team Rockets were supposed to be devious but this was going too far. It was unnecessary, cruel and most importantly it hurt Conan's teammate. Conan slowly walked over to where Zack and Zoe were standing with a face like thunder.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, his voice wavering with hatred. Some people in the stands cheered at that comment and Conan could have sworn he heard Travis' voice telling him to 'punch 'em in the face'. Zack looked at his sister nervously, silently begging for her to say something. Zoe had been taking aback by the threatening tone of voice Conan had used on her and it had rendered her mute. Conan swallowed, trying to clear his head. He shouldn't do anything impulsive, anything he might regret later. He risked a glance behind him, where first aid officials had rushed on to the scene to tend to Daphne's injury. Amina it seemed, had passed out, as had Zubat. Conan returned his gaze to the twins and glared at them. Zack hastily returned Zubat to her ball. Finally Conan's anger got the better of him and his hand shot out, grabbing the front of Zack's shirt. He shook the weaker boy violently. Zack looked like he was about to cry.

"Don't hurt him!" Zoe suddenly burst out.

"Why not?" demanded Conan. "You hurt my partner. Its only fair I hurt yours, right Zackie?" Conan laughed manically. Zack's lip quivered and he stared pleadingly at his sister for help.

"Right Zack?" yelled Conan, his face now red with anger. Zack's face paled and his eyes looked anywhere but at Conan's face. Conan shook him roughly again and this time, Zack actually did cry. His eyes filled with salty tears that slid down his pasty face.

"Leave him alone," begged Zoe. "He can't talk." Conan frowned, puzzled.

"What?" he asked stupidly. Zack was still crying although he made no noise.

"You heard me. He can't speak. He doesn't have a voice. Now put him down or else I'll–" Zoe didn't get to finish her sentence. She ended up on the floor after Daphne had punched her in the face, using her good hand of course. First aid officials came running after her but it was too late. Zoe was already knocked unconscious. When Zack saw this, he stopped his snivelling. He must have realised that the same thing could happen to him and he didn't want that. The first aid officials sternly led Daphne away while some more came on the mat to carry Zoe off in a stretcher. Eventually the only ones on the mat were Conan and Zack.

Conan eyed the other boy suspiciously. He was completely identical to his sister, apart from obviously being a boy and having red short hair. They were both as pale as each other and wore matching blue uniforms, just to show to the world how much they were like each other. But were they really all that similar? Conan quickly realised that he had actually never heard Zack say a single word in all the time he had known him. Zoe usually did all of the talking for him and since Zack's expression matched hers, everyone had assumed they not only shared appearances, but brains too. Was that really the case?

Conan shook Zack's hand and walked back to his respective tunnel. He would never know.

Gunner met Conan at the entrance to the tunnel. The two of them walked wordlessly through the tunnel and Conan was a little surprised when Gunner guided him not to his room but off to the left, up three flights of echoic stairs that led down a corridor and finally to the infirmary. The first aid officials hired to work at the arena were some of the most efficient people in their field and Conan was surprised to see Daphne and Amina already treated and in beds opposite Zoe's. Amina and Zoe were asleep but Daphne was sitting up and talking animatedly to Laurel and Travis. There were about a dozen other beds in the room but they were all empty. The room itself was spotlessly clean and the colours consisted of mostly white. Conan turned to thank Gunner for taking him to visit his injured friends but the large man had already disappeared so Conan joined his team.

Travis was immensely impressed with the way Conan had man-handled Zack and it was as he was clapped Conan on the back for this that the boy himself entered the room. Zack looked paler than usual and anxiously made his way over to his sister's bed, carefully avoiding the gaze of the other four people currently burning a hole in the back of his head. Zack sat down on a small stool at Zoe's bedside and waited patiently for her to wake up. She wasn't going to be happy to discover her nose was swollen, purple and in a splint, Zack knew. Daphne got the attention of her allies back on her by announcing if anyone wanted to write on her cast once it dried. Conan smiled at her; it wasn't even the sort of cast you could write on. It covered Daphne's entire hand making it look unbelievably bulky. It was her right hand, the hand she used to write with. Conan was going to have to be her assigned scriber from then on.

"I knew you weren't going to win," said Laurel suddenly. Travis, Conan and Daphne stared at her and were astonished to see her mouth split into a wide smile. "But it was worth it to see that punch you landed on that ginger girl!" Travis and Conan agreed vehemently, which made Daphne laugh. She was proud of herself for dealing with Zoe with such restraint. If it hadn't been for her broken hand, all the first aid officials and Laurel's training, Zoe would have had a lot more than a fractured nose.

Looking over at the other girl, Daphne couldn't help wondering what her story was. What made her be so evil? And why couldn't Zack talk? Daphne doubted she would ever get an answer to her questions.