# # # Chapter Specific Notes # # #

Bold type is an e-mail

Chapter 8: Suspicious Minds

Ganon was sat at the desk in his room, looking at each of the objects he'd broken during his lesson earlier. He picked one of them up, and yelped as it cut into his finger.

"Won't be trying that again in a hurry…" He mumbled, transforming back into his Latios form so he could heal the wound. He looked back at the rest of the pile, before dismissing it as too troublesome. He transformed back into a human and leant back on his bed. For all the work that he'd had to do, and more training promised afterwards, even the Nursery was looking inviting to him now. At least there he always had something easy to do, even if it was being the punch bag. He looked absently out of the window. Darkness had already fallen, so he might as well fall asleep. He closed his eyes and fell into what he hoped would be dreamless slumber. Again, luck deserted him.

- - - - - -

"Hey Twiggy!" One of the other Latios yelled at him. Twiggy was one of his nicknames to the other inmates because of his characteristic lack of bulk around the middle. The one that had addressed him was technically four years Ganon's junior, but he was still bigger than Ganon himself was. His other names included Runt, Squirt, and 'Oi you'. He looked around at the oncoming Eon in a half-hearted way.

"So what is it now? Fed up with beating up some other guy?"

"Yep. Your turn now Twiggy." The younger boy shouted maliciously, before Ganon was set on by about six other Latios. He didn't even feel the blows anymore, so he just sat there and waited for them to get bored. Should only be another six hours.

Ganon looked up suddenly when he realised he could see light from above only a matter of seconds after they'd set upon him. The other boys were lining up quietly against a wall, and Ganon suddenly realised that a tutor must have arrived. He looked around to see that one of them had turned up, the oldest one of them in fact, and the most respected. Rumour had it that Lombard was over ten thousand years old, and was there when the first Dream Mentors left to the Astral Plane. Ganon looked up into Lombard's face pitifully, although he was hardly expecting any mercy. Lombard looked down at him, and smirked, before turning to address the boys that were trying to edge subtly away from him.

"I didn't see anything. You may continue your games." He said casually, watching as the other Latios's bore down on Ganon again. The ancient Eon didn't bother hiding his grin as the youngsters battered and bruised the runt of the nursery.

Laura was sat waiting in the reception hall, watching the Magikarp in the tank when she heard movement behind her. She spun around to see Moxis wander into the room. She looked at him expectantly, causing him to glance over.

"Sorry, but he's asleep now." He said, gesturing to the wall, "Something must really be holding Kenai up if he forgot what time it is. There's no way you could go out when it's this dark."

She looked up at the clock mounted to the top of the wall. She couldn't read clocks herself, and had always relied on Maria up to this point.

"What time does that say? I can't read human." She made up. Moxis sighed exasperatedly.

"It says its nine-forty-five. That's the evening. It's when the sun isn't in the sky anymore." He said in insulting baby talk. She scowled, but she'd learnt at the hotel in Alanus when she tried to roast Geraint back that she couldn't use fire. She sulked and turned away from him, her legs over the side of the bench.

"You really didn't need to be like that…" She said huffily. Moxis tilted his head to one side. He had to admit she annoyed him, but she was technically a paying customer.

"Well… okay then. Should I show you to your room then?" He offered kindly. She looked back over at him, and snorted.

"I can find my own way back." She said adamantly. Moxis sighed, and held up a shiny piece of metal.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice miss. You'll need your key."

"Well hand it over and I'll go up when I'm ready."

"Perhaps I should inform you then that there are no entertainment facilities in this Pokemon Centre. But feel free to stay down here though, I'll wait for you." He finished, wandering behind the counter and sitting down. He would have also said that she didn't have any pockets, but that was just asking for trouble. He pulled out a newspaper from under the desk and sat about pondering over the puzzle page.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, and smiled to herself as she saw the Riolu glance up at her occasionally. She insisted she would endure for as long as it would take.

Moxis glanced at her again and thought he was finally up against a tough contender. He'd never met his match before in Sleep Chicken, although only five minutes later, he realised that he had been deprived of a challenge yet again as she drifted off to sleep and fell off the bench. He shook his head and wheeled over a stretcher to carry her to her room. She was awkward to haul onto it, considering she was about three times bigger than him, but it wasn't an overly difficult task, and she was laid in her bed seemingly a matter of seconds since Moxis had picked her up.

A Gallade was slowly regaining consciousness in a room heavily reminiscent of a hospital operating theatre, a thick bandage tied roughly around its left forearm. He pulled himself upright on the bed, and clutched his head from the sudden disorientation that hit him like a proverbial ton of bricks. His vision was blurred, and unconsciousness was threatening to claim him again.

"Open your eyes slowly." Said a Chansey, a tad unnecessarily, rifling through some X-ray printouts facing away from the bed Kotor was resting on. He let himself drop back onto the bed with a heavy thump and took a series of deep breaths. He looked to the opposite side of the room, where a small vial of his blood was resting in a reinforced container. It was a dark shade of green, so nothing out of the ordinary there... And the reinforcing was hardly surprising either considering his own nature.

"You're okay now, just calm down." The Chansey said calmly as she walked up towards the bed, but remaining out of arms reach, which proved to be a wise decision as he swiped at her with one of his leaf blades.

"Then let me out of here then, dammit!" He said, jumping back up and sitting on the edge of the bed. He felt his head spinning, and collapsed to the floor. The Chansey tutted, and would have helped him up if he wouldn't do it again. But he was too proud to. She wandered back to the X-rays, and clipped them up onto a light box.

"You really should rest. You've just undergone very extensive surgery." She said mildly, turning back to see the Gallade hobble up, then collapsing again. She sighed and picked him up, dumping him unceremoniously back on the bed, and pulling the guard up usually reserved to stop Moxis escaping when he needed various vaccinations. It was a mark of shame for the warrior, and he quietened down trying not to make matters worse. There were other things that were used to keep the children restrained, and he didn't want to go anywhere near them.

"What was wrong with me, Carol?" Kotor asked; his now docile voice completely out of character. The nurse smiled gently like a mother, and pointed out a section of his skull on an X-ray.

"Not much. Just a broken jaw. Nothing I can't fix up easily."

Kotor rubbed the side of his jaw where Kenai had hit him. It was still numb.

"I wouldn't recommend trying to eat for a while, but you're free to leave now." She said, filing the X-rays into a drawer. The Gallade rolled his eyes, and looked at the drawer.

"I presume that's my report finished with then." He said sarcastically. Carol looked over at him chidingly, and she seemed to pull a syringe out of mid-air.

"Then get out of here before I add to it by playing pins and needles." She said warningly. He dashed out of the room so fast it left an image of himself hanging in the air for a split second.

Laura rolled over in her sleep on the bed, and sighed out a name very quietly in her dream state.

"Ganon…" She mumbled absently, unnoticed due to the soundproofed nature of the room, "What happened to you?"

Every movement the Latios made on the other side of the wall seemed to cause cracking sounds to snip through the air.

"I got Jumped." He said mournfully, accompanied by more snaps. He took a breath through clenched teeth at a particularly loud crack. Laura winced as well.

"How many?" She asked, because judging by the amount of cracks, at least half a dozen must have piled on him.

"Six I think." He said. Laura tutted gently.

"So you got off gently then." She said, trying to keep as still as possible.

"Yeah. I think most of the rest of them were scared off beforehand by seeing Lombard there."

"Did he do anything to stop them?"

"Of course not."

Laura nodded appreciatively. On both sides, the tutors were indifferent to bullying, in or out of lessons. She knew first-hand that some of them even took part, although being much older and supposedly wiser, they did nothing more than jeer. But their taunts cut deeper and were more long-lasting than the youngsters. They'd both come to the conclusion it was the centuries of practice they must have had. She leant onto her left side, and winced as a sharp jolt of pain coursed through her arm, joints cracking in a similar way to Ganon, but evidently much more serious.

"What was that?" Ganon asked immediately, hearing her sharp gasp "Did they jump you?"

"No, no. It's nothing serious." She said, adjusting a makeshift bandage she'd put over a particularly large area of swelling. Ganon growled deeply.

"Don't lie. I can tell you're hurt badly. How many?"

"Only three." She lied quickly, looking away from the wall in shame.

"Laura…"

"What?"

"You're doing it again. I'm worried about you. That sounds much worse than just three. How many?" He asked her passionately. She mumbled something in response softly, "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Thirteen." She said mournfully, and Ganon took a sharp intake of breath.

"Holy… Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I wrapped a piece of cloth around the bad areas, and most of the pain is gone."

"Most?" Ganon asked tenderly. Laura sighed to herself at the gesture.

"Well, it's fine now. It was just a little pain in the chest, but it just disappeared about a second ago." She purred softly.

"That's the sternum. It does that." Ganon said calmly. Laura looked up in shock.

"Ganon?!"

"What?" He called back. The boy was absolutely clueless sometimes.

As soon as Kotor was out of earshot of the wards, he slowed down slightly, and pulled his radio out. There was a light crackle of static, but no-one on the line. They must have all gone to sleep, he realised. He stretched his arms and yawned widely, before wandering aimlessly through the corridors. His own quarters were just below the surface of the ground, but the hospital wing that he was taken to earlier was a few hundred metres lower on level thirty. Now why they couldn't have taken him to a more convenient floor…

"Because we could both use the walk." Kenai said, wandering up the corridor slowly from behind him. Kotor spun around quickly, lashing out instinctively with a leaf blade. Kenai threw his right arm up ahead of him, catching the blade on the back of his forearm. A brief spark of energy shot off from the point of contact, but the short fur underneath was hardly moved. Kotor frowned.

"You really do love your Barriers don't you?" He said irritably. Kenai nodded and began walking along the corridor, gesturing for the Gallade to follow him. They approached a lift, and Kenai instructed it to take them to just below the surface.

"They were my speciality during the war. Saved our platoon dozens of times."

"Oh not this shit again. You do know I still owe you for punching me in the face."

"Are you trying to suggest it actually hurt?" Kenai said, raising one bushy eyebrow.

"If it didn't hurt, I wouldn't have been knocked out, you imbecile." He retorted angrily, but restrained himself from hitting Kenai again. The lift dinged, and they both stepped out. Kotor followed as the elder lead him through a long series of doorways and corridors, before Kenai pausing before a reinforced steel portal. He turned back and looked gravely at him.

"We need a word about your salary." He said, pulling open the door and ushering the Gallade into his office. For the first time in his life, Kotor was hesitant.

"Up or down?" He asked warily. Kenai laughed once.

"What do you think?"

Kotor paused for probably about thirty seconds, before walking through the doorway.

Ganon woke up slowly. It wasn't exactly the nicest dream he'd had, but he felt more comfortable in the bed than he ever had done before. Then it dawned on him. For some reason, he'd managed to sleep the entire night in his human form without realising it. He praised himself mentally for being able to hold the deception for so long, before transforming back into an Eon to stretch his wings and crack his joints.

Immediately, his body was wracked with cramps. Pain surged through each muscle, devouring every last myofibril of his frame. He convulsed painfully, his back arching ridiculously as he writhed on the floor. He screeched through a locked jaw, somehow attracting the attention of Lazlo. The Lucario took one look at him, before teleporting down into the medical backroom. He nudged the sleeping form of Melissa on the blue silk beanbag she slept on, quickly waking her up. She hissed at the sudden intrusion until her eyesight cleared up. Then she noticed it was Lazlo, and turned on the charm.

"Oh! Lazlo. You shouldn't have to see me like this. My morning fur looks terrible." She said as she began to groom herself. Lazlo put a paw on hers, stopping her.

"That's not what I'm down here for. Ganon is having major cramps, and he needs immediate treatment."

"How big a dosage?" Melissa asked. Lazlo frowned, not familiar with the actual quantities required, but then again, he did have a good idea of how much would be needed.

"Big." He said quickly. Melissa smiled maliciously.

"He slept all night in a human form then. Fine. I'll get the solution prepped." She said, hopping off her bean-bag and pulling out a bottle and a syringe. She drew about twenty millilitres of the fluid into the syringe, blowing out a little bit to remove the bubbles. She carried the needle in her mouth, giving Lazlo cause for worry. He'd seen that look in her eye before, and usually it was when she was about to kill someone.

"I think I'd better do it." He said hurriedly, taking the syringe out of her mouth. She furrowed her eyebrows. What was the point of administering an injection if it didn't hurt?

"You don't know where to inject him." She said briskly, tugging the needle back out of Lazlo's grasp and padding out the door with it. Lazlo bounded after her in two seconds, to catch her running up the staircase. He swore under his breath, chasing after her. As he got to the residential floor, he found Melissa standing outside his doorway. Lazlo made a move to take the needle out of her mouth, but she shook her head.

"Yewl neeb oo 'old im dill." She spat around the barrel, motioning to the door with an ear, "Affder thwee."

Lazlo picked Melissa up, holding her under his arm, and teleported them straight into the room together. The next thing she knew was that she was being assaulted by a screeching wall of noise, the pained Eon curled on the floor in front of them.

"Old im." She mumbled, watching as Lazlo restrained the rocking Eon, which was oblivious to the attention. Melissa looked carefully at his body, before jumping across to next to his wing. She rested the point on the skin, before sinking the hypodermic through into his bloodstream. The plunger depressed automatically, delivering a mixture of muscle relaxants, electrolyte solution, and an anaesthetic. The Eon's struggling subsided gradually, and the Eon slipped into a dreamless sleep. Lazlo picked the tiny Eon back up, flipping him onto the bed. He smoothed the sheets over it to conserve its body heat, before turning back to Melissa. She was grooming her fur as though it was nothing.

"You fret over your appearance too much." He said to her. She looked up at him endearingly.

"Well I do like to look nice for you." She answered. Lazlo sniggered.

"Naturally." He said, before walking over to the door and opening it to let her back out. She pouted at him, because she wanted to teleport with him again, but did as she was told. She wandered back downstairs to her bean bag, and jumped onto the top of it, sinking slowly in the soft material. She stretched out, before looking up at the clock. She blinked twice, and swore violently, waking up every Pokemon in the building outside of guest rooms. It was four in the morning, and her shift started in two hours.

Laura rolled over in her bed, the last fragments of her dream disintegrating into the calm nothingness that cloaked the mind just before dawn. She'd woken up shortly after Moxis had put her in the bed, and she'd seized the key, locking the door shut so she could sleep in peace as a Latias. She opened her eyes lazily, watching the early suns rays peeking through the blinds, streaks of red and orange painting themselves on the opposite wall. She slowly uncoiled her wings, savouring the lazy feeling that washed through them. The beds here had been much more comfortable than the ones at Alanus, and were easily more refreshing. Geraint had been stingy when it came to booking the intermediate room, booking them into a room of a hotel that didn't look as though it could even support its own weight. And the less said about the service, the better.

"It looked better on the website!" Geraint had insisted consistently throughout the stay. Still, it was pretty much nothing but cinders now since Geraint had accidentally sneezed at some point during the second night, transforming the structure into a blazing inferno.

Laura looked around at the room she was staying in now. Rather than the drab grey ramshackle room they'd slept in at Alanus, this room was bustling with colour. The walls were a light pastel green, with a plush blue carpet underneath. The bedroom itself was reasonably spacious, with a vanity opposite the end of the bed, and a chest of drawers at each side of the bed. In one corner of the ceiling, a television was mounted on a wall bracket, and there was an adjoining bathroom just off from the entrance-way. A muted glow was shining through a long window on the side opposite the doorway, the blinds casting dozens of horizontal shadows across the floor. She hovered over towards the window, peeking out through the blinds, and gasped. They were so high! She could see most of the village fanned out one way, the buildings lining the shallow slope down towards a river at the end. The other way was a small grassy plain cupped by tall pines, a clear field with a few small children playing with a ball. She looked back away from the view, and headed towards the door, landing and transforming into a Typhlosion on the way. She felt so much more cumbersome as a Typhlosion, and she still wasn't used to being nearly twice as big as she normally was. She clasped the door handle in her paws, and opened it. Her foot hit something lying on the floor, and she looked down to see Geraint as a Typhlosion sleeping across the doorway. She carefully edged away around him, before creeping downstairs quietly.

"You don't need to be subtle." A voice said from behind her. She squeaked in alarm and looked around to see the wizened Alakazam ambling towards her, "You're a guest here, you may come and go as you please."

She watched the Alakazam look down once at Geraint, before a Lucario appeared seemingly out of nowhere and hauled the unconscious Typhlosion into the room. Lazlo came out a few seconds later, and locked the door behind him, teleporting away again. Kenai motioned for Laura to follow him. She followed the Alakazam downstairs through the main foyer, past Melissa sat at the desk, and into a room that looked like a large empty waiting lounge. Kenai sat down on a sofa, and motioned for Laura to sit on the one opposite him.

"How long have you been with Geraint?" He asked her, watching her carefully. She shuffled uneasily before answering.

"About three months." She lied. Kenai snorted in disbelief, but didn't pressure her.

"And has anything happened in that time that could have adversely affected him?" He asked her. She fidgeted again.

"I don't know if I should say this…"

"Anything you say can be kept in the strictest of confidence." He told her professionally.

"Are you sure?" She asked him. Kenai glared at her angrily, but ignored the insult to his morality.

"There is something wrong with Geraint." He said calmly. Laura jolted upright.

"What?"

"When I knew him," He continued, "He rarely ever made use of his Typhlosion form. He said it was too degrading for him being a Pokemon. Well there's human vanity for you…"

"Is any of this… you know… important?" Laura asked him.

"Just answer me this. Has anything happened recently to him? Anything that could trigger a change like this?"

The image of a pale hand jutting out under a white sheet brought itself to mind, Geraint's weeping.

"No. Nothing." She said quietly. Kenai could tell she was lying, but his own prudent nature prevented him from ever reading the mind of a female.

"Madam. I'd rather you didn't answer than lie. Lies mislead. No answer means I just have to look elsewhere. What do you say now?"

"Do that then. Look somewhere else." She said defensively. Kenai smiled at her.

"Then something happened that either you don't want to talk about or he's asked you not to talk about." He said calmly. Laura just looked at him, cursing his powers of deduction. He shook his head.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I am a genius after all."

"A modest one at that." Laura said sarcastically. Kenai nodded, because for an Alakazam, he was being extremely modest.

"Quite. Whilst we're here, is there anything you want to ask?"

"Yes actually. What changes did you make to the-"

"No, no, no. That's a question Geraint wants you to ask. He can do his dirty work himself. I was asking if there was anything you wanted to ask."

"Oh." Laura said, looking down at her feet. The Alakazam watched her as she tapped the feet gently.

"Well… I suppose… Why did that boy pull me away when those blue things got Geraint with that foam?"

"I told him to, so don't get excited." Kenai replied dully, before getting up, "And the blue things are Lucarios. We have about six of them." Laura stood up as well automatically, much to Kenai's amusement.

"So what now?" She asked him.

"I'll arrange for you to go around town with someone, seeing as Moxis wouldn't honour you with one yesterday." He answered, "If you could go wait in the reception hall."

Laura obliged, wandering back through into the reception area. Melissa glared at her coldly as she walked past the Glaceon, and she sat down at the same bench as yesterday to watch the Magikarp in the tank. Melissa continued to glare at her for several minutes, before shaking her head and settling back into the desk routine.

Kenai started pacing the room mechanically. Anyone that knew him could tell he was deep in conversation with someone downstairs through his telepathy.

"Teal. How much surveillance can you get the techies to put on Geraint?"

"When he's in his room, not much for legal reasons. Why?"

"I've found out what's happened to make him stay in his Typhlosion form."

"Really?"

"I got the information from the other Typhlosion that came in with him. A girl he had a strong relationship with was killed under his care."

"Ouch."

"Quite. It would appear that he's lost his faith in being human, and is trying to escape from the pain as a Pokemon. However, in his Typhlosion form, he'll be subject to all the rules of regular Typhlosions at this time of year."

"You mean… he'll…"

"Exactly." Kenai said, terminating the connection. He rolled his shoulders and walked back into the reception hall.

Moxis woke up from his own bed down on level twelve. No landscape view for his room, just the cold brush of flux metal that was standard for all the underground rooms. He shook himself, throwing the covers off to get to his desk. He turned on a computer, and poured himself a hot chocolate from a machine whilst waiting for the computer to warm up. He took a long draught from the cup, watching a pet Caterpie crawling up the side of its plastic box. He picked the box up gently and set it on his desk. He held his face a few inches away from the side and scratched the side gently with one fore claw.

"One day Charles, you're going to be a kick-ass Butterfree." He said to the Caterpie. It blinked at him, causing Moxis to give an exasperated growl. Most Pokemon had enough brains in their head to show consciousness, but until this one evolved, it was stuck being nothing more than a cool pet. He tore off a piece from a lettuce he kept for it, and put it in the box for the Caterpie to eat. The bug jumped off the wall of the container, and settled down to eat as Moxis put the box back on the floor. He looked over to see that his computer had finally warmed up, and he sat down to type. He logged into the system, paws moving deftly over the keyboard taking him to his e-mail. He took one look at the inbox, and sighed.

"Two-hundred and thirty-seven spam. Somebody really doesn't like me." He said to himself, clearing the entire folder in one movement. He looked again to see that he actually had one e-mail, and it was from his dad. He opened it.

Come upstairs as soon as you've finished your breakfast. Too private to say about in an e-mail.

Moxis punched the air triumphantly, making eager assumptions.

"You see that Charles? I've got a dangerous mission!" He shouted. He kicked himself backwards in his chair, temporarily balancing on the two back legs, before it fell back on all four. Moxis leapt out of the chair, intending to dash straight up to the ground floor.

Ding!

The computer beeped as another e-mail came through, and Moxis turned to look at the new message.

Maybe it would be better to skip breakfast, and come straight here.

He didn't need telling twice. He dashed out of the door, crashing into a Gallade walking past. Kotor growled at the midget.

"What do you think you're doing zipping around like a pup on sugar?!" He yelled at Moxis. The Riolu jogged on the spot in anticipation as he started.

"I've-been-given-a-dangerous-mission-today!" He said non-stop, "Dad thinks I've got the skills!"

Kotor smiled a sort of evil, yet encouraging smile.

"Well go knock 'em dead. You're not a man until you've killed someone." He said, tapping a leaf blade on the butt of a laser gun strapped to his hip. Moxis looked at it in awe, then back up at the Gallade's face.

"Yes sir, Mr Kotor sir!" Moxis said, as he started running down the corridor. He could hear Kotor shouting something after him.

"Make sure you get lots of practice in! I want to be able duel someone with skill that isn't divine."

Melissa watched as the Riolu dashed into the reception hall, skidding the last several metres. She raised an eyebrow.

"And what makes you in such a hurry?"

"Pops said I got a dangerous mission at last!" He told her, still hopping on the spot. Melissa tilted her head.

"I doubt it. But he's upstairs if you have to see him. He's been with…" Melissa looked up to notice Laura listening intently on the other side of the room, "him since about four in the morning."

Moxis turned around to look at the Typhlosion. He watched her until she looked away in shyness, before dashing off upstairs. Something about that Typhlosion didn't sit right with him. Call it a gut feeling, but he didn't like her at all.

Ganon was just starting to stir from the cocktail injected in him from nearly two hours ago. Lazlo watched as the Eon shifted, and pulled out a palmtop. He sent a quick e-mail to his son, before turning back to the shifting sheets.

"Gurrazaah…" Ganon mumbled from under the covers. Lazlo frowned.

"Wake up."

"Dunn wanna wake up…" He mumbled, rolling over, and pulling himself deeper under the sheets.

"Tough." Lazlo said, whipping the sheets off him with a single movement. Ganon fumbled briefly, before sitting up in the bed. Lazlo watched him intently.

"What?" Ganon asked after several minutes of being stared at.

"Every other day, you've woken up and immediately changed into your human form. Get on with it."

Ganon screeched at him in anger and lunged for the Lucario, which unsurprisingly blocked the attack with ease.

"And as you know full well that attacking me will get you nowhere, change into your human form."

"I don't want to change into my human form." Ganon yelled, "It hurts."

It was Lazlo's turn to swipe at the struggling Eon, claws raking a gouge in his face. He pinned Ganon onto the bed by his neck, and growled in his face.

"Don't you... EVER… use pain as an excuse to get out of anything. That's for the weak. Are you weak?"

Ganon paused for a while, seriously thinking it over.

"Yes?" He said tentatively. Lazlo thrust the Eon's neck further into the bed, choking him.

"No you're bloody well not! You… are a legendary. Even in your weakest moments you could bat aside any lesser Pokemon with ease."

Ganon struggled against the Lucario's grip on his throat.

"Are you sure? Cos I'm still under your paw here." He choked out.

Lazlo growled at the assumption and removed the claw, and watched as the Eon caressed his neck where he'd been pressing. Ganon could tell that he was holding his temper in check when he answered.

"I'm not a lesser Pokemon, as you know full well." He replied, "I am undefeatable."

"How's that?"

"You do not question your commanding officer. Now change back into a human."

Ganon looked at the Lucario in anger, before resentfully reassuming his human form. He winced at first, expecting pain to set in, but was pleasantly surprised when it didn't, letting out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. Lazlo finally broke out into a smile.

"Good child." He said, patting the boys shoulder. There was a knock on the door, and Lazlo answered it, allowing Moxis to enter the room. The Riolu hopped about excitedly, practically bouncing off the walls.

"What's-my-mission-what's-my-mission-what's-my-"

"GET DOWN!" Lazlo yelled at the child. The Riolu reluctantly let go of the lampshade, and fell to the floor. He looked at his feet and shuffled nervously.

"Sorry…" He mumbled. Lazlo smiled and stroked the top of his head.

"Good boy. Kenai needs you both to show the Typhlosion around the town."

Moxis's jaw dropped, before he closed it again quickly.

"Her?! Your idea of urgent danger is taking a shiny on a tour?!"

"You don't understand what's at stake here. Teal relayed Kenai's suspicions to me earlier, and between us we've decided that the best thing would be to keep her off the premises for as long as possible."

"There's no point."

"Moxis, do you know what Geraint's alternative form is?"

"Sure. A Typhlosion."

"Well by keeping her off the premises, it guarantees that Geraint can't… you know."

"Pull a move on her." Moxis said casually. Lazlo growled at him, and Ganon raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You're too young to know things like that."

"So is Teal."

Lazlo automatically looked at Ganon, but immediately pulled his head back in line.

"That's not the point. Keep her out of here for as long as possible. You're monitored, so don't panic if you get in trouble." He said, standing up, "Ganon?"

"What?"

"Do what Moxis tells you whilst you're out. He knows the town better than you, so he'll keep you out of trouble."

"Hey! What am I? The Eon's baby-sitter?" Moxis said indignantly.

"Well put it this way. Whilst you're looking after him, you're effectively a dragon tamer."

"Awesome!" Moxis shouted, punching the air. Ganon snorted indignantly.

"But no pillaging." Lazlo warned as an afterthought.

"Awww!" Moxis groaned.

Cut off just before another Ganon-Laura interaction. Aren't I cruel sometimes?