Disclaimer: As of this point there will be references from the game, so if you haven't played Diamond/Pearl/Platinum yet and don't enjoy spoilers I'd suggest stopping here until you've done so. I don't own Pokemon or its story, I am merely a fan of it and this is a nonprofit work of fiction. Everything else is mine though.

Chapter 3: Trouble at the Windworks

It wasn't until early next morning that they discovered that the Galactic grunts had escaped. Barry was the first to find out since he went to check if his tree had any honey on it yet. He ran back into the house to let everyone else know. Kent was the first to wake up, irritated at having awaken to the loud noises caused by Barry, followed by loud screams of terror as he unconsciously put him into a head lock. Ashley woke up next and had to help pry Kent off Barry because he wasn't fully awake yet and wasn't aware of what was going on. Darkrai was laughing the entire time as Angel woke up and tried to help Ashley. The noise eventually woke Lillith as well, who sat up yawning asked, [What's…going on?] She looked at the strange scene as they all came to a halt. Kent had Barry in a reverse shrimp hold, Ashley was desperately trying to make Kent let go of him, Angel was sitting on Barry's stomach (God knows why…), and Barry was near fainting as tears ran down his cheeks with a look of absolute terror in his eyes. Darkrai was still laughing however.

Kent finally came to his senses after seeing Lillith awake and released Barry from the hold, who let out a few heavy sighs of relief as Ashley and Angel went over to try and comfort him. "Oh…Good morning Lillith. Feeling better now?" Kent asked, indifferent to the fact that seconds earlier he had nearly broken Barry's back.

[I'm fine now Kent thanks for asking. But what about Barry?] asked Lillith.

Kent glanced over his shoulder at the terrified but slowly recovering Barry and looked back at Lillith again. "What about him? He seems fine to me?" he replied. Barry could be heard sobbing after Kent finished his reply.

"I-it's ok Barry, I'm sure Kent didn't mean to hurt you" said Ashley, not entirely sure if what she was saying was true. "H-hey, wasn't there something you wanted to tell us?"

Barry made a full recovery as he suddenly remembered the entire reason he had ran in the room in the first place. He stood up, surprising both Ashley and Angel, and told them what he had found out. "That's right! I forgot after Kent attacked me, but when I went outside this morning the two guys we had tied up were gone!"

Kent's attitude changed quickly at Barry's statement. "Gone?! What do you mean gone?!" There was an underlying tone of anger in his voice.

Barry flinched momentarily but recovered and continued. "Gone! Poof, disappeared! All that's left is the rope we used to tie them up with!"

Kent stood up and ran over to his bag which had never been before mentioned but has always had and for the sake of the author's convenience suddenly appears without any plot holes and looked inside. He confirmed that his and the grunts' Pokemon were still there and breathed a small sigh of relief. He turned back to Barry and asked him a couple questions.

"Is anything missing or out of place?" he asked.

Barry thought for a moment. "Well, I haven't done a thorough check yet but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary." He finally said.

"We should check then, just to make sure." Kent said in reply.

They began to search the house and their belongings to see if anything was missing and regrouped in the kitchen once they were through. "Was anything taken?" asked Kent to the others.

"I didn't see anything stolen or out of place, so I suppose not" said Barry.

"And all of our stuff is still here" added Ashley.

"Good. It seems that they simply ran off then" said Kent with a sigh of relief. Then his stomach rumbled, empty from the search of the house.

Barry chuckled a bit and said, "Shall I make up breakfast?"

Everyone nodded, and Barry began to work on their meal. Kent and Ashley let out their Pokemon before sitting down at the table, Kent and Lillith on one side, Ashley on the other. At first the only sounds were those of Barry's cooking and occasional humming and the Pokemon chatting amongst themselves. Then Ashley had a thought, and asked Kent, "Hey Kent, doesn't Darkrai have to eat?"

Kent thought for a moment. "You know," he started, "I don't actually know myself."

"I feed on the souls of the damned and the nightmares they bring with them" said Darkrai in a demonic voice. There was total silence for a few seconds until Darkrai said, "Nah, I'm just kidding. Well, maybe." Another awkward silence ensued.

"…I'm sorry I asked" went Ashley. With the silence broken sounds began to fill the room once more. Moving on to matters of importance, Kent began to speak.

"After breakfast we need to get going. There are places where Team Galactic has been frequenting and rumors of what they're doing are starting to emerge. According to Darkrai at any rate."

"Leaving so soon? I was hoping you could stay a little longer" said Barry as he pushed his glasses back up his nose with his free hand. In his other hand he was frying some bacon.

"Sorry, but you've seen what Team Galactic is like. They won't take 'no' for an answer and they wait for no man or Pokemon" said Kent in response.

Barry had finished making the bacon and was working on pancakes now. "Well, I was hoping to show my appreciation for what you've done for me."

"But you've already done plenty for us Mr. Barry" said Ashley in a cheerful voice.

[It's true] stated Lillith, [You've feed and given us shelter. We are already grateful.]

"Besides, it's not like we helped you expecting anything in return" said Kent.

Barry had finished cooking and was putting plates, silverware, and honey-flavored syrup on the table. "Aww, thanks." He said. He got a large sack of Pokechow out of a cabinet and gave the Pokemon bowls filled with it before sitting down at the table. "Let's dig in then!" They all let out a cry of approval and began eating the heartily made meal. Their meal consisted of pancakes and honey syrup, bacon and eggs, sausage, and toast smeared with dabs of honey. The Pokemon were eating their specially made Pokechow (honey flavored of course) and enjoying it rather nicely.

Once they had all finished their meal Kent and the rest of his group packed up and got ready to leave. Ashley and Kent strapped on their belts holding their Pokemon, put on their backpack and messenger bag, and headed towards the door. Barry was waiting for them there and was looking somewhat sad now that he had to say goodbye to his new friends. As they reached the door Barry straightened himself up and opened the door for them saying, "Well, I guess this is goodbye then."

"It's not goodbye, it's just until we meet again" said Ashley, trying to cheer him up. Barry felt a little better after hearing her say this.

"You're right. I'm sure we'll see each other again one day." He smiled brightly as they headed outside and turned to say their final farewells.

"You try and stay out of trouble, ok Barry?" said Kent.

[Thank you again for you're gracious hospitality] said Lillith.

"Stay cool man" said Darkrai.

As they began to walk off Barry told them in a loud voice, "Good luck to you all! Stay safe on you're journey!" They waved at him as they continued walking. Barry had a sudden thought and turned running inside the house. Curious as what he was up too Kent and the others stopped for a moment as they watched him come running out carrying something inside a small box. As he approached them they saw that the box was full of small jars filled with honey.

"I want you guys to have this," said Barry in between breaths, "It's my highest quality honey. They're extremely rare, but it's the least I can do to thank you."

"Oh, thanks!" said Kent as he graciously accepted his gift. He and Ashley took a jar each and after putting them ion their sacks walked off again, waving at Barry as they disappeared into the forest. They made their way through the forest, stopping only for a brief rest and a chance to let their Pokemon out for some exercise. By the time they reached Floaroma Town again it was close to noon so they decided to have lunch at a restraint nearby. While they were eating, Ashley decided to ask Kent something.

"Kent, how are you able to pay for meals if you aren't an official trainer and you don't have a job?"

Kent was silent for a few moments, and after he made sure that they had finished their meal and that no one was looking, he looked at her, and said "Like this!" Lillith grabbed the two of them and Angel and they teleported away from the restraint. Ashley was shocked at suddenly being teleported and then she started to panic as she realized what they had just done.

"K-K-K-K-Kent! We-We can't just skip out on bills like that!"

"It's fine, we've been doing it for years" he replied.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of it" said Darkrai.

"B-but it's wrong to do things like that."

"Well, would YOU be able to pay for all of us?" asked Darkrai.

"N-no…, but still…"

Kent looked at Ashley and thought quietly to himself. "Fine," he said, "We won't do things like that from now on if you insist."

"Huh? Really?" asked Ashley.

"What're you saying kid? You need to eat to survive" went Darkrai.

"In exchange though, you have to find ways for us to get some money" said Kent bluntly.

"Err…f-fine. It's still better than stealing…" Ashley said quietly.

By the time they had eaten it was just a little past noon so they decided to go ahead and leave town and head for their next destination. While they were walking on the road to Eterna Forest Ashley asked Kent where they were going.

"Our next target is Eterna City where rumors of a Team Galactic base hidden somewhere within the city were being spread. We're planning to infiltrate and, hopefully, render the base useless."

As Kent was explaining their objective to Ashley a little girl, no older than 10, ran up to them crying. She noticed that they had Pokemon with them and she tried to get their attention. "P-please!" she said through her tears, "Please help my daddy!"

Ashley was the first to notice her, and bending down to her level she asked her, "What's wrong with your daddy? Is he hurt?"

The little girl's sobs continued as she tried to tell them what happened. "Some big m-men came and-and took daddy away to the wind place!"

"Can you describe them to us?" asked Kent.

"They ha-had these uniforms…they we-were black and white, with a 'G' on them. Oh, daddy…" and with this she started to cry again. Angel was looking at the girl on top of Ashley's shoulder and a shimmering blue aura could be seen around her. She suddenly lifted herself off of Ashley and landed on top of the little girl's head.

"Angel? What are you-" started Ashley, but she was cut of as the Togekiss began to glow. She began to sing softly as her aura began to become a light pink and the girl's crying slowed until she came to a complete stop. "What…is this?" she asked softly. The song seemed to be calming her; making her feel as if everything was going to be ok.

"Is that…?" went Kent.

[It's Wish] explained Lillith. [It makes the target recover after a short period of time and is very effective in situations like this. Angel is a very talented Pokemon to be able to pull it off to this degree of emotional recovery.]

Angel finished singing and she floated down to the little girl's lap looking up at her as she did so. She used her wings to wipe away her tears and smiled gently at her. The little girl smiled some and hugged Angel, telling her, "Thank you."

Kent was impressed and Angel's display. He doubted he could have done anywhere near as good of a job as she had. Ashley in the meantime was talking to the girl.

"Can you tell us your name sweetie?"

"My name is Sarah. Are you going to help my daddy?"

"Yes Sarah, we'll help your father out, so don't worry. Can you show us to where they took him though?"

Sarah nodded and pointed down the path. "It's this way. Follow me." She carried Angel with her as she led the way. The was a small forest to the right of the path, and to the left was a small valley with a river running through it near halfway between the path and Eterna Forest, which from where they were was only a spec on the horizon. They reached a fork in the path and Sarah said that the wind factory was just ahead. Several wind generators could be seen as they approached the Valley Windworks. There was a small fence separating the path from the Windworks itself and they walked through it. A Galactic grunt was keeping guard outside the door and Kent and the others dashed behind a bush to avoid being seen.

"What now?" asked Ashley.

"Let me think for a moment" said Kent. He sat quietly for a few minutes and Sarah was petting Angel as they waited. Kent's eyes were closed as he was thinking and they opened once he was done planning. "Ok, here's the plan…"

The grunt on guard duty was bored. He had been standing there for the last several hours and his replacement was late. "Where is he" he grumbled under his breath. He started to curse at his misfortune when he thought he heard something. "Is someone there?!" Silence.

"That'd better not be you trying to trick me again Michael! Where are you?!" Still, nothing. Then there was some rustling in the trees and a few leaves dropped down but when he looked up nothing was there. "This isn't funny, get out here man!"

Suddenly he heard a small voice whisper to him. "Leave now or DIE…" the voice said to him. He turned to look at where the voice had come from but there was nothing there. Then the voice came from somewhere else. "We don't LIKE trespassers…."

The grunt was starting to get scared now and it began to show on his face. A thick fog started to surround the area as the sun disappeared from view. He started to panic and was about to run when a figure popped up in front of him. It was of a small girl wearing traditional Japanese clothing, a kimono, and appeared to be crying. The grunt slowly walked over and approached her asking, "H-hey, are you alright miss…?"

The figure's back was facing him as she looked up having heard his voice. "….out" it said.

"Huh?" went the grunt.

"I said…GET OUT!!!" the figure suddenly turned and faced the grunt with razor sharp teeth, icicle horns, and yellow with ice blue eyes. The grunt screamed and ran off into the mist, where a loud 'thunk!' was heard and the falling of a limp body. The mist faded as Kent, Ashley, Lillith, and Sarah with Angel walked out of the bushes. Froslass floated over to Kent having accomplished its goal. Chatot flew in from out of the trees and landed on Kent's shoulder.

"Good job guys. Mission accomplished" he said as he returned them to their Pokeballs. Chatot had been doing the voices while Froslass had created the mist and played the role of the ghost. A simple yet smart plan.

"Wow," went Sarah, "That was amazing!"

"I'm impressed too" said Darkrai.

"Thanks guys, but now's not the time. We need to get inside and help Sarah's father." They ran past the unconscious grunt (who had run into a tree and knocked himself out) and up to Windworks door. Kent tried to open it but it was locked. "It looks like we need a key to get in" said captain obvious.

"Where are we supposed to get a key?" Ashley asked.

"Hey kid, didn't you pick something off those two grunts yesterday?" asked Darkrai.

Kent looked in his pack remembering the key card that had fallen out of the grunts' pocket yesterday. He found it and tried running it through the lock. There was a small 'pnchk!' as the door unlocked and opened. "Convenient" he said.

They went inside and made their way through the high-tech machinery, computers, and monitors until they came to a room where a man somewhere in his mid-thirties was bound and gagged to a chair.

"D-Daddy!" Sarah cried out. She ran over to him and took the cloth out his mouth as he slowly woke up. "S-Sarah? Is that…you?" he asked tiredly.

"Daddy! I'm so glad you're ok!" she exclaimed as she hugged him. Angel floated above the two of them as Kent untied Sarah's father. He looked at his daughter and then at Kent, Ashley, and Lillith.

"Are you ones who helped us?" he asked.

"It was no problem" said Kent.

"Thank you so much. My name is Stevenson, and I'm the chief engineer of the Windworks. Team Galactic kidnapped me and tried to make me show them how to run the place. I refused of course, so they gagged and tied me to this chair. We need to hurry though, their boss should be back any sec-"

"I'm already here" They all turned to see a woman with short red hair and a Galactic uniform with white mini-skirt and pants. Her eyes were bright red and she looked at them from where she stood in the doorway. "And just what," she asked, "Are you planning to do with our dear professor here?"

Kent stood between the woman and the rest of his group. "Lillith, get them out of here, I can take care of her."

"Little brat, do you even know who I am?" she asked him. "My name is Mars, one of the three Commanders in Team Galactic! You'd better know your place else you get hurt."

"Lillith!"

[But…] she started.

"Now!"

[As you wish then.] Lillith placed her hands on Ashley, Sarah, and Stevenson and teleported them outside of the Windworks.

"Now as for you…" Kent said as he turned to face Mars again.

"You're going to regret having ever come here boy" she said sternly.

Outside the Windworks Lillith and the others appeared and landed on the ground. [We should be safe here] Lillith told the others. Then, as if on cue, several grunts began to step out of the trees surrounding the Windworks.

"This isn't good" said Stevenson.

[Do not worry] said Lillith, [We shall take care of this.]

"I don't know how well I'll do, but I'll try my best" said Ashley.

"You're right, there's no use in not trying" Stevenson said. He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a hidden Pokeball.

"Go! Magnezone!" He enlarged the ball and tossed it into the air. It opened to release a large, metallic floating Pokémon with magnets attached to its sides and had a single large eye in its center and two smaller ones on either side.

"That's the spirit daddy!" shouted Sarah.

"Sarah, do you know how to command a Pokemon yet?" asked Ashley.

"Uh-huh! I just learned that in school recently. Why?"

"Do you think you can handle Angel for me?"

"I'll try the best I can!" she yelled confidently.

"Ok then, I'll use Honey instead. Go! Honey!" She tossed her Pokeball into the air and let out Combee who buzzed over to Ashley's side. The Galactics started to call out their Pokemon as well, the usual array of commonly found Pokemon that were usually assigned to grunts. "Ok, let's do this!" shouted Ashley.

Meanwhile Kent and his Mawile were having a hard time against Commander Mars and her Purugly. They moved quickly through the Windworks as they battled, trying to avoid doing damage to the place as they did.

"Purugly! Use Body Slam!"

"Myaa!!" The Purugly threw its hefty weight against Mawile slamming it into a wall. It dealt a large amount of damage despite Mawile's steel affinity.

"Gnh! Mawile!" Kent shouted and he watched her get hit. He dashed over to her as the Purugly hopped back a few steps. "Mawile are you ok?" Mawile could only nod a bit fainting. "Ok Mawile, return. You need some rest." A red beam shot out of the Pokeball as Mawile went back inside of it.

"Is that all you got? This will be over sooner than I thought!" yelled out Mars. Kent grit his teeth as he assessed his situation. He was already down 3 Pokemon: Mawile, Cherrim, and Lopunny. He couldn't use Milotic because her water attacks could ruin the computers, Froslass' ghost type attacks wouldn't affect Purugly and her ice attacks could also ruin the computers, and it was far too small an area for Chatot to maneuver himself properly. "I only have one other option" he said to himself.

"I wouldn't suggest doing that yet kid, you haven't had the chance to use it in a real fight!" said Darkrai.

"Sorry, but there's no other option."

"What are you doing over there? Finally decided to give up?" asked Mars.

Kent said nothing and instead stood up. He positioned himself correctly and then, putting his knuckles together, looked up at her and said, "Transform!"

The chapter was shorter this time wasn't it? That's because I wanted to end with a cliffhanger, plus I actually managed to get this chapter written without getting sidetracked. This was actually supposed to be chapter 2's plot but I got sidetracked and ended writing an entirely different chapter instead. Even in chapter one, I got side tracked when I introduced Ashley. She wasn't even supposed to be a character at first but she somehow found her way in there. Anyway, I'm still looking for O/C's if you have any, no one's applied so far, and if I get enough reviews and/or emails asking me too I'll start writing short little side stories and the end of each chapter just like I did in chapter 2. Again, any reviews would be greatly appreciated and if I get enough I'll be encouraged to keep up this writing pace. So please get to review'in! Working on Chapter 4 now, hopefully it'll be up by tomorrow.