AN: Hello everyone and happy holidays! Was hoping to put out a chapter of all three stories I'm working on for Christmas, but for Dusk and Dawn I don't have the next chapter written out yet and been having a terrible case of writer's block and am going to be busy working tomorrow Christmas Eve XC Anyways, I hope you enjoy
On the route between Pallet Town and Viridian City:
Cilan's group set up some tents on the path, in case they stay here for a while. Afterwards, Cilan and Mallow pulled out some ingredients to make a big meal for everyone's hard work. Just as they were serving up some dishes for everyone, the last person for their group arrived.
"You made it just it time!" Cilan shouted with a smiled.
Paul crossed his arms with a livid look.
"…Are you okay?"
"Paul!" Tom, Ashlyn, and Ashton shouted. They excitingly ran up to him. "It's so good…"
"Are you two really wearing woman's clothing?"
"Well…" Ashlyn and Aston started with an uncomfortable look.
"It's part of their disguise, as triplet sisters," Cilan explained.
Paul glared at Tom. "He looks like a terrible girl."
"Well, he's not a part of the disguised triples. The last Ash-triplet went with Iris's group."
"Whatever. I'm outta here."
"But your gonna miss out some great food, Paul!" The Ashs shouted.
"I'm not in the mood to be with any Ash right now thanks to an Ash that I was with, and since there are THREE of you here, I'd rather starve!" Paul snapped. He walked off.
They all watched him with a confused look.
"Is… he really one of your friends?" Lillie asked.
"Yeah! While he can be a bit… grumpy and rude, he's here helping us with our quest! So, I'd say that's enough for me to consider him as a friend!" Ashton explained.
The other Ashs nodded in agreement.
Mallow smiled. "I'll go bring him a plate to see if he'd at least reconsider starving himself. I would hate for one of Ash's friends to do that!"
Tom smiled at her. "I'm sure he'd appreciate that, even if he wouldn't show it!"
"Take this to him as well! Just in case!" Cilan held out Clemont's invention.
"Okay!" Mallow got the plate ready and looked over to Tsareena. "Ready to go?"
Tsareena nodded and they left.
"So, do we have a plan on how to look for the suspicious group?" N asked.
Cilan gave a thoughtful look. "I was thinking we should spilt up and wonder around to see if we can spot them."
Everyone there nodded.
Meanwhile with Mallow:
Mallow looked around and frowned. "Where did he run off to?"
Tserena looked around with an unsure look.
Suddenly, a person in a trench coat and sunglasses approached them. "Looking for someone?"
Mallow turned around and gasped.
"We are looking for someone, too... a couple of people actually. Maybe we can help each other."
Mallow gave a serious look as she sweated. "They… must be part of the suspicious group," she thought.
"What do you say?"
"Sure!" Mallow put on a smile. "I'd love to help!" She looked over to Tserena, who shot her a worried look, making her know that she feels something off about him too. "We are here to investigate them, so this is the perfect opportunity!" she thought.
"… Thank you so much!"
"So… Who are you looking for?" Mallow asked.
"Well, you might have heard of them… Their names are Misty… and Ash."
"Bingo…" Mallow thought.
"I know what you are thinking…"
Mallow gasped.
"Yes, Ash was said to have died, why am I searching for a dead man?"
"Oh, yeah…"
"See, he's my friend along with Misty. And when I heard the rumors that he's been seen around these areas, I wanted to see if it's really him."
Mallow could feel this person was lying out of his teeth. "I see…"
"So, who are you looking for?"
"Well, I'm looking for a grouchy guy with purple hair…"
"Oh! We already found him!"
Mallow gave a surprised look.
"He was wondering around here when we bumped into him. Asked what he was doing, and replied, 'none of your business!' Then we asked if he's seen our… friends. He said he hasn't but would gladly help us!"
"I see…" Mallow said. "Looks like I wasn't the only one with this idea," she thought.
"I'm so glad we found more people to find my friends. Oh, come! I'll take you to your friend."
She looked to the side with an uncomfortable look. "o-okay."
Meanwhile, back with Tom:
Everyone was done eating and were taking care of the trash and leftovers.
Tom looked around with a frown. "Mallow… Is she okay? She hasn't seemed to have returned yet."
Cilan gave a worried look. "Yeah… we should head out looking for them."
"I'll try calling her first," Lana said. She pulled out her rotom phone and dialed Mallow's number.
"Hello?" Mallow answered.
"Mallow, is everything okay?" Lana asked.
Mallow gave a stressed look. "Y-yeah. I just… got caught up in something. I'll… be back soon." She then hanged up.
"…Something is defiantly wrong!" Tom shouted.
"Glad you caught that," Lana stated.
"Wait, just a second…" Cilan said.
They all looked at him.
"Mallow… she didn't use the in-danger watch. If she really thought she was in danger, I would think she would've used it," Cilan said.
Tom stood up with a serious look. "Should we just sit around until she does get in danger?"
"I ain't going to do that! Then we probably wouldn't get to her in time to save her!" Ashton said.
All the Ashs dashed off to find her.
"Hey! Wait!" Cilan shouted.
All of them were long gone, except N.
"… Let's all make a plan to find her first." Cilan sighed.
"What's the plan?" N asked.
Back with Mallow:
The person in the trench coat led them to a big camp a where a lot more people in trench coats were.
"Do they really think this doesn't look the least bit suspicious?" Mallow thought to herself.
"Hey, where's that purple-haired guy that joined us?" the trench coat person asked another.
He shrugged. "Said he had to take a leak."
They looked around, and after an hour saw him.
"Oh, there you are!" Mallow shouted as she ran up to him.
He looked at her with an unamused look.
"I… brought you some of our lunch." She held out the food that was past cold now.
"… Thanks, but I ate dinner not too long ago," Paul replied.
Mallow gave an awkward look. "I… see."
"Was wondering why you weren't eating that delicious smelling food," the person who came with her said. He leaned in her ear and whispered, "you must like him, huh?"
"Ew! No way!" Mallow snapped.
The person looked at her with a frown.
"So, you seem to have been searching for Misty and Ash for quite some time, now," Paul said.
The person nodded. "Around two to three days."
"What makes you search around this place? Ash wasn't spotted here…"
"Misty was."
"Didn't hear that she was around here, ether."
"A passerby said they saw her here."
Paul crossed his arms. "And how do you know that he wasn't pulling your leg? Or mistaken Misty for someone else?"
The person was silent for a moment. "I guess we'd like to make sure."
"Well, it's getting dark. I have work tomorrow morning." Paul looked over to Mallow. "We should get going."
Mallow looked at him with a confused look.
Paul just walked off with an irritated look. "Night."
"Ahhh!" Mallow gave the guy the food her and Tseerena dashed off after him. "Night. Good luck with finding your friends." She followed him far away from the group. "I… why did you come here to help us if you have to work?"
"I don't. I lied," Paul plainly stated.
Mallow gave a confused look.
A Huncrow, Frosslass, Torterra, Staraptor, and Ursirang appeared, all with devices hidden under their fur, fathers, or tucked away somewhere to them that Paul took off.
"Good work. Return," Paul said. He then got out his pokeballs and returned his pokemon.
"What's that?"
Paul looked up at her. "I got them to go to different areas of the camp and try and record some conversations of those shady people."
Mallow smiled. "Wow! Great idea!"
"Let's head back…"
A noctowl spotted them and alerted some people.
"They're after us! We need to get out of here!" Paul shouted. He started to run off.
"Wait!"
"No! We need to go!"
"But, what if that Noctowl belongs to Ashlyn?"
Paul stopped with a confused look. "Who?"
"Good work, Nowtowl!" Ashlyn said. Tom, and Lana were with him.
Tom ran up to Mallow with a smile. "You're okay!"
Mallow smiled as she put her arms behind her. "Of course! No need to worry!"
Tom gave a nervous laugh. "Guess so… You two ready to head back to camp?"
"Yep!" Mallow said.
"Not with all you!" Paul shouted, mentioning the Ashs and walked off himself.
Tom, Ashlyn, and Ashton stared at him with a dumbfounded look.
"What's his deal?" Ashlyn asked.
"Who knows…" Tom replied.
Mallow shrugged. "Well, we better head back to camp!"
"Yeah, everyone is worried about you. So, we got to let everyone know you're okay," Lana explained.
Mallow gave an embarrassed look.