Hey, guys! I'm feeling a little weird because I'm wearing gloves as I type. It's a wonder there aren't hundreds of typos everywhere… Oh well!

My game boy advance is dying slowly and painfully. Well, it's had a good run. I've had it for about four or five years and I bought it used. It kept working even after I threw it into the floor and ricocheted into the wall, after I bit the screen twice -which left puncture marks- and all of the endless hours of game play. I'm going to miss my little white game boy advance and will keep it for sentimental value… and in hopes that this is just a fade, like my computer. But until it gets better, I have a DS.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 28

Motives Revealed

I knew what I had to do though it pained me to do it. The problem was how was I going to break it to him?

Arden wasn't a bad guy… He had to understand the reasons I would give him. He had to understand that I couldn't sacrifice my team for just him… I sighed and looked over my shoulder to Amburna, who was staring at me firmly. I frowned and replied to her glare, "All right, all right. I'm going…"

As I was about to enter the Void via the couch, the door swung open to reveal a panting Shayla, who was clutching her chest with her hand. "We gotta go," she said in between breaths. "We're… second. The first match is… almost over."

As I stood there blankly, she ran to Kaiyou's room, where a complacent Dark Lord and somber Tai emerged. "Come on, guys!" she yelled while pulling Kaiyou by his pale, human arm, "We have to get to the stadium in like…" she checked her watch, "…five minutes! Let's go!"

I frowned, turned to the wall and then opened up the Void. "We could go this way," I said softly. Shayla looked at the open, swirling black portal, then shrugged and ran in. The rest of the team followed, and I went in after Tai. I closed up the portal when we were all in the Void.

Kaiyou, now back into his true form, led the way. Shayla was hopping impatiently as she tried convincing Kaiyou to move faster, but nothing would persuade him. He meandered to a spot in the wall of the Void and then poked it with his paw, which created a swirling whirlpool of indigoes and black. Shayla ran into it without hesitation, while the rest of us calmly went through.

We emerged into a crowd in one of the lobbies. Shayla was trying to get us to the field, but couldn't get past the solid wall of trainers inquiring her of Kaiyou. Irritated, she turned to my Lord and demanded tersely, "Well, aren't you going to help? We have to get there in three minutes or we forfeit!

Kaiyou seemed to contemplate her rather rude request and then replied by picking her up with his teeth by her jacket. She hung like a small kit in the mouth of her parent, dangling from her jacket limply. Kaiyou bounded over the trainers and onto the field.

We dashed between the trainers' legs and got to the field, where Shayla was now frowning at her blue jacket, which had two new holes in it. My Lord was no where in sight. She returned all of us to our poke balls, save for Tai and myself, and we boarded the podium as it ascended into the air. The other trainer was already on her own podium, an indifferent tropius hovering in the air above her. Her blue eyes glared at Shayla, but my trainer didn't flinch at the glare.

The announcer began to trumpet on the PA. "Hello, and welcome to the second match of the second round! Here, the blonde, blue-eyed trainer hailing from Goldenrod, Bianca! She has her own tropius out, one of her pokemon we'll be seeing in battle this match, folks! And in this corner, the Third Place winner of Kanto, the Champion of Johto, please welcome, Shayla Kyreson!" The crowd roared and Shayla nodded slightly to her fans. "Maybe we'll get to see that mysterious new pokemon we saw last round, folks! I wonder if Bianca has a pokemon mighty enough to conquer it!" Another roar from the crowd, and then, "Let the match begin!"

Bianca didn't hesitate in her pokemon. The poke ball flew into the air and released a golem. Shayla was about to reach down to me to send me out, but Tai barked at her. She glanced at him, and whispered, "Tai, you want to fight a GOLEM?" Tai's response was jumping out into the grassy field.

"Tai!" Shayla cried as the jolteon took his stance in front of the golem. Said golem laughed and began to flex his muscles. Tai didn't seem deterred at the display at all; he just stood there.

"Tai, what are you doing?" I shouted. The only answer I got from him was a glare over his shoulder. I sat back on my haunches. Shayla couldn't switch him out until he fainted. I turned back to Shayla, who had a grim frown on her face. She leaned back onto the railing and turned to me.

"Nothing we can do now, girl. Let's just hope that the golem doesn't know earthquake." I sighed and turned back to the field as well.

(Kaiyou?) I asked, hoping he was over his anger. Even though I couldn't feel his presence, I knew he was watching the match from the Void. (My Lord, what's wrong with Tai? Why did he do that?) I listened for an answer, but I didn't get one. I went to my haunches. He was still mad…

Bianca pointed to Tai and screamed, "Rocket! Earthquake!"

Oh, shit…

The golem crouched onto the ground and then flew into the air, propelled by his tremendous legs. He came down, and the earth split under the force of his attack. But Tai wasn't on the ground to be hit by the attack.

The jolteon, right as the golem came onto the ground, catapulted himself into the air with the aid of a quick attack. Before the golem realized where Tai was, the jolteon had latched onto the ground/rock type's face with a mighty bite attack. The golem screamed and tried to slash at Tai, but he was already out of the way. He ran circles around the hulking mass of rock, biting and kicking anything he could before the golem tried to attack. A few minutes of this, the golem simply sat down on the field, exhausted from trying to keep up with my teammate.

Tai slid in front of the golem, stern in face and body. The golem, tired and dizzy, collapsed to the ground, giving the round up. The judge held up the flag symbolizing us, and shouted, "Golem is unable to battle! Jolteon is the winner!"

Tai's chest puffed out as he stood valiantly on the field as Bianca withdrew her pokemon. The crowd erupted into cheers and screams as the announcer proclaimed, "AMAZING! This trainer's just full of surprises! A jolteon just beat a golem without a scratch on him! This is simply AMAZING!"

Bianca was looking a little nervous now. She weighed two poke balls in her hands, one of the tropius beside her. That golem was probably her only chance to beat Tai. She finally made her choice and sent it out to the field. A flash of red, and then a salamence, an intimidating, powerful blue dragon took his place on the field. Tai took a small step backwards at the sight of the blue dragon. At that time, the judge proclaimed, "Round two: salamence versus jolteon! Begin!"

Tai's thunder attack was blindingly fast, striking the dragon before he knew what hit him. Tai followed up the electric attack with an extreemspeed attack, and landed on the ground with a skid. The air was full of dust, so we waited to see if the salamence had been done in by Tai's consecutive attacks. Our answer was a stream of flame from the cloud of dust.

Tai's reflexes helped him escape the full brunt of the attack, but his hindquarters were singed. He yelped, but resumed his position on the field. He didn't get much time to rest, however. The salamence blew flamethrower after flamethrower at the jolteon, not always missing. I could see the fatigue in Tai's movements: his dodges were sluggish, he limped, his direction changes were almost nonexistent, and by the time the entire field was burning with the dragon's flamethrowers, Tai collapsed, exhausted, onto the charred field.

"TAI!" I screamed. I looked to Shayla, who was bending over the rail, trying to get the marred jolteon back to his feet. The salamence was in the air, preparing for an air attack. Red tongues of flame spouted from his mouth, and he began to plummet towards the limp jolteon below. "TAI!" I screamed again. He didn't move.

The salamence was gaining momentum and was almost to Tai, about to release his flamethrower. Suddenly, Tai's eyes opened, and a great flash of electricity enveloped him. The salamence had no time to bank out of the way, and Tai's thunder hit right on target. The power of the electric affront launched the dragon to the stands, where he hit the fiberglass shield to protect the fans. The dragon fell limply to the ground. Tai did the same.

The judge's flags went down. "Both pokemon are unable to battle! Choose your next pokemon!" The crowd went insane; cheers and screams echoed in my ears. The announcer was just as enthusiastic. "That jolteon sure put up a fight! Even after winning an exhausting battle against a GOLEM, he put down the salamence as well! With a sacrificing move, that jolteon smote his foe upon the field! Oh, fans, this is a fantastic match! What will the next round be like?" Shayla patted me on the scythe as Tai returned to his poke ball.

"Your turn, girl," she said simply. I nodded and jumped out onto the field, ready for the tropius. Said tropius lethargically made its way to the field, landing with a heavy thud on the grass. "Third and final round: tropius versus absol! Begin!" The judge's flags went down, and my ice beam flew from my mouth, hitting the tropius right in the chest. He was thrown into his trainer's podium, but was not yet out. He flew into the air and began to glow.

"Demi!" Shayla called from behind me, "He's about to use solarbeam! Get your ass out of there!" I glared at the glowing tropius and looked for some kind of shadow. I had to get into the Void! I found a suitable shadow and leapt into it right as the solarbeam hit the ground I was just standing on.

I ran through the Void and came back onto the field using the tropius's own shadow, releasing another ice beam as I did. The tropius roared and let himself fall, trying to use a body slam on me. I simply ducked back into the Void before his weight could smother me.

I stood in the Void, panting, waiting for the right moment to spring back into battle. The tropius was down, but still not out. I cursed my luck; I got the one tropius with good special defense. Right when I was about to go back into the battle, I felt something behind me. I turned to see my Lord, sitting on his ebony haunches, staring at me expectantly. My legs faltered under his stare; I felt forced to say something, anything.

"I… I'm sorry…"

His head lifted, but his gaze did not. (…You have a battle to finish.) He said nothing more, and my hopes of him forgiving me were battered.

"I really am! I'm sorry!" I shouted at the great black and golden wolf in front of me. "Please, forgive me!" At his silence, I began to snarl. "SAY SOMETHING!"

He did nothing for a moment. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally lowered his muzzle to my side. I thought he was going to say something, but he just pushed me out of the Void and back into the battle. The troipus, having used morning sun on himself, was back into fighting form and ready to go. He charged at me, mouth open, flat feet out in front of him. I dodged to the side and he ran straight into Shayla's podium. I fired an ice beam at him, and he finally plopped onto the ground, unconscious.

The judge raised our flag and proclaimed, "Tropius is unable to battle! Victory goes to Shayla and her absol!" As the grass/flying type was called back into his poke ball, the announcer cried, "And the absol wins! With using the same disappearing trick as the mysterious Dark pokemon, the absol triumphs over the tropius! Wonderful! This trainer, Miss Kyerson, may just be the next Hoenn Champion, fans! What an upset! What fantastic battles!"

Shayla stepped off her now ground-level podium and headed for the air lock. She seemed upset with herself, and I figured it was with Tai. He knew better than to jump into battle like that! Especially against a golem, of all pokemon! I frowned as well. What a hypocrite! my mind screamed. How DARE he say all of those things he said to me and then go and pull a stunt like that! Stupid, stupid jolteon!

Suddenly, without warning, Kaiyou voice came into my head. (It was to prove a point, Ayako. Think of it as… a metaphor for your situation.)

My scowl deepened. (I didn't think he knew what a metaphor was.)

A snarl rumbled in my mind, and then, (Would you stop that?)

(Stop what?)

(Belittling him like that! It does more damage than good. And it's very annoying.)

I sent him a snarl of my own. (But it's the truth!)

At that moment, an unseen force battered my mind: a mental attack from my Lord. (NEVER say that. It's those kind of words and thoughts that piss me off. How do you know what he knows when you automatically assume without asking? You say he's ignorant, stupid, incompetent, yes? Then you are the same for assuming he is. Simple, arrogant girl!) I stopped in my tracks at one of the ticket booths outside the dome. Without regard to the onlookers, I entered the Void to see my Lord pacing back and forth a few yards from me. His fur was bristled, his tail straight out behind him. I gulped. He was NOT a happy Dark Legendary.

(Why are you so mad at me?) I asked softly, and I felt his irritation and frustration build. His head snapped to me and a lip came up ever so slightly.

(Do you REALLY need me to answer that?) His tone was tired, weary, and disappointed. (If you had been listening to the conversation for the past five minutes, you'd know. Or do you assume that you don't need to listen to me either?)

I backed away from him a few steps. (I… No, of course not… My Lord… I thought you should know that I'm going to tell Arden that I'm not going to be seeing him because you all don't like him.) Kaiyou paused in his pacing and stared at me expectantly. (What I said to Tai… it was wrong…)

His crimson eyes narrowed. (Is that your reasoning or Amburna's? Because judging from the little coy remark you just said, I'd think the latter. Are you really sorry or are you trying to simply placate us?)

I flinched. Damn, he was tough! (Well… I…)

A pause of silence, then Kaiyou scoffed and began to pace again. (I thought so.)

"At least I'm making an effort to make it right!" I shouted. "I hate this! You being mad at me, Tai being mad, Kazu caught in a bad position between Tai and me… I hate it! And I want to make it all right again, even if Arden has to go away! Though, I still don't understand why you won't give him a chance, I'm willing to give him up for the team!"

Kaiyou turned and pushed his face towards me, stopping mere inches from my own. (You don't understand? Because you disregarded and deserted your team and me for him. Because I have seen him before, and he smelled like trouble. Because after he left you in the stairwell, he kept muttering something about a plan being able to work. He's a devilish, slinking, skulking snake in the grass and I'll be DAMNED before I let you fraternize with a treacherous bastard like that. You understand me?)

By the time he was finished, I was sitting on my haunches, leaning away from the black muzzle of my Lord. I nodded and he backed away ever so slightly. I looked up at him as his head leveled out a margin above the base of his neck. "Why didn't you tell me before? All of this could have been avoided…"

(No it wouldn't,) he interrupted tersely. (You would have paid as much attention to my counsel as you did before. Or better yet, lack thereof. You wouldn't have believed me.) He began to pace again for a while, growling softly as he did. I didn't try to pry the conversation out of him, so I merely waited as he fought what inner demons he possessed. He stopped in his pacing, then added softly, (So you're going to say goodbye to him?)

I nodded slowly. "Yeah… I am."

He nodded his grand head as well. A low rumble came from deep within his throat and he replied in a whisper, (Then go. Shayla will want us back soon.) I bowed and made my way through the Void to the third flight of stairs in the hotel. I sniffed around, caught Arden's scent, and followed it down the corridor.

What was I going to say to him? Sorry, I can't be with you because my teammates hate you… No… That was a bit too blunt. I scowled. How was there an easy way to put it? Was there even an easy way in the first place? No… a part of my mind replied bluntly. There never is.

The scent stopped at the room 344, and I saw nothing special: a plain white door, like our own, and a golden plate in the middle of said door with the room's number on it. I scratched on the door and waited, but no answer. I was about to leave when Arden emerged from the Void beside me. "Ah, Miss Ayako! I was hoping I'd see you today! How are you?"

I shrugged. "All right… Look, Arden, I need to talk to you."

"And I you," he said quickly. "My trainer and I found something unbelievable! Please, you have to see it!" He began to run back into the Void, but I grabbed his tail by my teeth.

"Arden, you and I need to talk! Please!" He didn't hear me -or just didn't listen- and pulled away from me. I lost my hold on his tail and fell backwards onto my butt, somewhat irritated. "Arden!"

His head poked out from the Void and he said, "Miss Ayako, I promise I'll talk with you about whatever you want, but please! You HAVE to see this!" He disappeared again, and I sighed. What else could I do but go see whatever amazing doodad he had found? Sullenly, I trudged into the Void and followed Arden to wherever he was taking me.

I emerged to a wide space -grand in size and elegance to be a gym- and saw nothing but purple tile. "Arden?" I called, but there was nothing to reply except the echo of my own voice. "Arden, where are you?"

Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of white. I followed it with my eyes and saw Arden at the foot of a trainer. My tail began to slowly wag. "Okay, Arden, what's this fantastic thing you wanted to show me? And it had better be good." I came about three feet of him and sat down, waiting for whatever magnificent thing it was he wanted to show me. He grinned and then looked up to his trainer. The middle-aged man nodded and then walked calmly to a metal box with wires everywhere.

"That's it over there," Arden commented smoothly, quite different from the excited tone he had before. "Go look."

I narrowed my eyes. I had a bad feeling about this. Nonetheless, I walked cautiously to the metal box. The trainer held open the lid for me to see in it: it was just a bunch of unlit fluorescent lights rigged to the top, sides and bottom of the box. It was a pretty big box, about the size of a trunk or so. I could probably fit in it… Then, an idea struck me. Wait a minute…

My eyes darted to the trainer, where on the inside collar of his shirt I saw a small red "R" etched into the cloth. My eyes widened and breath caught in my throat. Any competent pokemon knew what that "R" meant!

The trainer must have caught on to what I was thinking and then tried to push me into the box. I threw him back with a thunderbolt, then tried to get back into the Void, but Arden blocked me. "You figured it out, eh?" he commented smoothly as he began to circle me.

I snarled, furious at his betrayal. "How DARE you! You just wanted me for your damn cult, huh?"

He scoffed. "You think too small. My trainer and I were sent on this mission to recover a certain Dark Legendary and his current trainer, the Legendary Pokemon Trainer, Illauna! Giovanni's been trying to recruit her for years, but she keeps slipping out of his grasp. And then we heard of two more new pokemon traveling with her: some Ghost/Dark type and a once-thought-extinct Light pokemon. Giovanni wants them for his plan, and you're bait."

……………………

WOO! I FINISHED!

So, Arden's a bastard after all! Good for you who thought he was! Wootie-woot woot.

Don't know when the next one's coming out… I'll try to write as soon as I can.

I have Nintendogs! I have a German Shepherd, a Sheltie, and a Siberian Husky! They're so damn CUTE.

Ja!