Chapter 4: Mysteries

I stood before a tall, iron gate with black bars whose shadows stretched across the ground. It was an extravagant gate, crafted with care and creativity. Through its bars I saw a wide, open field, with a large building resting at its center.

"That's the Ranger Academy," said a voice to my left. "It's where people who want to work for the Ranger Union get their training."

I woke up.

I was staring up at an old advertisment for the Pokémon League that had been taped to the roof five years ago, judging by the date. That was the year I was supposed to become a Trainer.

Where am I?

I sat up, looking down at the familiar, Pokémon-patterned sheets sprawled around me. I soon recognized the cream carpet and cerulean walls of my Pallet Town bedroom, which were covered in posters of Pokémon. A desk, bookshelf, nightstand, and dresser lined the perimeter of the room, the only basic furniture other than the bed that I sat on. Various figurines and (shh) stuffed animals of Pokémon were displayed in numerous places. Two windows embedded in the wall streamed rays of sunshine from between their half-closed blinds. I blinked, confused as to why I was sitting in my room.

It wasn't long before the memories came rushing back to my addled mind, and I briefly was able to recall the sound of wingbeats and alarmed voices before passing out. Kamryn and the rest of our crew must've found me at that moment.

Well that's nice to know , I thought. I only had to wonder where everyone was as of that moment and whether or not they had captured those thugs. As eager as I was to find out, my entire body whined for sleep, aching as it would after a good forty-five minute run on the treadmill. Taking another nap wouldn't be so bad...

Suddenly, a knock resounded off of my bedroom door, jolting me awake once more.

"Gah," I grumbled, somewhat frustrated. Of course they would knock right when I was going back to sleep. But then again, I was a deep sleeper."Come in."

The door creaked open, swinging ajar until it was parallel with the wall. Riley stood in the doorway with Lance, an amused grin on his face.

"Finally awake, huh Snorlax?" he asked. My irritation suddenly flared, even though I knew that he was obviously joking. "So, how do you feel?"

"Snorlax? We'll see who's the Snorlax once I bust your sorry butt, especially for what happend at Oak's lab," I growled.

"She seems fine to me," Lance chimed in with a grin. Whether or not he had really acknowledged my words was a mystery to me.

The two friends entered my room, Lance jumping into my desk chair and spinning himself in circles while Riley leaned against the wall thoughtfully. I sat back on my bed, yawning and wishing I could curl up under the sheets.

"So, Swift, what happened back there?" Riley went on casually. "Why'd you pass out?" I glanced over at him inquiringly. Didn't he and the others find that man and his minions sprawled out around the clearing? I asked him, and he shook his head. "We only found you, Hisa, and the other victims when we got there." I felt myself frowning at this; that couldn't be right. I explained to them what happened as best as I could, although the details started to become vague the closer I got to the end of my tale.

When I finallly finished, there was a slight pause. Riley sighed and pulled out an unknown object from his pocket that glinted in the light.

"Catch."

With a swift movement, he tossed the item in my direction, which I caught with ease. It was cool and smooth as it slid into my palm, and I opened my hand to discover that it was the same small sword that I had last seen before passing out.

"We found that with you while you were unconscious," he explained. I scrutinized the miniature weapon, finding it hard to believe that it was previously a full-length sword. Meanwhile Lance and Riley pulled out their own shrunken weapons, reminding me that something must have happened to them both as well.

"What happened to you two that made you want to hide these things?" I queried. If something similar had occured to them, then why did they ask me what had happened when they surely must've known?

"Well, we didn't all go through the exact same thing, and no one else knows about it," Lance said simply, as though it were obvious. "What happened to us happened when we were alone. If we told people about it, they'd think we'd all gone insane."

Lance had a point, even though he made things sound so simple. Assuming that when he said "we", he meant that only the three of us had any recollection of such events, which also limited the chances of people believing our stories. The real question now was what to do about it.

"Well," Riley began, "now that the three of us are caught up in this conundrum, maybe we should find out more about these things and what that man meant when he talked about 'aura'." He twirled his miniature axe between his fingers as he spoke, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Maybe he was getting an idea as to what the connection could be between those two things. I wanted to know as well, but I was also dying to find who exactly those men were and what they were up to. They would pay for what they did to Tracey and Amber, and to Hisa as well. Of that I was sure, and to do that there was only one thing we could do.

"When we were small, we were always saying how we wanted to be the greatest Pokémon Trainers in the world, remember?" I asked, grinning as I spoke. "Well, why don't we get started?" Riley flashed a cocky smile at my words, which meant that he was aiming for that subject the whole time.

"I thought you'd never ask," he said. My spirits revved up in a way that they hadn't in a very, very long time. Despite the mystery that was in our hands, we were finally going to become Pokémon Trainers! "We should probably tell our parents," Riley suggested. "We need to start preparing."

At that moment, a fragrant aroma wafted into the room, making me wonder just how long I had been asleep.

"Come on," Lance prompted, already on his feet halfway out the door. "It's dinnertime!"

"Hey wait up!" Riley called, dashing out the room after him. "Come on Slowpoke!"

"What, so now I'm a Slowpoke?" I shouted, smirking to myself as I glanced down at the little sword that was still in my hands. Without a second thought, I looped the chain around my neck so that the weapon was hidden underneath my shirt, and darted after my friends.