Becoming a Hero

Chapter 3: Dreams & Dangers

By: HikariofDarkRose

A/N: ok so last chapter was pretty much all filler… important filler but filler none the less. In this chap we do get back to the plot, so hope you enjoy reading and remember feedback is always welcome.

Alymere found herself in a strange place. A golden castle in the center of a golden city, it was beautiful and slightly familiar but also incredibly creepy for as Ally walked from room to room through gardens and courtyards, even a kitchen, the entire place was empty. Ally continuously heard voices in the rooms ahead and every time she swung open a door she expected to find someone who would tell her where she was… but then there would just be another empty space, silent as a tomb and Alymere suddenly couldn't convince herself that anyone else had been here in a long, long time, until she would hear the next set of voices. Finally it came down to one last door; Ally took a deep breath and pushed a large pair of double doors open. Inside the entire floor was pitch black, except for a long carpet of silver and gold leading to a golden throne.

On the throne was a sleeping princess, she wore a silver and white wraparound dress with a swirled pattern of black in it. The same edges and whorls could also be seen in a delicate white glass circlet that glittered amongst her pale lavender hair. Slowly Ally approached the throne not even noticing the black shifting and spreading around the room, until standing near the feet of the princess, she and Alymere were the only thing left. Ally reached her hand out and the princess who had been slumped forward grabbed her wrist and lifted her head. Upon her face was an expressionless silver mask and deep in her chest was a silver dagger. Alymere fell back trying not to scream and in the same instant the princess was replaced by a glowing dragon with shining blue eyes.

Ally stared at the giant Pokémon before her its body looked white, but not like any white Alymere had seen before, more like the white from the tail of a shooting star. Burning sapphire eyes sat in a fox like face atop a swanlike neck. The girl and the dragon stared at one another for a long silent moment, and then a soundless voice echoed from the dragon.

"You must hurry and walk my path little one, another is coming and he will not like to see you." The dragon looked far to its left and in the distance Alymere could see something in the distance coming closer. She stood there and stared, trying to make out the shapes she was seeing. They looked like a pair of eyes one made of purple smoke and another made out of a sickly brown yellow but both glaring with glowing red irises, floating above the eyes was a tarnished gold crown a luminescent lapis stone set in each crenellation. "Follow the path… but beware HIM, little one, when you find me we will speak again."

It was then Ally woke, morning sunlight streaming in through the window, Pidove cooing to welcome the sun's return after last night's storm. Lifting her head Alymere looked around the room trying to remember where she was until the movement of the tiny Pokémon on her stomach made her remember. Last night her egg had hatched; now she could officially be called a Pokémon trainer. Slowly the girl nudged her new companion awake and the Pawniard lifted its head and yawned at its trainer.

'Was all that… just a dream?' Alymere asked herself as she patted her Pokémon on the back. The pair lay on the bed getting to know one another as Ally talked to the little creature and even came up with a nickname for it, eventually however loud clanging noise and bickering voices told Ally she was no longer the only human awake.

"Alright Caliburn, let's go down and get some breakfast." The Pawniard grinned when its trainer mentioned food and clambered up to sit on Alymere's shoulder.

Down in the kitchen both Junipers stood arguing over the day's menu. Ally made her way over to the table, preparing to wait with her opinion until the fireworks died down. It was unfortunate that she never got the chance however as one of Juniper's aids ran into the kitchen.

"Professor! Professor!" The aid stopped, bending over and panting with his hands braced on his knees. "Team Plasma… they are planning on giving one of their demonstrations. I tried to tell them they had to clear things with you in advance but they ignored me." Cedric Juniper looked around the table and sighed.

"Well, it looks like breakfast will have to be put on hold. Ally, I want you to stay inside the lab till I give you the all clear." With that Professor Juniper rose from the table and began making his way to the door.

"Dad… you don't really think these people are dangerous, do you?" Aurea asked her father with a worried tone. Sure different people had different beliefs but such differences rarely resulted in violence, surely.

"I don't know… Before Ally joined us I would have said no… but with the attack on her plus a whole Laboratory of people suddenly missing, even though Plasma denies involvement, I don't know what to believe anymore." Cedric left the room and Aurea looked to Alymere.

"Well you heard Dad, stay here… look after your Pawniard." Aurea, the younger Professor grabbed the assistant and began pushing him out the door after her father "Come on we'd better go watch this."

Plasma

'Nuvema Town…' Thought Ghetsis as he stood on a platform watching the grunts set the stage for his speech. 'It is the place where most young trainers come sooner or later to receive a Pokédex… it is the perfect place to spread our word.' Of course Team Plasma had come to town for more than that but Ghetsis wasn't going to dwell on phase two, no his job was to complete phase one: conduct a speech about the freedom and rights of Pokémon, the reputation of Team Plasma had to be restored.

Meanwhile two agents dressed as ordinary criminals were hiding in the woods, preparing to invade the laboratory and confiscate all the Pokémon inside. Eventually all was ready and Ghetsis began to speak to slowly assembling crowd, at the same moment the pair of behind the building pried a window on the ground floor open and hoisted themselves in.

Meanwhile

Alymere had climbed up into the attic of Professor Juniper's Lab. The first floor was the kitchen, all the research labs, and equipment suites. The second floor was where the bedrooms and Pokémon kennels were kept but the third floor was the attic, nothing but storage boxes practically glued together with dust and cobwebs forming a strange labyrinth that only a child could properly navigate. Alymere and Caliburn both easily fit into that size parameter and stood hunkered next to a large window facing out toward the rest of town to watch the action.

"Those guys are wearing the same outfits as the ones who were after you, but we're too far away so I can't see their faces." Ally told her Pokémon as the pair watched the knights and… Alymere felt the blood freeze in her veins as she watched the person speaking to the crowd, on his clothes where the eyes from her dream! And as soon as that thought registered in her mind the weird collar thing around his shoulders suddenly was a dead ringer for the lapis and gold crown… Ally stared out the window just barely managing to dodge out of sight when Ghetsis cast a look in her direction.

CRASH! The sudden noise from downstairs broke Ally out of the spell she was in, what was going on? She should be the only person in the building, yet it sounded like someone had just walked into a table in one of the equipment suites. Alymere picked up Caliburn and crept down to the first floor landing to see if she could catch a glimpse of what was going on.

"You idiot! Do you want the whole town to know we're here? Be careful!" Ally heard the hushed angry whisper. She put Caliburn down on the landing behind her and crept closer, hugging to the wall as she went.

"Why do we have to be so careful? We are the only ones in here and the boss is good with the public… no one will know we're here until we have all the Pokémon and are on our way." Alymere paled as she heard the plan. They wanted the Professor's Pokémon? Most were housed in the kennel upstairs and Ally knew she couldn't round them all up before these two found their way up there. Then an idea came to Ally just past this room was Professor Juniper's office and Aurea's Office was on the second floor, next to the kennel. There were two key cards that could be used to lockdown the kennel. If Aly was quick and quiet she knew she could sneak past the door while the pair of thieves argued. With one card she could lock the room and if she took the other as well then no one could unlock it, not without at least one of the cards. Barely daring to breathe, Ally eased herself off the last step and onto the floor pausing only for a second before darting past the open doors of the lab suite and into Juniper's office.

Caliburn stood watching his trainer from where she had put him, he didn't understand the shouting humans but they didn't seem to be too big a threat… in fact, he decided as Ally made her dash past the door, Caliburn himself would route these two and perhaps someone would finally feed him! To be honest the little Pokémon was almost insulted that that task had not been the first thing done.

"Pawn… Pawnard!" The little Pokémon growl as he stomped into the room with the two intruders threatening them with a horrible gruesome demise for delaying his breakfast and morning nap.

Alymere had just lifted the key card off its peg when she heard Caliburn's voice in the next room over… she had left the little Pawniard on the landing, but it must have left to challenge the intruders. "Oh Arceus…" Judging by the lack of sound the robbers hadn't noticed Caliburn yet, Ally looked around trying to find something she could use. Her eye settled on a tray, various Pokéballs sat neatly lined up in 6 rows, Cedric Juniper had set them aside so Ally could officially catch Caliburn after breakfast… but apparently the time was now. Alymere scanned the tray desperately with her eyes as she tried to remember which ball was which, just yesterday she had been able to name them all and list off their effects on how they improved the odds on a successful capture, why couldn't she remember a single thing now?

'Come on Ally, Concentrate! You need a Nest Ball, come on.' Ally was just about to give up and run out there when an image of the green and brown ball popped into her head. With a stifled cry of triumph Ally grabbed the correct ball and dove out the door throwing the ball just as the would be criminals saw the dark type practically at their feet.

"Hey… what is that?" the robber asked his partner just as the nest ball hit Caliburn in the back of his helmet, encasing the Pokémon in light and drawing it into the ball. The ball twitched and rocked a couple times but locked and sealed with a chime. The nearest thief made a lunge to grab at the device but the recall function activated and the green and brown ball leapt back into Alymere's waiting hand. "Hey, look Bill. It's a kid."

"I see that stupid, go after her! We can't leave any witnesses." As soon as Bill said those words he winced because Ally slipped the shrunken ball into a pouch on her waist and bolted from her spot making a mad dash for the stairs with both criminals in close pursuit. Ally tried everything she could think of to buy time for herself time the adult men pursuing her had a longer stride and were closing the gap between themselves and their quarry with surprising swiftness. Ally clung to the curve of the stairs and used the post to push herself through it quicker, in the hallway at the top there was a book shelf and without thinking Alymere pulled it down. That bought a few more seconds…

Running to the door of the kennel room Ally swiped the key card through the reader and a yellow light came on next to two buttons. Pressing the green button would open the door, But Ally slammed her hand down on the red one which caused it to lock tight and not open until the one of the keys was swiped again.

"Hurry up Jack!" Bill shouted at his partner as he tried to climb the fallen shelf. What was the girl up too? He watched her do something to the door and the yellow light blinking to red gave him a sinking feeling that was confirmed by a loud click as the locks on the kennel slid in place. Cursing, Bill stormed toward the girl who retreated to another room down the hall. "Stay there Jack, She will have to come back that way."

'This is bad… how long can that demonstration outside last and more importantly how long can I keep ahead of these two?' Ally thought as she grabbed the spare key card off a hook in the wall, she was slipping it into the pouch with Caliburn's ball and the other key when the floor outside the door creaked. Alymere stifled a yelp and hid under the desk in Aurea's Office. 'That's the only way out…' She held her breath as the door opened, one of the intruders entered the room and began to approach the desk, searching for her. Alymere quickly realized the man wasn't going to go away on his own, he knew she was in this room and it was only a matter of time until he found her. She closed her eyes and inhaled, trying to restart her stalled mind and think of a way out. And then it hit her, in the air, there was a sweet smell in the office… at first Ally couldn't place it but a second breath brought it back. 'Miss Aurea keeps a bottle of perfume in her desk…it sprays out as foam.' Slowly and gently Alymere eased the bottom drawer open, fishing around until her hands landed on the cold bottle of perfume.

"I got you now." Bill said as he rounded the desk and saw the little girl hiding underneath it, "So sorry little lady but I have my orders and there can't be any witnesses to say otherwise." Bill began reaching to grab the girl not really looking forward to having to hurt her, Bill however never got that far as Ally whipped out the spray bottle and shot him right in the face spray, the liquid quickly foamed and clung to his mouth and eyes causing him to stumble away choking and screaming.

Alymere wasted no time as soon as Bill was distracted the girl climbed to her feet, ran around the far side of the desk and out into the hall only to see the other intruder was blocking the stairs both to the ground floor and to the attic. Hearing his partner scream and seeing the girl emerge from the room Jack began trying to climb over the bookshelf to grab her and aid Bill. Ally, realizing she had little time, retreated back to the end of the hall, still looking for any means to escape. All she found was window at the far end, big enough for her to squeeze through with a clothes line running from just above it to a five foot high pole standing in the yard.

'I can't believe I'm about to do this' Ally thought as she slipped off her belt and pulled her pouch over her head, she opened the window and for a second froze, starring at how far she would drop if this didn't work. However before she got time to lose her nerve Ally heard the loud crashing noise of the final intruder shoving the bookshelf aside and now storming toward her. With a final gulp of nervousness Alymere looped the belt in her hand over the clothes line, and even as she was desperately praying it could hold her weight pushed herself out the window, gravity pulling her down the line much faster than she would have liked. She was almost to the pole when Ally's worst fears became real and the clothesline broke with a creak and a snap that sent Ally plummeting straight to the ground. The lavender haired girl landed on her side and momentum rolled her into the pole, as Alymere got her wind back she thanked whatever was looking out for her that it had only been a short drop.

Jack growled as he started out the window, he couldn't follow the child down the line he couldn't even fit out the window. It was then Bill emerged from the office having just managed to wash the perfume foam off his face, though his eyes were still red and sore.

"What are you doing, where did she go?" Bill asked Jack as he looked around and noted the girl was nowhere in sight.

"Out there." Jack said pointing out the window and Bill could now see the form of the girl making its way toward some trees.

"She's going to take cover in the trees, then rejoin the crowd out front. Come on if we go out the front we can cut her off." Bill grabbed Jack's arm and dragged his partner toward the front door. Outside Alymere had reached the trees and was starting to make her way toward the crowd when she saw the two intruders from inside coming toward her.

"Professor Juniper!" Ally called out into the crowd, but no one reacted. The only person who even noticed she had shouted was the speaker he looked up, saw the girl and blinked several times, still he kept talking and the crowd remained hanging on his every word. The men from the lab were still coming closer and Ally, realizing she wouldn't get help in time, bolted back through the trees heading toward the old boat launch. The run seemed to take forever and if Ally hadn't been in such good shape from her milk runs she was sure the men would have caught her right away. Finally however the old rickety building came into sight and Ally darted inside slowly crouching on the far side of the furthest dock, trying to cut the number of ripples she made to a minimum. Several Basculin swam over to check out the disturbance but quickly dismissed Alymere since she came down almost every day and often brought food.

"She in there?" Jack said nervously from outside as Bill entered the building, they were already in trouble and would have to explain themselves to Ghetsis since the girl had tried to interrupt the demonstration. However if they brought the girl into custody they could avoid the worst of the boss's temper.

"I saw her come in." Bill snapped at Jack he was thinking much along the same lines as his partner as he began going from dock to dock. Ally realized they were actually going to search the boat house and eased herself deeper into the water, very glad Pokéballs were water proof so she didn't have to worry about Caliburn. The Basculin were distressed by this variation from the plan and gave Alymere a few warning nips to her clothes as the girl moved under one of the docks toward a bubble of air that formed there. Bill got to the end of the walk and noted the circling fish Pokémon with a grin, the girl must have gone under the water. Bill walked out to where they Pokémon were concentrated. Grabbed the side of the dock and stuck his head and arm under the water in an attempt to grab her.

Nuvema Town

Ghetsis was secretly angry, he didn't know how those two had screwed up their mission, but things were starting to unravel fast. Alymere had drawn more attention than she had thought mainly from a pair of children in town. One boy with black hair and a oversized blue jacket and another in a green dress and hat with blonde hair. Now the pair were fussing, the older girl had come around needing help and had been ignored so the other two children began pulling at their parent's and the professor's clothes, whining, demanding attention, and getting louder by the minute. Ghetsis may have been able to hold a crowds attention through minor distractions but the adult human was hard wired to pay attention to small children, soon the leader of Team Plasma found his control slipping. Giving up he closed his speech and finished the demonstration, he and the other Plasmas with him leaving as quickly as possible.

The boat house

Jack stood outside guarding the door until Bill began to scream, when that happened he rushed inside to aid his friend, so focused on Bill he didn't even notice Alymere swim out the partially submerged entrance. Ally kept under water for as far as she could eventually surfacing for air she pulled herself to shore and collapsed on the bank as the adrenaline rush that had been sustaining her failed, this combined with last night's disturbed sleep and not having eaten much within the last 16 hours caused Ally to pass out, not even having properly pulled herself out of the water.

Nuvema Town (hours later)

"I don't understand it… What could have happened here?" Aurea said as she and the aids began cleaning up the mess the lab was in. Several rooms were trashed (her office being one of them), the Pokémon kennel was under lockdown, and apparently no one had noticed a thing,

"Aurea…" Cedric Juniper called to his daughter as he made his way down the stairs from the attic. "Is Alymere down there with you? I've looked all over the building and I can't find her."

"No Dad I haven't seen her." Aurea said with a face-palm, part of her not in the least surprised the energetic girl would be part of this chaos.

"Professors!" One of the aids shouted as he ran up to the Junipers. "We've cleaned up the security camera footage… Can you come with me?" When both Professors nodded the aid led them to bank of screens in a security room, there from several different angles; they reviewed the events of earlier that day.

"Well at least we know why the kennel is locked," Cedric muttered to himself "But why didn't Alymere come to us when she escaped?" It was then that the phone began to ring and Cedric answered it without missing a beat.

"Hello, Professor Juniper speaking. Ah Matilda! … Well I'm afraid there was a spot of trouble, it seems a pair of vandals broke into the lab …" Cedric's eyes went wide and he turned around to take a look at the pair of men on his screen. "Yes Millie, that's a perfect description of them … Is Ally with you? ... No, but Sarah is? … Well thats nice, but without talking to Ally how?…" Aurea and the aids leaned forward trying to catch as much of the conversation as possible "Wait… your children saw them, when? You're telling me she came outside and yelled for me, and no one but your son and Sarah's daughter noticed? ...in the woods … No I'm going to look on my own ... since it's already getting late… if I can't find her we will start searching at first light. Ally has a Pokémon with her and she's a smart girl. She will turn up."

In the woods

Alymere woke up in the woods with something rough lapping her face. Slowly Ally opened her eyes to find herself staring into the black eyes of a wild Lillipup. The tiny dog Pokémon wagged its tail when it noticed she was awake, licked her cheek once again and burrowed up against the point where her neck and shoulder met for warmth, settling in with a sigh louder than an animal of that size should make.

"Aggh, My head… " Alymere mumbled as she pulled herself all the way out of the water, night was falling and Ally guessed it to be somewhere about 8 o'clock. As she stood up a gust of wind hit the girl and she began to shiver, the small Pokémon clinging to her shoulder a welcome spot of warmth. At first Alymere was confused about where she was but then felt the pouch around her neck shift and it all came back, reaching into her pouch Ally pulled the nest ball that held Caliburn out and released the tiny Pawniard.

"Paaaaard." the black and red Pokémon growled as it glared at its trainer, then turned its back to the girl. It had been about to show those intruders who was boss and she interrupted the fight!

"Are you alright, Caliburn?" Ally asked her partner with a shaky voice and Pawniard, who was all set to snub his trainer for the rest of eternity took a closer look. She stood there panting, bruised, and scratched, feeling a little guilty Caliburn slowly walked to Alymere and gently held on to one hand, tugging slightly toward a road that could be seen through gaps in the trees. "Right… back to the lab." Ally reached up and scratched the little dog on her shoulder.

"You want to come along? I don't have any Pokéballs with me but I'll get some tomorrow." The puppy Pokémon shook its head and jumped down, scratching its paws along the ground. Ally stood staring at the small animal before what it was trying to tell her kicked in. "You want to wait here till tomorrow and we can have a proper battle about it?" The puppy eagerly barked and Alymere nodded. "Alright, see you tomorrow Lillipup." Waving goodbye Ally gave in to Caliburn's urging and allowed herself to be led to the path.

At his lab Professor Juniper was just leaving to search for Alymere once again. Night was getting thicker and even with a flashlight Cedric was doubtful of his chances at finding the lost girl but he had to try. If he didn't the whole town would search tomorrow… but what would he tell her parents in the meantime? Anise called her daughter faithfully every 3 days and in 2 hours if Ally wasn't found he would have to tell one of his oldest friends that he had managed to lose her youngest child Cedric sighed and pulled on his coat, one more search that was all he could do. The elder man turned the corner of the building and began trekking towards the woods only to stop short, starring. Alymere and Pawniard were standing on the path in front of him, the Pokémon looked alright but Ally was a bit of a mess. As the pair saw him they waved and Cedric returned the gesture as he approached.

"Hey Professor … am I late for dinner?" Ally said with a weak smile as both her and Pawniard's stomach growled at the mention of food.