Editor's Note: I took some time to think about this chapter. I didn't want it to be overused at all, and wanted to add some detail. I want to be able to add more than the typical "Kidnappers have taken many Pokemon over the last few days." story. So I finally found a way to add more depth to the conflict of this story. Only time will tell when the resolution arrives. I also think this story needs to show that 'Friendship' part of the genre. So here we go.

Strap in, enjoy the story, and don't forget to R&R.

"You know how

The time flies

Only yesterday

It was the time of our lives

We were born and raised

In a summer haze

Bound by the surprise

Of our glory days..."

~ Adele - Someone Like You

Part 9: Believe That Nothing Bad Will Happen

The trio made it to the park, which was surprisingly quiet today. The sun was beating down, not a cloud was in the sky. The park, not two days ago, had many people and Pokemon in it. Today, some of the same people still frequented the park. However, some had looks of worry, some had looks of sorrow. Katherine could tell that the sad-looking people had their Pokemon stolen recently. Nobody in the trio spoke for the entire walk to the pond.

"Do you think that maybe..." Katherine broke the silence, but hesitated before she finished her sentence. "Do you think that maybe some of those people have lost their Pokemon?" Cloe and Vale didn't want to agree, but it was too true to deny. "I believe so, Katherine." The Eevee said. Her voice was sadder than its usual, cheerful self. "We should probably deal with those problems first. It's terrible to see humans in this state." Vale noted, staring at Katherine. She looked away and started heading towards the pond. Katherine had her necklace on, she didn't notice it began to change color at that moment.

Team Summer Heat reached the pond. They were late for the morning cheers. However, that didn't worry them. They knocked on the tree, asking for the gatekeeper to open the gate. However the entrance was open, and oddly enough, there was no gatekeeper. The trio went down the hole. On the floor with all the message boards, not a single soul was seen. A sudden jolt of terror reached Katherine's heart.

No... It couldn't be... It couldn't have happened here!

They checked the crew rooms, the mess hall, and the registration room. There was nobody there, just the three of them. Katherine felt her heart stop, she began to feel faint. It was too much to handle. The entire time, all three of them were dead silent.

The entire guild was missing. However, there was still hope. There was one room that they hadn't checked yet. "There's only one room left. We should check it out." Vale said, breaking the silence. She had a sound of absolute fear in her voice. "One more room? We've checked all of them." Cloe added. Katherine was about to say the same thing, but Cloe beat her to it.

"Are you sure it was all of them?" Vale said, as she walked over to the crew rooms. Vale walked into the room at the very end of the hallway. She knocked three times on the wall, and it suddenly opened up. Inside was a long corridor, which ended at a small room. "This is what they call Charmander's Chamber."

It was a chamber. The walls were made of dirt, perfectly rounded to make a cylindrical room. Inside this room was a cot, and a few wooden crates. One of these crates was open, and had nothing in it. The rest were the same, except for one. One crate remained; it was already opened by the looks of it, but at a distance still looked closed. Katherine looked inside for further inspection to find a little surprise.

A lone Charmander jumped out of the crate, his tail flame was not as strong as Cloe remembers it to be. He began to fire flames at Katherine, who he believed was an enemy. Katherine dropped the bag, quickly dodging this attack, and countered by tackling him. This attack floored Charmander, but he still had some fight left in him. Katherine prepared another attack, until she noticed the collar around his neck.

"Hey! Calm down a little, would you?" She yelled. The Charmander froze in his tracks; he looked to his left to see Cloe and Vale staring at him. "Oh! You must be Summer Heat, correct?" Charmander went out of his offensive stance. "That would be us, Charmander." Vale replied. "What happened here? Where did everyone go?"

Charmander looked at Katherine, who still was in her defensive stance. "Everyone was taken... Team Galactic... They sent their Pokemon down here, and took everyone with them. They even took the collars." Charmander responded.

So, it's true! Everyone was taken!

"Where did they go?" Vale said, a little quicker than she normally speaks. "They went here, to the Rocket Base. These collars have tracking devices in them, which allow us to know where they are." He then proceeded to press buttons on the collars of the three. The collars then changed blue.

"What did you do to it?" Katherine said a little concerned. "Don't worry; as you get closer to a target Pokemon, that collar will change from blue, to green, then finally to red." Charmander said as he finished doing the same thing to Katherine's collar. "Sorry for attacking you earlier. It's just your form, you looked like them." Charmander finished apologetically.

"It's alright; at least you didn't go after Cloe and Vale. Otherwise, I would've had to clean this room with your face." Katherine smirked. Charmander took a step back; having a little more worry than before he attacked her. "Uh... Yeah..."

Katherine then thought about what he said earlier. "Wait. 'I looked like them?' What does that mean?" It was then that the room suddenly got colder. Katherine had a feeling of danger, which made her tremble. Charmander looked at the hallway with a frozen look on his face.

Cloe and Vale were still in the entrance, when something shook the hallway. A large wave of water came flooding through. Katherine saw as the wave started heading rapidly towards the two. Cloe began to run out of the doorway, into the room, and hid behind one of the crates. Vale couldn't move in absolute fear.

"Vale, move out of the way!" Cloe shouted as the wave neared the fire-type. Katherine knew that water that fierce would seriously injure Vale. Katherine ran to Vale and pushed her very hard. Vale tumbled on the ground, eventually hitting a wall. However, Katherine couldn't get out of the way in time. The wave hit Katherine, and sent her flying into the wall with extreme force.

The pain... Katherine thought, pain overwhelming her mind. She began to feel collapse. "Katherine!" Cloe shouted. She ran to the bag, grabbed an Oran berry, and ran to Katherine. "Take this, Katherine. It'll make you feel better." Cloe said as she gave the berry to Katherine.

Katherine immediately felt the pain go away as she finished eating the berry. She was reinvigorated, and regained her composure. "Thanks, Cloe. I needed that." Katherine said shortly after a sigh of relief from Cloe. Katherine saw Vale, who was still getting up from Katherine knocking her into the wall. Katherine began walking over to Vale. "Are you okay, Vale?" Katherine said. "I've felt better." Vale said as she got back up.

Vale stared directly at Katherine, who still looked a little bashed up from hitting the wall. Vale had this practically scared look on her face. That look on her face was immediately replaced with a smile, as Vale half-tackled Katherine to the ground, hugging her. "Thank you, Katherine. Thank you so much." Katherine got back up, a glowing smile on her face. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?"

Katherine didn't understand why, but this Pokemon she was with; this Vulpix, she seemed to be more than just a partner to her. She then realized something that she knew the other two felt. If you're going to be in a team, you should be with someone you trust. The level of trust between these three was so large, you could feel it.

Katherine then heard sounds coming from the corridor. It was the sound of something, or someone, talking. She looked out into the corridor to see a Vaporeon, readying another strike of what seemed to be Hydro Pump. Just before the Vaporeon begins to attack, it hears something. Katherine heard it too; the sound came from a human. It was calling back the Vaporeon.

As the Vaporeon left, Charmander began explaining what should be done to help the others. He apparently only has one thing on his mind right now. "You need to head to this building here." Pointing at a picture of the building, Charmander began explaining where they were. "You might need assistance from a human, to divert attention so you can get in."

Katherine started to feel a little scared. As she looked down, her necklace was glowing brightly. "Cloe, don't you know a human?" Charmander asked, it was sort of an awkward question to ask. Katherine realized he didn't know that the 'human' he asked about was right in front of him, except that she took the form of an Umbreon. "Yes I do, Charmander. Katherine might help." Cloe said, briefly looking at Katherine.

"If she wants to help, tell her that she needs to enter the building with you two following her." Charmander said, and then quickly looked at Katherine. "I'm sorry, what's your name? I never got it." Charmander asked. Katherine knew that if she said her actual name, Charmander would put two and two together. She had to come up with a name, and fast.

"My name is Eclipse, nice to meet you." Katherine said, disappointed that she couldn't think of a better name. Charmander seemed to buy it though. After a very brief introduction, Charmander sent off the three, wishing them good luck.

All three carefully returned to the apartment. They saw a few shady people on their way back. All of them kept a very watchful eye on all of them. "Katherine, are you sure you want to do this?" Cloe asked, concerned about how Katherine felt about all of this. "Of course I do. I became a nurse at the Pokemon Center to help Pokemon in need. I'm ready to do the same as a Pokemon." Katherine said, readying herself to change back to human.

"Alright then, I hope that everything goes well." Cloe said as she and Vale stood back, and began to cover their eyes. Katherine began to change back into a human. All she could do was pray that nothing terrible would happen to them during their mission.

Alright, this is it. It's time to begin part two of my adventure.