VERY IMPORTANT: For those of who have read this chapter before the date of December 22nd, 2008, I must ask you to reread this chapter due to major changes in the plot. All major edits take place in the second half of the chapter as well as some subtle foreshadowing added to the first half. Those of who have read this chapter AFTER the mentioned date, please continue as normal. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I DID IT, I WROTE ANOTHER CHAPTER!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

It took me FOREVER, I KNOW, BEING OUT OF INSPIRATION SUCKS, I GET IT XD But be happy that I'm starting to speed up with my stories. I hope I don't run into anymore of those four month long pauses.

I am taking my English writing class now, so I hope that'll help me quite a bit. I'm excited to see that I've finally written another chapter and it's gone OH SO WELL 83

For now, I have a story to write and all of my fans and friends to thank so much. It's great that you've still kept with the story :3

Lydenn: Yes, there are a lot of changes going into the story. But you know what? I decided that I'm not going to continue writing the revised version of the story until I finish the first one. It seems to make things a lot easier and I wasn't getting much praise for the rewritten version anyway XD

R'N'Rer: .. I should probably have something like that to be arranged, the CIA thing. And as for Terra, well, that's a different matter. It mostly has to do with the fact that I just liked the name. I never thought a pokemon's name had to be so iconic. My name means "People of Victory" and you don't see me winning any games XD I feel that a pokemon's name is equal to a humans, just a name that doesn't have to mean anything complicated. Besides... Terra's name does have a slight meaning to it, you just have to think of the world in a way ;3

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, FINALLY XDDD

Chapter 45

Who knows how much later...

I woke up to the flickering of a set of blaring lights fixed into the black ceiling above me. My eyes flew open to an almost blinding light that made me squint. I tried to pull my hand in front of my eyes, but my hand seemed to be pinned down from a lack of energy.

I squinted to the bright lights above me to focus into my current surroundings. I was lying on a table of some sort, a table made of steel, oddly warm steel. I was laying in the X position, my limbs all pointing in opposite directions. I looked around the room to find the most ominous effect. The entire perimeter of the room was pitch black. It felt like I was the only one in a room that seemed to trail into endless darkness.

I tried to get up, but upon attempt my hands where again constrained by the lack of energy. But upon a second observation, I found that the room was the least of my problems. My hands(and feet too) were bound to the table by steel cuffs.

My largest worry however... the EDB wasn't on my wrist anymore.

Now, I was wide awake. Struggling wildly, the cuffs wouldn't even budge the slightest movement. I was beginning to panic, this was not the place I needed to be in a mission right now. This was not right. I started grunting with each yank at the cuffs, beginning to shed tears at the current situation.

I started yelling "Hey! Someone! Let me out of her! HELP!" I began struggling more wildly. I wanted out.

"Calm down, Nicholas" Said an eerily calm voice.

"What? Who's there?" I demanded. I man in a black suit walked out of the darkness. He was dressed in a black tie with a white vest, almost monotonous looking. His face was as pale as the lights shining over me and his hairline was starting to fall back high up on his forehead. The rest of his hair remained spiked, almost sharp looking along the top and back of his head.

"Hello, Nicholas, my name is Frank. I'm here to ask you some questions-"

"Questions!? No! I have some questions for you! Where am I and what the hell is going on here?"

"Calm down, Nicholas. I have to ask you some questions."

"What!? NO! I need to know-"

"Nicholas, calm down or I'll inject you with a sedative." He reached into his suit and pulled out a syringe with a bright white liquid in it. I felt a rush of sudden fear as I shrank down to perspective as to who was in order. Without changing expression, he continued. "How did you change into that... thing."

Wanting to resist every question thrown at me, wanting to be free, wanting to just run out of this place for every hope I had, I knew who was in order so I responded as best as I could. "I don't know... it's always been a mystery to me."

"What is it that you turned into?"

I froze. I swore that I wouldn't tell a single person about pokemon yet I was pinned down, cuffed to a table like James Bond. My only option was to think of a fake name or a fake story.

"It doesn't really have a name yet... it's a subspecies of ferret or-"

"You're lying, Nicholas." My heart stung with worry, I was pinned down in more than one way. "I don't have much time, Nicholas, I'd like to know."

With a long sigh and a ton of worry, my lips spilled the words I dare not say. "I became what I call a typhlosion." I looked closely at Frank to still find him expressionless, unsurprised by the answer. He might not have known what it is.

"I see... Is this what your friend is also? Another typhlosion?" Another blow engulfed my heart. Terra! How could I have forgotten about Terra!?

"Where is she?" I said with the most serious, stern voice I could muster.

I was relieved to see that the man had some respect for me as he said, "She is being held in a room similar to this one, being closely inspected and tended to for her injuries."

"Injuries!? What's happened to her!?" My voice was starting to ascend.

"Nicholas, calm down-"

"Take me to her! NOW! I can help her!" I was yelling, almost crying.

Frank pulled the syringe from his jacket, "Nicholas, calm down or you will be forced into sleep!" He didn't raise his voice, but you can hear the importance he stressed his words with. Falling asleep at a time like this wouldn't be any good. I forced myself to a calm state with deep breathes, but my emotions where still flailing hard and strong.

He slipped the syringe back into his jacket. "Now," Frank said in a calm voice that made me want to punch him in the face, "how-," he was suddenly interrupted by a ringing in his pocket. He turned to me, smiled and said, "Excuse me for a moment." He took a few paces off, standing at what looked like the farthest corner of the room, facing away from me. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather large walkie-talkie.

"What is it, I'm busy," Frank said with a hint of annoyance in his throat. His sound was muffled from talking into a wall but I could still make out what they were saying to a point.

"Sir! We have a major problem over here!"

"I can't be there, I'm busy with a client at the moment."

"Sir, this isn't normal, we need backup!"

"Than get back up, I'm too busy at the moment."

"You don't understand, this is huge. It's some kind of giant fe-," Frank turned off the walkie-talkie and turned back to me. Though I had been giving him an inquisitive look, he still held his serious expression and rather incredulous attitude to my stories.

"So," he asked, "how is it that you can 'help' her?"

"I...." I couldn't finish. To state that I have the ability to heal pokemon would be a mad thing to do, I knew it would be blown out of proportion. I had to stall.... I struggled for a few seconds for a topic until I was finally caught by a certain detail.

"How do you know my name?"

Fortunately, his respective side pulled threw. "We pulled a hair from you while you were unconscious and scanned it for DNA. It lead us to your full name, as well as other information that may be useful to us, such as your date of birth, your country of origin, and each one of your family members who are currently being flown in for questioning."

"What!? No, they no nothing! Please don't get them involved with this- wait, flown in!? Where am I!?"

"Nicholas, please calm down." I sighed, once again, defeated. "We're going to need you to stay here, we're going to have to do some tests on you and 'Terra'."

"Tests!? Terra's injured and you want to do tests on us!? What injuries does she have at the moment!?"

"From our studies, she seems to have broken several ribs, has several cracks in her spinal cord, and a minor fracture in her skull, as well as other injuries that have yet to be diagnosed." My jaw hung loose and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Take me to her...." I said with the same stern, serious tone.

"Nicholas, calm-"

"No...." I interrupted him quickly, I was not going to bow down to him, "Take me to her... Take me to her NOW! I HAVE TO SEE HER!"

He pulled the syringe from his jacket again "I'm warning you, please calm down."

"I don't want to calm down! Let me go! I want to get out of here! Let me go, PLEASE, let me go! I HAVE TO HELP HER!"

For the first time, Frank raised his voice, "Nicholas, this is your final warning, calm down!"

"NO! I NEED TO SEE TERRA! LET ME OU-"

Frank grabbed right arm and held it down with surprising strength. "I gave you your final warning Nicholas! Hold still!"

For the first time, I saw his expression change. His face was slightly mangled with a mix of annoyance and frustration. He almost looked like he had gone mad.

He pointed the syringe upward, squirting some liquid out to see if it was working properly. He pointed the syringe towards my arm and began to thrust the syringe forward. As the syringe drew closer to my bear arm, time seemed to slow down in the heat of the moment. As my immanent lights-out dosage came down to my arm, time almost stood still.

I looked away and closed my eyes, flinching as the syringe drew closer with every passing moment. At that instant, time seemed to stand completely still as waiting for the syringe to penetrate my arm took forever. But after a few moments, the syringe still hadn't gone into my arm, a few moments being actually a few seconds.

I opened my eyes and observed the situation. The lights fixed into the ceiling were no longer buzzing loudly. Afraid to look, I turned my head to Frank who was now standing completely still. The syringe, still in his hand, was fixed in a spot only centimeters from a vein in my arm. Frank's face was still twisted from the frustration he'd shown earlier. His grip remained on my arm, but it seemed to have no force, no muscle. After a brief moment of thought, I came to a realization. As much as it seemed like the heat of the moment just having it's effects on me, I found that this was no mental illusion over my senses....

Time was actually standing still.

"What... the... hell...?" Sadly, these were the only words I was able to muster from my mouth. Nothing could describe how... odd this was. Everything was so eerily silent that I could hear my own heart beating. The feeling was overwhelming.

Suddenly, something suddenly covered my eyes. It didn't scare me though, as I felt the familiar feeling of warm, soft, loving paws.

'Guess who,' said Terra, who's voice sounded heavenly at the moment. All I could do at the moment was break into a wonderful laugh. Terra was here! She wasn't unconscious, and her voice wasn't in any strain. It was a wonderful relief, an almost overwhelmingly happy feeling.

'But... but how!?'

'I'll tell you in just a sec, but first, let's get you out of these cuffs.' Almost right at the moment she said that, the cuffs broke open with one great jolt. My wrists and ankles felt a great relief no longer being pinned down so awkwardly. I sat up, twisting my wrists and ankles and leapt to my feet.

I turned towards Terra and smiled a great smile. There stood Terra, proud, confident, and most surprising of all, uninjured. She almost looked as if she'd be freshly groomed. And with that sight, a tear came to my eye as I leapt into Terra's arms and hugged her as hard as I could. She lightly hugged me, petting my back lightly.

'Shhhh, Nick, I'm here.'

At this moment, I was crying as fully as I could. 'I was so worried about you....'

'It's okay, Nick, it's okay.'

I sank into Terra's soothing warmth, it felt amazing. I hadn't been so close to her in months, it was a grand relief. I shed my last tear and smiled. 'I love you, Terra.'

Terra smiled warmly, 'I love you too, Nick.'

I wiped the tears off my face and sighed, now back into my happy mood. 'Now, tell me, how? Where did your injuries go and what is going on with time being frozen right now!?'

'Well, for that, I believe I should look behind you.'

I swung my head around for a most surprising sight. But with this sight, everything slid into place.

'I told you you were going to need my help.' Celebi said with a most smug expression.

'THANK YOU,' I broke out with, 'THANK YOU SO MUCH!' I tried to hold myself back from breaking into tears all over again. Instead, I found that I had practically dived onto Celebi for a great hug. Through all the enjoyment and happiness, I finally realized Celebi's discomfort so I suddenly pulled out of the hug and blushed slightly, scratching the back of my head. 'Sorry, just a spur of the moment thing,' I said, and giggled awkwardly.

Celebi giggled and said, 'Don't worry, Nick, keep in mind I have a sense of humor too.' It said before smiling wryly. It snapped its fingers and at that instant, Frank's pants dropped while he was still frozen in time. I couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably. But I had to stay focused. I had just revealed way too much information to some guy I don't know, my family was being flown in for questioning and no there's Entei running loose who knows where.

Celebi hearing me think over my troubles replied with, 'As I said Nick, you were going to need my help later. I can solve this easy! Step one, lost and found.' With the snap of its fingers, the EDB materialized out of thin air and dropped right into my hand.

Before I could have said anything, It raised one arm into the air, suddenly making a portal appear out of thin air. With the quick lowering of its arm, the portal swooped down over Terra, him and me as if we were being scanned by the portal. The portal went all the way beneath our feet and shrunk until it had completely disappeared into thin air.

My eyes had to readjust to the sudden darkness around us but the feeling of the air was a relief beyond sight. I could feel the wind, so refreshing and cool to the touch. The sound of leaves tussling in the trees, the grass. It was nature... it was beautiful. It was obviously night right now so it would take some time to adjust, but the prospect of being out of that... place was a load off.

The only lights that I could see from this place were the city lights, reflecting on a river nearby. We were quite a distance up actually, the view of the town was absolutely beautiful.

'If my judgement is correct,' Celebi started, 'Than right about now, it's last night, or in other words, the night after your battle with Entei.' All I could do was look at the large overview of the town and the one who had brought me here.

Celebi continued, 'Yes the view is quite pleasant at here, but I'm sure if you took a look behind yourself, you'd find why we're here.'

I swung around and nearly had a heart attack at what I saw. 'Hohohohoholy crap....' I stuttered as silently as I could.

There, lying on the ground behind me, was Entei, sleeping like a gentle beast.

At this point, I was even breathing as silently as I could. I held Terra as close to me as I could, almost hiding behind her as she gave me a rather amused look.

'Calm down, Nick, not even a herd of tyranitars could wake up Entei.' I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of that. I stood there, looking at Entei breathing gently, so at piece. It was rather cute actually. Looking back at the town, I realized that this must have been a vantage point for Entei.

'Um, Nick?' Celebi asked, 'isn't there something you needed to do with Entei?' It took me a moment to realize. 'OH!' I exclaimed, remembering that I actually had to chip to remove from Entei.

I kneeled down and searched threw his extremely long fur for that chip. It was almost playing a game of hide and seek with me. Just when I was starting to get frustrated, I finally found the blasted chip and pulled it out with one sudden jolt. A great amount of relief came over me, another wonderful feeling for tonight.

Two down, one to go.

'Step three,' Celebi stated, 'Get to safety.' A portal flashed open above us and swept us through to a new land. Everything was much darker, but with what light there was, I could barely make out my surroundings. What surroundings I made out where rather familiar, the path only a few steps away and a pond in the distance.

'The current time, midnight, before your battle with Entei, just so you know. As for the location, allow me to explain. Right here is the nesting spot of your precious Terra and Chandler, but as time may have strange effects on those who have bent it, I want you to look behind you with the utmost silence and care.'

Slowly turning my head, watching Terra do the same behind me, a cold chill flew through my spine as I had just realized the true effects of what has been done. There behind me was Terra and Chandler asleep in a little nesting area just where I had left them. The extreme shock of this, though, came in the idea that Terra was also standing beside me, looking upon herself with such surprise that she almost looked paralyzed. She was staring upon her sleeping self, the ultimate twist of turning times.

Celebi continued, 'this is why I advise that you stay a good distance away from this area. Oh, say, about right here,' before we could even tell, a portal swept us to another section of the forest. Without saying anything, Celebi pointed to a small spot in the distance which was particularly dark, but still provided a silhouette of Terra's sleeping body moving up and down with the pace of her breathing.

'This spot here would be the best spot for a vantage point to watch over Terra and Chandler for the time being.'

'What do you mean watching over?'

'As you and Terra are the only ones I've taken through time, you're the only ones who have been duplicated for the moment. However, Chandler here hasn't been altered in any way. As it still is the morning before you battle Entei, which your duplicate self will do-,' Celebi was suddenly interrupted by my mind flooding with a similar shock that somewhere out there was a duplicate of me running around. Probably at this time of night, sleeping.

'As I was saying, your duplicate self and Terra are going to leave to fight Entei when the time comes. At that point, Chandler is left alone for quite a while. That will be your chance to get a hold of him. If you do recall, from the moment you fight Entei, you don't get back to Chandler all the way to the time of the time warping we did. That's a lucky call, it means you won't be running into yourself any time soon. But I do advise that you keep hidden until the time comes... you got that?'

All dignity aside, all I could do was let my jaw drop. 'You've certainly got this figured out. But wait, why couldn't-'

'Trust me, Nick, this is the only way this can be done.'

As many questions as I had, I'm sure Celebi, one who knew time itself, would have known what was to be done. There was still only one question left on my mind.

Before I could even ask it though, Celebi had already answered, 'No worries, Nick, I'll get Entei back. Again, don't worry.... Either way,' Celebi said, 'I have some business to deal with. I hope you fare well Nick.'

'Heh, thanks. I hope all goes well back in the pokemon world.'

'Thanks, and bye!' And before I knew it, Celebi had already spawned a portal out of thin air and had swooped it over himself. A few seconds after he had disappeared.

I felt Terra's paw stroking down my back, as she felt my annoyance. 'It's okay, Nick. We can get threw this... just like any other pokemon. I know you can.' As annoyed as I was, nothing could make me resist the soothing tone Terra had in her voice, it made me melt inside.

Finding a small grassy patch on the ground, Terra had flopped onto the ground, exhausted and tired. I could sense it on her mind that she felt extremely awkward that she was falling asleep only what seemed like ten meters away from herself but knowing Terra, I knew she could sleep through it.

Curling up next to her on the cold, grassy, every so slightly damp spot on the ground, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, things have gotten so complicated that I was starting to get a headache. While I had dechipped two pokes so far, I was sleeping only ten meters from the past and the loops in time we had taken through time only made things harder to think about. On the other hand, I was free. No longer incarcerated or in questioning or being threatened to have sedatives injected at any moment, I was free.

Terra picked up her paw and placed it on my shoulder, pulling me up against her side. I smiled at her, only to find that she was already asleep. In any case, the past while has been rather hectic and I was exhausted. Though I was thinking it was the last thing I needed, I couldn't escape it's grip as I fell quickly into a deep sleep.