The salty sea breeze lifted strands of brown hair in front of Mikayla's eyes; she gently tucked them behind her ear. Ahead of her, Erin and Blue were having a battle with their Charizard and Pidgeot. She sat on the cruise ship bench and watched Blue's fluid movements, every step was perfectly executed, there was a burning hot intensity in his deep blue eyes that was hard for her to break away from, yet his bright smile could not be hidden. There was a light layer of mist on his spiky hair, from whenever the boat hit a wave that reflected the sunlight to add a rough texture to his hair. He looked absolutely perfect. Mikayla stared at him blankly, but in awe. She came to her senses and quickly darted her head to look at her lap, her hands rested just above her knees, balled in shaky fists. How did she feel about Blue? She thought back to the Pokémon Centre incident where she told Blue about Volker. She thought about how his deep, complicated eyes erupted with a sharp rage when she gestured to her scar, thinking that someone had hurt her. She also recalled how when she finished confessing, he sweetly grasped her shaking hand and the rage melted from his eyes to reveal an alluring softness that stopped her shaking instantly, she remembered how hot her face got. She raised her hand to her right cheek, right where it had felt the warmest, it was now cool and moist from the misty air. I wonder how he feels about me, she thought. What did he REALLY want to say at the Pokémon Centre.
"Because I— Well because you're my friend."
Is that really what he meant? And for that matter, how did she feel about him? He was so sweet and protective and definitely good-looking, but could Mikayla afford to trust another man after she was so ill-treated by Volkner? Volkner. Her eyes darkened and she resumed looking down at her lap. What would she do if she saw him today? Would she get angry and slap him across the face? Or would she being to bawl and beg on her knees for him to take her back? She was just so conflicted. Her thoughts were interrupted by a thud on her left side. She looked over into Blue's gorgeous, smiling eyes. Her heart jumped into her throat, she was about to force some generic greeting out when Erin plopped down beside her. They both seemed out of breath, it must've been a photo finish.
"So who won?" Mikayla asked quietly, she didn't really want to admit that she stopped watching.
"You didn't see?" Blue began with a laugh. "Erin did. She's much tougher than she looks." He smiled wide as he gestured to Mikayla's right.
Mikayla looked to her best friend who had an equally wide smile and a small blush from Blue's compliment. Her dark hair grew wavy from the moisture of the sea air. Mikayla laughed, and then the other two joined in.
"We are approaching our destination, could all passengers make their way to the lower deck of the boat." A calm, female, computerized voice blared in their ears.
They had been informed by Koga that someone would meet them at the dock to inform them about what Sunyshore's police have discovered. Sure enough when they exited the boat a man held a sign that read "The Master Project" and the three made their way to him. Mikayla recognized him right away; he was the referee at Volkner's gym, Kyle. His brown hair was pulled back with a yellow bandana; he smiled wide when he saw Mikayla.
"I didn't know YOU were part of The Master Project!" he dropped the sign and pulled Mikayla into a one armed hug, it was the most Kyle had ever touched her, of course it was awkward.
Mikayla gestured to her two companions.
"Kyle, this is Blue and Erin!" the three exchanged handshakes.
"Anyways, I've been informed to take you to the police station so Jenny can fill you in." Kyle motioned to the three to follow him.
Kyle walked about 5 feet ahead of the group; Mikayla quickened her pace so she could talk to Kyle privately.
"How's Volkner?" she tried to mask the concern in her tone, she failed.
"Well, he's definitely more distant that usual." Kyle began calmly. "He's been refusing challenger after challenger, it isn't good from the gym" his voice grew more and more concerned. "The night you left, I came back to find him sleeping on a couch in the gym. He said there were too many bad memories attached to the bed." Mikayla quickly looked at him with a quizzical expression.
Did Volkner really say that? That sounded so sweet, nothing like the Volkner she knew.
"Has he been to Snowpoint recently?" Mikayla asked nervously.
Kyle scoffed a bit.
"Nah, when Candace found out she was the mistress instead of the girlfriend, she broke it off right then and there. He hasn't left the gym."
Mikayla let out a sigh of relief that was a bit more audible than she'd like because Kyle chuckled a bit.
"I think he's realized that what he did was very wrong, but has too much damn pride to admit it to anyone. He's taking it out on himself." Kyle said very plainly.
They reached the police station, the glass doors slid open, the burst of air conditioning threw hair into Mikayla's face, temporarily blinding her. When her hair settled, she was staring into the back of Volkner's blue jacket.
When Kyle said "distant", she never thought he meant this. Volkner's blonde hair was a tattered, untidy mess. His clothes were wrinkled and stained, like they hadn't left his skin for a few days. He turned. His eyes, oh his eyes said it all. The once deep shade of ice blue had been diluted to an emotionless grey. They were highlighted with the dark circles under his eyes from many sleepless nights. He made eye contact with Mikayla and froze. Neither of them expected the other to be here, they stood in awkward silence. Blue approached Mikayla from behind and pressed his palm on her back, as to say "I'm here, you don't have to worry". Mikayla immediately loosened up, she turned to grin weakly at Blue, when she turned back Volkner had made his way to a chair on the other side of the room and hid his face. A female officer rounded the corner and greeted the three, Kyle went to sit with Volkner across the room.
"Hi, I am Officer Jenny! You must be The Master Project team." She spoke with a very high level of professionalism, which made up for her inappropriately short skirt.
"I'm Blue Oak, this is Mikayla and Erin" Blue shook Jenny's hand.
"Oh you're the professor's grandson? Excellent!" she smiled. "Koga informed us of your hunch in relation to Petrel's speech" she continued professionally. "We investigated Team Galactic overnight to learn that they are planning to meet with external characters, that MAY be Petrel and Ariana."
"What time is the meeting?" Erin asked.
"At 2200 hours, at the base of Sunyshore Tower" Jenny answered sternly. "We believe Cyrus will be there."
"Cyrus? The leader of Team Galactic?" Mikayla was shocked; normally syndicate leaders never left their underground laboratories.
"The Master Stone is very precious cargo, I'm sure he wants to make sure it's legit." Jenny assured. "Now the plan is to intercept the meeting, you three go in with your Pokémon to create a diversion, then we can step in and make the arrest." The edges of Jenny's lips curved into a smug smile.
"Okay, and the stone?" Blue asked sternly, fierce concern entered his eyes.
"The stone will be captured during the arrest, there's nothing to worry about, it will be handled with the utmost care." Jenny reassured. "It's about 20:30 now," Jenny looked at her watch, "we'll meet a block away from the tower in an hour to begin a stakeout."
The three nodded and turned to exit the police station, maybe they could get some training in. Erin and Blue began walking out. Mikayla turned to where Volkner and Kyle had been sitting, both were gone and Mikayla felt a pain of sadness in her stomach. She was legitimately worried about Volkner, he looked so decrepit and unhappy. Her heart's pace quickened just like it used to when she was with him. No. No, she didn't want him, he was a liar and a jerk, she could do better. She turned back and walked out of the police station. She was about to break into a run to catch up to Blue and Erin who were a good 20 feet ahead when an ice cold, shaking hand grasped her wrist and pulled her backward. Her heart dropped into her stomach, and her skin crawled with fear. Had Team Rocket found her? Was the back of her friends' heads the last thing she'd see? The cold hand pulled her back and spun her around, she prepared for the worst. She was pulled close to the cold figure, in an embrace. She immediately recognized Volkner's masculine cologne, the way his hands felt, and the steady beat of his heart. Mikayla's stiff figure loosened and she exhaled slowly. Volkner pulled her into a tighter embrace.
"I—I've missed you" his voice was almost unfamiliar, so broken and shaky.
Mikayla pulled away and looked into his now grey eyes.
"Well you should've thought of that…before you cheated" Mikayla couldn't let him win, no matter how broken he was now, he still broke her heart.
He fiercely grabbed her wrists, a fearsome flash was in his eyes, and the broken man had become so scary, so unbalanced.
"Look, I'm sorry, you can't be mad at me forever, move back in with me!" his grip became tighter and tighter, red specks appeared on Mikayla's wrists.
"Volkner!" Mikayla tried to shake her hands free but it was not use. "Stop, you're hurting me! I'm not going back to you, you broke my heart, I can never trust you again!"
Volkner's angry expression shattered. His grip loosened to release the blood that had pooled on Mikayla's wrist, it dripped to the ground. The drops painted the pale concrete with crimson spots. Volkner's lip quivered as he watched the scarlet drops fall, almost in slow motion. Tears welled in his eyes, his hands shook but still rested on Mikayla's wrists, he was so afraid she'd run. He looked at the red wrists that stained his hands. Had he really done that? To someone so sweet, who rarely asked anything of him? To someone he betrayed? The tears fell down his pale face. Mikayla looked up at the shattered human being she once despised; her anger melted away and was replaced with concerned pity. She was about to open her mouth to speak, say something stupid like "I forgive you" or "Everything is alright" or worse, "I still love you, I'll never stop". Her words were halted by two hands making contact with Volkner's chest shoving him off of Mikayla. One of the hands continued to punch Volkner in the jaw, his lip began to bleed profusely. When Mikayla broke from the hypnosis of Volkner's tear stained and decrepit face, she realized it was Blue who had possibly saved her from making a huge mistake. She turned around to see Erin several feet behind her, she looked terrified. She was about to dash over to console an obviously shaken Mikayla, but Mikayla flashed her a stern look that told her to stay back, stay safe. She turned back to the brawl ahead of her; Blue had such an unfair advantage. He was in his right state of mind, he kept delivering punch after punch, shouting profanities, and the intensity in his eyes was nothing like Mikayla had ever seen. It was like the intensity that she had been mystified by in that Pokémon Centre yesterday had been multiplied infinitely, like he could kill Volkner simply by shooting him a look. It was utterly terrifying; she looked at Volkner, what a sad, pathetic mess. He was doubled over in pain, heaving heavily, there was a pool of blood at his feet, a mix of his and Mikayla's, diluted by tears. That's when it hit her, Blue was the villain here. All Volkner wanted was her to know how he felt, how much he missed her. And here was Blue, beating the hell out of him for loving her. A sharp hatred pained her heart; she sprang forward and pulled Blue off him.
"Blue! Stop! He didn't do anything wrong!" she yelled, trying very hard to hold him back.
"Oh really?" Blue hissed out.
He grabbed her arms and turned them over to reveal the small, crimson gashes.
"What do you call this?" he shrieked.
"He didn't mean it!" Mikayla pleaded desperately, tears welled in her eyes.
Blue's eyes met hers and she froze, his eyes were like frozen daggers. A shiver went down her spine, she was legitimately terrified of him, this wasn't the Blue she knew.
"You think he didn't mean it?" he yelled at her as she knelt beside Volkner and wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Don't fall for his act; he's just going to hurt you more!" Blue jerked her up and looked into her eyes. "I just want what's best for you."
Mikayla pulled her hand from Blue's grip. She was furious.
"How do YOU know what's best for me?" she screamed, the tears began to stream down her face.
She couldn't face him anymore, she couldn't face Volkner anymore. She turned around and ran…as far away as she could.
She hated it. She hated that Blue was right. He saved her from making a terrible mistake, but did he have to be so mean about it? She recalled the sound of his fist meeting Volkner's jaw, the terrible sound that sent shivers down her spine. She looked at her wrists, the bleeding had stopped and there were just four small scabs on each arm. There was a dull pain pulsating from each one, it wasn't as painful as before. She had no idea how long she had been walking for, but the Sunyshore Tower appeared ahead. A cool breeze blew, symbolizing a storm coming. A dull light could be seen at the base of the tower, like lanterns. Mikayla decided to investigate; as she approached she heard whispers. When she recognized the faces uttering these words, her heart stopped beating. She dove into the bushes about 10 feet away from Cyrus. She glanced at her watch, 21:00, the meeting was happening earlier than planned! What is she supposed to do? She couldn't handle this alone but by the time she'd run back to get help, the meeting would most likely be over. She remained in the bushes and listened. Cyrus was accompanied by two Team Galactic admins, Saturn and Mars, a man with spiky blue hair and a woman with eccentric red hair and a dress-like Galactic uniform.
"When are those Rocket nerds going to get here?" Mars sighed, she sounded younger than the other two, maybe in her very early 20s.
"Patience, Mars." Cyrus raised his hand to quiet Mars.
Three shadowed figures approached them, when they stepped into the light; Mikayla immediately recognized them to be Ariana and Petrel, but who was the third? He stepped forward, an older man with a receding hairline.
"Good evening, Giovanni" Cyrus extended his hand and shook Giovanni's hand firmly.
Giovanni! In the flesh? Mikayla's mouth hung ajar in shock. The leader of Team Rocket, the one who started syndicated crime in the world! He was standing right in front of her and she could do nothing about it. She stepped back, the snap of a twig below her foot echoed. She wanted to smack herself in the face; her head darted up to see how the criminals would react. Did they hear her? When she looked up, it seemed that nothing had changed. She could see all six criminals, except Saturn, but from Mikayla's perspective, he was probably behind Cyrus. Mikayla let out a small sigh of relief, which was interrupted by a large hand fiercely clasping over her mouth, while the other hand pinned her wrists behind her back and hoisted her up. She struggled but Saturn had a firm grip on her, he pushed her toward the others and threw her down in front of the Rockets. Ariana let out an enraged shriek while Petrel let out a hearty yet disturbing laugh.
"How the hell did you survive?" Ariana shrieked.
"Same way you did." Mikayla said smugly.
She stood up quickly and reached for her Pokémon. A sound of a gun cocking halted her movements.
"I wouldn't do that." Cyrus said calmly, pressing the gun into the back of Mikayla's head.
Mikayla froze, her pulse quickened and her hands started shaking.
"What do we do with her, sir?" Saturn referred to Cyrus.
"Giovanni? What do you suggest?" Cyrus asked.
Giovanni stepped forward and lifted her chin with his index finger. He smiled at her, it was a demented and evil smirk.
"Well, our Pokémon Army will need some target practice." He laughed manically.
A tear streamed down Mikayla's flushed cheeks and splashed on the ground before the butt of Cyrus' handgun knocked her unconscious.
Blue watched Mikayla run, a pain of guilt clutched at his stomach. What had he done? He wanted so desperately to protect her from hurt, but probably inflicted so much more than Volkner had. He stepped forward to follow her, but Erin stood in front of him, a fierce expression danced on her flushed face.
"You've done more than enough" said hissed out.
"Will she be alright?" Blue asked worriedly.
Erin let out a sigh, it was almost sympathetic.
"She lived here for a year; she knows what she's doing." Erin assured.
They turned to Volkner, who was now standing and leaning against a lamppost. He stumbled angrily toward Blue. Blue prepared for round two, but Volkner just planted his hands on Blue's shoulders. His grey eyes locked on Blue's.
"I swear to God, if you hurt her…I'll find you." Volkner then turned away and stumbled off, admitting defeat.
Erin turned to an awestruck Blue.
"Look, I don't know what's going between you and Mikayla, but don't EVER do that again" she was still pretty shaken from the event.
"What do we do now?" Blue asked quietly.
"Well, she knows the plan, we'll have to meet her there I guess" Erin assured.
It was 10 minutes until they had to meet Jenny, they walked in dead silence to the destination. They approached a very worried looking Jenny. She ran over to them as fast as her high heels could carry her.
"Where's Mikayla?" she asked hastily.
"She'll meet us here." Erin replied firmly, she knew Mikayla wouldn't want the world to know about her personal life.
Jenny let out an annoyed sigh.
"The meeting started early, it's in progress, you two will have to go in without her." She sternly commanded.
Erin and Blue exchanged worried looks. Where was Mikayla? This is not something she would voluntarily miss. Erin thought of how Mikayla was one who was always "fashionably late", she was probably building up suspense like she always did. But, now was certainly not the time, especially when things are not going according to plan. She swallowed her worry and nudged Blue forward, they had to do their duty, with or without Mikayla. Erin withdrew her Meganium and Blue sent out his Umbreon, they continued to the small plaza outside of the Sunyshore Tower. A small microphone had been planted on both Erin and Blue, so that Jenny could hear every word being said and could determine when to step in. From behind the large bushes, they could see Ariana handing a black, shining box to Cyrus, with Petrel at her side. Cyrus was accompanied by Saturn and Mars. This should be an easy fight, Erin thought to herself. On the count of three, Erin and Blue sprang from the bushes and made a mad dash to the plaza, Pokémon right behind them.
"Stop!" Erin cried. "The stone is the property of the Oak Lab, and we've come to take it back!"
What little fear she had melted away when she got to say her "hero" line.
Erin and Blue both prepared to order their Pokémon when Cyrus simply raised his right hand, almost in a silencing motion.
"You don't want to do that." His harsh voice could cut through steel.
Cyrus snapped his fingers and out from behind the tower came Giovanni, he threw a tied and gagged Mikayla to the ground about 10 feet away from them, her eyes were heavy like she had just returned to consciousness. Erin let out a gasp and her eyes widened as she saw the pathetically helpless state her best friend was in. Even with her scarred wrists and ankles tied, Mikayla managed to sit up. Then Giovanni withdrew a handgun, cocked it, and dug the barrel into the back of her head. The familiarity of the situation was demonstrated on Mikayla's face, she had been threatened with this gun before, and she was scared.
"Mikayla!" Blue cried out, he attempted to run to her.
He was blocked by Saturn and Ariana.
"One more step, and she dies." Giovanni hissed out with a demonic suave.
"You two try anything, she dies." Cyrus added on. "We're here to make a simple business deal, we didn't want to have to murder anyone, but you're giving us little choice." His eyes narrowed on a furious Blue. "Plus, we need her for target practice."
"Target practice?" Erin gasped, and Cyrus nodded plainly.
"What better way to test a Pokémon's loyalty then to have them mindlessly kill an innocent girl?" he let out a demonic and frightful laugh.
Blue angrily pushed his way through Saturn and Ariana, then trudged to Cyrus and gripped him by the collar, sharp fury danced in his deep eyes again. Before Blue could say anything, Cyrus motioned to Giovanni.
"With pleasure" Giovanni took a step back and aimed the gun at Mikayla, he placed his finger over the trigger.
"NO!" Blue cried and let go of Cyrus. "WAIT, wait! Giovanni? Cyrus? You two seem like reasonable men." He said calmly. "How about this? We'll let you keep the stone, we'll let you get away with everything!"
"If?" Cyrus was legitimately intrigued.
"If you spare Mikayla's life and let me take her place." Blue breathed out.
Mikayla immediately starting screaming and groaning under her mouth gag, she thrashed about in protest. Erin let out another gasp, which was interrupted by Petrel's dirty hand clasping over her mouth.
"Remember me, sweetheart?" he whispered in her ear.
"I admire your nobility, young Oak. You may have your wish." Cyrus nodded.
Giovanni untied and ungagged Mikayla, she sprung up and ran to Blue. He enveloped her in his arms, a tight, last embrace.
"What the hell are you doing? You don't have to do this! Keep the stone safe, it means everything to you!" Mikayla argued with him.
"You mean more" he replied simply and sweetly.
"Blue, what about the end of the world?" tears were welling in her eyes.
"My world would end if I lost you! I wouldn't be able to go on." His voice became cracked with gradual sadness building up.
"But, Bl—"
"I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Blue was yelling now. "I love you" he whispered.
Tears fell down Mikayla's face, he loved her. She didn't believe it, but the sincerity in his eyes told everything. He loved her, more than anything in the world. His raised his hands to her cheeks and pulled her forward until their lips met.
The world stopped, it felt like they were the only two left. His lips were so soft and warm. She had goose bumps even though a comforting warmth grew inside her, it was nothing like she'd had ever experienced with Volkner. All the problems before them disappeared; they were in a perfect moment where no one could hurt them. Mikayla was snapped back into the unfortunate reality when Saturn's sweaty hand jerked her backward, away from Blue. Tears streamed down her flushed face, she was about to scream out how much she loved him too, but the hand had already been familiarly clamped over her mouth. This is what upset her the most; she just wanted her mouth freed, so she could pour her heart out. So she could tell him everything! How she felt when she first met him a month ago at the Oak Lab, how his gorgeous smile and expressive eyes always left her breathless, and how he made her fall in love with him at the Pokémon Centre. She thrashed about violently in Saturn's grip, the tears now cascaded down. Erin looked over at her and couldn't help but tear up herself, this was the end.
The end of it all.