Sorry for the delay, guys D: I'm a junior next year, so this summer's pretty hectic with AP homework and studying for the SAT and all that usual crap. I swear I did try not to procrastinate it just sorta happened. Well, anyways, this chapter's extra long as recompense. And in case you don't remember what happened before, it was something like this:

Touko & co. went to Lavaridge where Touko got kidnapped by some Team Rocket peeps and is now in their lair speaking to their boss, and N is freaking out but decides to try being badass. Also Janine is a crazy b*tch who apparently likes to poison helpless victims or something.

And so that's it. Enjoy, I hope. xD

"What are you doing here? I thought " Touko stopped breathily, her face flushed. She simply didn't know what to say.

"Well, I was waiting for you." At the desk, Touya grinned impishly. Yes, it was really him. She could have laughed if it hadn't been such a shock. Touya - sweet, kind, gentle, mischievious Touya whom she had known since the beginning of time - was the leader of the great crime syndicate, Team Rocket? Since when? How? Why? She thought she could almost cry.

"Why...?" Her voice broke, her sense of betrayal leaking through. "Why would you...?"

Almost instantly, he got up and hugged her fiercely. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I had to. It was the only way."

"But why?"

He took a deep breath. "It's a long story..." Carefully, he drew away and gently pulled her over to the large but neatly made bed, patting on the edge for her to sit. "Please, believe me, I never wanted to leave. I thought for days to come to this decision, but..."

"Then are you satisfied? That you left everyone, left me, for... Team Rocket?" Touko's eyes burned darkly.

"It's not like I was planning to join. Things just happened!" He snapped, then sighed and ran his fingers through his hair frustratedly. "Look, it's difficult to explain. I'll just tell you the story."

Touko frowned and sighed, waiting.

"It started a few weeks before I left... I turned fifteen a couple of weeks before you did, but I decided not to start on my journey before you, so I waited. I wanted us all to be together. But then... There was this one man. He was dressed oddly, like some sort of bad cosplayer trying to look medieval. He always hung around my house, and sometimes when I went out to train, he was there. Watching. Eventually I figured out that he was part of Team Plasma, but by then it was too late.

"The grunt told me one day, 'You have been chosen as Hero. You will battle our King to determine who is right.'

"I didn't understand him then. I thought he was a nutcase. But later, that horrible man... Ghetsis... He found me in the midst of training and just watched silently. I didn't even notice him until he clapped and laughed coldly. His eye was so cold! Touko, I've never felt a more chilling moment in my life... But, anyways, he just chuckled and said, 'You are indeed a worthy Hero. But I cannot let such silly things as myths get in my way. You will not be allowed to battle the King.'

I asked him who he was and what he meant, and he explained everything. How N wanted to take over Unova and separate people from Pokemon."

"And you decided to leave?" Touko choked. It was hard enough to accept that the real Hero should have been Touya, but she had known that from the start. No, the most horrendous part was that he had run away. Run away from the world.

"I had no choice!" He snapped, his eyes suddenly dark and icy. "He threatened me, Touko. Not me-he couldn't have defeated me even if he had all the legendaries in the world-but he threatened to hurt Cheren, or Bianca, or my family, or... or-"

"Me, right?" A chill ran down Touko's spine. The words he had said on that day suddenly made perfect sense. "Touya, I'm no princess. I don't need you to protect me. I never needed you to run! Are you trying to say you left because you thought you were protecting me?" A note of hysteria began to creep into her voice. She laughed bitterly. "The irony of it all! I waited for you for two years... because you decided to leave me for my own good, isn't that right? And then what happened to that when I became Hero?"

"That's why I battled you. To make sure you were ready. If you hadn't been, I would have rushed into the castle and defeated N myself." His eyes darkened even more. "Touko, you don't understand, do you?"

"Understand? What is there to understand? You left, and now you're trying to make excuses? What kind of twisted thinking is that? No, worse, it's not even twisted. It's the kind of thing I'd expect from a coward! I'd never have thought you to be one, Touya!" She glared at him angrily, feeling even more betrayed than she had when he had left. Always, always, she had believed somewhat desperately that he had had a good reason for leaving. But this?

"Touko!" Without warning, he grabbed her wrist tightly. "Why aren't you listening? Just recently you would have listened and understood, I know that. You tried so desperately to find me in Dewford! But something changed... When you went to Mauville, you didn't hurry like you were supposed to. What changed?"

"Wha-?" She tried to pull her wrist away before she realized what his words meant and her eyes widened. "You knew? Dewford... Mauville... You were the thief? But... how? Why?"

His eyes were shadowy and cold as ice. Her face paled as she stared into then. "You're not Touya..." She whispered hoarsely. The Touya she had known wouldn't have stolen badges, wouldn't have lied to her or kidnapped her. Could a person change that much in two years...?

"Why? Touko, why won't my words reach you anymore?" With his free hand, he grabbed Touko's other wrist and pinned her to the blankets, searching her face. "Is it N? That bastard... Not once, buy twice!"

"What are you talking about?" Touko demanded, suddenly afraid. This wasn't Touya, this wasn't Touya at all. It was his body, but the person inside... it was as if he had been twisted. What had happened in those two years?

"I know it was him... First he rips us apart with his hero business... And now, he's preventing my words from reaching you, isn't he? You won't listen to me because you're thinking of him!" He pressed harder on her wrists, and she flinched as he brought his face closer. She tried to knee him in the stomach, but he only pinned down her legs as well. For all his small stature, Touya was strong.

"I...don't...know... what you're... talking about," She gasped, as his weight pressed into her and she found her breaths becoming shallow.

"What has he done with you?"

"D-done?" Touko stammered, feeling her face redden as she remembered the kiss from the dream. They had held hands and hugged. Innocent by any teenager's standards, but...

It was the wrong answer. Touya's eyes narrowed as he watched her face flush, and he suddenly pressed his lips onto hers, roughly forcing his tongue in.

"Mhmmn!" Touko protested as eyes widened in shock. Her body stilled as she struggled to comprehend what was going on.

"I won't let him steal anything else from me," Touya whispered into her skin.

The words struck sense back into her, and she began struggling again, trying to find something to say that would stop him. N isn't the thief, you are, she thought. What do you mean, steal 'anything else'? I'm not a thing, I can't be stolen, she thought. But neither thought found voice, especially not since his lips still sealed hers.

A knock on the door broke Touya's sudden madness, and he slowly pulled away, letting Touko go. Coldly, briskly, he walked to the door and opened it. "Yes?" he demanded.

"Um... There's a message from the Lilycove base..." A nervous grunt told him.

"A message?" Touya exhaled impatiently. "So what is it?"

"Well..." the grunt swallowed, his eyes focused with fixed determination on the floor, his sweaty hands twisting. "They have received a, um, a request from... from..."

"Spit it out already!" Touya snapped.

"The King of Team Plasma..."

There was dead silence. Then, bitterly, hollowly, Touya laughed. There was pure venom in that sound, and Touko couldn't help but shudder. "Oh, I see. I know what he wants. But even if I agree to meet him, I won't let him steal my treasures anymore." He whipped around and smiled cruelly at Touko. "I see how it is. This time I'm the evil wizard and he's your knight in shining armor, isn't that right?" While Touko blinked, stunned, he turned and left.

"This has to work. This has to work." Bianca muttered the words like a chant.

"Bianca..." N sighed and fingered his Menger sponge anxiously. "Are you sure this is what Touko wants? It was Touya who kidnapped her, and... she... she likes Touya, right? As a... as a 'lover.' Do I have any right to interfere?"

"Don't you want to save her?" Bianca asked, taken aback.

"Of course," he whispered fiercely. "With all my heart. But I don't want her to hate me."

Bianca's fists clenched. "Whether she likes it or not, we're going in. Kidnapping? This is going too far, even for Touya. When I get my hands on him... Although, somehow, I have a feeling that Touya isn't going to be the Touya we knew."

N nodded, reassured. He watched as the Rocket grunts darted this way and that frantically. One of them had just put down a phone and was gesturing wildly at another. The second grunt scowled for a moment and then ran in N's direction. "The Master has agreed to your request," he told them. "He will be here shortly. Please wait in the meeting room."

"No thank you," N answered curtly. "I don't want to end up dead because of something you rigged in your 'meeting room.' We'll meet outside, on the beach.

"Fine, if the master agrees," the grunt snapped. He stormed off in a huff and began talking to another grunt.

A few hours later, a submarine pulled up on a spot on the beach hidden from the rest of the cove by a line of mysterious rocks that seemed to repel people. A few grunts exited first, but soon Touya himself stepped off. He glared at the grunts and said something, and they bowed and reentered the sub.

Briskly, he walked towards N and Bianca, his face expressionless. When he got closer to Bianca, he gave her a quick glance. "Long time no see?"

Without warning, she slapped him. N and Touya both took a step back, stunned. Touya was the first to recover, but his face showed a complex of emotions-hurt, sadness, guilt, confusion, longing-before his expression hardened. "I see you have some pent-up anger. You were always rather explosive when you got mad. Surprising to see you here, though. The only person I had ever planned to come to Hoenn with was Touko." He sent a meaningful, hostile glance at N.

"Don't you dare try to act cool, Touya. You owe me some explanations. I'm not going to ask why you left two years ago or why you're stealing badges, but how dare you kidnap Touko? How dare you betray her like that? You know how much she loved you!"

"Ha! If she did love me, how could a dirty rat like him steal her away from me?" His eyes flickered venomously at N, and when they turned back to Bianca, they were cold as steel.

"You left her! Without warning or reason! Two years is far too long, Touya!"

"And whose fault is that? Whose fault is it that I was forced to leave my home because some dirty rat didn't want to play fair? You!" Touya glared menacingly at N, "Your people threatened me to leave! It was leave or hurt Touko!"

N opened his mouth in confusion, but no words came out. It took him a few moments to understand what Touya meant, and he knitted his eyebrows together as he realized. "Ghetsis did something, didn't he? I remember him talking about 'crushing a Hero.' I didn't listen because it sounded like complete nonsense.

"Well, now you know. I am the Hero you were meant to battle, and you were the one who caused all this." Touya smiled cruelly. "She'll hate you for this."

"Arceus, how did this happen...? That's not possible..." He stumbled slightly and sank into the sand.

"Don't be ridiculous, Touya," Bianca glared at him. "You would never have been able to become Hero. You're too weak, even if you can battle better. Your heart is weak. Just look at you right now! What happened isn't N's fault. It was yours. If you had been stronger, if you had believed in Touko, this wouldn't have happened. It was a test, and you failed."

"What would you know?" he snarled. "What would you know about being cast out of your birthplace, of being utterly alone in a strange region? Stripped of everything you had once wanted? You're too weak to understand, Bianca! From the start, you never wanted as much as I did! It doesn't matter if you're unable to attain what you want!"

Bianca glared at him angrily, and she seemed to want to slap him again, but N interceded. "Fine. If you think you're the Hero, then let's fight. We'll see whose right then."

"You? Fight me?" Touya laughed harshly. "You couldn't even win against Touko! Besides, weren't you against Pokemon trainers?"

"I was. But Touko showed me how Pokemon and people bond through enduring hard times together. And besides, I am not fighting for fun. My Pokemon agreed to fight with me for what I believe in, just as I would do for them. If my convictions are stronger, then I will win." If he won, then that would mean that Touko didn't hate him, wouldn't it?

"Very well." Touya smiled coldly and drew his first Pokeball, and N followed suit. Bianca watched helplessly as the two glared at each other, then released their Pokemon.

Touko rubbed her slightly bruised wrists numbly. Now that Touya was gone, everything seemed unreal. How could the sweet Touya of her memories turned into... that? It was horrifying. A nightmare. She stroked the Torchic doll she had managed to conceal in her makeshift dress, glad that he had not discovered it.

Suddenly, the door to her small room flew open, and a tall figure strode in. She recognized the striking violet hair immediately, and somehow, she felt dread pile up in her stomach, though she couldn't remember the woman doing anything to her that would warrant such a feeling.

"Follow me," Janine commanded. Suspiciously, Touko obeyed. They passed through several hallways and down three flights of stairs. Grunts flanked both sides of her, so escape was impossible. Finally, the reached an area where the rock walls were much rougher, and Janine kicked the younger girl into a large room. It was empty except for rough carpeting and a small glass window that provided an underwater view. Only three of the walls in the room were smooth, so it was probably still under construction.

"This will be your lodging for a few days," the commander said, narrowing her eyes.

"Did Touya say that?" Touko asked in disbelief.

"No. What he doesn't know can't hurt him. He can't hurt me, anyways, since I technically only owe him allegiance indirectly. After all, he only controls the Hoenn branch of Team Rocket. My primary master is... elsewhere." The woman slid two icy-cold fingers under Touko's chin, and the girl flinched. "So, knowing that, girl, you'll not breathe a word of this to anyone, or you'll be sleeping with the fishes."

Touko's breathing quickened, and her eyes flickered involuntarily toward the window in the corner. A Lanturn had just passed by, casting a momentary glow in the dark room.

"Why do you hate me?" She asked, her eyes darting back to meet the older woman's. "I've never met you before."

Janine smiled cruelly. "How arrogant of you to think that way. I do not hate you. Your existence is of no consequence to me. However..." her grip on Touko's chin tightened, and her nails bit into the girl's skin. "The master loves you, in some way or other, therefore I am dedicated to destroying your happiness as completely as possible." She paused and lifted an eyebrow. "Although, it was not my idea to give you that ridiculous herbalist's concoction, not that you'll remember it."

"What?" Touko frowned, confused.

"No. I serve Team Rocket. My fate was sealed the moment I was born. I could blame my father, not that it would help. I can't hurt him, after all." She sighed and rolled her eyes, pretending to be disappointed. "Looks like I'll have to be satisfied with you. You can blame me for your misfortunes, if you want. Although, where you're going to end up, I don't think it'll matter." With another cruel smile and a wave, she left, the sound of her heels hitting the floor muffled by the carpet. On her way out, she told one of the grunts outside, "Don't forget to give her that. We need to cram as much of the stuff into her as we can before the ritual."

Before Touko could wonder what she meant, a grunt had already entered the room, holding a small vial. It looked eerily familiar, and she shuddered when she saw it. Somehow, she felt as if she had swallowed some of it before. Unthinkingly, her fingers flew to the crystal vial hanging from the gold chain around her neck. She glanced down. The two liquids did look very similar, although hers was darker. She looked back up at the grunt.

"You can either drink it, or we'll make you drink it," he told her.

She didn't doubt it. And anyways, her fingers were already reaching toward the vial as if some puppeteer were controlling her. Even as her instincts screamed at her to stop, warned her that she must not, her body had stopped listening and was drawn to the irresistible liquid. She hesitated for just a moment with the cold glass at her lips, but in one swift motion, she tilted the contents of the vial down her throat and shuddered.

Almost immediately, she felt the energy leave her body, and she fell to her knees as a spasm of pain wracked her body. Slowly, the pain subsided, though, and a strange, alien energy began running through her veins. When she thought she could finally stand, she got to her feet cautiously, feeling dizzy and faraway as if she were floating. The crystal vial at her neck burned, though not unpleasantly, against her skin, resonating with the strange energy she felt. Disconcerted, she looked around. The grunt had already left, and the door was locked securely.

The door was locked. She pounded on the walls, scraping her pale skin, and for a second she almost thought that she would go through that wall... But then the moment passed, and she shook her head and sank to the floor. The odd energy was beginning to leave her as well, and now she was the master of her own body again-a tired, bruised, battered body. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to simply wait for someone, anyone to come rescue her, but she shook her head again. She wouldn't play the fragile princess.

Suddenly, she was filled with a restless desire to escape. But how? Her eyes fell on the small glass window. It was just slightly wider than she was. How far underwater was the Rocket base? Would she be able to make it to the surface? But she was too desperate to care. She gripped the crystal vial, and a sudden surge of that alien energy filled her again, giving her the strength to strike the glass with as much as she had.

The glass shattered immediately, and water began pouring in, washing the glass bits inside. A few cut Touko's skin, but luckily nothing serious happened. She waited until the water was deep enough to submerge the window before taking a deep breath and squeezing through.

The pressure was painful, but surprisingly not too much. She wasted no time on wondering why and simply kicked, reaching for the surface with all her strength. Her vision was blurry, though, and it was difficult to tell which way was up. The entire world was dark and foggy, with not an ounce of light to assure her of where she was. She tried to breath in, but couldn't. There was no air. Her head became dizzy and light, and she began clawing frantically for the surface. All too soon, the edges of her vision became black, and she was seeing spots. She had been too hasty, she was going to die, if only she had waited...

How strange! A human? Here? Without a Pokemon, either! You should be dead by now, I think.

Touko couldn't see what it was-all she could make out was some sort of brownish color, like a rock. She gave up and went back to concentrating on dying properly.

You smell like ghosts... They're not very nice, usually. I'm glad there aren't any here. Oh! Pardon me! You are dying? I'm sorry, I didn't notice. Well, that makes sense. You are a human. Here.

Touko blinked as an air bubble suddenly surrounded her, and amazing, wonderful life filled her lungs. She did nothing but breath in huge gasps for several minutes, trying to calm her dizziness. Exhausted, she lay on the Pokemon's back and tried to focus her blurry vision.

I wish I could thank this... what kind of Pokemon is it? she thought dizzily.

Well, I believe humans call me... Now, what was it again... A Relicanth, yes!

Touko's jaw dropped. You can hear me? No, wait, I can hear you, too! I can talk to Pokemon? What's going on?

I don't know, I thought you were a human-shaped Pokemon at first. Some kind of ghost Pokemon, maybe. What are you? The ancestors say that humans aren't suppose to be able to talk to Pokemon.

"Amazing," she whispered, awed. "I knew that N could talk to Pokemon, but me...? How, I wonder? But, either way, this is amazing..."

I agree, I've never talked to a human before. It's quite something.

Oh! That's right! I need to find N, she told the Relicanth. I think he's at the Lilycove beach-that's were Touya went. Can you get there? Or is that too much of a hassle? I'd hate to interrupt you if you were in the middle of something...

Oh, no, it's quite alright. We're almost there, you see. I felt something that could sense me that wasn't a Pokemon there, so I headed that way out if curiosity. Might be your "N."

Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me. Or maybe you do...?

I can feel it, the Relicanth told her.

Back at the beach, N was running, his movements hampered by the sand. He dived just in time to dodge a powerful blast of Whirlwind from Touya's Skarmory. His Carracosta had managed to dodge it, too, and it retaliated with a roaring wave of Surf that knocked Skarmory back.

"Not back," Touya smiled coldly as he shook water off of his now-soaked hair. "To think that we're both even... I must be loosing my touch. Fine, then. I'll show you what I'm made of." He pulled out a Pokeball and withdrew Skarmory, choosing instead a glossy Ultra Ball.

Recognizing that he was about to send out his strongest, N did the same. He stroked Reshiram's Pokeball lovingly for a second before tossing it, releasing the great dragon.

"As I thought. But you're not the only one chosen by the legends! Go forth, Darkrai!" He laughed hysterically as the dark being appeared, seeming to taint the very air itself. There was something off about that Pokemon. As if it were made from the very essence of nightmares.

"Dark Pulse!" Touya commanded. The Pokemon rumbled and unleashed a wave of negative energy at Reshiram, who roared as it took the attack.

"Fusion Flare!" N ordered, gritting his teeth. The great dragon of fire roared again and spewed burning flame at the dark figure. Darkrai dodged with the speed of a flitting shadow, but it was still hit partially by the huge blast.

The two continued to battle, seemingly inexhaustible. After being knocked back by the stray heat of yet another of Reshiram's blasts, N picked himself up again and narrowed his eyes. Across the battlefield, Touya also got up painfully and glared at N with a burning hatred.

Stop!

N's eyes widened. "Did you hear that? It sounded like... some sort of music"

Touya continued glaring. "Trying to distract me? I-"

Stop it! You're only hurting yourselves!

"What...? A... song?" Touya's eyes unfocused. "It sounds familiar..."

"It's beautiful..." N breathed. "I think I've heard it before. Just once."

Touya snapped back to attention and watched N suspiciously. "You're doing it, aren't you? To distract me?"

"What?" N gaped, dumbfounded. "No!"

Stop! Please!

"Darkrai! Dark Void! Put his dragon out of its misery!" Touya's eyes burned with hatred, his focus once again on N, the melody forgotten.

"Reshiram!" N's palms were slightly sweaty. "Don't let him! Dragon Claw!" Reshiram reared for attack as Darkrai began gathering darkness to him.

Are the two of you dimwits deaf? Seriously, I told you to stop!

The music was undeniably louder now, but the two trainers and their Pokemon were far too engrossed in their battle to stop. Darkrai was almost invisible, so wrapped was it in a twisting black storm. Reshiram roared like a blazing inferno, just about to strike.

"Relic Song!"

A beautiful song, haunting as the early morning fog, drifted in their direction. N almost dropped his Pokeball as two pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the beach. A girl, enchanting as a goddess of the sea, surfing towards them with tears in her eyes.

The two battling trainers didn't notice as a Pokeball in N's bag opened all by itself. The beautiful song grew louder into an unbearable storm that pierced the depths of heart, painful not because of its volume, but because it was purer than anything that reality could offer. Reshiram roared, and he and Darkrai both fell to the ground, asleep as if nothing in the world could harm them. At peace. Grimacing, both trainers recalled their Pokemon.

"Meloetta!" N's eyes widened as he recognized the hauntingly elegant legendary that had fainted two of his Pokemon once, despite her delicate looks. His anger began to fade all of its own accord, being replaced by a peacefulness that reminded him very much of the Dream World.

Touya stumbled a bit when he realized that Touko had somehow gotten out of the hideout, and when the song began to play, he quickly found his anger slipping away. It dissipated quickly despite his resistance to the melody in the air, and there was nothing left but a feeling of bitter emptiness.

Touko reached them and stumbled onto the warm sand, the Relicanth nudging her slightly. She ran over to N and grabbed her bag, taking a Pokeball and calling the sea Pokemon into it.

"Touko, you're alright!" N grinned, giving her a hug.

She smiled back and was about to speak, but suddenly, an eerie tune began to play. Astonished, she looked around, but her Meloetta had stopped and was frowning in confusion as well. As if by magic, a figure began to appear on the sand-a strikingly familiar figure.

"A second Meloetta?" Touko breathed. "How...?"

Aaaand that's it. xD Don't forget to review~ Again, sorry for the delay. D8 I'll definitely update sooner from now on, although I prolly won't be able to do once a week anymore. I'll shoot for once every two weeks, though.