TOUKO'S P.O.V.

"Here, Cheren," I say, handing him Pidove's Pokeball. "Battle."

There's no way I'm trusting Bianca with this, considering how she's acting at the moment – Bells is cowering in the corner, yelling at Team Plasma, "I was kidnapped! I'm not with them! I just want to go home! Seriously, take me back to Nuvema Town, please, please, please!"

My blue-haired, bespectacled friend does a double take. "Who, me? I have no idea how to even use a Pokeball, Touko! I can't battle."

I sigh dramatically, and give the Pokeball a perfect toss with a nice little arc to it. "There. Now just tell it what to do."

Before Cheren can say something else, I turn away from him and lock eyes with two Plasma Grunts. "That's her," one whispers. "The Rebellion leader." They charge towards me.

I pull out Servine and Thunderous and start double-battling the two Grunts. They look a little freaked at the fact that I have a legendary at my disposal, but that's really to my advantage. I take them out easily, and they run off when they realize they're defenseless and surrounded by hostile gym leaders with powerful Pokemon.

I turn to see who to battle next, but it appears that all the Plasma Grunts have been taken. The gym leaders are completely at ease, looking really happy to finally battle someone again. I'm pleasantly surprised at Iris, who is kicking ass with her Haxorus. Is it true she's never battled before? Obviously, Iris has natural talent, but from what Chili's told me about her father, Drayden, I'm not surprised.

Cheren, too, has caught on to how this is done and is pummeling the Plasma Grunt's two Swoobats to the ground, alongside Touya. Looking at my friends gives me a flash of pride, until it makes me think of my other friend, Bianca.

Glancing at her, I see she's finally shut up (thank Arceus). Bianca is watching us in awe, most especially the Pokemon. Ha, I think triumphantly, Bianca totally wants in on the rebellion now.

Suddenly, a Woobat cries out in pain and I hear the noise of it landing on the ground with a sickeningly loud thud. Skyla shrieks, and I whirl around just in time to see a Plasma Grunt grabbing her by the hair and another one handcuffing her with a smirk. There is a red mark on Skyla's face in the shape of a hand, as though someone's slapped her.

If I could see my eyes, I'm sure they'd be blazing with fire right now. Quickly, I grab a giant tree branch from the ground and run up behind the Plasma Grunt who's trying to lead Skyla away right in the midst of the battle. Coward.

I tap him on the shoulder pretty politely for someone who wouldn't regret ripping his head off right now. He turns to face me and I give him a broad smile, tree branch in hand. "Uh uh uh," I scold him, "that's not how you treat a lady."

Before he can say anything in reply, I raise the tree branch and whack him in the stomach hard. He automatically falls to the floor, and I keep on whacking, yelling furiously at him while I do it. "Don't you ever touch my friends again, you fucking asshole!" I scream, hitting him harder and harder thanks to built up rage. As soon as he's bleeding all over, I stop, panting.

There's a silence throughout the whole forest, and I realize that everyone is staring at me. The Grunts look freaked out, their Pokemon fainted all over the forest floor. I grab the somewhat bloody keys off the Grunt-I-just-beat-up's belt and unlock Skyla's handcuffs.

Looking directly in the eyes of the rest of the Plasma Grunts, I flash them an intimidating smile. "Anyone else want to try and take one of us prisoner?"

They look nervously at each other before running off at breakneck speed. I laugh. "Did you get all that in pictures, Brycen?"

He nods. "Sure did. Some really good ones. Not sure what you're ever going to need them for though, Touko."

"We're going to invade Team Plasma's technology system," I explain to Brycen, and everyone else. "Get these pictures up on TV so everyone can see what they really do. Maybe even hijack their audio system and give a nice little pro-rebellion speech."

Skyla dusts off her outfit and smiles. "That's going to be amazing! I can't wait – real rebellion stuff!"

"What, this wasn't enough 'rebellion' for you?" asks Chili sarcastically, gesturing to the current mess of our camp, thanks to that impromptu battle. "Now we'll have to clean it all up."

"No, actually," Shauntal interrupts, "I think it would be best for us to move camp. If the Grunts found us here and we stay, then they'll just come back later with way too many reinforcements for our Pokemon to fight off."

"I agree," I reply. "Everyone, start packing up. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"What?" Bianca shrieks indignantly. "I just got here! I'm tired!" Yeah, because you worked so hard battling those Plasma Grunts, didn't you, Bianca, I think, and then instantly regret the bitchiness. I'm tired, but I did just drag Bianca out of her hometown and far, far away from the ideal law-abiding citizen lifestyle she enjoys so much.

"Now that they've seen you here, Bells, Team Plasma is going to think you're a traitor no matter what you say," Cheren tells her gently. "The best thing to do is go along with this and come with us. Plus, you'll never get back to Nuvema Town on your own."

Bianca looks like she's on the verge of tears, but she agrees to come along, tightly clinging onto Cheren. I can't believe that I've never noticed how good he is with her.

BIANCA'S P.O.V.

So here I am, having dinner in some other crazy forest, sitting alone on a log way behind everyone else. I can't believe I'm trapped here with a bunch of psycho people who just beat up Team Plasma. I can't believe that Touko – even worse, she's leading this rebellion – and Touya are a part of this.

And Cheren looks like he's seriously considering being part of this too. But I can guess that I can understand why. After all, I've never seen Cheren look so happy or excited than when he was battling with that Pidove. Do Pokemon really make people that happy?

Well, I guess I'll never know. Team Plasma forbids people to have possession of either Pokeballs or Pokemon, so therefore, as a law-abiding citizen I refuse to touch either of them. I'll leave that to the crazies like this girl Iris and such. I still don't understand what Touko sees in them or why she thinks they're good friends.

Obviously, these 'friends' of Touko's have just been very bad influences, and now Touko's gone down to the dark side and sucked in Touya and Cheren too. But I'm a good person, I've been raised that way by my dad. No one is going to bring me to the dark side!

Surprisingly, this dinner is actually really, really good. Maybe even better than the cherri berry pie I used to make for dessert for me, Cheren, Touya, and Touko. You know, back when there was no crazy rebellion to tear us apart.

This Chili guy may be a psycho, but I absolutely have to get this yachi berry crepes recipe!

As if he's read my mind, he gets up and leaves the circle and comes to sit with me in my private corner.

"Are you enjoying?" Chili asks me. I nod politely, not quite sure I actually want to say anything to a crazy person.

"Thanks," Chili continues, as though I've complimented his food out loud. He looks at my expression and laughs. "I can tell whether or not people like my food based on how their faces look when they take a bite," he explains.

That's pretty cool. And it actually makes sense. You know, Chili's not bad for a crazy guy.

"That's cool," I tell him, nibbling on my crepe because I feel all awkward now. "This crepe is delicious."

"Thanks," Chili says again. "You know, I don't think I've really heard you talk except for when you were screaming at those Plasma Grunts that you were kidnapped and for them to take you back to Nuvema Town."

I blush. Maybe that had been just a tad overdramatic.

He smiles to show he's just teasing, and then changes his expression completely. "If you really want to go back," says Chili seriously, "I guess you should. Nobody here wants you to feel like you're kidnapped. But personally, I don't think you'll be safe back in Nuvema Town."

"Yes, I would," I tell him stubbornly. "Look, I don't know what you all have against Team Plasma but they're perfectly decent people and -"

Chili holds a hand up to stop me, so I stop because I'm polite and well-mannered. "Actually, Bianca, let me tell you something," he says quietly, and gestures to the circle of people laughing and eating dinner in front of us. The first person he points to is the crazy, cheerful girl Iris.

"That's Iris," Chili tells me, even though I already know. "I've known her since she was two. We used to be on the run from Team Plasma with her father Drayden, until Team Plasma found us. They took Drayden, and he's either dead now or in jail."

"That's so sad," I say, but Chili keeps going.

He points to the girl next to her, someone with lighter, shorter, but still purple hair. "Her name is Shauntal. She used to be a member of the Elite Four until Team Plasma took over. The rest of the Elite Four is in jail, Shauntal having only escaped by being helped by friends at the time they burned down the Elite Four's building."

I gasp. "That's terr -"

Chili cuts me off by continuing, so I figure I'll just stop making commentary. "Next to Shauntal is Skyla. They've been friends since long before the rebellion. Skyla, Shauntal and their friend Caitlin were on the run together, until Caitlin sacrificed herself to save Skyla and Shauntal. Skyla and Shauntal had to split up, too, to escape and they never saw each other again until a few days ago. I'm pretty sure all that has scarred Skyla for life."

He skips over Cheren and Touya, because I know them better than Chili does.

"And then there's Touko," he finishes. "You would think you would know Touko's story the best, but you obviously don't seem to get it."

"Excuse me!" I huffed. "I know exactly what happened to Touko. Her parents left her to work for Team Plasma when she was four and so now she lives with Tou -"

"No," Chili interrupts. "Team Plasma stole her parents away unwillingly. And she never saw them again because Ghetsis probably stuck them away in prison for life or killed them as soon as they were no longer useful."

My eyes widen. Suddenly, Touko's hatred for Team Plasma makes so much sense. They practically killed her childhood.

I nudge Chili gently. "And what about you?" I ask tentatively. "What's your horrible, tragic backstory?"

He hesitates before answering, and when he does he's staring determinedly at the ground. "I'm a triplet. I had two other brothers, Cilan and Cress, and we were basically attached at the hip. They were with me, Iris, and Drayden at first but got arrested long before the rest of us." His voice cracks and I grab his hand reassuringly. "I had to watch Cilan and Cress get arrested before my eyes, and I couldn't jump out to help them because I would get arrested too."

"Oh, Chili," I say, giving him a quick hug. "That's awful. I'm so sorry."

"It feels like I'm missing parts of me," he says with a hollow smile. "It feels so wrong to just be Chili, not Chili and Cilan and Cress, even after all these years."

I had no idea how that felt at all, so I couldn't really tell him I knew how he felt. So I said instead, "That's really sad."

"Finish your crepes," Chili says, abruptly changing the subject.

"Um, okay," I say and as I take a bite, Chili gets up and walks back to the circle of people. I get this desperate urging to follow him, but I resist. Since I'm not exactly a part of the rebellion, I don't think they'd want me over there.

About two seconds pass of me sitting alone before Touko joins me. "I saw you talking to Chili," she says, giving me a friendly shove.

"Oh, ew!" I squeal, understanding exactly what she's implying. "He's like twenty-something and that's light years older than us!"

For a minute, it feels like old times, when we could joke around for hours before break time was over and we had to get back to our strange jobs for Team Plasma. But after our giggles die down, an abnormal silence – abnormal only because there never used to be silence when Touko and I were having a discussion – falls over us.

"Look, Touko -" I start, about to apologize for not truly understanding the pain she felt about losing her parents the way she did and the hatred she had for Team Plasma, but Touko is saying something at the same time.

"Bianca, I have something I want to ask you."

"Okay," I say brightly, finishing up my crepe. "Ask away, Touko."

"I – I know you don't want to be here," says Touko quietly, "and I'm positive you'll say no but I still have to ask. Cheren's already agreed, just so you know, and I'm hoping that you'll say yes so you can stay with Cheren. But the choice is ultimately yours. Touya can take you back to Nuvema Town if you say no."

"Touko," I interrupt her little monologue. "Actually, I was trying to say something in the beginning, and I just wanna stick it in here. Chili was telling me things about Team Plasma and it's kind of changed my perspective on things. I want to join your rebellion. Oh, and I totally owe you a HUGE apology for not understanding about your parents or your feelings toward Team Plasma. Do you forgive me?"

Instead of answering like a normal person, Touko tackles me (thank God the plate that falls to the floor is empty, I have a feeling Chili would kill me for wasting any crepes) in a bear hug. "Bianca, I have never loved you more than I do right now!"

"Oh, Touko, I love you too," I say in a muffled voice from underneath her. "But do you mind getting off me?"

She gets off immediately and pulls me up. "So now I'm pretty sure you'll say yes, now that you are part of the rebellion. I want you to be a spy for the rebellion on Team Plasma."

"What?" I freak out. "When I said I wanted to be part of the rebellion, I thought it meant getting a Pokemon and living in the forest with all of you!"

"That's not all we do," Touko replies, looking slightly offended. "We have a plan. We want to infiltrate Team Plasma's technology and make the rebellion bigger than just us. Eventually, we're going to break into their castle and defeat them once and for all."

"That's extremely … optimistic," I offer, struggling for the right words to say. "And some very big dreams."

"Dream big or don't dream at all," Touko says firmly. "And listen, I know it seems like a huge, impossible job I'm giving you, but you'll be doing it with Cheren. All you have to do is keep living your law-abiding citizen life. But if you hear any gossip from Team Plasma Grunts, listen in. Memorize schedules of the security Grunts when they guard the castle doors and when they switch people. Every time you and Cheren learn something, you can report it to us."

"How will we do that?" I ask her. "If we're going to be in Nuvema Town and you'll be … wherever you move your camp to."

"I've given Cheren that Pidove," Touko answers. "You guys can write everything in mail and just send Pidove off. It has this special ability to automatically find people and not places."

"That's so cool," I answer, trying to keep the envy out of my voice when I add, "But maybe, Touko, I could have a Pokemon, too?"

She grins at me. "Of course you can, Bells! It's just, better to have only one Pokemon to hide while you're spying, because Team Plasma has to think they can trust you. But when we bring you and Cheren back to camp so we can break into Team Plasma' castle, I'll catch you a Pokemon for sure."

"So I'll wait until then," I tell her. "Don't worry, I'm very patient."

Touko tries to hide her laughter, but I catch it anyway. "Excuse me?! You don't think I'm a patient person?"

"Let's put it this way, Bells," says Touko between laughs, "you're a lot of things, but patient isn't one of them."

I make as if I'm going to hit her, and she jumps up and runs away. I chase her around the camp, both of us shrieking, while everyone else watches in amusement. It really feels as though we're back home in Nuvema Town, having fun, instead of being fugitives in a forest.

You know what, I think to myself, as I lunge for Touko and we both end up on the forest floor, giggling like crazy, screw being a law-abiding citizen. This is the most fun I've had in a long time and I fucking LOVE it!