Disregard what I said in the last chapter, I have too many ideas right now, and the likely hood of me doing much over the holidays is slim (especially since I'm getting Fallout 3 for Christmas.) So all revisions are delayed until mid-January.

It's all good though, because this chapter is my personal favourite so far, I hope you guys like it as well.

By the way, "This" = Flashback

Chapter 14: Searching

Ugh, my head...

"Where is it? Where did it go?"

Huh? Is something going on?

"Over there, get it before it escapes!"

Hey guys stop! I'm part of the brotherhood too!

"That's the same beast that killed all those pokemon!"

No, I couldn't have, it wasn't me.

"Oh no, its getting away!"

"Everyone, after it!"

---

Location: Room 160

Lloyd awoke, startled by the dream. He found himself lying on the floor, his bed covers trailing behind him, evidence he had fallen out of bed sometime during the night.

Was it a dream? Thought Lloyd. Everything felt so real...

Rita and Isaac were still asleep, Rita not making any noise, Isaac making a lot of noise from snoring, much louder then when he first went to sleep. Lloyd couldn't believe such a small pokemon could snore so loudly.

Lloyd decided to not wake them, and instead bring them some breakfast, much like Rita had done before the first mission for him. It was only fair to pay back her generosity.

He opened the door to the hallway and expected the usual bustling crowd of pokemon, all on their way to go somewhere, but this morning the hallways were empty, with not a single pokemon in sight.

He didn't see any pokemon at all until he got a few steps down the hallway, when a pokemon called to him from behind, a marshtomp, it was Ewan.

"Lloyd! Wait a sec!"

Lloyd stopped walking, Ewan ran the whole way down the hall to him, breathing heavily.

"You need to go back to your room, something very bad is going on."

"What is it Ewan?"

"That pokemon from the other day, the one that killed all those pokemon, its back, and its inside the building right now!"

"Your kidding, what are we gonna do?"

"We have the best teams doing a search, everyone else is required to stay in their rooms. Now go!"

Lloyd didn't argue any more, he went straight back to his room.

"That's the same beast that killed all those pokemon."

What's going on? Why is this pokemon doing all these awful things... And why am I dreaming about it?

Lloyd got back to his room, but something was strange, the room was somehow different then when he left. Rita was still in bed, and so was...

Isaac wasn't there, he was gone.

Lloyd wasn't sure what to do, Isaac must have left right after he did. Lloyd went right to Rita and shook her awake.

"Rita wake up! Something bad's happening!"

"Ugghhh, Lloyd what the heck are you going on about this early in the morning?"

"That pokemon from two days ago, the one that killed all those pokemon, its back, and Isaac is missing."

"Great..." She sluggishly got out of bed and yawned loud and deep. "So what are we going to do, go look for him?"

"No, we aren't allowed to leave the rooms, we'll just tell someone who's on lookout and they'll find him for us..."

"Lloyd, they probably have enough on their hands with killer pokemon on the loose, and Isaac is our friend, I don't want to have been in here sitting on our butts while hes out getting torn to shreds."

Lloyd was torn between obeying Ewan's command to stay, and Rita's demand to go searching for Isaac.

"Umm, yeah, your right Rita. They are busy enough looking for that pokemon, lets find him ourselves."

Lloyd opened the door, checked the hallway to see if it was clear, then went out of their room, Rita following behind.

"Where should we look?" Asked Rita.

"Lets focus on the places he's been first. That would be... the cafeteria, the pool, and the mail room."

"Sounds good, you go first."

---

Location: The Mail Room

No, this is silly, what will I say? What could I possibly say? Isaac was pacing back and forth inside the Mail Room, thinking to himself. This is stupid, this is stupid, THIS IS STUPID!

Isaac hadn't been able to think of anything else since coming here yesterday, he spent the entire time at the pool swimming slowly along the bottom, his mind elsewhere.

"Excuse me?"

Someone called to Isaac from the door of the mail room, it was someone he'd never met before, a Swellow.

"Are you aware of the situation here Piplup? The entire building is on lockdown and everyone except the teams sent to investigate the building are to stay in their rooms."

Isaac was embarrassed, he was pacing back and forth alone, not paying attention at all, not even aware of what was going on.

"I was... Umm... Waiting for someone." He didn't mean it to sound as such, but the last part came out sounding like a question.

The Swellow looked at him, staring at him, thunking over what Isaac had just said.

"Fine then, go and get who you were waiting for and come back then, and please hurry up."

"Umm, but..." Isaac was trapped now, he had no choice but to confront the problem.

"Hurry up I said, I have better things to do."

Isaac didn't argue with the Swellow further, he went into the back room and searched for the pokemon he was looking for, the pokemon he had been thinking of since first laying his eyes on her, the mail room Buneary.

---

Lloyd and Rita went around the corner to the mail room, but Lloyd retreated, pulling Rita back. He, at the last moment, spotted one of the pokemon conducting the search, a Swellow.

"Now what?" Asked Lloyd.

They already checked the pool, which had been emptied for cleaning sometime during the night. After that they checked the cafeteria, which was completely empty, all the chairs placed upside down on the tables.

The only place Isaac has been that they could check was here, in the mail room. Why he would be here, neither Lloyd or Rita could guess, but it was their only other lead.

"I think I have an idea Lloyd, wait here."

Before he could stop her, she walked around the corner and was spotted by the Swellow.

"Hey! All pokemon are to report to their rooms, the whole building is on lock..."

"Please help me!" She said, altering her voice to sound like a typical damsel in distress. Lloyd wasn't buying it, but it seemed Swellow didn't notice. "Some evil, giant pokemon came and tried to eat me! It went upstairs just a second ago, if you hurry you can catch it!"

"Oh, well, thanks for reporting that for me, now hurry back to your room." Swellow took off into the air, flying straight through the hallway, passing Lloyd without noticing him.

Lloyd went over and joined Rita, impressed by her acting. "Great job, you've done this before haven't you?"

"Hundreds of times, guys are so easy to manipulate."

"... Hey!"

---

Isaac stepped down the long stair case, not knowing whether he wanted to find the Buneary or not.

Its why I came here... But I'm so embarrassed... How can I possibly tell her?

Isaac had never felt the feeling before, at least not for a girl, and the exact same feeling. But he could tell the second he saw the Buneary in the mail room. Isaac knew the feeling inside him, it was love. He loved the Buneary, despite not knowing her, not even talking to her, not knowing she existed before he saw her.

I'm not going to tell her. He thought. I'm just gonna wait, hang out with her for awhile then ask her. Yeah, that's a good idea.

Whether or not he wanted to speak to her now, he had no choice, he just had to hope he didn't screw up and say the wrong thing, make her not like him.

Oh man, oh man, oh man...

Isaac made it down the long steps, the only light came from what he figured to be a candle, hidden behind the many stacks of papers, she was indeed down here.

Oh man, I can't do this, I'll just go back and tell that Swellow she wasn't here and...

"Hello? Is someone there?

At that exact moment, as soon as the Buneary has spoken, called out to him, Isaacs brain shut right down, not a single thought crossed his mind.

She cautiously walked over to investigate, peaking around a stack of papers to get a look at him.

"Oh, I remember you."

She remembers me! He thought to himself, his brain suddenly working again.

"How can I help you?"

What am I going to say? Oh man...

"Uhhh, what's up?"

Isaac wanted to get on the ground and pound his head into the floor. What's up? WHATS UP! That's the best I can think of?!

"Nothing I guess. Is that why you came? To ask me what's up?"

"Ummmm... No. I just..."

Ask her name stupid, ask her now!

"When we met in the mail room... I didn't get your name, I wanted to properly introduce myself."

Good Isaac, good! Keep it up!

"That's sweet of you. My name is Jennifer, but my friends... Well, I don't have any friends... I just call myself Jen. What's your name?

Jennifer! What a beautiful name! ... What was my name again?

"My name is... Jennifer... No... That's your name."

She stared at him, not at all phased by the weird stuff he was saying.

"My name is Isaac, its nice to meet you... Jen."

Nobody said anything, to Isaac it felt like an eternity, but in actuality, it was about four seconds.

"Is that all Isaac? Just my name?"

What else can I ask her? Should I just go right for it and ask if she wants to hang out sometime? I don't want to look like a fool, not so soon...

"I was wondering if later... you would... want... to..."

"...to?"

SAY IT YOU MORON!

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out later, maybe tonight after my team goes on our mission?"

Please say yes, please say yes, please say...

"Sure I guess. Perhaps we could see a movie, I was going to go anyways."

"Uh, yeah, sounds great. I'll come here after I get back."

Good boy, now turn around and run like hell.

He said good bye, then turned tail and fled back up the stairs, fleeing from her as if she had just transformed into a giant, Piplup eating demon.

---

Like their room, the pool, and the cafeteria, the mail room was completely void of any pokemon, including Isaac.

"Maybe he went downstairs?" Suggested Rita.

"Why on earth would he go down there?"

She just shrugged. "Looking for a bathroom maybe?"

Lloyd lowered his head and placed his hand on his forehead. "Rita, this is serious, that pokemon could be anywhere in this place."

"I know, I know, chill. I'm sure Isaacs perfectly fine."

"Well, lets find out for ourselves that he's fine, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Up the stairs came the very pokemon they were looking for, Isaac had run up the stairs at full speed, almost tripping on the last step. He stood their with an awkward look on his face.

"Hey guys, hows it going?"

"Hows it going?" Said Rita. "We've been looking everywhere for you, where have you been?"

"Umm, checking something on the database computer... Yeah, I thought I would investigate some things about... stuff."

"Uh huh, right." Said Lloyd. "It doesn't matter anymore, lets just go, we'll be in a lot of trouble if we get spotted."

"Yeah, I remember, that Swellow told me to go back to my room. What's going on?"

"There is a pokemon in the headquarters." Said Lloyd "Two days ago it killed dozens of pokemon, and destroyed a bunch of buildings. When I woke up this morning, Ewan told me it was spotted here somewhere!"

"Oh, well that's not good."

"Understatement of the year." Said Rita. "Now lets go, that Swellow will probably come back soon."

---

Location: Room 160

It was little after noon, all three of them had successfully gotten back to their room without being spotted.

Isaac wasn't saying anything, but something was definitely different then before, on the way back from Pipton. It almost felt like Isaac was hiding something, refusing to speak in case what he was hiding slipped out.

Rita on the other hand couldn't stop talking, after getting back to the room, she was suddenly reminded where they were going, and she had not stopped talking about that radio guy, Kane.

"He is sooooo gorgeous, if I had a man like that I would be happy my entire life. Did I mention he was rich too? He has millions of poke, all from his days as an adventurer, isn't that awesome? Not to mention he has his own radio show, not many people in the wasteland can say that truthfully huh? Do you think maybe I could get a date with him? Oh, I'm gonna ask him when we've done, maybe we can get that instead of the poke as a reward! The five thousand would be chump change after we got married... Did I mention he was rich?"

Isaac wasn't listening at all, staring out into space. Lloyd wished he was that lucky, even with a pillow over his head he could clearly hear every word that came out of Rita's mouth.

"Rita, that's the eighth time you said he was rich, the twelfth time you said he was good looking, and the third time you asked if he might date you. Please, we get it and..."

"But I bet I forgot to mention he has his own radio station, that practically makes him an actor or something. He's the most popular radio station in the wasteland. Plus he's just so hot, and not just because he's a fire type pokemon either!"

Lloyd pressed the pillow down over his head even harder, trying desperately to drown out Rita, or smoother himself, whatever worked.

Like an angel from above, Ewan came in, saving him from anymore.

"Good news guys, while we are still being cautious, we are letting everyone go now. Your free to go do that mission."

Lloyd was about to thank him, but Rita excitedly jumped off her bed and ran to the door, pushing Ewan out of the way.

"Come on guys! Lets go! We don't wanna be late!"

Rita ran ahead, not waiting for either of them.

"Rita wait up!" As he passed by Ewan he whispered to him. "Save us, please!"

"Lloyd, come oooooon!" Rita came back, bit into Lloyds arm, and pulled him down the hall.

"Oww! Rita that hurts!"

Ewan was about to leave too, but then he noticed that Isaac wasn't going anywhere, he hadn't done or said anything since Ewan got there.

"Hey, Isaac!"

"...Huh?" He said, sounding like he just woke up.

"Rita and Lloyd just left, you better follow them."

"Hm, I guess."

"Is something the matter? You sound like you've got something on your mind, are you still thinking about what happened in Pipton?"

"No, Lloyd already convinced me that it wasn't my fault. This is something different, nothing bad or anything."

"Well? What is it then?"

"Its... A girl."

"Oh... Ooooooh! I see now, you found yourself a girl friend, am I right?"

"No, no! Well... I asked her on a date, well I don't think she knows its a date, I just don't know what to do..."

"Well, I for one have had many a girlfriend in my days. A heartbreaker like me probably isn't the best guy to give you advice on the subject. The only thing I can't say is be yourself, and maybe she'll accept you."

"Huh... Thanks Ewan. I feel a lot better."

"Its no problem, now go catch up to your friends."

Isaac got off his bed and began to catch up, but Ewan stopped him as he passed.

"One moment, who is it, if you don't mind me asking."

"Umm..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Secrets safe with me!"

"Its... The Buneary who works in the mail room."

Ewan let him go, letting Isaac go catch up with Rita and Lloyd. Ewan was in disbelief at what Isaac had just said, at who he just admitted his love interest was.

"He's in love with that loony girl? He's in love with Jennifer? Oh dear..."

---

Location: Havok City, just outside the Brotherhood HQ

Isaac finally caught up with Rita and Lloyd, who had stopped just outside the HQ so Rita could look at her map.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Isaac. Ok Rita, where do we need to go. Where is PNR?"

Rita looked for a few more seconds, then she found it.

"Here it is, according to the map its about... three hours south of here? So not counting what ever it is Kane needs us to do. The whole mission should take a little over six hours. Depending on what the mission specifically entails, we should be back before night time."

"Great!" Said Isaac, a bit too enthusiastically.

"Why?" Asked Lloyd. "What's going on with you tonight?"

"Umm..." Isaac didn't want to tell them yet, he didn't really want to tell anyone at all, he only told Ewan because he pressured him into telling him. "Its nothing, I just have plans is all, private stuff you know?"

Nobody said anything. It was obvious to Rita and Lloyd that he was hiding something, but it sounded innocent enough.

"So anyway." Said Rita. "We still have plenty of supplies from Pipton, so we don't need to go shopping. Shall we go?"

"Yeah!" Said Isaac, again with a little too much enthusiasm. "Lets go! The faster the better!"

Isaac lead the way out of town, Rita and Lloyd having no choice but to follow after him. It was obvious Isaac was in a hurry, and nothing they could say or do was gonna stop that.

---

Location: The Database Room

Jennifer had finished distributing the mail early, so she decided to get to work early on updating the database. That was the purpose of the mountain of papers, each one had new information she needed to input into the database. It was definitely not going to be finished in her lifetime, even if she lived to see two-hundred.

For some reason, she couldn't concentrate, which was not like her. Typically she was so overloaded with work that she had no time to think, but the amount of mail she had to distribute this morning was minimal, and for the first time in weeks she had spare time, or at least, time she didn't have to work at top speed.

Who was that boy, that Piplup, earlier? She said to herself. He was very nice, but he seemed a bit... I don't know.

She'd never had anyone come visit her before, in fact she rarely have anyone talk to her at all other then her sisters and brothers, but they typically just teased her.

Nobody's been that nice to me...

Jennifer didn't like to think about her social life, ever since getting her job in the mail room, she never had the time to hang out with friends, and eventually lost touch with everyone she knew. Even before the job, she only had a few, maybe two or three, friends she hung out with regularly.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out later, maybe tonight after my team goes on our mission?"

He was strange, but maybe that's a good thing, no that doesn't make any sense...

What ever was the goal of that Piplup, Isaac, Jennifer couldn't tell. She figured she'd just go with it and see how things turned out.

Better finish my work if I'm gonna have enough time to see that movie.

Sighing in the darkness, Jennifer took a pile of papers and began to type the information into the computer, repeating the same task she had been doing for years, bored out of her mind.