"Where am I?" Rae muttered to herself. Her wrists hurt, but her head hurt most of all. She looked up and around the room. "Get Drake in here, now." She demanded to the door, hoping it'd draw someone's attention. She quickly surveyed where she was. It was dark and damp, with little light coming from a lamp hanging on a ceiling. She saw that she was tied to a wooden armchair, her wrists chaffed.
The wooden door opened with a creak as she sneezed from the dirt and dust. Three figures walked in, Rae, thinking they'd be Gym Leaders, glared as hard as she could. But when she realized who they actually were, she shrank in size.
"You… you guys too?" She exclaimed, in both fright and astonishment.
The man with the purple hair gave a smirk. "Power, fame, control, we're surprised you haven't already gave into our cause. Don't worry though; soon we'll have leverage against you."
"Leave my mother out of this." Rae said coldly, but shrinking inside. She recognized these three, three of the Elite Four. Aaron, the bug Pokemon user, Bertha, the ground Pokemon specialist, and their supposed leader, Lucian, the physic enthusiast.
Lucian gave a dark laugh while the other two flashed smiles. "Your mother? No, we promised we wouldn't attack Gym Leaders unless they themselves aggravate us. We know who would be a better choice to go after you. And hey, we know he's on his way here. We called for him."
"Leave Gary alone!" She yelled, trying to get free. Lucian motioned to Aaron, who had a Scyther of his cut her bonds. She fell from the chair, hitting the floor with a bang. She stood up and glared at the three. Lucian snapped, and a Gallade grabbed her from behind, lifting its sword to her neck. She gulped.
Lucian walked menacingly towards her, getting at her level. "You will cooperate us once we have Gary, no matter what, you understand? Or we will kill him. We will."
She stared at him then looked back at Bertha and Aaron. Finally, she nodded.
"Gary?" Ash's voice called over his xtransiver. "Gary, I defeated Crasher Wake, and I think Drew finished off Fantina about an hour ago."
"Have you heard anything from Paul or Misty?"
"Nothing from Paul. Misty's on her Gyrados, heading to meet me in Veilstone. She dominated against Roark."
Gary nodded as he flew on Charizard, nervously fingering his and Rae's PokeBalls. "Good. Try to find out what you can on how Paul is, maybe send May to check on him."
Ash promised he would, then paused for a second. Gary dodged a group of Pelipers as he made his way closer to Iron Island.
"Ash, I've got to go." Gary said as he circled the island, looking for the best place to land.
"Gary. Where are you? Let me come for backup." Ash pleaded through the xtransiever. Gary shook his head.
"I'll be fine. I've got Rae's and my Pokemon. They're ridiculously strong. I'll get her and get out."
Ash sighed, knowing he couldn't reason with him. "You've got three hours. If I don't hear back by then, I'm coming for you. Your grandfather will trace you for me."
Gary knew it was a threat but decided to pretend he didn't hear it. He turned off his xtransiever completely, returning Charizard to its Pokeball. He jumped down into a crevice into the ground he remembered from his training here. Quietly with his Umbreon at his side he made his way towards the bottom of the cave.
Five minutes of walking he stopped for a moment and grabbed a swig of fresh water he had packed in his bag, giving a sip to Umbreon.
"Gary! Get out!" He heard Rae's voice yell, a swift crack followed with a thud as he and Umbreon began running towards where he heard Rae. He heard a voice but couldn't make out the words, tripping he hit his knee and cursed silently. He glanced around him, he was at a dead end. Puzzled, he stood up.
"Shut up you stupid girl! I swear, if it wasn't for the fact you can only be alive to get Arceus, I would kill you for that." A shrill old lady voice yelled. Gary spun around and ran back where he came. Instead of taking a right like he did last time, he took a left as the voices became clearer.
"Maybe we were wrong and he's not coming. Not that that matters to us, boss would be happy that by far. However, he'd be a little disappointed."
Gary skidded to a stop behind the three Elites and in front of Rae. He blanched at who he was dealing with, but cleared his throat.
"I think you guys were talking about me?" He said as the three spun around, Rae trying to make a run towards him. However, Lucian snapped and his Gallade grabbed her once again with the sword at her neck.
Gary paled and backed up. His back hit the wall as he grabbed for a Pokeball inside of his jeans, not even sure which one he had grabbed. "Let Rae come with me." He stated, much more calmly than he felt inside.
"There's one of you and three of us." Lucian said as he took a step back towards Rae. "Surrender, or else you don't want something to happen to your precious Rae." He said, running the back of his hand against her cheek. She shuddered and looked at him with pleading eyes, mouthing "Run."
"Lucian, I think you need to learn to count." Paul said, coming up from behind Gary. "There are three against three. Have a fair battle, and whatever side wins gets to take Rae."
"You expect us to let Rae battle?" Bertha sneered as Gary gave Paul a look of shock.
"What? Are the Elite Four scared of three teenagers?" Rae said, mustering some sort of courage within her, while staring at Gary. He gave her a brief smile, and then turned towards the three threats.
Lucian glanced back at Rae. He knew the boss said to keep her away from Gary at all costs, but the two of them couldn't be that good at all. He snapped his fingers and the Gallade let go of Rae, letting her fall to the hard ground onto her knees. Gary made to sprint towards her, but Paul held him back under the watchful eye of Lucian as the three of the Elites moved out of the way, leaving Rae free to them.
"Each of us can use one Pokemon. Last competitor standing wins." Lucian proclaimed as Gary picked Rae off the ground and held her to his chest. Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out two of his Pokeballs.
"I don't have any Pokemon." Rae whispered to him as Gary held her close. He reluctantly let go of her and passed her nine Pokeballs from his jean pocket.
"Your mom gave me them. You know what you need to do." Her murmered as he removed two of his own. She looked down at the Pokemon, then over towards the three Elites awaiting their choices.
"You're right." She said as she stood in front of Lucian in the middle with about fifty feet in between them. Gary on her left and Paul on her right, she let out her Pokeball. "Now, show your stuff, Garchomp!"
"Charizard, protect Rae!" Gary proclaimed as he sent out Charizard. Paul sent out Frosslass with a flick.
Lucian, Bertha and Aaron all gave each other a look before sending out their three respective Pokemon; Gallade, Hippowdown and Drapion.
"Hippowdon, dig." Bertha ordered, making the first move as she pointed towards Rae's Garchomp. Rae, however, just smirked and countered.
"Garchomp, Earthquake!" She yelled as Charizard took off, knowing what his actual trainer was doing. All of them lost their balance, including the Elites. Gary barely caught Rae before she hit her head on the ground. She gave him and Paul a reassuring smile as she looked to see Bertha recalling her Pokemon and the other two weak.
"The cave!" Lucian yelled recalling Gallade, as Aaron did the same, running towards where Gary, Paul and Rae now stood.
"You dumb bitch, your attack made the cave unstable!" Aaron yelled as he made his way to grab Rae.
Gary blocked his way and decked him, knocking him out. Paul fended off Lucian and Bertha watched in the background.
"Rae, run on Garchomp now." Paul grunted as he dodge Lucian's punch, punching him and knocking him over. Gary grabbed onto her arm and led her through the cavern with Paul behind them, Garchomp blocking the Elite's way for following.
Not a one of them said a word until they made it above ground and got a ride back to the mainland on a boat, to Eterna City. Rae, who as soon as they reached the safety of the boat, fell directly asleep with her head on Gary's shoulder, stirred quietly as the two talked, her hand loosely intertwined with Gary's.
"Paul, you showed up at the best time."
The plum haired boy shrugged. "I saw you touch down here on Charizard. Figuring you must have been up to no good, I followed after you. I heard Rae scream, but decided to stay back."
"You wanted me to get the satisfaction?"
He nodded. "I didn't see any way you could have won though. We got lucky with the cave in."
Gary nodded as he looked at the girl lying beside him. "I didn't even think of it."
"Don't ever run off to face the Elites alone again. Or lose her again." Paul said, watching the water. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost my girl. Even if she doesn't know it, she does mean a lot."
"Tell her." Gary replied with a smile. "She'd understand."
Ash, Misty and Dawn stood outside of the Veilstone Gym with Maylene and Volkner, awaiting the three's touchdown.
"There's two larger Pokemon flying towards us." Volkner pointed out to the others, they nodded silently and awaited touchdown. Dawn was furious at Paul for not letting her know. The guys had to stop her from going to Clenlave City herself to try to rescue him. She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot as he dismounted his Gliscor and walked up to her, his hands in his pockets, only looking at her.
"I was worried." She said with a clipped turn, her eyes showing the hurt. "I thought you were overtaken by Bryon and we'd have to come get you next." Her voice caught at the end as Gary and Rae walked up. Gary had his arm loosely around her waist, Rae's head resting against his arm. Volkner and Gary looked each other in the eyes, daring the other to say something as Rae closed hers.
Paul nodded. "I'm sorry. I only thought in the moment, I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I was worried about Gary's safety and didn't think."
Dawn threw herself into an unsuspecting Paul's arms. "Just don't do it to me again." She said, his chest muffling most of her words.
"I won't." He said kissing her on the top of the head. He let go of her but she stayed at his side, smiling.
"Where did you find her?" Misty asked as she gave Rae a hug, taking her away from Gary and leading her inside. The rest followed.
"Iron Island. That's why Paul was able to spot me easily." He replied as they followed them in. "Misty, Ash, can you guard Rae? I need to run an errand."
Rae turned around and glared. "I do not need a guard." She said, setting three Pokeballs on the table.
"Rae…" Gary pleaded. She looked into his eyes, and then nodded.
"Fine."