"Thoughts"
"A pokemon speaking through telepathy"
"(Pokemon speaking to each other)"

Chapter 22: Passing the Test pt 2

Arceus found himself straightening,

"So…she's in her pokemon form…" Arceus let out a few chuckles, "Paul…looks like you've failed…"

Neji and Yori jerked their heads away from the battle before them as they heard Glameow's cry of pain.

"(Glameow!)"
"Are you alright?"

Glameow grumbled as she got to her feet and sent a glare at the Toxicroak before her,

"(That was a cheap shot…)"
"(Hehe…whatever it takes to win!)" Toxicroak replied with a smirk

Glameow hissed as her spring like tail began charging electricity,

"(Tch… Fine…Shock Wave!)"

Yori watched what was happening from the corner of his eyes as he and Neji returned to their battles,

"(Shouldn't we help her? He does have a type advantage over her…)"
"Leave her be…I'm sure she can handle herself…"

Yori sent a worried glance towards Glameow before returning to his enemies, deciding to obey his senior's command.

ROAAAR!

Zoey's eyes widened as Mel, now a black Charizard, let out a mighty roar. Mel's wings spread to their full length before giving a powerful flap that created gusts of wind in the area Zoey and the pokemon were in; and in the blink of an eye, Mel was gone. Zoey stood agape before Uxie's voice rang out,

"Zoey! Come on!"

Zoey was snapped out of her daze to see that Uxie and the other pokemon had ran ahead to the warzone that Mel most likely disappeared to. Before she could catch up, a long white bandage caught Zoey's attention. It was the bandage that was wrapped around Mel's injury.

"It must've came off when she transformed…"

As Zoey bent over to pick up the object of her attention, she noticed how it was stained red. Zoey's eyes widened as her head turned sharply to look over to the battlefield,

"No way…her wound reopened…"

"Mama!"

Cerulean eyes moved from left to right, searching for the source of the voice.

"Something wrong, May?"
"Did you hear that, Drew?"
"Hear what?" Drew asked as an eyebrow was raised

Both May and Drew were currently on a ship heading towards Pastoria City. Roselia turned her head to the side and reached over to tap the female trainer's leg. After gaining her interest, Roselia raised her roses up in a gesture that told May she wanted to be picked up. Drew's lips curled into a smile as he watched May pick up Roselia and hugged the rose pokemon close to her chest.

"What about you, Roselia? Did you hear that?"
"Rose? Rose Roselia!" the rose pokemon replied as a bewildered look crossed her face

Drew sighed as he moved his hair away from his eyes and leaned against the railing,

"Maybe you're just losing it"

May instantly puffed up her cheeks while sending Drew a glare,

"Drew! I am not losing it!"
"Whatever you say, May" chuckled Drew
"Drew!"

"(Tsubaki, please! Anytime…Anytime but now!)" Kakashi exclaimed as his lover doubled over
"( I don't…think…the baby cares…about what's going….going on out here…)" Tsubaki replied through pants and groans

Buneary, who was nearby, noticed how Tsubaki was clutching her stomach as Kakashi held her in his arms.

"(You guys! I think Tsubaki's about to go into labor!)"

All the pokemon within hearing range of Buneary stared at her wide eyed before their gazes shifted to the said pokemon. Pikachu immediately jumped onto his trainer's shoulder. Ash let out a surprised yelp as the electric pokemon caught him of guard.

"Pika! Pikachu! Chu!"

Pikachu placed his paws on Ash's face and made his trainer look in the direction of Kakashi and Tsubaki.

"Huh? Brock! I think one of the Sevipers got hurt!"

Ash led Brock and Dawn over to Tsubaki and Kakashi. Once at their side, Brock bent down and examined the snake pokemon. After a few seconds, Brock gasped loudly as he realized what was wrong with Tsubaki,

"Ash! Dawn! Quickly! Go back to the camp, get a large bowl of warm water and towels a lot of towels!"
"What? What's wrong Brock?" Ash questioned

Brock pulled out a napkin from his pocket and wiped the sweat that was forming Tsubaki's forehead,

"She's going into labor…"
"What!" Ash's eyes widened before he made a dash for the camp, "Dawn! Let's get the things Brock need!"

"…" Dawn's eyes wondered over to Paul before she ran after Ash

"Please be safe, Luxray…"

Paul grunted while dodging attacks the Zangoose and Seviper tribes threw at him. All of a sudden, Paul watched as electricity zapped a few opponents. Pikachu rushed to Paul's side as his enemies fell to the ground with a thud. Pikachu turned his head slightly to speak to Paul,

"(I'll give you a hand…Paul)"

"(The other pokemon and I…we know you're really Paul, we won't say anything to the trainers if you don't want us too)"

Paul slowly closed his eyes before smirking,

"…Thanks"

With those words said, both electric pokemon charged back into the fray. Buizel smirked as he punched his palm with his fist,

"(No way am I letting those two have all the fun! Aqua Jet!)"

Buizel, surrounded by water, lunged forward, followed closely by Elekid.

"(Thunder!)"

Chimchar looked over to the other pokemon and they all nodded their heads in silent agreement, following Buizel and Elekid's lead and going into battle.

High above the fighting, Mel hovered. She made sure not to flap her wings too hard, seeing as a few of the pokemon down below have sharp hearing. Mel's black body blended well in the night sky. The flame at the tip of her tail, her red gleaming eyes, and the crimson color of the inside of her wings stood out but only if someone cared to look up. The Charizard gazed over to the sun that was slowly rising; it's light walking through the blades of grass and towards the battleground.

"Come on Paul…"

Tsubaki, now gasping and panting, slowly opened her eyes as she felt a warm, damp towel placing itself on her forehead. Kakashi's furry paws brushing away any dirt that found it's way onto her body. Tsubaki gazed upward, towards the piercing red eyes watching Tsubaki let out a breath of air as she realized who it was,

"(M-Mel…)"

Hearing the light whisper, Kakashi immediately looked up to see Mel.

"(C-Commander!)"

Mel turned her gaze towards Kakashi when she heard the said pokemon's yell. Mel smiled softly down at the two pokemon and motioned for the two to keep quite of her presence, seeing as how no one paid attention to Kakashi's yell, much less hear it through all the chaos on the battleground. Kakashi simply nodded his head and returned to aiding Tsubaki with Brock's help.

"She's hesitating…" Uxie whispered
"Well, of course she would!" Mesprit replied, "She doesn't want to endanger Tsubaki or the baby…they're both vulnerable right now…"
"Even so…"

Daichi then noticed the bandages Zoey held tightly. Knowing that Zoey couldn't understand him if he spoke, Daichi gently nudged Zoey's hand. Zoey looked over to Daichi to see him asking a question with his eyes. After staring for a few seconds, Zoey realized what the Torterra wanted,

"Oh, these bandages?" Zoey continues after receiving a nod, "They're from that wound Mel had before. I think they probably came off after she transformed"

Daichi's head turned slightly to silently gaze at his partner before looking back at Zoey when he heard her speak once more,

"I'm afraid that her wound might have reopened…I know it's not a fatal wound but a wound is still a wound…"

Daichi simply nodded his head.

"Let's go over there! We'll have a closer look at to what's happening" Mesprit suggested

The others agreed and made their way towards a closer yet well hidden spot.

In the mist of battle, no one noticed that two particular large Zangoose and Seviper were closing in on Paul. Mel saw the two to be the leaders of each tribe.

"Luxray! Look out!"

Paul's ears twitched as he heard the warning. His head looked over his shoulder to see a large Zangoose with his paw aglow,

"(Crush Claw!)"

Paul grunted as he barely dodged the incoming attack, only to be hit hard by another from behind,

"(Poison Tail!)"

Paul groaned as he slid on the ground. Once he got to his feet, Paul noticed that Dawn had returned and was watching with concerned eyes. Paul looked back to the pokemon that had sneaked up on him to see a Seviper, a large one. Paul took a fighting stance as he realized they were the tribe leaders.

"(Why are you interfering?)" the Zangoose leader questioned
"(This quarrel is between us…)" Seviper continued
"(Because this is my stupid test…now stop fighting!" Paul yelled back

Zangoose chuckled,

"(And why should we do that?)"
"(Why would your words affect us?)"

"(Think about it?)" Paul reasoned, "(Have any of you even stopped to wonder why you all 'hate' each other?)"

At hearing the question, all but the tribal leaders looked to their fellow members for an answer, but none was given. Seviper hissed at Paul,

"(Why would we question the ways our tribe has done things?)"

Paul was about to respond when a loud piercing yell was heard. Everyone turned to the source of yelling to see that Tsubaki was now going into labor. The Seviper's leader's eyes widened,

"(She was pregnant…)"

Paul then noticed how a large shadow was now standing over him. Paul turned his head to see Mel,

"(Who are you?)"
"(That doesn't matter. Right now we have to go to the Hall of Origin. Arceus wants to speak with you…)"

Paul slowly nodded his head when he noticed that the sun's light was now over the clearing they were all in. What kept Paul from reverting to human was the fact that he stood in Mel's shadow, not a single ray of light had hit Paul yet. Mel motioned over to the trees that Zoey and the Lake Guardians were hidden. The two disappearing in that direction while everyone was distracted with Tsubaki. Once with Zoey, Paul turned back into a human. He looked over to Mel,

"Who's this?"

Instead of receiving a verbal answer, Zoey walked over to Mel and slipped her black wristband back around Mel's right arm. Flames soon surrounded Mel and when they died down, Mel stood there back in her human form. Paul growled as he glared at Mel,

"Tch, you!"

Mel let out a breath of air as she ran her fingers through her hair,

"Still mad, eh?"

Paul's growling only intensified. Before the two could go any further, Azelf hovered between the two,

"Come on you two! His Majesty is waiting"

After a nod and a few grumbles, the three trainers and four pokemon vanished in a bright light.

Saturn grunted loudly,

"This is taking too long… and those two have escaped me. Tch, Master Cyrus won't be pleased"

Saturn lifted Toxicroak's pokeball and recalled the frog-like pokemon.

"Glam?"

Glameow looked on in confusion as her opponent disappeared. Saturn snapped his fingers, signaling the Golbat to retreat. Glameow glared at the trainer as Neji and Yori reached her side. Saturn sighed as he walked away,

"It's enough to know your enemy's strength…"

"Wait!" Neji called out, "Why are you after the three Lake Guardians?"

"So that we can create a more perfect world…"

With those words said, Saturn left with the Golbats at his heel.

AN: Um...sorry? n.n"