Chapter 3:

Decisions

Jade-

I'm dying; I'm sure of it. I feel… strangely at peace. It's weird… I always thought when I died, I'd be really scared. I'm not scared of dying, Jade. But I'm scared… scared you won't make it. I've managed to press the emergency button- I can hear sirens in the distance. I hope you get this letter; because that will insure I get my dying wish… It's getting harder to write, my love. Take care of Ivy for me, okay? Help each other through this. I love you. Goodnight, sweet angel.

Jade stared blankly at the note for awhile, before folding it gently and pocketing it. Clint was gone. He was really gone. How could she continue working without him and Ivy as her partners?

Jade bolted up; suddenly alert. Ivy! She shakily called to Jerry. He got himself composed, and walked into sight. She noticed, to her slight amusement, that he didn't seem to notice her mess on his floor.

"Where's Ivy?" she squeaked.

Her dignified manner had long since vanished.

"I need her in my party. She was like a part of him…" She trailed off when he shook his head slowly.

"Jade, she died of grief eight months ago. It was her choice to not continue living. I'm sorry, Jade."

Every last bit of hope drained away from her face in an instant. Her shallow, underused well of tears, had long since dried up; so she didn't weep. The pain of losing them both, however; showed in her sorrowful eyes. The familiar spark had vanished.

"She did, however, give birth to an egg."

Jade slowly looked up as Jerry offered her his hand. "Would you like to meet your newest team member?"

She slowly nodded her head.

They walked through the rest of Jerry's living quarters and entered the "base" of LGHQ. White walls and linoleum floors made it nearly impossibly bright in the wide hallway. There were many silver doors lining the long hall, and they were heading to the last door on the left. Jade knew the last six rooms in the hall were training rooms. They were rooms that naturally made the tested Pokemon become nearly immortal among their species. Some called it EV training, but Jade called it technology.

Jerry rested his huge palm on the door scanner until it beeped; revealing a pure white lab room. They continued, and found a glass fighting arena. There were cannons everywhere, and they were firing tennis balls rapidly. That's when Jade noticed a green blur dodging the balls by gliding, leaping, and literally flipping off the walls. Jerry nodded to one of the staff and they pressed the intercom button.

"Cease fire," the short man in a lab coat barked.

The cannons stilled, and a Grovyle gracefully landed in the middle of the arena. Jade could see his eyes rippling with glee. He had obviously enjoyed his training session. Two of the staff motioned to the Pokemon, and he leaped into the air and glided out to meet Jade. His regal appearance reminded her so much of Ivy, she had to look away.

"And what is his name?" she asked blankly.

"Now, Jade. You know we wouldn't name him for you. That's up for you to decide."

She rested her eyes on him and wondered at his prowess. Treecko had been the starter she had wanted when she started her journey in Hoenn. But things never work out the way you want them. She was thoughtful for a moment, stretching her mind back to when she was 14, and starting her journey. What had she wanted to name the Treecko she never got? Then, she chuckled to herself. She had wanted to name it Emerald. The name had been graceful, and docile. But the eyes she stared into were full of cunning, intelligence, and dangerous beauty. True; a Sceptile would be graceful and docile as well, but she needed a name that reflected it's true power…

"I can't decide yet. For now; you remain Grovyle."

She thought maybe she saw a tinge of hurt in his cat-like yellow eyes, but then again; his eyes seemed to forever be gleaming with mischief.

"I know this is a painful question, Jade, but desperate times call for desperate measures…" He paused to see her reaction, but she was too busy staring wistfully at Grovyle.

"Continue, Jerry," she mumbled. He cleared his throat.

"I know you don't normally watch the news, Jade, so you probably won't have hear of them, but there is a new organization out. They're called the Dark Riders."

She nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"The female members ride Altaria, and the male members ride Garchomps. Followers of this organization who are on missions ride Skarmory. They complete missions as a sort of initiation task and are then admitted."

He took a sip of his tea, and waited before continuing.

"You're wondering how soon I'll be able to take missions again, is that it?" He shifted uncomfortably.

The huge tree of a man had always felt intimidated by Jade's piercing emerald eyes.

"Yes, Jade. Have you noticed that our guard ranks are lowered, now?"

She nodded in acknowledgement; though her eyes followed Grovyle. He was staring out the large lab window; watching a practice battle commence in the cover of the mountain. She could see his limbs twitch every now and then; no doubt visualizing himself in the battle. He was perfect.

Jerry had noticed her watching her new team member and waited patiently. When she returned her attention to him, he continued quickly.

"We're having to send our guards to either recruit new members or to join the force. Zachariah Slay is the leader of the Dark Riders. One of our spies has confirmed that Slay is developing a mechanism that should completely alter legendaries; bending their minds to follow him. The downside is; only legendaries that have naturally become corrupt are vulnerable. The rest are going to be killed off by his thousands of troops and the corrupt legendaries. What we need you to do is to heavily protect the targeted legendaries and hide them away. And the corrupt ones… you'll be expected to make decisions, Jade. Tough ones. You now will have to be capable of determining which are corrupt, and which are not, and killing those deemed corrupt."

Jerry had her full attention now. This is not good. Jane's thoughts showed in her eyes; worried, yet determined. Jade knew what her organization stood for; protecting the legendaries. They were needed to keep nature in balance. But now… her job title entailed much more; decisive action. How could she kill a legendary off just because she wasn't sure of it's loyalties? This was much bigger than her previous work; protecting a town, a Safari Zone, and chasing Pokemon Collectors away from the caves of legendaries. Her new job was to protect the world from total imbalance.

Jade felt terribly small as she uttered the words "I'm in."

This chapter was pretty heavy. We should see some action in the next chapter; but i won't rush the story. Please review