Chapter 5

"Espeon, Shadow Rush!"

"Bella, move!"

The Umbreon was gone in a flash, but Thorn still managed to clip her shoulder. Her paw slipped, but she still managed to regain her footing and prepare for her next attack.

"Thorn! What are you doing? Why are you listening to him? You belong to-"

"Can it, will you?" the perp snarled. "Espeon belongs to Team Snagem now. He won't listen to you. Shadow Rush!"

Bella moved of her own accord this time, and Jack was grateful; he couldn't seem to think. He knew what had happened, according to Cora. He knew the only way he could capture Thorn and bring him home was to weaken him enough to catch. He knew that if he did nothing, Thorn's aura would continue to be clouded by this darkness.

But he couldn't call the attacks. Not on Thorn. Thorn, who was like a sibling to him and Cora, just like Bella. Please, not Thorn.

Bella howled as Thorn's attack finally connected. "Bella!" he screamed.

He gritted his teeth. As much as he loved Thorn, he couldn't allow this to happen; he loved Bella more. "Bella, Shadowball, now." She looked back at him, shocked; clearly, she was just as apprehensive about attacking her sibling as her master was. "Don't look at me like that; it's the only way. Now!"

Slowly, the Umbreon turned away from him, ears and head drooping. He flinched. But then he heard her low growl and saw the ball of energy forming. With a scream, it was released and hit Thorn dead on.

Jack's eyes widened as the smoke cleared. Thorn seemed to have taken little, if any, damage. Really, he seemed flat out pissed.

"Bella, Bite!" he commanded, flustered, trying to make a comeback as brilliant as his ones back home.

He never had a chance; Thorn used another Shadow Rush, and this time, Bella couldn't get back up.

"Pathetic," the perp sneered, reaching into a pocket. Jack's eyes widened, knowing he was going to try and create a Snag Ball. He fumbled for his own Pokeball to protect Bella. If he could only return her fast enough...

The Pokeball slipped out of his fingers, rolling a few feet away. Cursing, he lunged for it.

The perp frowned and tried his other pocket. Then his other, other pocket. He wasn't out of Pokeballs, was he? Quickly, he patted his jeans and vest. He had to have one somewhere...normally, he kept at least one on him...

Jack's fingers connected with the metal of the Pokeball, closing over it. He picked it up, yelling in triumph, pointed it at Bella, and returned her. Then he saw the furious look on his opponent's face.

"-careless-" he spluttered. Jack frowned, confused. Then he saw the perp's empty hands.

No Snag Ball?

"You got lucky this time," the perp growled. "I should never have run out of Pokeballs. You don't deserve that Umbreon; you weakened it, like your sister did this Espeon. If I hadn't run out-"

"Spare me," Jack said coolly. Now that Bella wasn't in immediate danger, he could mask his fear and fury. "Who are you? Why do you have Thorn?"

(A/N: What, you really expected a Snagem Grunt to have an Espeon?!)

"My name is none of your concern," the perp snapped. "And why shouldn't I have Espeon? I'm powerful enough to deserve it, so it was awarded to me." He turned to go, returning Thorn.

Jack ran after him and grabbed at his shoulder. "Come back, you jackal! Give Thorn back to m-"

The man threw him off and shoved him. Jack looked at him, eyes wide. "What makes you think you can demand anything from me, loser?" he hissed. Jack stumbled back, tripped, landed on his butt.

Loser?

A/N: Yahoo! Finally finished! I was so lost of where to go with this particular battle. I knew it was too soon for Jack to get Thorn back for his sister, but I just couldn't resist tormenting him. ^.^

A thought occurred to me. I only got one review (Thanks RedWarrior702 for the encouragement and for following!) I admit I have a bit of a problem with my writings: If I start editing, I usually get stuck there. So my main goal is to get this out to you guys so you can see the story. I tried to write it the best I could. After this is said and done, I'm going to go through each chapter and edit, see if there's anything that should be changed. More details, less, whatever...I promise I'm not trying to short change you!

Anyway, hope you liked it. Please read and review.