I don't know what to talk about this time around, so just read and enjoy.

R&R

-KurtyPops

"Speech" – Human Speech

"Speech" – Pokemon Speech

"Thoughts" – Telepathy

'Thoughts' – Inner Thoughts

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Last time on 'I Believe I Can Fly')

The 'trainer' took a few more antagonizing steps forward before he violently grasped her talon with a firm grip. She was in too much shock to begin to struggle against his hold. He brought her up to his face, which, no doubt, held one of the most sadistic grins underneath that mask.

"I'm going to enjoy ending you, little birdie…" he cackled out.

She watched her entire life pass before her eyes before she closed them, hoping for a quick end.

The sound of wings folding up and the hammering of feet sprinting towards her caused her to open her eyes just in time to see a foot impact with her attacker's face.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Chapter 9 – Pandemonium - Part II

(Flashback – 2 minutes)

"Smart choice, Kurtis."

My thoughts were broken as Ray delved into my mind. "Wait, what?"

He elaborated, "That feeling of fear. Someone is in great fear and they do not know how to free their self. As for why you are feeling it… well, I think you know the answer to that."

I shook my head profusely. "I don't understand… Someone's in trouble? I was supposed to help in the first place?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I am saying."

"How am I supposed to react in certain situations?! What if it's a random man?! What if it's a damsel in distress?! What if it's.."

"I never said that the person in question was a human.", he broke me off.

"What..."

"I gave you those wings for two reasons. One, to be a middle-man of sorts. Relay to the humans whatever I cannot. Two, to protect."

I contemplated for a moment while he continued, "I know this sounds fairly cliché, but I saw potential in you the moment you set foot on the Sky Pillar. I saw behind that façade of a distant, hesitant loner and I saw a person who would, if he could, give his life freely to save every living being on the face of the Earth."

I took a look towards the eastern sea, slowly moving my line of sight to the faintly visible Sky Pillar. I stared at it intently, as if looking Rayquaza dead in the face. "Ray, you have no idea how.."

"Kurtis."

I stopped my line of thought.

A few seconds passed before he gave his next command.

"Go."

Without a slight adjustment of my wings, feathers ruffling, I gained speed and fixed my attention on the being in distress.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I found the Pokemon's location relatively quickly. It was in the northern part of the city, near the outskirts of the forest. I was flying high above the city lights, looking down on the unraveling scene with my superior sight. I noticed a very short man with a hunchback slowly advancing on a hobbling figure.

I gritted my teeth, 'He's a load of scum, thinking he can do that to defenseless Pokemon.'

I entered a dive, flying perpendicular to the ground, but alongside a building. I leveled out into the cold, dank alley where the scene was unfolding. The hunchbacked figure whispered something to the small figure, which I was unable to hear due to the speed I was flying, that he was menacingly holding upside down. A Taillow.

'I take that back. He's worse than scum.' I thought as I increased speed.

Once I felt that I was close enough to him and the ground, I closed my wings. Due to the speed that I was flying at, I was going too fast to run, so my steps were similar to giant leaps as I advanced. I was right next to him when I spun around and kicked him with such force that a Hitmonlee would be put to shame.

I heard an audible crack from the contact. Hoping I had broken something, I watched as he collapsed to the ground, dropping the Taillow in the process, not even making an effort to brace himself from the fall. I scanned him quickly. He had faded black jeans with a green hoodie, but the most promising feature was the gleaming, white porcelain mask that was knocked off of his head. The lower-left corner of the mask was broken off due to my kick, with the only noticeable feature of it being the eyeholes.

I quickly advanced to him and punched him in the temple, effectively knocking him out before he could react. I grabbed the mask from off the ground and knelt down to the Taillow, who was catching its breath.

"Are you okay?"

It nodded, "Thank… you… Arceus…," it gasped out

"I'll make sure that this guy pays for what he did. Just close your eyes and get some rest. I'll get you to the Pokemon Center as soon as possible." It nodded, muttering a few tiny words, "My… Wing…Zubat…" before drifting into slumber.

I took a last glance at the so-called 'trainer' on the cold cement. I searched his pockets to see if he had anything that could easily restrain on his person. To my luck, he had a small pack of zip ties in his pants pocket. With those, I tied his arms and legs together, so he couldn't go anywhere, and slid him onto on the almost abandoned street. There was a cop car stationed about two blocks down.

Perfect.

I knew that they would ask for my name if I just went up to them without concealing my identity, so I did the only conceivable thing. I put on the mask.

It felt weird. Not one minute before, a horrible person wore this mask. It smelt of sweat, however, so I made a mental note to clean it later as I put my hood up. I gently cradled the Taillow in my left arm, gently nestled in the crook of my elbow. My other hand wrapped around the perpetrator's body, slinging him over my shoulder. I then walked towards the vehicle, hopefully not showing any malice due to my appearance.

Once I approached it, I peeked through the window only to notice that the officer behind the wheel was sound asleep. Just great. Just before I was able to knock on the pane of glass that separated us, I was interrupted.

A firm voice rang out. "State your business." It obviously alarmed me because I lowered my stance, heightening my awareness.

I turned to my right to see a police officer approach me. He had a stance that was more relaxed than mine, but he had a hand near his gun holster, ready to draw if things went south.

I wasn't sure how to react, but I knew one thing. If I didn't want to give myself away, I needed to alter my voice. "Arrest this man." I said with a husky tone, as if a Mightyena was growling and talking at once.

The officer was puzzled. "On what charges?"

"I would think it would be obvious if you looked at what I was holding in my other hand."

He looked uneasy at first, but he took a gander at the Taillow. Let's just say he was more than a bit frazzled.

"This man did this?" the officer threateningly said.

I nodded. "Yes. There's also reason to believe his Zubat assisted. I am going to be leaving this man with you while I take this injured Taillow to the Pokemon Center.

The officer relaxed a little, reaching for his handcuffs while his off-hand pulled out a knife. He placed the handcuffs on the man before cutting the zip ties loose. He then said something very stupid.

"Okay. I need to bring you in for a statement saying how you apprehended the guy. I also need you to take off the mask so we can properly…" I cut him off.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Back up. No can do, sir. This mask is not coming off and I am not going into a HQ just for a simple statement." With that, I began to walk away from the scene. I heard his clumsily open the door and turn on the lights of the car, showing off my frame and details to him.

"Listen, guy. You're coming with me. Unless you want to make a scene, you're gunna give us a statement," he demanded.

"You want a statement? I'll give you one. I was flying in the area, admiring the sights when…" This time I was interrupted.

"Wait, kid. You expect me to believe you can fly? Get real." He scoffed.

Ray decided to chime in so perfectly. "I'll allow it this once. Let yourself be known, but not seen. Give the world something to talk about, Kurtis."

"Wait, wasn't the whole idea to keep this a secret?!"

"I changed my mind, as you humans say it. The way I see it, you could potentially be the real-life superhero of your generation. A masked vigilante, always doing what is right. I think that will deliver the point right to the trainers across the world. Don't you think?"

I smirked."You got it, Ray."

"Do you want proof? Believe this." I said to the officer.

I whipped out my wings to the max, showing off all 15-feet of glory. Right in front of a cop.

In front of a car with a VIDEO CAMERA.

Easily chuckling due to the stupefied face that the cop showed, I continued with my charade, knowing that the world would soon be watching. So I came up with a tiny little speech.

"Listen to this, world. There is violence everywhere on the planet. From Pokemon to humans, there is always conflict looming on the horizon. I took a single moment to stop a man from brutally attacking a Pokemon. That Pokemon is now in my arms and needs immediate medical attention, so I'm going to take my leave now. Take a stand. Defend the Pokemon. Fight for the world. That is all."

With a flourish of my wings, I took a running start into the night, leaving a bemused cop and a recording that was sure to go viral within the next 24 hours.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Before I made my grand entrance to the lobby, I needed to change clothes and deposit my mask first. I quickly opened the window to my room right before I started to noisily get dressed into my attire from before the flight. Just as I was about to leave, I felt a pair of talons on my right shoulder.

"Where have you been?! We were worried sick!" Milo and Altair screamed.

"Long story. I'll explain later. Play along for now."

"But…" they started

I shushed them. I quickly came up with a plan that would keep me in the clear if any cop showed up at the center asking if there was a Taillow admitted. I also quickly wrote a note, explaining a few things.

I left my window unlocked, leaving the sleeping Taillow on my bed. Opening and closing my room door with the grace of a ninja, I slowly walked towards the lobby, where I was sure Nurse Joy would be. It was getting close to four in the morning, so I assumed Nurse Joy would be prepping medical supplies and her Chanseys would be starting to prepare mass quantities of eggs and bacon for early rising trainers. As I walked through the lobby, she emerged from the room behind her desk.

"A bit early, isn't it?" She said with slight confusion mixed with concern.

I played along, "Yeah. Couldn't sleep. I *yawn* figured a walk would do me some good."

"Alright. Come back quickly if you want some fresh breakfast." She said with a smile.

"Sure thing, Joy." I smiled back. I then exited the center through the transparent front doors while she went back to her duties.

I slowly banked two lefts, maneuvering myself around the Pokemon center. Once I was sure I was out of sight, I turned to my two partners. "I want you guys to take a quick flight. I'll explain everything back in the hotel room. That Taillow was attacked and I saved it, so it's my responsibility."

Noticing my flustered state, my faithful birds both gave me out-of-character, hesitant nods before flying off in separate directions.

I hurried up the pace, making it to my room window quickly. I hastily opened it slowly, cradled the Taillow in my hands, and ran back towards the entrance as fast as possible. I didn't want to waste any time.

I halted at the front door, annoyed at how slow it opened in light of the situation. I burst through it when there was enough space for me to slide through.

I rushed in, yelling, "Nurse Joy! We have an emergency here!"

She looked up from the front desk, at first startled, before turning to me. Her face widened in shock before rushing around to the lobby area, features at attention.

"Dear Arceus! What happened?!" She said as she gently took and cradled the bird, careful not to put any pressure on its injured wing.

"I don't know! I just found it in the alley!" Okay, that was half true.

"Seriously?" She said. She started to hurriedly bolt around the counter. Before she left to the back room, she said "I'll take good care of it. I'll let you know how she's doing later." She almost burst through the door to the back room when I stopped her.

"Wait! This note was there as well!"

She quickly snatched the note out of my hands without a thought and skimmed it over. "Okay. If the HMF show up, I'll give them this." With that, she left to the back room

I stared at the closed door a moment longer, glancing above it to see the sign with the hypodermic needle on it light up with a bright red, signifying that there was an emergency being taken care of.

I sighed in relief, knowing that the bird was in good hands. I started to waltz back to my room, the Taillow's current state weighing heavily on my mind. As I reached the doorknob, a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey, Kurtis. What was all that about?" It was Steve, who was rooming in the room across from me, apparently awakened by Nurse Joy's and my shouting. He was currently rubbing his eyes like a madman, trying to rid them of drowsiness.

'I needed to fake it, otherwise he'll dig too deep.' "What was what about?"

"You yelling, that's what. I wake up to hear the word 'emergency' ringing through the halls and I open the door to find you trying to be sneaky. So I'll ask again. What happened?"

'Crap. He's gone senile. He's never this serious in the morning.'

"Kurtis, I can't seem to get a psychic reading on him for some reason. How curious..." Ray piped in.

"What? Why not?"

"Well he might have a psychic Pokemon, but…."

"Ray?"

"I trust this man. I recognize him, but I can't place him…" I was confused. Normally Ray would be able to sense that right away, but since my first encounter with Steve after my 'initiation', Ray hasn't felt anything weird. But now this is happening?

I sighed, "Do you want me to tell him?"

"Yes. But this time, don't leave anything out."

"Wait, EVERYTHING?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Yes. Trust me."

"Helloooooo. Earth to Kurtis? You in there, bro?" He broke me out of my trance.

"Oh. Erm… sorry."

"Okay. Something's up. Your room. Ten minutes." He said as he silently closed his door, contrary to how he just acted.

I sighed again. This was going to be a long day.

I shook my head in response before I unlocked the door to my room. The first thing that I noticed was the two Flying Pokemon cooped up on the outside of the window, patiently waiting until they could be let back in, which was the first thing I did.

"So what's so important that it needs to be 'explained later'?" Milo said with a tiny glare.

"Yeah, boss! Why so serious?" Altair said bluntly.

I sighed again. "In ten minutes, a friend of mine is coming in. Ray wants me to tell him everything. Before you interrupt; yes, everything. I'm also going tell you all what happened in the past four to five hours. No interruptions, okay?"

They both looked at each other weirdly before looking at me and nodding. "Okay then. Sit tight for a bit. I need to pack up my stuff."

Milo flew over to the window, letting the sun's rays hit his tiny body through the magnifying windows. Altair simply hobbled over to the extra bed that was in here and promptly made himself cozy on the blankets that the Center provided.

As I went to work on my things, I had trouble getting my sleeping bag into my backpack. Every FREAKING time. I eventually got so frustrated that I punted the bag into to door causing its contents to spill out onto the floor. I grumbled in anger. When I went over to clean up my belongings, I noticed a glint of sunlight shine over a rectangular object. When I bent over to pick it up, I realized that it was something that I haven't held for years. 'Mom must've packed it for me.'

My father gave me it for my tenth birthday, proclaiming that I was 'well on my way to becoming a man'. Something like that. Up until now, I have never taken time to simply look at it. Like, REALLY look at it.

It was a flip-blade. Easily compactable. The handle, however, is what was eye-catching. It was primarily black, but it faded into red. To top it off, it was a feather. Detailed patterns were etched so that it made the item 'pop'. Whoever made this is a master.

My ogling of my 'weapon' was interrupted by a sound knock of the door.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Detective Thomas Hawes was never one to believe in anything that could be proved to be scientifically impossible. So when one of his rookie officers called him at four in the morning, claiming that it was an 'emergency', his natural reaction was to immediately shift into focus. He immediately started rummaging through his closet, staying on the phone with his colleague.

"What's the situation, Franks?" Hawes asked.

The newly-named Officer Franks hastily and erratically proclaimed, "Boss! You… you're not gunna believe what just happened!"

"Get a hold of yourself! What is the problem?!"

That simmered Franks somewhat. "I… I'm going to send you a link to the video feed on my vehicle… I don't think I can describe this…"

Hawes sighed. "Very well. This better be good." He said as he cut the call.

A moment later, a notification popped up on Hawes' phone. He clicked on the link to reveal a still frame of the video's beginning.

Hawes hit the play button, only to see a tall individual with a white mask covering his features. He wore all black. 'Great. Not another masked freak.' Was his only thought before he shoveled down his thoughts on reprimanding Franks. 'Might as well watch the whole thing'.

He saw an injured Taillow in the man's arms, leading him to believe that he was helping the bird after listening to the conversation between Franks and the individual. Then came that part where things got a bit dicey.

His attention was on full alert when the guys WINGS popped out of his back.

He rushed to his cell phone with frantic paces, hoping to prove this whole incident false.

Hawes immediately dialed his workplace.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Our talk had lasted a good hour, letting some of the early-rising trainers trudge down the hallway with the tell-tale signs of feet shuffling. But we had touched on the major points that have happened in the past few weeks.

"Let me get this straight." Steve slowly took a breath. His Grumpig at his side was also baffled.

I looked on in apprehension after telling my whole story. Steve and I sat on opposite beds, sitting down with our hands covering of expressions. Milo and Altair were nestled on the nightstand, calmly watching the exchange with curiosity. Steve's Grumpig was providing its psychic abilities to block our conversation from reaching wandering ears.

"You can talk to Pokemon." He started.

"Yup."

"You met Rayquaza. One of the most feared beings alive."

"Yup."

"And he injected Staraptor DNA into your system to give you wings."

"Yup."

"The only other people that know about this are Flannery and Winona?"

"Yup." I opened my eyes slowly, trying to refrain from startling him while getting my point across.

"And now you've just assumed the role of a new masked vigilante"

"Yup."

"And now your alternate identity is most-likely wanted by the Hoenn Military Force?"

"Right again."

Steve took a deep breath, "Well, half of this is surprising. The other half? Not-so-surprising. Only you could get yourself into some deep shit."

I dumbly nodded.

"So what are you going to do now?"

I dimly debated with myself. "I can't really do anything right now. They've probably already checked the Center for the Taillow. Probably have a guard stationed here. Now they're most likely searching every nook and cranny of Petalburg searching for the 'masked man'."

"No flying for a while?", Steve inquired

"As much as I don't like it, yeah. No flying for a while."

We remained silent a little while longer, until Altair decided to break our trances.

"I don't know about you, boss, but I'm starving here! On a side-note, you're family! Kinda."

I blanched. "Alright we'll go get some food, bud. And yeah, I guess you could say that." I turned to Steve. "He's hungry." I said to clear any confusion with Steve. He nodded right before he returned his Grumpig, thanking it for the help. My feathered friends quickly hopped on my shoulders, eager to get some chow.

We walked down the hallway then passed through the lobby, taking notice of a large cluster of trainers surrounding the TV that was situated behind the front desk. It must have been important since Nurse Joy's gaze was fixed upon the large screen. There was, as I suspected, a police officer near the entrance of the Center whom was talking into his cell phone. Of course, I already knew what the fuss was about. Steve and I both walked up to the cluster of trainers, who were all dead silent as the listened to a news report.

"In a rare case of bravery, a masked man rescued a small Taillow from an assailant around three A.M. this morning. The subject fled from the scene after refusing to take off his mask and being asked to return to the Hoenn Military Force building for a statement. But it was HOW he fled the scene that has absolutely baffled scientists across the region. The following video has been studied and has been proven 100% genuine."

The scene from early this morning was shown on the screen while we, well, everybody but me, watched in suspense.

After I flew off on the screen, the entire Center, and presumably everybody watching the news this morning, burst into uproar. My ears weren't able to handle the volume, so I immediately hurried over to the breakfast counter where steaming piles of eggs and bacon awaited me.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

As soon as I was done eating, Nurse Joy walked up to me and told me the status of the Taillow. Its wing was fractured in about five places and had multiple bite marks caused by the Zubat. I then decided to go and check on the small bird myself.

As I walked through the door behind the counter,

I soon found that my little stunt had caused quite the uproar, to the extent where I was the headline of Petalburg's many newspapers. The titles ranged from 'Genetic Anomoly' to 'Winged Hero Saves Pokemon'. I chucked, knowing that reporters were in agonizing pain in how they were failing at finding info on me.

Steve and I spent the rest of the day getting to know the city a bit more. Since the gathering for the volunteers on the whole forest situation wasn't until around 5:30, we decided to catch up.

As it turns out, Steve has three of the badges of the Hoenn League. He gets vacation time a few times of the year, so a few weeks before that, he trains his Pokemon. He's already beaten Roxanne, Brawly, and Wattson, so next time he has the time, Flannery is going to have a challenge on her hands.

I also told Steve that I was unsure what I wanted to do regarding my now being a Pokemon trainer. I knew I wanted to challenge gyms, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do them to make the Hoenn League Championships. He reassured me that even if I didn't get all of the badges before the deadline to register for the Championships, I could still get the remaining badges the next year. With that, I decided to take the gym challenge, but I would do it at a leisurely pace.

Around five, we left the restaurant where we were eating dinner, which consisted of some very delicious ramen. After walking to the north side of town, we arrived at the forest, which Steve told me was the Petalburg Nature Preserve. The park itself was run by a small group of park rangers, so it made sense that they were looking for volunteers.

There were no distinguishable boundaries of the Preserve. So as soon as we saw trees surrounding us, we knew we were in the right place. We walked a bit before reaching a small hut that was in an open clearing. There were people surrounding the hut as we walked up; as we walked up to it, a ranger stood on the stage and started speaking.

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS! LISTEN UP!"

In shock, everybody present whipped their heads towards him, at full attention. The immediate thing we all noticed about the man was that he was bald. He was also very tall and bulky, easily towering over me by a foot.

"Okay, that was easy. My name is Ranger Tim Lawler, and I am in charge of this fine establishment."

'Not a very intimidating name… And it's just a forest…' I thought.

"I assume that you know while you're all here, so I'll just cut to the chase. There have been several areas around the Preserve that have been utterly destroyed. This has led to many Pokemon being forced to leave the area. Now, these attacks have only been occurring at night, so we have been forced to remain on high alert. The cause behind these attacks is unknown; however, we believe that they have been caused by an extremist group."

'Why would they destroy forests? Wouldn't mass populated areas make more sense if they're trying to prove something?'

"Now, each of you will be given a communicator and will be split up into groups. Within those groups, you will each have a ranger assigned to your group, who will tell you which radio frequency you will be on. You will all search a specific area of the forest. When you are finished, you will all report back to me. Any questions?" he said.

Silence.

"Then GET MOVING!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Our group had decided to split up, so Steve and I naturally went off somewhere. As soon as we were out of sight, I took out my black hoodie and mask.

I spoke to my birds. "Okay. I want you two to search the sky. Come find me if you find anything suspicious."

The two nodded before Altair disappeared in a burst of speed and Milo gracefully flew up into the darkness.

As I slipped into my black hoodie, Steve spoke up. "Okay. Now you're gunna cause more panic?"

I chuckled as I slipped on my mask and altered my voice to its gruff tone. "Hopefully. But right now, I'm going to do a quick recon of the area and get some info from the rangers."

He nodded. "Okay then. What's your cover? He's taking a dump?" His face turned with a smirk.

I laughed a bit. "Sure, man. Anything that doesn't arouse suspicion."

"Mmmkay. Meet you here in an hour."

With that I made a running start, unfurled my wings, and weaved through the trees.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I landed on the roof of the ranger building with extreme stealth; not even my breath made a sound in the cool autumn night. I noticed Ranger Tim taking a cigarette and lighting it, taking a drag, then sighing in defeat. Slipping down into the shadows, I crept up next to the building and took a casual pose against the outside wall of the building. I broke the awkward silence with a slight jab.

"You know that's bad for your health, right?"

Tim, whose appearance made him appear like a mental juggernaut, visibly jumped in surprise before he turned towards me. When he took note of my relaxed posture, he eased up a bit.

He responded to my words. "That's true, but stress is just about eating me up right now."

I chuckled. "Well yeah. If there was a possibility of a hostile group, I'd be concerned as well."

"Hn. I recognize you from the news. You really got wings?"

"Yup. But I don't really feel like showing them right now. Any specifics on the group?"

He looked at me with a cautious eye. "Why are you so interested? From what I saw on the video, you only saw fit to save the damsel."

"Hey now. Don't jump to conclusions now. It's fine to be cautious of me, but I just have a thought. Are they known for wearing green hoodies and masks?"

Now he really was interested. "How would you know classified intel like that?"

"Because the guy I saved the Pokemon from was wearing them."

"Are you positive?" he asked.

"I'm not blind, am I?"

He nodded and thought for a minute before he spoke up. "I'll put in a good word for you at the HMF. Hopefully it'll get you some rep."

"Thanks. But if you piece together who I am, could you please keep it on the down low?" Tim nodded.

Before Tim could say anything, Altair landed on my right shoulder. "Hey bud. What's up?"

"There's a clearing to the north of here that's full of people in green, boss. You might want to get there right away." Altair said.

I nodded then turned to Tim. "There's a clearing to the north with tons of people in green. Do you want to call the Force?"

"Yeah. You want to lead the way?"

"Sure thing."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

I was currently hovering above the clearing where Altair spotted the green-clad troublemakers. Altair quickly went to find Milo right before we left and they were currently hovering to either side of me.

There were five people in dark green hoodies and masks, all of whom looked exactly like the creep from earlier. All of them were crowded in a circle, seemingly tampering with a bunch of wires and something else that was unrecognizable.

"This is Tim. Anything on the hostiles?" I heard over the two-way radio that Tim had given me.

I spoke into the radio. "They seem to be tampering with some sort of wire. They're also sticking it to something rectangular?"

"Crap! If that's what I think it is, then we have to act now. Do you think you can do something crazy to get their attention, kid?"

I laughed a bit, trying not to be too loud so that the group would hear me. "Timmy, my friend, crazy is my middle name."

I swooped down onto the scene, crashing down onto the ground in a crouch. When I landed, the five hooligans that were fiddling with the wires jumped with surprise with the sudden noise. Some gasped as they turned around and noticed me.

I spoke up first. "Okay, I'm going to ask this once. Who are you and what the hell are you doing?"

They all laughed. My face contorted into irritation as they spoke back. Goon #1 spoke first. I assumed that he was the leader of the group because of his position in the front.

"That is none of your concern, boy." He spat. "We know what you did to our agent. You don't deserve to know anything about us."

"Well, for one, your co-called agent viciously attacked a Pokemon in cold blood. So I think its safe to say that your little group is on my shit list." I spat back, causing the man to glare at me.

"You know nothing. Our group is going to solve humanity's problems one day. You are just a simpleton that has interfered." The goon-leader fought.

Soon, I heard Tim over my radio. "Kid, we've surrounded them. Ready when you are."

I gave a smirk, "Well solving our problems is going to have to wait until later. Tim, take them down."

The green-clad hooligans looked at me in confusion until a mass group of rangers and police officers entered the scene. The leader of the goons looked absolutely frustrated as him and his cronies were ordered to put their hands up and to drop to their knees. After they were secured, an officer that was wearing considerably more armor and protection walked up to the device that the goons were working on. He examined it delicately.

His voice sounded muffled behind his faceguard. "The device is not active. All clear."

Not wanting to get involved with police business, I fled the scene and headed back to Steve.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tim slipped back into his office after all of the HMF personnel left the Preserve. He sighed in frustration as he sat down at his desk. Pulling open a drawer, he grabbed a glass and a case of bourbon. Pouring a glass, he muttered, "I swear. Things are getting weirder every damn day."

As he was about to take a sip, he noticed a radio that he knew that he didn't put there. There was a note underneath it.

~I didn't feel like adding theft to the list of things that I'm wanted for, so here's your radio back.~ ~Your Mysterious Helper~

Tim grinned before downing the rest of his drink. "I have to admit. The kid's got style points in my book."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning was considerably quiet compared to the last. I slipped out of bed, grateful that I had a decent night of sleep for once. Since I wasn't expecting on returning to the Center last night, I bunked in the same room as Steve. I went through all of my morning duties before Milo and Altair donned my shoulders as I headed out to the lobby.

I decided to check on the Taillow that was injured a few nights before. Thankfully, it didn't sustain any permanent injuries so it would be up and about in a matter of minutes.

As I walked into the room where the Taillow was being held, the bird immediately recognized me. "It's you! You're the one that saved me!" The feminine voice was angelic in my ears, but I could still hear a strained quality to it, as if it hurt her to speak.

I chuckled, "Hello there. How are you feeling?"

"Well my wings hurt a bit, but they're doing much better than yesterday."

With that, I sighed in content and smiled. "That's good to know."

Altair quickly spoke up. "Hey boss. Aren't you gunna introduce us?"

"Right. Where are my manners? I'm Kurtis. The fluff ball on my left is Milo and the loud one on my right is Altair. Pleasure to meet you." My feathered companions puffed in annoyance as the Taillow chucked.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Thalia."

"So how did you find your way into the middle of the city a few nights ago?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. I was just foraging for some berries and the next thing I know, I was in some sort of bag. I tore through the bag with my beak and that was when that man gave chase. You know the rest."

I nodded. "Well in that case, how about I help you find your way home? I don't think you can do that in your current condition."

She visibly brightened up and hobbled over to me on her bed. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Anything to help." I laughed.

"Oh my Arceus, thank you so much! Mother and father are probably worried sick!"

At that moment, Nurse Joy walked in whilst carrying a clipboard with charts and statistics on what I assumed was Thalia's health. "Ah. Good morning Nurse Joy. How are you doing?"

She smiled serenely. "I'm doing fine, thank you. Speaking of fine, this Taillow is ready to be released. Am I correct in the assumption that she'll be going into your care?"

I nodded. "That's right."

"Well if that's the case, then I need to give her one final check-up before you go. Could you wait out in the lobby?"

"Of course." With that, I left the room.

As soon as I stepped out into the lobby, I saw Steve patiently waiting in one of the chairs; his trusty Quilava Cyndi was curled up in his lap, presumably taking a snooze. When he saw me, he gently nudged Cyndi awake before walking up to me.

"So how's the Taillow?" he asked.

"Thalia's fine. She isn't supposed to fly until tomorrow, but she'll be as good as new. I decided to be the wonderful good Samaritan that I am, so I'm going to help her find her way home on the way to Rustboro." I answered.

"So her name's Thalia? Okay then. If she's from a flock, then your best bet is the Petalburg Forest." He said.

"Yeah. That's what I was thinking."

Just then, Joy came out of the back room. She was carrying Thalia within her arms. "Okay then. All tests show that she's ready to go. Just don't take the bandages off until tomorrow and she'll be as good as new."

I gently cradled Thalia with my hands until I was holding her comfortably. "Okay then. Thank you for everything Nurse Joy."

"Oh, nonsense. I'm just doing my job." She said with a sincere smile.

Steve, myself, and our Pokemon companions in tow all left the Pokemon Center of Petalburg city with happy smiles, ready continue on the next leg of the journey.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Somewhere…

A lone figure was darting through a long hallway. His footsteps were banging against the metal floor as he made his way towards the metallic green door at the end of the hallway. He burst into the room, ready to relay to his leader about what has occurred in the past 24 hours.

"It appears that we've lost contact with the Petalburg group, my lord. We did some digging and found that they have been imprisoned. What should we do?"

A figure was relaxing in a rather comfortable armchair, debating on what should be done with the captured members of his troupe.

"Let them sit and rot in their cells. They should have been more cautious." A man's low voice rang out.

"And what of the masked man?" the messenger replied.

The man slunk back in his chair, glaring at an image on a computer screen. It was that of the mysterious man with wings. "Watch him for now. But if he interferes with our plans again, respond with force."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and after over a month-long wait, that's Chapter 9.

Holy crap. 6,700+ words… Longest chapter yet! That really took a while to fit everything that I wanted. I really didn't see the need to split it up and have Kurtis be stuck in Petalburg for three chapters.

I have really been distracted lately. I have been working almost every day and school has been more tedious than last semester. Ugh… Hopefully I can catch a break soon.

Until next time.

~Kurty Pops