Once Aaron and Will had made their way back to the small abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city that they had set up in previously, Regirock quickly deposited Norman and May against the back wall of the large, open central room, at Aaron's order.
"All right." Aaron began, recalling Regirock as he glanced at Will. "Tie them up."
Will did as he was told, retrieving the titanium cable that the two of them had procured for this very purpose. He tied each of them up individually, slumped against the back wall with separate coils of the thick metal cable restricting their arms and legs.
Aaron nodded in approval as Will drew back up from the floor, admiring his handiwork. "Good. Now keep an eye on them...I'm going to get things set up."
Will merely watched him with a frown on his face as he turned and left the room, heading into a much smaller chamber. Holding the expression, he turned back to Norman and May, lying against the wall in front of him as they slowly came to.
"Pika-chu." Pikachu muttered softly from Ash's side. The two of them had been trudging back to May's house in the rain, and Ash hadn't said a word since he'd watch Norman and May be carried away with Will and Aaron.
"Combuuus..." Combusken added sadly from Ash's other side. Given that May had been captured, Combusken had no Ball to retreat into, and so had taken to following Ash and Pikachu on foot.
Ash remained silent as he mindlessly walked forward through the rain, his eyes locked on the ground as he thought about what had happened. His hair and clothes had been completely soaked, but it didn't matter to him in the slightest.
Suddenly, breaking the prolonged period of silence, two people shot horizontally in front of Ash, Pikachu, and Combusken, causing the trio to freeze in their tracks.
"Piika?" Pikachu exclaimed in surprise, looking ahead and to the right to see who had effectively cut them off.
"Hey, sorry!" A girl's voice called apologetically as one of the two figures raised a hand without turning around.
Ash merely stared for a moment, as he had become all but unaware of his surroundings while he was lost in his own thoughts. They had arrived back at May's house, and that seemed to be where the two strangers were headed as well. After regaining his awareness, Ash walked up to the house behind the two people, who were already knocking at the door.
"Yes? Can I help you?" Caroline chimed happily, opening the door after a moment.
"Sorry to disturb you." The second of the two answered, a boy, as Ash and the Pokemon came up behind them. "We were just at the Gym, and we were wondering if we could stay in here until the Gym Leader gets back?"
"Because...you know, the rain, and all." The girl added hopefully.
"Of course, come in." Caroline replied, motioning for the two to come in, which they did in an instant. Looking back outside at Ash, she continued. "Oh, Ash, you're back. Come inside, you look soaked!"
Once they were all inside, the two strangers took off the wet, black raincoats they had been wearing, and Ash recognized them at once.
"Pika, pi!" Pikachu exclaimed.
"Hey, Trey, Lily...!" Ash remarked, shocked at the sight of them. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, hey, Ash!" Lily greeted happily.
"We told you we were going to Hoenn." Trey explained chuckling softly. "What else did you think we were going to do besides challenge the Gyms?"
"But I thought you and May were going to Sinnoh?" Lily inquired.
Ash looked away, a guilty look present on his face, as Caroline spoke up. "I take it you three know each other?"
Trey and Lily nodded in unison. "Yeah, we met them in Kanto a couple months back." Trey answered.
"Oh, speaking of May, Ash, where is she? I thought she was with you." Caroline asked, glancing at Ash quizzically.
Ash didn't answer right away. He slowly turned to look at Caroline, trying to summon up the courage to tell her. "She...um..."
Just then, however, Max burst into the room. "Mom! Come in here, quick! Something's on the TV!"
They all instantly followed Max into the living room, where he was gesturing in disbelief at the television set, where some sort of emergency broadcast system appeared to have overridden all of the normal programming.
"...We will say it again. We have the Petalburg City Gym Leader in our custody, as well as his daughter. Neither of them have been harmed yet, but that could all change very easily."
Ash watched hopelessly as Aaron, who had previously been taking up the entire frame, moved to the side to reveal Will standing beside the heavily restrained yet conscious forms of Norman and May.
And behind them stood the three Regis in a line; Regirock, Registeel, and Regice respectively.
Caroline's eyes widened in shock and her hands flew to her mouth to suppress her gasp of shock. Trey's eyes darkened when he saw Will, and Lily merely stared in surprise.
"Fifty million Pokedollars." Aaron declared, drawing a pistol of his pocket. Ash recognized it as the same one he had used to shoot Ash himself in the shoulder at the Battle Pyramid. "Mailed to this Gym Leader's current address. I know his family is listening." Aaron continued darkly, causing Ash to tense up. "Only they will be allowed near our location - just outside Petalburg City. In the warehouse district. Anyone else will be killed on sight."
Will watched his partner uncertainly as he approached Norman from the side and pointed the gun at his head. "Don't make us wait too long."
The signal cut out after that, and Max switched the TV off, tears welling up in his eyes.
Caroline was frozen for a moment, then she turned to Ash. "What...what happened?"
Ash avoided her gaze. "They took her. I couldn't...I couldn't stop them."
Trey watched him silently for a minute before speaking up. "You're going after them, aren't you?"
Ash looked back at him helplessly. "I..."
"Look, we know where they are now, right?" Trey continued encouragingly. "Why shouldn't we go after them?"
"No, you don't need to get involved with this." Caroline cut in. "I appreciate the offer, but..."
"No, you don't understand." Trey told her firmly. "One of those men is my brother. This is my problem, too."
Caroline gasped. "What?"
"And, well, whatever's Trey's problem is my problem, too, you know?" Lily added, smiling at Caroline.
Caroline looked back at them with gratitude in her eyes. "Well, I guess I can't very well stop you, can I?"
Trey and Lily turned to Ash. "So? You coming?" Trey asked.
Ash's gaze lingered on the floor for a long while as he thought through his options, and his feelings on what had happened earlier. Finally, he glanced up at Trey with a defiant gleam in his eye.
"Okay. Let's go."
The couple nodded at him approvingly and headed for the front door, grabbing their previously discarded black raincoats and slipping into them as they headed outside.
Pikachu leaped up on Ash's shoulder as he made to follow them, Combusken at his side. Before he could leave the room, however, Max stepped in his path, and he appeared to be holding back tears.
"Ash...?" Max squeaked in a small voice.
"Yeah?" Ash replied, stopping and looking down at him.
"...Are they gonna be okay?" Max continued, and Ash knew he was talking about May and Norman.
"Don't worry, Max. I'll get them both back." Ash assured him before running past him to catch up with Trey and Lily.
"Hey...that's May's Combusken, isn't it?" Trey asked, glancing over at Combusken through the pouring rain, once they had all taken off toward the outskirts of the city.
"Combus?" Combusken chirped, glancing over its shoulder to Trey.
"Oh, yeah." Ash answered. "May never had the chance to recall it before she...you know..."
"Oh...right." Trey muttered, turning away.
"So...May's the daughter of the Petalburg Gym Leader?" Lily chimed in, breaking the somewhat awkward silence that had followed. "You guys never told us that!"
"Yeah, she is." Ash answered shortly, remaining silent for a moment before continuing. "You guys...thanks for coming out here with me."
"No problem." Trey replied at once. "I've got to put a stop to Will for good this time, anyway - I guess saving his life at the Battle Pyramid was a mistake."
"And I really don't mind at all. Besides, I couldn't stand it if Trey was off fighting his older brother without me!" Lily answered cheerfully.
Ash nodded gratefully to the both of them before turning his attention back to the path before him. "Hold on, you guys. We're coming."
Please R&R!