Chapter 12 – Divide and Conquer
Keith and Alexa re-entered her bedroom, both happy and content. As Alexa closed the door behind her, Keith noticed the lack of Pokémon in the bedroom; they were all downstairs. He crept up behind Alexa and gently places his hands on her hips as he began to kiss her softly. Alexa laughed.
"Keith..!"
"It's later tonight, what did you expect?" Keith smiled. Alexa laughed again, but a little more nervously than before.
"Yeah, I had that coming."
"Yeah, you did," Keith smirked. He moved his hands from her hips and moved them in front of her stomach, cuddling her close to him while he continued to peck her lightly.
"But why are you so lovey-dovey?" Alexa asked, trying not to laugh.
"I missed you, that's all," Keith said simply.
"Keith, it's only been one day, it's hardly a decade!" Alexa chuckled.
"So?" Keith asked rhetorically, still bearing a smile.
"I know you care about me, but aren't you being over the top?"
"No." Keith suddenly had an idea...and he smirked. "You want over the top, huh?"
"Keith, what-WHAA!"Alexa was suddenly lifted off of the ground quicker than she could even begin her sentence. Before she could comprehend what Keith was up to, she felt herself being thrown – carefully – onto her bed, head conveniently landing near her pillows. The next thing she knew, Keith loomed over her, tickling fingers running down her hips, making her laugh uncontrollably.
"Keith, no!" she cried, but her laughter overwhelmed her. She had no objections to what Keith was doing, but the pace the chain reaction caught her off guard.
"You wanted over the top, you've got over the top!" Keith smirked, momentarily pausing his tickling.
"T-this wasn't what I had in mi-AAH!" Alexa was laughing so hard she was almost crying, her eyes watering as a consequence of Keith's tickling. Keith soon stopped when he saw Alexa was almost completely out of breath and he watched her intently as she began to recompose herself, panting as she did so. Keith placed his arms on either side of Alexa to keep himself from falling onto her chest, and his legs were next to hers. Alexa was breathing heavily as she looked up at Keith, whose smirk died down to a more gentle smile. He waited patiently for Alexa's breath to return to her, and waited until she stopped panting to peck a soft kiss on her lips.
"By the way," Keith finally said. "What are we doing tomorrow?"
"I dunno," Alexa replied quietly. "I'll see if the professor's seen the report I sent off; see what he says. Why?"
"I was thinking; maybe we should just hang out tomorrow," Keith suggested.
"What, take tomorrow off?" Alexa asked in confusion. She understood where Keith's proposal came from; they were still technically on the same day Keenan was momentarily abducted, Robbie saw his deceased father reduced to nothing more than a full scale trophy and she, Keith and Ryder seeing one probability of what happens to any Pokémon Jordan captures lying in the middle of an empty, albeit bloody room in where all of those events took place. Keith nodded.
"Yep. What do you think?"
"I don't know. I'm not sure if the professor will like it if-"
"Sh." Keith interrupted her quietly, placing a finger on her lips briefly. "He doesn't have to know."
"Bending the rules, huh?" Alexa questioned, bearing a smirk of her own.
"Alexa..! We're Top Rangers; we can make our own rules." Alexa lost her smile; she had almost completely forgotten the privileges of being a Top Ranger, which included the fact of referring to one's superior – e.g. Professor Hastings – was, in fact, optional.
"Oh, yeah."
"And I say day off tomorrow. Clear?" Keith asked, playfully asserting his Top Ranger authority. Alexa laughed.
"Crystal. Sir," she replied teasingly. Keith delicately kissed Alexa's lips. Alexa moved her hands from the bed to Keith's head, one placed gently on his cheek, the other closer to his forehead.
Lupin sat on the roof of the house, looking up at the night sky. There was no moon to speak of, but the many stars glistened in the sky above. Lupin stared at the brightest sky above him, with great sorrow in his watery eyes. He was unsure if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn the brightest star he was fixated on was part of an unusual constellation which, if drawn out, made a Butterfree that smiled happily at him, with the brightest star representing something around its neck. Lupin took the amulet off of his neck and stared at it; it was a rounded glass amulet plated in gold, with a small amount of silver powder inside. It was an old piece of jewellery, but it was well-kept. The depressed Alakazam held the amulet close to his heart as he stared at the constellation – imaginary or not – sadly. Whoever he was longing for, he knew, deep down, he would never have that someone ever again.
The morning was a lot more cheerful. The sun was beaming down on the city with not a single cloud to obscure its warmth. It was hard to believe that it was winter, judging by how warm the morning was. Keenan was outside at a patch of fenced up land, dressed in old rugged clothes and gardening gloves, tending to his berry patch with his faithful Vaporeon watching with unusual interest. The Winter Form Deerling was happily playing with the older Buizel, despite Robbie's traumatic discovery the other day. Ryder and Xavier each lay on a different coloured beach towel, basking in whatever rays the sun had to offer, both wearing sunglasses.
"You sure you won't get burned?" the Zoroark asked. "You're part Steel type, you're more vulnerable to heat."
"I don't think sunny days count," the Lucario replied. "But I get what you're saying, and there's no way I'm going into a volcano any time soon."
Keith stood outside of the garage next to the house, which he was surprised he didn't see when he first arrived in Johto. Alexa was crouched in front of the door's lock, turning a key inside the lock.
"Okay, you've got me curious about your car now," Keith chuckled.
"We don't have a car," Alexa stated as she took the key from the lock. Keith looked at her in astonishment.
"You don't? Then what do you use the garage for?" he asked, looking up at the red garage door. Alexa looked up at him as she prepared to spring up from the grass.
"A shed, basically," she replied. She sprang her legs up, pushing the door up with her as a result, and looked inside. To Keith's astonishment, there was indeed no car – or vehicle of any description – inside. Alexa ventured inside and searched through the many items neatly placed around the extra space. Keith looked and noticed the different items during Alexa's search; there was an assortment of fishing rods mounted on the farthest wall, there were garden tools of almost every type lined around two of the walls, including the wall with the fishing rods on, several taped up boxes were neatly stacked in one corner, a blue six foot filing cabinet in another corner, four crates of empty six litre bottles piled up next to the filing cabinet and six green deckchairs carefully stacked near Alexa, who held onto a long coffee brown bag, with a little difficulty. Generously, Keith took the bag from her and closed the garage door before setting it on the ground. Alexa immediately seized it and began to take out its contents, which were mainly poles.
"What're you doing?" Keith asked.
"Setting the hammock up," Alexa said as she took out the fabric for the canopy of the hammock. Keith looked at the pile of poles and the fabric in bewilderment.
"That's a hammock?"
"Yeah, it will be once it's set up," Alexa explained. "We got this one from Hoenn, the Lilycove Department Store has an awesome hammock shop." Keith watched as Alexa began assembling the garden furniture together. She seemed to know what she was doing, but struggled with it, especially since she was all by herself.
"Need a hand setting it up?" he asked politely. Alexa looked at him and considered her reply. While she knew what she was doing, she couldn't get it up quickly unless someone was there to help her. She was also aware that Keith had no idea how to set up the hammock, but she also knew he was offering and she could simply tell him what goes where and such. She soon smiled.
"Thank you, that'd be nice," she said kindly. The pair smiled at each other as Keith began to assist her.
"How come Hoenn's department store sells hammocks?"
"They're really popular over there," Alexa explained. "Especially considering that Hoenn is a more tropical region. Hammocks apparently sell well in tropical regions, and rightly so; it's sunny nine times out of ten over there, no matter where you are!"
The hammock was almost completely set up within ten minutes with Keith and Alexa's combined efforts; the entire thing was only missing the seat in the middle. Keith and Alexa had just placed the fabric canopy on the top of the hammock when they heard a Staraptor cry. They looked at where the cry came from and, soon enough, a Staraptor flew towards them, with a Poké Ball in one talon and a Fast Ball in the other. Keith assumed it was Wendy's Staraptor, but was corrected when he noticed the tip of the Staraptor's crest was blue instead of red.
"Hi, Mavis!" Alexa greeted, waving at the oncoming Staraptor.
"Nice Staraptor," Keith complimented.
"Thanks, she's my Staraptor," Alexa smiled. Being careful not to crush either Poké Ball, Mavis landed in front of Alexa. "What brings you here, girl?"
"Star." Mavis rolled the Fast Ball over to Alexa, who then picked it up and examined it. She chuckled a little.
"What?" Alexa looked at Keith for a moment before she opened the Fast Ball. The white stream of light burst forth from the Poké Ball and formed into a silhouette familiar to Keith. The Pokémon gave off sparkles as her form was fully revealed. The shining Pokémon turned around and looked at Alexa, smiling happily as always.
"Hi, Layla!" Alexa greeted, giving her white and blue Zangoose a little cuddle. "You want to hang out with Ryder again?"
"Nyah~!" Layla replied cheerfully. She turned to look for Ryder, but Keith caught her attention as she looked up at him in confusion; he looked familiar to her, but she couldn't quite recognise Keith in the denim shorts and white vest he was wearing. "Nyah?"
"Layla, this is Keith! Remember?" Alexa laughed. Layla tilted her head from side to side, looking closely at Keith. Finally, Layla smiled as she remembered Keith exactly. She held a paw out to him.
"What...?"
"Handshake," Alexa replied, laughing some more. Keith carefully held Layla's claws and gave her the handshake she wanted.
"Hi again," he said nervously. Layla nodded at him before approaching the sunbathing Lucario. Keith and Alexa watched as Layla scared Ryder out of his wits by creeping up on him and suddenly leaping at him. Xavier laughed hysterically at the prank. Ryder was panicky, but soon laughed along at the harmless prank. Alexa looked at Mavis.
"I take it you're planning to stick around too, huh?" she asked, glancing down at the Poké Ball in her other talon. Mavis picked the Poké Ball up in her beak and gave it to her Trainer. "I'll let you know if I need you for anything. Relax in the meantime, it's a nice day."
"Star!" Mavis cheered in agreement as she took flight. She flew up to the roof and roosted comfortably, enjoying the serene view.
Keith and Alexa finally concluded the construction of the swing hammock. It was a simple piece of furniture; the swing was a three seater, but looked as though it could hold up to about five or six people instead of just three, the frame was jet black with the canopy above filtering the sunlight reaching the swing. Keenan looked around him and made his way indoors, entering the house through the back door, Iara following intently. Satisfied at where the hammock was placed, Alexa nodded.
"Record time. Thanks, Keith."
"No problem," Keith smiled kindly. He and Alexa sat on the hammock and relaxed for a moment. Keith took a gentle hold of Alexa's arm as he decided to lie down, consequently pulling Alexa down with him. He lay on his back with Alexa almost on top of him. She was confused at first, but she relaxed again quickly and cuddled him as he held onto her; one arm was around her back and he stroked her hair with his other hand.
"I think I know why these hammocks are popular," Keith said.
"Yeah?"
"They're really comfortable," Keith said contentedly.
"Hmm." Alexa smiled as she relaxed, cuddling Keith on the hammock seat. Keith stroked her hair slowly, and he soon felt the ends of her hair little under half way down her back.
"Alexa?"
"Hmm?"
"I never noticed how long your hair really is."
"So?"
"I love it."
"I know, you love touching it," Alexa laughed.
"It's so soft. How do you do it?" Keith asked.
"Conditioner."
"Ah." Alexa lifted herself up a little to look at Keith directly.
"How did you like our shower?" she asked.
"Surprisingly, it's better than the one we have at the Ranger Union," Keith replied.
"Cerulean City has a fantastic plumbing supply store; that's where Dad got our bathroom designed."
"Cool." Alexa lay back down, resting her head on Keith's chest, smiling sweetly as she softly closed her eyes.
"So are you." Keith smiled at her; he didn't know whether to laugh at the corny remark or to appreciate to love behind such words. He instead remained silent as to not ruin the moment either way. He pecked a gentle kiss on her head as he continued stroking her hair ever so softly.
The silence between Keith and Alexa, for the first time since they bickered, wasn't an awkward one; during the silence, they appreciated each others' company. But they almost fell asleep in the process, and it was only because Keenan had approached them, with several packs of seeds in one hand and a tub of green berry pots in the other, that Keith and Alexa didn't end up sleeping on the hammock.
"Alex, do you know where Lupin is?" he asked. Alexa lifted herself up from Keith to face her brother in confusion.
"Isn't he inside?" she asked.
"I thought so too, but I looked everywhere," Keenan replied. "He's gone."
"What?!" Keith sat up quickly, almost pushing Alexa off of the hammock by accident. Alexa calmly stood up from the hammock and stretched.
"Relax, he's probably in Lavender Town," she said calmly.
"How do you know that?" Keith asked in astonishment.
"He frequently visits Lydia's grave when he's depressed," Alexa explained, almost sadly.
"Depressed? Isn't there a GP for Pokémon he can go to?" Keith asked. Alexa nodded.
"But he refuses to go." Keith stood up from the hammock as Alexa whistled for Mavis, thumb and index finger on either side of her lips. In response, Mavis flew down in front of Alexa and lowered herself to allow Alexa onto her back. Keith stopped her before she could even move one pace towards the Staraptor.
"Are you sure you should talk to him now?" he asked worriedly. Alexa looked at him solemnly.
"If I don't, I might not get through to him at all. He may resent me, but I'm his Trainer, and that makes him my responsibility; I can't just leave him there." Keith remembered the worst case scenario Alexa told him about while he was ill, and what she said beforehand. He admired her refusal to give up on the Alakazam, but part of him wondered if Lupin was a lost cause, and not worth reaching out to. Still, he thought, he's not Lupin's Trainer, thus, he had no right to conjure up that decision; that lay with Alexa and her alone.
"...okay. Be careful, though."
"I'll try," Alexa nodded. She climbed onto Mavis's back, who was, by now, keen to shoot off into the sky and feel the wind in her feathers. "Let's go, Mavis!"
"Star!" Mavis darted off into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight. Keith watched them as they escaped his view and finally looked down, where he noticed Keenan smiling at him.
"I'm really glad you and Alex aren't fighting any more."
"Yeah, me too," Keith said in agreement. "And I hope we don't fight like that ever again."
"Yeah, save it for Mortal Combusken," Keenan said teasingly. Keith laughed as Keenan returned to his berry patch. He returned to the hammock and lay down, almost like he did before, resting his hands on the back of his head. He smiled as he closed his eyes.
"I think I'm cramping your style, Ryder, so I'm just gonna shoot off now," Xavier said, sitting up from his green beach towel.
"Wait, what?" Ryder looked up at the Zoroark as the magenta energy wave coursed down his body, changing his form into that of his shirtless human form.
"Three's a crowd, pal," Xavier said, winking at him. "You two play nice!"
"What—hey!" Xavier ran off, laughing, before Ryder could argue with him. He looked at the totally confused Zangoose, blushing a tremendously bright red. Layla was also blushing, but not nearly as intensely as Ryder.
Jordan walked into the sombre town with a mobile phone held to his ear. The town was virtually bare, only housing a Pokémon Centre, a Poké Mart, three – maybe four – other residential houses and the town's landmark; a large dark grey tower.
"Gabby get rid of the bodies yet?" Jordan asked quietly, so to avoid suspicion from any of the pedestrians wandering around. "Good." He looked around at the quiet town. "You know why I'm in Kanto; I'm trying to find other places we can hide in." As he remained silent, a look of quiet anger grew on his face. "Because that bitch Alexa and probably that Keith fucker found our current hideout." Jordan slapped his free hand over his eyes. "Andy, just because I just insulted them, it doesn't mean I hate them to an unhealthy level. But, yes, I still want to hurt them." He lowered his hand from his face and looked calmer. "Keenan? Not so much, no. He didn't see half of-" Jordan spontaneously looked up. "Hang on..."
Jordan kept quiet as Alexa and Mavis touched down in front of the tower's entrance. He watched Alexa thanking Mavis for the flight, petting the side of her head, and returning her to her Poké Ball. Seeing her entering the tower gave Jordan an idea. Whatever it was, it wouldn't prove to be a good one for Alexa.
"Something's come up. Andy, you and Gabby find Keith and take care of him," he instructed quietly. "I'll take care of the last of the three problems."
Alexa closed the door behind her as she entered the tower's main foyer. There was a reception desk next to the entrance, but there was very little behind it in the way of office equipment – computer, stationery, printers, etc. – with only a pile of forms of some kind next to the elder lady standing at the desk. The room, like the tower itself, was rounded, and there were a few gravestones at the far end of the room, almost behind a set of black metal stairs leading to the upper floors of the tower. Alexa approached the reception desk. The woman behind it was a relatively old woman with curly grey hair, dressed in a respectable black dress and wore a set of spectacles without a frame of any kind over her deep brown eyes. She smiled at Alexa.
"Hello again, child," she said, in a kind and gentle voice. Alexa tried to smile, but one failed to reach her.
"Hi, Valerie. My Alakazam ran off again, is he here, by any chance?" she asked hesitantly; she almost dreaded finding her Pokémon.
"Yes, dear," Valerie replied. "I haven't seen him for myself, but I have heard him." She sighed. "After all these years, the poor thing's still troubled."
"Yeah. And he blames me for it," Alexa said glumly.
"He's in denial, dear," Valerie said reassuringly, gently resting her skinny hand on Alexa's. "He'll see reason eventually."
"I hope so," Alexa said sadly. Just being in the tower was enough for her to be reminded of her first visit to the town.
"Keep your chin up, child," Valerie smiled. "Things will work out for the both of you." Alexa smiled at the older lady kindly.
"Thanks, Valerie." Valerie watched as Alexa made her way up the stairs, her smile gradually turning into a frown. Her hand reached for the small bronze statue of Arceus and stroked its head with her finger.
"Arceus bless you, child..."
Keenan, using a small green trowel, dug up the sprouting berry plants and replanted it inside one of the berry pots, being extremely careful not to ruin his work by killing the roots of the plant. He placed the plastic lid back into place and proceeded to reach for another berry pot. However, he couldn't feel another berry pot. He looked inside the rub they came from, and then back at the berry patch; there were at least half a dozen sprouting plants to replant.
"Oh."
"What's up, kiddo?" Keith asked from the hammock.
"More berry plants than berry pots," he replied as he stood up. "I need to get some more from the flower shop in Goldenrod City," he added as he took off his thick gardening gloves.
"Need an escort?" Keith offered.
"Nah, you're all right," Keenan replied, tossing the gloves into the nearby tub. "You can tag along if you want, though."
"I ought to, really, don't want to risk you facing those damn poachers on your own again," Keith said quietly as he stood up from the hammock. "Robbie, Reese, let's go!"
"Bui!"
"Ling!" Both Pokémon ran over to Keith and followed him, Keenan and Iara out of the city. Keenan looked at both Pokémon.
"Rangers can only have one partner Pokémon with them at one time, Keith," he said. Keith shrugged.
"What Hastings doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides, I'm off duty; there's nothing in the rules to say that off duty Rangers can't have more than one Pokémon with them," Keith theorised.
"Then again, there's nothing in the rules to say that a Pokémon with a Poké Ball can't also be a Ranger's partner Pokémon," Keenan added. He hoped there wasn't such a rule; otherwise, it would mean that Alexa would have no partner Pokémon whatsoever, given that Ryder was also her very own Pokémon, and, if there was such a rule, Ryder would have illegally played the role of a partner Pokémon.
"Exactly!" Keith said optimistically.
Alexa reached the top of the second flight of stairs and looked around. Much like the floor below her, there was a mass of differing gravestones, some with recently lit incense sticks, others with flower bouquets, new and old. Torches were mounted to the walls and provided illumination for the floor if they were lit; as it was daytime, the natural light that shone through the stained glass windows provided more than adequate illumination. The window depicted a peaceful hillside with a small residential town underneath the hill. Alexa spotted Lupin kneeling in front of one of the gravestones. She approached him slowly, and approached him from an angle that allowed her to see the gravestone Lupin was in front of. There was a freshly lit incense stick placed in front of the headstone, upon which was the inscribed text; 'Lydia. A friend forever, even in death. Rest in peace'. Just above the text was a small carving of a feminine Butterfree. Moving her glance away from the headstone, Alexa's focus turned to Lupin; she didn't need to see the tears that fell down his face to understand how deep in sorrow he truly was.
"Lupin?" The Alakazam's train of thought was abruptly halted as he finally noticed the presence of his Trainer. He groaned in disgust as he looked away from her. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you hate me," Alexa sighed as she knelt down next to Lupin. "But I'm your Trainer, I'm responsible for you."
"K'zam," Lupin snorted as he looked further away from her. Alexa looked at the headstone once more before looking at her Alakazam, with a wholesomely solemn look in her eyes; in actual fact, she almost felt like crying, but kept herself together for Lupin's sake.
"Lupin, it's been seven years. It's about time all of this stopped," she said. Lupin faced her angrily. His anger died a little when he saw the look in her eyes.
"Kazam," he grunted; he wasn't as angry as he was seconds ago, but he was still angry all the same. Alexa sighed, as if she knew she was in for a challenge.
Jordan entered the tower discreetly. He noticed Valerie was occupied, searching the desk for a fresh box of incense sticks. Jordan closed the door silently, but then proceeded to lock it with the rusty padlock hanging from the permanently closed door next to him. As soon as the doors were locked, Valerie looked up and realised what Jordan had done. And she wasn't impressed.
"Excuse me, you cannot lock that door!" she snapped.
"Shut up, grandma, I have a problem to take care of," Jordan said spitefully as he approached her. "And she won't escape."
"She..? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about a certain blonde haired bitch I saw entering this tower," Jordan replied, his voice toned down to a low growl. He took his blade and he held it up. Valerie was absolutely horrified. "Utter a single word and you'll be helping me rehearse my blade work."
Valerie moaned as she fell to the floor, overcome with the horrific imagery of her assumption behind Jordan's threat. She fell to the floor with a small thud; it was so light that even Jordan had difficulty hearing it. He looked down behind the desk and was satisfied that Valerie was merely unconscious. He looked up at the stairs and approached them slowly. He looked straight ahead as he replaced his dagger back into its holster, his eyes sharp and expressing his intent to kill.
Iara, Reese and Robbie exited the small flower shop in the golden coloured city after Keith and Keenan. Keenan was satisfied with his purchase as he looked inside his yellow carrier bag; Keith looked inside over Keenan's shoulder and counted at least seven berry pots, all of different colours.
"Didn't know you had a thing for berries, to be honest," Keith said as the group made their way out of the city.
"It's just a little hobby of mine," Keenan said modestly. "I've been doing it since I was eight, so I know what I'm doing."
"Is it just me or does everyone in your family have a talent?" Keith asked.
"Everyone in the world has a talent, Keith," Keenan said, somewhat sounding philosophical. "It's just a mater of finding and embracing that talent."
"Hmm..." Keith was left in thought. It wasn't until the group was actually out of the city and walking along the rural path that Keith finally spoke up again. "What's Alexa's talent?"
"Not counting her ability to understand Pokémon, her ability to raise them and her ability to know what a person or a Pokémon truly feels?" Keenan asked rhetorically.
"Not counting those," Keith confirmed. Keenan nodded; he knew Alexa didn't consider those abilities – using the term loosely – as talents, as she developed those abilities as she grew up, being raised around Pokémon and partly by a Gardevoir, much like Keenan himself.
"I honestly have no idea," he replied at last. Keith was, admittedly, shocked at the response. He was expecting at least something very common as a talent, such as video games.
"Really?"
"She doesn't really have any hobbies," Keenan stated. The revelation left Keith even more shocked than before; he wondered how anybody can not have a hobby. To him, it was almost impossible. "Then again, she didn't really have the time to make a hobby; she was travelling for four years, and during the three years after that, she was helping me train my Pokémon in preparation for my challenge at the Battle Tower in Sinnoh."
"How did that go?"
"Not too bad, really. I defeated Palmer, but I decided to challenge the Battle Castle as well," Keenan said casually. "I ended up battling the Castle's Frontier Brain, Darach."
"And won, I guess?"
"Not really...we tied, so, really, nobody won. Nobody lost either, so I'm not too bothered about it," Keenan shrugged.
"So Alexa didn't devote any time to herself?" Keith asked.
"Not much of it anyway; what free time she had was spent reading through Pokémon legends," Keenan explained. "That's why she knows so much about them." Keith remembered her bringing Moltres into the conversation the three of them had while they were on their way to the Union Cave; he now understood how she knew about the Pokémon in the first place. But his thoughts returned him to Alexa and her apparent lack of talent.
"Okay, as soon as Alexa comes back, I'm going to ask her what her talent is," he declared. "Because I want to know and nobody's going to stop me."
All of a sudden, the dreaded Jeep drove in front of them, with Andy at the wheel and Gabby in the passenger seat next to him. Keith felt like kicking himself in the backside.
"Me and my big mouth..."
"Keenan! S'up, kid, we've been wondering about you!" Andy exclaimed sarcastically. Keenan was less than amused.
"Like I care?" he asked rudely.
"Yeah, well, Jordan told Gabs and I to take care of the pair of you," Andy said casually as he and Gabby exited the vehicle. Keith gave off a laugh.
"And why isn't HE here to do that?!"
"Should we tell him?" Gabby asked; part of her was toying with the younger boys, but part of her was also genuinely curious as to whether or not they should answer Keith's demanding question.
"Nah; Jordan's not here, Alexa's not here...they'll figure it out," Andy shrugged. Keenan and Keith were horrified; they didn't even need a direct answer to come up with the horrific assumption plaguing their minds as they spoke. Keenan was left speechless at the possibility.
"Don't tell me he's...!"
"Huh; must've worked it out," Gabby said simply. Keenan looked up at Keith anxiously.
"Keith, even with Lupin, she'll be outnumbered..!" he exclaimed quietly. Keith's horror turned into absolute anger.
"...what will he do to her?! TELL ME!" he roared. Andy and Gabby each took out a Poké Ball. Robbie cowered behind Keith's legs.
"Beat us and we'll tell you," Andy smirked as he and Gabby released Scrafty and Liepard – respectively – from their Poké Balls. The two Water type Pokémon stood in front of Keith and Keenan, Reese's paw brimming with cold air. Iara growled and hissed at the Liepard, who growled and hissed viciously at the Vaporeon in return; it appeared as though Liepard despised other females as much as Gabby did.
"Lupin, please! Talk to me, I want to help you!" Alexa pleaded desperately. The disgruntled Alakazam evaded her gaze.
"Kazam! Alakazam! KAZAM!" Alexa sighed shakily.
"You're right...I couldn't help Lydia, but I doubt she'd want me to turn a blind eye on you," she said quietly. Neither she nor Lupin heard Jordan walking ever so slowly up the stairs. He leaned against the wall behind him and eavesdropped on the emotional conversation between Trainer and Pokémon, showing no emotion whatsoever, his eyes fixated on his teen aged target.
"Look, I know you hate me for what happened to Lydia, but please; let me help you understand what happened." Lupin grunted at her.
"Alakzam...!"
"It was an accident, Lupin, there was nothing we could have done," Alexa said, almost in a whisper.
"Alakazam. Kazam."
"Lupin...!"
"Let it go; it ain't listening."
Taken by utmost horror and surprise, Alexa stood up and turned around so quickly she almost tripped over herself. She was almost at a complete loss for words when she saw the head poacher standing across the room. Lupin stood up and faced the individual he had seen only once before.
"Hello, Alexa."
"J-Jordan?! How did you know I was-"
"I didn't. I saw you coming here," Jordan explained calmly.
"And you stalked me?!" Alexa shouted accusingly with disgust.
"Stalk is such a vulgar word. I prefer to call it 'hunting you down'. Especially now that I know you trespassed on my property." Alexa was dumbfounded; she and Keith left little to no evidence of their presence in the house, and Keith managed to keep her under control until all three poachers were inside the house, even if it had reminded her of when the Sinis Trio held her hostage.
"How?"
"Keenan's Poké Gear was missing. Who else would take it but his sister?" Jordan asked rhetorically. Alexa staggered back, almost bumping her leg into Lydia's headstone; he somehow knew of her relationship to Keenan, and she feared for his life.
"H-how did-"
"He let it slip. But I don't care about that."
"What do you want?"
"I take it you explored the house and saw things you weren't supposed to?" Jordan guessed. Alexa immediately recalled the nightmarish sight of the two decapitated corpses lying in the middle of an empty room. She remembered it well; her breakfast decided to bail out because of it. "What I want is your silence."
"Too late!" Alexa yelled. "I made my report!" Alexa's voice quietened as a sudden, but random, though came to her focus. She slapped both hands on her head and raised her head. "Oh shoot! I forgot to check my emails this morning!" Jordan considered his options; considering Alexa had already reported what she saw to her superiors, killing her would be meaningless, and would only serve to arouse suspicion. A Ranger goes missing after filing a report; Jordan refused to attract that publicity.
"Okay. You just saved yourself from death. But naughty little girls like you still need to be punished." Alexa faced him with revulsion
"With a Pokémon battle? In a graveyard? Are you freaking serious?!" Lupin sighed to himself as he disappeared in a brief flash of dim light. Jordan shook his head as he reached for his dagger.
"Not a Pokémon battle. This time, I'm taking matters into my own hands." He pulled out the dagger and turned it slightly, enough for it to shine in the sunlight. Alexa began to panic; Jordan wasn't kidding. She saw the look in his eyes; he was out to spill blood. HER blood!
"Without anyone with you, you're pathetic."
"Wha..?" Alexa looked around hastily, but saw no trace of her immediate line of defence. "Lupin? LUPIN!?" her cries were panicky, but fruitless.
"Looks like he's deserted you. Oh, well. So much for him; hardly worth keeping if he's disobedient."
Alexa looked around hastily for her options; the only way she could go was further up the tower, but she would hit a dead end. With Jordan in the way of the stairs leading downwards, her only way out, though unorthodox, was through the window, but there wasn't much of a chance of her surviving a fall from her current height, despite Keith's lucky break after falling from Altru Tower to the Lookout Ridge in Almia. She remembered that incident, but refused to take the chance. She was too focused on her thoughts that she hadn't realised that Jordan was now extremely close to her. She staggered back and almost broke Lydia's gravestone when she crashed her shoulder into it. Jordan crouched over her and trapped her between him and the headstone. He held the dagger to her face and stared at her. He could see the fear in her eyes, but he didn't care. Right about now, Alexa felt her adrenaline rushing at about 120 miles an hour through her body, her heart beating faster than a Floatzel in the rain and her body freezing with terror. She was so scared that she forgot that she still had one Pokémon on hand, and she never forgets the common knowledge that Trainers carry at least one Pokémon with them for protection.
"Now, then, Alexa. It's time you paid for meddling in affairs that don't concern you," Jordan growled.
She already understood that she wasn't going to get killed, but she also understood that there are things worse than death. If she didn't act quickly, she'd find that out for herself, and at the grave of her deceased Butterfree no less. One thought remained on her mind; if she doesn't act soon...she's doomed.
To be continued...