I felt like the entire world had slowed to a stop no sooner had those two words escaped me. I vaguely heard Jasmine's voice, the voices of the rogue trainers, and what sounded like soft whimpering, but still, they were distant and far away. My vision was completely obstructed by crackling electricity. I could see nothing but that electricity. Everything else just faded into a muted background. I turned my head to look at Meloi, who began yelping indignantly the moment my eyes touched on her. However she silenced when I shot her a hardened glare. Moments later, the electricity faded away and everything became calm and still. Even the rogue trainers, still bound and paralysed, quietened.

I looked down at Will and Charlee. Charlee was still clinging onto Will like he was her last tie to the world, her face buried in his shoulder, a soft, frightened whimpering sounding from her trembling body. Will was looking up at me, his eyes wide and suddenly so full of genuine fear that it made my heart twist with bitterness simply to even look into them. I wanted to look away. Charlee and Will were paralysed, completely incapable of movement. Vulnerable. Scared. A juddering, ragged breath escaped my body.

"Look at them…" I thought bitterly. "After I first heard of Will and rogue trainers, I used to think of them as so… powerful… untouchable… people completely out of my league. But look at them now. They're shaking. They're scared. And they're scared because of me. Cos I'm the one in power…" I felt tears suddenly prick at my eyes. "Is that what Will felt like all those years ago? Empowered… in a position of authority…? In a position where he had the ability to hurt people…" I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear it, but the thoughts simply wouldn't leave me alone. "And now… they're just like Meloi. Terrified. Helpless. Vulnerable." My body trembled viciously at that word. "Right now… I could do exactly the same thing to them that they so easily did to Meloi…" Realisation hit me like a slap in the face and I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. "But… but I can't… I just can't."

I raised my head, the tears welling up in my eyes and in danger of spilling over completely. I had to force myself to look down at Will and Charlee as I began to speak again, my voice croaking and wavering horribly. I'm not even sure what I was saying was understandable. "I can't do this…" I said slowly. "I'm not like you. I won't let myself be this way. I won't ever allow myself, or use my Pokemon, to hurt helpless people… or other Pokemon." I added, pointedly looking down on Will. "I… I don't doubt you need to be punished. But it's not my place, nor Meloi's, to do that. I…"

I suddenly hesitated, taking a moment to wipe my eyes, compose myself and start again. Realisation had once again hit me like a punch in the face, this time with a furious vengeance, and I knew… I just knew. Once again I knew what was right. I hated Will Brennan, and I wanted him to pay for what he did. But at the same time, I knew that there was nothing I could do. And that if I did do anything that even remotely harmed them, I would be no better than them… and I didn't want that.

"When Professor Oak told me about Meloi's trainer… the one who abused her…I made a promise to myself I would make you pay for what you did to her…" Despite how much I tried to keep my voice calm, it trembled and shivered and cracked with every breath that spilled out. Because I knew. I knew it was the truth. And it was killing me.

I cleared my throat again and tried to force my words forward. They came shakily, almost like I wasn't sure they were mine. "But I see now I was wrong. You hurt Meloi, and that was wrong… and neither her, nor I, nor anyone I know will forgive you for that. But the hurt she suffered won't go away because I cause you pain. I should know that better than anyone… trying to hurt people who hurt you just causes more problems than its worth." I glanced back at Jasmine, managing to summon up the slightest of ironic smiles. "You'd think I'd have learned that after my dad, huh?"

Jasmine just stared at me, blank-faced. She didn't seem to know what was going on, what I was saying or why I was saying it. I couldn't really blame her. Even I didn't understand everything I was saying, or even where it had come from, or what had even possessed me to say them in the first place…

"Violence is wrong." I said slowly. "But responding to it with more violence is just as wrong. You were wrong, so wrong, for what you did to Meloi. But I… I was wrong too. I was wrong for wanting to hurt you in return. Violence… it just breeds more violence. You hurt me, I'd hurt you, you'd hurt me again… And then what happens? It would just never end. It would just be an endless cycle of hurt and pain… " I let out a deep sigh. "So although I'm never going to forgive you for what you did, I'm going to walk away from this."

"Walk away…?" Will said slowly.

"I firmly believe you'll be punished for what you did in due course." I replied. Suddenly, I found I couldn't even look Will in the eye any more. "You ever heard of karma? I… I'm not the most spiritual of people, but I believe that what you do you in life, whether it be good or bad, you get it returned. You do good, you get good in return. You do bad, you get bad in return. Simple enough concept, really. So I guess… I guess I'm happy enough to sit back and let it take care of you." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I… I don't know what made you do the things you did to Meloi—"

"If you're looking for a sob story then I'm sorry to disappoint you," Will intercepted coolly. "You won't find one here. I don't know what you're expecting to hear, but there's no traumatic past, no broken family, no deeply ingrained psychological issues that made me do what I did. I was an ambitious kid, that's all there is to it. Too ambitious, some would say. And as I'm sure you've noticed this by now, I have a bad temper…"

Will didn't look scared any more. He looked angry again and bitterly resentful, looking upon me with such furious contempt it was like he was trying to burn straight through into my soul.

He kept talking, his voice low, with a stony edge. "You should know as well as I do that when you couple someone with such ambition with such a fierce temper, it never ends well. It ends even worse when that kind of person is paired with a Pokemon that just doesn't listen…"

The strangest thing was that Will now had a strange gleaming look in his eye and an odd, triumphant tone to his voice. It seemed almost like he was… proud of what he was saying. Like he was proud of that unprecedented ambition, that furious temper and those violent outbursts. Even Charlee had raised her head to look at Will. She was looking in astonishment, almost like she didn't recognise him…

Will chuckled to himself for another moment, before looking at me with a nasty glint flashing across his eyes. "So really, when you think about it… that Mareep should have known better. It should have known I am the way I am. It was the one that insisted on behaving so badly. So really… it was that Mareep's own fault that I did what I did."

Meloi suddenly growled viciously, but thankfully I reacted just in time to stop her from lunging bodily at Will. I caught her with my arm, pushed her back and sharply told her to behave, before I turned on Will again. This time it took every ounce of control I had to stop myself from attacking him…

"Don't you even dare try to pin this on Meloi." I snarled viciously, but Will didn't so much as bat an eyelid at me. "She was just as bad, if not worse when she came to me! But look at her now! She's improved so much! It just goes to show that it's never the Pokemon's fault! Never! Pokemon aren't innately bad. You know, I don't even believe people are innately bad. They have bad aspects, yes, but they're never innately bad. Sometimes, like in your case, for whatever reason… the badness gets too much. It takes over…" I broke off, my mind suddenly filled with images and familiar faces, one in particular standing out as a testimony to what I was trying to say. "But you know what?" I said softly. "People are worth more than their worse traits. If you wanted to badly enough, you could still change this. You could still get out of this. Both of you. Your lives don't have to be like this."

"Why do you care?" Charlee suddenly demanded. Her pale face had become reddened, streaked with tears, the thick eye makeup pencilled around her almond-shaped eyes running, black streaks cascading down her cheeks. "We're rogue trainers! Scum! Nobody cares about us."

"I don't believe that." I said at once. "I don't believe there's not one person in the world that doesn't care about you. I know you two care about each other to some degree, at least… And you have families, just like everyone else. I'm sure they care about you. And I'm sure they miss you and would want you home." I paused, before finally saying. "You could go home. You could leave all this behind you. You don't have to live like this any more."

"It's too late." Charlee said, her voice sounding thick with emotion, hanging her head.

"It's never too late." I told her firmly. "It's never too late to make a positive change. The situation is never too hopeless that it can't be made better. But it isn't enough to think about change, to talk about it, to wish for it! You have to go out and get it. You know what my mother used to tell me when I was little? If you don't like something, change it! And you can do that if you just try."

Will had gone past looking at me with contempt, now it was just pure disgust. Charlee on the other hand was looking helpless, big fat tears rolling down her face. A strange thought struck me as I looked at her.

"I can reach her… I can help her at least."

She began shaking her head vehemently. "No. No. No. There's no point."

"There's every point." I reiterated.

"Charlee!" Will suddenly spat, making the girl flinch violently "Shut up! Don't talk to her any more!"

My heart sunk. Charlee had flinched, and although it was an involuntary, impulsive reaction, it was bad news. She was starting to get movement back. That meant the paralysis was wearing off! And if it wore off, that could spell trouble. As I looked at her, I could see her staring at Will in what looked like badly concealed fright. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her. Will seemed like such a demanding, controlling man, and couple that with the abusive temper… I had a nasty suspicion I knew how he tried to keep her under control. And my suspicion was only cemented further when I saw a purpley-red bruise peeking out from the locks of blonde hair concealing Charlee's neck. A purpley-red bruise that looked frighteningly like marks from someone clasping their hands around her neck and gripping hard…

I had to fight to stop myself from crying out when I saw that horrible bruise. It looked so painful and made my heart sore to see it. Charlee was no angel, I knew that, but it was then that it hit me that she was likely to have suffered just as much abuse from Will's hands as Meloi had. It made me feel sick. What kind of a man would hurt Pokemon that only wanted to please him, or the woman that loved him? I shook my head to myself, hardly able to believe anything anymore…

"Why does she even stay with him?" I thought in despair. But the answer came to me all too easily. It was for the same reasons it always was. Fear… she could be too frightened to leave him. Maybe she'd be too scared of what he would do to her if she did try and leave. Maybe it was about belonging… maybe she felt she couldn't belong anywhere else but with him. That being with Will was her only viable option. Or maybe she had simply been deluded into believing that what Will showed her was love. Maybe in her head, what he did to her was love. She was no angel, I knew that. Right now she was just as rough and dangerous as Will was, there was no doubt about that. But I couldn't help but wonder how much of that was really down to her and how much of it had just been exacerbated by being around Will.

My resolution grew stronger. If I could help her somehow, I had to. I simply had to.

"You know, Charlee…"

She looked at me in surprise as I addressed her.

"You don't even seem like that bad of a girl… I can see what he does to you." I said, pointedly eyeing the bruises on her neck, watching her flinch as my eyes fell on it. Will looked furious and I could see him visibly struggle like it was me he wanted to seize around the throat this time. "You want my advice?"

"No! She doesn't want your advice, do you, sweetheart?" His voice held an almost desperate tone as he looked

"You shut up." I told him coldly, before turning back to Charlee. "I'll give you my advice anyway. And it's very simple. Get out. Get away from him. You can do so much better. Get out. Find a dream you want to follow or… or… do something you've always wanted to do." I paused before adding. "It's never too late to make that good change."

"She doesn't want any of that!" Will suddenly yelled. "She wants to be with me!"

"And why is that?" I turned on him angrily. "Probably because you made her believe she wants that! You probably didn't even give her any option! What, did you beat her up if she disagreed with you? Like you did to Meloi?"

"Sienna!" I heard Jasmine cry.

"She's no angel, Will! Everyone in this room knows that!" I yelled. "But that still doesn't give you an excuse to beat her like you did."

Charlee was sobbing now. But as she started crying, Will's face twisted into anger once again. "Shut up, you stupid bitch!" he suddenly barked, making her flinch away. "You deserved every bit of what I gave to you!"

At this point, she began howling. As her hysterical screaming sobs sounded out, my patience completely snapped. "Enough!" I cried, before turning to Jasmine. "Jasmine! I need you to get Albus to use Hypnosis."

"What?" she looked at me like I was crazy "Why?"

"Just do it!"

"On everybody?"

"Yes." I nodded. "On everybody!"

"You can't do that!" Will yelled angrily, but thankfully the paralysis was still holding him down, despite how hard he tried to struggle.

Jasmine was hesitating, Albus hovering above her head, hooting softly. She looked uncharacteristically worried as she looked at the trainers, all protesting angrily, telling us we'd never get away with it, threatening to hurt us, to kill us, all horrifyingly frightening things on paper, but I couldn't take any of them as people seriously anymore, let alone their threats. "Do it, Jasmine." I told her firmly.

"Al…alright…"

She gave the order to her Noctowl all the same on my instruction. I saw her wincing as her Noctowl performed Hypnosis, and the trainers began shouting expletives and abuse that would shock a hardened pirate. I couldn't even look at Will as sleep encompassed him and he dropped to the ground. Instead I found myself looking at Charlee, whose tear filled eyes were full of confusion as she too surrendered to sleep. As the other rogue trainers also began dropping like flies, Albus soared behind me to rest on Jasmine's arm. I waited a few moments until I heard soft snoring coming from the rouge trainers, before turning on my heel wordlessly and going towards the door.

I pushed the door open to immediately be faced with a mess of branches that tore at my face, hair and skin. I swore and pushed through, the branches clawing at me until I eventually emerged into the open air, in an empty clearing, framed by a light outline of trees. The air was cool and the sky was very a very light blue tinted with pink edges and wisps of golden cloud lazily drifting by. I turned around to see that I had emerged from what looked like a giant cluster of trees and bushes. I couldn't even see any hint of a building concealed within the area of forestry. I blinked in surprise and stared dumbly at it for a few seconds, before finally understanding.

"A secret base…" I said slowly. "Obviously. One of the rogue trainers must have a Pokemon that knows how to make a secret base."

A moment later, I heard a rustling from inside the cluster of bushes and trees and Jasmine appeared, looking a bit haggard, Albus still clinging to her shoulders. "Si…Sienna?" she cried. As she moved, she got herself snagged on a branch and cursed violently, trying to get herself loose.

I didn't know what to say to her, so instead I turned my back to her and busied myself by continuing to look around. Judging by the colour of the sky, it looked likely to be very early in the morning, possibly around six or seven. A quick glance at the time on my phone verified the time at 6:26 AM. I looked into the distance, seeing the Violet City skyline peeking out into the blue sky on the horizon, so I quickly calculated we couldn't be any more than half an hour from the main city.

"Sienna!" Jasmine's voice cut through me sharply as she finally disentangled herself from the branches and stumbled into the clearing alongside me. "What the hell are you doing? You're not just gonna leave them there, are you?"

"Of course not," I said, perhaps snappier than I intended to.

I took out my phone once again and dialled emergency services. They answered straight away, I asked for the police and I was put through almost immediately. I found myself oddly calm as I spoke to them.

"Hello, police? Yes, I'd like to report the location of the rouge trainer gang that's been terrorising Violet City." I went on to describe the abandoned secret base, concealed in the bushes of the route outside Violet City, before eventually saying that the trainers were incapacitated for now, but they wouldn't be for long. As they promised me they'd be there as soon as they could, I began walking away.

I had taken only a few steps before I felt a hand grab my arm. "You're just leaving?" Jasmine asked shrilly.

"I'm not staying." I said firmly, before I found myself suddenly becoming upset again. "I… I can't. Not while they're still there…"

Jasmine frowned. "Sienna…"

"I know, I know," I said at once. "I was stupid… that whole thing was stupid. The whole situation I put us in was stupid."

"No… I wasn't gonna say that." Jasmine said, coming to put a hand on my shoulder. "I wanted to say that… what you said back then… about the violence breeding more violence? And how it's never too late to make a good change? That… that was a pretty awesome thing you said. And the fact that you could just walk away… that was incredible."

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, Jasmine." I said truthfully as I began walking again. "But he was right… as much as I hate to admit it, he was actually right. If I did to him what he did to Meloi, I'd be no better than him. And I don't ever want to be that kind of person."

Jasmine let out a deep sigh. "They're messed up people… aren't they? You really think they'll get out of this okay?"

"Look at my dad." I said slowly. "Look at the change he went through. He's a lot older than them, and he was far, far worse than they ever were or probably ever could be. If he can get out of it okay, then I'm pretty confident they could…"

"That Will…" Jasmine said with a violent shudder. "He just seemed so… evil…"

"I don't know if evil is the right word, Jazz…"

"I do." She said, suppressing another shudder. "He'll turn into another Nathan if things don't improve for him. Now he… he was an evil man…"

"I still don't know if evil is the right word." I said, letting out a long sigh. "Yeah, fair enough, I used to… I used to think Dad was evil. Right down to the core. But now seeing him change, I have a hard time believing anyone is innately evil. Yes, they have bad aspects, but doesn't everyone? Some people are just better at suppressing it, I guess. I kinda… I kinda wonder what makes some people vulnerable to the badness and what makes some able to fight it…"

Jasmine was staring at me. "Sounds like you should have done a psychology degree instead of going to pastry school."

"Oh shush," I said, but I kept a playful tone.

She grinned at me, but then she became solemn again. "I still don't know how you could have let them go like that. If that was me… I'd have ripped them to shreds myself."

I chuckled humourlessly. "I… I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't want to do that too." I paused. "Do you know what my mother used to say to me when I was little?"

"What?"

"No matter what wrongs you get given in your life and no matter who it is that wrongs you, you have to try to forgive and forget. Because if you don't forgive and forget, you'll carry around that burden the rest of your life. Heh… it's strange. When you think about it, she was a big of a hypocrite. She hated Dad as much as I did back then. She hated the things he did to her and to me. She couldn't forgive and forget… but yet she still wanted me to. She said to me once that she didn't want me to turn out like her. She wanted me to be better. She wanted me to be compassionate, to understand people, to be able to forgive people for what they did."

"It's not that easy though…" Jasmine said softly. "I could forgive someone for what they did, sure. But I could never… forget that they did what they did. It could never be the same after that. And sure, I could probably do it vice versa. I could forget what someone did, but I'd never be able to forgive them…"

"I've been the same. I can do one or the other, never both."

"But what about your dad?"

"I forgave him." I said with a nod. "But I'll never forget. I can't. I'd like to hope our relationship can get better, but I'm not sure it can. You can't forget something like that…"

"And what about Will and Charlee?"

I sighed. "I can't forgive. And I can't forget."

Jasmine said nothing. She looked a little worried. I let out a deep sigh, once again. All of a sudden I felt exhausted. Both physically and mentally. My entire body felt weak and all my senses were numb. I could barely even process what was going on anymore. All I wanted to do was fall into bed and forget this whole day had ever happened. I was also aware that the police would be arriving soon. As much as I wanted to hang around till they got there just to make sure they found the rogue trainers, I didn't want to get caught up in anything messy. So I made a decision.

"We need to get back to the Pokemon Centre," I announced.

Jasmine nodded slowly. "Yeah, they'll be worrying if they wake up and find us gone…"

We began our walk back in silence. Within a few minutes, another issue had made itself clear to me and I spoke again. "We shouldn't tell them."

"Tell who?" Jasmine asked, her eyebrows knotting together.

"The others. Elliot, Nikki, Scott, Bailey… we shouldn't tell them what happened."

"What? Why?"

"Like you said, they'll worry. And everything went fine. No harm, no foul, right?"

"You can't lie to them…"

"I can and will," I said firmly. "They don't need to know. They don't need to know we left, they don't need to know why we wanted to leave, they don't need to know we found Will Brennan and they certainly don't need to know what went down in there."

"You can't not tell them!" Jasmine protested.

I turned and shot Jasmine a fierce look. She closed her mouth slowly and looked at me reproachfully. "Fine… we don't have to tell them."

"Thank you."

"But you really should!" she insisted, before sighing and shaking her head. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

I scoffed and blew off her concerns, but what she had said had struck a chord with me, and I felt oddly guilty as we made our way back to Violet City. We walked in silence for five minutes, before the unmistakable roar of sirens reached our ears somewhere behind us. Jasmine initially wavered, stopping mid-step to look behind her and look out for the flashing lights and wailing sirens. I knew that our work was done, however, and there was nothing more we could do. I touched her gently on the arm and led her away.

There was nothing there for us any longer.

We reached Violet City again just as the city was starting to wake up and the morning rush was beginning. We slipped into the Pokemon Centre undetected even by the nurse beginning the morning shift and carefully made our way up into the rooms. Mercifully, we found everyone still asleep. Privately, I hadn't expected anyone to be up anyway. It was still barely past seven in the morning. So, with the knowledge the rest of our friends had no clue what we had done during the night, Jasmine and I took the opportunity to shower, get dressed, eat breakfast and carry on with life as normal to ensure the others would continue to be unsuspecting. After some more persuasion over breakfast, Jasmine had eventually relented, and agreed to keep what had happened during the night our little secret. However, as we sat down in front of the television as it approached mid morning, it was evident it was still weighing heavily on her mind.

"It's kinda funny, isn't it…?" she said, as the nine o'clock news bulletin hit.

"What is…?" I said, leaning my tired body into the comfortable, cushiony softness of the sofa I was currently sitting in.

"How you said yesterday that it would be a happy coincidence." She said. "You know… finding Will Brennan and all."

I chuckled, but it was mirthless. "Well the universe does love proving me wrong," I said with a wan smile. "It always has had a way of doing that. I think it likes seeing how… how far I'll bend before I break…"

Jasmine murmured, biting her lip. "How are you doing?" she asked softly.

I thought about it for a few seconds. "About as well as can be expected, I guess. Still a bit shaken…" I added truthfully. "I never expected to find him out there. I never expected him to be the way that he was. And I never expected that I would react the way that I did…"

Jasmine was listening intently.

"But you know what's funny?"

"Huh? What?" she asked, cocking her head to one side.

"For a moment, for one mad, stupid moment when I was still all groggy from the Disable…"

"Yeah?" Jasmine's eyebrows were furrowing together.

"I thought she… Charlee, I mean… was Helene."

"You did?"

"Yeah." I nodded. I laughed humourlessly. "I knew it was impossible. I don't have the faintest clue who Helene is, but I doubt she's some… young… gothic… rogue trainer, you know?" I was grinning genuinely now. "Dad told me Helene was a scientist. Somehow I doubt she's a gothic scientist with tattoos and leather and spiked stilettos. Doesn't quite fit, you know?"

"True," Jasmine was giggling.

"We interrupt this report to bring you some breaking news from Violet City."

"Eh?" I said, turning my head to look at the TV.

"We have just received official confirmation that a band of rogue trainers have been found incapacitated on the outskirts of Violet City."

I looked at Jasmine, my mouth hanging open as the scene on TV changed. A middle aged red-headed woman was standing in front of the very well-hidden secret base on the outskirts of Violet City. Immediately, my heart quivered in my chest. Behind her, I could see several police cars, the hidden base surrounded by thick reels of police tape, and many policemen dodging in and out from under it, disappearing on and off camera. I swallowed.

"Johto Regional News have just been informed that the police received an anonymous phone call in the early hours of the morning, the anonymous caller claiming they knew the location of the rogue trainers that had been terrorising Violet City. Police were dispatched immediately and it has just now been confirmed that yes, the band of trainers are inside this very elaborately hidden secret base."

The TV changed back to the studio where the main newscaster spoke up again.

"Any word as to the condition of the rogue trainers?"

"The seven trainers were found asleep, most likely incapacitated by a Pokemon move, but otherwise unharmed. They have been woken and are now currently being handcuffed and taken in for questioning to Violet City Police Station."

"Do we have any information as to the identity of the anonymous caller? How exactly it is they came to know about the rogue trainers?"

"The police will not release any information about the anonymous caller."

"I see." The newscaster looked a little annoyed. "What about the people who are believed to have done this to the rogue trainers? Another band of rogue trainers, perhaps? Someone infringing on their territory?"

"The police have little information on how the rogue trainers came to be in this condition, but have assured us that they will undergo questioning in due course. However we have had one statement from a police officer, stating that they suspect a large group of trainers is likely to be responsible, as the seven trainers captured have teams of well over the legal six Pokemon each."

"How wrong they are." I grinned, whilst Jasmine stifled a giggle.

"Police strongly encourage those responsible for the incapacitation of the band of rogue trainers to come forward to claim a reward for their good deeds. This band of rogue trainers has been described as 'particularly ruthless' and was responsible for yesterday's attack on the local Violet City Pokemon centre and the theft of several Pokeballs from visiting trainers."

There was a sudden rustling of paper and the newscaster reporting live was handed something. She studied it intently before whipping her head up back again. "We have just been informed that among the captured trainers are twenty-one year old Will Brennan from Pallet Town, a notorious rogue trainer who is rumoured to have terrorised over thirty cities and towns ever since losing his trainer's license after a stream of Pokemon abuse. The police have also confirmed that nineteen year old Charlee Frew from Vermillion City, who was stripped of her licence after the death of her opponent's Pokemon in a local tournament held annually in Mahogany Town, is also among the captured trainers."

"Oh my God…" Jasmine said, horrified. "Charlee's Pokemon once… killed another one? That's how she lost her license?"

I shuddered. It didn't even bear thinking about. My hands crept around my arms and I sat there, hugging myself, for a few moments, just letting that information wash over me. Sadness rose in me like bitter gall. "Maybe… maybe I was wrong…" I thought, wishing I could just sink my head into my hands and cry. "Maybe she can't be reached…" But then I forced myself to shake my head fiercely. "No, Sienna. Don't think like that." I then raised my head up. "Come on, Charlee…" I inwardly pleaded. "Wherever you are, whatever it takes, prove me wrong, okay?"

"We will of course bring you more news on this situation as it develops. This is Natasha King, reporting live, outside Violet City. Back to you in the studio."

"Thank you, Natasha. Now, in other news, proposed legislation to raise the legal Pokemon training age to sixteen will be put to—"

"Well, well. Will Brennan captured, huh?"

I froze.

The voice was horribly familiar and I instantly felt my heart plummet to somewhere in my stomach as it sounded out. I didn't want to turn around and face up to it. But luckily (or unluckily?) I didn't have to. Moments later, Elliot's face appeared in my peripheral vision and I let out a low groan. He was smiling at least, albeit a little wryly. "I don't suppose you two would know anything about that, would you?"

I chuckled mirthlessly whilst exchanging glances with Jasmine. "Busted?" I asked, my face twisting into a frown.

"I think so," she said, collapsing her head into her hands.

Author's Note

Hi guys :)

Really sorry this update was delayed. I've had a host of stuff to get through recently which meant that although the chapter was done, it never got beta-read and edited.

Also, I've quite severely hurt my back from a fall I took a couple days ago, so it makes sitting over a computer screen incredibly difficult, 'specially since even walking is significantly painful…

Anyway! No excuses! Next chapter begins the FINAL ARC of the filler before we launch into the fic's plot and climax. I am quite excited for this!

Okay! So, thanks to TwewyReaperGirl, NicKenny, WarriorSwift, Aeroga, The Neverending Meep, TCoBlackRoses, and ArchXDeath.

Until next time! Hopefully I won't keep you waiting too long!