Me: Ahhh! My head's gonna explode! I can't decide!

Gardevoir: Gah, what is it now?

Me: The new trainers from Black 2 and White 2!

Gardevoir: *rolls eyes* What about them?

Me: I can't decide which shipping to support! *collapses on couch*

Gardevoir: Dear Raikou...*sighs* What new pairings have the messed up people of the world come up with now?

Me: *muffled by cushions* T-er-'s j-t s- m-ny!

Gardevoir: Come again?

Me: *lifts head* There's just so many! And they're all so adorable! I can't take it!

Gardevoir: Does anyone else find this to at least some degree extremely weird? *sigh* Anyways, Disclaimer: Eon does not own Pokemon in any way. Strictly plot and OC's only.

Chapter Five: Blue

"Now, I finally got it to work last night. So please don't go dropping it off buildings anymore."

I giggled and rolled my eyes at a stern Silver. "Don't worry. I don't plan on sky-diving again anytime soon."

He only shook his head at me and crossed his arms next to Green on the front porch who was placing the jar of strange shimmering powder in his bag in preparation for our departure. Red eyed it somewhat angrily before looking through the open window at Yellow and leaning on the porch railing. Black stood there watching him worriedly, and White was giving one last check to my almost gone injuries.

"They healed up rather nicely," she approved with a smile.

I did the same and stretched my arms, relishing in the fact that the soreness had left them. Another plus was being able to take a shower and change into some of Mrs. Sage's clothes that fit me. "They did, didn't they?"

Copycat burst through the front door and ran up to me, making sure she got a chance to talk before I left. "Do you still have my dream catcher?"

I smiled and patted my right hip where the silver and white palm-sized object was sitting in the pocket of my borrowed jeans. "Got it right here!" I giggled and ruffled her hair. "Although, I think we'll be back before it's time to sleep again."

The little girl laughed, too, and her mother pulled the door closed behind her as she joined us on the porch. The woman handed two shoulder bags to Green as everybody gathered around the steps. "Now, I packed some extra berries in your lunch if you're gone longer than expected, and I made sure to put in some medicines. Just in case."

Green saw the warning in her eyes and bowed his head. "Don't worry. We'll be back before the sun even sets."

His words did little for her reassurance, but she smiled anyway and wished us good luck.

"Please be careful," White demanded anxiously.

"Yeah, no more jumping out of buildings," Red told me with a finger waggle.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. "It was one time!" I sighed. "Isn't anybody going to let that go?"

My five friends all looked at each other before laughing and shaking their heads.

My eyes narrowed, and I crossed my arms in frustration. "Guess I'll take that as a no."

Copycat frowned at all of them and ran forward to hug me. "Don't worry! I believe Lulu will come home okay."

I sharply jerked my head at her and smiled. "Thank you! At least somebody's got some faith in me."

"Especially since you're going with Green," she said softly before innocently looking away at the sky.

My ears perked, and I leaned down at her with slightly narrowed eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Oh, nothing." She slowly stalked over to Green who was sliding one of the bags over his shoulder. He smirked widely at her as she looked up at him and raised her voice loud enough for everyone else to hear her whisper. "Lulu loves Green!"

Everybody burst out laughing, and I gasped in shock, my cheeks turning from peach to pink in less than three seconds. "Copycat!"

The dark-haired eight year-old grinned and gave me another quick hug before dashing into the house to escape my wrath. I stood there with my mouth hanging open a little and pulled back with clenched teeth as Green smugly strode up to me and put his face in mine.

"Not so fun on the receiving end of things, huh?" He asked with a smirk.

I tried to say something, but when nothing came, I whisked around in embarrassment, hiding my face from the others who were just now calming down. Refusing to turn back, I pursed my lips as they started chuckling at my reaction all over again and froze when I felt someone slip the strap of Mrs. Sage's bag around my neck. Their hands rested on my shoulders, and I swear my face went cherry red when Green's face popped up from behind and smiled at me.

"Come on," he said with a slight laugh. "We should get going."

I only huffed and stalked down the steps to the yard where I brought out Jiggly. Her Pokeball was taken from my hand a moment later by Green, and I tried to take it back as he returned her. "What are you doing? I need her to fly, you idiot!"

"Charizard will be faster," he reasoned, his usual frown returning. "You know we need to get in and out of there as quick as possible."

I frowned right back at him, and a silent war proceeded before I couldn't take his glare anymore and threw my arms up angrily. "Fine!" I swiped Jiggly's Pokeball from him and put it in my pocket. "We'll do it your way!"

He only sighed and brought out his Charizard as Mrs. Sage bid us farewell and the other five came down the steps to see us off. When he gestured at me to climb on first, I crossed my arms in indignation and ignored the offer, turning my head and closing my eyes. He rolled his, and mine popped open in surprise when I felt myself being picked up.

"Green!" I pounded on his back as he carried me over his shoulder and placed me between Charizard's wings. He climbed on behind and gave his Pokemon the signal to go. Everybody waved good-bye to us, and they soon became small as our distance from the ground grew.

I glared at the brunette behind me before turning forward to see us reach the low-lying cloud cover. Hanging onto the Fire type, I looked back at him again when he let out a heated breath. "Do you always have to be so stubborn?"

I opened my mouth to retort, only to realize that that would prove his point even more. I snapped it shut and sighed. "Sorry."

He smirked slightly and raised an eyebrow. "You know, Copycat was kidding earlier."

I tilted my head. "What? But she said the same thing when we first met." I blushed again, but Green's smirk only grew.

"The only reason she says it is because of how everyone reacts. She doesn't really know what she's saying."

My eyes widened, and I whipped back around with my hand at my mouth, fresh red blossoming on my cheeks. How could've I have been dumb enough to react like that in front of everybody? Especially Green!

I could literally feel the smirk coming from him behind me and frowned. This wasn't right. I didn't love people; people loved me! There was no way that Copycat's statement could be true!

I paused as Charizard drifted to the left, and Green lightly pressed against me. When we were straight again, I was surprised that he didn't back off, instead staying where he was. My cheeks continued to burn, and I bit my lip. Maybe…maybe she was right…

"So what's up with you?" He asked suddenly, pulling back.

"H-huh?" I shook my clouded mind and turned to see him watching me curiously. "What do you mean?"

"These nightmares. What are they about? Because it's like you go insane whenever you have them."

My gaze fell from his, and I looked away. "I-It's nothing, really."

He scoffed. "Blue, stop lying. Just tell me what it was." He thought a second before asking, "Is it Yellow? Are you so worried about her that you're dreaming?"

"No, no," I told him. I shut my eyes tightly, and my latest nightmare came over me again. I'd come face to face with the Masked Man for the first time and attempted to run away. Unfortunately, my fear of birds had just been created during the flight with Ho-Oh who was sent after me. As I'd ran for my life through a maze of fog and darkness, the Legendary had caught up and forcefully brought me back to the evil man. The last thing I remembered was the silver plate sliding over my face before I'd woken up to see Green staring at me in a shocked worry.

"Is it the Masked Man?"

The name made me flinch, and I nodded slowly after a second. "I don't understand it, though. It's been so long. It doesn't make sense why they'd come back."

"You've been under a lot of stress lately," he said, looking out at the clouds passing around us. "We all have. So it's not surprising that something like this happened."

I sighed and leaned back on him, feeling the boy jump lightly at my touch. "Well, I definitely wish it hadn't. Copycat looked so scared when I woke up."

The wind rushed past us, blowing our hair back and filling our heads with nothing but the sounds of the sky.

"She wasn't the only one."

His voice almost eluded my ears, but I smiled faintly when they heard it. Closing my eyes, I hadn't realized that I was dozing off until he shook me awake, Charizard standing still in front of the Viridian Gym. Jumping down to the ground, I looked back up at his stern face as the Pokemon started to lift off again.

"Be careful," he warned me. "It's possible that they might've set traps so call me if anything goes wrong. I'll be right over."

"Okay, okay," I told him, waving my arms at him to go. "Don't worry! Everything will be fine!"

He only gave a doubtful look before telling Charizard to head for Pallet Town. I stalked up to the front doors and tried the handles. Fortunately, we hadn't had time to lock up the night of White's party, and the door was open. Then again, it was possible that someone could've raided the place in our absence. That wasn't the case, though, as I walked inside and found everything as it was earlier this week.

Hurrying over to the rooms that we'd changed in, I happily replaced Mrs. Sage's clothes for my own and set my white hat back on my head. I grabbed everyone else's outfits and packed them in my yellow bag, making sure to take any extra belongings. I had just put the last articles inside when the creak of the front doors made me freeze.

I checked my Pokegear quickly to see if Green had called and bit my lip when he hadn't. Silent as a Seviper, I cracked the door to the room open and peaked out, almost slamming it shut again when I saw a lone figure standing in the main hall where the dressed-up battlefield was.

It was someone with a black shirt and white-blonde hair cut short in a cute pixie style. I could tell it was a girl by the way she stood, and I gasped silently as she turned to the side and something around her neck flashed.

It was a TR pendent on a white thread.

Just like Amber's.

I narrowed my eyes and watched her as she strode around the room, fingering the decorations that everyone had worked so hard to put up. So this is Melany…I looked at the girl again and scowled. Such cute hair. For an enemy that is. The lengths of it varied depending on its location. The shorter ones were at the back of her head, growing larger as they approached her face until touching half an inch past her chin. Her bangs were large and sweeping across her forehead so that they rested just barely above her eyes which I could see were deep blue.

I grumbled to myself for a few minutes about wishing that Yellow would get an adorable haircut like, not noticing that the girl had been getting closer to my room with each passing second until her footsteps sounded not even five feet away. Holding my breath, I quietly stepped backwards and searched in the dark for something to hide behind. When I couldn't find anything suitable, I settled for standing where the door would open and waited in tense silence for it to do so.

The steps came closer and closer until they stopped directly outside the door. A drop of sweat beaded down my face as I heard shifting and silently let out a breath of relief as they continued down the hall. I remained still for a couple more minutes to make sure she was gone before cautiously stepping out of the door. I didn't see anyone on the battlefield so I was about to make a dash for the front doors when I heard something clatter. Looking the opposite way towards Green's office, I frowned and slowly started walking.

Pausing at the window set into the door, I stared into the office and saw Melany setting a picture frame back on Green's desk, her fingers grazing over the papers he'd been last looking at. Anger rose in my throat at the sight of her touching his stuff, and I suppressed the urge to barge in there and slap her hands away. What right did she have to just come here like it wasn't an issue?!

She paused suddenly, and I ducked out of sight just in time for her eyes to miss me as she turned around. I whipped my head around for another place to hide and rushed over to a nearby closet, slipping inside just as the girl stepped out of the office. I heard her start walking away and came out in time to see her disappearing out the back door.

I immediately started for the front ones to get out of there as soon as possible, but my advice to Copycat suddenly came to thought, my feet bringing me to a stop.

"Isn't it better to face your problems rather than running away from them?"

I stood there a moment in silence, indecision making my hand clench as my small time limit of opportunity continued to tick away. This was my chance. I could go after her—see if I can learn anything about their motives and/or possibly confront her. On the other hand, I could get out of here home-free with all of our belongings and see how Green was doing.

Yellow's unconscious face flashed across my mind, and I secured the two bags on my shoulder before marching out the back door.

Confrontation it is.

The sunlight was bright as I walked outside and saw her form diminishing in the sky, heading toward the Viridian Forest. My hand went to my bag for Jiggly's Pokeball but froze when arms suddenly wrapped around mine and crushed me in a huge hug.

"My Lugia, you're okay!"

I turned around in surprise to see a worry-stricken Green with his eyes closed in relief. "I saw Melany go into the Gym right after you and thought that she might've—"

"I'm fine!" I told him quickly, watching her fade even more in the distance and fretting that I might lose her in the clouds if I didn't get up there soon.

Green's eyes followed mine before narrowing in suspicion. He walked in front of me and stared hard. "What are you doing?" I brought my gaze to his, and he frowned. "You're not thinking of going after her, are you?"

I could almost feel the disapproval radiating off him and shook my head, attempting to feign innocence. "N-no. Why would I do that?"

His eyes were reduced to slits as he crossed his arms. "Hm. Just wondering. Because only an idiot would do that. Especially without any idea of what they'd do once they caught up."

"Eheh…" I chuckled nervously, thinking of a way to get him to leave. "Well, we should be getting over to the lab, shouldn't we?" I hastily snatched Charizard's Pokeball from his belt and brought out the fire lizard. "Let's go!"

Green was still looking at me cynically but climbed on his back, reaching a hand out to pull me up. As nonchalantly as I could, I pretended to check off the things in my bag and purposefully skipped something. "I better go get it!" I told him. "You go on ahead! I'll catch up!"

The boy and his Pokemon didn't move an inch, refusing to take off without me. I rolled my eyes and tickled the end of Charizard's tail, a little tidbit I'd learned that could make him jump into the air. With his wings now beating, Green scowled down at me, and I waved good-bye with upmost cheer. His eyes rolled, and he began flying for Pallet Town again. I watched him until he was completely gone and released Jiggly, jumping on her back as she inflated and floated up into the sky.

I rummaged through my bag until finding my Silph Co. that I always carried with me and putting it on. Hitting the magnification switch, I searched the cloud cover for Melany and after a while of frantic searching spotted her about a half mile ahead on a Venomoth.

Setting my face, I urged Jiggly to go faster. I smirked as she increased by at least ten miles an hour and mentally stuck my tongue out at Green. Yeah right Jiggly wasn't a fast flyer! She just enjoyed leisurely floating most of the time.

Melany's figure began descending into the treetops, and I frowned at the thought of what might happen in the next few hours.

That was okay, though. It was about time that I had a talk with that girl.

My doubts about Blue slowly drifted away as I returned Charizard and took out the keys to the lab. Unlocking the huge white doors, I stepped inside to find no one working today. Then again, it was Saturday. Gramps always let everyone have the weekend off when there wasn't a major project going on.

Scoping out the area for anyone that might be lurking around, I nodded in satisfaction when I didn't see any and headed for the video phone that Gramps had in his main room. The door slammed shut behind me as I strode towards the desk where the unit was hooked up and clicked it on. The monitor burst into a box of light that I shielded my eyes against until it calmed down and went to the call screen.

I scrolled down the contacts list until Professor Elm's popped up and hit the send button. While the signal went through, I reached into my bag and pulled out the Zinc jar containing the mysterious green powder. It shimmered in the sunlight coming in from the window, and I observed it curiously. It was very similar to Sleep Powder, but its clear and light reflecting properties definitely made it unique.

My thoughts were scattered as the screen burst to life with an image of Elm's lab and Crystal's face in the middle.

"Green!" She said surprised. "I wasn't expecting a call from you!"

"No," I told her. "But there's a situation that I need your help with."

"What is it—"

Her voice was cut off by Emerald's who I could hear off screen.

"No, Gold! You can't come out!"

I raised an eyebrow, and Crystal sweatdropped. "Oh boy…"

"What's he getting into now?" I asked with a shake of my head.

The pig-tailed girl sighed and leaned on the desk in front of the video phone. "This project Professor Elm is conducting has to do with Poffins."

"Poffins? Aren't those some kind of Contest treats? Like the Pokeblocks Ruby uses?"

Crystal nodded and cringed when a loud banging started up along with a round of protests from Emerald. "Just that. He wants to use them to see if their different properties affect the offspring of the Pokemon who consume them."

"So what's wrong with Gold?" I wondered. "He knows he can't eat them, right? They're Pokemon food."

"Oh, he knows," she told me. "That's not the problem though."

I tilted my head, and her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "The chef is DJ Mary."

I sighed and shook my head as another set of bangs sounded along with Gold's cries for freedom.

"No!" Emerald dashed across the screen in the background, running back to the other side a moment later with a fire extinguisher in his hands. "Stay back, Gold!"

"Just let me out!" The boy pleaded. "I'll stay calm! I promise!"

The only response I heard was a spray from the extinguisher and a shout of objection from the victim. "I'm soaked!"

"Stop trying to escape then!" Emerald shouted at him.

"But Mary's only here for one more batch of Poffins!" He exclaimed. "And they'll be done in ten minutes!"

Emerald simply sprayed him again, and Crystal turned back to me with a sigh. "We needed someone close by with experience, and as unexpected as it was that she had some, we decided to ask her anyway. We'd all hoped that he wouldn't start freaking out like this if she said yes, but as you can see, that's exactly what happened."

"So how's the research going?" I asked her, anxiously trailing a finger around the lid of the jar and looking up at the door to make sure no one was there.

The extinguisher continued to go off as Crystal smiled and happily read off some of the results from a stack of nearby papers. Every minute or so, I zoned out and stretched my ears for any sound of people approaching. Just because they hadn't come yet didn't mean that they weren't planning on doing so.

I was jolted out of my thoughts and Crystal from the middle of her explanations when Emerald's distressed voice rang out. "Gold! What's with the smirk?! Why are you reaching for your belt?! No! Don't use Typhlosion on the cage!"

Crystal ran from the screen, and I could just make out the back of her lab coat as she stood behind Emerald who I could hear raise the extinguisher again. "Don't make me use this!"

"Explotaro! Get us out of here with Flamethrower!"

The Pokemon started the move and stopped in recoil when Emerald hit the extinguisher's switch. I closed my eyes and shook my head with a small smile as nothing came out and the powerful Fire type move began melting away at its trainer's confinement.

"How could it be out?!" Emerald yelled.

"Quick!" Crystal told him after a moment of fast thinking. "Go and lock the door from outside!"

I saw them come across the monitor as she pushed him towards the door. "But you'll be stuck in here, too!"

"It's just until Mary's gone," she reassured the blonde-haired boy. "Now hurry! Before they break free!"

Emerald nodded and sprinted for the door, a lock clicking in place as Explotaro's Flamethrower burst through the cage and singed a furious Crystal in the face who had just turned back around to assess Gold's progress. Said boy stepped out of the heat with his Pokemon behind him and stood before her angry smoking form, chuckling fearfully.

"Well, aren't you just simmering?" He said in an attempt of a joke.

She growled at him, and he laughed nervously again, slowly stepping around her before dashing for the door. I heard the handle jiggle uselessly, and the boy sighed in frustration, his form reappearing on the screen as he walked back in front of his friend.

"Can I pleeeeease go?" He pleaded with her, reaching out for her good nature.

"No." The response was taut and contained restrained rage, but he was still stupid enough to push her buttons.

"Jeez, Crys, if you wanted to lock yourself in a room with me, you could've just said so," he smirked.

Seeing the steam beginning to leak out of her ears, he gulped before returning his Typhlosion and watching her walk back to the video phone where I was waiting, quite amused at my two juniors. "Now what did you need Green? You said that there was something wrong?"

Gold picked up on the serious atmosphere and lost his idiot smile, coming up behind Crystal and looking at me intently.

I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure of what to start with. So much had happened since the reunion. "Arceus, where do I begin…alright, you guys remember when we all got together a few weeks ago?"

Crystal nodded, and Gold grinned again, muttering to himself, "I know I do."

The blue-haired girl closed her eyes and smacked him, sending the Johto boy sprawling onto the lab floor. "What was that for?!"

She scoffed as he got back to his feet. "You know darn well, pervert."

He was about to object when she silenced him with a glare and gestured for me to go on.

"Well," I started uncertainly. "It turns out that Red has a twin brother named Amber, and he showed up that night."

"Whoa!" Gold exclaimed. "Mind blown! Red-senpai's got a twin?!"

"I agree with Gold," Crystal admitted. "Why haven't we heard about him before?"

"No one had," I told her. "It'd been ten years since Red last saw him."

Her eyes widened, and he whistled. "Talk about reunion," he said simply.

I nodded and continued. "Right after that, these strange people started trying to kidnap Yellow."

Crystal gasped. "But she's okay, right?!"

"For now," I said lowly. "That's actually why I called. It appears that…well…" I trailed off, my mind still shocked at my best friend's brother's betrayal. "…Amber was one of them the whole time."

Both of them froze, Gold's face morphing into surprise as Crystal mulled it over. "And here I was starting to like the dude just from your description," he scoffed.

"Why would he do that, though?" She asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"He really isn't that bad a guy—we've discerned that much," I told them. "He's very much like Red in many ways. It's just that it was such a shock when he attempted to kidnap Yellow himself."

I could see both sets of eyes bugging out of their heads before Gold frowned and pulled his billiard cue from his pocket, extending it to its full length and slamming it on the ground. "Alright. Where's the damn Sham Twin?"

"Gold!" Crystal gently scolded him. She turned back to me and frowned. "I'm glad to know that he failed, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Now that you mention it…" I grabbed the Zinc jar and brought it into view. "What does this look like to you?"

The two squinted as they tried to get a good look at the light green powder inside. "It appears to be a small dose of Sleep Powder," Crystal deducted. She eyed me doubtfully. "That's not the case though, is it?"

I shook my head and sighed. "Amber used this on Yellow a few days ago, and she still isn't awake. I thought it was some sort of drug at first, but that would've worn off by now."

Crystal nodded in agreement, and Gold scratched his head. "So what'd he give Straw Hat Gal? Some sort of pass-out medication?"

"We don't know," I said, staring at the eluding powder. "All that's for sure is that whatever it may be, it's doing a pretty good job of keeping Yellow unconscious." I looked up at my fellow researcher and reached for the transporter attached to the video phone. "Do you think you could run an analysis for me? I would do it myself, but seeing as how things are here, I can't."

She complied immediately, demanding me to send it over right away. After a minute or two, the jar popped on the other end of the line where the girl picked it up and instantly set it in a safe place to look at later. She turned back and tried to give me an encouraging smile. "I wish there was more we could do."

"We can come to Kanto and help you guys protect Yellow!" Gold exclaimed determinedly, raising his pool stick in a heroic manner.

"Even though we still are under the radar and constantly running lately, I'd rather you didn't," I told them truthfully, ignoring the protesting expressions on their faces. "Black, White, and Silver are here with Red, Blue, and I so we have plenty of manpower. Besides, you'll be safer if you stay out of it and in Johto."

It took a few minutes of silence, but finally they both nodded reluctantly, Gold holding the jar up to the light from its safe spot and taking note of its shimmering quality. Crystal saw it too, her researching side kicking in as she set her face.

"Don't worry, Green. We'll find out why it's keeping her asleep."

I nodded in thanks and watched as Emerald opened the door and stepped into view again. "Okay! Mary's on her way back to Goldenrod City so you can come out now, Gold!" He saw my face on the video phone along with his seniors' solemn ones and widened his eyes. "What'd I miss?"

I looked up at the clock and the door again worriedly which Crystal noticed right away. "We'll make sure to fill him in. Keep safe, Green!"

I gave her a grim nod before ending the call and sending the room spiraling into silence. My eyebrow rose as nothing moved or made any noise, my feet bringing me back to the main room where I skeptically took in the unoccupied room. I guess Melany's guys didn't come today. She must've made the trip here by herself. I wonder where she went after the Gym…

My teeth clenched as I suddenly realized that another blue-eyed girl had yet to arrive. Glancing at my Pokegear, I saw that it had been almost an hour since I left Blue and growled, immediately running outside and releasing Charizard. As I climbed on his back and aimed for the Gym, I kept an eye on the ground below, searching out that wave of brown hair that I had no doubt had ignored my warning and was probably getting herself into trouble as we spoke.

Yellow's house.

That's where Melany touched down on the ground, returning her Venomoth not six feet from the front porch. I landed silently in the trees outside the clearing, putting Jiggly away to watch her in shock as she pulled something from her pocket and held it up to reveal that it was an old key. My eyes widened as she slid it into the lock and effortlessly turned the knob, calmly walking inside and leaving me to sneak across the lawn after her.

Thankfully, she'd left the door open a little, and I was able to slip through without so much as a single creak. I could hear her footsteps in the kitchen and kept my back pressed against the wall out of her view. Daring a peak around the corner, I saw the ends of her hair vanish into the open living room and stealthily used the breakfast island on the other side of the kitchen to hide behind and watch her.

She walked around everything with great care, gently making her way to the mantle above the fireplace taking up the center of the room. She picked up one of the picture frames, and I narrowed my eyes as she chuckled to herself. She set it back in its place, and I watched curiously as her head swept side to side as if searching for something. When she didn't find it, she reached into her pocket and brought out a folded paper.

Her fingers undoing the bends, I saw that it was another picture and struggled to see who it was of. Very slowly taking out my Silph Co., I flinched when the magnification switch made a buzz and flew to the floor as she whipped around at the noise. It may have only been a second, but my heart was pounding at what I'd seen in the picture.

I closed my eyes as her footsteps got closer and froze when she stopped on the other side of the bar.

"Okay, which one of you is it? Whose here to 'seek revenge'?"

I snapped to my feet at the humor in her voice and frowned. "Me."

Her soft laughing stopped at the sight of me, and I gave her a weird look as her face went blank and her blue eyes silently studied me. After a couple minutes of being observed, my temper broke. "What?!"

She brought her gaze to mine again and chuckled inwardly. "Nothing." The slight frown came back like she was trying to figure something out, and she slid the folded picture back into her pocket. "So. What's the plan, eh?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

She smirked and stalked past me to lean against the kitchen counter. "Oh come on. You didn't just show up here and spy on me without a plan, did you?"

My eyes barely widened as I realized that she was right. I'd just tailed her all the way here without a thought as to how I would protect myself. Like an idiot.

I puffed my cheeks. Dumb, Green…always calling things ahead of time…

Her giggling made me cross my arms, and I glared at her as she fiddled with one of her Pokeballs. Inquisitively glancing past its clear surface, I saw a Misdreavus inside doing the same to me.

"Hm," the girl hummed. "What to do, what to do…" An idea popped in her mind, and she held up a finger. "I don't believe we've even introduced ourselves yet." She stood up off the counter and bowed slightly. "I'm Melany."

Her bangs hid most of it, but I could see the small smile on her face like she knew something that I didn't. Wary, I did likewise and bent over. "Blue."

She frowned at the stiffness in my voice and huffed sadly. "Don't be like that. We were off to such a good start."

"That's exactly how I'll be," I said coldly. "Especially to those who try to hurt my friends."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she spun the Pokeball on her finger, instinctively making me reach for one of mine. "You misunderstand," she told me. "We aren't trying to hurt her; we just need to ask a favor."

"Then why not do it like a normal person?!" I screeched. I'd only been with this girl for five minutes, and she was already reducing me to unconstrained anger.

"Because it's not exactly a request that we think she'll agree to," she said absentmindedly, swiftly grabbing her Pokeball out of the air.

"Well, just back off, okay?" I warned her.

The girl smirked. "You all insist on the same thing. When will you ever learn that I just can't do that?"

I pulled out Blasty's Pokeball. "Never."

She lost the smile and sighed. "There's going to be a battle before I can leave, isn't there?" The blonde took my silence as a yes and headed for the front door, beckoning me to follow. "If that's the case, we shouldn't do it in the house. I don't think the owner would appreciate that very much."

I growled lightly at her mock consideration and quickly followed her outside to make sure she didn't try to run away. We set ourselves on opposite ends of the lawn, and I tightened my grip on Blasty's Pokeball while she replaced hers back on her belt.

"Alright, choose your first Pokemon," she told me, waving her hands for me to go on.

I huffed at her and released Blasty with a burst of light, my faithful Water type ready to battle. She gave him a once-over before simply taking off another Pokeball and pressing its button open to reveal a Heracross. It stretched its powerful limbs, and Melany gave me a cheeky smile.

"First attack goes to you."

I didn't even say thanks before directing Blasty into a Water Gun attack. The Heracross easily dodged and rushed forward with a Rock Slide. My Pokemon was able to get out of there just in time, dashing to mid-field where it turned around to face its foe.

"Blasty, Mega Punch!"

Melany saw him powering up and shouted out her own command. "Brick Break!"

In an instant, the two powerhouses locked arms and pushed with all their might, each one trying to best the other. I was so busy watching them that I didn't even notice Melany approaching until her lithe form was next to me, her arm lashing out and slamming into my stomach.

"What the H0-Oh?!" I wheezed out. "This is a Pokemon battle for Entei's sake!"

She was bouncing on the balls of her feet in a fighting stance and barely jerked her head at our companions. "If you trust your Pokemon, then you can let it fight without having to give it orders."

My blood heated up as I read the challenge between her lines, and an old forgotten memory washed over me as I copied her stance. She didn't give me a moment to think, striking out again but this time getting blocked by my arm before it could land a hit.

That seemed to be a signal as the two of us commenced to joining in a flurry of fighting moves, each one of us matching the other hit for hit. We weren't street fighting—no, it was more towards a modern type of karate that I'd been forced to learn when I'd been kidnapped by the Masked Man.

He'd told us that it was the dance of the swordsmen from old times when people would fight directly rather than battle with Pokemon. In case we ever had to ensue in hand to hand combat, he'd had us all memorize the sequences so that it was as if we were tiny warriors locked in a sword less combat.

This sudden thought shocked me enough to let another one of her hits strike home. Quickly clearing my mind like I'd been taught and focusing again, a separate part of my brain reeled in surprise. This girl must've have done a lot of research to discover the fighting style that only a certain group of kids had learned over ten years ago—and become very good at it.

Racking my memory for any advantage that I could use, I dug up one of my old homemade strategies that I'd made during our practice sessions with the other kidnapped kids and ran the steps through my head before finding an opening in the fight to begin it.

My hand snapped out for her left elbow, giving her the idea that I was trying to take her arm out and causing her to block it. Doing the same with her opposite limb, I kept her upper body distracted while discreetly angling my legs just right so that I could strike her knees and bring her down with one fell sweep. It was a tactic that had worked perfectly on all my opponents during my training, and I had a feeling that it would come in handy now.

When I felt that she was too busy blocking with her hands to notice, I swiftly spun and bent low to shoot out my leg. It was about to make contact with the back of her knees when in the blink of an eye, she quickly got down and grabbed my foot, effectively stopping the move and leaving me speechless. I could see that the sudden halt of force had hurt her hand, but she endured it and twisted my ankle around.

Using it to my advantage, I spun out of her hold and got back to my feet, panting heavily as she did the same. Shock was numbing my entire body, and I stared her down for a few seconds, a sudden sense of familiarity making my eyes widen.

I…I knew those moves. The ones she was using…it wasn't just someone adopting the fighting style I'd learned…I literally recognized every angle and ounce of force behind each one. During our combat, I hadn't realized it, but the reason I could block and strike as well as I had was because the person I was doing it to felt so…familiar. Like I'd done this with them before but so long ago that I didn't have even the slightest chance of remembering exactly who it was.

Our Pokemon sensed the tense mood and temporarily broke their battle to watch us. Melany twisted her wrist slightly to rid it of my last blow, and I gasped as even that motion struck a chord deep in me that I hadn't even known was there.

"Who…who are you?" I whispered.

She didn't answer right away, a mid-summer breeze blowing the trees around us and lifting the bangs slightly from her forehead as she looked down. I couldn't tell what emotion was swimming inside her, but when she brought her face back up, I could see a small genuine smile beneath her deep blue eyes.

The TR pendent around her neck starting flashing red, and she looked at it in surprise before turning to the Heracross and returning it, her Venomoth taking its place a moment later. Its claws were latching onto her as I rushed up.

"Hey! You didn't answer my question!"

Her shoulders drooped for a second, and she slowly turned to me with a face full of solemn.

"Our pasts are never truly forgotten." She looked me right in the eye. "Always remember that."

She didn't stick around any longer to hear my protests and took to the sky, her figure rapidly becoming a dot on the horizon. I stared after her helplessly, knowing that Jiggly had no chance of catching up. Hanging my head, I silently returned Blasty and collapsed on the ground, minor scratches that I had come to know so well as a child reclaiming my skin once more.

My mind became a whirlwind of confusion, Yellow's mysterious slumber and Melany's strange message both demanding my attention. What was happening?! Why didn't anything make sense?! Normally I could take the few clues given to me to create the rest of the picture on my own, but this was like trying to figure out an entire puzzle with one corner piece!

I gulped a little and wiped at my eye. Why couldn't I trust protect the people I cared about without having some confusing plot make my head go crazy?!

"BLUE!"

I glanced up sharply and gave a small scream, quickly backing away as Green's Charizard slammed down where I had just been sitting. The owner jumped off his back and stomped up to me, roughly pulling my sprawled form off the ground.

"What did I tell you?!" He hissed though clenched teeth. "Arceus, can't you just listen to me once?! Just once! Then I wouldn't have to worry about losing you every minute I leave you alone!"

My eyes widened, and so did his, but he was too furious to get stuck on it. "We're going back to Saffron." His face turned to stone. "Now."

I followed him without objection, ignoring his flaming aura as he jumped on Charizard's back behind me and told it to head off. I wasn't upset that I had gone against Green. Sure I was a heck of a lot more confused now, but at least I had gained something. I'd met Melany face to face, even battled her. And after doing all that, I could definitely tell that there was something about her that I just wasn't getting.

The folded picture in her pocket flashed in my mind then, and I looked down at the land passing below, trying not to wonder why she'd had that picture.

A picture of a happy family.

With a blonde-ponytailed daughter.

Me: GRAH! Sequelshipping, Visorshipping...

Gardevoir: Oh, great, we're going to name them now.

Me: Transceivershipping, Livecastershipping...

Gardevoir: Okay, seriously you can stop!

Me: Just...so...many...*faints*

Gardevoir: *stares at unconscious face* This is when Jigglypuff would really come in handy...So let her know what you thought readers. Hopefully by the time we get back she'll be done spazzing out. Until next time! Review and return!