Me: Hehehe *runs up to Max with a heart-shaped cookie* Maxy! Look what I made you for Valentine's Day!

Carlos: *sees cookie* Gimme! *jumps for cookie but I pull it away*

Me: NO!

Gardevoir: Geez, is it some special cookie or something?

Me: *evil smile* I made it just for Max.

Max: *sweatdrop* Aye, just give it to me. *takes cookie and eats it*

Me: *grins when it's gone and turns her around to look at Carlos* So? Do you love it?

Max: *goes expressionless and walks over to Carlos* No...I love...*looks at Carlos before turning around hugging me* You!

Me: WHAT?! NO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SAY CARLOS!

Gardevoir & Carlos: What?

Me: *squirms in hug* I made a special batch of cookies that had a special love potion. It would make her fall in love with the first person she saw after eating it! *glares at Carlos* Which was him!

Gardevoir: Give me a second. *Goes to look for potion bottle*

Me: *growls as Max hugs tighter* Let go of me! Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way. Nor do I want this excess hugging! STOP IT MAX!

Chapter Fifteen: Blue

Yellow and I stood petrified, staring as Melany grinned at us from our only means of escape.

"So?" She prompted with a smirk. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

Yellow's mouth was flapping open like a Magikarp, but I clenched my teeth and took a step towards her. "What are you doing here?!"

She scoffed. "That's not exactly what I thought you wanted to ask me."

I crossed my arms. "Alright then. Let's start with question one. How were you able to put a tracker on Yellow? There's never been a moment of opportunity for you to do that." I sweatdropped. "Especially with Red around."

Yellow titled her head slightly, and Melany proceeded to slyly shut the door behind her, leaning against it to show us that we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Raising an eyebrow gently, she turned to Yellow. "So you never told them did you?"

Confusion lit Yellow's eyes, and I narrowed mine. "Told us what?"

The girl only smirked more. "About our little rendezvous."

The puzzled look left Yellow's face as she frowned uncertainly. "You told me not to say anything, remember?"

"Ah!" Melany shook her head with a wave of her finger. "I only said not to tell them so that we wouldn't be interrupted. There was no reason to keep it a secret afterwards."

"Keep what a secret?" I snapped at the blue-eyed blonde, my frustration mounting.

"It doesn't matter anyways," Yellow grumbled as she crossed her arms. "It's not like you kept your word."

Melany's face broke out into a wide grin. "Oh, but I did!"

"Like Lugia you did!" Yellow protested. "You said you'd leave us—"

"No," Melany interjected, drawing out the word. Her Venomoth flitted up and sat on her head. "If I remember correctly, I said, 'I'll give my chasing a rest.' I never specified how long." The girl winked. "And if my facts are right, you had a nice day off before our fun little party adventures."

Yellow grit her teeth. "You tricked me!"

Melany shrugged and scoffed with a smile. "Hey, at least you didn't lose."

I stepped forward. "Lose what?" I thought about it a moment before turning to Yellow with creased eyebrows. "You two had a battle?" Yellow nodded hesitantly, and my eyes widened. "When did this happen?!"

"It was back at the movie shooting that White got Pika and Chuchu into," she explained with a sigh. "The one where Amber and I had to fill in." I could tell she was remembering their kiss when she began blushing madly.

Melany smirked. "After she was done with her fun," she laughed at the rhyme, "She went out to the cape to meet me."

I tilted my head at Yellow. "Why would you do that?"

She glanced over at Melany with narrowed eyes. "She made me a deal. If I could beat her in battle, then she'd stop coming after us." She frowned as Melany smiled. "But I guess I didn't pay attention to details."

Melany let out a short laugh, but I shook my head. "So, you won?"

Yellow nodded. "But I don't understand how she could've gotten a tracker under my nail."

We turned our heads as Melany stretched and leaned back on the door again, the Venomoth shifting atop her head in sync with her movements. "So you don't remember falling off the cliff?"

I stiffened, and Yellow's eyes widened. "That's right; in the middle of the battle, I hadn't realized I was so close until I took a step back and there was nothing there." Her eyes clouded in thought before she cocked her head slightly at Melany. "You did it when you saved me and pulled me back up, didn't you?"

The pixie-cut blonde nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. "Smart girl."

Turning to her, I raised an eyebrow. "And now that that problem has been solved, I return to my previous question: What are you doing here?!"

She chuckled lightly. "Do you even need to ask? Surely you could figure it out by now."

I scoffed in annoyance. "Yes, but maybe you could tell us why for once."

Melany's soft laughing subsided, and she gave a light sigh. "You guys always ask the same thing."

"Hm, I wonder why?" I said sarcastically.

She laughed again. "I guess you better keep wondering then."

I raised an eyebrow as she continued to avoid the question. "Alright, since you won't elaborate further, perhaps you could answer something else for me."

She gestured for me to go on, and my eyes narrowed almost instantly.

"How do you know me?"

Melany's face morphed into shock for half a moment before going blank. "Why would you ask something like that?"

Yellow leaned against the sink to watch from the sidelines, and I took another step closer to Melany who I could see was rooted to the spot.

"Oh, it's just that, you kind of called yourself an old friend of mine so it makes me wonder," I told her sourly.

Her face remained carefully devoid of any expression. "How do you know I wasn't just saying that to calm you down?"

I looked at her like she was crazy. "How in the world would something like that from someone like you calm me down?!"

She shrugged. "You'd be surprised at how people react to things."

I shook my head. "So you don't know me?"

The frown on her face only grew, and I watched curiously as she looked down. "You guys ask a lot of questions, you know?"

Again I noticed how she dodged the question, and Yellow took the moment of silence as an opportunity to surprise her with an inquiry of her own.

"Melany, were you by any chance born in the Viridian Forest?" She asked quietly.

Once more, Melany froze before breaking out into laughe.

"What is this?" She said with an amused smile. "An interrogation?" Her laughter began to subside, and she lifted off the door. "It's about time we got down to business." She made a move forward, and I quickly stood in front of Yellow.

"No," I said lowly.

The bemused expression left her deep blue eyes, and she sighed. "Come on. This has gone on long enough. Just give it up."

I bared my teeth. "Never. Besides, I could say the same thing to you and expect a similar answer, no?"

She smiled slightly. "Touché."

Her hand went for her pocket, and I watched carefully as she pulled out a black Pokegear.

"That's a cool design," I smiled before I could stop myself. "I've never seen a black one like that."

"Yeah," Yellow agreed curiously. "Amber has the same one, too. Where did you get it?"

Melany paused, and for some reason, I saw her eyes glaze over as if she were recalling an old memory. Giving a small smile to herself, she punched in a number. "Let's just say it was a group thing between us and a friend."

I'm not sure why, but Yellow froze beside me. "What friend?"

But Melany had already hit the speaker button, and all three of us went silent as someone picked up.

"Melany?" Amber's voice was hushed and puzzled. "What is it?"

Yellow's eyes widened, and she turned away. Melany watched her with a blank face before responding. "You were right. They're not cooperating."

A sigh came from the other end of the line. "I tried to tell you. They're not just going to give her up."

My teeth clenched. "You got that right!"

His surprised silence was audible to everyone in the bathroom. "Blue? Are you there, too?"

I stomped over until I was looming over the dark Pokegear. "Of course I am!"

He sighed again. "Alright, Melany. I'm on my way."

"Leave Dave and Ken at their posts," she told him. "They should be able to deal with the escape control."

Amber let her know that he'd heard her before ending the call. Giving a small nod, she slid the Pokegear back into her pocket, and I reclaimed my spot next to Yellow who was still staring at the floor.

"So, they actually have names?" I asked her sarcastically. "Your little henchmen?"

She blinked in surprise. "Of course. I don't just treat them like tools. I am human."

I scoffed. "Right. I find that a little hard to believe."

Melany's eyebrows creased, and she was about to say something when Yellow's head whipped up. Her eyes were filled with turmoil, and the petite girl looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

"Just because she's not doing the right thing doesn't mean she's not a good person."

The small bathroom fell into echoing silence, and Melany and I both stared at her with wide eyes. The way she'd said it hinted at something more, and I realized that it wasn't just Melany she was talking about.

Our blue-eyed captor seemed to realize the same thing. From her position against the door, she sighed and gave a smile. "You really care about him, don't you?"

Yellow's mouth paused half-way open. Slowly shutting it, she looked down, not saying anything. My eyes widened as the faintest of blushes appeared on her cheeks, and Melany smirked softly.

"Okay," she told us, turning around to open the door. "Let's get out of this crowded bathroom."

Neither Yellow nor I moved as she stepped aside to let us out. After a moment of tense silence, she gave a sigh and gestured at her Venomoth. Lifting off her head, the Bug type gently fluttered over to where I stood glaring in front of Yellow whose eyes were still trained on the linoleum floor. It flew behind us, and she finally looked up when a shimmering substance began to appear on its wings.

"Green powder," she murmured with wide eyes.

I nodded, and Melany chuckled from the doorway. "Don't worry. It's just normal Sleep Powder. I don't have any more of that special stuff Amber used at the lunar eclipse."

My eyes narrowed for what felt like the tenth time in the last five minutes. "So you did give it to Amber?"

She blinked and nodded. "Who else would have? I'm the one the Pokemon who knows Sleep Powder."

The Venomoth was slowly getting closer to us so we had no choice but to walk forward and follow Melany out into my hospital room.

"So tell me," I said as we stepped out into the sunlight and headed over to the open space near my bed. I did my best to sound nonchalant, but instead it came out with the wariness I couldn't help but express. "What did you do to it to make Yellow go into a coma?"

She halted near the door that lead out into the hallway and turned around to smirk. "Seriously, you guys have got to let up on all the questions."

I rolled my eyes. "We wouldn't be so insistent on them if you'd just answer-!"

My voice got cut off as we heard somebody approaching from out the window. I kept on eye on Yellow as I ran over to my bag on the nightstand to grab a Pokeball. Melany was right on my tail, her Venomoth floating just above her shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned lightly, her fingers curling gently around my wrist as I got a hold of Clefy's Pokeball.

I cocked an eyebrow just as the rustling outside grew louder.

"Melany? Are you in there?"

Yellow turned to ice at the voice, and my hand froze around the Pokeball. Melany smiled a little, but suddenly turned towards the door when another different yet almost identical voice came from behind the door.

"Blue? Is that you? Is Yellow with you? I haven't seen her in a while, and I was starting to get worried."

Said girl went from ice to stone as the window and door flew open at the same time.

"Yellow—!"

She flinched and closed her eyes as both people abruptly cut off. She was standing in the middle of the room so when she opened them back up, it was hard not to stare at the scene before her.

Red was paralyzed in the doorway, his hand still on the knob.

Amber likewise was frozen in the window, one foot still poised over the sill.

And both twins stood with wide eyes, too shocked to even glare at each other.

Melany and I remained motionless, her fingers wound around my wrist as we waited for one of the three to move. Melany let go of my hand to walk towards Amber and help his shell-shocked form the rest of the way into the room.

"Arceus, are all your reunions like this?" She snickered softly at him.

That seemed to snap them all out of their trance as Amber shook his head, and Red immediately stood in front of Yellow with crossed arms while she averted her gaze to the floor again. I scooped up my bag from the table, throwing it over my shoulder before I took up my spot at Red's side. I had a feeling we wouldn't be staying here much longer.

"Where's Green and Silver?" I whispered to Red as Amber set his foot down and stood silently next to Melany.

"Green's sitting up on the roof, and Silver's trying to get him to come down," Red told me quietly, his eyes never leaving the two before us.

I nodded. "Good. Then they'll see us when we break out of here."

Melany seemed to have heard me for she gave a little laugh. "I don't think you'll be doing that."

Her Venomoth flew behind us to block off the door, and she and Amber stood before the window. I grit my teeth an little, and Red appeared to have the same idea as me as our hands grabbed a Pokeball simultaneously.

"Let's not be too hasty," Melany suggested, holding up a hand. "Why don't we talk about this first?"

Red didn't move from his spot in front of Yellow. "There's nothing to talk about."

Melany smirked. "I think there is."

"Stop it."

Red and Melany paused a moment and turned to Amber. His golden-orange eyes stared deep into his brother's crimson ones before slightly shifting to look over his shoulder. He tilted his head, and I turned to see that he had locked gazes with the girl behind Red.

"Yellow?"

I saw her close her eyes sharply. There was a long silence in the room until she quietly strode out from Red's protective stance. She took a step towards her old bodyguard before her new one grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

Red's eyes were full of so much concern that she almost went back to him. She turned her head to see Amber's questioning gaze, and after giving Red a reassuring smile, she pulled her hand away and walked forward to stand between our two groups.

From her spot in no-man's land, her face went blank, and she simply gave a small nod at Amber. "Yes?"

His eyes softened a little. "Will you come with me?"

She froze.

"Please?"

Red's anger finally surfaced pas the initial shock, and his eyes steeled. As he took his first step towards Yellow, I clutched his arm and gently yanked him back. This was a decision that Yellow had to make by herself. I had no doubt what she would choose, but Red needed to understand that she could do it on her own. I frowned a little. The same thing a certain someone needed to realize about me.

He looked helplessly at me until I shook my head and he reluctantly came back.

Yellow stood alone in the center of the room, her shoulders tense as the decision lay heavily in the air. Amber's eyes were pleading her to come to him, and even though she couldn't see them, I had a feeling she knew Red's were doing just the same.

Melany was watching the scene with wide, curious eyes. I couldn't help but notice how not-evil she appeared when her guard was down, and it made me wonder if what Yellow had said about her could actually be true. After all she'd done so far, I didn't think it was possible, but if she really was…Out of the corner of my vision, I glanced uncertainly at her again. She saw me observing her, and when her blue eyes met mine, I shook my head and looked away. There's no way that she's Luna.

The sound of a heel clicking snapped me out of my thoughts, and I whipped my head up to see that Yellow had taken a step, although in which direction I couldn't tell because her feet were hidden beneath the white folds of her Grecian dress. I knew what it was a second later though when she took another that placed her an inch closer to Red.

Amber had an anguished yet understanding look in his eyes. He quietly watched her as she slowly moved towards his twin but did nothing to stop her.

Her back was almost in arm's reach when Melany smiled sadly and softly huffed. "As if you think you have a choice."

At the end of her murmur, she clicked her tongue, and Red and I fell over as a giant set of purple wings sent us sprawling to the floor. I jumped back up as soon as possible, but I wasn't fast enough. The Venomoth had already latched onto Yellow and carried her to the window where Melany stood waiting.

Red was on his feet in a heartbeat, eyes narrowing in fury as Yellow struggled to escape. He was just getting ready to run at them when Melany released her Heracross, and it blocked him off with Protect. Red didn't realize it until he bounced right off and landed a few feet back, glaring through the barrier.

"Give her back!" He yelled in outrage.

Neither Melany nor Amber listened to him as the pixie-cut blonde pulled out a roll of ducktape and proceeded to cover Yellow's mouth and bind her hands. Red only seemed to grow angrier and started slamming his fists on the invisible force field.

"No!" His protests echoed around the room. "Let her go!"

Melany smirked a little as Amber stepped back outside the window. "Sorry. But Master would be pretty mad if we did that."

The girl was restraining Yellow by her taped wrists, and I knew that she had no plans of loosening up anytime soon. I bit my lip in fear as she started handing her to Amber. Red was doing nothing against the Protect, and we had only seconds before they got away with her.

Thinking of nothing else, I quickly threw Clefy's Pokeball and decided to take a risk. "Metronome!"

My outburst made the three behind the barrier turn their heads as Clefy flicked his hands. Amber's eyes widened in shock as the dancing light left his fingers, and a moment later, a miracle literally happened.

My Normal type busted right through the Protect with Feint.

The sudden impact sent fragments of energy flying through the air, and Red and I took the moment of distraction to gain some ground. We were only a few feet away from reaching Yellow when Melany recovered and told her Venomoth to use Silver Wind.

The sparkling gust buffeted us, and we were thrown back across the room. I swiftly returned Clefy so he wouldn't be blown away, but I couldn't say the same about the various objects Red and I had to dodge.

Keeping her grip on Yellow, Melany called back her Heracross and began pushing her out the window. Red, seeing this and panicking, put his shoulders against the wind and ran for her. However, Yellow had already been lowered into Amber's waiting arms, and I turned to ice as he gently scooped her up and ran for the forested hills behind the Pokemon Center.

I bared my teeth. Not today.

Placing my back to the wind, I grimly pushed against it, quickly catching up with and passing Red whose anger had finally broke. He had no trouble keeping up, and when Melany turned around, she let out a cry of surprise as we jumped past the Venomoth and stood glaring at her from both sides.

She was positioned in front of the window to block us from running after Amber, and her eyes watched us carefully. The Venomoth ceased its Silver Wind and took up the remaining spot across from Melany, closing off our little box.

My shoulders were tense as I tried to think of a way out, but it all turned to shock as Melany lost the glare in her eyes and returned her Venomoth. Red's eyes widened in surprise, and mine did as well when she put away her Pokeball and smiled. Before we could even move, she leapt over the sill and slammed the window shut. I raced forward to throw it back open, but when I tried to lift up the pane, I found that she'd put in enough effort to jam it.

Smirking at me, the blonde started sprinting for the hills and left me to struggle with the window. As she disappeared among the trees, I furiously brought down my fists and gave up.

"Come on!" I shouted at Red, running for the door.

"No," he murmured, making me freeze and face him as he stayed by the window. "We'll never catch them in time that way."

I shook my head. "We have to at least try! The window won't open. We can't go out that way!"

His jaw suddenly set, and he swiftly turned to the clear panel. "Yes we can."

My eyes widened in shock as he ran forward and barreled his shoulder into the glass. There was a horrible shattering sound, and I could only hope that it wasn't his bone. Rushing over to look through the remaining jagged shards, I saw him slowly sitting himself up. There were a few scratches scattered across his arms, and a trickle of blood was trailing from a cut on his cheek. He brought his hand up to touch the gash and recoiled slightly at the sting.

"Red!" I shrieked, deftly weaving around the broken window and landing on the ground beside him as he got to his feet.

"I'm fine," he brushed me off. He was a little unsteady but waved away my offer of help. Turning to face the forest, I watched as he released Aero and ran up to him as he climbed onto his Pokemon's back.

"What are you doing?" I asked in disbelief as Aero lifted off the ground with a beat of his wings.

"I'm going after them!" He yelled from his aerial position, heading for the hills. "Go get Green and Silver!"

I stared after him helplessly with a slack jaw before snapping out of it and bringing out Jiggly. Once she'd inflated, I climbed on, and we floated up to the roof of the massive Pokemon Center. I squinted my eyes in search of two people, but I didn't find them until I looked far off towards the front of the building.

Urging Jiggly to go faster, we finally reached the two boys lying on their backs, and they looked up sharply as I came into view. Jumping to their feet, Green's eyes were cautious, and Silver's were concerned as I landed on the roof and ran over to them.

"Blue?" Silver said confused. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Panting a little, I looked up at him before my gaze shifted to Green's. He observed me warily, but I could see the fearful curiosity hidden beneath his mask of diluted anger. He raised an eyebrow in question, and I reluctantly nodded.

"We've got a problem."

Red

My hands were fidgeting nonstop on Aero's wings as he zoomed over the treetops. Eyes trained on the ground, I stayed perfectly still and watched for any motion in the pine trees below. The hill itself wasn't too big, and I could already see the forestless top coming into view. There was a black being in the middle of the flat expanse, and I narrowed my eyes at the red TR on the side of the dark helicopter.

I kept Aero low to the tree line until we reached the edge of the summit's clearing and had him hide in the trees to avoid being seen. Perched on his rock-hard back, I glanced past the branches at the helicopter just ahead. Through the windows, I could see Melany's two henchmen in the pilot's cabin, waiting patiently in their seats. Then one of them lifted a Pokegear to his ear, nodded, and started up the engine after putting it away.

I tilted my head a moment before realizing what they were doing. A second later, the trees rustled a few yards away, and I froze as Amber stepped out with Yellow in his arms. She wasn't fighting him. All she was doing was staring up at his golden-orange eyes, but he wouldn't meet her gaze, instead staring ahead with his mouth in a pained frown. He only kept walking towards the helicopter, and I realized in fury that he was about to get away with her.

Harshly patting Aero's wings, he leapt into the air and had no trouble firing the Hyper Beam I commanded the moment he had enough space to do so. The powerful orange beam struck down five feet in front of Amber, stopping him right in his tracks. He looked up at the sky, and I frowned as his eyes widened at the sight of me.

The clearing slowly fell into silence as the dust settled, and nobody moved a muscle. There was a short period of motionless anticipation, everyone quietly calculating who would break first, when something else stirred in the trees behind us and a loud sigh echoed across the hill.

"Seriously?" Melany put a hand to her forehead and walked towards Amber with her Venomoth at her heels. "I thought I trapped you at the Pokemon Center." She narrowed her eyes at me, and I had a feeling she was looking at the red streak on my face. "Apparently not."

Giving another sigh, she turned to the helicopter and cupped her hands around her lips. "You guys head on back to base! We'll handle this!"

The men in the flying mechanism did nothing for a moment but eventually nodded their heads in understanding and flipped it on. Within five minutes, the helicopter was just a speck on the darkening horizon.

With them gone, Melany craned her head towards me. "Hey! Red!"

I frowned. "What?"

She smirked suddenly and grabbed ahold of her Venomoth. "Think fast!"

In less than a second, she was flying straight for me, her Bug type firing a Psybeam straight for Aero's unprotected belly. Quickly telling him to dodge, we were soaring almost parallel to the trees as the move shot past and missed us by a hair. Gradually nearing the ground, I saw that Amber had released Baga and was having some difficulty getting onto his back. Yellow had seen that I was here to rescue her and had decided to help try to escape by squirming as much as she possibly could in my brother's strong grasp.

I smiled in ecstasy as she finally broke the bindings on her wrists and tore the tape from her mouth. It was cut short though as Amber had already gotten her seated in front of him on his Pokemon which was currently rising off the ground. In a state of panic, I told Aero to use Hyper Beam and stop them. It was all charged up and about to be fired when another Psybeam came out of nowhere and dispelled the move.

"I don't think so," Melany said lowly, the girl flying only ten feet to my right. Her eyes were alight with mischief, and she smiled up at her Venomoth. "How about some Sleep Powder?"

The green particles were already forming on its purple wings, and Aero didn't have enough time to get out of there before they started floating for him. I closed my eyes in recoil, and they were going to make contact just as a Flamethrower sizzled through the air and turned them to ash.

"No," Green said menacingly from his Charizard's back, hovering just at my side. "I don't think so."

I grinned at him, and he gave me a terse nod. Not a moment later, Melany's Venomoth was hit with a Dark Pulse, and I looked past Green to see Blue and Silver rushing after Melany on Jiggly and Honchcrow as she plummeted towards the ground. I had a feeling that a battle was about to occur, and, knowing that the two could handle it, I immediately turned to find where Amber had gone.

My heart almost fell to my stomach as I saw that Yellow had managed to stand up and was trying to walk down Baga's tail. Amber was behind her, worriedly attempting to stop her before she hurt herself, and I clenched my teeth at his open display of concern. He had no right to do that.

Suddenly, she lost her footing and slipped off Baga's smooth blue scales. Amber dropped on his stomach and reached for her, but she was too far gone, finding no grip and tumbling into a free fall. Stark terror had me shouting at Aero to fly at her so he could catch her, but it wasn't needed as she brought her foot up and grabbed a Pokeball from its strap. Pressing the button, there was a flash of light, and Kitty didn't waste any time grabbing her shoulders and catching her in mid-air.

"Yellow!" I shouted at her.

She looked up sharply in relief to see me and Green waiting for her, and Kitty started heading for our familiar forms while I flew forward to her, wanting to make sure that she was okay. Amber scrambled back to the front of Baga's back as the Dragon type proceeded to catch up and fire an Incinerate at the small space between us that halted both Yellow and me in the middle of our paths.

"Wait!" Amber yelled as the heat from the move died off, and Baga slowed down to a stop so that the black-haired boy was just inches away from Kitty's wings.

Yellow looked down at the ground but didn't move. Aero slowly glided the rest of the way to her side, and my eyebrows creased as I saw that her eyes were wide and shiny. Stopping silently next to her and Amber, I watched as she turned to face us.

"Yes?" She said quietly, directing the statement at both me and my brother.

We froze at the turmoil in her eyes, but Amber was the first to break.

"Please, Yellow," he whispered. "I don't want to see you hurt. Just—" He broke off a moment before reaching for her hand and lightly grabbing her fingers. "Just come with me."

Her bright green eyes slammed shut.

That broke the ice, and I quickly took her other hand like I wouldn't let her go. Because I wouldn't.

She opened her eyes again and glanced up to see the plea in mine. Slowly, she clicked her tongue as she looked down at her hands in ours, and I swear I saw tears gathering in her eyes. It wrenched my heart to see them, and I could almost hear what she was thinking.

Mint or ferns?

I tightened my grip just barely, and she closed her eyes with bared teeth.

"Yellow," I said softly, but she shook her head, and a tear escaped from the corner of her eyes as she withdrew her hands and whipped away from us. She gave a small cry, and before we could do anything, she flew off, Kittty carrying her away into the distance.

"Yellow!" Amber called out, getting ready to go after her before I swiveled around in front of him and blocked his path.

Staring him down, I barely had to move my lips over my clenched teeth. "Green."

The brunette had been hovering off to the side during our trio's little exchange, but now he immediately shook his head and zoomed off after Yellow.

Amber's bright golden-orange eyes bored deep into mine as we silently glared at each other in the air, our faces only a foot away.

"Why?" I finally asked him. "Why do you keep doing this to her?!"

His eyes narrowed.

"Why do you keep hurting her?!"

He broke.

"I'm hurting her?!" He exclaimed in surprise, jaw clenched. "What do you think you've been doing?!"

"What?!" I replied heatedly.

He gave an angry huff. "Dude, she thought you'd given up on her! And now you come back like you actually care about her! How do you think that made her feel?!"

"Says the one who she thought she could trust until he betrayed her!" I yelled at him. "How do you think that made her feel?!"

"I never meant to hurt her!" He shouted out in outrage. "If you haven't already picked up on it, I actually do care about her!"

"Why should you?!" I asked furiously, genuine confusion in my loud voice. "You haven't known her near as long as I have nor have you gone through half of what we have together!"

His tone was cold as he said, "I've spent plenty of time with her, and I don't need to have known her for as long as you have to know how I feel about her."

My eyes narrowed, and I dreaded his next answer. "And what exactly would that be?"

He paused a moment and glanced down at his hands. "I'm sure you know very well what it is."

I'm not sure what it was, but hearing him say that struck a chord deep in me that I hadn't realized was even there. It took me a second to identify it, and my mind reeled when I did.

I was jealous of him.

I was jealous that I was not the only one who had feelings for Yellow.

And that I was not the only one that she might return them to.

My shoulders tensed, and I grasped Aero's wing with an iron-like grip. "Well, you know what? You can't feel that way. Want to know why?"

He looked up and raised his eyebrows in question.

"Because I love her."

There was a moment of silence, and I watched as his whole form stiffened. However, mine did the exact same as he bit his lip slightly and stared at me with solemn eyes.

"But what if you're not the only one?"

His words echoed through my mind, and my eyes widened in shock. Was it possible? Were Amber's feelings really as deep as mine?

I shook my head in denial. I wasn't going to listen to this. It couldn't be. I knew he cared for her but not to the extent that I did. And that scared me. Because if that was true…I clenched my teeth. If that was true, then there was every chance that I might lose Yellow.

My hand came up angrily, and I glared at him. "No."

Flicking my wrist, Aero started to release a Hyper Beam faster than Baga could react. Before it could fire far enough to hit the opponent, it was killed off by another Psybeam, and Amber and I whipped around to see Melany, Blue, and Silver hovering in the air beside us on their Pokemon.

"That's enough, Amber," Melany said quietly. "Yellow's not here anymore so we should just leave. There's no use in causing any unnecessary trouble."

"Same for you, Red," Blue told me, glancing at Melany from the corner of her eye. "Let's go while we have the chance."

Our mouth's dropped for a moment before Amber snapped his shut and slowly obeyed Melany's request. Turning Baga, he followed her off as she began to fly to the north, the two gradually fading into the distance.

When they were gone, I cocked an eyebrow at Blue and Silver. "What was that?"

Blue shrugged, puzzled herself. "When she saw that Yellow was gone, she stopped battling and told us that we were lucky that she got away. Then she suggested that we split you two up before things got nasty."

I frowned slightly, and Silver nodded. "Yeah, but we should seriously get moving. We need to catch up with Green and Yellow."

His Honchcrow turned around with Jiggly before heading off in the direction Yellow had fled, and I stiffly told Aero to do the same. As I followed them through the fainting light of the sunset, I couldn't stop thinking about what Amber had said. I was struck with a sense of premonition but bit my lip and forced it away, instead focusing on the two friends flying in front of me as we searched for the absent brunette and blonde.

Gardevoir: *comes back with bottle* Now, let's see what it says... *reads back of bottle and sweatdrops* Did you read the instructions on this thing?

Me: *angrily rips away from Max only to be hugged again* Sigh, yes! It said the first person she looked at-!

Carlos: *also reading back* Has to be the person who made the cookie.

Me: *eyes widen* What?!

Carlos: *nod* That way the cookie and the person connects or something I guess.

Me: *stares at Max who is still hugging* WELL HOW DO WE REVERSE IT?!

Gardevoir: *reads back again and mutters* To reverse effects...yada yada yada...ah! Here we go! *walks over to Max and bops harshly on the nose*

Max: *shakes head and looks up in confusion* What just happened?

Me: *angrily stomps over and takes potion bottle* *shakes* Good. There's still some left. Carlos! Come on! We're making cookies!

Carlos: What?! *gets dragged off to the kitchen*

Gardevoir: *sweatdrops and looks at Max* Girl.

Me: *from kitchen* NO! YOU BREAK THE EGGS FIRST! DON'T JUST THROW THEM INTO THE MIX SHELLS AND ALL!

Max: *widens eyes*

Gardevoir: *whispers* Run.

Me: Hey guys! So today was such a cool day! Chocolate! Whoo! Haha! But for all of you out there who are single on this day, I give you virtual Hershey Kisses! *hands out kisses to all singles* Ya'll couples can go get your own chocolate! Haha! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Hehe managed to include some conflicted romance on Valentine's Day! Yay! XD Review and return!

P.S. Okay! Revisions have been made and completed! Thank you Shin for reminding me about Brick Break! *sweatdrop* I totally forgot that it only works on the barrier moves like Light Screen. Feint worked perfectly! XD