IT'S FINALLY HERE! *angelic music* Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I lost inspiration majorly! Well I'm back now and hopefully am here to stay until this story is finished. This chapter is long, so hopefully you'll forgive me ^.^ Remember to leave a review when you're done, good or bad! Thanks! Enjoy!

Chapter 7- The Daycare

Tony woke to a pillow smashing into his face. He sat up swiftly with a twinge of panic when he didn't recognize his surroundings at first. Then it all flooded back to him. He was in a small hotel room, with trash and pillows everywhere and a flickering televison. Debris scattered the floor due to a late night battle between the two trainers, Clover emerging as the victor. Looking around to see what had hit him, Tony saw his starter pokemon, Gothita, hefting a pillow at the foot of his bed. "Well I see you're an early riser," the psychic said with a half-hearted chuckle. A really early riser, he thought to himself with a glance at the alarm clock. 5:30 AM. Well, I guess there's not hope of going back to sleep with her keeping watch. Tony clambered ungracefully out of bed with a squeak of approval from Gothita. He glanced over at the sleeping figure of Clover in the other bed. She seemed even more delicate now than usual; her pale hands rested softly under her rosy cheek, and her brown hair fell gently over one half of her face. Her legs were slightly bent, knees drawn forward. The bedspread covered her up to her mid-chest, though she had kicked them off of her lower legs sometime in the night. She breathed heacily, yet she wasn't snoring, and her delicate shoulders rose and fell with the gentle rhythm of her breaths, which puffed out of her slightly agape, soft lips. Tony couldn't help but stare, that is, until he realized what he was doing. Gah! You're watching the girl you like sleep, you creep!

Quickly, he turned and retreated toward the bathroom, passing Purrloin in the process, who was curled up on his bed watching the screen of the television with curious eyes. A news report flashed on as he passed. "Breaking news," the news anchor, a pretty woman with brown hair to her shoulders and pale skin, said. "A pair of children, a boy and a girl, have gone missing from the day care on route 3." Route 3? That's where we're headed today. Tony reached for the volume controls, turning it up. "One of the workers there reported that they were last seen on the playground at recess." The image flashed to an interview with one of the day care women.

"We saw the two playing in the sandbox at recess," she said, worry evident on her face. "Just a few minutes later, when we called them in, they were nowhere to be found."

The shot cut back to the news anchor in the studio. "Authorities say that there was no foul play involved in the disappearances, and that the kids most likely wanted to explore on their own." That's good, Tony thought. No kidnapping or anything. "Trainers traveling on route three are asked to keep an eye out for these two children." An image of the two kids flickered on the screen. One was a boy with brown hair, and a girl who looked similar, though a little younger. They look related. We'll have to keep an eye out for them today.

After getting ready, Tony returned to the main room to wake his companion. As he approached, Lillipup, who had been curled up against the small of Clover's back, raised her head and yipped loudly. Clover's eyes snapped open and she jumped at the noise, causing Snivy to sit up from his position against the trainer's stomach. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Glancing at the clock, she groaned, "Really? 6:30 in the morning? I thought we agreed to eight."

"Hey don't blame me," Tony said defensively. "Gothita woke me up at 5:30!" He glared at his pokemon, who was acting surprised at the accusation. "Don't give me that look! You know it's true!"

"Okay, whatever!" Clover interrupted hotly. "I'm up now so let's just get ready to go. I'm going to take a shower." At that, she grabbed her bag and stomped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her loudly.

Tony glared at Gothita again. Thanks a lot, now she's mad at me, he though to his pokemon. Gothita just looked at him with glee and thought back, You're welcome! With a sigh, Tony bent down to pick up a pillow, tossing it onto his bed. What am I doing? I can just pick it up with my powers! The psychic raised his hands, lifting pillows and blankets to neatly make the beds. He raised the trash and debris from the night before and levitated it to the trash can in the corner. As he finished up, Clover came out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel.

"You realize they have housekeeping here, right?" the brown-haired girl said. "You didn't have to clean the whole room on your own."

"It'd be rude to just leave a mess for someone to clean up. Besides, it's not that hard for me to clean up," Tony explained, adjusting the last blanket into place, hands-free, to demonstrate.

"Well what if the housekeeper really loved cleaning and you just took away an opportunity for her to do what she loves?" Clover teased, seemingly in a better mood now that she had taken a shower.

"I doubt it," Tony said, chuckling. As he spoke, there was a knock on the door.

"Housekeeping!" came a chirpy voice behind the door. Tony walked over and opened the door to reveal a pretty blonde girl holding a happy looking mincinno in her arms. "Finally! Someone's awake and I can clean their room!" She looked ready to dash in and get started before Tony interrupted.

"Actually, we already cleaned up for you, see?" he said, standing aside so the girl could have a clear view of the room.

"What?!" she cried. Her face showed distraught and her mincinno looked just as despaired. "You already cleaned?! But I love cleaning! And no one is awake so I haven't been able to clean ALL DAY!"

"I, er, I-I'm sorry! Please don't cry!" The psychic tried to calm the maid and pokemon, who had both burst into tears. He looked back at Clover and gave her a pleading look to say 'help me'. The trainer and her snivy, who had resumed his position in her jacket hood, looked as though they were trying hard not to burst into laughter. Even Gothia, who was seated on the bed, was stifling giggles. "Stop crying! I'm sorry!" he tried again, but she just turned and ran down the hall in tears with her mincinno. Slowly, Tony closed the door and turned around to look at Clover, who had lost it and was rolling around on the floor laughing with Snivy and Gothita. "Ha ha, very funny," Tony said irritably.

"Gee Tony, you're such a heartbreaker! Always making the girls cry!" Clover gasped between laughs. She stood up and wiped away tears of delight. "Phew! Are you packed? We should get going."

"Yeah, let's go." The pair made there way into the lobby. Once the elevator opened, they froze. The maid was crying to the manager, who was at the front desk.

"An-an-and they just cleaned their room on their own! An-and I didn't get to clean it!" she gasped, sniffling between sentences. The manager looked tired, and tried to comfort the girl.

"It's okay, they didn't know you'd want to clean their room." When this didn't work, he added, "Why don't you go see if anyone on the fifth floor needs their room cleaned?"

With a sniffle, the girl nodded. "Okay. Yeah...there's probably a room I can clean there." She giggled softly and smiled, then scurried off with her mincinno. The manager simply shook his head and went back to what he was doing, as though this happened often.

Weird, Tony thought as they stepped off the elevator. Gothita had resumed her place on his shoulder, and he had returned Purrloin to her pokeball. They checked out and left the hotel as quickly as possible in case the maid returned to the lobby.

"That was, uh..." Tony stammered.

"Hilarious?" Clover finished the sentence for him. When the psychic didn't seem as enthusiastic, she nudged him with her elbow. "C'mon, lighten up. She'll be fine and cleaning rooms in no time. I didn't realize there was actually a maid who loved cleaning that much."

"You're right I guess," he chuckled. "I just feel bad for making her cry is all. But she was a little...over dramatic."

By the time the two trainers had reached route three, a light drizzle had picked up, steadily falling to the ground. "Great," mumbled Clover. "Now my shoes are going to be all soggy and gross..." Snivy burrowed deeper into her hood, drawing part of the soft fabric over his head to keep him dry. Gothita squealed in complaint and kicked her feet angrily.

"Alright, I'll keep you in my jacket then," Tony said. He picked up his pokemon and held her in his arms, wrapping his warm jacket around her small body. The tiny pokemon gave a small hmph before falling into a light snooze. Tony just rolled his eyes and walked on.

It wasn't long before the light drizzle became a full out downpour. The rain soaked through the dirt road and made walking miserable, the wet and sticky mud threatening to remove the trainers' shoes. It took about the same amount of time for Clover to start complaining. "Ugh, my feet are getting wet and cold," she whined. A muffled cry could be heard from the depths of the trainer's jacket hood, signifying that Snivy felt similar.

Tony couldn't help but agree. "Maybe we could stop somewhere until the rain lets up?" he yelled over the storm. If it ever lets up, the psychic added to himself. I can't even see five feet ahead of us. Can we even find a place to stop? The pair plopped on, barely able to see where they were headed. Suddenly, gothita started squirming in Tony's jacket. Calm down, I know you're getting wet, he thought to his pokemon irritably, trying to hold her still.

It's not that, Gothita responded sassily. There's somewhere we can stop nearby. She managed to squirm out of his grip and jump down from his arms. The little pokemon took off running to the right, forcing the two trainers to chase after her. They only narrowly avoided running into a sign that read:

Preschool and Pokemon Daycare
Open Every Day 7am to 8pm

This must be what Gothita was sensing. I guess we should go inside. Covering their faces, Clover and Tony trudged up to the entrance. Clover knocked, and a lady with purplish hair opened the door. "Oh goodness! Come inside," she greeted them, standing aside to let them in. "You can take off your shoes if you want. They look soaked." The lady shut the door behind them as they did as she said. "My name's Cassidy, but everyone calls me Cas."

"Nice to meet you," Tony said. "I'm Tony, this is Clover. Is it okay if we stay here until the rain stops, or at least lets up?" Clover nodded in agreement.

"Of course. The daycare has been shut down since a couple of kids went missing yesterday, so we aren't doing much anyway," Cas responded. "Oh, I hope those two kids are okay. We really didn't see them sneak off, the little troublemakers."

"Disappearances?" Clover echoed. I never told her about the kids that went missing, Tony realized. Cas began to fill her in, leaving Tony to look around. The preschool was a relatively small building, only one room with some scattered toys and a couple kid-sized desks and chairs. There were two more ladies who looked slightly like Cas. They were cleaning, one sweeping and the other picking up wayward playthings.

Another knock at the door came as Cas wrapped up her story, and she opened the door to reveal a handsome man who looked in his twenties. He looked as though he were in the same predicament as Clover and Tony; the man's clothes were soaked through and he was shivering. "M-mind if I stay for a-a bit?" he stuttered. "Just t-til I warm up a bit." Cas agreed in the same way he had with the two younger trainers. In fact, she seemed more than happy to have something to do other than clean. "My name's Joey," the stranger introduced himself, removing his shoes by the door. "You're Clover and Tony right?"

The two exchanged a confused glance. "Uh...yeah," Tony answered. "How'd you know that?"

"Oh, uh..." For a fraction of a second, Joey seemed thrown off, as though he had just revealed crucial information. He regained his composure quickly, causing Tony to wonder if he had just imagined the hesitation. "I saw in the paper that you two beat Spectra. News travels fast here."

"That makes sense. Where were you headed?" Clover asked curiously.

"Actually, I was just heading to Nacrene City. I guess you two would be headed that way, too, since the next gym is there." Joey paused for a second. "I could lead you through the rain if you'd like," he offered. "I go this way a lot so I know the path well enough so I know where I'm going, even in this rain. The storm's supposed to continue through tomorrow."

"Really? That long?" crooned Tony. "I guess we should get going soon. I guess if Clover agrees, then sure, that'd be great." He glanced at Clover, who nodded in agreement.

"So it's settled then. I'll lead you through the rain." A sneeze interrupted the man. "That is, after I warm up."

The trio set out about twenty minutes later. During this time, Joey had let out his pokemon, a Raticate which Clover had marveled at. "I've never seen that kind of pokemon before!" she had said. Joey had bragged and said something about it being in the 'top percentage' of Raticates. Once they had set out, all three had thanked the ladies for letting them stay and began their trek.

The three had walked for what seemed like ages, and their clothes were soaked and dripping. "How much longer until we get there?" Clover called over the rain.

Joey took a few seconds to respond, but called back when a rock wall came into view. "We're here!" He turned to face the others, a strange smile on his face.

Is he insane or something? Why's he smiling like that? And we're nowhere near a city! "Uh...where exactly is 'here'?" Tony asked suspiciously.

Joey chuckled. The sound seemed menacing. He lifted his fingers to his mouth and let out an ear splitting whistle. All of a sudden, four men burst forward from the bushes, running toward Clover and Tony.

"What the-" Tony's surprised cry was cut off as he was lifted from his feet and a hand was placed over his mouth. A swift glance told him that Clover was going through the same thing. Thrashing and using his powers, Tony managed to wriggle free and run toward Clover. "Clover!" he screeched desperately, his heart pounding with several emotions. A splitting pain suddenly hit Tony in the side of the head, and he toppled to the ground, vision blurring. His heartbeat was loud in his ears and made his head throb painfully so that he could barely hear Clover call his name in a panic. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Clover fall, crippled, to the ground. The other men grabbed their pokemon, who were trying to attack them. Slowly, Tony's vision went red and slowly faded to black.

And there it is! Again, hope you enjoyed and a review is appreciated. Hopefully it won't take so long to get the next chapter out! And I promise, more romance coming soon! Thanks for reading!