A/n: Edit: 29/03/20 : Fixed some errors and phrasings.

Chapter 2

Change.

It's unexpected and unwanted.

It can happen in an instant or over a million years.

Sometimes we notice it and sometimes we don't.

But eventually, everything changes.

The hunt for the trainers had been gruesome. The Kingdom showed no mercy with trainers and Pokémon being killed in broad daylight. Though after much protest and contemplation, two months after the hunt began it was decided that 10 year olds who had just begun their journey and knew nothing about the dangerous capabilities of their so called companions would be exempted from the hunt so that they could be educated properly on how to treat the harmful creatures. The Kingdom put their best efforts into educating the young minds about the right way to handle the species called Pokémon so that they could someday in the future lead the Kingdom to prosperity.

They were young and naïve and ambitious. And yet they knew more about the species inhabiting their world than the ones who were at the top. The children whose journey's had just begun were forced back into their homes, their adventure and freedom snatched away from them. But the young ones were patient. They patiently waited for another change to occur. A change that was just as big and overturning as the current one, a change that they could be a part of. A change that will give them a chance to shape their world. So they waited patiently and quietly. And they were rewarded.

They were rewarded with a revolution.

-x-

"Oh Arceus, it's so hot!"

Cheren turned around to glare at his team member. Though the girl was senior to him and definitely more experienced, he couldn't help but feel that he was the one leading this mission, "We're almost there." He gritted his teeth to bite back any sarcastic comments.

"Oh Cheren, don't make such a scary face at me! It's really discouraging you know." Lyra grinned at the stiff male, who adjusted his red tie for the umpteenth time and returned her grin with an impassive expression.

"We need to hurry up or we'll miss our slot." He replied wryly.

"I know that!" Lyra pouted. She refrained from passing any more comments as she could tell that Cheren was in a bad mood and as much as she loved to get on his nerves, it wasn't that fun when Ethan and Bianca weren't around to join in. And the bright sun glaring down at them while they trekked through the small hill wasn't helping either. Of all the places to make a secret base, the old man had chosen to build it on top of a hill. So not unusual at all. She couldn't believe her luck last night when Touya got the rescue mission and she got stuck with this one. She had really begun to start hating the system of drawing lots to decide a team. But as more and more people joined their little organisation and with everyone wanting to go on every mission, a completely annoyed May had come up with idea that they should just write down their names on a piece of paper, put it in a bowl and leave it all to luck. Brock was very much impressed with this suggestion since he thought this would just bring us all closer and we'd get to know each other better. And surprisingly, this little experiment worked out pretty well. If it wasn't for this little method, Lyra would've probably just hid behind Ethan and Kris all the time, too nervous to talk to anyone else.

And while this little ritual of theirs worked perfectly most of the times, it did backfire once. Lyra felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she remembered the look of anger on Ash's face as Ethan and Brendan returned from their first independent mission with a Lucas whose head was covered in blood and two very dead Pokémon. If it wasn't for Misty holding him back, Ash probably would've strangled them both. The brunette shook her head vigorously to get that memory out of her head and Cheren sent her a questioning look. She smiled at him to reassure him that she wasn't having a seizure. As they continued their quest to reach the top in time, she thought about how Ethan and Brendan refused to acknowledge each other's presence after that night. We can't expect everyone to get along like best friends, Lyra had overheard Cilan telling Ash and she wondered how badly these small glitches could interfere with their work.

"Lyra we're here."

"Huh?" She blinked twice as her train of thought was broken and looked around. She could see the steel cabin right ahead of her. Yes, the cabin was made out of steel. So damned conspicuous.

Lyra hated the Ball Man. Nobody knew his real name, nobody had ever seen his face (except maybe Ash and Gary but they always dodged her questions) and nobody had ever entered the stupid steel cabin of his. He was simply the Ball Man, the guy who illegally manufactured pokéballs. The saying, curiosity killed the cat was wasted on Lyra as she always jumped ahead to find out everything about everything. And not knowing anything about the Ball Man pissed her off to no extent.

Cheren walked forward to retrieve their set of new pokéballs as he saw Lyra's face crunch into a scowl directed towards the steel cabin. Everyone was very much aware of her dislike towards their pokéball manufacturer (because she made it so obvious) and most people just found it amusing. But even Cheren was interested in finding out the identity of this Ball Man. His methods were pretty simple. You slip in the request for pokéballs along with the cash under his door and the wait for fifteen minutes, after which another sheet of paper slides out from under the door with the date and time slot on which you can come and pick up the pokéballs is written. And when you arrive on the given date and time a small box containing your pokéballs can be found sitting on his doorstep. If by chance, you're late, your pokéballs as well as your money is gone. Cheren thought that was pretty smart and cunning of him and always wondered that he'd congratulate the Man for thinking up of such a simple method if he ever met him in person.

"Are they all there?" He heard Lyra's voice from behind him as he counted to check the amount of the pokéballs inside the box. He nodded in response and picked up the box.

"Oh great! We can leave. I don't like this place." Lyra glared at the cabin. Cheren rolled his eyes and started walking back the path they had come. He stopped after a few minutes as he realized the hyper brunette wasn't following him, he turned around to find her still glaring at the Ball Man's house.

"I don't think he'll come out if you glare at it hard enough." He pointed out dryly.

Lyra narrowed her eyes at the cabin one last time and then turned around to direct her glare at Cheren who just raised his eyebrows in response. She stomped past him and continued her way down the hill, "Hurry up!" He heard her shout from far ahead and sighed in frustration. Touya had been very lucky last night, he thought.

-x-

She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and took a deep breath to calm herself. The freaking kids were taking too much time and she was sick and tired of waiting. Cheren and Lyra should've known better than to make her wait. If there was one thing the orange haired beauty was known for, it was the mallet that magically appeared when she was pissed. And right now she was very pissed.

Ever since the change had shaken their world, Misty hated sitting idle. Every time she was left alone with nothing to do, a small fear would envelope her and as time passed, it would grow bigger and bigger, slowly eating her up from the inside and leaving her trembling and blinking back tears and gasping for help when it suddenly disappeared. The first time it happened was when she was forced into jail. She had spent two years in that jail, awaiting judgement for her so called crimes. The cell was dark and damp with an eerie aura surrounding it. They would leave her alone for days, forgetting to feed her, not allowing visitors. She thought she would die in there. She hoped to die. But that small black hole of fear inside her would not allow her to die. It lived inside her and tortured her. She didn't understand why she was the one going through the pain, she had tried to do the right thing. Her sisters were the ones who sold their companions, their friends in exchange for their own lives. She had just tried to take back what rightfully belonged to her. Why was she the one who was locked up? Why was she the one about to face an execution? She tried answering these questions everyday but she wasn't able to.

A few weeks inside that small cell made her believe that maybe she deserved death. If she had kept quiet her Pokémon would've been alive. Yes, they would have been treated badly and probably even tortured a little. But they would have been alive. Her rashness had caused their death.

Each and every day, she sat in a corner, hoping that at least one of her companions had survived. Hoping that someone would come for her and tell her that she was right and they were wrong. What she had done was good and what her sisters had done was selfish and evil. She hoped that someone would come and tell her that she didn't deserve death.

She thought she was dreaming when just a few days before her execution a small yellow rat wriggled in through the metal bars of the cell and jumped at her. It took her a minute to register what it was and when she finally remembered she pulled the Pokémon into her arms, clutching him hardly, thinking he would vanish if she let go. And then it hit her and she let him go.

"No no no."

The mouse simply tilted his head in confusion.

"But, how?"

How was he just roaming around freely? If anybody saw him, he could die. How could his trainer be so inconsiderate?

His trainer…

The Pokémon started chattering away hurriedly gesturing with his little paws but Misty couldn't understand a thing, "No, Pikachu, go a little a slower. I don't understand."

Pikachu paused and looked at her, "Pikapi pika chu pikachu chu pi. Pikachu!"

All she got from that was his trainer's name and the word duck. But he said it with such urgency that Misty dived farther into her corner, pulling the little rat into her arms as she ducked from Mew knows what. It was only a few seconds later that the whole cell shook from the impact of a small explosion near the entrance. The first thing she noticed when she lowered her free hand from over her head was the debris and smoke. She coughed a little and looked up to see that a few of the metal bars were now lying on the ground along with the plaster from the ceiling. She heard someone cough and instantly backed away.

"Shit, I should've thought this through. Pikachu, are you alright?"

The Pokémon wriggled out from her clutch at the mention of his name and bounded back towards his trainer.

She just stood there. She couldn't find her voice, there was a lump in her throat and her vision slowly blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

"Sorry it took so long. I made you wait quite a bit didn't I?"

If she kept thinking about him and that day and his promise and his smile, the small hole would disappear leaving behind a warm and comforting feeling.

And even that warm and comforting feeling disappeared when she heard footsteps and angry muttering. She looked outside the window and saw Lyra walking- no stomping angrily towards the car followed by Cheren who looked like he had given up on trying to understand the girl.

"Finally." Misty muttered to herself as she rolled up her window and started the car. The door on the passenger side opened and slammed shut as Lyra climbed in next to her, still muttering angrily. Cheren climbed in the back now looking annoyed. Misty turned around to look at him, "Don't make that face. Lyra called shotgun remember?" She reminded the boy who fiddled with his tie as he flushed under her stare, "Did you get the balls?" He nodded and held up the box for her to see.

"So ugly. I bet he is like super-duper ugly."

"Lyra, please shut up." Misty groaned as drove back onto the path and exited the small forest.

"But I just want to see his-"

"I know. Holy Moltress, I know." She shot a glare in the brunette's direction.

Lyra cringed as Misty glared at her and decided to keep her mouth shut for a while. But that while didn't last long.

"You look pale." Lyra frowned at the driver.

"I'm fine." Misty shrugged.

"Sorry we took so much time. We left you alone for quite a while didn't we?" Lyra mumbled with an apologetic look on her face.

"It's okay, really. I'm fine." replied Misty, as she put up her best reassuring smile.

Cheren watched the exchange from the backseat and didn't quite understand most of it. He was fairly new to the organisation and didn't know much about the older members. All he knew was that they had all gone through tough times, they had all lost some of their closest friends, their Pokémon and that all of them were ready to stand up and fight for what was right. Cheren was never the kind to break rules and go against the law. But when the law itself was wrong, he had no choice but to revolt. He had no choice but to fight alongside these people who believed so ferociously in their dream of changing the world.

-x-