Pokémon

Arg. I'm sorry. I'm not totally happy with this chapter, probably why I procrastonated so much to put it up. It has been written 3 times, I do believe, and this was the best result (sadly). I have no idea why I'm displeased, but hopefully you guys don't feel the same way. And...I'm sorry for not updating sooner, I had it written for about a week =.='' I give you full permission to cyber hit me, but please do not let any harm come to my cake! xP My Birthday was yesterday so that is my excuse. Well, enjoy the chapter anyway, I gave it my best shot.

Chapter # 24 – The "S" word

Alex woke up, for once, from streaming sunlight through the window. Naturally, she flinched away from the light source. She buried her face into her pillow, feeling like going back to sleep for a very long time until her "reality" nightmare was finally over. But, since getting rid of that wasn't as easy as the ones in the dream world, she didn't. Instead she let out a long groan and rolled over to lie on her back. "What have I gotten myself into…?" she breathed out, "Arg," she hauled herself up grudgingly, padding softly to the bathroom after shooting her regular colored, peacefully sleeping eevee an adoring glance from the doorway then disappearing through it.

Hopping in the shower, Alex thought back to the day that she had dropped everything and impulsively went out in search of adventure, and what she thought and hoped would help her plagued mind, not that it helped matters…at all.

Flashback

Alex heaved a sighed as she sat cross-legged on the ground, staring uninterestedly at the two boys calling attacks left and right for their pokemon to perform. Umbreon was resting in a heap near her after she fixed up most of its wounds with bandages and potions, something Ryan pointedly sent her packages of regularly. At the moment it was blastoise and torterra and the destruction they were doing on the small area was pretty severe. Normally she would have been on the edge of seat, but she just didn't understand what they were doing, challenging each other within a few minutes of meeting. Couldn't she have sat and had a short chat with her best friend to miraculously make her in a good mood? It wasn't as if she enjoyed wanting to snap at everything that happened to catch her attention.

Eevee bumped her trainer's knee, holding the strap of Alex's bag in her mouth. A ringing sound was emitting a buzz from within. Hastily before the jingle could stop, the girl tugged her pokenav out and flicked in on. "Hello?"

"Alex? It's Ryan." The boy's face showed up on the small screen, the same brown hair and eyes. "You'll never guess where I am."

"So tell me," she sighed tiredly, not taking her eyes off the two opponents in combat (the boys)…or four depending on whom you counted. She began to stroke the fur of her fox as the creature settled against her knee.

Ryan stuck out his tongue playfully. "Trust me, you'll be glad when you see what I've found. Meet me at Lake Valor Lakefront. It's regarding our parent's things."

Alex turned shocked like she had been jolted with a lightning bolt. "Seriously?" And after nearly being the victim of a water attack, she darted out of range of the field. She planted her back against a tree, facing away from the boys, yet could still hear everything clearly much to her exasperation.

"Would I lie? I'll see you soon." With that Ryan cut the connection.

"Holy shit!" Alex cursed in a hush, signaling eevee from her front row seat of the fight to follow her in the forest and climb on her black, fast moving canine. "Doom, we're heading back for Lake Valor, stat." Her scattered brain didn't give a second thought, or even a first, about the duo back on the field.

Both boys were too preoccupied to notice when she left. They hadn't heard a thing outside of what was happening and just expected her to be watching from the same exact spot they had left her, but when they spun around to ask whose win it was, she was already gone without a trace of her being there to begin with.

Time Skip

Alex patted her panting dog on the head in gratitude and tapped a ball to its snout lightly. She and her eevee stepped into the area the Valor Lakefront and looked around the town in search of the boy they had been in contact with. "Where would he be?" Alex pondered. "Well it is lunch time, maybe he went into one of the restaurants."

"Ee," the fox acknowledged a large building that looked like a fancy, gourmet place.

"Good job, Isis," Alex praised, "That looks like somewhere Ryan would go." So she more surely walked through the street and to her destination.

The doors opened with ease to a large, open space with bright walls and glossy tiled floors as well as a beautiful chandelier hanging high above and catching the light. The light tinkling of silverware and twittering of chatter murmured through the room next door, as well as the amazing aroma of home cooked meals wafting through the air.

"Wow, this is a change of atmosphere, for sure," she stated, feeling her mood lifting even more.

"Welcome," greeted a man with curly gray hair and formal attire with a black bow tie and trousers, a white button-up and red vest. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Ah…?" Alex drawled dumbly. "I don't know, do you have anything for Summers?"

The man hummed for a moment, going behind a little stand and flipping through a book. "Yes, we do. Right this way."

Alex and eevee complied, going through another set of doors to a battling arena where a pretty lady in a light summer dress and sunhat with flowing aquamarine hair, and a blue-haired gentleman clad in a light suit, a powder blue vest and orange collar stood next to each other blocking the entrance to the next room. Over to the side was another man in a dressy black tux and flippy brown hair. Each greeted her upon her arrival.

"Took you long enough, sis," stated another person sneaking up behind her. Ryan strode up in his pale yellow t-shirt and faded blue jeans to give Alex a brotherly hug and dragged her directly opposite of the other female.

"So," Alex said bewilderedly, looking around the room casually, "what's going on?"

"To enter the 7 Stars Restaurant you must first win your battle with the pair opposite you."

"Oh…kay?" she replied, while thinking 'this is so weird'.

"Aaaaand, begin!" exclaimed the brunette with the swing of his arm.

"Gerafarig," "Driftblem," "Positions!" called the formally dressed pair. The field glowed as a pokemon with a horse's figure that yellow in the front with brown dots and brown in the back with yellow dots, a pink nose with pink spikes running down its spine and finally a circular head with a big set of chompers attached to a short, narrow tail, also brown, appeared with its partner, a lavender colored balloon with an X covering most of its face/body, two beady, black eyes, a small, cloud like shape on its forehead, and two black, stringy arms with a small, yellow heart hands.

"It's just like old times, eh Lex?" Ryan smiled.

Alex giggled and nodded. "Prepare for trouble because you're dealing with the Summer's twins!"

Ryan gasped and pointed an accusing finger at his sister. "You totally just stole a line from Team Rocket!"

"Oh, I did, didn't I? Well, I had this really weird dream last night and they were there so it must have gotten into my head. Hmmm,"

"Ah," Ryan sweatdropped, "At least it wasn't a nightmare, right?"

Alex shrugged and looked at him with large eyes. "I dunno, it was pretty scary."

"Aw," the lady giggled into her gloved hand with a high, squeaky tone. "They're having one of those brother/sister bicker and make up scenes as they're reunited, how cute~!" Her teal eyes watched as the two shot responses back at each other, oblivious to the world around them.

The man wasn't as impressed as he had his arms crossed over and a bored expression. "As entertaining as this is," he spoke sharply, his words smothered with sarcasm galore, "But procrastinating will not aid you in winning this battle."

"Right," the siblings answered simultaneously with a slight blush. "And technically, we're not twins," Ryan added.

"Oh shut up," Alex growled playfully, rolling her brown orbs. They always used to pretend they were twins when they were younger because nobody was able to tell differently, except for their parents, of course. "Star, let's battle!"

"Rogue, this is yours."

The duo of pokemon hit the floor, the first the mid-sized lion known as luxio, and its partner who was about the same size with a round body full of spiky tan fur, a pair of cat-like ears with brown insides, large, glowering eyes and a big pink nose with flaring nostrils on its face. It had two brown legs forked with two toes and arms scrunched into boxing fists, and its wrists and ankles with thick silver bands. A vein pulsed out above the creature commonly known as primape's left eye.

And ten minutes later, the sibling pair was seated in a dining room with a full three-course meal placed in front of them, along with eevee seated on the table with a bowl of pokemon food. A comfortable silence fell over the brunettes as they ate, and ended as Alex placed her spoon back in an empty bowl.

"So, what was so important that you pulled me all the way back here again?" Alex asked, dabbing her lips with a napkin and self-consciously eyeing the formally dress couples occupying the other tables.

Ryan folded his hands and rested them on the surface after setting his dishes aside. He leaned forward in his seat, and an expression of enthusiasm broke across his features like he was about to burst with the most thrilling secret. "Okay, so this customer was in Pallet Town a little while back and was talking about these strange happenings in Sinnoh recently – it's been on the news a lot lately. Anyhow, we got to talking and they said they hoped it didn't get as bad as it did in Kanto 10 years ago."

Blinking at her brother, Alex cocked her head to the side and quirked a brow. The boy looked at her eagerly, waiting for some kind of reaction. Finally she responded with a, "So?"

"So?" He repeated disbelievingly. "Lex, it's the same time our parents went missing! There have been a few cases of abduction here and if it's the same as Kanto experienced then-"

"Ry, our parents are…" she cut herself off halfway through her contradiction as she received a stern, cutting glare. "My bad." Alex tiredly ran her hand over her eyelids and sighed. "Okay, just because what this person said conveniently coincides with the year our parents… doesn't mean it's in any way connected."

"Ah," Ryan beamed, throwing his finger up as to say 'one moment', "But I know that. So I went back up to dad's office and looked through some of his journal, after I cleaned up, of course."

"You mean those ones we flipped through when we were little? Ryan, half of those were in some kind of jibberish mess, and the other's were about the non-happenings of boring ol' Pallet Town."

"That's what I remembered too, so I went back and started sorting through it as my new project and after further reading I," he held his finger in the air again and lifted his satchel from the ground and unclipped the flap, then sliding a small, compact and highly used book from the others. He opened it straight to a book-marked page and handed it over. "I came across this. You know what it is? No? It's a coded message, and the loose paper beside it is how to decode it."

"And," Alex drawled, her coffee orbs peering over the book, "what does it say?"

"It talks about a group: The S.S. I don't know what it stands for."

"...Where can we find them?"

Smirking almost evilly, Ryan cackled, "Turn the page, my dear sister."

End Flashback

By this time, Alex was out of the bathroom and slumped over a plushy chair. Feeling like a change, she wanted something light, but not white or the blue she was clad in as Roxy Monroe, so she tugged on a pair of pale gray shorts and a forest green tee with her lovable running shoes. And as soon as she flopped down in exhaustion her stomach gave a mighty roar, making her groan. Damn stomach, whining at her for food. As if it were important, necessary even!

Regardless, the brunette emerged from the room with her backpack secured to her back and eevee at her side. She wandered down the narrow hall, her hand brushing over the bright walls until it ended. She sat down at a booth and ordered a sandwich and water, which felt strange since she was used to having some form of caffeine every time she ate. However, her brother had recently made her promise to stop with the coffee because it made her edgy and somewhat crazy. Psh, whatever that meant. It was a pleasant change though, and she felt well rested enough to not need it. She nibbled at the bread, feeding the crusts to her fox, who had a bowl of poffins in front of her. Bitter with a tad of sweet, just the way the little fox liked it.

The silence of the meal was broken by a gentle baritone voice standing next to the table, which asked, "Would you mind if I sat there?"

Alex jumped about a mile high, too lost in her own thoughts to even notice anybody was in the same vicinity as her. She nodded slowly, swallowing the last bit of the second quarter of her sandwich after nearly choking on it and downed a good portion of water. Her dark chocolate eyes followed his movements closely, not feeling very confident about strangers after the month she just had.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Kyler Kendrick." The boy offered her a polite smile.

Kylar was very tall and thin, as Alex noticed before he sat down, but he looked young, maybe a year or so older at the most. His skin was well tanned but seemed natural enough and as she watched him move to get comfortable and ordered, she noticed he was almost unnaturally graceful. Each thing he did seemed elegant. He had deep-set eyes in a beautiful aquamarine that could make you feel lost in a sparkling, vast ocean-blue, and straight bronze/caramel hair down to the base of his neck with three sections of bangs sectioned off perfectly and wisped down to the bridge of his nose and his temples. To finish off his polished look he was drabbed in white skinnies, a casual, blue, short-sleeve button up shirt and a loose, plain white tie.

Alex didn't know what it was, but she felt a kind and cheerful aura about him that it felt as though it were being transferred to her. Realizing she had sort of been staring, she blinked back into reality. "Sorry, I'm Alex Summers, and this is my eevee. It's a pleasure to meet you." She took her forth quarter of the sandwich and thought 'Kendrick…why does that sound familiar?'

"The pleasure is all mine." He watched her for a few short moments, much like she did, and chuckled. He lifted a glass of water to his full lips and said, "You're weary of me," before taking a sip.

It was a statement, but Alex felt the need to answer. "I'm not going to lie. So yes, I find this quite odd. No offense, but why are you sitting here?" Her voice had diminished to a whisper at the end and she found herself slightly leaning on the table. Quickly, she leaned back and glanced down to her nearly finished food nervously, hoping she hadn't upset the boy too much.

Kylar let out a highly amused laugh. "I don't know about you, but I hate eating alone. You look like a nice young lady that I could have an enjoyable conversation with while having my lunch. But if you would rather I will find a seat elsewhere-"

"No, that's fine," Alex said quickly, finding herself laughing. "To tell you the truth I've been a bit on edge lately. Sorry if I insulted you."

The boy nodded at Nurse Joy – who brought his lunch over – and replied, "Don't be silly, it's fine. Thinking about it I probably would have done the same if a complete stranger confronted me while I was off in another world as well."

Alex giggled and sighed. "I don't know. I just, eh…went on a trip recently and it's been hard getting things back to normal. I think some friends are looking for me, and I'm pretty sure they're angry. I don't know why though."

Kyler quirked a brow at her, but smiled and didn't question her. "Well, did they not want you to go on this…trip?" Seeing her bite her bottom lip and lift her shoulders in a small shrug, he smiled knowingly. "You know, even if you think people are fine with you going away doesn't mean they don't worry, especially if you don't tell them first. I don't know why you did it, but you should apologize. I realized the same lesson not to long back, and I've had the same thing happen to me, and I guarantee, they probably have a right to be mad." Kyler sighed, seeing she still didn't look convinced.

"My little sister," he started again. "A couple of months ago I was taking care of her while my parents were out on a business trip. We had gotten in a bit of a disagreement the day before they left and wouldn't talk to me or even look at me for the rest of the day. She avoided me. About two days after they left I went up to her room to apologize and…she wasn't there. I was frantic; I searched every corner of our house multiple times and just when I was going to call the police, she walked through the door, calm as she could be. Well of course I was relieved but oh, I was mad. She was surprised that I cared; her exact words were 'I didn't think you would care'. And that was the worst part of it all."

"Wow, I feel like such a jerk," Alex whispered dejectedly.

"Well as long as you say you're sorry," Kyler responded cheerfully, "then I wouldn't worry yet." He never once lost his calm, polite demeanor.

Despite herself, Alex laughed. "You know, I'm really glad I met you today, Kyler Kendrick. I am sorry I ever doubted you."

Eevee, who was grinning foxily at her trainer and contentedly wagging her tail because of the smile on Alex's face, was the only one to see another oncoming person. The fox frowned at the obvious anger on the person's face. They came up too fast for her too cry out, so all she could do was recoil back - as did her trainer and the boy - in shock.

Kyler's nearly full water glass sloshed and spilled over from the force as a palm slapping down on the end of their table.

"Oh my god!" Alex jumped for the second time. Slowly, her eyes followed the up the arm while her hand rested on her racing heart. "Oh," she gasped lightly. Wide eyed, she looked at the table and said quietly, "Hello, Paul." She felt like a little girl being scolded for doing something really bad, especially since the scowl on the purplette's face was not his normal one. "So, how have you been?"

Paul snorted. "How have I been?" He looked like he wanted to laugh in her face and shake some sense into her. "You disappeared for a month while that idiot was here!" His voice was like a deep growl, much angrier than it usually was. "Then you show up again and have the nerve to ask how I have been?"

"I-"

"You could have been kidnapped. That Gary guy was worried that you had gotten hurt."

"Just Gary?" Alex whispered.

"Yeah, he dragged me everywhere looking for you. He was worried you were in trouble. But now you're just sitting here calmly eating lunch with some guy like it doesn't even matter."

"But Gary's gone back to Pallet now, isn't that right?" Her voice was gradually growing stronger.

"How would you know that? You run off at every chance you get."

"Now hold on a second, sir," Kyler cut in softly yet firmly, standing and placing a hand on Paul's shoulder. Alex couldn't believe he was still so peaceful and elegant after all the yelling, because she was feeling the fire and rage of her charizard building up.

"Stay you of this," Paul snarled, slapping his hand away. He slammed his fist on the table again, making Alex whimper and back away, and she felt like she was being looked down upon since she was seated and both, seething boys were standing at full height – Kyler more so.

And apparently Kyler had had enough as well. His face darkened, like he changed and was now a totally different person. "Listen here. Ms Summers here is a very nice young lady and I do not like how you are speaking to her so I would just calm the hell down and let her speak." His fists were clentched at his sides and shaking uncontrollably. His face was lowered, covering three-quarters of his face and his baritone voice had a nasty tone etched into it. He turned his general direction back to Alex and said, "I changed my mind. He doesn't deserve an apology. He's a real jerk. But it was a pleasure meeting you." Unexpectedly, he snatched up her hand and kissed it through the material of her glove. Without another word, Kyler stalked out of the Pokemon Center.

Alex and eevee watched Paul, scrunched up as close to the wall as they could get.

"What were you thinking, Alex?" She heard a distant voice of a memory at the back of her mind. She winced, waiting for another outburst from Paul, but he didn't look as vicious as he did before. He was frowning. "I-I'm sorry, Paul," Alex gulped. She was really hoping she hadn't had to deal with this right after her return. "I know, I've been acting like a complete jerk and I should have told you where I was going. I just-"

'…thought you wouldn't care'. That was the worst part.

"I was stupid and tired. I know that's no excuse now. And as hard as it is to believe, Kyler helped me realize that, and I was going to go and find you again but apparently you found me first."

Paul had taken Kyler's seat, arms folded and looking out the window, his regular scowl on his face. "Where were you?"

'I can't tell him everything, that will put him in danger. But if I don't tell him something then he'll be mad.' "My brother told me he needed me to do something for him and it was very urgent. I took off immediately." Not a complete lie.

"Do what?" Paul demanded off-handedly. Of course he wouldn't just let it go. He had to be difficult.

Alex chewed on her lip again, looking away. She could see the irritation in Paul's onyx eyes now situated on her. "It had to do with our parents."

Realizing that this would be uncomfortable for the both of them, Paul back off and replied with a curt nod. He mumbled something inaudible, to which Alex questioned him. "I said I'm sorry too," he grumbled lowly, staring outside again.

"So, are we good now?" Alex asked hesitantly.

"Are you going to disappear like that again?"

"I promise I will do my best not to go off again while we're traveling together without telling you first," Alex sighed. She looked up at him nervously to see him staring straight back.

"Tch, whatever," Paul scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.

Alex smiled brightly and somehow managed to get on the other side of the table and pull the boy into a friendly hug. Even if he didn't say it, she knew she was forgiven. "I promise," she mumbled from her awkward position, "that I will be a better friend to you. How does leaving tomorrow sound? We can take my charizard!"

After the girl pulled away, Paul could give her a questioning glance. "You surely aren't just going to leave without getting a badge first."

Giving him a toothy grim, Alex replied, "Naturally I got it as soon as I caught word that Fantina was back. And I won all thanks to my newly evolved croconaw!" 'Courtesy of the secret stash of items found of the Soul Salvation ship' she added. Scooping up her fox, Alex left some money on the table to cover lunch and skipped to the doors. "I feel like some fresh air and sunshine! And most of all, training! What do you say, Paul?" She smirked at him. "Wanna have a battle?"


O...kay. Please don't hurt me too badly. I have the next chapter written already so if I'm not feeling too lazy, I'll put it put in a couple of days to make up for it. And just for the record, the "S" word is sorry, and I hate that word severely. Anybody else, or is that just me? And, uh, alright. I'd just like to say, as well, that I actually have a plot all layed out now.

Paul: You mean you didn't have one already? I've just being doing things randomly with no apparent reason

Piano-girl: ...maybe.

Paul: *eye twitches furiously*

Piano-girl: Nah, I'm just joshing ya xP Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Now, be a good boy and go get me another piece of cake ^.^

...Yeah, I'm kind of tired. Bonne nuit, goodnight... and don't even think about touching my cake. Oh, and review!