Pokѐmon Journey I: Violet's Trial

Chapter 19: A Maze Before Blaine

Violet's Point of View:

With nearly a few weeks passed since all our dramatic events that took place that caused Sapphire to join the team and me to see my mother again, it was good to know we were finally heading out of our home town to Cinnabar Island for our seventh gym battle. I've trained and battled with Sapphire and the pokémon back on Seafoam Island during the weeks with a warm bed to rest in at night and a lot of experience down under our belts for the next gym battle.

From what Sabrina had told me of him, Blaine, the next gym leader, used fire types, those of which I haven't really any type advantage over or many supper effective moves to counter fire types. Ruby and Sapphire wouldn't be going into the battle; that was clear enough unless they absolutely had to. So the battle would mostly be left up to Amethyst, Chalcedony, Amber and Zircon. Even the youngest of us had gotten training under his skin and was excited for a gym battle to participate in, since he only most helped out on the side lines, and as he put it, he was 'ready to face the relatives of Amethyst.'

My mother wasn't exactly happy about the fact that I had to be leaving her again, but now with Lovey and Black Spinal staying with her, she was going to be alright. She was happy to have some pokémon to stay with her and not only would she have someone or a few some ones to look after, but they could keep an eye on her in the process and make sure she gets everything she needs (and take her medicine too.)

Bill would also be staying behind here to make sure that Lovey, Black Spinal and the two articuno kids would be alright for a few days before he'd head back to his cottage back up on the Cerulean Cape. He said he also had to visit a friend of his off on the islands that we didn't have passes to get to, and he said he'd be back by the time the day was over and possibly meet up with the rest of (including the boys) and head back to Pallet Town together before we'd head to Viridian, depending on how many gym badges the guys had at the time.

"Are you sure you can't stay home a little longer?" my mother begged of me as I started to pack my things again that she tried to unpack.

"Mom, stop unpacking my things." I blocked her path as she tried to get near my bag again. "And yes, I need to get going. You know I love staying here, but I need to get back out on my adventure, pokémon need my help and I'm going to be there for them. Amber still needs to find her mother; Sapphire wants to beat Team Rocket to keep her kids and all other pokémon safe. It's the only way to find out what really happened to Dad." I sighed and turned back to my work. "I can't sit around here and do nothing Mom, I thought you knew that."

"I do honey, it's just hard on me to let you go again." I heard her sob behind me. "The first time I let you go, that Team Rocket woman named Rose attacked you and Amethyst, the second time you ran away from all of us, I don't want this to keep happening to us…"

"It won't if you don't let it Mom, look at the good stuff and not the bad. I came back, didn't I?" I turned around to face her and pulled her into my arms. She looked more dreary then normal and I blinked at her. "Have you had your medication yet?"

"I… I don't know, have I?" My mother looked at me nervously.

"Lovey!" I called out to my golbat. I heard the flapping of her wings and she soon came up to the second floor in my room and landed upside-down on my arm. "Lovey, did my mother have her medication yet today? I don't think she has." My bat pokémon shook her head and I grabbed my mother's hand. "Come on; let's go get your meds into you. You'll be able to understand and accept things easier with them to help you think clearer."

My mother allowed me to easily lead her to the kitchen where here meds were kept; it was almost as if our roles had turned since I arrived home. I was the one that made sure she took her medication and so did the others if I wasn't around, while my mother tended to just follow the crowd like a lost child. I guess this depression was hitting her harder than I thought it would.

I pulled out my mother's recommended dose of two pills and got her a glass of water to go with them. I handed them over and ordered her to take them. She did so without complaint and I watched her do so before I took her empty glass from her and placed it in the dishwasher before I headed back upstairs to finish packing. My mother followed after me and I sighed. This was going to be a long morning…

HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch

I finished packing a short while later with my mother still standing in my room, watching me the whole time with depressed eyes. It was hard to get my packing done with her around, but I managed to get it done soon enough. The manila folder I showed my mother the first night I had come home, I placed in my room in a hidden safe, that my father had given me, under my bed (you can see how my brother never really got the best of me.)

I gathered up my team downstairs and had Sapphire say good-bye to Tanzanite and Kyanite (her two children that she allowed me to name) and the rest of my team were waiting to get going, already done with their good-byes while I dealt with my mother and packing. Daisy and Professor Oak were waiting with the rest of my team while my mother, Lovey, Black Spinal and I joined the rest of them. The professor was still floored with Amethyst's coloring now that she was a dark gray purple compared to her golden color in her prior two pre-evolutions. He wanted to do more studies on why she was a different color then the rest of her species, but I told him off and said it could wait until after Team Rocket was gone and that we had to get going.

"I just got word from Alex, he and Vince are waiting for you in Cinnabar to meet up with you for lunch," Daisy informed me.

"Sounds good, wait…" I turned back to my mother. "When's the last time you saw Vince?"

"Shortly after you left, and after Rose attacked you eight or nine months ago," my mother replied sadly. "Why?"

"You wanna come with us to Cinnabar? We'll fly there." My mother's eyes went wide and she blinked a few times.

"Oh Violet, this is your journey, you go enjoy some time with the boys, I'll be fine." I rolled my eyes and pushed my mother toward Amethyst who was waiting on me to fly.

"Don't give me that Mom, I know you wanna go, and I have to have my gym match away, so we might as well go together and you can see how strong I am and spend some time with Vince and Alex." All my pokémon smiled at me and Amethyst lowered her body down to help my mother on her back.

"I'm not sure about this Vi…" My mother tried to shy away from the pokémon that was itching to jump off the ground and I snorted and continued to push her.

"Honestly Mom, it's no different than getting up in an airplane or hot air balloon. My pokémon and I'll make sure you don't fall." I climbed up onto Amethyst's back first and pulled my mother's arm toward her. "Come on, let's go see the others."

My mother hesitantly sighed and allowed me to pull her toward Amethyst. She was able to get herself situated after a few tries and then wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight grip.

"Mom, relax, we haven't even gotten off the ground yet." My pokémon began to cheer her on from their respective places on all of my flying pokémon. For once, Ruby didn't have to carry anyone and Amethyst had my mother, me and Zircon while Sapphire had Chalcedony and Amber on her back. Amethyst spread her wings and jumped into the air so she hovered over with her wings flapping. My mother gasped at the size of my girl's wingspan and held onto me tighter as Amethyst caught a gust of wind under her wing that propelled her into the air.

My mother screamed as we flew through the sky. I laughed as well as my entire team as we drifted through the fluffy white clouds. We smoothed out a few moments of being in the air and my mother was still screaming and holding into me like a lifeline. Zircon slithered around the side of my lap and crawled into my mother's and attempted to calm her down, which wasn't really working in the long run.

"It's alright Zircon; just give her another moment to adjust." My dragon pokémon nodded and slithered back to the front, and I turned my head to glance at my mother. "Mom, calm down, you're gonna miss all the beautiful scenery if you don't look up and calm down to enjoy it, and we're honestly going really slowly right now."

Amethyst had slowed down her pace to a gentle glide at the moment so we could look over the Caribbean colored water. I could see athletes competing with each other out in the water or simply sitting upon some of the tall rocks and watched the waves and people down below.

I finally heard my mother gasp and I felt her grip loosen from around me, she was looking at the world down below that we were flying over, the beautiful adventure that we were always looking at from the sky above. I felt my mother stiffen behind me and one of her arms was in a death grip of my body once more while her other one reached out to the clouds next to us. She felt they're fluffy, near non-existent bodies blow right around her and she gently turned her hand against and with the wind.

"This is beautiful Violet, and you get to see this every day?" I could hear the relaxation in my mother's voice and I was glad she'd calmed down enough to enjoy this.

"Almost every day and night, you should do this also at sunrise and sunset, it's incredibly beautiful. Not to mention, during a full moon in the middle of the night. It almost looks like we're a shooting star…"

"I'm sorry for freaking out sweetheart; I've never flow like this before, not since…"

"Mom?"

"…Not since your father was still around and flew me around on his own charizard, I think it might have even been the father of Amethyst. The professor tends to ask his old starter pokémon for help to find more for future trainers that come to him, even if they are few to none."

I turned around to look at her. "Dad used to do that?"

"Oh yes, especially when we were all younger." She replied in a voice that was lulled into a trance of love. "It was magical, Violet. You're father used to do it in the night, with his charizard lighting the way in the sky. Even if there was a storm, your father made the best of it and flew us above the clouds and all over the Kanto region." I felt her set her forehead against my back and both her arms wrapped around me again. "I miss those times Violet… I miss him."

"I promise I'll find him Mom, no matter what's happened to him or where he is, I'll bring him home."

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Cinnabar Island soon came into view as I saw it was built around and into a volcanic island, giving the island the warmer temperatures then the rest of the Kanto region. Most homes on the island weren't that tall, only a couple floors or so, the only building taller than that was some building on the side of the island that looked deserted and untreated for many years, almost like the power plant.

I could see Vince and Alex waiting in front of the pokémon center as we approached it. Many other people saw us, too, and started top point us out in the sky. People were cheering as they saw me land before my friends and I couldn't help but blush at their actions. I guess I was famous enough now for them to start greeting me in certain cities, even as far out as Cinnabar.

Vince's eyes went wide when he saw Sapphire as part of our group. Alex even blinked a few times, but soon he chuckled and held out a hand to me to help me off. "Only you, Vi."

"Only me, what?" I questioned as he helped me off.

He shook his head. "I guess I can't be the odd one out for once and say I got one of the legendary birds on my team."

My mind drew a blank for a moment since there was only one pokémon in the region I could think of, but it was most certain about protecting its kid. "Zapdos?"

Alex nodded and suddenly realized he still held my hand in his. I only realized it then, too, and we both released and backed away from each other more. "He was really worried about his kid while I stayed with him; most of our time was actually spent with the two of them. Zapdos didn't really want to sit around anymore while other pokémon still need help, but he didn't want his son to get hurt. So I called Daisy and she filled me in on what you did for Articuno's kids and now Electabuzz is leading him there and should be there by nightfall at the latest. It was the only way that Zapdos would agree to join my team, and so he could kick Team Rocket's asses for they've done to his friends and comrades."

Suddenly, a black pokeball with lightning bolts all over itself enlarged on Alex's belt and opened. Out came the legendary bird of lightning, it screeched out, ready for a fight.

It suddenly caught the eye of Sapphire, and her eye caught him. The lightning bird of legend calmed down abruptly and bowed to Sapphire, and then to the rest of us. Sapphire returned the gesture to them before the two legendary birds of ice and lightning returned themselves back to their pokeballs. I blinked a few times with the others over the events that had just taken place.

"Okay then, let's go get lunch." I tried to change the subject and get us moving. "You can come down now, Mom!" I hurried back over to Amethyst as she gently pulled my mother off her back and set her next to me, so I could help her should she need it.

"I'm alright honey, stop worrying over me." My mother swatted my hands away. "You didn't even need to bring me at all, this is your adventure, and I've done nothing to help or encourage it until recently. I don't deserve this."

"Mom, you're here!" Vince threw himself at our mother before she could utter another word about herself being unworthy of being with us. He pulled back from the bear hug he gave her where his arms nearly wrapped around her twice from how small she was compared to him and the span of his arms. "Man did I miss you and your homemade cooking! It's awesome to see you here! You remember Bulbasaur right? Well he evolved twice and became a venasaur, oh and I got an onix, a machoke, a lapras, and an electabuzz! They're so excited to meet you!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there Vincy." I had to calm the ever happy raging brother of mine before he hurt someone, or worse, our mother. "Now when did you get a lapras and an electabuzz?"

"Lapras was a gift actually; some guy at Silph Co. gave her to me," my brother replied, holding out the pokeball. "It was for saving the building and everyone, even if we didn't catch Giovanni. And Electabuzz we found on our way here while we were training, to be honest, we were near the power plant, so it wouldn't surprise me if he came from there." He grinned and folded his arms behind his head. "Lapras was actually one of the major factors that helped me win my gym battle here, and also Onix too."

"Wait, you already have your seventh badge?"

"Yeah, got mine a few days ago, and Alex got his, used his blastoise for most of the battle, but even Blaine was able to take them down! It was so cool, but so bad as well, we barely made it out of there alive with our badges, I thought that last pokémon of his was gonna scorch me black!"

"Blaine's team consists entirely of fire types, an arcanine, a rapidash, a ninetails, a flareon and a magmar," Alex explained. "And your brother's right, Blaine is a wicked battler, and he's not afraid to take a risky move if it means victory in his favor. I barely won; you might have your work cut out for you on this one, Vi."

"That's fine. It means it'll be an entertaining battle," I grinned at them, "Let's get lunch first and then I'll head over to the gym. I can't wait for this battle!"

"Heh, heh… about that, Sis…"

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"You have got to be kidding me!" I hissed as we sat in our restaurant with our pokémon in the large section closed off for ourselves. I stabbed at my food. "Jerk…"

"Blaine thinks it makes things more interesting and helps to teach you about a bit of history of the island here while you search for the key." Alex sighed and took a sip of his soda. "It's not going to make a difference if you keep hissing about it, Vi. Blaine's highly unlikely to change his rule, even for you."

"I can't believe I have to go off into an old mansion and find the key to his gym!" Tension and anger radiated off my body, and all my pokémon stayed well away from me while I vented with my mother, brother, and Alex at the table. I sighed and tried to calm down and looked over at the boys. "Was it hard for you guys to find the key?"

"Not really," Alex muttered. "I actually found it pretty easy; it didn't take me much more than an hour to find it."

"I… uh… I actually took all day to find it." My brother nervously laughed while a hand of his rubbed behind his head.

"Lovely," I seethed, and turned to Alex. "You don't think it'll take me all day… do you?"

"You?" Alex questioned me harshly with a snort. "Not likely, I think you'll make it out of there quickly, no more than two hours max. Besides, you have six pokémon to help you out in there."

"You're not coming with me?"

"Can't, Blaine's orders," my brother gave the full detail, "Not allowed to help out anyone who is after the key to the gym, so it's probably better if we just keep Mom entertained until you find it and then meet you over at the gym."

"Well, I guess I have no choice in that matter." I ate the last bite of my food and stood up from the table. "I better get going and find that key! I'll meet you guys at the gym, okay?"

"Yeah, we'll be around the city, but about an hour from now we'll go wait at the front of the gym until you get there," Vince notified, "we'll tell Mom about our adventures and what not while we wait. Oh, and we'll bring Luke as well."

"Luke's here?" I blinked at them.

"Yeah, turned out he had to inspect the stores here and the ones of a few of the Sevii Islands too, so he's waiting for the night ship to come and get him while he's finishing up here. We'll invite him to see your battle."

"Now who is this Luke character? Is he someone I should be concerned about?" my mother questioned, finally brining herself into the conversation. I snorted a laugh and shook my head.

"Not in the least Mom, he's been a good friend that's been there to help me out on my journey here and there and looked after some of my stuff when we still weren't on good terms and he's given me some pretty awesome advice here and there. You'll think he's awesome." I stood up from the table and returned my larger pokémon to their pokeballs. "Well I better get going, the longer I stay here, the longer it may take me to find that key and have my gym battle." I rose from the table and gathered up my smaller pokémon. "So, I'm gonna get!"

"Alright, have fun, Vi! Enjoy key hunting!" my brother called out happily. I waved to him and hurried off with my smaller pokémon out of there.

HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch

It wasn't hard to find the old Pokémon Mansion where, apparently, Blaine hides keys to his gym. Like I had noted before when I arrived on the island, it was one of the only buildings that stood the tallest on the island and had been apparently unattended by humans for a long time. I could see some small pokémon scurrying around the area for fun and there were shadows against the dark windows; it looked like people were looking out at us. I hope the placed wasn't haunted…

The old building had been stained for color, but after all the years, it had slowly faded away from an apparent dark brown to a more soiled dark brown due to the weather and what not with patches of light brown here and there. The grass had not been trimmed and leaves and pine needles were all over the area. The area almost felt… painful to be around. It was confusing, but I waved it off at the time and ventured forward into the widely opened doors.

The eerie feeling increased inside my gut as I ventured inside. It really was like a mansion with most likely elegant carpeting and hardwood floors that were stained, dried up and ripped up all over the floor. Dirt had been tracked in everywhere and there were piles of objects of a variety of things that most likely made up the homes of many of the pokémon here that were hiding from humans and lived here. I could see trash and grim build up as well as acid holes in the floor and some of the walls, which probably why this place was so cold as it is. Burn marks were toward the back, but it was also on some of the walls in random places, while it looked like an explosion had taken place toward the back of the building. A few chandlers were still hanging by a few thick threads on the ceiling, though most I saw were in many pieces and scattered across the floor.

"Alright you guys, where do you think we should start?" I looked down at the pokémon that I carried with me or that walked willing next to me that were smaller in size and not taking an afternoon nap.

"Raichu rai?" Amber pointed upstairs. "Rai raichu chu rai rai."

"That's true, it would be easier since the guys told me there were three floors and one basement, it would make me closer to the exit to look their last, I guess." With our destination in mind, we minded our steps and headed up the elegantly rounded stairwells to the second floor. The second floor was much like the first; though I saw that there was a burned hole on the far side of the long hallway that we were faced with. It must have been that explosion that we sat at the back of the first floor.

"That's quite the hole." I whistled at the sheer size of it as I walked with my pokémon to get a better look at it.

Zircon squeaked up at me and pointed his tail at a strange statue that was off to the side. Along the back side of it, I watched as a dark shadow passed by and then behind it. I blinked at the sudden shadow. I felt that chilling, painful feeling again that I had from just standing outside the mansion.

Against my better judgment, I walked over toward the statue. The shadow was gone now and the statue was shaped strangely. It looked like it was a foul pokémon by nature from the grim and detesting looks it was giving off. It looked like the pokémon had somehow been mutated from the pipe like skin that journeyed from its head to its back. Large hands and feet were on this creature, only three fingers and toes on each one. At the end they looked swelled into a large circular tip. Its tail almost looked like it came from the front of the torso on it and carried under its waist line to the back and out and swirled from larger to thinner at the end.

Its expression looked like it was in pain… I looked worriedly over the statue as I started to take in its appearance when I suddenly saw a button on the back of it. It was small and red compared to the grey stone. I pressed on it and a door opened, next to me, in the brunt wall. It led to another stair case that was strait and less elegant then the rest of it. There were no windows in there, nor was there much of any form of light. I cautiously peered inside and saw a faint glimpse of light from the next floor up on the other end of the hallway.

Gathering up my courage, I walked inside and the door suddenly closed behind me. My pokémon cried out and I gasped, but other than that, I continued to follow the light from the next floor. It was even fainter then I thought now with the dark hallway around me and the room up there not much better. Zircon clung to me in fear while Chalcedony and Amber hung close to my body, climbing up onto my shoulders so they wouldn't lose me.

As I stepped into the doorway, I saw that there was a small amount of lighting coming from in-between the walls, from under it, as if this was a secret room or something. There was no other lighting in the room, and I sighed. How was I supposed to get out of this? The door back down is locked and this one's closed, and I might bring down the entire place if I have one of my more powerful pokémon try and take it down.

I suddenly felt that sudden chill again, it rain right up my spine and put all my hairs on end. I turned back around to see who was there, but there was no one…

But that wasn't what was all left in the room. A glow came from the center, a diary like book was kept on a pedestal or a podium, and whatever you'd like to call it, but the record was actually glowing. I set down my pokémon on the floor and had them stay together, while I approached it. Emitting from it, was a musty green glow, something definitely old and what not. Upon the cover, read only one word, 'Mewtwo'. My hand gently touched the very edge of the novel and it reacted, flipping open without my help or that of the wind to the first page.

I then noticed that I wasn't alone.

A charcoaled body of black and red from blood and burns stood before me with a musty green glow around him. He looked at me with no eyes, just empty burned out sockets and a partly burnt brain as if to greet me. I felt my chest constrict, my movements were halted, my breathing irregular…

My heart started racing, and my pulse began to react. I shuddered from a sudden chill as it swept the room. I knew then that I was afraid. His hands hastily rushed up to my face and connected on either side so I couldn't move away. A scream escaped my mouth before my world turned black.

Within the 'Mewtwo' Diary (Still Violet's Point of View):

I blinked a few times as I felt myself awaken from whatever had happened to me… my breathing however was still shaken and I couldn't find the strength to stand up.

"Would you like a hand my dear?" I looked up from where I was and saw the same ghost that was before me. I gasped and backed away from him as fast as my arms and legs would carry me.

The ghost's face turned grim (if that can even happen on a ghost.) "Dear me, I suppose I should change my appearance so it'll be easier for you to understand and accept this information. Hmm… my apologies, Miss Vilmos." The ghost man's body was suddenly surrounded by the musty green glow and it was almost like a time traveling device, his body slowly reverted back to a real human being as I'm sure he was once a long time ago. Short, peppery hair covered his head while a balding spot was coming about at the top of his head. Soft amber-brown eyes looked at me while pale white brown skin covered his body. Khakis and a sweater covered his body along with a pair of sandals and a white lab coat covered him. While the glow about him didn't disappear, he still looked a bit nicer to look at.

"Better?" he questioned me as he held out a hand to help me up.

I nodded nervously, and took his head. "Wait, how did you know my name? And who are you? Why did you bring me here? Oh my Mew! My pokémon are probably freaking out right now-"

"Miss Vilmos! I cannot answer your questions if you continue to ask many more than I can handle at a moment's time!" I shut up and blinked at the man as he seemed to take a moment and calm himself. "Again, I apologize to you, but I am quite more stressful as a ghost then I was as a human. As for your questions, I know you name due to the many trainers that come through the mansion, they often have spoken of you, and I've seen news reports of you and heart about you from the pokémon that journey here. You are quite the warrior. As for who I am, you may call me Stein, or Professor, which ever you suit better."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll call you Stein, I already have a professor, my best friend's grandfather."

"Professor Samuel Oak, I presume?" I nodded to him. "I figured as much, he is a brilliantly minded man… Oh, and before I forget, the reason I brought you here, since I'm likely to get sidetracked again…"

He suddenly waved about his hand and I saw the entire room light up, the exact same room I was in before Stein took me here, but it looked like it was brand new, clean, like it hadn't been abandoned for years. There was still no window, but I saw the passage that I had to walk up to get to this room was blocked off. The walls and floor were all white and I felt the cool tiles beneath my boots. The professor turned away from me and a door that was another secret passage opened, a spiral like dimension was behind it.

"Follow me, Miss Vilmos, our story starts here…" He turned to me and held out his hand again for me to grab. I was hesitant all over again, but I sucked up my courage and took hold of it before I felt a rush of wind and we were through the portal, just like that. We were in the middle of a heavily thick jungle, most likely the area between Vermilion and Fuchsia from a few many years back.

"When we were younger, Violet, we discovered a brand new pokémon in the Kanto region. A playful being, that was entirely about having fun. It was a legendary pokémon that we'd never seen before, and the only one of its kind." He stopped for a moment and allowed me to watch the events that took place around us. I saw Stein in a ground with other professors along with what seemed to be-

"Rose?" I gasped as I saw the woman even looked younger then she had before, outdoor gear covering her entire body and a swelling on her lower abdomen along with a ring on her finger. My jaw dropped as she walked by, actually looking happy instead of evil and angry. "Rose has a kid? She's married?"

"Focus my dear, I shall explain it all." We floated after the group as they headed deeper into the forest and soon came across what seemed to be a temple of sorts that a small, bright, pale pink pokémon that looked a lot like the statue had been. It was considerably smaller compared to the statue and had an energetic look to its eye, which was a deep azure blue.

"We discovered Mew…" Stein trailed off as the pokémon drifted toward the small group at the base of the temple and began to play with them, and they willingly did so as well, as well as got a few samples of his DNA from hairs and spit. "And we never saw him again." I then saw from the memory that was here that Rose had on her devious smirk in the background as she watched the pokémon fly off. It suddenly turned into a heartwarming smile when someone went to ask her a question. I blinked in surprise.

It was only a moment after that that I realized her true gain. "…She's using them… you, isn't she?"

Stein refused to look at me, but he did give me a quiet sob and nodded. "We were fooled by her beauty and her smile, which, at the time, was quite warm. We took sympathy on her since her husband was away and she was with child. We never knew she was a part of Team Rocket until it was too late…"

"Not until after she got Mew's DNA?"

"No, not until she got her hands on Mewtwo." Stein sighed again and the jungle around us disappeared and another portal appeared, lighting the black the circled around endlessly with a hint of red. "Come, I'll take you to the lab." He held out his hand again and this time I took it with ease before we ended up in the next location.

We were back in the mansion; we must have been in the basement. A large tube that was attached into the wall with a keyboard or two at the base held a tiny pokémon that looked just like the statue, but more child-like at the moment. The scientists and Rose all then appeared, but this time she had a child in her arms, one that had red hair just like its mother, but onyx black eyes looked back at me when I looked at it.

"Her son's name is Tristan, we thought she would have named him a more Italian name since that was where the father's heritage came from, but we were mistaken," Stein told me.

"Wait, Italian? You mean she's married to Giovanni?" I held my head and hung onto Stein's arm. "Man, that's more info then I can take in a day about my mortal enemy that nearly killed me twice."

Stein stiffly laughed. "I suppose so, she used her charms and her son to keep us convinced that she truly cared, but all she wanted was the power of a created legendary pokémon." A relieved look washed over him as he looked upon the small creature in the tank. "I'm glad that none of us were able to use him, or do anything else to him."

I blinked in surprised and looked up at Stein questioningly. "What do you mean?"

The look drifted away nearly as fast as it had come. A longing look, filled with dread and pain surfaced. "From the DNA we received from Mew, we created a new legendary pokémon, only one of its kind; Mewtwo. He was genetically identical to the first, though for odd reasons that most likely had to do with us genetically creating a Pokémon from just a fragment of DNA, he looked drastically different then Mew." The scene suddenly changed to a later date. Mewtwo was larger and stronger then he was before, Rose wasn't around and neither was her son, but Giovanni was, and he was watching the created legendary pokémon and enjoying its pain as if suffered inside.

"So what happened?" My breath felt heavy as I asked that question. Stein went stiff and anger all radiated off of him.

"I tried to help him in any way possible. I gave him medicine to keep him from being in pain. He always looked so angry with the other scientists around… but with me…" he paused and his fist clenched, "with me he actually looked like a child, a kid that was in pain all the time and just wanted the suffering to stop.

"Oh how badly I wanted to do that, to help him escape. I planned to do it that night, the night everything and everyone died." Darkness fell upon the lab and a live figure of Stein came into play. He was telling the pokémon that he was going to set him free and take him far away from this place so he couldn't be hurt again. The pokémon almost seemed to sigh and look peaceful for once when he did that and awaited to be freed.

It wasn't a second later that he was released, and the liquid from the tube seeped out onto the floor. An alarm went off and the still alive Stein grabbed the pokémon's hand and pulled him along in a full sprint.

It took hardly any time for the two of them to get to the edge of the lab, but also the doorway was blocked off by the other scientists and Giovanni and Rose. I saw their son wasn't with them, but their faces reviled that they were finally going to take Mewtwo for themselves. It was that evil glint in their eyes that said 'we have this in the bag' or something along those lines.

"This is where everything went wrong." Stein told me. "This is where Mewtwo lost control, I wasn't able to control his anger… and he killed all of us but Rose and Giovanni in a fiery explosion from the generators behind us." His voice hushed and from the memory I saw Mewtwo's face go stone like with rage and his eyes, a darker more midnight blue in color, glowed blue before he threw the bodies of some of the scientists into the generator, hitting the self-destruct sequence. Giovanni grabbed Rose and escaped from the building while his eyes were centered on the other men in white coats other than Stein. The men tried to run, but Mewtwo would have nothing of it, throwing them into walls and smashing their bodies into chemicals that were in beakers off the side that burned through their skins. I heard the screams and watched as the fire came off at once when the countdown on the generator's self-destruction hit zero. I saw Stein shield himself from the blast and Mewtwo finally brought himself too, realizing his mistake. He reached out for Stein, but the blast took him in and Mewtwo had to defend himself from the blast as well. A blue shield enveloped him and he was set flying out over the island through a wall from the power of the explosion. Stein's ghost had us fly out with him and we watched the explosion that went through all the windows and some holes in the mansion that were created from the blast. I saw the terrified look on Mewtwo's face when he realized what he'd done. He flew back into the mansion and in the basement to where he found the bodies left after the explosion and used its special abilities to locate Stein's body. He found it fairly quick just as he had appeared when I first saw the fried ghost. Mewtwo looked heart brokenly at the body… I nearly sobbed as I saw him cry over the dead scientist.

"Mewtwo ran away after that, just like I'd promised him, even if he was alone, he was free…" Stein sighed. "The one thing I regret is not being there with him to show him the joys of life. I haven't seen him at all since my death, but that was years ago. Nearly ten, I think…"

"Even so…" I turned to him and clenched my fist. "Even after all of this, why are you showing it to me? Why not have someone else from the past ten years?"

"You may be one of the only people strong enough to take him on should you have to fight him," Stein replied painfully to me. "Ten years of pain, ten years of guilt, it does a lot to any human or pokémon, an eternal suffering within them that never ends."

Outside in the Real World (Still Violet's Point of View):

Everything disappeared and we were once again back at the beginning where the room was burnt out and the journal at on its podium. Stein reverted back to his old form and I noticed his ash like fingers were against my head and face. "I have suffered too, Violet, I cannot leave him alone in this world." He released me and the journal opened up and he flew inside it faster than Amber could electrocute someone. "Please take me with you so that I may stay with him for the rest of his life, until then, we both shall suffer for eternity."

"I don't see why I shouldn't; I don't mind taking you to him, though I don't know when we'll meet up with him."

"Just the fact that you are willing to take me with you is a blessing in itself, Miss Vilmos. Let me offer you some advice in return for your help and for being so patient with me." The room swirled around me and it felt like I was dropping, I literally felt the floor give way and through the levels we went as I screamed out of surprise and fear. Flashes of light appeared around me before I felt something stop my fall. Amethyst had a hold of my arms while Sapphire had grabbed my legs and Ruby was under me, supporting my body and to catch me should one of the others were to accidentally release me. The smaller pokémon that had watched the ghost and I during the time I was sucked into his book jumped down onto the larger pokémon and cling to them nervously.

"Rhu!" Amethyst hissed out at the journal that floated next to me, its musty green color edged around it.

"My apologies, the floor gave out beneath you before I could let you out through another passage." Stein said from inside the journal. "While we are already airborne, follow me to the basement, I believe I can show you where an item you're looking for is."

"You mean a key to Blaine's gym?" I climbed onto Amethyst's back and gripped her horns before we flew after the possessed journal.

"Keys to his gym, my dear, he has an entire box of them in the basement of the mansion, before and after the explosion, Blaine would hide his keys for trainers to find. It used to be where we would quiz a trainer to see what they learned for a gym battle, but now with us all dead, Blaine does that himself and sends the trainers on their own to look in our old home."

The basement was entirely black as we passed down into it with a few streams of light coming in to light the way along with the fire from Amethyst's tail and the ice on Sapphire's body that reflected even the frailest beam of light. I could make out the remains of the lab even in all the dark ash. The broken tube was still in a few pieces on the ground from where Mewtwo escaped and remains of the generator were on the floor, still scattered about, even as destroyed and eradicated away as they were.

As we traveled through the hallways with Stein leading the way, I saw that there was an old table at the end of that either was brought down at a later date or somehow managed to miraculously survive the explosion. A light hung over it and it swung on a silent chain from the floor above as people walked above. Upon that desk, was a single box that looked to be filled with keys, all of them silver in color.

Amethyst landed before the table and allowed me to climb off her back. I reached to grab one of the keys from the box down there, but my floating book stopped me. "No, no, my dear, let us give Blaine a heart wrench with my own key, it's in the back."

I recoiled my hand and followed after the book as it hurried over to a bookshelf on the wall. The musty green aura book floated all the way to the top and hung out in the middle. I sighed and gripped the edges and started to pull myself upward. My Pokémon hung out below me to make sure I wouldn't fall.

"Come now, Miss Vilmos, it's not much further, I swear upon my afterlife." I rolled my eyes at his statement and pulled myself up higher. I then reached the top shelf and grabbed at the book that Stein was telling me to reach for, an old book that looked like a personal diary with a large lump in the center of it. I shook out the book and out flew something small and golden with a bit of red. Zircon, who'd sat on top of Amethyst's head, caught it in the coil of his tail and held it up for me to see happily.

I sighed and put back the book and just as I was putting it back, I felt my hand slip and I sucked in a gasp before I screeched and plummeted to the floor. I felt Amethyst's strong arms circle around me quickly before I could hit the ground. "Thanks girl, I really wanna get up to flat ground soon so we don't have to keep dealing with this." Amethyst nodded and helped me sit upon her shoulders where Zircon then handed me the key wrapped up in his tail. It was a golden key with a red flame on the end of it, though rust has certainly claimed it a time or two with the dark orange blotches on its surface.

"It was a personal key Blaine had given me to his gym a long time ago," Stein explained before he placed himself back in my side bag, "Use it to get into his gym, he hasn't changed the lock, and that key isn't about to break."

"Whatever you say, Stein, we better go meet up with the others then, I have a gym battle to win."

HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch

A short while later, we were back at the center of Cinnabar, with my smaller pokémon with me and my larger ones storing up their energy for the battle (even if Amethyst was going to be battling more than the other two since they'd be at a disadvantage.) Stein had strangely gone quiet in my bag, but when I went to check, I saw his book was glowing brighter than ever with its musty color, he was there alright, probably looking through my pokedex since he had such a fascination with pokémon.

I arrived in front of the gym a short while later and saw that my family and friends were all waiting outside of the door for me. Alex was the first to notice me, it was as if he had some sort of homing signal on me that told him that I was near. It didn't fail him wrong yet.

Everyone hurried over to me, with Alex at the lead and Luke at the back. I was greeted with smiles and questions about what I learned from the mansion and if I found the key or not.

"Honestly you guys, I wouldn't be back here if I didn't have a key."

"Yeah… Vince." Alex snickered and placed his hands on his hips while he and my brother glared at each other.

"Shut up! Like you weren't wondering the same thing!" my brother hissed at him.

"Enough you two, now I want to watch to see my daughter battle, and we can't do that with you in the way." My mother interfered and dragged them both away by their ears. I snorted a laugh and hid it behind my hand.

"Looks like Mom's back to normal…" I whispered to my pokémon.

"It appears she is," Luke said to me with a grin, "I'm glad I finally get to see you in action, Violet, I bet it'll be a good battle."

"Then let's get going already, I'm tired of doing things just so I can get here!" I pushed my way forward and pulled the key out of my pocket and put it into the door. I felt the key straining under my fingers, but it pulled through and the door unlocked. I pushed it in and walked inside with my pokémon and my family and friends behind me.

It was dark inside like all the other gyms, but when the lights came on, I wasn't on a battle field, which made me take a step back and blink. A bald man stood in the center of the empty room before me with a thick white mustache and dark sun glasses. He almost looked like a scientist from the way he dressed up in tan dress pains, a light bye shirt and red tie and white lab coat. He gave me a wide grin the middle of the room with red walls and flooring before he walked forward and held out his hand for me to shake.

"Well I finally get to meet the famous Violet Vilmos!" He took my hand quickly and shook it wildly in his own. "Name's Blaine Volcano as I'm sure you know, I'm the gym leader of this here island."

"I'm glad to meet you as well, can I have my gym battle now?"

"Not so fast missy!" Blaine grinned. "I gotta see if you're worthy first… so let's start the questionnaire!"

"Questionnaire? No one told me I'd have to do that!"

Blaine only snickered at me. "Another one of my rules! And the reason why you were sent to the mansion! All the answers to my questions are from there!" His face plowed into my own and I jumped back from him. "Are you prepared?"

If answering his questions were the only way to get a battle, then I had to take it, even if I most likely was going to fail since I only learned about Mewtwo's origin and the destruction of the mansion. "If it's the only way I get a gym battle, then yeah, I'll take your quiz, what's the rules?"

Blaine grinned and leapt into the air. "I'm glad you asked!" He landed quickly and pumped up both his thumbs. "I have a five question quiz, and one extra question. Answer three out of my five questions right and you get a gym battle, if not, you get one last shot that gets you in entirely on the last question, but no one's ever gotten the bonus question right so I don't give out the answer."

"Then give it to me already old man." I was starting to get a little edgy at the old guy for taking so long. I just wanted a gym battle already, and I better use Amethyst to use up some of my rage and fuel her attacks.

To my surprise, as well as everyone else's, the gym leader laughed. "I like your style kid, okay, so the first question: When was the Pokѐmon Mansion built?"

"No idea."

"Errr!" Blaine tisked at me. "The correct answer was nineteen sixty seven, you're off to a bad start, Miss Vilmos." Blaine shook his head, "Question two: name at least three of the Pokémon that currently live at the Pokѐmon Mansion."

I had to think about that for a moment since I possibly could answer that one. I remember when I was back at the mansion that I'd seen acid spots all over the floor and walls where acid had gone through, poison types lived there, and there were also some burn marks in there too that wasn't from the explosion that Mewtwo sent off. I had to think carefully though, more commonly, younger Pokémon were there compared to their evolutions, so going with under-evolved Pokémon might be a smarter idea for me.

"Hello?" Blaine waved his hand before my face to try and get my attention. "Anyone in there?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking." I looked at him through a determined glare. "Koffing, grimer and… growlithe, they and a few others live at the mansion."

"Corrrret!" Blaine cheered, leaping into the air at that and landing somehow on his one hand with the other pointed at me. "Question three: Who was the only female scientist on the team?"

"Rose." I answered without hesitation, she was the only woman there that I saw during the development of Mewtwo, and it had to be her.

"Corrrrect!" Blaine cheered and again and got to his feet. "Question four: What was the date when the Pokѐmon Mansion was blown up?"

"I don't know the date, but I know that-"

"Err!" Blaine cut me off before I could continue. "The answer was September first of two-thousand and two. You're two for two, Violet, one to pass, or one to fail. Question five: whose work is mostly seen around the mansion in the manuscripts that were still in one piece?"

"Uh…" I didn't know any of the other scientists other than Stein, but at least I knew his name, it was a guess. "Professor Stein?"

"Corrrrect!" Blaine laughed, "You know, most people get that one wrong."

"Well it was a total guess; Stein was the only professor I knew about that was there, besides Rose." I laughed before I got a bit more relaxed. "Hey, just out of curiosity, what is the bonus question? I wanna try it."

Blaine laughed. "I don't think you can get it, but you can have a short at it if you want." Blaine for some strange reason then turned serious and a glare erupted in his eyes. His was dark and his hands were shoved in his pockets, giving off an angry vibe and a dark aura. "Bonus question: Who destroyed the Pokѐmon Mansion and killed all the lives inside, and still managed to make it out in one piece?"

I blinked; I actually solidly knew the answer to this question. I gave Blaine the same vibe and look he gave me with my hands on my hips instead. "Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon, did it out of anger and rage when his freedom was going to be taken away from him."

I felt the air go tense, the atmosphere changed with my answer and Blaine awe-stricken face. His body went slack and he blinked repeatedly behind his sunglasses.

"…You know?"

I pulled out Stein's key and fished out his journal that his spirit was inside of. For once, the book didn't have an eerie musty green glow and looked very old and tattered, "Professor Stein told me a lot."

"I thought I felt a cold presence when you entered the building…" Blaine sighed and his once energetic attitude was gone. "Is he here now?"

"I'm not sure, he was before I got in here, he might be, he might not, but I can't see him right now."

"Can you two please stop this conversation and have the battle?" my mother begged quietly. "I really don't want to talk over the prospect of ghosts."

That's right, Dad could be one. I forgot of the painful sting that my mother still felt whenever this subject came up. Even with her medication, this conversation still left her depressed and fear stricken to the core.

"My apologies, Mrs. Vilmos, of course," Blaine told her, a small smile with a hint of pain echoed off of him. "Your daughter has proven her knowledge and is prepared for the battle. Head through that door behind me, Miss Vilmos, I'll lead your family and friends up to the stands where they can watch the battle." I nodded to him and headed toward the large red doors he pointed me toward before he took the others off in a different direction.

I pushed through the set of doors and came face to face with a rocky plateau that sat above a large boiling pool of lava below, something that made the place a blazing with heat, there was no way that Sapphire or Ruby could handle any if much at all of this battle with this roaring heat, but Amethyst would be right at home here, this would probably be one of the best areas for her to fight in and increase her fire power, maybe unlocking that special move again…

I suddenly head a door opening up above into a set of stands that I saw Blaine had where it looked to be much cooler up above. Blaine led the others in and they all chose to sit in the closest row to where I was in the field below. This would be the first battle that I've had spectators looking at me, it felt strange, nerve wrecking, but at the same time… it felt exciting to show off our power.

Blaine suddenly jumped over the ledge from the stands and landed on the opposite side of the field. He grinned at me as he stood proudly in this heat. "I hope you're ready for this battle, Miss Vilmos, even if you did find Stein that does not mean I'll go easy on you."

"You better not go easy on me old man or I'll never forgive you!" Blaine only laughed at my shouting.

"Of course not! I can't be called a gym leader if I did that!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the first pokeball. He threw it out onto the field and out popped an elegant lightly tan colored fox with red eyes, a large pulled back clump of fur on its head, and nine tails. It was the evolved for of the smaller fox Pokémon named vulpix, ninetails.

Blaine's team was entirely made up of fire type pokémon, it wasn't going to be an easy match since I had no evident type advantages over him, but our training did provide me with at least a few pokémon that could stand in a fear or better fight with him, the first being my youngest pokémon Zircon, and then the others followed. Zircon had learned a few water type moves since our training over at the island and with many other water types that taught him a lot. I knew Zircon wanted to fight in this battle, but could he handle the pressure and the fight?

My youngest pokémon squealed at me and pushed his nose up against my neck. I could see it in the wavering gleam in his eyes as they watered. He wanted to fight this battle and see how he faired. It was well overdue that Zircon had his chance to prove himself, but is he ready? He's still so young…

Without warning Zircon jumped from my arms and landed on the battlefield. I gasped in surprise when I saw the look in his eyes. It was the same look I saw in all my other pokémons' eyes, Zircon was ready.

"Alright boy, let's take this guy down!" I cheered on the youngest and he cried out with a grin that could resemble the one that Chalcedony gave to Alex when he was about to bite him.

Blaine on the other hand laughed on the other side of the field. "That little pokémon is going to take my ninetails down? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Don't you dare underestimate my pokémon! Zircon use surf!" Zircon screeched and a thin line of blue glowed around his body. From around him spiraled water that seemed to come from the warm air around him and suddenly turned into a tidal wave that flowed right at Blaine's side of the gym and nearly hit the ceiling. Zircon rode on the top of it watching down at the action below where Blaine and his pokémon were shocked at the size of the wave and were both slammed into by it. Most of the water after that flowed over the edge and ended up hitting the lava that sat below us. It hissed as hot met cold and the entire area was covered in a fog.

I could feel the tension and everyone's breath holding as we waited for the area to clear. It seemed like forever before I saw my little dragon pokémon bounce over to my side the field on the back of his tail. He turned back to see if his first opponent had made it as well, but was pleased to find a knocked out ninetails at the opposite end of the field with Blaine's mouth wide open just past it with a shocked expression.

One down, four to go. I grinned at my own words. This may be an easier battle then I thought if Zircon can handle them this easily, and its good practice for him.

"I didn't expect that to happen." Blaine returned his ninetails to its pokeball and looked out at my youngest Pokémon with a new set of eyes, determined and ready to play a real game with us now. "I underestimated you little dratini, I promise you, I won't do that to you or any of your teammates again."

"That's a mistake that apparently a lot of people like to make." I snickered. "Now let's get going Blaine! I wanna have that gym badge!"

"You have to still beat me first! And I still have four more pokémon at my disposal!" He pulled out another pokeball and threw it onto the battlefield. "Go arcanine!"

A Pokémon that looked just like Alex's showed up on the field and Zircon jumped in his place, ready for the next battle. This pokémon shared a determined look with Blaine before he nodded to it and it ran out onto the field. It most likely wasn't going to be a powerful of a battle since all the lava had cooled and hardened and the temperature had dropped, almost to the point where I found it cold, but thankfully with Alex's warm jacket (that I still have to return to him sometime soon) I was able to keep warm.

"Don't let him hurt you, Zircon! Use whirlpool!" My dragon pokémon lifted its head and out came a whirlpool of water that spun around my pokémon, making a water barrier to protect him from the arcanine. Water splashed off at the top and landed in heavy blotches on the arcanine and it howled in pain before Zircon threw the attack at it. The fire dog pokémon was sucked up inside and swirled around in powerful waves.

Zircon stopped his attack after a minute and the water suddenly dispersed and the fire pokémon fell to the ground in a heap. It was out for the count and shivering from the cold water and air. I cheered along with my pokémon that were out at the time and so did everyone from up in the stands as well.

"Kick their butts, Zircon!" Vince shouted.

"You can do it, Zircon!" Alex encouraged from the sidelines.

"Keep up the good work, Zircon!" my mother hollered.

"Only three more to go, Zircon!" Luke cheered.

"Can you handle another one, Zircon? You can stop if you want." My dragon pokémon nodded to me as he breathed heavily.

I saw Blaine's jaw catch as he grinded his teeth, this must have not been how he'd planned the battle. Either Blaine's pokémon were not as strong as I originally thought or Zircon's got more power in the little body then I knew of.

"You won't do that again this time!" Blaine snapped. He pulled out another pokeball and first returned his arcanine, before he called out his next pokémon, "Go Rapidash!"

Out from the pokeball, came a tan-white colored horse with a horn on its head and fire for its mane and tail. Its red eyes glared at Zircon and at me, and I knew this would be the last battle Zircon would be in, he's used a lot of energy and I think this fire pokémon might be a bit stronger then the last two we just faced.

"Stomp!" Blaine shouted like a whip and off the horse went at my pokémon at full speed. Zircon was stunned from the vibration in the ground and the power he saw radiating off the pokémon. It dug its feet into the ground as it stood right before my youngest pokémon and reared back on its back legs. It cried out as it began to let its weight control the fall of its legs head right for my pokémon.

"Move Zircon!" I screamed at him to move and it wasn't until the ringing of my urgent voice hit his ears that he finally moved.

But it was too late…

Zircon only managed to miss the first of the rapidash's feet to hit the ground, but managed to get slammed with the second. He screeched out in pain before I saw his eyes glow red and he kicked off the rapidash with his tail. It went flying back into the wall just next to Blaine's head and he turned back to look at it in worry. It seemed fine other than a bruise it must have gotten from getting thrown into the wall, but it was stuck there and unable to get out. Zircon still hovered in the air.

"Uh… Zircon! Use dragon rage!" At the command an angered cry filled the air that sounded much older than it should have been. A blast nearly twice the size it had been before blew its way across the gym and hit the pokémon head on, and while it wasn't a super effective attack, it did the damage need to take down that pokémon.

Once Zircon fell to the ground, exhausted from his efforts, the large fire horse pokémon did so as well, crashing into the ground and falling out of its hole. I ran out to him and collected him in my arms.

"That was a great battle, Zircon; you go ahead and get a long rest." His eyes had turned back to normal by now and they smiled up at me, tearing up a bit before I returned him to his pokeball. Three of Blaine's pokémon were now out of the picture, but these ones had to be more powerful, that and I had no more of a type advantage over them with water like I had before.

"You're even stronger then I imagined you be, I don't even think I'll be able to pull off a victory, even with my two strongest pokémon left, but that doesn't mean you're getting my badge without a fight!" He pulled out another pokeball after he returned his rapidash and threw it out. "Go Flareon!"

I gasped when I saw the appearance of the pokémon; it looked like Chalcedony, but with more fur on the top of its head and it was red with a pale light orange color for its collar, head and tail. Chalcedony looked out at the pokémon before us and charged forward, he wanted the battle, I could tell from his posture. I pulled out my pokedex to see the strange new pokémon.

Flareon, the flame pokémon and the evolution of eevee with a fire stone. A flareon's fluffy fur releases heat into the air so that its body does not get excessively hot. Its body temperature can rise to a maximum of one-thousand and fifty. It has a flame bag inside its body; after inhaling deeply, it can blow out flames of nearly three-thousand and one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. There are no known flareon nests in the area.

So, it's an evolution of the type of pokémon Chalcedony is? I didn't think I'd see one here, nor did I know the evolutions of my pokémon, I'll have to start thinking about that if Chalcedony wants to evolve into a different pokémon in the future.

I looked out onto the battlefield and watched as my normal type glared at its fire type evolution. His posture just radiated battle ready and he was desperate to battle his fire type evolution. A demonic grin appeared on his face and he waited on my order.

"Flamethrower, Flareon!" Blaine called out and his fire pokémon complied and sent a thin beam of fire toward us. It honestly didn't look that strong, probably because Amethyst's fire is thicker and hotter and I've been with her for so much time.

"Shadow ball, Chalcedony! Right in the middle of it!" It was almost as if he already had read my mind before I'd give him the attack and he launched it off when I finished my sentence. That's one of the many things I loved about it, we were almost on the same mindset field, as were many of the others. They've known me lone enough now (with the exception of Sapphire who still needs a bit more time to catch on like the others had) so that some of my commands in certain situations are already in their heads and they don't need to me told, almost like Sabrina and her speaking mentally with her psychic types.

The two attacks collided head on, but Chalcedony's shadow ball had been stronger and pushed its way into the flames. The fire pokémon jumped out of the way of the attack and glared at its pre-evolution. The two of them made a mad dash for each other with teeth bared and the two rammed into each other with such a force before their claws were out and fur was flying.

Damn, remind me never to piss Chalcedony off.

The Flareon seemed to be at a disadvantage, even with it being Chalcedony's evolution. But Chalcedony's seen the worst of life from living on the streets in the big city, even I know not everything good is there and no bad, just like when we found that secret Team Rocket back. Chalcedony had strength, he had a strong will, one that was much stronger then this Flareon from the way it was hardly putting up a fight like this, but still managed to swat Chalcedony back a time or two.

"Flareon, use fire blast!" Blaine suddenly shouted at his pokémon and the fire evolution of my pokémon leapt backward to escape the claws and razor sharp teeth of Chalcedony to compile with its trainer's command. Chalcedony simply stepped off to the side in a bored like manor, not fearful at all of the blast, nor the drop of many feet down to where the hardened lava was from Zircon's previous attack just a few steps to the side of my normal type.

"Quick attack, Chalcedony!" My pokémon leapt forward in a sprint and hurried off toward its fire type evolution. Before it could blink it was hit and it was thrown back into the hole the rapidash was in a few minutes ago. It hissed in pain and pulled itself free of the wall and landed unsteadily on its feet. "Again!"

Chalcedony didn't let up on his assault after hearing my command and continuously hit the fire type when it wasn't looking or when Chalcedony was running too fast for it to move out of the way. Chalcedony put all his weight into each attack and it sent the pokémon flying after a few minutes, throwing it toward Blaine's feet. The pokémon didn't get up this time; another was down for the count.

Blaine sighed and returned his fourth pokémon before he put his hands in his pockets, a serious look on his face. "You are a powerful trainer, Miss Vilmos; you can handle things that most trainers could not. You do things that most people cannot do. I'm honored that I was able to battle with you, but I have one more surprise up my sleeve, and although I know that I can't win this battle, I plan to go out with a bang. Do you?"

"Of course. Chalcedony, come back." My normal type nodded and hurried back over to me, waiting for my approval of the battle. I grinned down at him and patted his head. "You owned that field, great job hon." He grinned and stepped back with Amber. "Now it's Amethyst's turn." I threw out her pokeball and out she came with the greatest grin I'd ever seen. She blew out a large blast of fire toward the ceiling and it looked like it was on fire. She jumped into the air and blew the same fire blast attack into the hardened lava and it instantly heated up and melted while moving again. It sloshed around and I felt the heat race up to us and swirled around like when you've just come inside from a cold winter day.

Fire was Amethyst's element; it was her way of getting stronger. Cooling off the field was effective to weaken fire type attacks without the incredible blaze to assist them, but now with a fire type of my own on the field, to increase her power; I had Amethyst bring back the lava that we'd closed off from before. I'm actually shocked that it didn't break through or melt until Amethyst re-melted it.

"Setting up the field for us both I see." Blaine snickered. "Then let's finish this battle, let's go, Magmar! Show her your power!" A final pokeball flew from Blaine's hands and landed on the field. It was the same fire type pokémon I'd seen back in the Team Rocket base I'd rescued it from. The scars on its body proved it was the one I saved, and I saw it blink in surprise when it saw me. I pulled out my Pokedex to look up the information on it now that the time wasn't pressed and lives weren't at stake.

Magmar, the spitfire pokémon. It is often seen near the mouth of a volcano. This fire-breather's body temperature is nearly two-thousand and two-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Its body always burns with an orange glow that enables it to hide perfectly amidst flames. Magmar nests are few to none and are only found on One Isle off the coast of Kanto.

I'm glad to see that it got home… I gave it a nod from my side of the field, as did my three pokémon that I had at the time when I rescued it. The magmar released a sigh and gave a nod back before it got in a battle ready pose.

"Rage." My pent up emotions of what have taken place within the last few weeks I sent through to Amethyst as she picked up on them quickly enough, turning my own anger and her own into power and creating that black aura that tended to hang around her when she performed this attack.

I could see Blaine curse under his breath, this was going to be a tough battle for him again and he had few options as to what to do. "Fire blast!" He commanded and from the magmar came a large blast of flames that looked much like my own pokémon's weaker fire type attacks.

I looked back to my fire pokémon as she took in the blast and didn't let it bother her at all; it almost looked like it fueled her rather than harmed her. She didn't even flinch when he body was enveloped in flames.

Blaine and his pokémon on the other side of the field gasped. "H-how is that possible?"

I shrugged. "We're just strong like that." I saw my fire pokémon glow up with those strange markings that she had before and I grinned. "You still wanna go out with a bang? I'll give you a bang alright!" I threw my arm before myself toward the battlefield and my index finger marked the magmar. "While none of us know the name of your special move girl, I need you to use it! As powerful as you can make it!" My fire pokémon roared and it echoed off all the walls, shaking them where they stood and everyone had to cover their ears. I grinned and watched the blast of white fire nearly explode out of my pokémon's mouth and expanded toward the entire wall. Blaine jumped out of the way behind a set of rocks while his pokémon was unable to avoid the hit. It was sucked up by the blast before it took over Blaine's entire side of the field. I blinked at the power she had, the attack must have gotten even stronger with all our training with the legendary birds we've met.

The battle left my adrenaline rushing; I had a bit of heavy breathing as I looked around the scorched and destroyed field after Amethyst's blast had gone away. She fell to the ground on her knees and tiredly lifted her head and cracked open an eye to see if her opponent had lasted. While the magmar was still standing, it was covered head to toe in black soot and burns. I never knew a fire type could be burned…

"No way! Amethyst's attack should've taken it down!" my brother cried out angrily.

"Shut up, Vince! Watch what's left of this battle, Violet can't concentrate with your yelling." I heard Alex snap at him and I gave the two of them a smile. While neither could see it from glaring at each other, Luke and my mother smiled back at me.

I saw movement of the other side of the battlefield and watched as Blaine came out from his hiding spot to see what happened in the battle. His jaw dropped when he saw what'd happened to his magmar and rushed out to it to see if it was alright. Blaine's final fire type pokémon coughed out a puff of smoke before it fell to the ground. Blaine caught his pokémon and I hurried out on the field myself, sensing that it was over.

"Well done, Miss Vilmos," I blinked and turned to look toward Blaine, but he was too busy with his pokémon to be looking over at me. "It's been a long time since I battled with such a powerful trainer, you are even stronger then my expectations of you…" I peeked inside my bag and saw a murky green glow around the edge of the book, but as soon as I saw it, it was gone.

"Thanks, Stein…" I whispered to the book before I closed my bag back up.

"I never thought I'd be beaten so badly by anyone, not even Mr. Vilmos and Mr. Oak put up such a magnificent fight where I had no chances of winning." Blaine raised himself to his feet after he'd congratulated his pokémon and returned it to its pokeball. He made his way over to me with his hands shoved in his pockets and grinned. "And that last move you pulled off, what was it? I don't think I heard you say the name of it."

"I don't know; it's a move that we don't know the name of, but we do know that it causes quite of bit of damage while taking all the energy right out of Amethyst. She normally can't fight after using the move, and the way to get it to come out is her rage attack to store up power and energy through sharing our emotions." I sighed and Amethyst rubbed her head tiredly against my shoulder and I patted her snout.

"Have you ever been to the Sevii Islands then? I believe I've heard of a move tutor that teaches ancient moves to those that are worthy. You might have stumbled upon it without knowing and he may be able to teach your charizard how to use it correctly so it doesn't tire her out as so." I thought about Blaine's suggestion and soon nodded my head.

"That sounds actually pretty cool. I'll have to go over and check it out." I felt Amethyst breathing heavily against me and I pulled out her pokeball, "You get a good rest girl, you were amazing."

"And I believe I also owe you this, Miss Vilmos," Blaine handed me his small flame like badge that was red and orange, "I don't think I'll ever experience a battle like that for the longest of time."

"I'm glad to know I left such an everlasting impression." I grinned, picking up the two smaller pokémon of mine that weren't resting. "Thanks for the battle, Blaine, but I'd better get going to see my friend off tonight."

"Then I'll let you go then, I hope to see you again and battle you again in the future, Miss Vilmos!" He shoved his hands back in his pockets and grinned while I made my way out.

"Oh, before I go, there's something I wanted to tell you. It's about your bonus question from earlier." Blaine blinked at me from behind his sunglass and waited for me to continue. "Not everyone died in that fire, two people made it out besides Mewtwo." His eyes went wide and his body stiff. "Rose and Giovanni, first and second in command of Team Rocket, made it out of there alive."

I turned then on my heels and left Blaine to think about this new information while I journeyed outside with my friends and family to take on whatever happened next.

HalloweenWitchHalloweenWitch

"That's was the best battle ever, Sis! I wanna have one with you now!" My brother complained as we headed back to the docks to see Luke off.

"Not now, you idiot! Her pokémon are tired after winning the volcano badge, and I bet she is also." Alex hissed and I had to step between the two of them with Chalcedony growling at Alex and Amber at Vince.

"Cease and desist, boys, and only two of my pokémon are tired, four others could whip your asses faster than-"

"Violet Vilmos, language!"

"Yes mother…" I groaned as my mother scolded me. While it was great to have her back to normal, I hated it now that she kept correcting me if I swore at the boys, and I'm the only one that gets caught. Vince laughed while Alex continued to glare at him before I felt his arm around my shoulders. I blinked and flushed from embarrassment and my heart fluttered at the action.

Chalcedony hissed at him and Alex was about to pull his arm away when I released one of my arms from around Amber's waist where I carried her and held his hand in place. I looked to the shocked normal type on my shoulder. "Stop it, Chalcedony… I-I don't mind that his arm's there." I felt every nerve on fire as I turned away from them.

"Dude! Sis, your redder then a tomato berry!" Vince laughed and I glared at him.

"Shut it, Vince. Chalcedony, I don't mind if you blow his face off." My pokémon grinned and quickly threw a shadow ball at his face. He cried out and fell back. Alex and I laughed at his pain. My brother quickly jumped to his feet but before he could do anything, my mother stood between us.

"Enough, both of you will stop this instant or you're both coming home with me!" She put her hands on her hips and glared especially at me. I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily.

"You're really one to talk, Mom, with you going through depression and what not." My mother's face turned purple in anger and she was just about to snap at me when a voice called out over the area.

"Violet!" I blinked and turned and Alex released me and suddenly I saw Bill come into view, he halted right before us and panted heavily. "I'm so glad I caught you before you headed off anywhere!"

"What do you mean Bill? What's going on?"

"I know how you've been waiting to meet Moltres, the legendary bird of fire that lives on One Isle for a while now and I'm going to meet my friend to help him out with something on the island. I thought you and Alex and Vince would like to go with me and I got passes for all of you to head to the first three islands with me, the passes I got are for all the islands, but some bad weather has been going over there through the ocean areas right now, so boats aren't going much further than Three Isle." He handed me three rainbow colored passes and grinned while he caught his breath from talking so long. "Wanna go? We leave tonight."

"You bet!" Not only was this a great opportunity to get out to the islands with the guys and meet the legendary Moltres and learn that move that Amethyst and I don't know the name of, but we also get the chance to get away from my mother and not have her breathing down my back. I turned to the boys. "What about you guys?"

"Hell yeah!" My brother shouted and cheered.

"Vincent Vilmos, language!" my mother shouted. He sighed and I smirked over at him.

"I'll go too; I've been meaning to get myself a pass to get to the islands," Alex said and took his pass, "And we'll leave tonight?"

"We take the ferry that's departing now," Bill explained. He looked over at the lamp post that was glowing down on the clock that hung there in the dusk like sky turning darker by the moment. "And if we don't hurry, we might not make it until the morning one."

"That's the boat I'm heading out on; I guess we all get to go together then." Luke held out his hand to Bill. "Luke Anima, I guess you could call me a secret agent that helps Violet here and there."

Bill took his hands easily and shook it. "Bill Hugh, pokémon maniac and builder of computers, I'm taken care of some of Violet's pokémon while she's been gone."

"What about home, Violet?" My mother was in a desperate attempt to get me to go back with her. Her medication must have been starting to wear off at the time.

"We'll be back in a day or two, Mom, not very long, and we promise we'll all stay for a few days when we come back, okay?"

My mother sighed but nodded. "You're right, I shouldn't be trying to hold you back either. You go and have some fun; I'll get the ferry in the morning to get home." She gave me a quick hug and then pushed me toward the dock. "Now hurry up before you miss your boat!"

"Last one to the boat is a rotten exeggcute!" My brother shouted and we took off toward the boat, leaving my mother in the dust and thankfully getting onto the ship before it left. We cuddled into a couple cabins, mine being with the boys, and I curled up on my bed, letting the movement and sounds of the waves put me to sleep.

At daybreak, we'd be at the islands.

Witch's Note:

Halleluiah! Another chapter out of the way! I'm glad I got to finish this one; it probably took me the shortest time to write even while being twenty-three pages long. Didja love the Alex and Violet moment? I know I had fun with it! Sorry if the battle seemed a bit short even with all of Blaine's pokemon, but Violet's getting pretty strong with all her training, and one day she'll meet her match (hint, hint!)

Anyway, any Reviews and Questions you guys would send in would be greatly appreciated! I love to hear what you guys have to say! Now I gotta get to work on the next one!

Love you all and see you next week!

Halloween Witch