Hey, guys - sorry I didn't post earlier. I got sidetracked with a bunch of friends.

So, as this is now summer...here's to the start of (hopefully) doing once-a-day uploads! This chapter's going to be a bit of a short one, though, so...

Chapter 19 - Escape

When Khrista awoke, she discovered that Gangrene and Alak were muttering something across the storage room, occasionally sending looks in her direction.

The brown-haired girl looked down at her shirt, wondering if it had changed color at all during the night. When she saw that it was a vibrant orange, Khrista's blue eyes widened considerably.

"Whoa. Arsenal's good," Khrista muttered. She looked back up at the two Pokemon, frowning as she got to her feet. "What's going on, guys? Did something come up?"

"I guess you could say that," Gangrene remarked. She sent a look at Alak. "Alak here wants us to split up."

"What?" Khrista jumped up from a crouching position to her full height. "Why?"

"Something has come up," Alak replied. It took a moment for Khrista to register that he wasn't using his telepathy.

"What has?" Khrista wondered if something had happened when she was talking with Lien and Arsenal, but shook it off.

"They may have discovered that here is a...'rogue' Psychic-Type hiding among them," Alak replied evenly. "I suspect they will be coming soon to find me."

Khrista's eyes widened. "What?! But you haven't used any Psychic attacks..." She frowned. "Have you?"

"No. However, you have been."

Khrista's eyes widened further, and she paled considerably. "Oh, yeah...that's right..." Khrista grabbed at the collar of her shirt and swallowed. "Wh-what are we going to do? I mean, we could fight back -"

"They would overpower us," Alak replied grimly. "There really is only one thing you can do." The Alakazam looked over at Gangrene. "You will have to take her out of here."

Gangrene snorted. "Me? No - you're going. I'm not the Pokemon they're looking for - besides, I can still sneak around in places you can't. Our Trainer's going to need that and you know it."

"Take me where?" Khrista asked, gaining a confused frown.

Alak glanced around quickly, as though he thought that someone else might be listening in. Then he said in a low voice, "The Underground."

Khrista's eyes widened again. "No way..."

Gangrene looked like she was about to say something else, but then she stiffened suddenly and started to look around. "They're coming," she warned quietly. "Alak, take the kid and get out of here now."

Alak shook his head. "I'm not -"

"Put a sock in it!"

Gangrene's outburst was so sudden that it caused Alak to look at her in surprise.

"They already know you're here, don't they? Teleporting yourself out of here isn't going to tell them anymore than they already know." The Gengar sounded impatient. "I'll do what I can up here to keep them busy. Go!"

Alak and Khrista, both surprised by the sudden outburst, exchanged a glance. Then the Psychic-Type walked over and took Khrista's arm in his three-fingered grip.

"All right; we'll go," the Alakazam stated. He looked at Khrista again. "Are you prepared?"

Khrista swallowed and gave a slight nod. "Yeah. I think so."

Outside of the room, there suddenly came the sound of pounding footsteps and muffled yelling that sounded like orders being given.

Gangrene gave a grin. "That's our cue. Go on ahead; I'll take care of those bozos." She faded out of sight and into the shadows.

Alak gave a nod, looking at where the Gengar had been standing. "Right. Teleport!"

Psychic energy started to swirl around the two, causing the storage room to blur. Part of the wall started to come down, but Khrista didn't see who was on the other side.

The next thing she knew, she was standing next to Alak in what looked like a grassy plain...under a rocky ceiling.

Khrista looked around, a slight frown on her face out of bewilderment. Alak took note of this.

"We are at the edge of the Underground, directly below the former location of Lake Verity," Alak explained.

Khrista jolted upon hearing the Pokemon using telepathy again. "Former?" she repeated, frowning.

"Yes. Cyrus made it a point to demolish the home of the being of Emotion, as that was the first piece of his spirit to go." Alak was grim.

Khrista's eyes widened. "Wow. That's harsh."

"Yes." Alak looked around. "Come; our destination isn't far from here." He started walking forward, Khrista following after the Alakazam.

"They have fields down here?" Khrista asked, looking around her frowning. "How?"

"The Legendary Pokemon that live down here created this place for the sake of the Pokemon - both wild and trained - who managed to escape. There are different environments located down here for the sole purpose of training or...'R and R', as you humans say."

The teen's blue eyes widened. "Wow. Honestly, I never knew that Legendaries had so much power in them. Battling must only use a fraction of their abilities..."

"Indeed," Alak agreed. "And we trained by those of your world are capable of competing with that power. We are almost legends ourselves because of it."

The two continued to walk through the plain, and Khrista started to spot Pokemon in the distance, moving about in small groups as though they were afraid of splitting apart. A confused frown started to work its way onto her face.

"When will we get to see the humans?" Khrista asked after some time had passed.

"They're not much further," Alak promised. "We will have to pass the Exploration Base and the huts other Pokemon have built for themselves. After that, we shall reach the humans."

Khrista's eyes widened. "Exploration Base? As in, Pokemon Exploration?"

"I believe that is the term, yes."

The two figures reached the end of the grass a few minutes later, and Khrista found herself walking into roofless, stone huts that were way smaller than human buildings. Close nearby was what looked like a giant Pikachu's head.

Something told her that was the Exploration Base.

A few minutes later, Alak and Khrista broke through the huts and found themselves standing at the edge of a clearing of sorts. Larger, clearly human-made buildings went along three sides of the clearing while the Pokemon huts covered the fourth.

"This is it?" Khrista asked, looking around in awe.

Alak gave a nod, then paused and pointed with one spoon towards the other side of the clearing. "Look. There are Pokemon over there."

Khrista blinked, then followed the invisible line the spoon started. When she found the other end, her eyes widened in surprise, and she let out a gasp.

"Raichu!" she called out.

Yup. I'm stopping here. The next chapter's going up tomorrow, though - don't worry, I'll attempt to keep up with that part of my promise.