Chapter 42 - Aqua Sleepover

Nick's POV, 3rd

Nick looked up as the warp panel flashed, signaling the arrival of an intruder. Quickly, he hid the communication equipment he was using in order to listen in on the goings-on in the tower.

"Hello?" the figure asked, looking around the bunks.

Nick's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the female voice. It matched the voice of the person that had been in Joshua's cell not too long ago.

"That Nick kid should be around here somewhere," a Pokemon muttered. Nick identified the voice as a Zoroark's - most likely that boy's friend.

The Aqua grunt moved out of his hiding place. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"A friend of your ally's," the brown-haired girl stated. Nick took note of the girl's red shirt, frowning slightly upon seeing the yellow Master Ball. "We need someplace to spend the night, and I don't think that hiding with my friend at this point would be such a good idea."

"What makes you say that?" Nick asked.

"Well, we were going to stop there, but there were a couple Galactic grunts standing there, so we couldn't go in without being seen." The girl looked around. "I don't suppose that you're being watched, too."

"They think we're too weak," Nick's Azumaril stated flatly as he showed himself. "They haven't bothered to fix the security cameras since the lightning storm outside took them out."

The girl frowned, her blue eyes darkening. "Lightning storm?" she repeated.

"It's nothing that you should probably be worrying about," Nick stated carelessly. "You said something about looking for someplace to hide?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah." She reached for the her belt, releasing two Raichu and a Linoone from the PokeBalls there as a Pikachu with a scarf jumped off her back. "At least until the following morning."

Nick's eyes widened. "Oh, sheesh. You brought all of these Pokemon with you?"

"Linoone and Raichu can be very helpful," the girl responded calmly. "The Pikachu decided to hitchhike in my backpack without my consent."

The female Raichu eyed Azumaril cautiously. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"They're included in the plan," the Zoroark responded. "I don't see why we can't."

"Try saying that after you helped to take them out."

Nick eyed the girl cautiously. "How much experience do you have in this world?"

"I'm great with the Training stuff; I've pretty much dabbled in everything else," the teen responded carelessly. "All Galactic knows is that I'm a Hoenn expert."

Nick was surprised at this. "You mean that you didn't tell them everything?"

"They didn't fill me with a truth serum," the brown-haired teen replied, grinning. "So I just filled it in how I felt like. What's the big deal about that?"

"What's the big deal?" Nick repeated. "Kid, you've probably got a bigger advantage over those goons than you realize."

The teen frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"When Cyrus' 'new world' came into play, a lot of the records from the old one vanished," Azumaril explained. "And the ones they had left weren't of much help - you otherworlders had so many nicknames and usernames that it was hard to tell which one was your real name. There's a slim chance that they have your actual records, but if no one knows your real name, then they're pretty much useless."

The girl was surprised by this. "Seriously? So I can get the jump on the goons by knowing what their Pokemon's weaknesses are?"

"If you think that's how it'll best suit you."

The teen exchanged grins with her Pokemon. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Next morning, we are so going to give them the time of their lives." She looked around at the bunk beds. "So, are all of these taken?"

Nick nodded. "There are some of us who take night shifts, though. I think that Shelly-"

"No, no, don't worry about it," the teen stated. "I don't want to surprise anyone who comes back early. I can find some other place to sleep."

There was a sudden WHUMP from the other end of the room, causing the group's heads to turn to look at the back of the room in surprise.

"Well?" Shelly looked at the group from her position in front of a mattress. "The kid needs a sleeping place, right?"

The teen grinned. "Thanks! Come on, guys!"

She led the Pokemon over to the mattress. It ended up with the girl lying on the mattress, with the Zoroark at her feet, the Pikachu by her head, and the two Raichu and Linoone bunched around in whatever other places were available - at the girl's sides, mainly.

Shelly tossed a blanket at them, watching with amusement as the Pokemon and the human arranged it in such a way that only their heads stuck out.

"So, you're the kid that got out?" the Aqua Admin asked.

The teen nodded. "Yup. I came back to start to set things up for the fall. If there's anything you can do to help take out the defenses this place as set up, it'll be more than helpful." She let out a yawn. "Well, I'd better get some sleep before having another go at them. Wake me up in about eight hours." With that, the girl drifted off.

Shelly looked over at Nick and Azumaril. "So, how's our little friend doing?"

"He's still a bit shocked about what's happened," the Water-Type responded. "Terrus'll be all right soon enough, I should think."

Shelly nodded in approval. "Good." She turned and walked back towards her bunk (which was now mattress-less) as she continued, "Next morning, send the girl to his quarters. She could be the key to winning them over."

Nick gave the girl a curious look. "That kid? I dunno..."

"I heard what the boy said, too, Nick. What she did to Terrus, she could do to Maxie." She grinned back at the Aqua grunt. "And trust me, Maxie deserves it." With that, she lay down on the floor next to her bunk.

"Are you sure that's even comfortable?" Azumaril asked, curious.

"I'm used to sleeping like this," Shelly responded. "Good night, you two."

And we're back to the short chapters. Don't worry, I still have some long ones up my sleeve yet.