Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. That right belongs to Nintendo.

A/N: I still think my previous chapter really bunted because emotional chapters aren't my forte. But there's a reason why Ghetsis showed up. He was supposed to battle N but I'd decided against it.

A/N: Anyway, you know I want reviews and feedback. I really don't want flaming.

A/N: Generation I, Generation II, Generation III and Generation IV along with Pokémon Black are the backstory to, "For the Love of a King", meaning references will be made every now and then to the games. Yeah, I haven't gotten around to playing Pokémon White yet.

A/N: I have a new poll up.

A/N: So, let's move on to Chapter 19 (it's really Chapter 20 but w/e).

White's PoV.

When I emerged from the gazebo, I was thinking about the tale Ghetsis had disclosed to N and I. At first, I was convinced he was spouting a tall tale regarding my mother, but after he'd told their story, Ghetsis was gloating about what my mother had said about Pokémon liberation.

Originally, I'd envisioned her as the perfect mother with an omniscient aura for many years. Then, Ghetsis had suddenly appeared, straining my relationship with my mother, unraveling her dark past, her connections to the Seven Sages. Now that I knew she'd been lying to me for the past sixteen years, I didn't know whether I could trust the person I'd aspired to be like the same way again or not. Ghetsis had made sure of that.

I plopped down onto the bottommost step of the stairs, confused and bitter. Half of that energy was directed towards Red, the other half towards my mother. Suddenly, I'd felt a very overwhelming presence, almost electrical, signaling it was N. No matter how quietly he could sneak up on me, I could literally sense him, I was thinking, trying to smile at the crazy thought, but it was more of a grimace.

Before I knew it, N was on the bottommost stair, too. I tried to ignore him, thinking about how sweet it would be if I could face-off against Ghetsis in the same fashion my mother did.

N somehow knew what I was thinking of, because he sighed, "If anyone has to battle Ghetsis, it should be me. I'll make sure of that," he added. "So, snap out of it and smile, because -"

He seemed as if he was speaking a foreign language. I couldn't figure out what he was saying, what he was implying. I decided to nod at his words to prove that I was listening to him. But an errant thought crossed my mind, one I thought was pivotal. Taking a deep breath, I began, "You should be doing the same thing, N." My voice sounded hollow, emotionless. "Because you know Ghetsis isn't gonna change." Inadvertently, I released the hold I had on my dress. "I know you try to hide it, but you really want him back. But he's beyond the point of salvation," I added, climbing onto my feet. "I'd told you how I felt. Please let me in, even if it's just a little."

N ogled at me, a pensive expression on his face. Not willing to wait for his response, I leapt off the step, landing on the sidewalk. I started to walk forward, enveloped in my thoughts, before realizing I couldn't leave N behind. Wheeling around, I looked at him full in the face before asking, "Are you coming or not?"

I was half-bemused, half-pleased at the disbelieving countenance N had for a split second. Then, he shifted his expression into a composed one. "I guess," he muttered, tearing his eyes away from my face.

I cocked an eyebrow. "You guess?" I said inaudibly, the flatness in my voice diluting the sadness. Mechanically, I swerved around, facing the ocean of roses, the iron railing, the meadow littered with the statues of Zekrom, Reshiram and the dragon I didn't recognize. Delving into my thoughts once more, I advanced forward, intent on finding Cheren.

"Yes I am!" N shouted, making me freeze in my tracks. Turning around once again, I saw N marching down the sidewalk before breaking into a run. He's even quicker than me, I noticed, brushing away the thoughts about Red, my mother, Ghetsis, the Nameless, Void and God Stones and the Houses of Berlitz, Parthenos and Levesque.

When he'd reached me, N said quickly, "We have to find Gorm before he finds everyone else." His eyes were aflame with worry.

I cursed underneath my breath. Why was I thinking about what Ghetsis said and apologizing to Cheren when there were more important matters to deal with? To show I wholeheartedly agreed with him, I nodded, forcing a smile. "I can't dwell on what Ghetsis said," I said airily, "because I have to keep on moving forward for everybody's sake." I knew N wasn't deceived by my lofty disposition. "Right now, Gorm has to be stopped."

N's mouth formed a thin line, his eyes clouded with concern at its apex. I knew right then and there I'd called Gorm by his proper name instead of the nickname I'd reserved just for him. Heck, I couldn't even find one ounce of sarcasm in my soul or heart.

The silence was shattered when my X-Transceiver rang, the volume as clear as a bell. Judging from where it was coming from, I guessed it was in my purse, but how did it suddenly appear there? "I didn't know Bianca'd packed it."

Clumsily, I flipped the purse open, shifting through it (I'd grown accustomed to the intense throbbing in my hand, so it really took little to no effort to ignore it now) before I pulled out the X-Transceiver. I didn't even bother glancing at the display screen before flipping the gadget open, swiftly pressing it close to my ear. "Hello?"

"White?" Cheren said breathlessly.

I could apologize now, I thought. "Yeah, it's me," I confirmed. "What's up?" I looked at N, who was examining me as if I was a mildly interesting television program.

"Well, you're not going to like this at all," he said hurriedly, "but – Gorm – found -" Cheren's voice was coming and going, meaning the connection was bad. "White?"

"What?" I said.

"We're in a tight spot right now," he said fearfully.

"What happened?" I asked. I heard Cheren cussing at somebody before his X-Transceiver disconnected.

I was so shocked I let my X-Transceiver fall to the ground, N deftly catching it. "Cheren just called," I told my friend. "I think he's in trouble."

"Well, whatever situation Cheren landed himself into, he could deal with himself," said N coldly. "I want to thank the person for shutting Cheren – Okay, let's go." He relinquished the X-Transceiver, which I speedily threw back into my purse.

We started to run towards the statues before a voice said confidently, "You're not going anywhere." Two Team Plasma grunts appeared out of nowhere, both clutching Poke Balls. "At least, not without a Pokémon Battle!"

Chapter 19: Double Trouble

White's PoV.

"How did you find us?" I demanded, blinking in order to make sure I wasn't having a phantasm or dream. Maybe Ghetsis sent them or they also accompanied him to the gazebo along with Gorm, I mused. I looked at N, his eyebrows knitting into one. He was obviously thinking the same thing.

One of the grunts stepped forward, gazing at N with a mixture of emotions and then at me, disgust evident in her electric purple eyes. "Your Majesty, you dare elope with this brat?" she said, a dangerous edge to her voice.

"A hot one at that," muttered her partner, obviously a male. His words wanted to make me vomit. He too stepped forward, lust, pity and resentment apparent in his expression. "I cannot let you pass, for that is King Ghetsis's orders."

N snapped out of his reverie, aghast. "You follow my orders!" N barked at the grunt. "Team Plasma should be ruled by a kind, just King, not a malevolent and cruel one!" He balled his hands into fists.

The female grunt snorted. "Evan, enough with the flirtatious remarks! As for you, N, you are no longer part of Team Plasma, because there is documentation stating that you'd abdicated the throne to King Ghetsis. The fact that your nemesis became your girlfriend gives me reason to believe you'd betrayed King Ghetsis, the Seven Sages and we of Team Plasma."

I couldn't believe my ears. Ghetsis had lied to N's followers, forged a documentation of N's "abdication" and was convincing Team Plasma to acknowledge him as King. It was despicable. I didn't need to know what N was feeling because I too would feel bitterness and resentment towards Ghetsis, though I was lucky not to be related to a grotesque-looking idiot. "Look," I began slowly. The girl grunt glared at me, hatred written all over her face.

"Let me get this straight," N began. "We have no choice but to battle you."

"You don't," agreed Evan.

N unballed his hands, wiggling his fingers absently. "If we win, then you'd permit us to pass." His voice was thick with disbelief, perhaps rivaling the disbelief I was feeling about this situation.

"Right," said the woman, "but if you lose, you're coming with us."

I flung open my purse, exploring its contents until my hand brushed against a sphere. Excitedly, I took it out, seeing I had a Repeat Ball in my hand. I still find it funny I'd used a Repeat Ball to capture – ah whatever! I did a pirouette before throwing the Repeat Ball onto the concrete. "GO, COBALION!" As soon as Cobalion appeared, the Repeat Ball zoomed back into my hand.

"I CHOOSE YOU, FOONGUS!" the female grunt yelled, sending out my worst nightmare: Foongus.

I wasn't afraid of Foongus. I just hated that every time I found a Poke Ball, it turned out to be the cap of a Foongus. I also remembered stepping on the cap of a Foongus one time, which I'd mistaken for a soft patch of ground. I had to make a run for it, because it was one angry mushroom releasing spores into the air. Fortunately, a mysterious male traveler around N's, Cheren's, Bianca's and my age came to the rescue with an unidentified Pokémon. I never did get his name, I thought bitterly, remembering that his hair color was the same shade as his eyes, his physical features angelic.

I managed to push him out of my mind just as Evan sent out a six-legged crablike Pokémon colored orange with two mushrooms atop its back. Its dark eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets. "Paras," N informed me. "'Mushrooms called tochukaso grow on its back. They grow along with the host Paras.'"

I'd forgotten he carried around my Pokedex for me.

"GO, LUCARIO!" N shrieked, throwing a Poke Ball into the air. Lucario turned out to be a blue-and-black Pokémon standing on two legs, having some features of a jackal, a wolf and a kangaroo. If you can imagine that, then you would have a pretty good idea of what I was looking at. "'A well-trained one that can sense auras to identify and take in feelings of creatures from over half a mile,'" N read from my Pokedex before stuffing it back into his vest pocket. "Who will go first?" N knelt down, placing his hand over Lucario's skull, drilling his eyes into Lucario's.

"PARAS, ATTACK LUCARIO WITH SPORE!" Evan shouted. Paras scurried over to Lucario, clicking its abnormally large pincers with incredible speed. It thrust its back into the air, a plume of light green sparkles flying upward, eventually forming a nebula.

N withdrew his hand from Lucario, nodding curtly. As the nebula crept towards Lucario, Lucario performed a move I was all-too familiar with and absolutely despised: DETECT. The nebula finally reached Lucario, lapping against its frame aimlessly. Paras hissed, clicking its pincers with more ferocity. Lucario was ecstatic, even flashing a triumphant grin at Paras, and leaving the Pokémon to seethe. "Heh," N said, amused.

"FOONGUS, ATTACK LUCARIO WITH SPORE!"

Foongus bounced up and down gleefully before making its way towards a weary Lucario, though it regained composure by moving into a defensive stance. When Foongus passed by me, I started thinking about whether Foongus were edible or not. Forget about being hungry, I chided myself. It's time for me to take action. "You never did mention it was a Tag Team Battle," I spat, glaring at the female grunt.

She roared with laughter. "Oh, how slow children are these days!" she purred. "Hon, I know your style of battling. You tend to switch out Pokémon when the other Pokémon faints."

"And?" I invited, looking at an anxious Cobalion. It was silently pleading for me to shout out an attack. "If you're saying that if we should use three Pokémon each, then I say no, grunt."

"Bethanne," the woman corrected me.

"Whatever," I said dismissively. I tore my eyes off her to survey Lucario and Foongus, the latter sending a thick blanket of yellowish-green spores towards Lucario, who went into the defensive position again. "I'm not playing by your rules, because that's called cheating in my book, Bethanne."

"White, a little help here," N said suddenly. "If Lucario falls asleep, then that would be bad." He was white as a ghost, fear evident on his face. "Lucario, hang in there!"

I stared at N. "Don't you have Full Restores, Full Heals, Chesto Berries or Awakenings?" I was wondering about how N could have so many Pokémon Battles, but he never carried around items to cure Pokémon of status problems. To my disappointment, N shook his head sadly, although I could've sworn I saw his nostrils flare at the mention of man-made medicine. However, Chesto Berries were derived from nature themselves, so it would make perfect sense for N to carry Chesto Berries around with him.

The yellowish-green blanket reached Lucario, slowly enveloping its paws. Its body started to stiffen, much to my horror. "Ehh . . ." I hesitated, wondering what attack I should use. "C-COBALION, USE . . . USE AERIAL ACE!" Cobalion rushed to Lucario's side speedily and inaudibly. When it reached Foongus, Cobalion started running around in circles, forcing Foongus to spin around, frustration and confusion on its face. Eventually, Foongus grew dizzy. Cobalion decided to attack. With breakneck speed, Cobalion slashed through both the sparkling mist – parting it – and a spiral-eyed Foongus. Foongus let out a yelp, spinning around one more time before collapsing on the concrete, its cap covering the rest of its small body.

Bethanne let loose a cry of despair. "HOW DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE WENCH!" the grunt thundered before thrusting her Poke Ball at Foongus's still form. When it made contact with the fainted Pokémon's body, the capsule swung open, shooting out red light. The Poke Ball instantly boomeranged to Bethanne, who swiped the capsule out of the air, throwing me a dirty look.

Both of us were staring down each other when N suddenly said, "White, tell your Cobalion to watch his language." I broke eye contact with Bethanne to witness Cobalion strutting about in a regal fashion, appearing rather proud. "Honestly, I'm this close to washing out his mouth with -"

I suppressed the urge to laugh. "Cobalion is Cobalion," I insisted. "The last time I'd checked, Cobalion lives in a free country, so he has the right to freely express himself -"

"But he's acting like – like -" N glanced at Cobalion, who regarded him with an expectant look. "Thank you, Cobalion." As Cobalion ambled towards me, I caught a glimpse of Lucario's expression. Out of all Pokémon, N's Lucario had to be a female. I'm wondering if she's moved by Cobalion saving her in the nick of time. I shrugged my shoulders, gazing at a flabbergasted N.

"There's nothing heroic about that, Lucario," N growled. Lucario said something, which made N roll his eyes. "I don't know what you're feeling, but I . . . never mind."

"Either N's delusional, crazy or he's a sensitive," drawled Evan. "The boy will be punished for his betrayal for obvious reasons." He stared at me for a moment. As if it were my fault N had "betrayed" Team Plasma. "So, stop impressing your girlfriend and resume the battle!"

I felt my face grow hot. "There's nothing between us," I said to Evan. "I wish everybody would stop saying that!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw N's cheeks glow hot pink. The color was so beautiful. "He didn't come to make me his queen."

"YOU'RE UP, GOLBAT!" Golbat turned out to be a large dark blue bat with long wings, skinny feet and four long teeth that reminded me of vampire teeth. What were their teeth called again? Scissors?*

Golbat opened its mouth, flapping its wing with incredible agility. Cobalion rushed back to my side, blatantly pleased with himself. He swerved around me before looking at me adoringly. I motioned for him to turn around, which Cobalion did. "Game on," I announced to Evan and Bethanne, both narrowing their eyes.

"'Its sharp fangs puncture the toughest of hides and have small holes for sucking out blood,'" N read swiftly. "Of course, you'd find sarcasm in that, White."

"PARAS, USE LEECH LIFE ON COBALION!"

"LUCARIO, ATTACK GOLBAT WITH EXTREMESPEED!"

"COBALION, USE AERIAL ACE ON PARAS!"

"GOLBAT, USE CONFUSE RAY ON LUCARIO!"

Lucario did several somersaults through the air before whizzing past N and me, turning all but invisible with speed. I could've sworn her ears appeared as if they were wings. A microsecond later, Lucario appeared, performing a back-flip. Somehow, Lucario managed to bring her arms and legs close to her chest. Golbat tried to fly out of range while preparing to launch CONFUSE RAY, but Lucario charged into Golbat's stomach, causing the Pokémon to be thrown back several feet aerially. Before I knew it, Lucario was at N's side once more, expecting to be hit with CONFUSE RAY.

Paras directed its gaze towards Cobalion, issuing a lime green pulsating orb from its mouth. It made a zigzagging line through the air before grazing against Cobalion's legs. A second later, a thin cut appeared, beads of blood blossoming from it. The orb collected the droplets before going backwards in a diagonal line to Paras, who chomped up the orb. Cobalion slumped a little, although he was unfazed by the sudden loss of energy. When Cobalion stood up again, he appeared a little haughty.

Cobalion dashed over to Paras, Paras attempting to inch out of the way. Unfortunately for my Pokémon, the mushroom freak show succeeded, seemingly missing Cobalion by a hair's breadth. AERIAL ACE is supposed to be an infallible move, I thought. Evan even boomed with laughter, except he cried, "Paras!"

I stared at my Pokémon. Cobalion stared back, half-disbelieving, half-offended. This Pokémon is too proud for his own good, I reminded myself for the umpteenth time. "I've never met a Pokémon that's so sure and proud like your Cobalion," muttered N. "Lucario seems to be impressed, though I can't imagine why."

Cobalion was but a blur, trying to make Paras fall for the same trick as Foongus did. Paras wasn't a fool because it had averted its eyes, determined not to let Cobalion get the best of it. Cobalion takes pride in AERIAL ACE, Paras, I was thinking smugly, because it never misses. It's for that reason Cobalion has a huge ego, but he's anything but selfish. "C'mon, you can do it, Cobalion!" I yelled confidently, trying to pour a sense of encouragement into my hollow voice. Then, Golbat swooped down in order to get its revenge on Lucario.

N's PoV.

I could've used DETECT so Lucario wouldn't have been able to be inflicted with confusion. The problem was, I wasn't thinking about Golbat's CONFUSE RAY since I was too busy conversing with Lucario and Cobalion telepathically. I literally wanted to wash Cobalion's mouth out with soap because of his swearing. I also hated his proud demeanor yet I'd sensed he possessed a heart of gold, always willing to defend others. When Lucario had a close call with Paras's SPORE attack, I felt the strong desire to protect others coming from Cobalion's aura and thoughts. The downside to reading Cobalion's thoughts was that he was practically shouting them out, making me question whether he was doing it to annoy me or not. The evidence? Cobalion was chortling when I'd told White I was going to wash his mouth out with soap. White didn't seem to make a big deal out of Cobalion's attitude. Either she was laughing inside, used to his behavior or she's still thinking about Platina and Ghetsis, I was thinking.

Cobalion danced about Paras, the latter's pincers clicking madly. His eyes were narrowed, trying not to look at Cobalion. The Pokémon was smart, but his intelligence wasn't going to prevail over AERIAL ACE. Meanwhile, Golbat sailed into the midst, throwing daggers at Lucario, who retreated a few steps backward. Her incisors were glinting. I noticed that two of them splashed with dried blood, making me feel queasy.

What's the matter, boss? Lucario was saying cheerily, despite being mere seconds from being inflicted with confusion.

For the last time, don't call me boss, I said tiredly. I want to be known as N, Lucario. As for what's the matter, that Golbat has blood on its teeth. I wonder what White would say about that.

That she'll make fun of your weakness towards blood or that she'll say something sarcastic about Golbat's teeth? Lucario seemed to be amused about me talking about White. I couldn't understand why. You always, always, ALWAYS think about her! I may not be human, but I sense love is in –

Oh, shut up, I cut across Lucario, who barked with laughter. Golbat eyed both of us with malevolence before unleashing a ball of ghostly white energy, faint mist streaming from the back, emitting a whistling noise. Golbat flew off, happily contemplating about the misery Lucario was about to experience.

I made for Lucario's Poke Ball, except she said, Don't take me out, coach! I can fight against the confusion with no – The ball slammed against Lucario's torso, her knees buckling. She collapsed on the ground, her frame being engulfed by ghostly flames. I briefly experienced a chill from the attack, scaring the hell out of me.

"LUCARIO!" I screamed, boring my eyes into hers. The ghostly flames flickered brightly for a couple of seconds before dissipating. Lucario managed to get up, save her movements were sluggish. She wheeled around, gazing at me with glassy eyes, flummoxed.

I feel fine, boss, Lucario insisted. By the way, what was I saying a moment ago?

I had no remedies on hand, even Persim Berries. When White had asked about having man-made items on hand, I was peeved. I firmly believed that Pokémon should feast on the Berries Mother Earth was generous enough to give. It was Nature's gift to them and humans as well. Personally, I felt healing my Pokémon with a man-made item was strictly out of the question. In a way, I felt as if I was taking a Pokemon's freedom of healing themselves away just by using medicine bought from Poke Marts. If I wanted to use medicine, it would be from Berries or those bitter medicinal herbs.

Cobalion was tired of trying to land a blow on Paras whilst he was dizzy, so he swerved around Paras. Finally, Cobalion was in alignment with Paras's back. Without hesitation, Cobalion lunged at him, delivering a deadly slash at long last. Paras flipped over, clicking his front pincers wildly while moving his crablike legs through the air. I heard Cobalion sigh before turning around, sprinting toward White.

"GET UP AND FIGHT!" Evan shouted at an unconscious Paras. When Paras didn't answer, Evan snarled, "RETURN!" The Poke Ball skated through the air, bathing Paras in light once it made contact with him. The Poke Ball rotated back to Evan, who was glowering at White and me.

The grunt slipped his gloved hand into his baggy pants, fishing out a tiny Poke Ball, no doubt containing his second Pokémon. In case White needed to know what kind of Pokémon she was up against, I procured the Pokedex, lacing my fingers around it. "I CHOOSE YOU, SEISMITOAD!"

"Great, another Seismitoad," White remarked. "N, you really should withdraw Lucario and replace her with another Pokémon."

I can fight, Lucario insisted. I want to fight someone, but I can't figure out who I want to fight. Lucario was being frank, albeit her confounded expression explicitly stated she was anything but all right. I had no choice but to switch out Lucario with another Pokémon. I was wondering which one while I was extracting Lucario's Poke Ball from my vest.

I bowed my head down, pressing the button that made the Poke Ball larger. My hand shaking uncontrollably, I directed the Poke Ball at a befuddled Lucario, babbling nonsense about staying in the fight. Just tell me when to attack, boss, Lucario was saying to me, except she was facing Seismitoad. Seeing Lucario like this was heartbreaking, but taking her out at White's request wasn't really what I wanted to do.

I lowered my hand down, tapping the button of the Poke Ball. As it shrank back to its original size, Seismitoad let loose a cry of mirth. Eyeing the unsightly Pokémon with disgust, I slipped the unoccupied Poke Ball back into my vest pocket. "Lucario's staying in this battle, White," I addressed her, though I couldn't muster the courage to look her directly in the face, fearing she would fly off the handle.

"I thought you'd change your mind," replied White. Her voice was void of emotion, her countenance emotionless too. She was gazing at Cobalion, her eyes unfocused. Though she was trying to maintain her distance from me, White was on the verge of falling apart. She's stronger than that, I told myself sternly. "N, I told you not to worry. I'll be fine."

I pursed my lips, but I didn't bother arguing with her. The last thing I needed was another strained relationship. "Lucario, over here." I snapped my fingers to get her undivided attention. When she turned to look at me, I said kindly and carefully, "Lucario, I need you to use AURA SPHERE. Okay?" I smiled. Or at least I hoped I did.

Got it, boss, Lucario said cheerfully. Wait, who do I attack again?

Just use AURA SPHERE, I told her mentally. Never mind about who you're attacking, I added as an afterthought.

"SEISMITOAD, USE SANDSTORM!"

"GOLBAT, ATTACK LUCARIO WITH YOUR MEAN LOOK!"

"COBALION, USE STONE EDGE!"

Lucario glanced at me, then at Seismitoad. Finally, she pointed at herself. I was just having second thoughts about leaving her in the battle when Lucario began to levitate into the air, her physique glowing with sapphire light. She closed her eyes whilst adopting a calm expression, giving off the impression that she was meditating. A feral roar rippled from Lucario's mouth as all of the light coalesced into a bobbing sphere, pulsating with her aura. Shyly, Lucario advanced toward it before absently spinning it between her paws. Then, she flung it at Seismitoad with supersonic speed, the crackling of electricity resonating from the aura condensed sphere.

At the same time, Golbat flew back over to where Lucario was, flashing both of us a toothy grin. She started cackling before throwing Lucario a very dark, arresting look. Lucario held her breath, terror flitting across her canine face. Golbat turned back around, gliding lazily toward a pleased Bethanne, who regarded me with a cold look. I was starting to detest her more and more.

Seismitoad suddenly became the eye of a ringed pillar, which suddenly exploded, sending dust particles everywhere. Eventually more particles issued from the area where Seismitoad was standing, eventually giving way to a sandstorm. I barely could see our foes' silhouettes through the thick light brown blanket. The wind made sure of that. Fortuitously, AURA SPHERE hit Seismitoad square in the chest, sending him fly backward several feet, much to my glee.

Cobalion glared at Golbat before unleashing a wave of unnaturally sharp stones. When the stone wave lapped against Golbat, it stabbed her repeatedly, resulting in the Pokémon shielding her face, moaning in agony. Through the sandstorm, I could discern a rock shower also engulfing Seismitoad, stabbing him repeatedly as well, although he seemed to handle the torture better than Golbat. Tell Cobalion not to aim at me! Lucario said dreamily. I directed my gaze toward my Pokemon, evading every single one of the rocks despite being confused. There were times she somersaulted, did cartwheels and performed back-flips in order to avoid being hit by the vicious downpour of stone.

"YOU'D PAY FOR THAT, GIRL!" Bethanne threw her Poke Ball at an unconscious Golbat plummeting toward the ground. When Golbat was ensnared by the light and sucked back in the capsule, Bethanne held her hand out to capture it. "I hate talking through battles," she stated. "I'm glad Evan's the same way when it comes to battling." Bethanne grasped ahold of another Poke Ball, staring at it intently for a moment before shouting, "YOU'RE UP, SWALOT!" A tall, purple Pokemon in the shape of a blob appeared. It had buttery yellow whiskers and red eyes reminding me of Red's, save beady.

"'It swallows anything whole. It sweats toxic fluids from its follicles to douse foes,'" I read in one breath. "Well, White. You haven't said anything sarcastic about Golbat. What about Swalot?" I've never thought I'd see the day where I would miss White's sarcasm. Even pensive, she looked beautiful. I found that totally unfair.

Someone's in L-O-V-E, Lucario said teasingly. Anyway, who is that someone? Lucario pressed her paw against her mouth, half-curious, half-thunderstruck. A sudden draft of wind blew our way, stronger than the others. Lucario and I instinctively shielded our faces with our hands (in Lucario's case, paws), me closing my eyes.

I heard the wind whistling, the sand churning furiously. Tell me you're okay, I pleaded. I really need to buy some goggles to protect myself from these sandstorms. Somehow, I knew Lucario was going to answer she was fine, but then contradict what she said. As long as Lucario was confused, she would behave in that manner, making me feel saddened. "Lucario, hold that thought. I want you to use EXTREMESPEED on Swalot."

Got it, boss, Lucario stated.

And don't call me boss, I shot back, annoyed.

"COBALION, USE AERIAL ACE!"

"SWALOT, ATTACK WITH TOXIC!"

"SEISMITOAD, USE EARTHQUAKE!"

Cobalion sprinted over to Swalot, who was slithering over to him. They met each other halfway, Cobalion turning into a blur, Swalot moving around sluggishly in order to pinpoint Cobalion before Cobalion delivered a heavy blow to Swalot. Unfortunately, Swalot didn't faint, which made White sigh in disappointment. Swalot stared at Cobalion whilst his gelatinous body was heavily jiggling before vomiting a sickly purple fluid at Cobalion. Swalot hissed when the toxic fluid didn't inject itself into Cobalion at all. Cobalion winked at Swalot before dashing back to where White was, his body somehow visible through the sandstorm, although Swalot was cringing. He's being buffeted by the sandstorm, I realized. Exactly how many turns is SANDSTORM in effect?

Seismitoad was barely discernible through the sandstorm, which was becoming so bad Lucario and Cobalion were being immersed. Then, the ground started shaking violently, almost knocking me off my feet. White wasn't so lucky. She lost footing pretty quickly. So as fast as I could, I reached out a hand for her to take. I was shocked she took it without challenging or questioning me. "I like having my feet on the ground, thank you very much," she sighed. "Is it just me or is the sandstorm getting worse?" The ground resumed its violent shaking, the sandstorm roaring louder than ever. I could barely hear Bethanne screaming at Evan for something.

My heart dropped.

If Swalot was being affected by EARTHQUAKE, then so were Cobalion and Lucario, which wasn't good.

Impatiently, I waited for the quake to stop, hoping Cobalion and Lucario were still standing.

Then it stopped.

"N," said White. "Cobalion's a Steel-type Pokémon, meaning EARTHQUAKE probably -"

I stared at her in disbelief. "Don't say that," I said to her a little too harshly. "Have some faith."

White ripped her hand from mine. "Then contact Lucario -"

I bolted toward the sandstorm, intent on finding my beloved Lucario. I didn't care about the telepathy gift I had with Pokémon.

I just wanted to see if Lucario was all right.

And Cobalion.

A/N: "Double Trouble" is finished. Review! Give feedback or constructive criticism! I don't want any flaming though. As a reminder, there's a poll up on my profile, so if you have time to vote, do so while you can. I hope you liked the chapter.

*(White was trying to remember what vampire teeth were called. I actually do know the word, unlike White :D)

This chapter was edited for grammatical and spelling mistakes. Very few changes were made to the chapter and seldom any content was removed. The plot still remains largely the same. All of the reediting is being done in order to promote the upcoming sequel of History, Eventide.

Edited On: 11/04/15