A/N: I'm really sorry, to anybody who was a fan of this story. Unfortunately, I've kind of lost interest in this story, and I'm afraid I'm going to discontinue it. THIS STORY IS NOW DISCONTINUED.
...
...
...
...
...
Hahaha. Kidding... I thought about it, and this story isn't worth giving up. All that effort and emotion I put into this story; I don't want it to go to waste.
My writing skills... They are honestly worse than ever, now. Forgive me for that, please. I took a break. This chapter won't turn out the best, but I hope that through practice, it will get better. I wrote the first part a while back, and I've finally decided to continue it.
To be honest, I felt discouraged. Last February, when the last chapter was posted, a few things happened. One thing led to another, and I just wanted to stop writing. I thought I could overcome this. So here, writing and posting this chapter, I had to put my pride aside. But I'm willing to do so, I realised.
Wow. I haven't updated in almost a year.
I can't promise consistent updates, anymore. I hope you understand.
Thank you so much, to all my reviewers. You've been crazy supportive, and I didn't deserve it.
I feel absolutely ecstatic writing this again, but it's actually so painful.
Now, enough of me babbling. XD
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON.
Update: It has come to my attention that people who reviewed the last chapter won't be able to review this one... since I had an author's note as a chapter, and I deleted it, and it's complicated but... yeah...
~0~
"We're here to help!" Ash announced.
Dawn turned to him, staring in horror as the rest of her friends appeared beside him. She cursed under her breath at the sight of so many people. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
"To help, duh," Ash said.
Misty nodded. "For once, he was right. We should -"
She was cut off by Dawn, still trying to comprehend the situation. "I thought you were captured, Ash! How'd you escape?"
Ash gave a goofy grin, opening his mouth to speak. "Well -"
Dawn quickly pushed him to the side, successfully dodging him from an attack. "No time for that. Get out. You're just going to get hurt. These are assassins we're talking about. And you're also already injured."
"No," Ash said stubbornly.
"We need to help!" May exclaimed.
Dawn bit her lip. There was no way to protect them and save Leaf and Gary at the same time. Throwing something to the ground in front of her, a huge puff of smoke appeared. It spread rapidly, making the assassins lose sight of them.
Grabbing Ash and Misty by the arms, she ran outside. Paul had a death grip on Drew and May and was right behind him.
"We can't just leave Leaf and Gary behind," May argued, Drew nodding in agreement.
"Run now, talk later," Dawn said, running into a forest.
The others reluctantly agreed. Running back in there was pretty much asking for death. They needed a plan.
May panted, and stopped running. "Guys," she said in between breaths, "I can't run anymore."
Dawn turned around to face her, biting her lip. She nodded. "Alright. We're far enough from the base. Let's start thinking of a plan."
The area was full of chatter and chaos until everyone agreed on a plan. Drew frowned. "May's injured, remember? She shouldn't take part in this."
Misty nodded. "I agree with Drew."
"I'm fine, though," May said, smiling to prove her point.
Drew shook his head. "No, I won't allow you to go," he said, making May pout.
"I want to help -"
"May, Drew has a point. You two should head back home. We'll be fine," Dawn said.
The scene suddenly went quiet, a little too quiet. A loud roar was heard, making birds nearby fly away. A body collapsed, making everyone turn around.
"Ash!" Misty cried, seeing his body on the ground. Blood oozed out of his arm, causing the girl to go frantic.
Dawn's eyes widened, not expecting the attack. Biting her lip, she eyed her surroundings. "Leave, now. All of you," she commanded.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the room, until silence dominated the area. A female ran her fingers through her midnight hair, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She turned her head, spotting a man with familiar details.
The two made eye contact, but no words were exchanged. They continued to stare, oynx against cerulean, so many messages shared through their eyes. The man smiled.
"It's been a while, Johanna," he said, standing up.
Johanna smiled back, walking forward. "It has, Peter."
Peter chuckled, giving a nod. He gazed at his desk, and his expression changed immediately. He looked up at Johanna, handing her some files.
Her mood became serious, knowing she had work to do. "Seems like my daughter's taking after me," she commented, skimming through the papers.
The male nodded. "She's very much like you. You might want to give her a hand. She's pretty new to the agency, after all."
He received a couple of nods in response, but nothing verbal. A few moments passed by, before Johanna finally finished reading.
She took a sharp intake of oxygen. "I need to go there," she said, her eyes filled with emotion. There was so much confusion, along with hatred, regret, infatuation and pain.
"Of course. That's why I called you here." Peter paused. "He is going to be there."
Johanna swallowed a lump in her throat. "I know. And it's going to be difficult." She laughed, though there was no humour. "Assassins aren't supposed to have emotions, are they? They're supposed to suppress and conceal their feelings," she said bitterly. "That's why I never wanted my little girl to get involved with things like this."
Peter nodded, not saying a word. He understood the sacrifice you had to make, and he regretted it. His gaze landed on a file, making him remember why she was here in the first place. "So what's the plan?"
"That should be my question," Johanna said, "but I've got a few ideas."
Misty bit her lip, wanting to argue. She took another look at Ash, deciding it was better to listen to Dawn.
"Don't worry about Leaf and Gary. Paul will handle everything," Dawn said in reassurance, before glancing at Paul.
He nodded, as if confirming her statement.
Dawn looked at the others, with pleading eyes. "Please, I promise we'll get Leaf and Gary safe. Just -"
An explosion was heard behind them, frightening them all, making Dawn pause mid-statement.
Paul cursed under his breath. "We don't have time," he muttered to himself, looking at Dawn. He clenched his fists, genuinely worried his friends would be harmed. "Leave. Now."
"We're all going to get killed if we stay here!" Misty yelled, panicked, seeing how pale Ash looked. "We're in no condition to fight," she reasoned.
May and Drew exchanged glances, before finally putting their stubbornness aside. Drew took a shaky breath. "Let's go," he said, grabbing May's arm.
Despite this, Ash still shook his head. "No... We can't just run away..." He coughed, weakly, struggling to stand.
"You're in no position to fight, you idiot," Misty said, softly. She slung his arm over her shoulder, trying to support him as much as possible.
Dawn glanced back at the Team Darkrai base. "I'll meet you guys back at my house, okay? We've got to go, now," she said, directing the last part to Paul.
Paul started running back, followed by Dawn.
"Good luck..." Drew murmured, before heading back to his house.
"Let me go," Gary growled, elbowing the grunt in the stomach, freeing himself. "Leaf!" he yelled out, acting entirely on desperation. He didn't know how he could locate her, so he resorted to calling out for her.
His voice echoed through the eerie hallways, sound passing through the walls. In a room, Leaf's eyes snapped open. Gary...? she thought. She shook her head. It couldn't possibly have been Gary.
"LEAF!"
The voice was louder this time, making her eyes widen. She tried to yell out, but tape was over her lips. She growled, struggling to get it off, as her hands were tied behind her back. After a few attempts, she managed to uncover half her mouth.
"Gary!" she shouted as loud as she could, coughing a little afterwards.
"Leaf?!" came the reply, from the brunet. "Where are you?" he called, walking closing to the room.
Leaf's heart started pounding more quickly, excitement of being saved grew within her. "Over here!"
He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to pinpoint where her voice was coming from. His eyes brightened with hope, spotting a door. He pulled the handle down, gritting his teeth when it wouldn't budge. He mentally cursed at himself, for thinking saving Leaf would be so easy an in assassin agency.
"The door's locked! Can you open it from the inside?" Gary asked, speaking loudly so she would hear. He heard a few shuffles and noises from inside.
Leaf tried releasing herself from the ties, but no avail. She attempted to stand, having trouble since her feet were bind together with ropes tightly. Finally standing, she fell over, ending up lying on the floor again.
"Leaf?"
She heard Gary's voice, giving her slight willpower. She rolled, literally, over to the door. So close, she thought, desperately trying to get up. She heard more footsteps, and the notion of Gary getting hurt angered her. She stood up, successfully, this time. Turning around so her back was facing the door, her hand weakly pulled down the handle, making the door open.
Gary's eyes widened, in both excitement and shock, seeing movement of the door. He quickly ran in, engulfing the brunette in a meaningful hug.
The footsteps neared, making him release her. He bit her lip, noticing she couldn't move on her own. He picked her up, bridle style, causing her to gasp.
He ran down the hallway, in the opposite direction of a few annoyed grunts. Leaf squeezed her eyes shut, fear taking over her. After a while, he stopped running. He panted, for carrying Leaf and running away took great toll on his body. "I think we lost them," he whispered to Leaf, a small smile forming upon his lips.
"Stop right there!" a voice, behind the couple, commanded with much authority, sending shivers down their backs.
Dawn looked at Paul, and they shared a slight smirk at the sight of the unconscious Team Darkrai grunts. "They shouldn't wake up for another half hour or so," Paul said, monotonously as usual.
"We'd better get a move on. This base is huge, and we have no idea where Leaf and Gary are right now," Dawn said, already beginning to walk down the hallway.
Paul grunted, giving no particular verbal response. He followed her, occasionally looking around in case there were any surprise attacks.
The bluenette suddenly halted, making Paul stop behind her. "What is it, troublesome?" he asked, looking at her.
"There are a bunch of grunts a bit further ahead," she said, quietly. "Maybe we should go the other way."
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" a familiar voice yelled out, menacingly.
Dawn and Paul exchanged glances, before quickly heading for the bunch of grunts. When they were in a twenty metre radius, Paul released a Pokemon from his Pokeball. "Stand by, Torterra."
The Continent Pokemon roared, frightening the grunts, also capturing their attention. "Use frenzy plant to restrict the grunts," he commanded, and Torterra obeyed him without hesitation.
With specialised training back at Team Cresselia, Torterra had amazing control over his moves, trapping all the grunts, yet not inflicting a single bit of pain to Gary and Leaf, who were nearby.
"Dawn, get them out of here. I'll deal with the grunts," Paul said.
Dawn blinked, for her heart started to race, hearing her name come out of the male's mouth. She smiled inwardly. It sounded particularly nice, when it came from him.
"Got it!" she exclaimed, suddenly full of energy. "Come on, you two," she said, as Gary carried Leaf into his arms again. The two started to run towards an exit, obviously wanting to get out of the place.
Successfully exiting the base, they all sighed in relief. "We're heading back to my place. The others should've all gathered there," Dawn said, continue to run.
"Wait!" Leaf cried, making both of them stop running. "Can you untie me?" she asked, sheepishly, feeling bad Gary had to carry her.
"Sure," Dawn said, nonchalantly pulling out a knife from under her skirt, shocking the other two. She efficiently cut the ropes, freeing Leaf.
Leaf moved her wrists around, wincing in pain.
"Leaf... Are you sure you want to -"
"I'm fine," Leaf said, cutting off the male. "Let's get going."
The two nodded, despite a slight hesitation, and they all started heading back to Dawn's house.
Misty stared at the clock, starting to worry. "How do you think they are? It's been four hours..." She bit her lip, stopping herself. Worrying wasn't going to help.
"I'm sure they're fine," May said, trying to be optimistic. "They're assassins! They can defend themselves! Maybe they're just tired, and are walking back slowly."
Ash nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I know they're okay! I can just feel it! So we should just relax, and eat some noodles."
Misty's eye twitched, at that last sentence. She desperately wanted to hit him with her mallet, for being so stupid, but seeing him in a poor state made her anger fade.
A few more moments of silence made Drew snap. "That's it. I'm calling Dawn."
The others sighed, knowing they couldn't convince him not to. In fact, secretly, they all wanted to know the well-being of the four.
"Put it onto speaker," Misty said, and Drew complied.
The phone ringed quite a couple of times, making Drew worry. "Come on, Dawn... Pick up your phone..." he muttered.
"Dawn isn't available right now," a deep, unfamiliar voice came through the speaker of the phone, sending shudders down his spine.
What happened to his sister...?
~0~
A/N: I actually managed to just sit here, for a few hours, just typing this. Wow. I haven't done that in a while, and it felt great. XD
Please, don't berate me too much. And I really hope you'll leave a review?
*sighs* I really don't know what to say.