My body was strained and cold, the obsolete floating feeling coiled me in outer space. I opened my eyes to be accompanied by the desolate universe caressing me in its cool and dark atmosphere. A wave of color enveloped me in its bands, keeping me warm and collected. However it snagged me and quickly dragged me down as quick as it could, I was plummeting to the Earths surface. Like a snake snatching its prey I landed onto the ground in a desert devoid of any life.

It was a mutated battlefield and there were dead bodies littered amongst the dry soil. Unable to see clearly I shouted to a figure in the distance, sand washed across the field and the shadow was followed by an army of what seemed of thousands. I ran towards them cowering in the sands blowing storm that damaged my skin. I opened my eyes once more to finally recognize the shadowy figure, my heart and feet stopped in my tracks.

"Ghetsis?" My voice was quivering in fear as his eyes shot through me.

He smiled slyly at me, "Hello my queen."

******
"AH!" I screamed thrashing awake.

Collecting my thoughts I realized it was only a nightmare, I could still smell the rotten bodies. Tears were already flooding out of my eyes as I tried to create some reasoning as to why it felt so real. The cold realization of knowing that these men could certainly turn this world into a desolate land of death shot through me. However I knew that I could just be terrified from my dream, so I quickly rushed myself to the bathroom to clean my face.

As I slammed the pale door closed I slapped the light on, it attacked my eyes mercilessly. I was greeted with the reflection of my flushed face and boiling red nose. Quickly I twisted the handle for the taps and splashed my face with cold water. It was a freezing splash but awoken me from my fears and allowed me to finally breath peacefully. Taking a few heavy breaths my heart leaped to the roof as a loud knock was placed upon the door.

"What!" I hissed with a shaky voice.

Ghetsis' familiar voice called, "Are you alright?"

It certainly was not the voice I had wished to hear from, my heart beat fast in my chest almost destroying the rib cage. I ignored his voice and closed my eyes as hard as I could, telling myself over and over in my head to calm down. Yet he continued to attempt to knock over and over, there was no avoiding it. My pure hatred an fear though prevented me from saying more, I was speechless in my own confined mind.

"If you don't answer I'm coming in" He roared unpleasantly.

I cried out loudly, "Stay where you are, I don't need help just go to bed!"

"I'm coming in" The man replied ignoring my commands.

I thought inside my head why they couldn't just listen, perhaps that's what made them who they were but it was sure irritating. It also didn't help that I was terrified and frozen from my own illogical phobias. The door opened and creaked slightly as he strutted in as his tall self. He didn't even have to try and he already scared the living crap out of me. I huddled myself in the corner sitting curled with my stare locked on him, watching to make sure he didn't get too close.

He knelled down to be at my eye level, "You're obviously not alright and you're causing your friend to freak out."

"Just leave me alone you're the last person I need to see!" I screamed at him cowering.

Ghetsis gritted his teeth and snatched my wrists, "You're acting hysterical, calm down!"

"Within good reason!" I squealed flailing frightened.

A flare of anger was in his stare but he remained calm, "Pull yourself together, before you wake up your family. Before you completely lose it!"

"I..." I squealed in terror avoiding his gaze; I forced a gulp down and nodded.

The large male let go of me, "Good, now why are you so hysterical?"

"Why do you care?" I hissed.

"I don't I'm the only one with the nerve to ask. Now stop being a fussy child and tell me!" The man claimed as if to be fact.

I breathed quickly with small wheezes, "You... You terrify me."

"That's reasonable but seriously, what exactly am I going to do. Throwing away my only chance of getting back to Unova would be ludicrous" Ghetsis sighed trying to rationalize things.

Colress slammed the door open as it made a loud boom, both of us darted our eyes to focus on him. The tall and intelligent male seemed rather displeased and he shot Ghetsis the most menacing glare he could muster. It was apparent that the entire room must have been awake by now. His blonde hair was ruffled from his own distress, and his golden eyes were sharp with anger.

"What are you doing?" He screamed unlike his own nature.

Ghetsis' eyes widened at the pure surprise of his rage, "I am attempting to calm the fussy woman."

"Well you're doing a horrible job! She's obviously terrified what do you think you're doing? You know nothing about socialization why can't you just leave that to the more intelligent ones here!" Colress ranted unpleasantly.

The green haired male rolled his eyes, "I don't see you attempting to fix the situation!"

"I could do a thousand times better than your imbecilic actions, I've always couldn't stand you! Just leave before you cause her a heart attack!" He hissed in response to Ghetsis' condescending nature.

Before I could attempt to speak Cyrus had rushed in as well, his features were exhausted. The man stood awkwardly for a few moments in silence, his obvious discontent displayed on his face. He shook his head lightly, and crossed his arms over his chest in a quiet rage.

"Would the two of you keep quiet, Vicki is frightened for Britney and the yelling is making it worse" Cyrus whispered furiously, "We have both N and Maxie attempting to keep the situation calm out there, and Archie is beginning to get restless so seriously shut up!"

Colress sighed deeply, "My apologies, I should have kept a level head."

"Yes, you should have" Ghetis mocked him.

"Would you quit it for one second!" The blonde haired male hissed quietly.

Ghetsis ignored him, "Britney, are you okay? Do you want my help?"

"Oh right, yeah just lie to her face. Tell her that we didn't want to help, Britney don't listen to this malicious prick. All he cares about is himself!" Colress cut into his voice with rage.

My mind wandered as they continued to argue, I didn't want to be here I wanted to disappear. Thoughts swelled in my head as I coiled myself into ball to avoid their faces. Ghetsis was a liar and creep, Colress was there attacking him, but the idea of him lying about the others sent shivers down my spine. Why in the world would he lie about others wanting to help me, why would he take it up to himself to talk to me? Unless he had another idea in mind, unless he was attempting to get inside my head. Unfortunately for him he did not have the social skills to dare and try, and I wouldn't let him.

I finally was breathing slower, my rational senses were kicking back in and I uncurled myself to face them once more. They continued to argue amongst themselves, yelling about their own tactics of consoling. However none of them were at all talented in this area so they were wasting their breath. I tuned back into their words trying to focus on what they had been conversing about.

"Well then go ahead and hug her!" Colress spoke in an irritated tone.

My eyes widened, "Whoa wait what! No, no, no! I'm perfectly fine now!"

"Oh that's too bad, seems like Ghetsis escaped actual human contact" Colress replied mockingly at him.

The green haired male growled, "You insolent little asshole! I am not a robot I can certainly handle human contact!"

Ghetsis being the stubborn and overly egotistical man he was almost directly grabbed a hold of me. He set me in an awkward embrace, as if to prove a point to the scientific one besides him. I patted him lightly on the back as my face went red with embarrassment and anger. Letting go he scowled at Colress as the blonde haired male displayed a sly grin across his face. When Ghetsis left the bathroom I shot Colress an enraged glare.

"What?" He replied acting innocent.

I narrowed my stare, "You know what!"

He attempted to hide an obvious smile, "You have to admit it's rather curious that he cares for you. I thought I'd give it a little nudge."

"Don't you dare! I cannot wait until you all finally go back home and leave me in peace! You know that man terrifies me why would you do that?" I scowled in annoyance.

Colress shrugged in a smug way, "Okay, okay, I apologize. It is hilarious though, and it helped you forget about whatever frightened you. I am correct aren't I?"

I put my hand on my face as I walked away, "Oh I will get you back for this I will! Also thank you Cyrus for keeping your cool and not messing with my life as well."

"You're welcome Britney, go get some sleep I might need a little help on my machine in the morning" He responded plainly.

I stepped outside back into the darkness of the night, I could slightly make out Vicki in an upset manner along with N and Maxie besides her. I let out a deepened sigh to signal I was alright and gave her a comforting and friendly hug. Once all the commotion had settled down, I flung myself back into my bed. I was inside at to corner curled away from both Vicki and Archie. My head spun as I shut my eyes, all I could see was a spinning circle of stars once more.

******

I shot awake almost what seemed like no time at all. My body was drenched in cold sweat and I felt as frozen as ice, I had the same nightmare. What had I done to deserve such torture in my slumber? Unable to come up with a real answer I flicked the light on my screen on, it was twelve in the daytime. I had slept in but that had also meant my parents had not been home. Keeping such a huge secret degraded at my own sanity sometimes.

As per usual Lysandre was in the bathroom probably doing his five hour routine which I had seen no reason why he had to do that every morning. Vicki and the rest of the crew had been awake they coiled around the television once more completely absorbed into the programs as the crunched away at sugary cereal. I could recall all except Cyrus, he must have been using his time in the spare room again. He was certainly quite determined, one thing any real person could envy.

I was reminded that I should have been eating but my own stomach betrayed me, I had no appetite after such a restless night. However this didn't mean that I couldn't get up, I quickly shot myself to my feet and brushed out the tangles in my hair. Out of the corner of my eye as I was brushing I noticed Archie rummaging through my personal items. It took a few seconds to register but he had pulled out my collection of Pokemon cards that were neatly put into well decorated sleeves.

"Archie, be careful with that you klutz!" I declared playfully.

He turned his head to meet me his eyes wide, "What is this?"

"Those are Pokemon Cards, it's a game you can play similar to the Pokemon battling but less real I guess" I explained to him the best I could.

Archie's big blue eyes lit up, "Can you teach me?"

"Of course! Come here I'll help you build a deck" I called to him with a smile.

Walking over he asked, "What's a deck?"

I chuckled at him as he plopped himself down next to me, "I guess I have a lot to teach you!"

Archie was an awfully childish and bombastic male, he was enthusiastic to play a game even slightly related to Pokemon. Every little detail I explained to him he shown extreme interest in as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. It wasn't long until he finally could play fluently like a real pro. It made me feel a little jealous from his talent, but I guess being with real life Pokemon that would come as a given. Once the male screeched loudly in a winning way it attracted Maxie, Vicki, and Colress over to what the commotion might be.

Vicki laughed as she realized I had been teaching them more about the Pokemon card games. So as that may have seemed Colress became quickly intrigued and Maxie as well had wanted to compete against his enemy Archie. Again I began explaining the basics to the other two with the help of Archie who had now fluently understood how to play. The others were even quicker at learning and soon they were playing against each other and calling each other names.

I observed a battle between Archie and Maxie, the two acted as if it were a real challenge. As long as it kept them happy it didn't really cause me to fuss too much. Maxie was enjoying the use of ground and fire, while Archie used water and dark as his deck. The two came extremely close after many games but inevitably tied. They refused to accept this at first but eventually resided with an agreement.

"Okay, okay, this time me and my main girl Britney will play together. So we can beat ye'!" Archie claimed pulling me into their petty squabble.

Maxie rolled his eyes, "Fine, however I claim Vicki as my partner. We will crush you!"

"Whoa, I didn't agree to any team making!" Vicki protested.

I glanced at her pushing her, "Just let them have what they want, come on let's battle."

It began our decks forged well as we were pitted against each other. Vicki sported a deck of Psychic and Dark, while I used an infamous strategy of the same typing with Team Plasma cards. I enjoyed the Team Plasma cards because of their dirty tricks, ways of killing the alternate player within a few turns I found fun. Within not even a few turns Archie and I had defeated our opponents.

"Britney that wasn't fair you used the Team Plasma deck on us!" Vicki complained.

I chuckled lightly, "Hey it's not my fault Team Plasma rules!"

Ghetsis and Colress diverted their attention from the television to us. It was then I realized what I said and placed my hand directly to my forehead, I should have made it clear I was talking about the cards. Vicki from my obvious mistake burst into laughter and mocked my idiotic blurting of things. The two Team Plasma members joined us by the bed as if suddenly interested. However N on the other hand wanted no part and continued to play fetch with my pug.

I blushed intensely out of embarrassment, "I'm sorry I was talking about the cards, oh my god."

"No we heard you loud and clear, from what I could understand Team Plasma rules right?" Ghetsis laughed for what seemed like the first time.

Colress joined in on the teasing and poked my side, "Yes I concur that is exactly what you said!"

Vicki rolled onto her side chuckling, "You got yourself in this mess Britney!"

"Oh shut up! Do you want to play again?" I replied.

Archie smiled lightly, "I'm alright, that was good fun though. Heh, yer' a fierce partner I like that!"

The pirate ruffled my hair in a playful way as he got up and walked off. Maxie followed grumbling under his breath as he cleaned up after us, the poor man probably couldn't stand him. Meanwhile amongst this I observed Ghetsis' eyes locked onto Archie in a menacing way. The utter sense of his anger made me want to hide. However I wasn't sure what he was all that enraged about. He quickly took his eyes off him as he noticed my staring.

Ghetsis observed the deck I had face down, "So may we see this 'deck' of yours?"

"Sure, I guess it can't really do any harm. Just be careful" I replied handing him the cards in a shiny blue sleeve.

He took them gently as he possibly could, shuffling through many of the cards I had for play. It was apparent he wasn't really sure what any of them did. Colress had learned the game with us and studied the abilities and attacks and nodded as if to be pleased with how well these cards had worked. However a disturbing grin had leaked itself onto Ghetsis' expression as he stared thoroughly at one card.

"Ghetsis huh?" He laughed eerily.

I cowered a little, "Heh yeah, there's Colress in there too. I also have the Shadow Triad, Frozen City, and of course it wouldn't be a complete deck without Hydreigon."

Colress studied his own card, "I am so much cooler than you Ghetsis."

"Shut up! Don't talk to lord Ghetsis in that matter of tone!" He roared at the blonde male.

I chuckled slightly, "I'll leave you guys alone, I need to go see if Cyrus needs me. Giovanni seems to be happy resting on the couch maybe you should go bother him."

"Wait before you leave, I believe these belong to you" Ghetsis raised his voice handing me the deck.

I avoided his gaze, "Thanks"

Without wasting another moment I raced upstairs to greet Cyrus in his little work area. I pushed through the door carefully but it still managed to make a loud squeak. He turned his attention to me with a horribly worried glare. At that moment my heart had dropped into my stomach.

He swallowed inwards, "Someone tampered with the equipment. I don't know if it will be fixable..."

******

END CHAPTER

AUTHORS NOTES: Yes dat suspense, who tampered with equipment? Was it one of the girls, was it one of the leaders? Well looks like you'll have to wait! Hah sorry, anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll see you later and once again I enjoyed all the reviews and comments so far it helps keep me motivated. Have a good night.