As I passed people and Pokémon, I had flipped up hood over my head, so nobody could recognize me. I hurried as fast as I could past people without falling or running. I looked down at Buizel and Poochyena; both looked like they had fallen asleep. However, they snuggled and looked up at me with total satisfaction and happiness on their faces. I smiled back at them.

"We're almost at the school, guys," I said, "I need you to be ready to hide."

Both nodded as we arrived at the schoolyard. I first checked as if to who was there. Nobody was there; the bell must've not rung yet. I quickly scanned the area for a hiding place that was close to the table I sat with my friends.

A-ha! A big bush right next to it. Perfect! I quickly hurried over to the bush and bent down in front of it. I unzipped my sweatshirt and both of them popped out in front of me.

"Okay, you two!" I said, "I want you to listen very closely. You are to hide in this bush and remain here until I come and bring you out to take you to the woods. Do you understand me?"

Both of them saluted me with a grunt. Very cute. I loved it.

Suddenly, the bell rang and the doors started to open.

"Go! Go!" I whispered as they rustled into the bush and sat down perfectly still.

They nodded as I got up and said as I walked away, "Remember, don't move."

I quickly grabbed my backpack and looked towards the doors. Nobody was looking at me. Good, it worked.

"Thomas!" I heard someone yell.

I turned to see Tucker, Jocinda, and Kaname walk over to the table. I waved to them as they sat down with me and pulled out their lunches.

"So, Thomas," Tucker said with a cocky grin as he opened his yogurt, "I never knew you were a big fan of bushes…"

Oh, no. Don't tell me. Did Tucker see me right as he got out of the building? Did Jocinda and Kaname see me too?

I made a face as I scoffed, "Heh, what're you talking about, hothead?"

"Don't start with me, man," he replied, "I saw you crouching in front of that bush and talking to it when I walked out."

I became nervous as I replied with a smirk, "No, I wasn't."

"Sorry, Thomas," I heard Jocinda say as she took a sip of lemonade, "but we all saw you. You were talking to it right before you came to the table."

"So, what's with the bush?" Tucker looked at it and then back at me, "Is it poison ivy? Can I get some to shove down Craig Perkins' shirt?"

Kaname shook his head and groaned, "Tucker, don't even start. You already got an in-school suspension today with him…"

"Oh, come on," Tucker whined, "The battle with him is just getting fun!"

YES! Although it was wrong for my heart to jump for joy at hearing Tucker getting in trouble again, it got the conversation off of Buizel and Poochyena's hiding place. I had to keep it going to prevent distraction.

"Somebody want to fill me in on what just happened?" I asked with a grin.

Now that I mentioned it, Tucker had several bruises on his face and arms.

"Tucker began shooting off his big mouth about how fire Pokémon are the 'number one' type ever," Kaname groaned, "Then, a student named Craig Perkins yelled at him about how no matter how hot the flames were; all fighting-types would squash it, because they were the best ever. This ticked Tucker off, and the two got into a fist-fight."

Jocinda gave a look of disgust at Tucker and explained, "Then, the teacher walked into the room and saw them. She gave Craig a detention. The reason Tucker has an in-school suspension is that he was currently beating up Craig when she saw the fight."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Tucker and said grinning, "So, in other words, I take it you took this Craig kid down gently?"

He laughed as he ate some of his yogurt, "Oh, yeah, but I wouldn't use the word 'gently', Thomas."

"Enough!" Jocinda snapped, "Really, Tucker! Did you have to stoop to his level?"

"Oh, geez, give me a break!" Tucker snapped back annoyed, "They sent him home, didn't they? So we don't have to worry about tension between us today!"

"Wait," I cut in, "they sent Craig home? I thought Tucker had the harsher punishment."

"Craig had a broken nose after the fight," Kaname groaned.

"A broken nose?" I exclaimed in shock.

Kaname nodded as he rubbed his left shoulder, "Yep, they sent him home with a note to his parents. He may be the one that suffered most from the fight, but I doubt he'll get sympathy from his parents…"

"Best of all," Tucker bragged, "I don't have to worry about going home tonight, because I don't have any parents to tell this to!"

There was a bit of silence from the whole table as Tucker realized his mistake and ditched his attitude.

"Tucker," Kaname said nicely, "You may want to keep comments like that to yourself…"

"I know…" Tucker chimed in response, "I just realized my mistake. I'm really sorry…"

All of us paused for a bit of silence. It was true; like me, Kaname and Tucker's parents did not make it out of the city in time during the incident. Jocinda's parents died of cancer two weeks later. So, the four of us could practically do whatever we wanted and whenever we wanted to.

"I'm depressed," Kaname moaned, "I'm changing the subject. Thomas."

I looked up at him as he said, "Why don't you have lunch today?"

My heart raced about not blowing my cover as I replied, "Oh, I'm really busy today. I'm doing some errands for Old Man Fellows, that's all."

"Oh, how sweet of you," Jocinda said in a singing tune, "I hope he's doing well. It's nice for you to do that for him."

"So, was one of the errands for the old man talking to that bush?" I saw Tucker joke, pointing to the bush with his thumb.

"No!" I snapped as my heart was racing, "Tucker, knock it off about that bush!"

"Come on, Thomas!" he grinned at me, but changed his tone to an annoyed one, "All three of us saw you in front of it when we walked out of the building."

"I was checking my backpack!" I said, "I thought I had left my journal at home, so I was checking it."

Jocinda asked with a concerned face, "Are you telling us the truth?"

It hurt for me to be lying to them, but Buizel and Poochyena's safety was in jeopardy. I had to keep them safe.

"Yes," I said, lying through my teeth.

Suddenly, we heard a finger snap.

We looked at Kaname, who said, "Group whisper."

Uh-oh. 'Group whispers' is when something serious is happening and we discuss it quietly among each other. It was one of the only times Kaname was not lazy. As we all got closer, Kaname looked at me and sighed. He finally spoke words that made me guilty and know I was busted if I didn't come clean.

He whispered, "Thomas, I saw you unzip your hoodie, and two small Pokémon jumped out in front of you. You said something to them and then they hid in the bush, where they still are currently. I swear, Thomas, none of us will breathe a word about this to anyone. You can come clean; tell us what's going on. You can trust us."

Jocinda whispered, "There's two Pokémon in the bush, and YOU were near them?"

Tucker looked at me and whispered, "Thomas, what in the world is going on with you?"

I clenched my hands into fists, but then let them go. I had to come clean there. Besides, there were my friends. I could trust them, as well as Old Man Fellows.

"Okay," I sighed as they listened closely, "The truth is-"

"My, my!" we heard an exciting exclaim, "My eyes must be fooling me!"

No! NO! Don't tell me it's happening! Don't tell me HE FOUND THEM!

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