Well, it was late evening when we had gotten to my house. The crisp and chilly winds had swept through the outside city streets. Meanwhile, all of us in my house were nice and cozy…. Well, maybe the cozy part. It was mostly ugly (the circumstance, not a face description, gosh) in the room. I was barely able to speak a word though. The message we received cut through me like a sharp-steeled sword through a weak shield. Matty, on the other hand, was recapping out loud.

"Okay, let me get this straight," he said unimpressed, "Mr. Pepperridge is this rotten jerk who has basically harassed Thomas every day of his life to attend a school."

"That's correct," Principal Vicar said shortly.

"And, so he deliberately did this whole scheme to force Thomas to become a trainer at the school?" Matty asked.

"Correct again," the principal answered.

The boy asked, "Then, he flips Thomas over the edge and gets pummeled and fired."

The principal answered again, "Correct."

"And now, you're telling us," Matty asked, raising his voice, "that this guy just gave false information about Thomas to the police to get him into trouble!?"

"Unfortunately," Principal Vicar said with utter regret, "every word you just spoke is the truth, Matty. Mr. Pepperridge apparently went to thepolice and spread lies about Thomas stealing Buizel and Poochyena from him and the school. He's also claiming he's got those six people who stalked him as witnesses to take him in."

What the heck!? What is this man doing for crying out loud!? Has the world lost its mind? This once dignified and moral-loving man has flipped!

"So, now what? Am I gonna get arrested soon?" I asked.

Hearing that question made Poochyena whimper. We all turned to see the puppy shake his head 'no'. He was protesting, talking in his Pokélanguage that it wasn't fair for this to happen and that he would never leave me. I felt so sad and honored at the same time. I mean, I didn't want him to get hurt or in trouble because of MY actions, but I felt wonderful that someone was willing to stand up for me.

Buizel sat behind him and hugged him around his belly. He snuggled his face into Poochyena's shoulders. He started talking to him, telling it would be all right and they were gonna stay with me. Poochyena relaxed a great deal, once Buizel started rubbing his tummy and whispering encouragement. I could tell that the otter was the oldest of the two. But I was beginning to think of things…. Things I'll reveal later. Right now, let's get back to the issue.

"Well, currently," Old Man Fellows explained to me, "No, you won't be arrested. That's because of two reasons. The first being the police still have to talk to you and then write a warrant, depending on the conversation."

"The second," Principal Vicar continued for him, "is that we have a ton of evidence against Mr. Pepperridge's claim to make you innocent."

"What is the evidence?" Purgy asked.

"Well, without you kids knowing, I actually reported the Hyper Beam incident to the police the day Thomas "took back" Buizel and Poochyena to the wild," Principal Vicar stated, shocking us kids, "So already, the police are keeping an eye on Mr. Pepperridge. At this point in time, they are leaning towards our side more. So, don't worry about it."

"The second evidence we have," Old Man Fellows winked at me and said, "is that Thomas has more witnesses that he does. He has six people who are on his side, while we have ten witnesses, including the two Pokémon who are being reported as stolen."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Jocinda apologized and added, "but also it's perfectly clear who Buizel and Poochyena love. If they set them down and tell them to choose, of course they'll pick Thomas."

"And, we have the recordings I got from the tape recorder," Kaname said, showing it, "I got everything from the Walkie-Talkie conversation to when Thomas yelled at him."

"Wait, I thought you shut that off," Molly said.

"I never said I turned it off," Kaname smirked, making all of us smile too, "I even have Mr. Pepperridge's own voice saying he's behind all of this and ours proving we were witnesses."

"Excellent," Matty said, "Heh, now there's no way the police will believe him over us."

I looked down once I heard a happy bark. Poochyena was wagging his tail and panting with his tongue out. Hehe, looks like he agreed with that point. Buizel smiled and nodded. I smiled at them and then looked back at the discussion.

"And also, Thomas owns the two Luxury Balls they were caught with. Add that to the receipt he still has in his backpack and the clerk being able to identify him from his disguise, and Thomas is all set to go," Lyr also added.

We heard a sigh from Old Man Fellows. Something told me it wasn't anything to relax about.

"As if things were that easy, Lyr. Right, sir?" Purgy asked.

"Correct," he replied, "If only things were that easy in real life, we'd be celebrating, Lyr. It's easier said than done."

Principal Vicar nodded, cleared his throat, and said to me, "Thomas, at early morning tomorrow, Mr. Pepperridge, Old Man Fellows, some officers, and I will be coming to your house to bring you to the police department, where we will hear both of you at the same time and then schedule a court date to take care of the matter. What do you say, Thomas?"

Court date? You mean I was getting sued? For what? Standing up to the man who had relentlessly "stalked" me to the ends of the earth? No way was I going to participate in that. Buizel and Poochyena looked back up at me, pondering about what my next move was.

I took a deep breath and said, "Look, I'm not playing Mr. Pepperridge's game. I'm not going to the Pokémon School."

"Good," Principal Vicar started to say, "Then we'll pick yo-"

However, I startled him and everyone, as I cut him off and said, "But I'm not going to court either about this! I mean, how do I know if Mr. Pepperridge hasn't bribed any of the police with money?"

"Thomas, he wouldn't do that," he said.

"Oh, really? Not after he stalked me with six people?" I asked irritated and said, "No way! I'm not going!"

Everyone gasped when they heard that. Molly sat up and looked at me.

"Thomas, you can't do that! You're gonna in trouble if you try to resist them!" she said.

"The police can't get me in trouble, if they don't know where I am," I said, folding my arms.

Old Man Fellows opened his eyes wider. He was shocked at my statement. Deep down, I knew that he knew what I meant, but a part of him didn't want to believe it.

"T-Thomas… you aren't s-s…. suggesting?" he struggled to ask.

"Yes, sir, I am," I responded with seriousness and determination, "Everyone, please help me pack my things; I am leaving Kilyla City."

"W-WHAT!?" Tucker yelled, as everyone was surprised and listened to me more.

"Well, not permanently," I assured my friends mostly, "I'll just keep away from the island until this incident dies out. Once it's over, I'll come back."

"U-Uh, I don't think that's allowed, is it?" Lyr asked.

"Not necessarily," Old Man Fellows explained, "According to Kilyla City law, unless the police has a warrant for his arrest and are detaining him at the exact moment, Thomas can leave Kilyla City whenever he wants to. Plus, the police here cannot send the information to the main land of wherever he leaves, because it's not enough physical evidence to convict him there."

I nodded with a smirk when Tucker exclaimed happily, "This is perfect! All we gotta do then is pack Thomas up…"

"Sneak him out before anyone notices he's gone…" Matty continued.

"Get him onto a boat…" Purgy continued.

"And then he's home-free!" Jocinda said overjoyed.

Principal Vicar chuckled and said to me, "I knew somehow you were going to make up this sort of emergency back-up plan, so I'm way ahead of all of you. I scheduled a private boat for you and your Pokémon to get out of Kilyla City and into a small alcove of the Hoenn region. I'll escort you there safely with a few of my friends, who happen to be police officers. They'll step in and arrest Mr. Pepperridge or whoever might interrupt it."

I stood up with a grin and said, "All right; we got the back-up plan rolling! Let's get packing and get this thing planned out, ready to start!"

With that, everyone of us gathered in a circle and started to talk about it. What none of us knew is that when I had announced I would be leaving, Buizel and Poochyena both raised an eyebrow and headed upstairs. I didn't know then, but at the time, they started to seriously discuss something between themselves. It was like they knew how to help me and fix this problem, but they didn't want to tell me until the right time. And I hope you readers pay close attention to this paragraph, cause it will become a KEY PLAYER TO THE REST OF THE STORY.

-