It was little then several minutes until we exited Tiny Woods and were walking past the West Rescue bases. I felt great! My first mission was a success. I couldn't believe it. Best of all… we had a THEIF help us! How rare is that! We had made it to the bridge as Batsu stopped walking.

"Everybody, stop," he said, "There's something I want to address."

"What is it, Batsu?" Sasuke asked.

"I want to talk about Thomas for a second," he said turning to me, "It's pretty strange how he forgot how to fight after this incident, and today he's saving the day with amazing abilities that would require months of training."

"Yeah, that reads suspicious all over him. How can the pipsqueak do all that crazy battling, yet not dodge a rock I throw at his head?" King agreed.

(HA! See? I told you! In the last chapter, I betted you that Batsu or King would question me about that! I just knew that would come up when we were coming back! I just knew it!)

"Batsu, come on. You and King have been on Thomas' back ever since he's stepped foot here," Naruto said, causing King to slightly growl, "Can't you lay off him for one day?"

"No offense to you, Naruto," Batsu replied as he stepped closer to me, "But I was talking to Thomas, not you."

I blinked in shock as I backed up a bit. Batsu just stepped right closer to me. My brothers and I got really fearful; did he figure it out that I wasn't really a Pokémon? We hoped not. I acted calm though as I lowered my eyebrows as I gave a concerned look.

"What, do you think Sasuke, Naruto, and I would lie about me almost getting killed?" I asked him.

"No, and I take back that statement. That's not what is bothering me," he said, "What's bothering me is that you and King disobeyed orders from Sasuke, who was the leader in this mission."

King glared in annoyance and said, "Tch, I can't believe you're still sore about things like that. So, the pipsqueak and I disobeyed an order. So what?"

"It's a direct disobedience to the rules, King," Batsu said as he glared at him, "If you disobey the rules, you will be banned from being on a Rescue Team. You should be careful of this, considering that you are trying so hard to be a part of a Rescue Team."

I looked at King, as he growled and looked down at the ground. Was he that desperate to become a Rescue Team member? If it was true, that'd explain why he followed us and why he seemed to be angry that Whiscash Elder didn't include him in the team in the first place. And if it was true about him being the younger brother of one of the members of Team A.C.T, one of the best teams in the Pokémon world, then a lot of pressure must've been weighing down on his shoulders.

"Geez, get off my back, Batsu," King said as he looked up, "It was just one broken order. We're not even a team yet, so I can't really get into trouble."

"Besides," I joined in, "you saw what Ariados was going to do to Zev! If I had obeyed my brother then, he would've been killed and eaten!"

"That may have been true," Batsu said as he looked at me with a serious look, "but rules are what keeps this structure of the Rescue Teams going. They are laid down to be followed and obeyed, not to be optional. The next time you try to break the rules, I will stop you to prevent the base of everything the founders of the Rescue Teams be destroyed."

I finally had it with this Riolu. I was sorry that I disobeyed the rules, but if someone was going to die if I didn't break them, then I would be a delinquent. I looked him back in the eyes and didn't falter.

I said, "I don't care what rules you try to force upon me or who you think you are! If somebody is in trouble and needs my help, I'd be willing to be labeled a villain in order to save them, because they matter to me the most! So, go ahead and try to stop me! You will only fail!"

The air of tension between me and Batsu was so thick and palpable, that my brothers and King thought the two of us would start a fight. Both our different views were clashing together with our eyes looking back at each other. Thankfully, we suddenly saw Butterfree and Caterpie run to us, looking worried.

"Oh, thank goodness we found you!" Butterfree gasped, exhausted.

"Huh? What's wrong, miss?" Sasuke asked.

"It's Zev. He's being falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit!" she said.

We all gasped as King rolled his eyes, "He probably did something a while back. He's probably finally getting in trouble for it."

"No! You don't get it!" Caterpie yelled, making King gasp too, "They blaming him for a crime that happened around the time that he helped you guys save me and they want to get rid of him!"

"W-What?!" King said, as he looked back at us completely shocked.

"Th-that is completely false! There's no way he could've done anything!" Naruto said in concern.

"Come on! We gotta get over there!" Sasuke said as we all followed Caterpie and his mom.

"The whole Pokémon Square is at Whiscash Pond! Hurry!" Caterpie called to us as he kept running.

I felt the adrenaline rush through my body as we all made our way into the Square and went north. This had to be the work of somebody who hated Zev. It couldn't go down like this. Just because he has the reputation that was shaky and horrible, doesn't mean they have the right to accuse him like that. I gasped as I saw that tons of Pokémon had gathered there in a crowd. Luckily, there was an open section to the left as we all moved there and looked to see what there was.

There was Team Pitchblack, who I had mentioned earlier, with Houndoom holding a rope in his mouth. It led to Zev, tied badly around his arms and his mouth, preventing him to move or speak. They were standing next to Whiscash Elder and Lucario.

"I see that they bound Zev's mouth well, so he can't speak in his defense," Batsu said, observing the ropes and how they were tied.

"Not only that, it's Team Pitchblack," Sasuke said, "They're not on good terms, like I said earlier."

We looked at Zev, who was on his knees with his eyes closed. He struggled every now and then, but seemed to be very tired from the mission he helped us on. He grunted and tried to speak, but the ropes made him muffle his voice. It was then that Cofagrigus cleared his throat and began to speak.

"My fellow townspeople," he said loudly for them, "Zev the thief once again has been caught for one of his crimes!"

The crowd applauded with uttermost satisfaction and smiles on their faces, except Caterpie, his mom, Batsu, King, me, and my brothers. We were confused on what they were accusing Zev with. We watched as Cofagrigus continued.

"Recently, we chased Zev in a pretty bad chase that led through many places after he stole a bag from somebody," he said, "Finally, we were able to locate him near Sunshine Beach and bring him into custody."

What!? They were lying!? Zev was nowhere near a beach; he was with us the entire time! We blinked in disbelief as we kept hearing him lie to everyone. After he went on about how Zev was so evil and such, he stopped and turned to Whiscash Elder, awaiting his verdict.

"Hmm, this is the thirty-seventh time he's been caught stealing. Normally, I would just send someone to jail for this, but to do this multiple times like Zev has…" the Elder said, "I'd think the best way to deal with him is to ban him from Pokémon Square."

Zev's eyes widened as he heard that. He clenched his hands into fists and exhaled sadly. I think that the way that Whiscash Elder had said it reminded him too much of his father and made him sad. The feeling of sympathy for him became stronger, dwelling in me. I wanted to help him in some way; little did I know, that in a matter of seconds, I would.

Suddenly, Zev grunted in pain as Cofagrigus lifted him up into the air with Psychic. He groaned in pain and tried to remain as stationary and still as he could, because it would be painful. Mandibuzz glared him and Houndoom growled, bearing his fangs.

"Shut up, miserable deliquient!" Cofagrigus commanded, "You have committed too many crimes to beg and plea from the wounds you deserve! Face it; no one would stand up for you now!"

"Actually, I would," I said, as I stepped forward.

Everyone gasped to hear somebody's voice defy that last statement and looked to see me walk forward out of the crowd and face them. Some of the crowd immediately recognized me and began talking amongst themselves about how it was me again defying people. I didn't care at the time, even with my brothers worried sick about me; I needed to try and tell the truth.

"Thomas," Whiscash Elder said, sounding surprised, "I see you made it back and completed your mission?"

I nodded and pointed to Caterpie, who smiled and waved with his mom. The Elder nodded and took note of our success in the mission. Lucario briefly smiled and nodded to Batsu, who got really happy for a bit and smiled proudly. Just to take a quick note of this, I realized that probably he was trying to be like his father, and it made him happy when he was able to make his dad proud.

"Whiscash Elder, who does this kid think he is?" Houndoom asked, "He doesn't have the right to interrupt my leader like that."

"True, but Thomas has proven to me that he has trustworthy to keep a promise and only speaks when something is important," he smiled replying and turning to me, "Thomas, let us hear what you have to say."

"Oh… thanks," I chuckled, blushing a bit and rubbing my head.

Little did I know that my brothers were once again smiling with pride and love. I still wondered why I was so outgoing as a Pokémon. Again, I think it's a Pokémon thing I don't know about and that's the answer, maybe. I saw that Batsu was once again staring at me with an emotionless look, but King with an interested look. Zev opened his eyes to see me and stared at me with helpless and stunned eyes, as if he wasn't believing that I was actually helping him.

"Hey, you rat. What the heck do you think you're doing?" Mandibuzz said hatefully, "You ain't some hero. Shut up and get out of here."

"You better watch your tongue around the presence of the Elder, Mandibuzz," she was taken back by Lucario saying that to her and then turning to me, "Thomas, go ahead."

"Thanks, sir. I don't mean to act like the law and I'm not anyone special," I said, "But if you can give me a few minutes, I can prove to you that Cofagrigus and his team are lying and that Zev didn't do this so-called crime."

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