Here's the next chapter. If you like to recommend any Pokemon (Kanto region for now) to join Charles' team, please leave a review. All of Charles' Pokemon and their names can be found on my profile.

Djinn -Thanks again. Enjoy the next chapter.

Martin – I can't really say now. You are slightly ahead of me.

Guest – I really hope that you're recommending a Pokemon and not commenting on what you think of my story. *Laughs nervously*

("Pokespeech")

Chapter 13: Catching A Hunter

Charles ran into the foyer of the police station followed closely by Alice, Hurricane and Benny.

"What do you mean your Pokemon were stolen? I made sure to lock them up in storage," Alice shouted after Charles.

"Hurricane told me they were stolen," he quickly explained.

"Hurricane? You mean your butterfree."

"Yes," Charles simply replied.

"You can talk to Pokemon," Alice said dismissively, raising an eyebrow.

Charles turned to her sharply, "Yes."

"You're kidding, right?" Alice asked not believing him.

Charles didn't reply but gave her glare.

She sighed in irritation heading to the storage room, "Honestly, do you really think I'm stupid or something," she inserted her keys in the door lock and place her hand on the handle, "Your Pokemon are not stolen because I locked..."

She twisted the key, but it wouldn't go any further. She shook the key in the lock thinking it was stuck, but nothing. Dread overtook her as she pressed down on the handle and door opened easily.

She didn't lock it.

"No," she gasped she rushed through the door and went where she placed his pokeballs. They weren't there.

"No, no, no, please no," she said beginning to panic.

"What did you do now?" came the irritated voice of her older sister as she saw her panic stricken face.

After explaining what happened, Edith was not happy.

"Are you serious, Alice! Somebody stole a trainers pokeballs from police custody!" she shouted at her.

Alice looked down at the ground, feeling too guilty to look up.

Charles, not liking the sight of her upset, decided to step in.

"It's an honest mistake, really. We can track the hunter and get them back," Charles told her, earning a gentle look from Edith.

"That's kind of you to forgive her Charles, but that does not excuse her actions," she returned her annoyed gaze at Alice, "How could you be so stupid?"

Alice looked up at her with angry tears in her eyes.

"I said I was sorry! What more do you want!?" she shouted back at her.

"I want you to stop acting like a brat and learn the consequences of your actions," Edith shot back.

"WELL, I WANT MY SISTER BACK! NOT SOME UPTIGHT OFFICER WHO NEVER GETS OFF MY CASE!" Alice screamed at her.

Edith growled and stomped passed her.

"You two stay here," she ordered them, "I'm going to catch this thief."

At that, Edith stormed out and drove off on her motorcycle.

Charles turned to look at Alice with concern. She was looking at the floor, gritting her teeth and tears streaming down her eyes.

Charles and Benny shared a look. Charles nodded his head towards her subtly conveying a message to him. Benny shook his head, not liking what he planning to do. His brother ignored him, however, and did the first thing that came to his mind.

He hugged her.

Alice stiffened at the contact but made no effort to move away. Charles could feel Alice's tears fall on his chest as they dripped from her eyes. Slowly but surely, she returned the hug.

"I hate her," she sobbed into Charles' shoulder.

"No, you don't," Charles calmly told her, "you just love her so much that you can't bear to see her act differently, that's all."

Alice sniffed, "I just want her back."

They stood like this for a couple more moments. Charles peered over Alice shoulder to look at Benny. He mouthed the words 'told you'. Benny rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Alice pushed back from Charles and coughed in embarrassment.

"Thanks for... that," she said as she wiped her tears away.

She turned on her heel and walked behind the front desk. Ducking under it for a second, she came up again with a pokeball in her hand and made her way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Charles asked, "Your sister told us to-"

"It was my fault that your Pokemon were stolen and now I'm getting them back," Alice interrupted him, "are you coming or what?"

Charles and Benny shared another glance before they made their way over to her.

"Let's go save our family," Charles said in determination as Benny jumped onto his shoulder, "Hurricane do you think you can lead us where Flo was headed?"

Hurricane did a small loop in joy, ("Of course I can, I'm an excellent tracker,") the butterfree boasted headed out the door.

("LET'S GO!") he shouted flying quickly into the air.

Charles, Benny and Alice looked at the direction he headed with deadpanned looks.

After a couple of seconds, Hurricane returned sheepishly.

("I guess I have to make sure you guys can follow, huh,") he said nervously.

("That would be preferable,") Benny told him with an annoyed glare.

The Forest

Flo crept silently among the trees. Making sure she wouldn't step on any twigs or anything that will make a loud noise.

Alette began to make worried whimpers in her arms, but Flo petted her head comfortingly.

They had been following the thief for a while now and were approaching his camp.

Flo frowned, 'I have no idea how he got them or what he did to my Cha- I mean- Charles. Just Charles. I don't own him or anything…' her frown turned into a flustered look for a second, 'but I'm going to find out,' she thought determinedly.

They ducked down behind a bush and peered into the hunter's camp. He was turned away from her, inspecting Charles pokeballs.

"Come on, come on. Open up will ya." the thief muttered as he tried to open the ball with a knife.

The pokeball finally opened and, in a beam of light, Fleur appeared. She looked around confused at her surroundings for a moment.

"Well, well, well. So, we meet again," the thief darkly mocked making the oddish look towards him.

The oddish instantly recognised the man. She began to shout at him and prepared an attack, but the thief just laughed picked her up and threw her roughly into a metal cage.

"Now try and get in my way, runt," the man chuckled darkly as Fleur rammed into the metal bars.

The thief stood up and took a pokeball off his own belt.

"Time to deal with the second annoyance," he said as he released the Pokemon.

Flo recognised it as a Haunter, a ghost Pokemon with a floating, black body and two clawed hands that floated in front of it.

"Haunter use Dark Pulse," the thief ordered pointing towards where Flo and Alette were hiding.

Flo reacted on instinct and jumped out of the way of the dark energy ball the Haunter shot at her. Unfortunately, her action caused her and Alette to get out of their hiding spot and into full view of the thief.

The man laughed as Flo gritted her teeth in anger as she stood up.

Now she had a better look at him. He was about six foot tall, muscular and was wearing a leather jacket and jeans. His hair was short, and he had stubble over his chin and cheeks. An eye patch covered his right eye, and he had a large, jagged scar on his left cheek.

Flo sighed in disappointment.

The man instantly stopped laughing at her sigh.

"Hey! Why did you sigh like that!?"

"Oh, nothing," Flo responded in a dull tone, "I'm just…disappointed."

"Disappointed? About what?" he demanded.

"It's just that you look like a textbook hunter, that's all," Flo responded, "the crew cut, the scar, the leather jacket. I mean come on you even have an eye patch. Did you put any original contributions into your…ensemble?"

The hunter growled, "I have you know, that when I was created, they broke the mould," he shot back.

Flo and Alette giggle, "Yeah sure," she remarked sarcastically, "I bet if I type in the words 'evil hunter' into any web browser the first image that will come up will be a cartoon character that looks like you."

"S-shut up!" the hunter shouted, feeling a tad insecure, "aren't you going to demand for the pokeballs or something?"

"Is there any point? You're obviously not going to give them back," she retorted, with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly, kids these days," the hunter muttered, "I've been following you two ever since you stole my prey from me," he informed, "that green oddish is rare and I can sell it for a decent price. The other Pokemon aren't bad either," he smirked.

"Her name is Lilly, and she is part of our family," Flo retorted, "We'll fight you if we have to."

Alette nodded in agreement and jumped to the ground, ready for battle.

"Fine," the hunter smirked, "may I have the name of my next victim."

Flo hummed in annoyance, "It's Flo and let me guess your name is like Striker or something," she said jokingly.

"How did you know that?" the hunter known as Striker asked in confusion.

….

….

.…

….

"Are you serious!? Did you really name yourself Striker!?" Flo shouted in disbelief, "I was actually joking."

"Shut up, girlie! Are we going to fight or what!" Striker shouted in embarrassment.

Flo sighed, "Sexist too. Again, so unoriginal."

(Battle Start)

Flo and Alette stood across Striker and Haunter challengingly.

'Remember Flo, let him attack first and counter. You've so Charles do this plenty of times,' she said to herself.

As Flo predicted, Striker ordered first.

"Haunter use Dark Pulse."

The ghost Pokemon sent an orb of dark energy at Alette.

Flo smiled to herself, 'Perfect.'

"Alette dodge and use Copycat," Flo instructed.

The clefairy managed to get away in time and the Dark Pulse passed her. From her hands, she sent a Dark Pulse at Haunter. The Pokemon was expecting the retaliation and it was hit directly, sending it back a couple of meters.

"Huh?" Striker called out in surprise.

"Copycat and copy their foe's move. Since Haunter is weak against dark type moves like Dark Pulse, it would be an effective move," Flo explained with a smirk.

Striker growled, "I thought you were a nurse."

Flo giggled, "That may be so, but I am a nurse who's known a great battler for five years," she declared.

Striker frowned, "Fine, Haunter use Scary Face," he demanded.

Haunter recovered from the previous attack and got in front of Alette's face. Showing off his razor sharp teeth, Alette jumped back in fright away from the haunter.

"Alette don't worry. You're okay," Flo calmed her down.

The clefairy turned to her and saw her reassuring face. Alette smiled and nodded confidently.

"Good girl," Flo encouraged, "use Metronome," Flo instructed.

Flo knew that this move was risky, but Alette mainly know normal moves which won't be effective against a ghost type. Everybody watched with bated breath as they watched Alette wave her stubby, glowing arms left and right.

Finally, Alette's right arm grew dark with energy. Jumping at the shocked haunter, Alette delivered a powerful Sucker Punch which sent him hurtling back.

"Yes! Well done, Alette!" Flo shouted as the clefairy landed on the ground again.

Striker snarled in irritation as he saw Haunter would last very long.

"Useless Pokemon," he muttered, "Time to end this."

Striker pointed at the clefairy and demanded, "Haunter, use Hypnosis."

The haunter's eyes began to glow as he sent his Hypnosis at Alette.

The clefairy didn't have time to move and was under its effects.

"No, Alette!" Flo cried out in shock as her partner swayed and eventually fell to the ground asleep.

"This is what you get when you mess with Striker," the hunter proclaimed proudly, "Haunter, use Dream Eater."

"Alette, please wake up!" Flo shouted in panic.

But it was too late.

She saw Alette fidget in her sleep as if she were having a bad dream and then, to Flo's horror, Alette fainted.

(Battle End)

Flo ran up to Alette and held her in her arms.

"I'm so sorry," Flo apologised sadly, "I got distracted."

She looked up with a scowl as Striker approached.

"Whatcha going to do now, gir-ahhh!" Striker began to say before an electric attack zapped in front of him.

They turned around to see where the attack had come from. Flo smiled in relief while Striker frowned in annoyance at the appearance of Charles and Benny…and a girl that looks like an Officer Jenny but appeared to be Flo's age.

"Charles!" Flo shouted in relief as the they ran over.

"Are you alright, Flo?" Charles asked in worry.

"I'm good," Flo told him, "what happened? Why does he have the team?"

"That's my fault," the blue haired girl answered guiltily, "I arrested him and didn't lock up the supply room properly."

Flo blinked for a moment at the answer. She turned to Charles with a deadpanned look.

"I leave you for one day and you get arrested," she told him critically.

"I didn't do anything," Charles answered in an offended tone.

"If I can interrupt," Striker growled from behind them.

They all turned to him with hate-filled looks. Alice's, Charles', and Benny's looks, however, turned into one of amusement.

"Are you serious," Charles chuckled, "he looks like a textbook evil hunter."

("I know right, he looks like he should be in a cartoon,") Benny added.

"I think the eyepatch is a bit much though," Alice said, causing the hunter to frown angrily.

"And you know the best part," Flo piped up, "his name is Striker."

Everybody laughed at the hunter's expense. Even the haunter chuckled a little.

"Striker, really? Could he of picked a more douchebaggier name," Charles laughed.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Striker shouted, "I have your Pokemon and one more comment about the way I look, and I will start hurting them," he threatened.

Charles face instantly became furious. It was quite frightening how fast his reaction was.

"You dare hurt them in anyway and you'll regret it, old man," Charles darkly said, "you want a fight I give you a fight. Benny use Iron Tail," he demanded.

(Battle Start)

("You got it,") Benny said with a snarl as he leaped from Charles' shoulder. His tail glowing, ready to strike.

Striker chuckled, "Haunter use Curse," he ordered.

"What?" Charles asks in disbelief, his eyes widening in horror.

Haunter seemed hesitant to use the move, but it did so anyway. Taking a nail from somewhere, the haunter pushed it into his body wincing in pain as he did. Before he could react, Benny felt a sheer pain in his body and dropped to the ground in agony.

Haunter gave a whimper in pain, before falling to the ground and fainted.

(Battle End)

Everybody stared in horror as Striker recalled Haunter back into his pokeball.

"I can't believe he did that," Flo uttered in shock.

"What happened?" Alice asked her as Charles picked Benny up.

"Curse is a move that could do serious damage on your opponent and repeats after every move," Charles answered as he cradled his brother in his arms, "However, it also causes critical damage to the user as well," he glared up at Striker, "doing that to Haunter when he was in that state was cruel."

"So, what," Striker shrugged, "he was useless anyway. Now I can use my second Pokemon while your one is taking damage," he said pulling out another pokeball from his belt.

Striker opened the pokeball to reveal a Pokemon he was not familiar with. It looked like a preying mantis, with a green body and sharp scythes at the end of its limbs.

The Pokemon looked around, until it focused on Charles and Benny.

("I'm sorry,") it apologised, ("but he is my boss.")

Charles nodded in understanding before taking out his pokedex.

Scyther: With ninja-like agility and speed, it can create the illusion that there is more than one.

Charles looked down at Benny. He couldn't let him fight, not with Curse in place.

'I guess I have to go with Hurricane,' Charles thought reaching for his other pokeball.

"Wait!" Alice's voice shouted from behind him, "I'll battle him."

Charles turned to her in surprise.

"Alice are you sure? Have you ever been in a battle before?" he asked in concern.

"A couple of times," she said, "but this is my fault and therefore my responsibility."

Charles looked at her for a couple of moments before nodding, "Alright, good luck," he said, earning a small smile from her.

"Are we going to battle or what?" Striker said getting impatient.

Alice rolled her eyes and stood off against the hunter.

(Battle Start)

"Growlithe come on out," Alice declared releasing the Pokemon she retrieved from behind the front desk.

Growlithe resembled a dog with orange and white fur with black fur stripes. Like chansey and Nurse Joys, growlithes and Officer Jennys are usually seen together. Charles took the opportunity to scan it.

Growlithe: Very protective of its territory. It will bark and bite to repel intruders from its space.

The growlithe looked around curiously trying to figure out what was going on. Its vision than settled on its opponent and its training kicked in.

"Use Ember," Alice ordered.

Growlithe, opened his mouth wide and shot out small flames of fire at the Scyther.

"Sycther dodge than use Double Team," Striker demanded.

Faster then anybody could see, the Scyther moved out of the way of Ember and started making copies of itself. Growlithe was surrounded and beginning to panic.

"Damn," Alice muttered, "Growlithe use Flame Thrower on all of them," she instructed.

The growlith began shooting a jet of flames out of his mouth, trying to hit the real opponent.

Striker chuckled darkly, "Pathetic. Use False Swipe," he ordered.

"Oh no!" Charles and Flo cried out in shock.

Before Alice could do anything, the real Scyther jumped out and, with its glowing blade arm, struck Growlithe. The Pokemon was sent hurtling back and skidded across the ground.

Alice stood in shock as the growlithe started to shakily get onto his feet. She didn't know what to do. Scyther was too fast for any direct moves and Growlithe was too weak to do anything else.

'Maybe, Edith was right,' she thought glumly to herself, 'I am too immature.'

She closed her eyes in sadness. Only feeling the wind through the forest and the sun coming down through the…

'Wait!' she thought suddenly glancing up at the sky.

It was approaching late afternoon, but the sun was still shining through.

She knew what she can do.

Striker smirked, "Scyther, finish that pathetic Pokemon with Quick Attack."

The Sycther sighed, ("Yes, boss,") it muttered reluctantly.

The Scyther dashed towards the weak growlith, ready to strike. However, Alice was prepared.

"Growlithe use Sunny Day," she ordered.

Growlithe gave a weak growl before it body began to glow brightly. Using the sun, Growlith was able to boost his attack whilst blinding the Scyther. The bug Pokemon came to a halt unable to see.

"Scyther no!" Striker shouted, but it was too late for them.

Alice grinned, "Now that you have your boost, use Flame Wheel."

The fire Pokemon enveloped himself in flames and shot himself at the unsuspecting Scyther. The impact was critical, and the bug Pokemon was sent hurtling back into Striker.

Striker and Scyther have been knocked out.

(Battle End)

Striker groaned as he sat up. Looking up he saw he was surrounded by the three kids and their Pokemon. Benny and Alette had recovered from the battles and were growling down at him. Charles, Alice, and Flo were showing proud smirks as Striker started to look worried.

"So…" Striker started nervously, "would you like to negotiate or…"

"I think we can negotiate once we get you down to that station," a new voice emerged.

Edith walked up behind the kids, holding a pair of handcuffs.

Striker gulped.

"We've been looking for you for a long time, Leslie Humperdinck," Edith continued.

"Don't call me that," Leslie shouted at her, "my name is Striker."

Charles, Alice, and Flo shared a look before turning back to the hunter.

"Actually, we think Leslie kind of suits you," Charles said honestly.

"Yeah, it's much better than Striker," Flo piped up.

Leslie whimpered in displeasure.

Police Station

They took Leslie (previously known as Striker) back to that station. Charles was making sure his whole team was alright and apologising to them for being careless. They all forgave him, of course. Some of them didn't even know they had been stolen.

Fleur was the last Pokemon he needed to speak to; he had already apologised to her sister. He kneeled in front of the oddish who looked up at him with a blank look.

"Fleur, I'm really sorry," Charles apologised sadly, "I promised you that your sister would not be harmed and…I messed up. I understand if you don't want to travel with us anymore."

Fleur looked at him and then glanced at her sister. She was currently talking happily to Hurricane and Cleo in the corner of the station.

The oddish sighed, ("Yeah, you did mess up…I guess,") she started, ("but look,") she pointed at her sister with her leaves, ("I never seen my sister so happy before and…I don't want to see her upset if we leave. And I guess I don't want to leave either,") she bashfully admitted.

Charles smiled at her, "Thank you, Fleur," he said before the oddish got into Charles's face.

("Mess up again and I will make sure you be stunned for the rest of the year, got it,") Fleur threatened low enough so her sister didn't hear.

Charles nodded, feeling slightly afraid of her.

("Good,") Fleur said as she made her way towards her sister.

Charles stood up and walked over to where Flo, with Benny on her lap, and Alice were sat on the foyer couch. Charles introduced Alice to Flo and became friends since they could relate to the problems of being in a family where all the women look the same.

The both of them looked up when Charles sat down next to Alice.

"So, how did it go?" Flo asked curiously.

"Surprisingly well actually. I thought Fleur would at least shout at me, but I guess she's just glad her sister is alright," Charles answered as all of them looked at the Fleur des Lis sisters.

Alice sighed sadly as she watched the sisters happily interact with each other. She looked at her own sister behind the front desk. She noticed how Edith was making subtle glances at her when she thought she wasn't looking.

Alice stood up, "I'll be back in a moment," she to the others as she walked over to the desk.

Charles and Flo shared a glance as Alice walked away.

Edith was busy writing something on her desk when she heard somebody clearing their throat. She was surprised to see her sister had appeared looking anxious.

"Err…hey," Alice greeted awkwardly.

Edith placed her pen down, "Yeah…err…hey yourself," she greeted back, just as awkwardly.

Silence fell between them.

"So…" Edith started, "it turns out Leslie don't need the eyepatch. he just wears it because he thinks it looks cool."

Alice gave a short chuckle, "Really, so not only is he a hunter and sexist, but he's mocking people with vision impairment."

Edith laughed as well, "I know right. As if he wasn't bad enough."

Silence fell again.

"I watched your battle," Edith said, "I didn't want to interrupt, but you did great."

"Thanks," Alice replied, "how did you know where we were?"

Edith shrugged, "Sisterly instinct, I guess."

"Yeah."

Once more silence fell.

"I'm sorry," Alice and Edith said at the same time, surprising them both.

"You're sorry?" Alice uttered in disbelief, "What for?"

Edith bowed her head sadly.

"When I was coming home from the academy, I was so looking forward to seeing you again, but then I returned you had…changed," Edith explained.

"Changed?" Alice repeated in disbelief.

Edith nodded her head, "You were always going on about leaving to go on a journey and you've picked up new hobbies. I missed so much of your life, that I realised that when I was away…you had grown up," Edith said as tears formed in her eyes, "I was so in denial that I started to become sterner with you and always taking mum's side in arguments. But when I saw you battling that hunter…I realised, deep down, that I just didn't want you to change from when you were younger. I just wanted my old sister back."

Alice's hands clasped Edith's comfortingly, "Edith, I thought you were the one who changed and didn't want anything to with me. That's why I started to resent you," Alice said as tears started to stream from her eyes.

"What? I would never not want anything to do with you," Edith said, "You're my sister and I love you."

Alice made her way behind the desk and hugged her sister, "I love you too. I guess we both changed, and we didn't even realise it," Alice sobbed in her embrace.

Edith hummed in agreement, "I guess we have to get used to the new us, huh?"

Alice nodded in agreement.

From afar, Charles and Flo watched the scene, happy that the sisters are no longer fighting.

Edge of Town

Tomorrow had arrived and Charles, with Benny on his shoulder, and Flo were preparing to leave the small town.

"Well, that was an experience," Charles mused as he looked at a map.

("You're telling me,") Benny remarked.

"So, which way are we heading?" Flo asked Charles.

The trainer hummed as he stared at the map.

"Well, I thought we could-"

"Hey!" a voice called out making them jump in surprise.

They turned around to see, Alice running up towards them. She was no longer wearing her sister's uniform, but instead she wore a comfortable hiking outfit and a large backpack.

Alice smiled brightly as she caught up to them, "Hi guys," she greeted.

"Alice, is there something wrong?" Flo asked in confusion.

The blue haired girl shook her head.

"Nope, I finally convinced mum, with help from Edith, to let me go on a journey and I thought I could travel with you two," Alice explained sheepishly.

Charles and Flo glanced at each other and smiled in agreement.

"Of course, you can," Charles said, "welcome to the team."

Alice beamed, "Thank you," she then turned to Charles, "and thank you Charles for helping me with my sister. I don't what I would do without you."

"It's no problem, Alice," Charles told her, "I'm just happy that you two are on good terms."

Charles gave her a warm smile that made Alice blush. She returned a bashful smile of her own.

Flo, having seen her blush, jumped in between them with an annoyed smile and a tick mark on her forehead.

"Alright, we're losing daylight here. We should probably go," she said with a fake kind tone.

Benny just sweat dropped at the scene.

The team started their trek through the forest and towards Charles' next gym battle. Enjoying the scenery and the breeze passing by them.

"So," Alice started, "are you going to explain to me how you can speak to Pokemon?" she asked in teasing tone.

"Oh right," Charles said, realising he hadn't explained his ability, "so seven years ago, I was found by a chansey who became my mother…"

Hope you enjoyed the lasted instalment of TGPT.

Alice had joined the team and she took the growlithe she used in her battle with Lesley. I will explain more in the next chapter.

See you next time :)

Potential Pokemon list:

· Eevee

· Abra

· Vulpix

· Nidoran

· Gastley

· Bellesprout

· Ponyta

Next Time: The team meet the evillest person in the Pokemon franchise: Damian.