Lisa the Legend: Chapter 82 - Last Night on Earth now up! (24th June 2013)

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everyone.

Kirby: Yeah, a nice cliffhanger, just for a change. I agrre with you entirely; if Gavin had his psychic, it would be a great help, especially with what's coming in the very next chapter ... you'll see what happens when I post it! And yes, he should get practising, if he could use his powers.

Thanks for reading as usual. I'll try to get the next chapter done soon: I don't want to leave you hanging too long!

Brit Chris: G'day mate. Was it unexpected for you, too? It was for me as well ... I wasn't sure how I was going to lead into the next chapter, but this just sort of happened - and it all works out perfectly in the coming sequence of events, which is good.

Tara: Hey! Long time no see! I know that chapter was pretty short - about 3000 words or something - but it kind of had to be; it was leading into the next chapter, which is bigger in most ways. Not MUCH bigger in length (the next few chapters are back to my normal length, 3500-4500 words) but chapter 47 is more eventful and more interesting, I think. This chapter was a bit filler compared to some others, but ... well, you know me too well in terms of what I'm going to do with this chapter.

Cheers!

[Andrew]

You'd think Lisa would know damn well not to jump into trouble at every word go. Doesn't she remember she was KIDNAPPED a few times.... silly silly girl. That storm sounded nasty. Poor things. But those Spinaraks reminded me of the mummy with the way they got in your head and stuff... Nasty Scarabs.

Skarmony for Gavin eh, should be interesting, but he's a bit of liar eh! He could've battled Jess with that, but he lied! LIAR!

But why didn't Lisa check the bag while she stood there? Found out whose it was...
And I reckon we'll see damn Entei again. And Raioku the ugliest Legendary ever.

[mistysakura]

Grr... cliffhangers... you do them well, don't you? You're good at building suspense, except where the Spinarak's web was involved; the suspense declined a bit there, weird ly enough, becuase it kind of took our minds off the explosion.
Good description though, especially of the web. Now I'm hooked again; damn.

[Cooltrainer]

Wow! I've just read the last two chapters and what can I say? It's getting better and better!

I still don't know what's been going on with the legendaries and Team Rocket (wether they still exist or not) and where it is leading but I know I want to see what happens next. What drives her there? Please post soon coz I can't wait!

Keep it up!

- A.J.


PS: It's the first fic I've really liked and read through all 46 chapters (God they're many!!!) twice. How many chapters are you planning anyway?

[Gavin Luper]

Ozzy: Good afternoon, nice to see you, old chap.

Typical Lisa hey. She should really learn, it's not a hard concept to grab a hold of. Still, this is Lisa we're talking about. LOL @ Gavin-Skarmory. LIES! ALL LIES! As for the bag, um ... it was locked. Yes. That will do. And I'm not telling what's next. Cheerio!

mistysakura: I should really have given up cliffhangers for lent, I just keep throwing them in there! At least they get people hooked. Yeah, the web thingy was a bit anti-suspense, but I threw it in there for fun, and for a reason too. As I always seem to do ... seeya round!

AJ: Hows it going? Thanks for reading and stuff, I don't know if it's getting better and better but I hope so usually. Keep reading mate, the next chapter is going to be a big one! And some questions will be answered!

PS: WOW! You've read them all twice? Congratulations! For the grand total of chapters, we're looking at around 55-60, somewhere in between those two anyway. It's getting pretty close ... and the BIG chapters are coming soon!

Cheers everyone! Chapter 47 up soon!

[mr_pikachu]

All right! Another LtL chapter! Sweet! It was a filler, but still, sweet!

Nice action. The last few chapters haven had a lot of that, huh? Well, it's been a nice contrast throughout, wioth some chapters being simple battles or finding out information, and the others as intense as if my own house was being raided by TR. ..... *checks hallway* ...okay, then...

Lisa's insane with getting herself in trouble. I mean, come ON! Can't she show a little restraint, at least once?! Still, she's definitely a memorable character. Good work with her development.

As for Gavin, well, he seems to have lost a bit of his... er... snazziness. It's like ever since he's been back, he's been dull, under-expressive, and/or just plain angry at someone (or in this chapter's case, something. Hey, I'm afraid of spiders too, Gav...). I don't know if that's meant to be a plot twist, but it seems like he's been jerkified since he left. (Yes, that's a made up word. So sue me.) Either way, it introduces some interesting contrast between Lisa and Gavin... but it's so dang frustrating! Show some spirit, Gavin!

And another cliffhanger... rrgh! You frustrate me so much with these tantalizing thought provokers! I can't get it out of my head! Aah! La la la... I can't hear the cliffhanger... dang... not working... okay, then... Pikachu... you know there is no other... I choose you!... Because you are my brother...

Well, good job, anyway. If only we could all write this intense of a filler!

[Chris 2.1]

Yea, Gav, maybe you can rw-write Pokemon Johto episodes. The 4th season was such a fillery slice of bile I think it needs re-written by someone who knows what a 'filler' really is

[SSMGoku]

Sweet Chapter.i can't wait to see what happens next.

[ZeldaFan20]

And Raioku the ugliest Legendary ever.

Ugly?! Raikou's not ugly, it's one of the coolest Legendaries I've ever seen---and I love cats, so I should know!

Getting back to the chapter, it certainly sounds exciting! I wonder what caused all the explosions...I hope those three Legendaries aren't fighting again ! I have so many more questions, but I won't bore you. Just make sure the next chapter answers them, 'kay?

[Gavin Luper]

Hi Everybody!

mr_pikachu: Thanks! Yeah, the chapters have been a bit here and there lately ... you should find the next bunch pretty good to read - I hope, anyway. The Dervine Saga is shaping up to be great, too.

As for the character development ... well, you've reacted as I hoped people would, as far as Gavin and Lisa are concerned. But the next five chapters or so see a lot more development, a couple of new characters.

Brit Chris: I haven't ever seen the 4th season (I stopped watching years ago) but from what I have read/heard, they were pretty crappy on the whole. I hope my fillers aren't that bad!

SSMGoku: Thanks for reading, more coming soon. Btw, are you by any chance SuperSonic Mewtwo, from the old forums? I just noticed the SSM part in your name ...

Zeldafan: G'day! I like Raikou a lot too, actually, definitely one of the better legendaries ever invented. Not that I like cats though. Not to worry about all the questions you have - a few will be answered in the next chapter, for sure.

Still working away at Chapter 47 - Fire Power. Cheers!

[tygerofdanyte]

Sweet mercy.

SOme of my most favorite fics are still on this board.

Amazing, I'm about to re-read teh entire thing, but I couldn't resist not replying. ^^:;

[Ferilian]

COOL! You're still going on LtL! That's great Gavin. I don't know if you remember me, but I left for a little, and right before, I know I'd been reading this for a bit. It's so great you're still going with this! The only problem is, now I have like 50 chapters to catch up on!!!1one Are you anywhere close to being done? I hope not, cuz it's a really great fic. Well, better get reading! And good luck.

[Gavin Luper]

Tyger: Hey! Haven't seen you around for ages. Welcome back to LtL! Lol it's become a bit of a veteran fic aorund here now ... it's about 2 and a half years since I posted the first chapter. Thanks for replying, too, I hope you catch up again soon!

Ferilian: Yeah, I remember you! I never forget a reader - unless they change their name. It's probably a bit odd that LtL is still going, but I suppose it is a fairly long fic with a lot of chapters. As for finishing this, that's still a fair way off, but I'm getting closer; I'm looking at about 57-58 chapters all up. AT the moment, I'm writing chapter 47, so you can see there's a fair way to go. Hopefully you can catch up ASAP.

Cheers guys! Chapter 47 coming soon.

[Gavin Luper]

New chapter!

EDIT: Dunno what happened to the punctuation, but it's fixed now.

--------------------------------

Chapter 47 - Night Falls.


Raikou, the legendary beast of electricity, was lying spread-eagled on the rocky ground of the gorge, clearly dead. Lisa stared at the beast, completely overcome with disbelief and confusion. The creature did not appear to be breathing; it’s chest was not moving at all and it’s yellow underbelly was oozing blood from a deep gash. The image seemed familiar to Lisa, but she could not recall why.

“ Oh – oh my God …” Lisa gaped, unable to articulate her shock.

The smoke, that had only seconds before been gushing into the gorge and obscuring Lisa and Gavin’s view, was dissipating now and Lisa could see much better, though the air was still hazy. Gavin came running up behind her, puffing heavily, and upon catching up to Lisa his eyes widened in surprise and he stopped in his tracks.

There was a total silence in the gorge. A cool wind blew through the gorge, shifting Lisa’s hair slightly and depleting the last of the smoke.

“ What’s – what’s happened,” breathed Gavin hoarsely, not as a question, staring at Raikou’s dead body.

Lisa struggled with what she was seeing – Raikou, battered and beaten. It didn’t seem possible in any way – legendary pokemon weren’t supposed to be killed, they were meant to be immortal, weren’t they? No, Lisa told herself, they can’t be, because Suicune killed Entei once before … but Lisa had read in her book from the Valeo Library that only legendaries themselves could kill another legendary, hadn’t she? Lisa’s mind was boggling at this thought. So that means that the pokemon who attacked Raikou … was Suicune?

“ He’s been attacked by someone,” breathed Lisa, bending over the furry body of Raikou. She couldn’t bring herself to say that it had been Suicune. “ Those explosions we heard before … that intuition I felt … that was this happening.”

Gavin looked at her, quite concerned. “ What intuition?”

“ After I heard the explosions, back on the beach, I got the weirdest feeling … like I was needed somewhere – here. That’s why I wanted to investigate this … and my feeling was right – if we had’ve been quicker, we might have made it and saved him.” Suddenly, Lisa felt a surge of anger at how long the journey through the forest had taken. “ That stupid Spinarak Web … that briefcase you wanted to look at … why did we take so long? We should’ve been quicker, to save Raikou –” She broke off, aware that her voice was rising to a shout.

“ Even if we were here when the first attack happened,” said Gavin as calmly as he could; he seemed to have recovered from the sight of dead Raikou quicker than Lisa was, “ I don’t think we would’ve stood much of a chance. From what I’ve read, only a legendary can kill a legendary, and us two are no match for a legendary. Remember that night Anna died? With you and me, and all our pokemon, and my psychic all pooled together, all we did was blast Entei off his back for a minute, before he ran off. And this time, I don’t have any psychic power. Most likely, we would’ve been killed,” he finished.

His last word echoed in the bare, rocky gorge, which was completely empty apart from the two of them, and Raikou’s body. Lisa knelt beside the pokemon and placed a hand on his underbelly, right near a huge gash. Raikou was still warm … his attacker was not too far gone. Lisa wiped her eyes and stood up again, feeling sick. Only a week ago, Raikou had come to Ecru Lake to warn her about being attacked – and now here he was, dead …

Something like a bolt of lightning flashed through Lisa’s memory suddenly, causing her mind to churn viciously back into motion. The day she had sighted Raikou played in her mind’s eye like a slow film … she could see his yellow body streaking through the air from the bushes … he was warning Lisa … and behind him, Lisa suddenly remembered, had been a huge jet of flames, trying to scorch him …

… Suicune couldn’t produce flames …

“ It was Entei,” said Lisa loudly.

Gavin had just begun to sit down on the rock; at Lisa’s words, he stood up again, rigid with surprise.

“ What Lisa? Don’t be stupid – he’s dead, we saw him killed …”

A wave of something – determination, maybe – was coursing through Lisa’s veins, but her mind was slotting pieces of a puzzle into place. “ Entei must still be alive … of course … that’s what Raikou meant when he said, ‘Entei has betrayed our kind’, why didn’t I see that?”

The scar on Gavin’s cheek was becoming much more pronounced as his face was drained of colour.

Lisa continued. “ So Suicune didn’t defeat Entei at all, he must have done something else,” she said. “ And Entei’s still out there, getting his revenge – on Raikou … and Professor Oak’s missing too … and he knew something that time when Anna was killed – Entei’s taken him, too …”

Her mind was bulging; Gavin, meanwhile, looked petrified at the thought that Entei was not gone, however, he seemed determined not to show it.

“ I think you might be right, Lisa,” he said, taking shallow gasps. “ I think Entei is back.”

After that, there seemed no need for them to take any further action. Entei would already be out of the district for sure, and Raikou was quite still; he was not breathing and, the next time Lisa checked, his skin felt cold. Even if they were to tell the authorities, there would be no point, and no way of them to do it, while they were still out in the wild country north of Dervine. Shocked and worried, Lisa and Gavin sat down in the rocky gorge, each of them completely overcome in the mysterious return of Entei.

*

Nightfall in Ecruteak City was as usual. Shoppers at the Lakeside Mall were finishing up, office workers were heading home after a long day, and, in a building in central Ecruteak, a kidnapped man was held hostage by three people.

“ When I get away from you …” the man cried, struggling against his bonds as his captors looked over him, victorious after an earlier struggle. “ I’ll make sure you all end up in prison, you know that, don’t you.”

One of the three criminals – the woman member of the group – laughed girlishly. “ You won’t be leaving us any time soon,” she stated. “ You see, we are not the kind of people who allow blunders within our group, hence there is not a chance you will escape. Now, we will proceed –”

“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!” the man screamed at the top of his voice.

“ – with the interrogation. I must insist that you do not try to plead others for help. Firstly, there are no windows and you cannot be heard; secondly, nobody even knows that you are missing yet. Now, as I was saying … we need you to help us out.”

One of the remaining two male criminals stepped forward. He was a thickset man, young and musclebound, with a shaved head. “ We understand that you have information that would prove valuable to us,” said the man. “ So tell us … where is the spy?”

“ I don’t know, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” protested the victim, who was tied tightly to a wooden chair at a plain desk.

“ Really?” said the woman. “ Come on, you are telling us you do not know where the spy is? I should remind you that we know you sent out a spy from our headquarters in early October, who had information about us. Now, we need to know who and where they are. After all, even you were not supposed to know about our group.”

The victim struggled wearily, his face lined with hopelessness. “ I’m not telling,” he said stiffly.

The third member of the criminal group, also a man, emerged from his shadowy corner and drew a pistol from his belt. He pointed it at the victim. “ Now,” he said in a deep, sinister voice. “ Tell me where your spy is, and who.”

Staring into the barrel of the gun, the man finally cracked. “ The spy … is headed for Dervine as we speak.”

“ But who is it?” demanded the third man, as he pulled his gun back in satisfaction. “ What is his – or her – name?”

“ I can’t say,” said the man swiftly.

As there were no windows in the entire building, nobody else but those in the room saw or heard the bullets fired.

*

Somewhat subdued, Lisa, Gavin, Aipom, Natu and Vulpix trekked through a deep forest towards Dervine as the sun slipped beneath the horizon, leaving streaks of pinkish-orange light across the sky. Their mood had lightened somewhat since the discovery of Raikou, probably helped by the game Aipom and Natu were playing, which involved running headfirst into trees, then seeing who could reach the top first. Lisa watched them with a petite smile on her face; Natu had won every round so far, but Aipom seemed oblivious to the fact that his competitor had wings.

Vulpix, meanwhile, stared at Aipom and Natu with a look of superiority as they played freely. He, Vulpix, had much more important work to do – namely, he would use ember attack on the sticks Lisa was holding every now and then to ensure that the group could find their way through the dark forest.

Gavin had not spoken very much since they had left the gorge and entered the huge forest on the other side. He was still very pale and clammy, and also seemed reluctant to talk about anything. Also, he had become rather grumpy, snapping at Natu whenever he got the chance, and positively ignoring anything Lisa had to say. His chestnut-brown eyes were shifting from side to side as they walked, and for some reason, any time the group had to walk in single-file through the forest, he always pushed his way to the front and led them, instead of Vulpix leading the way. Lisa wasn’t sure what to make from this odd behavior – it was unlike Gavin to be so serious and aggravated, even in such a serious situation. As she walked through the forest, holding up the burning torch to light the way, her thoughts drifted from Raikou to Gavin. What was it about Raikou’s death that had caused him to be so upset?

A sudden rustling of the trees caused Lisa to snap out of her wonderings.

“ Who’s there?” called Gavin suddenly, snatching the torch from Lisa. He held it up in the direction of the rustling; Lisa looked, too; the light cast odd-shaped shadows on the ground, but nobody could be seen in the bushes. He held it up higher, and took a step towards the foliage. Just before the light illuminated the trees, there was a louder rustling, a tree moved, and a shadowy shape just beyond Lisa’s full range of vision darted away.

Aipom and Natu had stopped their game now; everything was quiet once more.

“ Maybe it was just a pokemon,” Lisa suggested, trying to take the torch back, but Gavin wouldn’t let her have it.

“ Maybe …” he said vaguely, keeping the torch to himself. “ Let’s keep going then.”

Lisa didn’t ask why Gavin was taking the lead so vehemently; she was quite afraid of the answer. It seemed that he knew something she didn’t – maybe something he had overheard whilst imprisoned by the ex-Team Rocket members for six weeks. Whatever it was that he thought, it was making him snappy and very tense.

They continued onwards; Gavin yelled twice at Natu for flying around Aipom’s head and squawking; the green bird responded with a loud TWEET and flapped further ahead in a huff. Lisa followed Gavin silently, unsure of how long he was going to make them walk before they could set up camp; Lisa had a feeling he didn’t want to stop at all.

Night had well and truly fallen by now; very little except shadows in the darkness could be seen. They continued on quietly in the dark night. As time passed, rain began to sprinkle down upon them through the canopy of trees, accompanied by a few loud claps of thunder, which caused all of them to jump and look around them in fear.

“ Just what we need,” Lisa said to Vulpix, “ A thunderstorm.”

It certainly looked that way; the rain intensified so much that Lisa had to stop and put on her thick scarlet jumper. Gavin recalled Natu into its Moon Ball, while Aipom returned to Lisa’s backpack, where he began shivering, wet and cold. Vulpix alone remained outside; he was needed to re-ignite the torch, which was extinguished every few seconds by the rain.

“ Come on, light, dammit,” Gavin muttered angrily after Vulpix had blown a shower of scarlet sparks at the sticks for the tenth time. They didn’t ignite at all; by this stage, they were probably too wet to be of any use. Frustrated, Gavin hurled the torch into the bushes and stormed ahead in a fury, disappearing into the darkness of the path ahead. Lisa held her tongue as she and Vulpix sprinted after him.

Abruptly, a massive blast of lightning flashed through the surroundings, illuminating the entire area. In that split second, Lisa saw a silhouette of a person – quite a large person, too – standing only metres from them in the bushes. She screamed, but at the same time a roll of thunder drowned out her cry. The person pelted away from them as the lightning subsided, leaving the area quite dark again.

“ What is it?” Gavin yelled, turning around; evidently he had heard Lisa’s scream over the thunder.

“ I saw someone – in the bushes,” she gasped, her heart thumping. “ But they ran off.”

His eyes were steely; Lisa noticed he had drawn out Skarmory’s pokeball and held it in his hand, ready to use.

“ Let’s go back,” Lisa said urgently, turning to go back the way they had come. “ There’s somebody out there and I don’t know who … please let’s go back …”

“ We’ve got to keep going, it’s not safe to go back, or camp out here in this weather, or situation,” he said.

He does know something, thought Lisa. “ What situation?” she asked, not expecting a response. Sure enough, Gavin turned his back on her and began ploughing through the bushes, eyes still darting around.

The next five minutes of the journey was uninterrupted, though Lisa found herself constantly checking over her shoulder and in bushes for fear of spying that mysterious figure once more. As the time passed she gathered more sticks and bound them together with her oldest shirt. Vulpix then embered them and the sticks ignited, causing an unexpectedly large flame to flare up, considering the rain was still beating down. Gavin looked surprised at the flare of light but did not ask to hold it this time.

Some time later, Gavin stopped and looked relieved for the first time since they had entered the forest. Lisa and Vulpix caught up with him; there was a large clearing right ahead of them, through a screen of oaks. In the clearing was a small wooden cabin, propped up on wooden stilts. Lisa understood what it was; a shack provided by the government as residence for trainers in dire need of a place to stay on their travels. She and Gavin had stayed in them several times before.

There was no argument about it; they ran into the clearing as quickly as possible and climbed the wooden steps into the cabin. Inside, it was surprisingly clean and welcoming, though there wasn’t much there; two cobalt-blue futons, as usual, took up most of the cabin, whilst there was a small fireplace in the opposite end from the door. There were three windows set on one side of the cabin, all of them misted up by the rain.

“ Not bad,” Lisa said, blowing the tiny torch out, closing the door and twisting the metal latch so that it was bolted shut.

After throwing his backpack on the ground, Gavin had slumped onto one of the futons, which was laid out flat like a bed. He curled up and closed his eyes as if to go to sleep – but Lisa wasn’t going to let him get away that easily.

“ All right Gavin, spill,” she said loudly, jumping onto the futon beside him. Vulpix, meanwhile, had taken the liberty to use Ember attack on the wooden logs in the fireplace; within moments, the crimson fox was curled up beside the roaring flames, thawing out after the cold night air.

“ Spill what?” he mumbled, eyes firmly held shut.

Lisa rolled her eyes at him, then took decisive action – she poked her finger into Gavin’s ribs, making his whole body jolt and his eyes open. “ I’m not as stupid as I look, Gavin,” she grinned. “ You know something I don’t, so tell me.”

There was silence, apart from Vulpix’s soft crooning as he warmed up by the fire. Then, without sitting up or opening his eyes, Gavin spoke.

“ When I was in prison with the Organisation – the ex-Rockets – I heard the guards talking about some plan to capture Raikou. They said that their boss wanted him captured at any cost. And … well, ever since I escaped, I keep thinking that they’re following me. So when I saw Raikou dead, I knew they must be nearby.”

“ That’s why you’ve been so edgy,” said Lisa, “ Isn’t it?”

Gavin nodded, his eyes still screwed shut.

Lisa frowned. “ So, you don’t think Entei’s back?”

Gavin shook his head from side to side awkwardly. “ No, I do think he’s back. And that’s what really scares me – because that means we have two sets of enemies out there now. And since they’re after the same objective … they might have joined forces, who knows?” There was a pregnant pause. “ Either way, someone’s out in the forest right now, and I think our best bet is to stay in here for the night. It’s the safest option we have.”

An even louder silence than the last followed, punctuated by the crackling of the fire, which cast intermittent shadows throughout the cabin and against the misty windows.

All of a sudden, Gavin’s eyes flew open in sudden realisation. “ Lisa, get that fire out! They’ll see the light through the windows, they’ll know we’re here!”

Simultaneously, each of them had thrown out a pokeball, which annoyingly produced an even greater flash of light, but there was no quicker option. “ Water gun!” Lisa yelled – and two jets of clear water shot from Seel and Fiskmire and extinguished the flames instantly in a plume of white smoke.

“ Return!” Gavin and Lisa hissed in unison, and two beams of red light shot at their respective pokemon, dematerialising them instantly.

There was another silence; Lisa felt her heart pounding more heavily than before. That was surely the quickest she had ever sent out a pokemon and returned it – she had hardly even seen Fiskmire before he disappeared again.

“ You think they saw that?” she breathed at last.

Gavin looked exhausted. “ As long as they weren’t anywhere near the cabin, we should be fine.”

“ D’you reckon they’re really out there?” Lisa asked presently.

“ Definitely …” said Gavin, without any more explanation.

Vulpix, meanwhile, was looking extremely shaken.

“ Sorry,” Lisa apologised to it, picking him up and squeezing him into a hug. “ We didn’t even think about that, and I know you didn’t.”

Vulpix nodded slowly, breathing out a thin tendril of steam – apparently he had been caught in the crossfire of water jets. Lisa smiled at Gavin, who grinned back uncertainly.

Lisa was just about to reach for her backpack for her water bottle when she and Gavin both sat bolt upright. They had both heard the same sound outside, very close by; laughter.

With the same rapid speed at which they had responded to the light from the fire, each of them leapt up in alarm. Lisa glanced out the window; a small cluster of people was walking out from the forest into the clearing; they were heading straight for the cabin.

“ Hide!” hissed Gavin, grabbing the extinguished torch, his backpack and Lisa’s, and diving beneath the futon at once. “ There’s no choice, just act as though nobody’s been here.”

Lisa made to do so, but at the same time she realised something important; acting instantly, she ran for the door, and unlocked it, then dived underneath the same futon as Gavin, where he held her tightly to him beneath. Vulpix had disappeared behind the opposing futon.

“ What was that?” hissed Gavin. “ I thought you were going to run away –”

“ If it was locked, they’d know someone was in here,” whispered Lisa.

Gavin began to whisper something, but time ran out; the door burst open, a cold wind drifted in, and five people entered the room, all of them shivering, three of them laughing. Lisa cringed, hoping she was well-hidden enough beneath the futon not to be seen. Gavin was gripping her arm tightly still, as though not to lose her, as all five people took a seat on the futons. A large man, who led the group in, and another man sat on the futon that Lisa and Gavin were beneath; the other three – a tall man, a slim, blonde woman, and a fifth person in an overcoat – sat on the other futon.

A feeling of helplessness washed over Lisa; she and Gavin were stuck beneath the futon now until the people either left the cabin, or discovered them. All she could do was be silent and watch what they were doing. She wriggled forward about half an inch so she could see, through the legs of the man who had led the people into the room, what was taking place.

“ Anyway,” said the man whose feet Lisa was looking through, continuing whatever story he was telling. “ It scared the hell out of her.”

The woman and two men guffawed; the person in the overcoat remained stiff and silent.

“ So, you reckon they’re still out there, Den?” asked the man on the opposite sofa. He had a thick beanie on, a bulky jacket, and huge shoes. His face was red with the cold outside air, and judging from his unkempt beard, he had not shaved in some time.

“ Nah, don’t reckon,” said Den, who was obviously the ringleader of the small contingent. “ She woulda run off straight away – an’ he’s too chicken to go on alone, in the forest an’ all …”

Lisa and Gavin exchanged glances silently; it could not have been more obvious who they were referring to.

“ Watcha doin’?” said Den suddenly.

The blonde woman was dialling numbers on a mobile phone hurriedly.

“ Settle down, Den, just calling the boss,” she said sleekly. She held the phone to her ear and spoke. “ Just checking in, sir. Yeah, we did it … report’s coming your way. Yeah. I know, we saw them on the way … Den says they’re going back the other way though … yep. No, I didn’t know – what?” The woman put her hand over the mouthpiece. “ Boss says that the spy’s headed for Dervine right now. And that the spy has the files.”

There was a sudden tension amongst the people. The fifth member in the coat twitched slightly.

The woman returned to the mobile telephone. “ All right, boss. No problem. I’m sure we’ll think of something – oh? Yes. Mmm hmm. Okay. Yes. We’ll be there soon.”

She disconnected the call. “ New mission guys. We’re headed for Dervine to stop the spy. Apparently the first spy – from the Kanto operation – gave his interrogators that info … we’ve gotta move in a few hours. Once the rain eases.”

There was a soft murmur of assent among the four people. Again the fifth person remained still. Lisa locked eyes with Gavin for a moment. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as she was; they had absolutely no idea what these people were talking about.

Den’s feet moved suddenly, his boots only a foot from Lisa’s head. “ Well, I just wanna say, good job to all of ya on today’s operation,” he said, pacing down the gap between the two futons. “ Veronica ‘specially, for ‘er stealth.” He gestured to the blonde woman. “ An’ you two … quick thinkin’ with the change of plan,” he gestured to the unshaven man, and the other man whose only visible part for Lisa was his shoes.

The unshaven man cleared his throat. “ What’s the boss’s plans for this one?” He gestured towards the person in the coat.

Veronica grinned. “ Ah, he’s got great plans for her,” she smiled evilly. “ Come on, girl, take off your hat, let us see how that bruise is going …”

The unshaven man smirked and pulled the hat off the covered-up person’s face and Lisa felt her mouth drop open. It was Marina: her hair matted and messed up, she was glaring wordlessly at her captors through a black eye. Her wrists were bound with cord, as were her ankles. Lisa’s heart leapt and then plunged; Marina was alive … but she was help captive by these people.

“ It’s healing nicely,” said Veronica in a honeyed voice, pointing at the black eye. “ Having a good time, girl?”

Marina was glaring furiously at Veronica and the three men, but she was clasping her cherry lips firmly closed.

“ Aw, c’mon darling, don’t be angry,” said the unshaven man, grinning. “ C’mon, how bout a kiss?”

Marina looked like she was going to throw up as she jerked away in disgust as the man leaned in towards her jokingly. He burst into laughter as she squirmed away, looking furious but determined not to talk.

The third man, sitting near Den, laughed too. “ Aw, c’mon Mick, she’s mine,” he laughed loudly. Lisa cringed, feeling a surge of indignation and fury towards the four people; a feeling almost as strong as her pity for Marina.

Den sat down again, right in front of Lisa’s face. “ Okay, enough fun and games, fellas,” he said. He turned to Marina. “ Ready for another trip, girl? We’re goin’ to Dervine this time.”

Marina remained silent, not moving at all. Meanwhile, Lisa was fighting the urge to leap out and punch the people in the face.

“ Now, if you wanna tell us –” began Den, but he never finished what he was saying. A massive explosion rent the air suddenly; the windows wobbled in their panes and shattered, falling to the floor in shards. The four people stood up instantly, each of them pulling out a pistol. Lisa could see wavering light flickering from outside through the windows … it seemed something had exploded just outside of the cabin.

Den was yelling as the other three moved to the door. “ Mick, you stay here with the girl! Veronica, Cole, come with me!”

The man and woman followed Den outside; Lisa glimpsed a blaze of flames before the door shut again.

Gavin was tugging at her sleeve beneath the futon. She turned to see him looking furiously at the man guarding Marina. “ There’s only one of him, and two of us,” he breathed. “ We can take him …”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “ He has a gun! And besides … what about Vulpix?”

Gavin didn’t seem to hear her, he dug very quietly in his backpack and produced a sleek, black pistol. Lisa flinched. “ Got it when I escaped the island,” he muttered under his breath. “ I can’t see Mick from here … can you?”

Lisa glanced up, her neck aching from all the looking up. “ Yeah … he’s looking out the window … but the gun’s still pointed at Marina.” She felt something cold pressed into her hand. “ You do it,” said Gavin, “ I can’t see anything from here …” He was craning his neck, unable to see properly.

Her heart was thumping noisely in her throat. “ I can’t kill someone, I can’t,” Lisa said, almost too loudly.

“ You don’t have to kill him, just shoot him … in the leg or something …”

“ But won’t he shoot Marina?”

“ Trust me!”

Lisa aimed for Mick’s calf, though her hand was shaking violently. A voice in her head kept saying ‘Go, go, go!’, so, screwing her eyes almost shut, Lisa squeezed the trigger slowly. It seemed an age before there was a sudden, wild jerk of the pistol in her hand, a small flash of light and a roar of pain; she had done it, she had shot Mick right behind his knee.

Before she could do anything more, Gavin was slipping out from beneath the futon and standing up as Mick crumpled to the ground in pain; his gun had fallen from his grip onto the wooden floor. Lisa squirmed out from beneath the futon, hit her head hard on the metal bar, but, swaying slightly, she stood up, holding the gun and pointing it again at Mick.

Gavin was pulling at the cords at Marina’s hands and feet, but they wouldn’t budge. Marina was looking overwhelmed, as though she was dreaming. Mick was yelling out to his friends to help … Lisa turned to see him reaching for his gun.

“ No you don’t!” she cried indignantly. She squeezed the trigger again; the bullet missed by several inches and pierced the wooden wall, but Mick had flinched at the sound. Without thinking, Lisa pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened; the pistol was empty. Throwing it aside, she ran for Mick, who had stood up shakily and was holding his pistol right at her head.

The only time Lisa had ever done such a graceful kick was at ballet lessons when she was eleven; this one outstipped that by far. Her sneaker connected with his nose, there was a resounding crack, and Mick slumped to the floor, blood streaming down his face.

“ Take his gun!” yelled Gavin, still fumbling with Marina’s bonds. He had freed her legs; she was standing at last. Lisa grabbed Mick’s gun and held it tightly, her hands more steady now. Now she realised the problem they all faced.

“ How do we get out?” she yelled at Gavin. Whatever had happened outside, there were still three armed agents out there. They wouldn’t stand a chance.

“ Vulpix!” yelled Gavin, freeing Marina’s hands. They both came running towards Lisa.

Lisa ducked her head under the futon where Vulpix had been hiding, but he was not there – instead, a rough hole had been burnt in the floorboards, and Vulpix had escaped. Lisa suddenly understood … Vulpix had escaped and set something explosive on fire … maybe a vehicle of some kind.

“ Let’s go!” Lisa said, kicking the futon aside with Gavin’s help and exposing the hole. She slid into it and landed on the sandy ground; a moment later, Marina came down, followed by Gavin. Lisa glanced around, still holding the pistol; a jeep was blazing nearby, and the three agents were trying desperately to extinguish the blaze and retrieve something.

“ Go!” yelled Gavin, over the roar of the burning jeep and the frantic yells of Den, Veronica and Cole. He grabbed Marina’s hand, grasped Lisa’s in his other hands, and all three of them sprinted in the other direction, heading for the other side of the clearing in a panic. They dived into the dark foliage, and Lisa felt a bundle of fur beneath her – Vulpix.

“ Come on!” Lisa cried. “ Keep running!”

And they did. She, Marina, Gavin and Vulpix pelted into the dark innocence of the night-lit forest, the flames of the jeep disappearing behind them as they escaped.

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 47 of Lisa the Legend now posted! Link in signature!

Cheers!

- Gavin.

[PancaKe]

My my, Gavin. That filler was nothing compared to this chapter. I haven't seen this side of the character Gavin yet. He's all shady - I really do think that something is going on. As for Lisa, I'd just say that she'd better be careful.

Hey - maybe Lisa and Gavin will hook up. Lol - what made me think of that? Who knows, it could be legendshipping. *shrugs* I'm in a werid mood. All I can say was that that was an awesome chapter. go you!

**PancaKe||

[ZeldaFan20]

That certainly was a suspenseful chapter. It's sad to know that Raikou dead---but how could he be if Entei was dead too? And who are those people who had Marina? Were they part of that unknown organization Lenina was hinting at a while ago? ...Great, now I have more questions!

All in all, it was still a great chapter. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[mistysakura]

Whoa, shady secrets here... I think Gavin's still hiding something. It's cool Marina's back though, although we are still to find out what happened. (More mysteries...) I feel so sorry for Raikou; there must have been some major twist so that Entei could have killed him. Great job of suspense there. The less suspenseful bits, like Aipom adn Natu's games, also managed to lighten the mood up a bit sometimes, so we weren't totally stressing out :tongue:
Can't wait.

[Gavin Luper]

Tara: Gday. I thought people would like this one better, it was more action-packed. And about time I did some character development really. Lol ... Legendshipping: the next big thing ... well, we'll see!

Thanks for reading and replying mate!

Zeldafan: It was a big chapter, hey. Like I said before, it answers some questions but it raises even more. Interesting suspicions, though, about Raikou and Entei - what could this all mean? Are they dead or alive or what? Hmmm ... can't say.

Ada: Hey! Lol I threw that Aipom-Natu thing in there for exactly that reason, otherwise you guys would be, well, stressed out kinda. As for the twist ... you're not wrong, but I'm not saying any more!

Cheers guys! Chapter 48 coming up!

[Chris 2.1]

:O

Wow.

AWESOME!

A great read. I'm glad Marina's ok, and she's safe (for now), but erm well all the punctuation appeared as ?'s. Umm anyone know why? Every other punctuation is fine in other posts....:-o

But yea, Gavin's really showing an adventurous side. It's kewl.

Raikou's been killded :-| aaaack. I really love the Legendary feud, it really is a great idea and it's being used past its full potential. Keep up the good work.

[Gavin Luper]

Brit Chris: Hey! Shocking stuff, eh? Thanks for the reply. I don't know what was going on with all those question marks but I fixed it yesterday so it should read fine now. Don't know how you managed to read it with all the ?'s in place of the " 's.

The Legendary Feud - PAST it's full potential? >.< Lol I get what you mean though, thanks ... oh, and the characterisation is just gonna get better from here.

Cheers!

[mr_pikachu]

Niiiice. Excellent, excellent chapter. Lots of feeling, plenty of emotion, loads of action, mounds of secrets... I haven't read this good a chapter from ANYTHING in a long, long time. Brilliant work, Gavin. You truly are a gifted writer.

No criticisms really, just frustration at the punctuation hijinks on the boards. I heard they accidentally set the forum language to Unicode - that's a programming language with (apparently) very few punctuation marks. Extremely frustrating. But yeah.

Great work, again! Can't wait to see how this all plays out in the next chapter... and yeah, Gavin's definitely hiding something. I wonder what...?

See you next chapter!

[Powarun]

Wow, this chapter was pretty good, wonder what those people were up to, but we probally won't know until a few months. Now I know that you are a good writer Gavin, but if you keep making chapters as long as this one, imaginehow much time it would take to read this story from one day. But keep up the good work, and hope everythign turns oout okay.

[Andrew]

I knew it! Ugly Raioku! He's dead! HUZZAH.

Is the man at the mall, Lisa's older Brother, or Morty? I enjoyed the little Natu and Aipom thing, but this was really Vulpix's chapter, and I enjoyed that. Although when will we see Dratini again, the last time we saw that was in... The Crossover part one or something lol.

Great little vulpix, enduring the rain and all.

Those Association dudes, very slick operators, although did I pick up on that one of them raped poor Marina?

I was surprised Gavin kept a gun with him, the same one which killed Lenina? I also don't think Mick will ever walk again.

Good work Vulpix, Lisa and Gavin! Although now, is Marina going to be all mysterious like Gavin was?

Great work Gav, loved it all!

[Gavin Luper]

Hullo everyone!

mr_pikachu: Cheers. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it flowed really well. And, judging by all the compliments being thrown at me h: ... well, it was good apparently.

Unicode? I was wondering about that, it stuffed up everything. Made it really annoying to read. Anyway, glad it's gone now. Thanks for reading. And next chapter will reveal more, I hope.

powarun: Hi again! Thanks. Lol ... a few months would be about right, considering the rate I've been writing. I'm actually speeding up ever-so-slightly now. Anyway, I'm sure all will turn out for the best ... in one way or another.

Ozzy: Oy! Sorry, just had to do that. G'day! Long time no speak! What's new in wonderful, exotic Ippy? Lol ... yes, ugly Raikou thing is dead [gasp]. Scary.

The guy at the mall, well he wasn't actually at the mall. He was at "a building in central Ecruteak" ... wherever that may be. But, as for who he is ... Not telling. It's really annoying ... since chapter 40 or so I've had to be all secretive about stuff, because otherwise it will give everything away. Sorry. But yeah ... Dratini will be getting a lot of limelight in chapter 49, I think ... and 50, too.

Lol, I like Vulpix! He rocks. And yes, the Organisation members are quite efficient, you'll be seeing more of them soon. And, well, what happened to Marina while she was with them will remain a secret until ... whenever. But you're KIND OF on the right track. Great little vulpix, enduring the rain and all.

And Gavin's gun - he got it back when he escaped from the Organisation on one of the Whirl Islands. He kept it since then.

Anyhow, Chapter 48 is coming together nicely, expect it fairly soon.

Cheers!

[Gavin Luper]

Hi everybody! I haven't slid off the face of the earth, I've been living . Anyway, new chapter complete, here it is! Enjoy!

--------------------------------

Chapter 48 - The Union.


Lisa yawned, surprising herself. After a twenty minute run she would normally be alive with energy, especially as she, Gavin and Marina had had the added threat of being caught by armed criminals. However, despite the fact that her heart was still hammering from the sprint, Lisa found that she could hardly keep her eyes open as she leaned on the glass table of the roadside café, waiting for Gavin and Marina and Aipom to get back with the drinks. Since they had escaped, they had hardly spoken a word to each other, except for when they checked if Marina was alright. Lisa had been surprised to find how lively Marina still was, considering that she had been imprisoned by the agents for a week.

A clatter in front of Lisa brought her back to the present. Gavin had arrived back with the drinks - two coffees and a hot chocolate. Lisa wrapped her hands around one of the coffee mugs and felt the warmth spread to her cold fingers. She took a grateful sip and felt the liquid warm her instantly.

“ Ah, the healing powers of coffee,” she sighed, holding the cup to her face to warm it with the steam. “ Where’s Marina and Aipom gone?”

Gavin sat down on the window seat across from Lisa. “ Aipom’s at the counter talking to the checkout girl.” Lisa glanced over to the counter of the shop. Sure enough, her purple monkey was conversing rapidly in his own language to the girl, who – to Lisa’s surprise – was talking back to him.

“ Er – right,” she said, hiding her smirk. “ And Marina?”

“ Went to freshen up,” Gavin said, with a serious look on his face. “ So … what are we going to tell her?”

Lisa looked up from her drink. “ What do you mean?”

He lowered his voice, his forehead furrowed with concern. “ Well, she doesn’t know why she was kidnapped, does she? Like you told me when we were in Valeo, you haven’t told her anything about Suicune or Entei, or the Organisation. Don’t you think she’d be just a bit confused?”

Lisa felt like slapping herself in the head; it had not even occurred to her that Marina wouldn’t know what was going on. “ Well … what do you think we should do?”

“ I reckon tell her, it’s the honest way, then we can get everything out in the open,” said Gavin decidedly. “ Then again, she might not believe us,” he added hopelessly.

Lisa took another sip of her hot coffee; she could feel it waking her up now. Her head was still feeling heavy though – not with exhaustion, from the running, but with indecision. If she was to tell Marina the truth about everything, she might not believe them, and they would lose her as a friend. Then again, if she didn’t tell her, Marina might go to the police, which was the last thing Lisa wanted: the police still wanted her in their safe custody, which was where she didn’t want to be. In the back of her mind, Lisa was still set on finding Professor Oak in Dervine – although so much time had passed now that it was beginning to seem pointless.

“ Gavin to Lisa … Gavin to Lisa …” droned Gavin. She looked up to see him staring straight at her. “ Better make up your mind quickly, she’s coming.”

Marina scurried through the shop section of the roadhouse, past the check-out girl (who was still talking to Aipom) and reached their table. She smiled faintly at Lisa and sat down beside Gavin, taking her coffee and looking down at the table silently. She stared into the drink vaguely and said nothing. Gavin tapped his fingers on the table in an annoying rhythm. Marina said nothing still.

The air was so thick with tension Lisa couldn’t have cut it if she had tried. She was in the process of working out how to get Marina to show some sign of life when suddenly the problem was solved for her.

“ I want to know why I was kidnapped,” said Marina abruptly. She was looking straight at Lisa, ignoring Gavin for the moment. Her hazel eyes were teeming with tears. Her cherry lips quivered. “ Please tell me what’s going on.”

There was no choice about it. Lisa struggled with seeing Marina upset – normally she was so happy – before she managed to begin her explanation with, “ I haven’t been honest with you … I have to explain. It all began four months ago …”

Lisa found it was easy to talk once she got started. She began with the day she had first sighted Suicune, in October last year, and progressed from there onwards. She told the story in every detail she could think of, even the specifics like the battle with Irene when she started the Whirlpool Cup, and the battles in the Colosseum itself, and the meeting with Professor Westwood. She told Marina about how she and Gavin had seen a fire on their way to Ecruteak, and how it had turned out to be Entei and the other legendaries, fighting, while Anna had clung desperately to the branches of the oak tree. When she reached the point where Anna died, however, she began shaking with silent sobs, as did Marina: Marina had been closer to Anna than Lisa was. Gavin awkwardly put an arm around Marina and urged Lisa to keep going – so she did. She told Marina how, when she woke up in hospital, they were in Ecruteak. She explained her first encounter with the organisation – when Lucas had attacked her, and nearly killed her, for reasons she didn’t know – and then how Lenina had tried to do the same thing a short while later. Marina listened, compelled. Lisa felt as though her mind and chest were becoming lighter the more she told, as though a physical weight was being lifted from her. She went on further; she explained about Gavin’s psychic powers, how Gavin teleported them back to Ecruteak, only for them to meet Lunanine again. She filled Marina in about the encounter in the Ice Path; about meeting Darius for the first time; about when Gavin ran away; about seeing Raikou; about the invasion at her house; about the court case; about seeing Raikou dead; and finally, the escape from the organisation agents that night.

Lisa finished and reached for her coffee mug, only to find that it was stone cold. She glanced at her watch; she had been talking for thirty minutes. Aipom was sitting beside her in the booth seat, gnawing on her jumper; she had not even noticed him return.

Marina blinked. During Lisa’s tale she had nodded along as she discovered things, but she had not spoken. Gavin sipped his now cold chocolate with a sidelong glance at Marina.

Finally she said, “ I believe you.”

The tension between them all evaporated instantly; the last remaining weight on Lisa’s mind was lifted, and she smiled. Marina allowed herself to grin back; she, too, looked a great deal happier than she had since they had rescued her.

“ You really do?” said Gavin. “ Because it sounds pretty farfetched, doesn’t it?”

“ Hell yeah,” said Marina, her grin broadening as she looked at him. “ But I believe you, Lisa, I really do. I don’t think you’re making it up, especially after what I’ve been though.” She paused. “ So, you don’t know why they’re after you?” she asked.

“ No,” said Lisa.

“ Well … I don’t either, but I know who they are,” said Marina suddenly.

“ What?” Lisa and Gavin cried in unison. “ Who?”

Marina grinned at their timing, took a nibble from the biscuit that came with her coffee and continued, “ I found out who they are. They’re part of an organisation called the Union.”

“ The Union,” breathed Gavin, “ Never heard of it …”

“ How’d you find out?” asked Lisa, fiddling with her coaster.

“ I heard them talking when I was with them. They didn’t know I was awake, so I just listened. Apparently, when Team Rocket broke up a year ago, the remaining agents combined with a few other smaller groups to form the Union. They wear the Team Rocket uniform so that people still suspect them … and it worked, because the media and governments have never heard of the Union, have they?” Marina took another bite from the biscuit and leaned back in the booth seat casually.

Lisa thought back a few days; this was what Lenina had meant when she had told them Team rocket didn’t exist.

Gavin seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “ So Team Rocket really doesn’t exist,” he mused. “ Well, they did a pretty good job of hiding it all.”

“ Yeah,” nodded Lisa. “ So what do they want?”

Marina shrugged and finished her snack. “ I never heard what it is they’re after. They kept asking me questions, about you and Gavin and the court case … but that’s about it. I don’t know what they stand for, even – all I know is that they’re not the good guys.”

“ Ai,” Aipom agreed pointlessly, still working on unravelling Lisa’s jumper. She pushed him away vaguely, lost in her thoughts. For the life of her, she could not see any connection between the Union and her – why did they keep chasing her? It was as much a mystery as the seemingly regular appearances of the Legendaries to her.

Gavin finished his drink and stretched widely, his face contorted in a yawn. He turned to Marina beside him. “ So, are you going to come with us then?” he asked.

“ To Dervine?” she said. “ I suppose so, sounds like fun. Just kidding,” she added, seeing Lisa and Gavin’s serious stares. “ Um, so do you have any leads on this Professor guy?”

Lisa sighed heavily. “ None at all. We just don’t think it’s an innocent disappearance. Maybe it’s to do with the legendaries, maybe it’s to do with the Union, I don’t know.”

Marina hesitated, her lips open, before she said, “ Doesn’t he have any memory of being attacked by Entei?”

“ None,” said Lisa, “ Unfortunately …”

“ Why –” Marina began, but she was cut off suddenly by a shrill ringing. Lisa jolted and glanced at her backpack, in which her pokegear was beeping loudly.

She pulled it out and pressed the green button. “ Hello?”

The last voice she expected came drifting through the receiver. “ Lisa, you’re OK!” It was Tom.

“ Tom, hi, where are you?” said Lisa with great relief; she had not heard from Tom for days.

“ In the kitchen, at home,” he said, sounding impatient suddenly, “ And you?”

“ Uh … I’m at a roadhouse beside the Dervine Expressway,” she said quickly, with a glance out of the roadhouse window and down below at the wide road. Why was Tom so angry?

“ What’re you doing all the way out there?” Tom demanded. Lisa could hear Miki in the background, talking rapidly to somebody. “ Miki and I just got home from our trip and we couldn’t find you anywhere! It looks like there’s been nobody here for days! And the backyard is a complete mess! What’s going on?”

“ I – I dunno …” Lisa breathed uncertainly. “ Where were you and Miki?”

Tom sighed impatiently. “ In the Orange Islands, we went to visit her family before the wedding –”

“ And what about Mum and Dad and the kids?”

“ I don’t know, Lisa. At work, they said on a note. But … what’s happened here, and why are you in Dervine?” He sounded panicky.

Lisa rubbed her temple, her head beginning to ache. “ I can explain this, I think …” No sooner had she said the words than a great deal of static began to fill her ears. “ Um – Tom, come to Dervine!”

“ What?!”

Lisa held her hand over the phone and spoke to Gavin, who looked increasingly concerned about Lisa’s phone call. “ How long to Dervine from here?”

“ Three days?” mouthed Gavin uncertainly.

Returning to the phone, Lisa could scarcely hear Tom’s mumblings over the static, which was beginning to roar in her ear. “ Tom – meet me in Dervine in four days!” Lisa said frantically through the phone. “ I’ll explain everything, just meet me there, can you get there?”

“ What? Lisa, this is absurd, just –”

A click signified that the connection had cut out. Lisa drew the pokegear away from her face and slammed it onto the table angrily. Aipom paused in his destruction of her jumper and clambered up onto her shoulder with a dedicated, “ Leeeeesa!”

Lisa ruffled the purple fur on his head, still annoyed that she had not had confirmation of Tom meeting her.

“ What did he say?” said Marina tentatively. She and Gavin both looked apprehensive of her in her angry state.

“ He doesn’t know where my parents and Wes and Jean are,” replied Lisa softly. “ He and Miki just got home to the house, it’s in the same state it was in the night the Union attacked us. I told him I’d meet him in Dervine … but he didn’t reply …”

Frowning, Gavin leaned forward and put his clasped hands on the table. “ Let’s head for Dervine then, first thing in the morning.”

“ D’you think the Union will still be looking for us?” asked Lisa.

“ Probably, but I doubt they’d check at a roadhouse.”

Marina frowned, too. “ How exactly are we going to get to Dervine? Walking would take too long, if we’re going to be quick AND keep out of the Union’s way.”

There was a collective pause; even Aipom sat up and gave a toothy grin as he scratched his head in mock-thought.

“ Fly?” suggested Gavin. “ I’ve got Skarmory … and you guys can catch some new ones …”

Marina shook her head decisively. “ You’ve got someone who’s scared of heights on your team,” she said sheepishly, pointing at herself. “ Sorry.”

Lisa pondered her idea for a moment before putting it out in the open. “ Why don’t we drive?”

The other two looked at her dubiously.

“ No, I’m serious,” she said, defensive of her notion, “ We could get a car from somewhere, hijack one or something, steal one, I dunno … and then drive to Dervine. It’s out best bet; otherwise we’re putting ourselves into danger again – walking slowly through an area we know is crawling with Union agents. So, how bout it?”

A smile crept up Marina’s face and Gavin’s jaw dropped involuntarily before he gave a blank nod.

“ I’ve definitely had a bad influence on you,” he said with a smirk.

[Gavin Luper]

Lisa the Legend!

Chapter 48 - The Union now posted! Marina has returned, hooray!

Cheers!

[mistysakura]

Interesting how everyone's gone missing... definitely not good. Well, now that we've solved the mystery of Team Rocket not existing, we've got another one... you really like them, don't you? :tongue:

Hope the next chapter comes soon (But you've been really good with them lately, heh.)

[ZeldaFan20]

Gee, I would've expected Marina to either start laughing or screaming after hearing the truth. So, it's called the "Union," huh? I wonder what that's all about? Well, you've definitely set the stage for the next chapter. Great job!

[Karania]

please continue. Sorry I haven't been on lately. Graduation stuff and the thing never informed me that you updated, so I had no idea. I don't usually check the website regurally except to read your story.

[Chris 2.1]

Great chapter! Nice ending, hehehe. I THINK I may have asked this question, but which character, out of Marina or Kris, is based off the female GSC trainer? They both seem similar.

But anyway, stealing a car? How old are these guys, anyway?

Awesome work. The Union? Catchy

[mr_pikachu]

Ah, so TR's been "reborn", so to speak. Nice. And they're going to travel to Dervine, hoping all the while that Tom will be there? I wouldn't be surprised if he dang near kills Lisa for all the worrying he's probably done over her. And what happened to Lisa's other siblings, again? I'm sure you mentioned it, but I'm just unsure... for some reason I keep thinking that they were in the house when the Union attacked, too. Of course, I'm sure I'm mistaken, or else Tom would've been REALLY hysterical. Great chapter, as always, with some very nice touches (I love the bits about the coffee, the jumper, and Lisa's and Gavin's dilemma) to boot. Excellent work.

Until next chapter!

[Gavin Luper]

Lol ... sorry, I was too lazy to reply hehe ...

mistysakura: It's like Missing People's Week, isn't it? Hehe ... I just love these ongoing little mysteries, I can't get enough of them, really. But this one will be the last, I promise! - er, I think.

Zeldafan: Marina was sort of in shock, I guess you could call it. She wanted to hear the truth, and Lisa and Gavin's story fitted the missing information she had ... besides, it explained how Anna had really died. Cheers.

Karania: No probs! I'll keep going, hope you keep checking up on this!

Brit Chris: Hey, thanks for reading, as ever. As for the female GSC trainer, that's Kris ... but yeah, she's based on the character on looks, but not much else. Oh, and the stealing car thingy ... well, you'll see!

mr_pikachu: Yeah, TR has, in effect, been reborn as The Union. Dervine's next on the menu for Lisa and co, though they have a short way still to go yet. And Wes and Jean weren't in the house when the invasion happened, they were with Lisa's Mum and Dad, and still are. Thanks for reading again!

To everyone, Chapter 49 is in the works. Last chapter before we finally reach Dervine. Frankly, once this chapter arrives, it's going to be a return to the old style of LTL ... the last seven or eight chapters or so have been far too high-paced and episodic for me to handle, frankly! I've gotta scale it down a bit - but don't worry, it's all good!

Cheers!

[Chris 2.1]

Gavin.....do you watch 24?

Heh just wondering, I hear you get it in australia but I don't know if you watch it. We've just reachd 4AM and it's so.damn.good. I remember that one-chappie fanficcy of yours with the theif getting killed...it seemed remeniscent, and the car-theivery reminds me of 24, but then again, so does a lot of things

[Karania]

finally the thing informed me, of a new reply. Thank goodness...... Looking forward to the new stuff.

[Gavin Luper]

Yeah, we get 24 here but I only ever watched the very first episode, and I didn't think it was too good, to be honest. I'm more of an Alias man myself ^^ it's heaps better.

You mean TFM? Yeah, it was a bit high-paced I think. I'm still writing a novel that follows slightly similar lines as that one, but it hasn't got very far yet.

More stuff coming soon. Chapter 49 is looking good!

Cheers!

[Gavin Luper]

Hey everybody!

Just updating to make sure you're not left hanging or anything. I've had a bit of a block with Chapter 49 and how it's all going to play out, so my progress hasn't been smooth lately. C49 will probably be a while in coming - hopefully not too long. I haven't had much time lately, either, what with school and so on. I'm also working on another fic to post here, plus an actual novel, so that adds to the congestion.

Anyway, don't worry too much, I'll finish this off if it takes ten years, I swear. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, musings, wonderings, suggestions, criticisms, comments or more, PLEASE post and ask me. I feel I haven't been getting much critical feedback lately and enough questions, etc ... I think it's the lack of that that has been blocking me (^^ that didn't sound great).

So yeah, anything to say or think, please post!!!!!!!

Cheers!

[PancaKe]

^^ Ill still post. If youve got writers block i suggest take a break. write some random stuff - just like try some writing exercsies . look at a bin and write a story about it. about its backgroundand stuff. it really helpful actually. try it.

**PancaKe||

[Andrew]

Hello, Tara and Gavin!

Wow, what was Aipom chittering about? Flea washes?

Also, wow, Lisa's giving me Elle chills, seriously. I'm expecting her to start wishing she could start ramming her hand back up cow's butts.

I'm surprised Marina didn't learn more, or that they didn't go get her bruises checked out. I'm also expecting them to be especially smelly and dirty.

Huzzah for seeing Tom again 8) Very cool. Well we'll be seeing him again soon.

Radcool for car stealing! Are they dressing up and whatnot? Steal a car from a childcare center! No one will get a car full of babies with bullets!

Good work, pitty the font thing is on the fritz again. Damn TPM thing.

[Karania]

yeah I know what you mean about the time crunch. I'm currently writing 9 fics and I'm about to start a Midieval Times novel that I might publish when I get it done. I love Midieval TIme with all those elements. See ya later and by golly don't hurt yourself!