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

[Gavin Luper]

*

Jessica was anything but gracious about her brother losing to somebody that she thought was a pushover trainer; she was storming over to the pontoon, waving a huge hat in the air and yelling. “ Andrew, how could you lose? Here you are pretending you’re a great trainer and you lose to Gavin, who’s not even got a gym badge!”

Lisa watched from her spot on the beach sand a few metres away as Andrew tried to defend himself. She had been surprised how good Gavin had battled; she had always thought of him as being a rather weak trainer, despite the fact that the only time they had met on a battlefield – at the Whirlpool Cup – she had lost to him.

“ I bet if I battled Gavin I could totally kick his ***, and show you who’s the better trainer!” said Jess angrily, standing on the pontoon beside Andrew, facing Gavin as though she was about to fight him.

“ Um, all I have with me are Natu and Girafury, and this really isn’t a great place for him to battle, it’s too small, Jessica,” Gavin said, backing away off the pontoon and back onto the wet sand. “Perhaps another time, eh Jess?”

“ That’s not fair! I wanted to show Andrew up!” stormed Jessica.

A wild idea rose into Lisa’s head … maybe she could battle Jessica. After all, last time they had tried to battle, the match had been interrupted, and they had never continued. This would be the perfect opportunity to see who would have won.

Trusting that Olivia wouldn’t miss her (the girl was digging a massive hole, for what reason only she knew; Aipom and Spoink were ‘helping’) Lisa stood up, brushed the sand off her shorts and jogged over to the pontoon where the others were.

“ Tell you what Jessica, I’ll battle you,” she said quickly.

Jessica simply nodded, and walked to Andrew’s end of the pontoon while he went back to the beach with Gavin. The two boys sat down hear Olivia, Spoink and Aipom, all of whom were still digging a hole, or teetering on the edge of it. Lisa stepped onto the pontoon, wobbling slightly, and took her battle position where Gavin had been standing earlier.

“ This time we’ll see who wins, hey Lisa?” said Jessica.

Lisa just nodded, but she found herself surprisingly eager to win.

“ Go Murkrow!” cried Jessica, throwing out her pokeball to begin the fight. It burst open in midair and for a moment Lisa was taken aback by the bright white bird that appeared from the ball; she had forgotten that Jessica’s Murkrow was albino, rather that pitch black like most of them.

“ Go on Lisa, choose someone,” said Jess impatiently.

Lisa was trying to do just that. She was narrowing her pokemon down by elimination: Fiskmire wouldn’t be a wise choice, as he was likely to sink the pontoon; Electabuzz wasn’t a good mix with watery surrounds, especially since he seemed to completely detest Lisa; Dratini might work, but he wouldn’t be able to move anywhere when he was on the pontoon, and that would be a huge disadvantage against a flying pokemon. Aipom would have been the ideal choice, but he was halfway down a hole with Olivia.

That left Lisa with one choice. She threw out the pokeball and yelled, “ Go Vulpix!”

Vulpix appeared in a glittering explosion of light. Jessica looked a bit confused at Lisa’s choice – a fire type on a pontoon with ocean all around – but she didn’t hesitate more than a moment. Andrew yelled something out from the shore; Jessica pulled the finger at him, then looked at Lisa fiercely and yelled, “ Icy Wind, Murkrow!”

Vulpix wasn’t too happy with the vast stretch of water around him – he looked at Lisa for comfort. She grinned at him. “ It’s all right, just don’t fall in,” she said. He looked sceptical, but turned to the battle anyhow.

The albino Murkrow was wheeling around in the sky, then, without warning, it’s eyes glowed icily and it flapped its wings once – a moment later, a heavy barrage of Icy Wind berated Vulpix, and – inadvertently – Lisa was caught in the blast as well. Luckily for her, Vulpix stood strong; he had a type advantage, after all.

“ Stay agile, Vulpix, and use Firebomb,” commanded Lisa.

Vulpix responded swiftly. His eyes glowed with a kind of power before he opened his jaws, which had vermilion flames collecting within it, trying to escape. With a loud BANG, the ball of fire was expelled from Vulpix’s mouth and barrelled in the direction of Murkrow, who was hovering above him. It gave a loud squawk and dived out of the way, so that the fireball missed completely. However, just as Murkrow and Jessica were both looking triumphant, the ball of fire exploded with the force of a small bomb, sending out a massive wave of heat, while showering Murkrow with fiery sparks and flames. Only the blast of heat actually connected with the white Murkrow, though; it swooped away and managed to dodge every single flame.

Lisa screwed up her face in frustration. She had thought that move was more or less foolproof. She heard Gavin half-supporting her, half-mocking her with a cry of, “ You can do it!”

Something clicked in Lisa’s head. The reason she was losing so far was because Murkrow was too fast. To win, she needed to slow it down, and to slow it down, she had to –

“ Vulpix! Hypnotise Murkrow!” she ordered.

Her hopes were dashed almost instantaneously.

“ Uh, Murkrow … uh … Mirror Move!” cried Jessica, tripping over her tongue in her haste to get the words out.

Lisa was watching Jessica make the command more than she was watching Murkrow carry it out. By the time she looked back at the middle of the pontoon, she saw Vulpix’s eyes spinning as it looked into a mirror that Murkrow had produced out of thin air. A moment later, he collapsed, sound asleep on the pontoon.

“ No, wake up Vulpix!” Lisa cried uselessly.

“ Good work, Birdy,” Jess congratulated her Murkrow. “ Now use Pallid Beam!”

Lisa knew the battle was won, and not by her. She cringed as Murkrow fired off a massive beam of white light at Vulpix. The light was astonishingly bright – Lisa had to shield her eyes with her hands – and when she finally got the nerve to look back at the battle, it was to see Vulpix, eyes closed and fur ruffled, spread-eagled on the pontoon, and Murkrow soaring in a victory circle.

She sighed and returned Vulpix to his pokeball wordlessly.

“ This would’ve been different if I had’ve used Dratini, Jessica,” said Lisa, aware that she sounded like a sore loser, and felt like one too. It had been a while since she’d lost a pokemon battle, and all the wild pokemon she had beaten a couple of days ago at Ecru Lake had made her feel invincible. And now here she was, being beaten by Jessica, of all people. She tried to smile happily but her heart was definitely not in it.

Andrew and Gavin were walking over, looking impassive.

“ Congrats Jess,” Andrew said blandly, not smiling. Lisa had a feeling he hadn’t wanted her to win at all.

Jessica grinned, clearly ecstatic at her victory over Lisa. “ Thanks, I told you I was a better trainer than you, Andrew.”

“ Wow Jess, you pulled that battle off pretty well,” said Gavin, coming up to congratulate Jessica also. “ Hey Lisa, how long has it been since you actually lost a battle?”

Lisa shot him a look of pure venom as they returned to the hotel for the night.

*

The Port Valeo Courthouse was more impressive than Lisa could have imagined. It was almost ten-thirty the next morning when the police escort drove up the paved drive to the courthouse, and as the police car approached, Lisa wondered how she had never seen the courthouse before – it was the biggest building in the entire town. The courthouse was a two-level structure, made of elegant terracotta-coloured stone. It had white columns all around the lower level, making it look immensely formal and serious. The entrance was up a short series of marble steps, through a set of polished oak doors. Above the doors was carved an elaborate coat of arms, divided into four sections; Lisa couldn’t see what was engraved in any of the four sections, but she did see a sleek Dragonair – the international symbol of peace - set in the centre of the crest.

Lisa saw all this from the police car, in which rode herself, Aipom (sitting still, for a change), Gavin, Andrew and Jessica, along with Officer Rule, the police officer who was in charge of the four of them. What she didn’t see at first, though, was a gaggle of people clustered on the grassed area outside the marble steps. Lisa peered more closely at the people, her face pressed against the glass as the car drove right up to the entrance; it seemed to be a crowd of news reporters and journalists – most of them had notepads, microphones and there were two or three TV cameras. Lisa turned to the others and grinned; Jessica looked unimpressed at the newspeople, but Gavin and Andrew both looked keen at being interviewed.

Officer Rule pulled the police car up to the entrance and braked with a jolt. “ Alright, go straight inside, guys,” said Officer Rule, at once both serious and casual. Lisa saw Jessica smile in his direction as she piled out of the car, but the policeman appeared not to notice.

Lisa stepped out of the car into the bright sunlight, and before her eyes had even adjusted to the light the reporters immediately descended like seagulls upon the four of them.

“ What do you think should happen to Lenina?” shouted a man in a black suit, directly in Lisa’s face. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could reply, a woman in a dated floral dress ambushed her with a microphone: “ Lisa, could you please give our viewers a blow-by-blow account of your ordeal?” Lisa muttered a vague, “ Um, I have to go,” to the reporters and tried to escape, but she was hemmed in on all sides by reporters and cameramen, all of them firing questions at her which all seemed to be the same.

Aipom took matters into his own hands – or tail-hand, to be exact; he bounced up and down on Lisa’s shoulder as he slapped the reporters away. Lisa watched, amused, as Aipom felled three reporters. As the third one fell, a woman with beehive-shape hair, Lisa saw a gap in the throng of reporters. She lunged through the gap and found herself free of the crowd at last.

“ Thanks Aipom,” she said. The purple monkey smiled toothily.

Lisa didn’t waste time in escaping the media – she scampered up the marble stairs and breezed through the oak doors, not even bothering to look back. She strode through a second set of doors – glass ones – and in to the lobby of the courthouse and instantly felt as though she didn’t belong. The floor was marble, like the stairs outside, and there were pillars placed throughout the room. A long mahogany counter was set on the opposite side of the lobby from the door, and to the left and right hand sides of the room were corridors that presumably led to the courtrooms.

“ There she is!”

Lisa turned, expecting to face another surge of reporters, but she was faced instead with Jessica and Gavin, who came striding over from the counter, both looking very respectable in their good clothes.

“ They’re mental, aren’t they?” said Jessica.

“ Absolutely,” Lisa said breathlessly, looking around the lobby. “ Where’s Andrew, and that policeman?”

Jessica rolled her eyes and Gavin pointed behind Lisa. Lisa turned around to see Officer Rule walk through the glass doors, Andrew in tow.

“ … supposed to be early, it makes a good impression,” Officer Rule was saying reprovingly. He glanced at the rest of them. “ OK then, this way, we have to go through registration,” he said simply, and swept off across the room and down the left corridor. Lisa, Jessica, Andrew and Gavin followed him nervously; now that the time had come, butterflies were hovering in Lisa’s stomach.

Officer Rule led them down the bright corridor to another large room, which also had a long counter with a sign saying ‘Registration’ over it. Everyone handed their pokemon in to be checked out, then had them returned. It was then that Lisa realised how much security there was now – the registration for starters, the police escort – and, now, she realised that the passage Officer Rule was about to lead them down was laced with video cameras and a metal detector.

“ Just walk through here one at a time, then,” said Officer Rule to the group at large.

Feeling guilty for no reason, Lisa took the plunge first, but the machine didn’t beep at all. The others followed through with no problems until Gavin passed through and the machine beeped loudly. Before Officer Rule said anything, Gavin had taken off both his shoes and handed them to the policeman, then he walked through again, this time with no alarm.

Officer Rule looked puzzled.

“ Steel-caps,” said Gavin, and Officer Rule nodded, returning the boots.

“ Why’ve you got steel-caps?” Lisa said sternly.

Gavin shrugged as Officer Rule swept down another corridor, this one green-carpeted. The entire group was silent now, and Lisa could feel the nervousness of the others. Officer Rule led them to a door that had ‘Courtroom Six’ emblazoned across it. Lisa handed Aipom to him, and he promised to keep him under control in the lobby. Officer Rule then tugged at the handle of the wooden door, hissed, “ Good luck,” to all of them, and left the door open for them to enter the courtroom.

[Gavin Luper]

*

“ Welcome, you four teenagers,” said the Judge in her booming voice.

Lisa felt small and insignificant in the massive courtroom. She was sitting right up the front, near the lawyer’s desk, between Jessica and Gavin. The rows of seats behind her were completely full with silent onlookers. At the front half of the courtroom were the judge’s stand, witness box, the stenographer’s desk and at the side of the room sat the twelve jurors, looking very serious. The Judge cleared her throat loudly and, as if on cue, everyone in the courtroom stood up.

“ Now that the Crown has presented their four main witnesses, I’ll allow opening statements from firstly the prosecuting Crown before the defence,” she said. Everyone sat down again. Lisa’s gaze flicked from the lawyer to the Judge, who was, oddly, chewing at a Mars bar and taking surreptitious gulps from a can of diet coke.

The Stenographer looked up at the Judge, trying to get her attention. When she finally looked down, the stenographer made violent signals to her. The Judge nodded, still stuffing her face with chocolate and caramel, and said thickly, “ Bring in the Accused!”

This was it, the moment Lisa had been both dreading and looking forward to. The doors opposite the Jury swung open and in walked Lenina. She wore a navy jumpsuit and handcuffs, which came as no surprise to Lisa, but her feet were unchained. However, Lisa didn’t have much time to ponder this: she had just noticed Lenina’s head.

The left side of her face was a dangerous-looking scarlet colour – it appeared to have been permanently damaged in the fire Lenina had been caught in two months ago. There were horrible burns covering most of her left side, most prominent on her face and neck. Lenina’s hair was mangled, thin and wispy, and most of it had not grown back. What really stood out about Lenina, though, was her face; her thin smile showed that she looked relatively happy, considering she could face life imprisonment for her crimes.

Lisa felt a small nudge at her left side – Jessica. “ What’s she so happy about?” Jessica hissed, sounding unnerved.

“ She’s up to something …” said Lisa under her breath, as Lenina was placed in the Accused area by a police officer, then left there.

Lisa watched tentatively, feeling completely powerless as the prosecution lawyer – the man who was supposedly going to convict Lenina – stood up and made his opening statement. The prosecution lawyer cleared his throat loudly, got the Judge’s attention, and stood up, half-facing the Jury, half-facing Lisa, Andrew, Gavin and Jessica.

“ Your honour, the courtroom, my esteemed colleagues and members of the public,” said the lawyer; “ We are here today to convict Professor Lenina Johnson of illegal genetic testing, kidnapping, verbal abuse, assault and Pokenapping. As you can see, our four young whippersnappers here are going to tell you what happened.” He glanced at them, and Lisa felt a tiny surge of pride. The old man now looked at the jury. “ Members of the jury, do not be fooled by this woman’s appearance. This lady has committed many serious crimes. During the course of this trial, it will be uncovered that these young men and women overcame great difficulties to defeat her in the name of self defence.

He sat down and gave a grin to the four of them. Lisa smiled back – he was old and wrinkly, but he evidently knew the ropes, which she was grateful for.

“ Will the defence please give their opening statement,” said the Judge lazily, now moving on to a packet of maltesers. She seemed unaware that she was in the middle of a very serious trial.

Lisa watched the pompous defence layer stand up and sidle over to the Jury area, leaning over the barrier and winking at a blonde woman, who flinched and looked ill. The lawyer seemed unabashed and strolled back to his desk as he gave the opening statement.

“ Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are here today because of a total lack of respect for the elderly,” he said. Lisa tried not to be effected by this statement, but she still felt instant indignation at the smug defence lawyer.

He continued. “ Andrew and Jessica Hall, Lisa Walters –” Lisa shuddered upon hearing her own name, “ – Phillip Steiner and Gavin Luper are nothing but DIRTY LIARS!”

Lisa felt her insides turn glacial. Liars? What was he on about? She exchanged glances with Gavin, who looked furious and apprehensive about the lawyer’s next words. All through the courtroom, nervous chattering had spread throughout those sitting in the benches behind Lisa.

“ During this trial,” the lawyer continued vehemently, “ we are going to prove that Lisa, Jessica and Phillip trespassed on Lenina’s relaxation area, physically assaulted her, performed arson on the building and LEFT HER FOR DEAD. But that wasn’t enough for them, was it? The youth of today are vicious killers!

“ Those three –” he pointed accusingly at Lisa and Jessica, however, there was no Phil to point at, “ – then got Andrew and Gavin to attack her in an alleyway when she was injured and looking for help. Can you believe this? Five people, three strapping young men and two cunning young women ATTACKED an injured pensioner in an alleyway! Can you believe what a cowardly attack that was? Not only that, we are going to have them convicted for the murder of the pokemon which died in the fire – Lenina’s beloved Steelix and Slowbro amongst them. Now she only has two harmless pokemon left, Piloswine and Flareon. And because of the LIES these children told, she has been separated from the only things in this world that care for her!”

The icy sensation in Lisa’s stomach was gone; she now felt a total fury against the defence lawyer; tears of anger and frustration formed in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She didn’t have any intentions of showing the lawyer just how much he was upsetting her. She just had to wait until she got to the witness box …

But there was still more of the defence lawyer’s tirade.

“ See how they’ve made a poor old woman cry! Look!”

Lisa shifted her gaze to Lenina who sat near the defence lawyer. She was sobbing, apparently upset, but Lisa had seen enough of Jean’s tantrums back home to know Lenina was faking it.

“ My life’s been stolen from me,” she said pitifully, sobbing into her arms.

Almost all the people in the courtroom were now looking at Lisa, Gavin and the others with disgust. Lisa felt her face flush scarlet as the furious gazes of almost everyone – including their own lawyer – bore down on them.

“ You little good for nothings!” hissed the prosecution lawyer quietly, his voice filled with mistrust.

Lisa didn’t even feel hurt from this remark; she had just noticed something odd: Lenina was standing up (all traces of tears gone), clicking a pen that she had taken off her lawyer. Abruptly, and in a loud voice, she announced: “ I do hope these horrible attackers don’t try to hurt me again.”

Instantly, there was a loud bang as the doors of the courtroom burst open. Lisa turned automatically to look. A thick wave of pewter grey smoke was pouring through the doors and into the courtroom – and so was a stream of people carrying guns and smoke bombs.

“ Get down!” cried Gavin, as a collective scream went up from the back of the room – the invaders (and Lisa had a shrewd idea who they were) had reached the people sitting in the rows and were attacking them in some way or other. Lisa felt Gavin grab her arm and pull her down to the ground, beneath the lawyer’s desk – just in time; a bang went off and a bullet went whizzing past where Lisa had been previously standing.

She didn’t thank Gavin; there wasn’t time. Beneath the desk also crouched Andrew and Jess, both looking as petrified as Lisa felt. Andrew had already released his Dragonair, which curled up at his feet.

“ We need to get out of here,” he said.

“ Well …” Jessica began, but she seemed unable to finish.

In the background, Lisa heard the Judge shriek, “ You’ll never get me! I’ve got food that’ll last a week!” Even in a moment of terror, when smoke was clouding her mind and vision, Lisa managed a small smirk.

There were cries for help from the Jury; apparently the invaders had reached them already.

“ Let’s fight, then,” said Gavin, and he stood up along with Andrew and Jessica – Lisa followed.

Lisa pulled out Electabuzz’s pokeball and was about to throw it out when a boy about her age, but evidently one of the invaders, emerged from the thick smoke, which was still blossoming from an unknown source. He held a strange box, and pressed a button on it. At once, an odd beep emitted from the box, though Lisa had no idea what it did. “ No pokemon!” said the boy strangely, before disappearing into the smoke again.

After he disappeared, more people emerged – a man appeared from the smoke, leering at them.

“ Dragonair, get them! Dragonbreath!” cried Andrew from behind Lisa, but his Dragonair was limp on the ground, it’s eyes a vermilion colour. Lisa had a feeling that had something to do with the box that the boy had held out before.

She took matters into her own hands. “ Go Electabuzz!” Lisa yelled, ditching the pokeball at the man. She watched expectantly, waiting to order Electabuzz to attack, but the ball stayed shut; it flew at the man at hit him squarely on the mouth, causing him to drop the gun he had, however, Electabuzz’s pokeball landed neatly in the man’s hands. He grinned, his teeth at funny angles, before running off into the smoke.

Lisa felt her face flush with fury. “ Get back here!” she screamed. She glanced around her to see Jessica beside her; grabbing her for back up, Lisa plunged into the thick smoke, her eyes watering and her throat feeling dry.

But the man was nowhere to be seen.

“ Come on, Jessica, we have to find him … he has my Electabuzz,” Lisa said, her teeth gritted. “ Keep an eye out for anyone …”

There were still people screaming and the sounds of several fights being undertaken in the courtroom, but Lisa couldn’t see much more than her own hand in front of her through the smoke. She inched onwards through one of the rows of benches until a figure appeared; the blonde woman, who had been in the Jury, was slumped over a bench, a tranquillizer dart in her arm. At least she hadn’t been shot.

“ Lisa, look out!” cried Jessica. Lisa turned to see a man armed with a Stun Gun standing right before her. He whipped out the Stunner, preparing to use it; Lisa dived to the ground, and at the same time she saw Jessica standing on the bench, waving her arms at the man with the Stun Gun. He turned to glance at her, and in that moment, Lisa mustered all her strength and kicked the man’s ankles; he went flying off his feet, and landed with a resounding crack on the floor. Lisa stood up, shaking, and grinned at Jessica, who said, “ No worries.”

“ Let’s keep going, then,” Lisa said to her, reaching the aisle and turning left. Together, she and Jess weaved their way through the smoke, which was as thick as ever. It was not making Lisa cough, though, which made her think it was some sort of smoke substitute.

A loud scream and a thud resounded from somewhere very close by. Lisa and Jessica exchanged nervous glances before continuing on; Lisa had a feeling they were walking towards the Jury’s area.

And then, fate stepped in at last; the man who had stolen Lisa’s Electabuzz crept past them, his gaze focused on Officer Rule, who had apparently entered the courtroom at some stage. There was, however, no sign of Aipom.

Officer Rule had his gun out, peering into the smoke, apparently unable to see the invader creeping up on him. Lisa and Jessica moved silently, as though they had rehearsed what they were about to do a million times; Jessica yelled, “ Oi!” and the Electabuzz-thief turned automatically; Lisa pulled her arm back and slammed her fist into his shoulder, causing a loud crack; as he turned around to her, his eyes pained, Jessica came charging up from behind and, with a clever, well-aimed kick, knocked him to the floor; the pokeball that was still in his hands went flying into the air and Lisa caught it.

Jessica’s face was alight with triumph as she and Lisa exchanged high-fives.

Officer Rule had seen them now, and pelted over to them, amongst the sounds of battle and fighting, and the hiss of the smoke pouring into the room. “ Stay there, girls!” he urged them seriously. There was a loud bang of gunfire a short way away, and he cringed. “ Uh … I’ll go check that out …” Without another word, he dissolved into the greyness.

Jessica stood beside Lisa as she pocketed Electabuzz’s pokeball. Jessica had quite forgotten to stare at Officer Rule like she normally did, which went to show how serious the situation was. Lisa stood beside Jess, feeling vulnerable in the smoke. The sounds of fighting were sparser now, but it appeared that there were still a number of fistfights and gun battles going on in the huge courtroom. Jessica tapped her foot almost impatiently.

“ So we just … wait?”

There was an extremely loud crack from somewhere around them and Lisa was sure she heard Gavin’s voice.

“ Gavin?” she said cautiously, taking a step in the direction of the sound.

At once, another armed man appeared (how many are there? thought Lisa). He held a stun gun and was already pointing it at her; Lisa did nothing but cry out as a jet of blue light issued from the stunner and connected with her; for a second, she thought she was dead, but a moment after she found herself lying on the floor, shaken but alive and unmarked. She at once stood up, confused. She hadn’t been stunned, or electrocuted, just knocked off her feet.

But the man had disappeared – as had Jessica.

“ Help!” Jessica shrieked out suddenly from somewhere very close; Lisa pelted through the smoke to see the stun gun man with Jessica in a bizarre headlock; Lisa threw her entire body weight at the man; he went flying into the wall with a loud crack, and Jessica – luckily – did not have a broken neck, though Lisa realised her attack had been foolish. Instead, Jessica emerged from the incident holding a hand to her tailbone and wincing.

The man was already on his feet though, facing Lisa. He was big and strong, while she was not, but nevertheless, she balled her fists, ready to fight him. But before he used his fists or the stunner, Jessica came flying from behind and jabbed him deftly in the eye. He collapsed at once to the ground.

“ We’ve got to get out of here!” screamed Lisa, feeling faint. She grabbed the stunner from the unconscious man, feeling that she might need it. With Jessica by her side, and no sign of Officer Rule, Lisa stepped into the haze of the smoke, holding the stun gun before her.

“ Look out, Rambo coming through,” joked Jessica weakly, though she was very pale.

Lisa tried to focus her stinging eyes on anything she might be able to see. The progress she made was very slow, as though she was wading through butter, but eventually a shape emerged; without thinking, Lisa pulled the trigger on the stunner – a bolt of blue light rent the air and connected with the shadow, causing whoever it was to collapse. Jessica moved up beside Lisa tentatively as they inspected their sprawled victim more closely – a slender, brown-haired woman, wearing camouflage clothing, a gun tucked into her belt.

Lisa didn’t feel odd about knocking the woman out, but an idea of what these people were doing here had come into her mind. They had to with Team Rocket, surely, and Lisa suspected they had ambushed the court case to stop some evidence coming to light – probably the evidence Lisa, Jessica and the others were going to give. But why had they gone to so much trouble? Most of the knowledge Lisa, Jessica, Gavin and Andrew had about the trial was common knowledge amongst the police, it was all known anyway.

Before Lisa could draw any conclusions, Jessica gave a small squeak and jogged her back to reality.

“ What is it?” Lisa said at once, holding the stun gun at the ready. Jessica had picked up the judge’s hammer as a weapon and she, too, was holding it poised to strike.

“ There’s someone just there …” Jessica said, advancing nervously but resolutely. Lisa followed her, noticing that the smoke was clearing finally. All at once, Jessica stopped in her tracks, and as Lisa caught up with her, an incredibly bizarre scene, almost a freeze frame, met her eyes.

Andrew was lying on the green carpet, apparently unconscious and looking worse for the wear; Officer Rule was slumped against the wooden wall, his eyes open but pained as he held a hand to a wound in his leg; most strangely, though, were the two people in the centre of the aisle. Lenina, her eyes filled with a crazed look Lisa could not really describe, was flat on her back on the ground, Gavin standing over her, legs set apart and a black pistol held in both his hands, pointing directly at Lenina’s heart.

Lisa tried to speak, but her throat was dry. Jessica drew breath sharply and looked away almost flinchingly, her fingers plugging her ears. Lisa stared at Gavin, through his eyes were locked with Lenina’s and he could not see her. Don’t do it, through Lisa earnestly. She doesn’t deserve to be killed so quickly, painlessly almost …

“ You … Team Rocket, you tried to –” Gavin was saying, almost incoherently.

Lenina actually snorted with disdain, even though she was in no position to do so, with a weapon pointed directly at her. “ There is no such thing as Team Rocket, boy,” she said.

Lisa glanced at Gavin; she thought she saw him begin to lower the gun, but in the split second before he could do so, a dark figure pelted up behind him and pushed him hard, sending Gavin forward and causing his hand to slip; a loud blast resounded from the pistol.

Lisa’s head swirled; blood, a scream, a few gurgled, incoherent last words, and that was it.

Lenina was dead.

*

The Trial of Lenina Johnson was officially cancelled. After all, there was no Lenina Johnson left to convict, and since Lisa, Jessica and Officer Rule had all witnessed that Gavin had not purposely shot her, he was not accused of anything.

A great weight was lifted from Lisa’s mind. The police wanted them to all make statements, but after that they would all free to go back to the hotel – even Andrew, who was injured but was coping after he was cleaned up by the ambulance officers who had arrived on the scene minutes after the last fight was finished. Jessica also had damaged her tailbone. Gavin was relatively unscathed, however Lisa found several bruises all over herself, which she could not recall obtaining in the heat of the moment.

After the police had finished their interviews at the police station, Lisa followed behind Gavin and Andrew, Jess at her side, when they walked past an enclosed room near the entrance to the station. Lisa glanced casually through the glass in the door; inside, ten of the people captured in the courtroom were being interrogated by four police officers. That was all that had been captured in the attack – ten men, and there had reportedly been almost forty. Lisa felt uneasy that so many were still on the run, but with the court case now out of the way, they had no reason to attack her or any of the others.

A great comfort to Lisa was that the press could not identify any names or publish any photos, just in case there were any of the Team Rocket members still lurking around.

But were they Team Rocket? Lenina’s last words, before dying, had been distinctly to tell them that there was no such thing as Team Rocket. Lisa knew that Team Rocket existed, or at least once had; they were very much an underground organization and were almost a myth in most people’s minds nowadays (Jessica and Andrew didn’t believe in them, for starters), however she had seen them before … Lucas, a member of Team Rocket, had tried to kill her once … and Lenina had apparently been a Professor of Team Rocket, according to Gavin. And the people who had invaded Lisa’s house a few nights ago had had scarlet R’s emblazoned on their uniforms, hadn’t they? And to top it all off, Gavin himself had been kidnapped by the Rockets. The only possible explanation for Lenina’s statement would be if Team Rocket had somehow disbanded in the past three days – which hardly seemed likely.

And so Lisa sat very quietly in the police car on the way back to the hotel, while the others talked to each other enthusiastically about the trial.

*

Lisa, Gavin, Andrew, Jessica, Olivia, Glenys and Ripper (plus Aipom and Olivia’s Spoink, who were playing quietly in a corner) spent the evening in the bar of the resort’s restaurant/bar after the older two returned from their short anniversary. The four of them who had been at the trial told their story rapidly to the others, who seemed completely amazed.

“ I’ll bloody tell you one thing, for a small seaside town, its never bloody peaceful,” said Ripper at the end of the story, and Lisa grinned.

It was a relaxing evening really, exactly what they needed after such an intense day. Music played in the background of the bar while everybody chatted over drinks (Ripper had smuggled them all a drink; Lisa’s was a sweet champagne that looked almost like lemonade).

Olivia floated across the room, towards where Lisa stood looking at an odd mosaic on the wall. Lisa saw her approaching and attempted an escape, but Olivia cornered her swiftly.

“ Hi Lisa, do you like being effluent?” she said at once.

Lisa snorted and champagne poured back into her crystal glass. “ What?”

“ Effluent,” said Olivia dreamily. “ You know, you have that crystal glass, and it’s expensive champagne, and you’re in a five-star resort … it’s just so effluent, isn’t it?”

A great roar of laughter arose in Lisa but she choked it down with vast difficulty. “ Um … yes, Olivia,” she managed, with a small smile. “ Very effluent.” Olivia gave an appreciative smile and hovered away again. Lisa watched her, laughing freely now that she was gone, and wondering whether she ought to tell Olivia that the right word was in fact ‘affluent’.

“ What’s so funny?” Andrew asked, walking up beside Lisa with a beer in hand.

Lisa proceeded to explain, and Andrew grinned broadly.

“ She’s like that with words,” he said, shrugging.

Lisa giggled again.

“ So, where are you heading off to now, Lisa?” asked Andrew, gazing at the mosaic. Lisa was still looking at it, too; it was oddly-shaped and difficult to interpret; depending on which way she looked at it, it was either an upside down volcano, or the sun on a hot day wearing an akubra hat.

Lisa thought about her reply to Andrew’s question; she and Gavin hadn’t yet told anyone their intentions, as they had only just finalised them back in their apartment when they were having showers. “ Well, we’re going to surf south,” she said truthfully.

“ Really? You’re not flying?”

“ No, we want to surf this time, I don’t want to act like a sponge,” she said, pointing over to Glenys and Ripper, who were holding hands and sipping drinks at the bar.

“ Fair enough,” said Andrew. “ So you’re surfing home, then?”

A direct question. Lisa shifted uncomfortably and then said, not looking at him, “ Sure … so, what about you?”

“ I’m heading on my journey again,” he said simply. “ Now that this court thingy is finished with, and that Lenina is out of the way, I can keep heading for the next town to get my seventh badge. Hopefully we can find a way to ditch Olivia on the way, though …”

Lisa giggled. “ Oh, well … she’s not all that bad …”

“ No, not bad,” Andrew agreed, “ it’s just that her brain cells drop off with each passing minute.”

Lisa hit him and looked around the room in case Olivia had heard, however she had completely disappeared. Across the room, though, Jessica and Gavin were talking happily (again, Lisa had that tiny twinge that told her they were flirting), until suddenly Jessica looked at Gavin in annoyance. “ Hey!” she said to him. “ You didn’t battle me because you didn’t have enough Pokemon!”

Lisa grinned. Gavin had presumably told Jessica about the Seel he caught yesterday; he had been oddly secretive about it even to Lisa, until she found the pokeball under his pillow a few hours ago.

She turned back to Andrew, who was again looking at the mosaic, tilting his head an odd way to look at it. Without warning, Glenys appeared at Lisa’s side and smiled warmly at both her and Andrew.

“ Do you like it?” she said eagerly. “ I made it from the spare tiles when they renovated our old house.”

Andrew didn’t reply, so Lisa took it upon herself to. “ It’s lovely,” she said as graciously as she could. “ Um … what is it, exactly?” She had a feeling that neither of her earlier guesses was right.

Glenys smiled. “ Oh, everyone asks that. You see, it’s the sun on a hot day wearing an akubra hat,” she explained, looking at it affectionately.

Lisa fought the urge to smirk, but lost the battle when she heard Andrew pipe up, “ You know, I see that now, but at first I thought it was an upside down volcano.”

At that moment, a dinging of a spoon on glass resounded through the bar – Olivia had some sort of speech to make, apparently.

“ Everyone, everyone!” she announced eagerly. “ I’ve got gifts for you all,” she continued, pulling up a massive bag from under a table, “ so close your eyes and I’ll give you one!”

Andrew’s eyes reflected Lisa’s sceptical feeling about this, however she good-naturedly closed her eyes and a moment later felt something heavy and spherical drop into her outstretched hands.

“ Open now everyone!”

Lisa opened her eyes quickly and looked down at the thing in her hands. It was an orb – like a magic eight ball – except it was a turquoise colour. Lisa wondered if Olivia was for real – but then again, the ‘effluent’ incident returned to her mind and she decided Olivia was serious.

Olivia was showing Aipom and Spoink their little friendship bands, which Lisa did think was nice, then the girl turned to Lisa.

“ It’s a magic eight ball Lisa!” she said, taking Lisa’s blank look for confusion. “ Ask it a question and it tells the truth! It’s how I answer all my tests at school!”

Oh Dear God, thought Lisa, but she still shook the ball and said, “ Is this gift useless?”

Everyone gave a small laugh, including Olivia; the ball replied with a vague ‘Ask again later’.

Lisa watched as everyone else had their presents explained by Olivia – Andrew had been given black hair dye, Gavin received a green tub of vitamin E cream, Jessica was less than amused to get a personalised doll based on herself, and finally Ripper and Glenys were handed a polaroid camera.

“ To record memories and stuff, so when you go crazy like old people do, you can look at the pictures and remain sane,” she explained to a disapproving Glenys and Ripper.

Olivia appeared unabashed; she grouped everyone together, took three snapshots, and handed one to the old couple, one to Lisa and Gavin, and kept one for herself, Jessica and Andrew. Lisa pocketed the photograph with a small smile – it was one way of remembering the extremely eventful spell in Port Valeo.

*

Unnoticed by Gavin or Aipom, Lisa slipped out of the hotel apartment very early the next morning – at about four am. She knew there would be at least one officer on duty at the Valeo Police Station, and that was all she needed.

At such an early hour, the village was remarkably quiet. Lisa passed through the main street in the semi-darkness, seeing all the places she had become used to – the Berry Boutique, a few cafés, the courthouse down a side street, the Valeo Library, the other shops. Finally, Lisa reached the modern police station and walked in through the sliding glass doors.

“ Lisa, back again?” said a blonde female officer who was behind the front desk – Lisa knew her from the interviews yesterday, her name was Officer Frost.

“ I have to … report a crime,” Lisa said quickly.

Officer Frost swept her scraggly fringe from her tired eyes. “ Sit down,” she said immediately. Lisa did. “ So, is this crime anything to do with what happened yesterday?”

“ Yes, well, I think it is … you see, it happened the other night, Tuesday night actually.” Before she knew it, Lisa had launched right into the story of how her home had been invaded a few nights ago – it seemed much longer ago, but it had been Tuesday night, and it was only Saturday morning now. Officer Frost listened, apologising for her yawns and taking notes. When Lisa finished off by saying how she had not seen Marina since, Officer Frost nodded calmly.

“ I haven’t heard from them since Tuesday,” finished Lisa. “ I haven’t even heard from my brother Tom or his girlfriend, Miki. All I know is that my parents said they had some urgent matters to attend to at work, and that’s all they said.”

Officer Frost looked extremely concerned. “ Lisa, just answer me this – how is it that you have gone over three days with this knowledge and not told any police!? You should have contacted this station as soon as you arrived here in Valeo. Why did you wait?”

“ I – well –” Lisa was cut off as the telephone rang and Officer Frost answered it. Lisa felt dense. She looked down at her hands. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know why she had been keeping it all to herself. The logical thing, she thought, would have been to tell the police at once. That was obvious. Why hadn’t she?

When she looked up, Officer Frost had the telephone receiver to her ear and was listening to someone shouting frantically from the other end. Officer Frost’s mouth was set in a rigid line.

She slammed the phone down.

“ What is it?” Lisa said, without thinking.

“ I have to go, we have an emergency to the north of town. If you just go down that corridor there you’ll meet Officers Sanderson and West. They’ll listen to your story and keep you safe here in our custody –”

“ What?” Lisa burst out. “ In your custody?”

Officer Frost was gathering up a notebook and a baton from a locked drawer beneath the desk. “ Yes, of course, Lisa,” she said. “ Did you really think we would allow you to go back into the public when such a thing has occurred? We have to hunt down the perpetrators, and keep you safe!”

“ Um, well I think it was Team Rocket,” Lisa said.

Officer Frost glanced at her in a worried way. “ Lisa, what do you mean? Team Rocket was disbanded two months ago,” she said as if it were common knowledge. “ Officers in Dervine captured five men, who were apparently the leaders, and they officially dissolved the force.”

“ But – huh?” Lisa said, her mind bulging with what she had just been told. Team Rocket was dissolved? And Dervine … that’s almost spooky, thought Lisa.

“ I have to go, just stay in this station, ok? Down the corridor, the blue door, Officers Sanderson and West. I have to dash – stay here, Lisa.” Panting heavily, Officer Frost pelted down the corridor and Lisa heard the back door slam.

Lisa stared at the desk. “ Stay here, Lisa,” she mimicked. She grinned rebelliously. “ As if I’d stay here, when so much is happening everywhere else,” she said aloud to herself, and strode back on to the street, completely ignoring Officer Frost’s orders.

*

The ocean water was bitterly cold at five o’clock in the morning. Lisa waded out, her teeth chattering as she stared out to the horizon. A misty streak of pinkish grey was spreading across the sky, too weak to give off much light.

“ Look out for the seaweed!”

The shrill call came from the shore. Lisa turned, her boardies sopping wet and swirling in the water, to see Jessica pointing at the clumps of reddish seaweed. She grinned and gave her friend the thumbs-up; she had already said her goodbyes and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers with Andrew and Jessica.

“ Don’t worry, we will,” Gavin called back, waist-deep in the water. He was pale and looked cold, but he seemed to be fighting the urge to let his teeth chatter; he wanted to look strong in front of everyone.

Lisa looked back at the shore. “ Seeya Jess!” she called back to Jessica. “ Hopefully we’ll kick butt again!”

“ Hell yeah!” Jessica replied happily, smiling to herself as a wave came up from behind Lisa and drenched her from the chest down in icy water. She shivered and Gavin guffawed loudly.

Lisa dismally checked her backpack – it was relatively dry, except for the bottom bit. She waved one more time to Jessica and Andrew and Olivia, then turned to face the vast ocean. Fiskmire was floating in the churning water, his eyes happy to see her again. He had not carried her across the ocean for a long time; it would be fun for all of them to return to the sea. Aipom sat on Fiskmire’s azure back, propped up on one of the squishy cobalt-coloured extrusions, waving goodbye to Olivia’s Spoink on the shore, who waved back.

Gavin leapt onto the back of his newly-caught Seel – Lisa hadn’t even known about it until last night, when he told her abruptly in their apartment. That was when they decided to surf, instead of walk.

Lisa leapt onto Fiskmire’s back happily as Jessica and Andrew called out goodbyes to everyone and waved enthusiastically. Olivia had a delayed reaction. “ See you new people! Oh – and boy with scar! Three times a day! On a hot day, five times!”

Lisa laughed loudly – the first real, hearty laugh she had given in a long time, as Gavin blushed violet.

“ See you guys, travel safe! Don’t run into any more trouble!” called Andrew from the shore, but his words were being drowned out by the growing roar of the waves. Gavin and his Seel floated right alongside Lisa, Fiskmire and Aipom, ready to begin. But Andrew hadn’t finished. “ And don’t run into any more ‘Legendaries’!” he added, yelling.

Lisa and Gavin both turned and shot glares at him, and he appeared to grin, but the ocean had already taken the two of them twenty metres away, so it was difficult to see properly. With a wide, final wave, Lisa and Aipom began moving out to sea at last; Lisa felt the speedy rush of Fiskmire’s body churned quickly through the water as if her were still a Quagsire; he was still an excellent swimmer. Gavin and his ice-white Seel (who looked excited to be in water) were at her side. And they swept off through the turquoise-grey currents, still waving, not looking back.

Lisa smiled to herself. The journey ahead should be interesting, for she was not – as she had pretended to her friends on the shore – going home. She and Gavin were headed to the coastal town of Dervine, back in Johto.

They had a mystery to solve there.

[Gavin Luper]

New chapter! Surprise!

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

Chapter 46 - Intuition.


“ Now this is the life.”

Lisa smiled lazily to herself. She, Aipom and Gavin were sprawled out beside each other on a remote stretch of beach, soaking up the warm, lazy sunlight that was beating down upon them. She felt her eyes closing very slowly as she relaxed; it was not hot enough for her to feel uncomfortable, but rather just the right temperature to have a midday nap. She suspected Gavin was already asleep, as he would probably be even more exhausted than she after their past few days.

Three days had passed since Lisa, Gavin and Aipom had set sail from the beach at Port Valeo on the backs of Fiskmire and Seel, leaving their friends Andrew, Jessica and Olivia on a journey for Dervine in the country’s southwest. Lisa had expected the seabound journey to be easier than her earlier jaunt in the Whirl Islands, but she had been proved wrong. While there had been no whirlpools at all on the surfing journey, something equally bad had occurred. On their second day after leaving Port Valeo, a storm struck them: Seel had nearly drowned in the dumping waves and Gavin had risked his life to save it. Lisa could remember the entire incident clearly, as she had watched, helplessly, as Gavin tried to regain his position aboard Seel. It had ended well enough, though. A massive wave swept down upon them all and threw them roughly aground on the mainland. Since arriving on the mainland they had been walking south on the continued trip to Dervine.

Their mission was a voluntary one. When in Port Valeo, Lisa had learned that a renowned researcher and scientist, Professor Oak, had disappeared without a trace down in the southern village of Dervine. Whilst the police did not appear concerned, Lisa and Gavin were; the last time Oak had disappeared, he had been unexplainably mixed up with a major argument between three legendary dogs - Suicune, Entei and Raikou. Nobody knew what exactly happened between the legendaries, as Oak had no recollection of the incident, but from what Lisa could gather, the legendaries had referred to her, and Gavin, and something else ...

A wave crept up the beach and reached Lisa’s feet, immersing them in cool water. She felt a tiny twinge of guilt but pushed it away; sure, they were in a rush to get to Dervine, but even they neede a break sometime. She closed her eyes fully. Warmth pulsated onto her face from the sun. In the distance she could hear the cheep-cheep sounds of Pidgeys in the trees, the whistle of the wind, the rushing of the waves as they broke … peaceful, serene nature …

BOOM!

The explosion came out of nowhere. Lisa’s eyes flew open; she cried out in alarm, but it was drowned by the deafening blast that was sounding from somewhere behind her.

“ What the hell!” Gavin yelled abruptly, flailing his arms around as he awoke. Aipom, too, had sat up in alarm.

There was a second explosion, smaller than the first but still loud enough to make Lisa’s eardrums ache. She, Gavin and Aipom had all turned to look behind them and into the thick forest that began at the end of the beach sand. Above the canopy of trees, a column of grey smoke was blossoming into the formerly clear sky.

“ What’s going on?” Lisa screamed, unable to tell if she was speaking loud or soft.

“ I don’t know, I just –”

Gavin was cut off as a third explosion rent the air and another cloud of smoke burst into the sky. Like a shot, Aipom had sprinted for Lisa’s backpack that lay on the sand, and had delved into the safety within it, his purple ears poking out through the zipper.

“ Shouldn’t we go see what that was?” Lisa demanded, standing up. Her cheeks were flushed with shock.

Gavin gave her a confused, sarcastic look. “ Are you insane? You get out of one lot of trouble and you go straight into another one! Explosions don’t just happen, people MAKE them. And not good people either.”

“ But there could be people there, they might have been hurt!” Lisa protested loudly, as the smoke continued to spiral into the sky. “ I don’t care what you say, I’m going to see what happened!” She finished her sentence feeling uneasy. It was true, there might be people hurt somewhere, but it wasn't that that caused her to want to investigate; it was a gnawing feeling she had, something that was telling her she should go towards the noise, that she was needed there ... or something. Lisa shook her head, but the odd feeling remained.

“ It’s asking for trouble, Lisa,” Gavin said.

“ I’ll go by myself then,” she declared defiantly, frustrated with Gavin’s delays. Lisa jogged to her backpack and swung it over her shoulder; the purple ears poking out from the bag twitched nervously.

“ Bye Gavin. I hope you’re happy to be a sook and wait back here while I go investigate. Ciao!”

A huge smirk on her face, Lisa ran towards the thick, green forest and reached it in no time. As soon as she entered the trees she found her path obstructed by a wall of trees and ferns so thickly set that it was impossible to pass through them. Anxious to get to the scene of the explosions fast, Lisa began tugging at the ferns, but they were too tall and too close together.

“ I’ll help.” Gavin appeared at her side, a pokeball in his hand. He didn’t throw it, though, just said, “ Go!” and pulled the ball open manually.

The ball exploded with light and a pokemon emerged instantly. Lisa gaped. It was quite large, about human height. Two shiny, metallic wings were folded across its back; it’s sleek, silver, scythe-like hands were glinting.

“ A Skarmory!” Lisa cried. “ Since when did you – how did you – what did you – you got any other pokemon you haven’t told me about?”

“ Um, no, that’s the last one I think,” Gavin replied, putting on a mock-thoughtful look. “ Skarmory, Slash through the forest and cut us a path. Quickly.”

The next thing Lisa saw was a huge clump of forest fall to the ground. “ Really fast,” she remarked, amazed at how quickly Skarmory’s slash had been; she hadn’t even seen it move. She watched as Skarmory continued slashing through the foliage, hovering with its wings and cutting down small trees at quite a considerable pace; Lisa and Gavin actually had to jog after it to keep up. But even though Skarmory was working fast, it felt to Lisa as though time was dragging by. It had been minutes since the third explosion, and no more had come since then. The absence of any action was unnerving Lisa. And although there was silence as far as any explosions went, the strange feeling Lisa had was still present, and growing stronger. Something within her kept urging her onwards ... as if she was required for something, or had to do something, somewhere. It was some kind of intuition.

“ Skar!”

Lisa emerged from her thoughts and looked ahead; the metal pokemon had come to a standstill, and was pointing with one of its claws at something it had found on the ground. She jogged and caught up with Skarmory and Gavin, who were further ahead.

“ What is it?” she asked.

“ Skarmory found this under a tree just then …” Gavin replied, pointing to a battered brown case that lay on the ground, partially covered in sticks and leaves.

She felt a wave of frustration leap up on her. “ Who cares about that, someone lost it obviously, we have to keep going!”

“ Right … keep going Skar.”

The Skarmory resumed it’s rapid slashing. Lisa jumped over a few large bits of tree, checking her watch nervously while Gavin dawdled behind her, his thoughts probably still on the briefcase. It had been over five minutes since they had entered the forest, and it was just as thick and untrafficable as before.

“ What do you think we’ll find?” Gavin asked presently, catching up to her.

“ I dunno,” she muttered honestly, adjusting her watchband in nervousness as they jogged after Skarmory. The forest was almost spooking her; they were surrounded on all sides by emerald green ferns and trees and yet there were no signs of animal life. And her feeling of intuition was still growing: she kept saying to herself, you're needed somewhere ... you have to be there; the feeling was intensifying, and she could not explain it at all. Lisa sighed in her own confusion and answered Gavin. “We can’t really just sit back and ignore an explosion, can we?”

Gavin didn’t answer, but it was clear that he thought they could.

Seven minutes … eight minutes … this is ridiculous, thought Lisa. Whatever's happening, there should be some more action by now ... some more signs, surely?

Just as her watch read that it had been nine minutes since entering the forests, Skarmory began flapping it’s wings excitedly. Lisa squinted to see what had excited it: up ahead, on their makeshift path, a thick, silvery-grey Spinarak web was spun between two trees. The web was about two metres high, five metres wide and – from the looks of it – about half an inch thick. Skarmory was standing back from it nervously.

“ It’s just a Spinarak web,” Gavin muttered as he and Lisa reached Skarmory’s side and stood beside the massive web. It was amazing to look at; though it was thick with dozens and dozens of layers, each thread was visible and so intricately woven that the web – although it obstructed their path – looked almost beautiful. Lisa reached her hand out to touch it, but then automatically drew it back, just in case.

“ Go on, cut through it,” Gavin urged Skarmory, but it would not move. There was a strange look in its grey eyes; it reminded Lisa of the look she had seen once in Marina’s eyes, on the night Lisa’s house was invaded.

And then she understood.

“ It’s scared,” she said. “ Your Skarmory is scared of spiders.”

“ What? Yeah right,” said Gavin roughly, while his steel-winged pokemon nodded fervently in agreeance with Lisa. “ He’s made of steel, he’s tough …”

But Skarmory was backing away from the huge web now. Lisa looked more closely at the edges of the web – shadowy Spinaraks were clustering at the edges of the web, waiting to attack anything that would break down their web.

“ Come on, Skar,” Gavin cried impatiently; he had not yet seen the spiders. “ Just go, cut the web! Like this!”

“ Gavin, no!”

Lisa’s warning came just in time. Gavin had actually raised his hand to mimic slashing the web down, but at her call he had stopped.

“ What?”

“ Put your hand down and step back from the web, Gavin.” Her voice was shaking with fear of what might have happened if she hadn’t stopped him. A Spinarak sting wasn’t very poisonous; a hundred stings would be. “ There’s spiders all around the edge of the web. If you try to cut it down, they’ll attack.” A better idea had occurred to Lisa suddenly. She pulled a pokeball off her belt and opened it manually, as Gavin had done. The flash of light that illuminated the area silhouetted the spiders; there were dozens of them in the web.

Vulpix appeared from the ball, ready for a battle, it’s crimson tail standing almost on end.

“ Ember, full throttle, Vulpix,” Lisa commanded. “ Just be careful not to get stung.”

“ Good idea,” Gavin said ruefully.

“ Vul,” agreed Vulpix.

Lisa, Gavin and Skarmory each took a few paces back as Vulpix cried out its name and used the attack. A stream of scarlet flames illuminated the area as they engulfed the massive web and scorched a hole straight through it. Lisa shielded her eyes as – unexpectedly – sunlight began pouring through the gap where the web had been; they had found a way out of the dingy forest.

“ Stop!” Lisa called, and Vulpix ended the attack. The web had torn in two, and was now reduced to a cluster of burning threads at each tree that it had been suspended from. Spinaraks were trying to escape but were failing – instead, they fell from the web onto the ground in the dozens.

“ Let’s get out of here!” cried Gavin, staring at the dozens of spiders on the ground only two metres from him. Without waiting for Lisa’s reaction, he sprinted ahead through the gap in the web, his hands clasped over his head, into the sunlight, where he stood for a moment before simply disappearing from view.

“ Vulpix, return! Skarmory … run!” The moment Vulpix dematerialised Lisa lurched forwards, but before she could run through the web, a group of spiders began to approach her, their pincers clicking ominously. She didn’t think twice: she sprinted forward and, just before her feet came in contact with the spiders, launched herself into a jump. She flew into the air and passed over several clicking spiders … but no … she had miscalculated – there were more … she was about to plunge herself right into their midst … Lisa shrieked and closed her eyes tight, waiting for her legs to return to ground, and the Spinaraks to attack …

But they never got the chance to attack. Lisa felt something pick her up by the underarms, and found that she was still airborne. She opened her eyes. Sure enough, she was held about two feet from the ground by Skarmory, who was flying through the gap in the web into the outside.

The steel-winged creature dropped Lisa about three metres on the other side of the ruined web. Once her feet were firmly back on the ground, and she had thanked Skarmory several times over, she looked around at her brightly-lit surroundings.

She was standing on a rocky ledge on the edge of a shallow canyon, facing out onto what seemed to be a dried-up river’s path. Lisa looked to her left; there was bare, rocky cliff-face, stretching out about three metres down. To her right was much of the same; the forest ended very abruptly, as it had reached a cliff-face that led on to form the sides of the gorge. But spread out directly before her was a grand view: across the wide gorge, about twenty metres from where she stood, was more lush, green forest. The air was slightly smoky here, so Lisa decided that they must be close to the source of the explosions, but there was no visual confirmation yet. Lisa began to think that Gavin had been right in suggesting they ignore the explosions – it was much more trouble than it was worth, and they had already taken eighteen minutes, according to her watch. But, out here on the ledge, her feeling of requirement for something was stronger than ever ... she was close now to whatever goal it was, she could feel it somehow.

“ Um … Gavin?” she said at last, looking all around. There was no sign of him, and the rock ledge that she stood on had nowhere to go from.

“ DOWN HERE!”

Tentatively, Lisa looked over the edge of the rock platform. Sure enough, about three metres below was Gavin, surrounded by a pile of rubble and pebbles. “ The ledge collapsed,” he called up to her. “ I fell … come down here. Is Skarmory with you?”

“ Yep!” Lisa called, relieved to find Gavin alive and presumably well. “ I’ll be there in a sec.”

She jumped onto Skarmory’s back, who was more than happy to oblige. Skarmory hovered over the platform edge and slowly lowered himself down until Lisa found herself beside Gavin. They were standing on a gradual decline that sloped all the way to the bottom of the gorge.

“ Return,” Gavin said, holding out Skarmory’s pokeball, and the worn-out pokemon dissolved in a burst of scarlet light.

“ You all right?” Gavin asked.

“ Yeah, thanks for letting me escape first,” Lisa said reproachfully. “ So much for chivalry.”

Gavin’s face was bright red and Lisa realised that she had succeeded in making him uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and bravely spoke onwards.

“ Well, thanks to your brilliant idea of following those explosions – which, by the way, have stopped – we’re now stuck half-way down a gorge and have no idea how to get back to where we were, or where to go from here. Good choice, Li-”

Gavin never quite finished his sentence, because an almighty explosion burst from somewhere else in the gorge. Lisa clasped her hands to her ears and felt Aipom squirming in her backpack, but nothing could block out the explosive sound that roared through the air. A blast of light had also accompanied the explosion; it was to their left, past a bend in the gorge. Already, Lisa could see grey smoke weaving through the gorge and making its way for them.

“ Let’s go. Be on your guard,” Lisa said, and she began jogging down the decline until she reached the lowest point in the shallow gorge. She was very close to the unexplainable thing she had been called to, she was sure of it. Once she was sure she was as low as possible, Lisa began running for the bend, aware of Gavin panting along behind her. Smoke engulfed her near the bend; Lisa began coughing and her eyes prickled with tears, but she kept running. She could still see the curve in the gorge – it was only thirty metres away … twenty metres … ten … five … she was running by choice, and yet she felt that she was being pulled towards some kind of goal, some necessity, by an invisible magnet.

With a lungful of smoke, Lisa reached the bend and ran full-pelt through the hot, thick smoke that now surrounded her. Her vision was completely obscured; she kept running, almost tripping on something but correcting her balance.

All of a sudden, the smoke disappeared and the air was clear again. Coughing once more, Lisa opened her eyes to see what was ahead of her, and gaped at the sight that met her eyes.

“ No way,” said Lisa in utter disbelief.

Her intuition had been right all along.

[Master Kirby]

Wow! You sure like to leave people hanging, don't you? Lisa has a habit of finding trouble everywhere she goes. Team Rocket attacks her at home, she gets taken away to Port Valeo, and they attack there too. That was interesting how Gavin had actually been held hostage the whole time Lisa had been home waiting for him, and he just happens to find her at the hotel. I hope Gavin gets his psychic powers back sometime soon. With this new turn of events, Oak reported missing, and now they have found the source of the explosions, it would come in handy to have some superhuman powers to get them out of any trouble they will probably fall into. Plus if he has to face the ultimate psychic power like the rest of his family, he should get practicing.

As usual, your writing has great description. I could really feel the tension building up as some unexplainable force was pulling Lisa to find the source of the disturbance. Keep up the good work. I will be waiting to find what it is that Lisa's intuition had been right about all along.

[Chris 2.1]

Great work! Unexpected, and although the chapter involved a romp in the forest, it still delivered all the LTL greatness. The description was awesome, it's like when you read it you go 'hey...now THATS description' and it really inspires me....hmm...but did they not check the breifcase?

Keep it up!

[PancaKe]

That was an actionpacked chapter from you Gav, but it was also short by your standards. It wasn't one of your best chapters, it felt more like a filler with a cliffhanger, but knowing you, things from the chapter will be taken and used in other chapters. All i can say is that it was actionpacked, and rather good, but I know you can write much better.

~Mist

[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.

[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!

[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

[Gavin Luper]

Yes, after a two month wait since the last chapter, I present to you chapter 49 - enjoy!

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Chapter 49 – Golden Horizons.


A silver, lunate moon was presiding serenely over Goldenrod City. Amongst the footings that were still being laid for the construction of the new Radio Tower, two shadowy figures were hidden. Suicune stood stiffly in a dark alley near the construction site. For a change, the rippling aurora on his back that usually glowed with cobalt light was dimmed, so that it gave no illumination whatsoever. The alley was in total darkness.

Beside Suicune was Raikou, the beast of electricity. His usually stern face, which looked in some ways like an ancient mask, was drawn into an expression of triumph. His back, normally alive with yellow sparks of electricity and thunderwaves, was – like Suicune’s – dormant, in the endeavour of not bringing any attention to himself.

//At last I have something worth telling// Raikou spoke telepathically to his companion in a light tone. Suicune raised a furry azure eyebrow. Raikou went on. //It’s done … everything went to plan – as far as they’re concerned, anyway//

//They found you?// asked Suicune, deeply interested.

Raikou’s mouth curved slightly. //Yes, I made sure they – er – killed me … I have this to say, humans aren’t too bright. Even pokémon have more intelligence than they – except perhaps Magikarp//

Suicune ignored the light joke, his furry brow furrowed in deep consideration of his own thoughts. //You’re sure they are convinced?//

//Positive. Even told their boss. It’s all taken care of, at last. We can come out of hiding//

The water beast allowed a grin. //More than two months have been wasted … I don’t believe it. Still, now we can get on with it. How are the protected ones?//

//Good// noted Raikou //As good as they can be, anyhow. Two months of their lives have been effectively wasted, it’s only now that they will get back on track … hopefully no more keys have been taken …// Raikou paused, unsure of what to say next. He teetered on his next sentence, but Suicune picked up on his thoughts and replied telepathically, before he could say anything.

//Yes// Suicune noted //The return will be made immediately. Everything will go back into action … now we shall see what we shall see//

//And what about the hidden –//

//I’ll take care of it//

Raikou pushed on. //The legend? What about it … will it be found yet, or …//

A black grin stretched across Suicune’s face. //I will do what I must; it will be fine// he said firmly, almost as if he was reassuring himself of the fact. Behind his back, Raikou did not look at all convinced; in fact, he looked afraid.

//What will happen will happen// said Suicune //And it must happen now, we have waited enough// said Suicune, a tiny, glimmering tear tricking out of his eye.

With those words, the aurora on his back began to glow again; slowly it gave off an intense blue, shimmering light to the surrounding area, and then, just as gradually, the cerulean light began to converge as though it were a liquid. The light formed droplets that pooled in the aurora: droplets that were so bright that they could not be fully viewed in all their shimmering, resplendent glory. In time, the pool of droplets that was seemingly coming from the aurora itself spilled over the edge, trickling across Suicune’s body until they all made a beeline for the spot directly above Suicune’s eyes. Each droplet of energy pooled into the centre of Suicune’s forehead, casting a surreal, cobalt glow over the entire area. For a moment, Raikou’s upset face could clearly be seen in the brightness of the light on Suicune’s forehead. And then, just when the light didn’t seem able to get any brighter, there was a loud, swishing sound – a beam of white energy was fired from Suicune at last in a dazzling burst of light, shooting out into the dark night of Goldenrod.

Nine hundred kilometres away, the girl named Lisa Walters awoke with a jolt.

*********

“ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!”

Not for the first time in her life, Lisa found herself sitting up from her sleep in a state of sudden panic. The room she was in was dark and unfurnished; she scrabbled around for her Buzzball to light the room up but she couldn’t find it. Gavin’s yelling had stopped now, but he was breathing heavily and panting as though he had just been attacked by something.

“ What is it?” Lisa breathed, crawling out of her sleeping bag and over to Gavin’s. As she reached his side her eyes adjusted; Gavin was sitting up and leaning forward. His forehead was glazed with a cold sweat and he was spluttering and coughing.

Lisa patted him on the back and repeated her question. Gavin looked at her uneasily with shaky, wet eyes; Lisa could see he was sick.

With a shaky voice, he said, “ Bad dream ... really bad dream ...”

“ What? Is that all?” Lisa said sleepily. Surely a bad dream couldn't have caused such a major reaction from Gavin. There had to be something more ...

“ No, that's it ... just a really bad dream ...” muttered Gavin, almost trying to reassure himself, it seemed. Lisa tried to look at his eyes but he wouldn't look at her. Just as she was about to question him further, he turned around and looked at her with grey, wet, shaky eyes.

“ My psychic powers are back.”

For some time, Lisa had felt that some of the things Gavin told her were glossed over, not quite truthful - especially whenever he spoke of his time imprisoned by the Union. Ever since his returned she had not completely regarded him as her old friend Gavin, but rather as a stranger, a person who had to be kept in a kind of quarantine; a bad person, blemished for the things he did to escape. But now, for the first time since Gavin's return, Lisa looked at him and saw him for what he actually was: a fifteen year old boy, scared and quite alone, who was unquestionably telling the truth. His psychic powers were back, if he said so. She felt a wave of unease: Gavin had been unable to use his psychic powers at all since he teleported the two of them back to Ecruteak in December. What did the return of the powers mean?

“ How do you know?” Lisa whispered; she didn’t want to wake Marina, who was in the next room. Although Gavin’s yell had probably woken the entire roadhouse, she thought dismally.

“ Because,” breathed Gavin, still sweaty and shaken, “ I just had a dream … before I lost my powers, I used to sometimes get these weird dreams – dreams that I couldn’t see properly or understand. Well, I haven’t had one for two and a half months – until just then.”

The silence left hanging in the air was profound. Gavin shivered and lay back down on his sleeping bag, clearly troubled by what he had just seen with his psychic. Lisa hesitated. “ What did you see?”

Gavin shook his head and wiped the sweat from his brow. Apparently, that was enough of an answer as far as he was concerned; he rolled over onto his side away from Lisa without another word. Lisa frowned to herself, tempted to rebuke him for his rudeness, but stopped herself just short. The last time she had pestered him with questions about his psychic, he had exploded at her and clammed up completely. So, biting back her annoyance with Gavin’s taciturn rudeness, she crawled back to her own sleeping bag and curled up in it.

She checked her watch silently. The red digits told her it was five am. Yawning, Lisa closed her eyes, albeit reluctantly; she would have willingly talked to Gavin about his psychic abilities further. Still, as there was no chance of that, her only option was sleep – and she would need it for the next morning.

Unfortunately, she slept little: all Lisa could think about was Gavin, and how she had been more or less rejecting him lately.

*********

By this time, the old man had become accustomed to the frightening darkness of the cavern, however as he awoke suddenly it still caused him the same panic; he sat up and yelled, thinking for a moment that he was blind, before he remembered where he was. In that cave. Alone.

He groped around for a moment and located the cold object that was his water bottle. Shivering with the cold, and hearing the waves breaking somewhere distant, somewhere above, he drank a few more drops. Just enough to wet his throat. Then he set the bottle back down beneath what he assumed was a dripping stalactite and allowed it to fill with water droplets once more.

Afraid and alone, he lay down once again and began to think.

*********

“ I’d love to come, really,” Marina sighed, putting her empty milkshake glass aside with an air of discontentment. Her white-winged tiny Butterfree – only the size of a fig – was hovering gleefully above her shoulder. Marina went on. “ But I can’t come to Dervine – my family wants me back, and I think it’s fair enough that they do. I’ve been gone from home for nearly two weeks and I want to go back to Tokor. Besides, I’m going to have to explain about the kidnapping to them.”

Lisa tucked her fringe behind her ears and sighed, too. Marina had telephoned her family back home only an hour ago, and they had told her in no uncertain terms that they wanted her back home at once. Her decision to leave wasn’t met with much enthusiasm – Gavin didn’t look overly thrilled, Aipom was already clinging to her leg defiantly and Lisa, especially, didn’t want to say goodbye to Marina so soon after rescuing her.

They all sat in silence at the table. They were sitting again in the restaurant section of the roadhouse they had stopped at last night, after an uncomfortable sleep in the upstairs storage rooms, which were the only remaining accommodation the roadhouse had to offer. Their table was right beside the large glass window though which the morning light was flooding in; Lisa could glance out through it and see, below the exit lanes, the massive Dervine Expressway that was to be their way out.

“ So what’s your plan, then?” asked Gavin presently, running a finger subconsciously along his scar.

Marina patted her pocket. “ Well, the next coach that pulls in to the roadhouse is my ticket out of here, I think. I’ll see if I can pay the driver enough to take me wherever the bus is going, and from there I’ll make my way – eventually – back to Tokor.”

Tokor was the province to the far west of Johto, beyond the sea and past Cianwood Island.

“ And you still have all your money? And your pokemon?” Lisa asked. “ I thought the Union would have taken all that from you straight up.”

Marina nodded. “ That’s what I was expecting, actually, but they never took my money. Never took my pokemon, either – I was allowed to keep all my pokeballs in my pocket. I ended up putting my Guardian Butterfree in my pocket too, in case it tried to harm them and they retaliated. The only thing they ever took from me was my bag, and there was nothing really valuable in there anyway.”

“ It’s weird,” said Lisa. “ They come to my house and trash it however they like, but when they take you, they barely touch you, not even your money. You wouldn’t expect it, would you?”

Neither Marina nor Gavin answered her question, because it was just too difficult to think of an answer to.

The next two hours passed quite pleasantly for Lisa, for the first time in many days. After they finished off breakfast the three friends played a few games of chess with Gavin’s set, while they chatted about things in general – the Union, their Pokemon, their plans. Lisa found that she was much happier than she had been in some time, just talking with her best friends and with Aipom, who (it seemed to her) was becoming less hyperactive. The time passed on by until midday, when Marina glanced out the window and raised an eyebrow.

“ Oh, here’s one at last,” she said, not very enthusiastically.

Lisa and Gavin looked where she was pointing through the glass. A coach had just rolled in to the carpark and pulled to a stop. A cluster of about twenty tourists jumped off and began to walk around the picnic area beside the carpark to stretch their legs. The driver, a sturdy man with an orange cap, was walking towards the roadhouse building.

“ Well, it’s your best chance,” said Lisa, putting down the pawn she had been about to move. “ Go ask him.”

Marina flitted through the glass doors, her Butterfree and ultramarine ponytail both trailing behind her. Lisa and Gavin watched as she caught up with the driver halfway across the bitumen drive and questioned him. After a moment’s discussion, they saw Marina pull out her purse and give the driver a twenty dollar bill. He made some gestures towards the bus and walked to the toilet block.

Marina returned to the restaurant triumphantly. “ For twenty bucks he’s going to take me all the way to Redwood City. It’s north of here, on the coast,” she added, seeing Lisa and Gavin’s vague looks. “ From there I can get a ferry to Tokor, it’s only a couple of hundred k’s across the sea. So …” she paused, then held out her hand. “ I’ll see you guys around, then?”

Gavin took her hand and shook it with a smile. Marina turned and held her and to Lisa who shook her hand very firmly.

“ Keep in touch,” said Marina. “ Oh, one more thing Lisa … I thought I’d give this to you.” She dug in her pocket and produced a small red-and-white pokéball. “ For Aipom,” she said, shoving it at Lisa. “ I know you lost his poképort awhile ago so I thought you could have this, it’s one of my spares.”

“ You didn’t need to –” Lisa began.

“ Take it,” said Marina firmly, pushing the ball into Lisa’s hands and letting go. “ There.”

“ I – thanks Marina,” said Lisa.

Marina smiled. “ Thanks for telling me the truth about, well, everything.”

“ Will we see you again soon?” Lisa asked, sitting down again.

“ I don’t know about soon,” Marina replied with a flick of her hair. “ But you don’t seriously think I would just drive off and never see you guys again, do you?” She picked up her purse and fossicked around in it for a moment, before producing a battered business card. “ This is my mum’s number – it’s the same phone number as our house where I’ll be. Keep in touch.”

“ We will,” Lisa grinned, taking the card. She took a quick look at it: ‘Azura Frost, Managing Director of Frost Companies Inc. Phone – (01) 3489 2710.’

Marina took a look out the window and clicked her tongue. The tourists were getting back on the bus already.

“ I’d better go,” she said quickly. “ Bye, Gavin and Lisa. Seeya Aipom.” She ruffled the purple fur on Aipom’s head, and he gave her a wide, toothy grin in return, accompanied by a loud, “ Ai!”

“ Bye!” Lisa called finally, as Marina ran down the couple of steps, into the convenience store section of the roadhouse, and then through the glass doors into the carpark, her Guardian Butterfree hovering beside her faithfully. They watched her through the window. She jumped onto the bus just before the doors closed, and slowly the driver drove the bus back onto the exit road, and away.

Lisa sipped at her apple juice. “ Well, that’s that, I spose,” she said brightly, “ We should probably go too, really.”

“ I guess – you did tell Tom we’d meet him in four days, and this is the first one, and it’s already half-wasted. We’d better get a move on.”

Lisa smoothed the hair on Aipom’s head. “ You know, I don’t really think taking a car was a good idea. I was really tired, and desperate. I think we can do better than that – it’s not legal, or fair.”

To her mild surprise, Gavin inclined his head in agreeance. “ I was going to talk you out of it anyway,” he admitted with a smirk. “ It’s not like you to do something that mean and unfair to someone.”

“ Well, what do we do now?” she asked. “ If I catch a bird pokemon we could maybe fly, now that Marina’s not coming. Although I doubt they’d be able to fly for THAT long …”

Gavin’s chestnut eyes were not looking at her; he was staring out through the window with a mixed look of delight and astonishment. A smile was creeping up his face and as Lisa looked at his eyes she could almost see the cogs turning behind them.

“ Hello?” she said, waving her hand in front of his face wildly. “ Gavin?”

His grin was almost infectious now. He spoke excitedly. “ Remember when we entered that contest at the Moo Moo Farm?”

“ Uh … yeah …” said Lisa uncertainly. “ Are you alright?”

“ Well, do you remember the first prize at the contest?”

“ Sure, the solar-powered buggy, why?” Slowly, Lisa turned around, a tingling feeling spreading down the back of her neck as she did so. Across the carpark of the roadhouse, beyond the fuel pumps, stretched between two pine trees, was a colourful sign:

Attention All Pokémon Trainers! Do you think you know
all there is to know about how to deal with Pokémon? Well, take
the latest and greatest challenge at Mount Fairfax!
Pit your wits against other trainers and Pokémon alike!
It’s a daring contest and adventure not to be missed!
Admission is free, and the first prize is the latest model of the Solara Buggy,
complete with rear spoiler! Apply for the contest by no later than March 3
at the base of Mt Fairfax – 30 km east of here, on Fairfax Road!

“ You’re saying we enter the contest just to win the buggy?” said Lisa incredulously. Gavin nodded vehemently. She raised an eyebrow. “ Are you kidding? The chances of us winning are hugely unlikely. If we lose – which we probably will – we’ll have wasted our time for nothing. Anyway, the sign ups end by tomorrow. We don’t have time for that.”

“ 30 kilometres isn’t much,” persuaded Gavin, “ If we leave now and do five k’s an hour, we can be there by six or so tonight. That’s in plenty of time.”

“ But –” Lisa said, ready to argue with this; after all, they weren’t machines - thirty kilometres was a long hike in one day, to say the least.

Gavin opened his mouth purposefully. “ Come on, where’s your spirit of adventure? You used to have one …”

Lisa paused, fiery words tingling on the tip of her tongue. She knew he was baiting her but she couldn’t resist. If she said no, he would be teasing her about her lack of spirit for days to come, and that was something she prided herself on. Besides, the contest could be good fun – she could maybe enter Aipom, depending on what kind of contest it was. Then there was the possibility of winning, albeit remote. If they did emerge victorious, they would have a new buggy to boot, which would cut down the trip to Dervine in no time.

“ Alright,” she said, with a fleeting thought of the long walk she was going to have to make. “ Let’s go.”

*********

Lance Hudson, Champion of the Elite Four, held in his quivering hand a tattered piece of parchment. He stared blankly at the wall of his den, overcome with disbelief. Very slowly, the black-haired man lowered the parchment onto his desk and leaned over to his desk telephone. He pushed the intercom button.

“ Sarah,” he said sharply, trying to catch his breath. “ Could you please come in here?”

Lance leaned back in his cushioned, mahogany-backed chair and sighed. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the desktop, trying to orchestrate a good plan while his nerves jittered and his heart thumped heavily. After a few moments, his receptionist entered. She was quite a young girl, with wavy, light-brown hair and eyes the colour of rust. Although she was at her ‘job’, she wore simply a pair of blue jeans and a casual white top.

“ What do you need?” she asked Lance, unnerved by his sharp tone and unprecedented anxiety.

Trying to control his raging heartbeat, to no avail, Lance shifted the parchment across the desk and turned it around to face the girl. With an inquisitive look Sarah bent down to read the scribbled words spread across the paper.

She looked up at her boss with a stubborn look. “ I don’t believe it, that key was definitely secure.”

“ Well, it has happened, I trust the source,” Lance said curtly. “ Now, there is something that I need to ask of you that is of the utmost secrecy. Please sit down.”

Sarah sat down in the chair facing the desk as Lance proceeded to explain his plan.

[PancaKe]

Right - it was confusing. But confusing is good.

It started off nicely, nice and light, just like the first chapter of part III should be. And then it moved into the depths of confusion. The best thing abuot confusion in this story si that it's gonna keep people wanting the answers, and will probably also give you somewhere to write. I personally liked it, didn't understand the bit with Lance very much - but that's just me being weird. My fav bit would've had to be the bit where Marina and them were just hanging out, in a fic filled with action as much as this - you really do need some simple character building scenes.

[mr_pikachu]

Interesting. Not really sure who that guy in the cave was, but it'll be revealed eventually, I guess. Or maybe I've just forgotten. I dunno. But yeah...

As Tara said, this was good. The confusion was good bait for the readers, even though they're already way into the fic, and unlikely to leave now... and as Tara also said, the light-hearted beginning was good.

I did notice a few grammar errors early on, like periods being left off the quotes of Suicune and Raikou, and this one that particularly caught my attention:


They were sitting again in the restaurant section of the roadhouse they had stopped at last night, after an uncomfortable sleep in the upstairs storage rooms, which were the only remaining accommodation the roadhouse had to offer.


You describe the accomodation(s) as both plural and singular in the same sentence. That obviously doesn't work grammatically. It's a minor error, but still, perfection is what we shoot for, right?

Otherwise, this is very good. I'm glad you've finally posted the chapter, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of Revelation! Until then!

[Karania]

good chapter, continue. This has got to be the best chapter I've read yet. PLease keep up the good work!

[mistysakura]

Karania, consider yourself warned for posting "one-line replies with no substance".

Anyway. That was an okay chapter, I take it you aren't going to fill us in with Lance's plan any time soon. The telepathy was a bit annoying to read, but the contents explain some stuff. Thought a legendary was a bit harder to kill. But of course, with the explanations we get more confusion, more mysteries; the repeated reference to keys I can't make anything of at the moment. If your new fic's anything like this, I'm going to go crazy.

[Orion]

Hey there, Gavin! I planned on not posting until I got up to date with the current chapter, but... it's pretty long, and I wanted to put in some thoughts.

So far, I'm loving this fanfic. You write so well, and describe stuff VERY well. Also, the flow of the current event isn't lost, which is a huge plus. In only 7 chapters I've read, I'm already in suspense! I wanted to ask some questions about the next events, but guess I'll find out as the story goes on.

The characters are great too. So, Lisa is the girl of the 3rd Pokémon movie? I liked her... Gavin is interesting too, and seems to have more power than he thinks. Also, you used Pokémon that are rarely seen in Fics. It's cool to see an Aipom as the main Pokémon!

Everything is really intriguing... and the story is so good! You know, even the few chapters I've read inspired me to write back my Fanfic. You're an awesome writer!

Keep at it. And don't worry on the delay of the next chapter. It'll give me some time to catch up. So, sorry if this is in some way irrelevant to you, but I just wanted to say it. See you around!

[Gavin Luper]

AT LAST!!!

Orion: Thanks for reading and replying, I'm glad you like this so far, although if you've only read a few chapters, you're really going to like what's coming up (I hope). Oh, and I haven't giving up on reading your fic, I'll read and catch up again ASAP. Anyways, Lisa IS the girl from the 3rd pokémon movie, but that was just the basis for her existence - her activities in the movie are really null-and-void as far as LTL is concerned. But she's cool, and Aipom is too! I'm glad I've inspired you, but I hope YOU are glad that your reply inspired me - to finish chapter 50 at last. I wrote most of it today, in the last couple of hours, and i'm really happy with it.

So, after all these months (2 or so) of waiting, I finally have got over my block - I'm like Austin Powers with his mojo back (so to speak ). Without further ado, here is the squeakily-new, lemony-fresh, Chapter 50 of Lisa the Legend.

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

Chapter 50 – The Informant.


“ And there it is,” Gavin said ceremoniously.

Hardly able to stay on her feet, Lisa forced her legs to keep moving until she finally reached the crest of the hill. Darkness had already settled upon the land and the long day’s walk had taken its toll on her.

“ What, that’s it?” she moaned, shuffling her bag and warding off a mosquito.

She and Gavin were looking up at what they had been constantly been walking towards for the past seven hours: the imposing Mount Fairfax, location of the contest they were about to enter. Lisa couldn’t see much more than a rough outline of the mountain – it was only visible as a jagged peak of black against a backdrop of starry sky. Maybe if she hadn’t been so exhausted, Lisa would have been more impressed by the sight of the mountain; as it was, she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“ Let’s keep going then,” said Gavin, visibly fighting the exhaustion out of his voice.

“ Ugh,” grunted Lisa, slapping another pesty mosquito as she began the descent down the slope. By her judgment, they were now scarcely more than a kilometre from the cluster of lights near the base of the mountain, that was presumably the usual set-up – a hotel or inn, a couple of shops and houses, maybe a dirt battleground. Focusing her thoughts on a clean bed, she trailed after Gavin.

It had been a very dull trip. They had talked a lot at first, but after a few kilometres they grew tired and talked less. Lisa sent Aipom to his new pokéball to make the journey easier; previously, Aipom had been chasing Butterfree up trees, which held up progress considerably.

“ Wonder what the contest is going to be like?” mused Gavin, making a stab at conversation.

Somehow Lisa found that she no longer had the energy to not speak to him. “ Dunno,” she sighed, “ With our luck it will probably be cancelled.”

Fifteen minutes later, aching and sore, they stumbled into the well-lit car park of the Fairfax Inn, which was located at the very end of their trail. The frontage left much to be desired: a garden of what appeared to be bare hedges bordered the car park, while a haphazard path zig-zagged across the bitumen to the front door. A neon sign above the double doorway proclaimed ‘Fairfax Motor Inn – est. 1962’ – at least, that was what Lisa presumed it said, as most of the letters didn’t light up.

Gavin exchanged a dubious glance with her but said nothing; his eyes suggested he didn’t like the look of the place any more than she did, but their weariness prevailed. Lisa took the lead, striding forward to the wooden doors and pushing on through them into the foyer.

Or at least, it could have been a foyer. A pungent grey haze hovered around a dingy, wood-panelled room. A counter with a refrigerator behind it signified an unattended bar, while the rest of the room was kitted out in plastic tables and tattered chairs. An embattled television set was fixed to the wall above the bar. The room was completely deserted.

“ Uh – hello?” said Lisa loudly, expecting to see a tumbleweed rolling past.

Gavin slung his backpack onto the floor and rubbed his neck with a wince. Apparently, he was leaving Lisa to find some sign of human life.

“ Is anybody here?” she called loudly, striding across to a splintery doorway that led to a narrow vestibule. It, too, was deserted, but Lisa thought she could hear some music distantly.

Without warning, a door so well camouflaged that she hadn’t even noticed it flew open, flooding the hall with light. Upbeat country music wafted in the door, as well as several cries and cheers of people. Directly in front of her, Lisa saw a dwarfish man, surely no taller than four and a half feet. He had sparse, spiky grey hair and a bewildered expression.

“ Well, you’ll be a visitor, I’m so sorry Miss, please forgive me,” he said all in a rush, in a clipped accent that Lisa couldn’t quite distinguish. “ You’ll be here for the contest then?”

“ Um, yes, I was hoping to get a suite here,” said Lisa, cloaking her sleepiness.

The tiny man led her briskly back to the bar, where Gavin was still fixing his back. Lisa stifled a giggle; the man’s legs were moving rapidly but he moved very slowly. “ A what?” he said, ducking under the counter and producing a thick leather-bound book, filled with scrawly writing.

“ A suite,” repeated Lisa.

“ Oh, sure, sure, love, forgive me hearing,” he said quickly. He ducked under the counter and produced a metal tin, filled to the brim with brightly-coloured chocolates and assorted sweets.

Lisa hesitated. “ Take any sweet you like, love,” the man said, glancing at her hopefully and sincerely.

Gavin snorted loudly as he understood the man’s mistake; Lisa was torn between bursting into laughter and feeling sorry for the man – he had genuinely misunderstood. “ I’ll take the caramel fudge, thanks,” said Lisa finally, thinking it would be unkind to point out his mistake.

“ Thanks, love,” he said, taking her money. “ Now, would you like a room for the night?”

“ Er – yes please,” said Lisa, smiling sincerely. Gavin was guffawing into the sleeve of his jumper. “ Two separate rooms please. Under the names Lisa Walters and Gavin Luper.” Gavin stopped abruptly and looked at her, apparently highly affronted.

“ No worries, love,” said the man cheerfully. He handed them two keys. “ Your room is Oakabella,” he told Lisa, giving her a key. “ And yours is Smethley. Now,” he said, efficiently dumping the book on the floor behind the counter. “ I’ve signed you up for the contest too, so there’s no worry there. Come join us in the function room when you’re ready. Watch the TV if you like,” he added in a rush, reaching up to the set and trying to push the button. He was on his third jump when Lisa reached up for him and switched channel seven on.

“ Thank you love,” he said happily. “ Well, see you soon. Oh, and the name’s Paddy, by the way,” he added, and with a wink he trotted back to the room filled with music, leaving the two of them alone in the hazy room.

“ Interesting,” remarked Gavin, still smirking.

“ You’re horrible, he can’t help it,” said Lisa, who herself couldn’t help liking Paddy. “ Well, I don’t see why we have to hang around here and watch TV really. Grab your bag and we’ll dump them in our rooms before we join the people in that room. Sounds like they’re having a hoedown.”

Gavin didn’t answer. He didn’t move an inch.

“ Gavin, I said come on,” Lisa said.

“ Look,” he said breathlessly. His eyes were fixed on the silent TV screen. “ It’s us.”

“ What?” demanded Lisa, following his gaze. At once, the wrapped caramel in her hand dropped to the floor. She was staring at a news report, with a photograph of her and Gavin on the screen behind the news presenter.

“ What the hell!” cried Lisa, forgetting her tiredness. At once, Gavin turned the volume up, and they listened with a mix of awe and confusion. A blonde presenter was talking:

Tonight there still remains no word on the whereabouts of missing teenagers Lisa Walters and Gavin Luper. The duo disappeared from the Houen village of Port Valeo last weekend, and despite a thorough manhunt for both persons, police remain baffled. Evidence has come to light that Miss Walters, the last of the duo to be sighted, was taped on a security camera leaving the Valeo Police Station on Saturday morning. Police remain concerned that the teenagers have fallen victims to foul play, as they were witnesses to a high-profile court case only last week.

As with all other evenings, we urge our viewers to contact the investigators on (04) 1800 223 if they have any information on either Lisa Walters or Gavin Luper.

The report ended with a supposedly chilling image of Lisa walking out of the police station on the security tape.

“ Oh. My. God.”

“ I know,” said Gavin, turning the TV off.

“ How did this happen?” Lisa said stupidly, her mind numb.

“ I don’t know, especially since we didn’t go to the police station on Saturday.” Lisa squirmed noticeably and began to edge away from the bar. Gavin picked this up at once. “ I didn’t anyway …” he said, suddenly accusatory.

“ I went there that morning,” Lisa confessed instantly. “ I’m sorry, I should have let you know this before.”

Gavin’s finger traced down his scar, apparently subconsciously. “ What did you go there for that you should be sorry about?” he said suspiciously.

Lisa squirmed again, but she knew she had to tell Gavin before any more confusion occurred.

“ I reported my parents disappearance, as well as Marina’s, and said that I thought Team Rocket had done the attack on my house, well … I thought it was Team Rocket back then … And then the officer told me I had to go into custody, and she left … but I couldn’t stay, because we had to find Professor Oak. So I ran for it.”

It felt much better to have that off her chest. The heavy load on her shoulders had been lightened a little, but there was so much more bogging her down that her relief was only fleeting.

“ So you’ve got us into trouble again,” sighed Gavin, sinking into one of the bar stools. “ What is it with you Lisa, you can’t help but make life harder for yourself.”

“ Me?” said Lisa quietly. “ I made my life difficult?” she murmured. All at once, she felt floodgates within her burst open. “ I’m trying to help Professor Oak out here, I’m doing my best! So what if I broke a rule or a law or whatever, I don’t care anymore! In case you hadn’t noticed, the last week has been the longest week of my life! I’ve been attacked, lost a friend, attacked again, escaped, found a dead legendary, been attacked a third time and then had to walk thirty kilometres to a place that doesn’t even deserve a name! And why? Because I’m trying to get my life back on track somehow, and get to the bottom of this Suicune, Raikou, Entei crap. And then there’s the Union coming after me, you have no idea what that’s like, Gavin … IT’S NOT EASY, YOU KNOW!” She burst out, her eyes prickling with hot, dammed-back tears.

There was a very long pause. Lisa felt her shoulders heaving and her eyes leaking tears down her cheeks; she was dimly aware that Gavin was staring at her oddly, and even more distantly aware that she had just yelled her heart out for no good reason.

“ Yes, I do know what that’s like, actually,” said Gavin stiffly.

Lisa couldn’t be bothered with being sorry for him; she had had enough. “ I’m going to bed,” she announced abruptly. She turned her back on him and stormed off to the hallway. She somehow found a door with ‘Oakabella’ written on it, turned the key and flung the door closed behind her.

She didn’t bother turning the light on or having a look at the room; she collapsed on the bed and allowed herself, for the first time since her ordeal had begun last year, to cry unrestrainedly into her pillow. Her tears carried her to sleep at last.

*

Lisa couldn’t tell how long she had been sleeping for when a loud noise awoke her. She jerked her head up and glanced around the small room for the source of the noise. It had been sharp and abrupt; a kind of clanging that had reverberated through her dreams and forced her into consciousness. But now it was gone.

For all her exhaustion, she felt oddly awake now, so she sat up slowly and attained her first view of the dark room – the Oakabella room. It was not very large but the lack of furniture gave it a spacious touch. Aside from the bed, there was only a small chest of drawers, a desk and an old television.

But no sign of where the noise had come from. Lisa looked around the room. Had she just imagined it? Perhaps the frantic, high-paced experiences of her past week had made her subconsciously nervous.

CLANG!

The sound of something metal on something else metal sounded from the hallway. Without thinking, Lisa began to gravitate toward the door, but suddenly Gavin’s words echoed in her head. “ What is it with you Lisa, you can’t help but make life harder for yourself.” She stopped in mid-step, about a metre from the door that led to the hallway. She watched as a shadow passed along the slit at the bottom of the door, but forced herself not to react. She was torn between curiosity, fear and sensability, but it seemed that finally sensability had prevailed. The shadow was replaced with the weak chink of light beneath the door. The sound of somebody moving passed.

Lisa raised her eyebrows to herself. She realised how stupid it would have been to confront the person in the hall; clearly they had nothing to do with her at all. She would only have, like Gavin said, made life harder for herself.

“ You’re paranoid,” Lisa told herself, stumbling back to bed. The curtains behind her bed rippled slightly in the breeze. She left the window open; it was a warm night. Slipping beneath the covers, she closed her eyes forcefully and tried to sleep.

Seconds later, a few things happened in quick succession. There was a loud ‘click’ sound that surely everyone in the Inn would have heard, followed at once by a massive boom of noise that shook the floorboards and rattled the windowsill; the sounds filled Lisa’s head so greatly that she could barely think. Who had turned the music up so loud at this hour?

She sat up, irritated by the noise. And just as she groped around for her bag, which held her torch, a strong arm appeared from nowhere and grabbed her in a headlock.

In the darkness she could see nothing; with the music up so loud, she could not hear anything either. But a man’s voice barked into her ear, “ Come with me, hurry up, there’s no time to waste!”

Lisa could see no weapon (which she had become somewhat accustomed to over the past week) so she tried to struggle. But the man’s grip was too strong and he began to drag her toward the window, stretching her neck until she had to stop struggling, in fear of breaking her neck.

“ Stop it, girl! Be quick! Just come with me!”

Lisa tried to look at her attacker but his grasp was too firm. Finally, the pressure on her neck became too much and she succumbed; she actually began pushing herself toward the window to help the man. Her head bumped against the windowsill loudly, but the music was still roaring; apparently nobody had turned it off yet.

Finally Lisa felt the frigid night air blowing against her face. She was placed rather roughly on the hard bitumen of what might have been the car park. She noticed broken shreds of wood panelling on the ground but had no time to think where they had come from. The man relinquished his grip around her neck and grabbed her wrist.

“ Come!” he cried, dragging her.

“ Who are you?” bellowed Lisa, finding her voice at last after freeing her throat. “ Stop it, let me go back! Help!”

The large man continued to roughly pull her along, forcing her to stumble after him, this time in fear of breaking her wrist. “ Shut up!” he snapped. “ Just be quiet!”

Lisa cried out for help, for Gavin, for Paddy and for the Police, but even in the car park, the music drowned out most of her screams. It was up painfully loud. Helpless, without even her pokémon to protect her, she could do nothing of any use.

“ Get in!” barked the man.

He gestured to a small red car that they had reached. Lisa did nothing, just stood stock-still beside the car. However, the man twisted her arm slightly, enough to force considerable pain upon her, and she once again relinquished, slumping into the back seat as the bulky man pelted to the front. Without any words, except Lisa’s progressively feeble screams for help, the car lurched down the driveway and onto Fairfax’s main street. Only when they were driving away from the centre of the tiny village did Lisa hear the heavy beat of the loud music finally come to a halt.

“ Help me! Police!” she screamed yet again, hearing her voice as though it was muffled beneath clothing.

Her captor grunted angrily. “ Keep your voice down,” he said. “ I’m not going to hurt you, nobody is, just relax.”

If I’m supposed to believe that after what’s happened to me, Lisa thought, he’s dreaming.

Lisa continued to scream for help, her voice growing hoarser all the time, but her feelings toward the driver began to soften. It was possible that he was telling the truth; perhaps he had no intention of harming her. After all, unlike the Union, he had not brandished a weapon at her, nor had he restrained her except to get her out of the Inn quickly. Lisa found that she had stopped screaming, and was about to talk to the driver rationally when she reminded herself: kidnapping someone in the middle of the night was not generally accepted human behaviour. ‘ Then again,’ she thought, ‘ Lately it seems to be perfectly normal.’

She ended up compromising; she ceased her perpetual screams but said nothing at all to the driver, who had firmly remained silent since they began driving. She would have to wait and see what the man’s motives were before she could do anything more. Despite all her recent experiences, she knew trying to physically resist the man would be futile – their earlier scuffle had proved that.

She decided to occupy her mind by watching the dark bushes flashing past the window. The car was now zooming along the winding road that Lisa and Gavin had following just a few hours before, out into the middle of the forest. The man’s attention remained fixed on the road, even when he happened to glance up at the mirror and see Lisa staring sullenly back at him.

Then, out of the silence, he said sharply, “ Nearly there.”

Lisa resisted replying to him for as long as she could, but as usual her curiosity got the better of her. “ Where are you taking me?”

“ Somewhere safe. Where you won’t be overheard.”

His answer could have been taken a number of ways; Lisa allowed the meaningless words to wash over her as she posed yet another question.

“ Why did you kidnap me?”

The man slowed the car as he rounded a bend and allowed his eyes to lock with hers in the mirror. “ I didn’t kidnap you.”

“ Yes you did!” objected Lisa, keeping her voice level.

“ No. Kidnapping would mean you didn’t want to come with me.”

“ Well, I don’t!”

“ Not now. But when you return you will be very glad that I took you.”

Before Lisa could overcome her surprise at this bold statement and defend her position, the man braked sharply and made a violent swing to the left, careering off the road onto a track that, judging by the crunching sound beneath the tyres, was carpeted with leaves.

What now? thought Lisa.

Without warning, the driver braked again in the middle of the track. “ Get out.” His voice was suddenly harsh and stern again.

“ Why?” said Lisa automatically. If he was going to harm her in any way, she wanted to feel as though she had some control over the situation.

“ Just get out. Stay off the track.”

With a rush of relief, Lisa realised that he was not coming with her outside the car. Somewhat spurred by this, she opened the door and stepped out onto a thick layer of golden leaves; a strong wind slammed the door shut for her. Then the driver, without glancing at her, floored the accelerator and left her alone in the dark forest, a biting wind swirling around her as she watched the tail lights disappear into the distance.

Her first reaction was to run for cover, but there seemed to be little to run for – there were only scores of tall, imperceptibly tall trees surrounding the narrow track. She shivered unstoppably as the chilling wind blew straight through her, freezing her bones, it seemed.

Find your way back.

Lisa glanced around, searching for some help or something to save her. She had left her backpack in the Oakabella room, so there was no assistance there: Aipom, Fiskmire, Electabuzz, Vulpix and Dratini were a long way away from her. Nor did she have her pokégear or buzzball. She was entirely on her own in the middle of the woods.

“ Help me! Somebody help me!” she yelled into the night. The surrounding trees roared in the growing wind; there was no other answer to her plea. The wind lashed at her legs, cutting them with swirling leaves.

And then, very distantly, battling to make itself heard over the roaring gale, a dull throbbing sound began to reach Lisa’s ears. It was very mechanical, low and loud, growing in volume all the time, yet Lisa could not see anything approaching.

“ Stay off the track.”

Lisa remembered the driver’s words, as the noise grew louder; she leapt off the leafy path just as a sleek black limousine pulled up right beside her. It was so black that, against the shadows of the woods, she had not seen it approaching. The lights were all off.

The back window rolled down silently. Lisa no longer cared who or what was inside, or what their intentions were; she had to do anything she could to keep out of the sub-zero wind. Without waiting for the person inside to say anything, she yanked the door open and thrust herself into the depths of the car.

*

“ Haven’t I told you enough times, he hasn’t just wandered off!” Rachel Hudson told her friend Ellie on the telephone. Aware that her temper was rising, she took a deep breath and glanced through the long glass windows that lined the conservatory at the picturesque beach setting below: terraces upon terraces, lined with sweet-smelling citrus trees, that gradually sloped down to the town square; crystalline water glittering in the morning sun as Pelippers playfully skimmed across the water; tourists lazing on the white beach sand. It was one of the most calming sights Rachel knew, which was the main reason she had chosen to base her laboratory in Dervine.

“ I’m just saying,” Ellie’s voice wafted through the phone casually, “ That he’s getting on, old age probably made him senile.”

Rachel massaged her temple. “ He isn’t senile! I’m telling you, I need your help. Every other avenue I’ve tried has been a dead end. The police have practically given up. I need you to come here and help me. With your Sandslash and Persian, if you can. Please! You’re my oldest friend.”

Her reply was just as airy. “ Why don’t you find a younger professor to work with? I hear that really good-looking one, Professor Davison, is in Olivine next week. I might go just to look at him –”

“ Augh!” Rachel fumed. “ Ellie, are you going to help me or not?”

“ Sorry, what? Oh … no, I have to dye my hair.”

Rachel slammed the phone down onto its hook in disgust. Her face red and flushed, she took a pen and crossed ‘Ellie Lambert’ off the list of people she had been calling for assistance. Professor Oak had been missing in action for a week.

“ So much for that,” Rachel sighed, slamming the notepad onto the coffee table and striding off toward the pool. She knew she needed to cool off, but, more importantly, she knew she needed somebody to help her plight.

*

A man with his eyes conveniently covered by a thick fringe peered down at Lisa. He was seated on the same warm sheepskin seat as she was, but on the left hand side of the vehicle. Lisa, meanwhile, had piled into the limousine awkwardly, planting her face into the thick carpet and her legs somehow straddled across the seat.

“ Ah, there you are Lisa, you were dropped off on time,” said the man.

At the unwelcome mention of her name, Lisa disentangled herself from her awkward position and arranged herself on the seat opposite the man who had greeted her. She could not see his eyes through his hair, but his square jaw was vaguely familiar. She looked at him for a moment, studying him. He was clothed in a dark travelling cloak and heavy boots. The lack of lighting in the limousine meant that she could not determine much else about him.

Resisting the urge to ask how he knew her name, Lisa said, “ What do you want?” Her voice was hoarse and she had noticeably lost much of her energy during her few freezing moments in the wind.

The man smiled. “ Drive,” he commanded the driver, and at once the car rolled over the leaves and began to drive away. “ Here, you’re probably cold,” he added briefly, pushing a thick cloak in Lisa’s direction. She took it gladly and furled it around her shivering body.

“ Okay, Lisa, this isn’t so much a matter of what I want – it’s what you want.”

She raised an eyebrow at him as she felt her temperature returning to normal. “ I don’t get it.”

He did not waste any time in explaining. “ Lisa, you have been under siege for four months now, no?”

“ About that, I suppose …” she said in disbelief; how did this mysterious stranger know so much about her, and the Union’s pursuit of her?

“ And can you honestly tell me that you have never wondered why?”

Lisa’s heart paused in mid-beat. His words dripped with suspense. It could not have been clearer that this man, this strange man who had apparently organised for her to be taken from her hotel room, knew the reason why her life had been in turmoil for so long. He had the knowledge.

“ What do you know?” she breathed.

“ I know why you have been attacked by the Union.” Again, he wasted no time in making his knowledge of the secret group available. “ I know why they have been following you – trying to track you down. And I know that you have had several encounters with the legendary pokémon. These two occurrences are not related.”

Her heart was racing once again. “ Why?” she breathed.

The man paused and adjusted his cloak, loosening his legs slightly as the vehicle rolled onwards. Lisa waited as he cleared his throat, agonisingly slowly. He was now drawing it out, quite cruelly, she thought.

“ Okay,” he said (At last, thought Lisa), “ The reason the Union is pursuing you is because they desperately need you. You know the story of the Union?”

“ No … not really …”

He cleared his throat once again and launched into his story. “ Well, about three years ago now, Team Rocket was defeated in Goldenrod City by a squadron of secret government police, by a group of people who had tried to revive the organisation. Joseph Sterling was the leader. When the police stormed the hideout, the result was bittersweet. They destroyed the Team’s resources and captured – and killed – many agents. But some escaped. The most famous was Sterling – he faced up to the police directly – and still, somehow, escaped from them, from right under their nose. But the police were not entirely concerned with this: they had broken Team Rocket’s central base, taken most of the agents out and broken the reign of terror that the Rockets were starting to have over the entire Johto region. Very few people know about this – it was kept as brief as possible. The papers made it sound as though Team Rocket just strolled up to the police station and surrendered their weapons and lives, which definitely could not be further from the truth.

“ The police knew that Sterling was still out there somewhere, but they believed his power to be gone – he had no base, no supporters. But they were wrong. It took him two years to finally regroup and begin setting up a secret base. He formed the group with other old friends and rebel groups that he could align himself with. They called themselves the Union – but whenever they went on a mission, they wore the old Team Rocket uniform. This was to confuse the authorities; to make them focus on tracking down any Rocket activity, when really it was setting them up on a wild goose chase. By about six months ago, the Union was getting more powerful than ever. They have acquired new weapons, new pokémon, new bases – and they have a plan.”

Lisa listened avidly. “ What is their plan?”

He drew a heavy breath. “ The Radio Tower in Goldenrod City collapsed in October last year. You and Gavin were both there; it is the event that drew you together. But the Union had a part to play in the collapse – it was their doing …”

“ No it wasn’t,” Lisa interjected. “ I should know, I saw it. The Black Beast – Lunanine – attacked us when we were in the video vault. It caused the explosion, not the Union.”

Although she could not see the man’s eyebrows, Lisa knew he had raised one. “ Very well. But has it never occurred to you where Lunanine came from?” Lisa paused for a moment, deep in thought. The man went on. “ After all, how does a legendary beast come to be in the video vault of an information centre like the Radio Tower?”

His dark gaze was boring into Lisa. “ I … don’t really know …” she said vacantly. It had never, throughout all her experiences, occurred to her what an absurdity it was to have a legendary beast in a basement – she had assumed, as it was magical, it could do what it liked. But now …

“ I’ll tell you what happened. On that day when you and Gavin went into the Video Vault, somebody from the Union was also there, with Lunanine accompanying them. I have intelligence that tells me what they were doing. They were looking for an old video, and an even older text that accompanied it. Yet this is the biggest problem I have; the question I have been unable to answer for months.”

“ What is it?” Lisa said. She was absolutely baffled by what the man was saying, and yet, piece by piece, things were slotting into place. She remembered back to that day in the Radio Tower – a shelf had toppled over just as Gavin had used Natu to identify Lunanine’s presence. Someone else had been in the vault with them: a Union member.

“ The problem is,” said the man, “ I have no idea what was on the tape, or in the text. I do not know what its contents were. However, what I do know is that, whatever the Union member found, he or she got away with it.”

Something stirred in Lisa’s memory. “ How could they have escaped? The tower collapsed a minute later – they couldn’t have got away in time, we would have seen them going up the stairs.”

Again he raised an eyebrow. “ You and Gavin escaped, didn’t you?” he said. “ That was unexpected – some people from the upper floors made it out, but anyone down in the deep basement would surely have been killed.” His voice had a thinly veiled sarcasm to it. “ But you did survive, surprising everyone.”

Lisa rubbed her forehead. The information was welcome to her, but it did not stop it from being difficult to take in all at once.

“ So – hang on – how is this all relevant to me?”

He smirked. “ I’ll tell you why. A lot more happened in the vault that day than either you or I can understand. Lunanine’s presence was not an accident – I suspect that the Union used it. How they managed to gain control over a legendary is beyond me. But the documents that the Union obtained were very relevant. They concern the legendaries. And they concern you.”

His words rang in Lisa’s ears. How could such an old text relate to her, a fourteen-year-old girl? A thousand thoughts and ideas gushed through her consciousness before she spluttered, “ You mean like a prophecy?”

The eyebrow again. “ Do you believe in prophecies? Do you think that a person six hundred years in the past can foretell exactly what is going to happen to someone in the present, or the future?”

Lisa wavered. “ Well, maybe …”

He smiled as though she was no more than a naïve child. “ No, it is not a prophecy,” he said. “ But I do not know what it is exactly. All I know is that those documents are the reason – or at least, one of many possible reasons – for the Union’s pursuit of you.”

Her head was swimming, but one bitter thought emerged. She had been there as the documents were removed. If only she could have had some way of knowing, so she could have stopped everything from unfolding!

“ So you don’t know the actual reason for the Union’s attacks on me?” Lisa asked slowly.

The man shook his head slowly. “ What I told you now is, more or less, the extent of my knowledge on this matter. But there is much more to worry about. I have told you all this for a reason. Now that you know the Union is indeed, following you, you have to help me out.”

It suddenly occurred to Lisa how odd it was to have some stranger so intensely concerned in both her and the Union. How did he know so much? “ Hang on – who are you?” she accused at once.

“ Someone who wants to help,” he said simply. “ I cannot tell you my name, that would endanger us both. But we have met before,” he added, though Lisa could not, for the life of her, find any recollection of him in her memory.

“ So, okay, assuming you are a good person … what do you want me to do?” Lisa said tentatively, feeling the lurch of the limousine for the first time in what felt like hours.

“ You have signed up for the Fairfax mountain contest, right?” said the man, and she nodded. “ Well, I need you to be on the look-out. I am not sure why yet, but there is a Union member signed up for the contest. I feel they are up to no good, and they may try to harm you. Be very careful, but monitor anyone who looks suspicious. Just don’t let anyone know who you are. I will be seeing you very soon.”

It was only then when Lisa realised they had re-entered the village of Fairfax.

“ Oh, I have a problem,” she told her new friend – if he was in fact a friend – quickly. “ Um, me and Gavin have been reported missing and we’re on the news. If we’re found out we’ll be taken back to the police. You have to help us.”

“ I will take care of it,” the man said. Then, as the limousine pulled up outside the ominously quiet Inn, he leaned over and opened her door for her. “ Do not worry about anything that happened tonight. Climb back into your room and pretend you were asleep the whole time. Just focus on what I told you to do, and don’t tell anyone – even Gavin – that you met me. Promise?”

“ I promise,” said Lisa swiftly.

All at once, the absurd meeting came to an end. The man pushed her gently out the door, and she staggered out into the gusting winds, clutching her cloak to her tighter than ever. He pulled the door closed quietly and, satisfied that everything was taken care of, the limousine purred out of the car park and away into the shadows of the blustery night.

Very tired, Lisa headed back to the Oakabella room, to sleep.

[mr_pikachu]

Chapter 49: 07-08-2004, 04:35 AM
Chapter 50: 09-11-2004, 12:28 AM

Wait between chapters: 2 months, 2 days, 19 hours, 53 minutes
Margin of error: 2 minutes, because the timestamp does not list seconds

mr_pikachu's mood: Damn glad the new chapter's finally here!


Well, it's good to see LtL continuing. This was, indeed, a "Revelation" of sorts. Nicely done, for the most part. Excellent description with the inn; I could see it all quite clearly. The rest wasn't done quite as well, but I don't know if extra description would have helped there. I can understand Lisa's emotions... but Gavin's still strangely cold. What's with you, Gavin? ...Er, I mean the character Gavin... not you. This is confusing. :tongue:

The plot is developing nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it continues.

However... *long, dramatic silence*

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).

You have asked, and you shall receive! Now that you have reached mod status, and you have asked for as much criticism as you can get, I think it's time to up my reviews to...

*booming voice*

THE NEXT LEVEL.

Yes, now I will be pointing out pretty much anything that strikes me as possibly improvable. If you want me to stop, I will. Just remember, I'm only acting on your command. *points to quote*

Let's begin, shall we?



A pungent grey haze hovered around a dingy, wood-panelled room. A counter with a refrigerator behind it signified an unattended bar, while the rest of the room was kitted out in plastic tables and tattered chairs. An embattled television set was fixed to the wall above the bar. The room was completely deserted.

It's good information to use in description, but to me this seems too much like stating facts in a list. Maybe you could integrate it with some actions, or something? That'd make it more interesting.


“ I didn’t anyway …” he said, suddenly accusatory.

I think you need a comma before "anyway", since it's used as a conclusion word (I don't know what the technical term is... but it needs a comma).


“ I’m trying to help Professor Oak out here, I’m doing my best! So what if I broke a rule or a law or whatever, I don’t care anymore!”

Both commas should be changed to other punctuation marks, since there are complete thoughts on either side of both of the commas, and the thoughts aren't connected with a conjunction. The first one could probably be a period or a semicolon, or perhaps another exclamation mark. I think the second one would probably work well as a question mark. You could probably use other punctuation as well, but I think those would work best. As long as it's grammatically correct, though, I'm fine with it. Even though they are quotes, the punctuation must still make sense, if possible.
Note: There were other sentences like this as well, but these were the first ones I noticed. Just know that these weren't the only ones.


She was torn between curiosity, fear and sensability, but it seemed that finally sensability had prevailed.

The word "sensability" should be "sensibility" in both instances.


Before Lisa could overcome her surprise at this bold statement and defend her position, the man braked sharply and made a violent swing to the left, careering off the road onto a track that, judging by the crunching sound beneath the tyres, was carpeted with leaves.

1. Seems to be a run-on sentence.
2. Do you drive on "tyres"?
3. What is "careering", exactly?


Rachel massaged her temple. “ He isn’t senile! I’m telling you, I need your help. Every other avenue I’ve tried has been a dead end. The police have practically given up. I need you to come here and help me. With your Sandslash and Persian, if you can. Please! You’re my oldest friend.”

Her reply was just as airy.

This is ambiguous. When you began the new paragraph, the last person the narrator mentioned was Rachel. So when you continue with a pronoun like "Her", it is assumed that you are still talking about Rachel. You need to mention Ellie before you can use a pronoun to identify her.


“ Okay,” he said (At last, thought Lisa), “ The reason the Union is pursuing you is because they desperately need you.

Since you've been using single quote marks for thoughts, you need to use them in this case, even though it is in parenthesis. I'm also not sure about whether or not having someone speak/think within parentheses in a paragraph where someone else is speaking/thinking is grammatically correct. I'm sure you know that you normally can't have two people speaking/thinking in the same section. I'm just not sure if having one person's thoughts/speech in parentheses is an exception to the rule.
Did that make sense? I hope so. If not, tell me, and I can explain it clearer with some examples to show what I mean. Just tell me if that was too confusing.


If only she could have had some way of knowing, so she could have stopped everything from unfolding!

I'm debating with myself on this one. I'm not sure if this is grammatically correct or not. I do know that, at least where I live, not having the "so" in the sentence seems more natural. I'm no expert on Australian dialect, though, so I'll merely pose this as something to think about.


“Now that you know the Union is indeed, following you, you have to help me out.”

The first comma is unnecessary and interrupts the natural flow of the sentence. Even if he pauses there in his speech, the comma cannot be used. I can't see why he'd stop there for a long enough period to warrant a comma, anyway.


Very tired, Lisa headed back to the Oakabella room, to sleep.

I hate to criticize the last sentence of a chapter, but this is the same situation as above (regarding the last comma).



Whew! *wipes brow* I hope you find that helpful, and if you didn't like the extensive review... then please tell me. Just... *falls to knees* Please don't ban me, your modfullness! Please, I beg of you, kind sir! *weeps*

Anyway, I'll see you for the next chapter, which will hopefully be as good as this one! (Yes, I consider this one quite superb, despite my criticism.) Until then!


EDIT: Wow... I've seen fanfic chapters that are shorter than this! o_0

[PancaKe]

Well that was definently a developing chapter. Very very nicely done actually, beautiful.

Hmm im not really sure what to comment on.. you made some nice revelations, just be really careful how you reveal some things - because if your not careful then you'll reveal things too soon and make them too obvoius. And you need to be careful of that. I think I kind of revealed some things in my fics a bit too soon, and yeah ist just some advice from one wirter to the other.

I liked the chapter.

We shall speak more over msn.

luv ya

god bless

[Gavin Luper]

Chapter 51 here at last! It's only a short one, but I had to do it. Otherwise Chapter 52 makes no sense!

Cheers!

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

Chapter 51 – The Dream.


Lisa’s sleep was filled with one main dream – a very strange dream that she had never had before in her life. It was also the most vivid she had ever had, for upon awakening she could recall everything she had dreamt, and could visualise everything in her head. Even more strangely, it was as if she had control over her movements and actions in the dream – yet at the same time she knew she was dreaming.

It began in her bedroom at night. She was at her desk, working on a pokédex entry for Lunanine. She was frustrated because something in her entry wasn’t working properly, though she couldn’t work out what it was. There was something missing in her information on the beast … and yet, she needed to hurry up, because Professor Westwood was expecting her entry by morning …

I don’t have to do a pokédex entry. That was months ago, her subconscious told her.

She stood up and slammed the file on Lunanine closed. She glanced around her room. There were two mattresses on the floor, though both were empty. She moved over to her own bed, aware that the clock on her bedside table said it was past midnight, but she found she was not tired at all. Instead, she focused her gaze on a strange box at the foot of her bed. It was made entirely of rosewood, but it was only the size of a loaf of bread. Lisa tentatively clutched the groove in the lid and pulled the box open.

She gasped – both in her dream and in her sleep. A person was emerging from the box as through freeing themselves from a prison; he struggled and writhed like a snake shedding its skin, until, somehow, the complete form of Gavin Luper had appeared. He had no scar.

Gavin?

He stood directly beside Lisa, motionless, standing with his weight balanced perfectly between two feet and his empty brown eyes staring straight ahead. It was as though he had no mind of his own. Lisa scrutinised him for a moment, but he did not move a muscle. A flash of light turned her attention back to the rosewood box. Another shape was emerging from the box, though this one was much smaller. It was a luminous object; a golden key encrusted with emeralds and garnets, giving off a shimmery, resplendent light. Lisa reached for it, but it hovered out of her grasp. Instantly annoyed, she went in for another grab, but this time the key fluttered up into the air, did a flip and ended its acrobatic display by hovering above her shoulder protectively. Lisa wanted to reach out and take hold of it but she had a feeling that would be futile.

Gavin’s stationary, scarless form still had not moved an inch as Lisa turned her attention to the strange box for the third time; something was emerging from it again, though in a less radiant display than before. It was a second box, with a far more forbidding appearance than the first one. It was smaller and rectangular, made of ebony and silver hinges. A silver crest had been worked into the box’s lid, giving it a striking, foreboding appearance. The box hovered over the rosewood box for a moment, as though begging Lisa to pick it up – so she did. Her hands closed around the wooden box and she felt something roll around inside.

This is really, really strange.

The rosewood box seemed not to have completed its mission, though. It did not appear to be willing to regurgitate any more disparate objects or people, but it now snapped itself shut and it too hovered through the air, suspending itself magically over her other shoulder.

All of a sudden, Gavin sprung to life, though his eyes retained their glazed look. Mechanically, he began to walk toward the closed door that led into the carpeted vestibule of the upstairs. He pulled the door open robotically and walked very slowly out into the hall, taking no notice of Lisa whatsoever.

Follow him.

Lisa stepped out into the hall to see Gavin descending the stairs methodically; she raced down after him at once, catching up quickly and maintaining a steady pace two steps behind him. It did not occur to her how odd she must look; a mesmerised boy followed by a girl holding a dark ebony box, with a shining key and a rosewood container bringing up the rear.

She kept her eyes on Gavin. He moved, zombie-like, from the base of the stairs toward the large open space that was the living room, adjacent to the kitchen and dining areas, apparently intent on reaching a particular destination. Lisa followed obediently, occasionally shooting glances around the deserted house. Finally, Gavin led her to the sliding door of the linen closet. She stared in uncertainty as he slid it open and walked straight through. She gaped and cast a glance around her, unsure of whether she should follow him into the strange closet.

There was something within her mind – or heart? – that was trying to tell her to do something. She needed to do something in the house. She glanced around wildly, looking for something that she was supposed to find or use: her gaze fell on the sofa, the bookshelf, the Christmas tree, the stereo – none of which would be of any strategic benefit, she deemed.

Her gaze fell on the evil-looking ebony box in her arms. She had not looked inside yet, but now she suddenly felt compelled to do so. Her small hand reached tentatively for the silver latch, but, just as she went to flick the box open, something like an electric spark surged through her from nowhere. Not now, it told her strictly. Not now. She relented, and turned to follow Gavin’s path into the linen closet only to hear a loud cry beside her.

A black-clothed woman stood directly beside her, holding a silver gun to her throat suddenly. Unable to struggle for fear of her own life, Lisa let her body go limp as the woman ordered her to her knees.

Help. Help!

All of a sudden, the rosewood box at Lisa’s left shoulder geared itself into life, thrusting itself through the air and colliding with the woman’s skull. She lurched backwards as the gun in her hand went spinning across the carpet. Lisa lunged for the gun but somehow it had disappeared.

The woman regained her footing quickly. She glared at Lisa with mixed fury and desperation. She looked vaguely familiar.

But I have never met her before.

For the first time, a sense of sound entered the odd dream, as the woman spoke slowly. “ Don’t you try to do anything now. Your life is at risk.” Suddenly she was a friend. “ Remember this: ‘when there is nowhere else to look, look behind you’.” Instantly, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Lisa alone in the hallway.

The key and box at her shoulders still, the ebony box still under her arm, she turned now to the linen closet and began to step into it. Her foot had only just passed over the threshold when the back wall of the closet simply vanished into thin air, opening up a strange new room.

Lisa entered the room silently. It was a cold, metallic place: stainless steel benches and floors that suggested a laboratory. An air conditioning vent lay dusty and still above a metal wall clock. However, the room was empty, and there were no doors whatsoever in the room. Concerned, Lisa spun on her heel to go back into the closet, but it had vanished; there was only a bare white wall behind her.

Where did Gavin go? What do I do?

As if in reply, the rosewood box at her shoulder leapt to life and propelled itself toward the bench, where it landed. For the fourth time, something was emerging from the box; like the first time, it was slithering out almost painfully; bushy aqua hair, petite, well-formed features, slender frame – Marina Frost emerged into the room.

Like Gavin, her eyes were unseeing, but she burst into action immediately. She strode across the room and picked up two sceptres. Handing one to Lisa without looking at her, Marina charged at a thick tapestry which had appeared when Lisa wasn’t looking. She swiped the gold sceptre at the tapestry; the yellow jewel on the end glowed as it tore the tapestry in two to reveal an old passageway.

Follow her.

Lisa pelted after Marina, who, like Gavin, was walking robotically. Lisa clutched her sapphire-encrusted sceptre as she followed Marina into the dark, empty passageway; the rosewood box flew through the air after her. Marina charged onwards, down the tunnel which seemed to have no distinct end.

Finally, Marina stopped at a plain wooden door that was set discreetly into the wood-panelled walls. She gestured her hand for Lisa to open it and this time made eye contact fully. Her eyes were still not right; they were golden in colour, but they suddenly held a goldmine of knowledge. Marina pointed at the door again, urging Lisa to open it. Her eyes communicated an urgent need to understand.

Open it.

Mystified, Lisa reached for the handle, pulled the door open, and gasped in utter horror at what she saw.

“ No more! Don’t – it wasn’t –”

“ Wrong answer! Tell me the truth, boy!”

Gavin Luper lay half-naked on the stone floor, yelling out in pain; a bulky man stood over him with a heavy wooden plank, before throwing it aside. Blood was pouring down Gavin’s back in rivulets, his entire body covered in deep gashes and bruises. He was twisted in an awful way; the bulky man pulled him back by the hair, so that his head and neck had to follow, and then slammed a fist into his throat, causing Gavin to go sprawling. His screams caught in his throat – as did his vomit – as he collapsed jaw-first on the stone ground.

Lisa screamed, soundlessly, paralysed with fear. But it was not over.

The man had moved over to Gavin’s sobbing, choking form. The boy was covered in blood, sweat, vomit, urine and tears. He was screaming in pain, trying to clutch at his back with his hands.

“ Get up and TALK, boy!” he roared, grabbing a fistful of hair and dragging the boy back to his knees. “ Tell me where they are and why you took them!”

Gavin coughed up blood and vomit. “ I don’t know –” his voice was scarcely present.

“ Wrong answer again!” the man gave a savage grin and drove his foot into Gavin’s solar plexus. He yelled out again in pain, choked, and retched, but nothing came out except blood.

He collapsed again on the wet stone floor, moaning in pure pain.

His captor did not beat him again; this time, he dragged him up again mercilessly and pulled a sharp metal tool from his pocket. He held his face an inch away from Gavin’s, his austere eyes locked with Gavin’s terrified, beaten ones. He held up the metal tool, which itself looked cruel and evil.

“ One more time.” His voice was of deathly neutrality. “ Where are they?”

Saliva and blood were oozing from Gavin’s mouth as he answered, pitifully, “ I don’t know, it wasn’t me –”

“ Third strike,” said the man cruelly. His left hand grasped tightly around Gavin’s neck, and his right pulled the sharp metal instrument up to Gavin’s face, and, in one swift, savage movement, sliced down Gavin’s face.

The most bloodcurdling, tortured scream erupted; one of agony; Lisa herself screamed, only this time, it made a sound; the stone room was spinning around her … she was leaving … leaving this sick place …

And then she awoke in bed, drenched in a cold sweat and feeling sick to her core. She had just seen Gavin being tortured; she had seen him at his most vulnerable, inches from death.

And, unless she was very much mistaken, she had just seen into the past.

[mr_pikachu]

Well, then... that was horrific... o_o;; No wonder Gavin's so different now. But why did Lisa need to see that? What did that lady mean? And exactly what was the purpose of that dream? Nice hook in this chapter, even though it was a short one.

I do think that the beginning could have been written a bit better, though. It just seemed too direct to me. Maybe you could add some description, or more subconscious thoughts, or something like that.

Also, there was one line I didn't understand at first.

A black-clothed woman stood directly beside her, holding a silver gun to her throat suddenly.

When I first saw this, I was under the impression that the lady was holding the gun to her own throat, about to commit suicide. That's not a big error, though, and it's easy to change.

The plot of this was interesting. Lisa's seeing into the past, finding mystical objects in dreams, and getting advice from familiar strangers. And it almost seems as if she's a little psychic, what with the nature of the dream. Hmm.

I think this could add even more depth to the already rich plot. Good job, and I'll see you next chapter!

[Gavin Luper]

mr_pikachu: Evil people aren't they? Why did Lisa need to see it? The question isn't why she needed to see it - it's how she saw it. But she needed to see it, that will be obvious soon. Poor Gavin though. I hate some of the things I do to him. The Dream was partly just that - a dream. But it was more. Trust me on this one - everything I've written in this story that seems half-baked or pointless or weird does have a purpose, I assure you.

It was written in a rush, the whole thing, but I wanted to post something at last, albeit a short one. I do go back to old chapters every now and then and add in bits - I nearly doubled chapter 5 once.

Hmm, a bit ambiguous, I will fix.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

[ZeldaFan20]

Good grief! Does this mean Lisa has Psychic powers too? Probably not, but the whole dream was very freaky; in fact, it might have told us that Gavin skipped a couple of things when he explained his disappearance to Lisa a while back (unless I'm mistaken again). This chapter was just in time for Halloween---it certainly was gruesome enough. Great work, buddy, you did it again!

[mistysakura]

Crud, that must have been absoloutely horrific. Poor, poor Gavin; I couldn't imagine going through that ever, and it's no wonder he changed. I don't know what to say...

Okay, new track. The whole dream was seriously freaky. The whole Marina and Gavin walking around mechanically thing I'm trying to dismiss as just a dream, but Marina's appearance seems to signify that it isn't. Pretty sure the box was randomness though. (Waiting until the inevitable day when this statement rebounds in my face.)

[PancaKe]

Hey Gav

That was really really cool

Theres nothing else really to say. There wasnt any of it i didnt like. The thing that got me the most was Gavin being tortured, i got a tinsy bit queasy, but that just shows ur talent (and my slightly weird stomach) ^.^

[Gavin Luper]

Exactly one year ago, I had posted up to chapter 44. One year later, I'm up to chapter 51. That is really bad - in the space of an entire year I've written chapters 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51. That's all. Gah. I can't believe how slow it had been! Don't even get me started on chapter 52 - it's the most difficult chapter I've ever had to write and I'm losing heart that I'll ever get it done, at least up to my usual standard.

2004 was a pretty crappy year for me in a lot of ways, particularly with writing, though. So now I'm hoping and praying that 2005 will be an excellent year for Lisa the Legend. God willing, by the end of this year, I'll be finished - but I don't see that happening in a hurry.

Anyway, I thought I'd keep everyone up to date with what's going on with this fic: it's struggling, but it's not going to die, so don't worry. With any luck, Chapter 52 would be up in a few days ... but I can't promise anything, because, in terms of the plot and pace of the story, I've dug myself into a hole that isn't easy to get out of, and I have renewed writer's block, which makes it all doubly hard. So the chapter - which stands at about 2500 words, isn't progressing much yet.

DK: Thanks for reading, it's different after C20 hey? It was about then that I got an idea of what I was doing. Thanks again!

Everyone: I think just about everywhere in the world has had new year's by now, so, to all my readers, Happy New Year!!!

Cheers!

[Gavin Luper]

SURPRISE! I'M BACK BABY!

Yes, I'm alive! I held off making a usual 'I'm still alive' post in here because for the last two days I've sat down and written Chapter 52 - after three and a half months of block and getting nowhere, it took me just a few days to finish. So here it is - I hope it's up to standard!!

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

Chapter 52 – Mount Fairfax.


Lisa awoke with both her hands clasped so tightly over her face that her fingernails had dug into her cheeks. Slowly, her mind still reeling, she removed her hands to find herself staring up at a white ceiling; she was in the Oakabella Room of the Fairfax Inn, where she had, only a few hours ago, collapsed in total exhaustion upon the bed.

Lisa doubted that her sleep had given her much rest at all, though - she still felt groggy, and judging from the low position of the sun shining through the window, it was still very early in the morning. However, her mind was not on her tired state – her brain was buzzing with what had just happened to her. Her sleep had begun as any sleep should; she had kicked off her shoes and fallen down onto the surprisingly springy mattress, closing her eyes and immediately slipping out of consciousness. But slowly a dream emerged – a dream that had, for the most part, been mysterious but uneventful, until Lisa opened a door in her dream and saw the last thing she could have expected. One of her closest friends, Gavin Luper, being brutally tortured at the hands of the organisation called the Union.

Lisa ducked into her backpack, which sat at the foot of the bed, and pulled out her water bottle. She gasped down a few mouthfuls gratefully, trying to cool herself down, for she had never felt more like she was overheating than now. The part of the dream that had involved Gavin had been chilling, to say the least, and yet Lisa was sure that the dream had been very much real – evidently, at some stage in the past. But she had no idea what it could all mean.

She ran a hand over her sweaty brow. This night had been one troubling, complicating experience after another. At last, morning had arrived – but what would it bring?

Lisa’s eyes fell on her pokégear as she placed her water bottle back in her bag. She stared at it for a moment, then suddenly she realised that there was something she could do to help fix the situation.

Quickly, the picked up the silver pokégear, placed it in her lap and turned it on. It felt good to hear the familiar ‘ping’ as the main screen blinked to life. Lisa chose the telephone directory and scrolled down until she came to the name of the one person she thought she could talk to about everything – and the person who could help her out the most.

She pressed the green button and waited. Surprisingly, the phone was in range – presumably because of the mountain. After a moment, there was a dull click and a familiar voice said, “ Hello?”

“ Tom. It’s me.” Lisa said softly.

“ Lisa?” Tom’s reply came back in an excited splutter. “ What – what’s up?”

Just hearing Tom’s voice – hearing a voice that she had, for so long, associated with the safety and security of her family and her home, did to Lisa what two days of fear, uncertainty and terror had not: she broke down and sobbed helplessly.

“ Are you alright, Leese?” Tom’s voice had taken on a strong but gentle tone; an older-brother tint that Lisa had never heard before.

Lisa rubbed tears from her cheek, but even that action brought another burst of tears on. Through her blubbering she somehow managed to mutter down the phone, “ I’m sorry Tom … I’m so pathetic!”

His voice came back, “ No, Lisa, you’re not – well, okay, you are a bit pathetic.” They both laughed; Tom very lightly and Lisa through a mist of tears that spilled onto her cheeks faster than she could wipe them up. Tom spoke again, “ Now, what’s wrong?”

At last Lisa stopped crying and held her pokégear close. “ Where do I start?”

She began with what had happened on Tuesday the previous week – the day she and Marina battled, the day she had seen Raikou and the day she was first notified about the trial in Valeo – and proceeded to tell everything that had happened right up to the dream she had just had.

After he recovered from the initial shock of learning how serious the situation was, Tom listened well and discussed the happenings with Lisa; he had been shocked to hear about the attack on their house in Greenmount, and almost as dumbfounded by Gavin’s tale; he admitted total surprise about the trial, and even lightly congratulated Lisa on keeping the court case a secret. When Lisa told him about the Union’s kidnap of Marina, he had become oddly quiet.

“ Are you still there?” Lisa asked, feeling drained, but glad that she was telling the truth about her experiences to someone; the reliving of some events was hard, and yet, the more Lisa pushed through, the better she began to feel, as though someone was slowly deflating a balloon of tension that had been within her forever.

“ I’m here,” Tom said after a moment. “ I’m just writing some of this down. It’s hard to keep up with everything as told by a bubbling fourteen-year-old.”

Lisa felt a smile flit briefly across her face. “ I’ll be fifteen in two weeks.”

“ Oh, that reminds me, I have to forget to get you a present,” Tom murmured. “ I’m sorry, keep going with what you were saying. It seems weird to be joking when we’re talking about something so serious.”

Lisa went on, glad that Tom believed her. After almost an hour of retelling of stories, she came to the end of her lamentation. “ When I woke up I just felt too – too unable to cope anymore – so I called you. I need some help with this.” Lisa had a feeling Tom was nodding at the other end of the phone; it was something that he tended to do during long phone calls.

“ Well … I think the dream you had could have been a vision. It’s not entirely uncommon for some people to have a psychic side to their persona. I don’t think it runs in our family though … I’ll find out what I can about it …” He paused. “ About the Union situation … obviously I can’t do anything right now. But I think you should come home very soon … as in, right away. Clearly you aren’t safe … I just can’t believe this. Honestly – you – attacked by people who used to be in Team Rocket … wow. I can’t get my head around this … but you should come home, definitely. How soon can you get here?”

“ That’s the problem,” Lisa said, taking a swig of water from her bottle; it was almost empty after the long talk. “ We don’t exactly have a mode of transport that’s quick – we were planning to win this contest to get a buggy and then drive home.”

“ Oh yeah … you mentioned that …” Tom said, and Lisa heard the flicking of paper at the other end of the phone. “ Well …” he hesitated, “ Okay, I think you should enter in the contest, make sure that you win the buggy, and drive back here ASAP. Once you’re safe home with me and Miki, we can call the police and sort this out properly … I’ll call them now and tell them you and Gavin are perfectly safe, so they can end the missing persons watch … okay?”

“ That would be good,” Lisa said softly. “ Yes, alright. We’ll come home as soon as we can.”

“ Good,” Tom said, sounding relieved that a course of action was being taken. “ I’ll let you go, then, but keep in touch. If anything more happens, anything at all, call the police straight away. I know you went to them already, but … this time, stay there. Don’t put yourself in danger again. That’s an order.”

Lisa laughed. “ Sure, boss.”

“ Take care,” Tom said.

“ I will. Bye.” Lisa pressed the red button on the side of her pokégear, ending the call. She glanced at the screen and sighed; fifty-three minutes would cost much more than she could afford. She would have to consider getting a job again to pay for her expenses. But, for the moment, she had more pressing concerns.

Outside, the sun had risen, putting an end to what had felt like an endless night. It was nearing seven o’clock now. With a wide yawn, Lisa slipped on her shoes and shuffled out into the corridor to find the dining room.

*

Breakfast was held in a surprisingly large and airy room at the back on the Inn; Lisa had a feeling that this was the room from which Paddy had emerged the previous night. It was a spectacular room: ten circular tables were comfortably housed in the room – covered in crisp, white tablecloths – among the thick carpets on the ground and antique-looking wall units; a small, dusty but still impressive chandelier was suspended from the ceiling, yet it was not in use at breakfast; instead, the massive room was lit by the sunlight that was flooding in through the fourth wall of the room, which was comprised completely of glass frames.

This was the first thing Lisa noticed as she entered the dining room, already occupied by a handful of people scattered over two tables. The far wall not only allowed golden morning sunlight into the room, it also offered a breathtaking view of the foothills of Mount Fairfax, a few hundred metres from the base of which was situated the Inn.

“ Oh … wow,” Lisa said aloud, at a loss of anything else to say. Her mind taken off breakfast, she drifted over to the window, where there were a few people with their faces almost pressed against the glass, in awe of the amazing view. Immediately below where she stood, the ground sloped away almost vertically into a lush green valley, before rising again to the peak of a tall hill.

“ Amazing, isn’t it?”

Lisa tore her gaze from the view and turned to see a boy with brown hair beside her.

“ Were you talking to me?” she said, not meaning to be rude.

A larrikin grin came over the boy’s face. “ No, I was talking to the glass window. We’re in the middle of a conversation here, do you mind?”

Lisa giggled. “ I’m sorry. And yeah, it is really amazing,” she added.

The boy studied her face for a moment, then said, “ Is your name … Lisa?”

Taken aback, Lisa nodded. “ How did you know that?”

“ My name’s Daniel,” the boy said, extending his hand; Lisa shook it politely. “ You were in the Whirlpool Cup tournament last year, weren’t you? I remember seeing you at the afterparty when that Marina girl won.”

“ Oh right …” Lisa murmured, not recognising him at all. “ Did you compete too?”

He shrugged dismissively. “ I was eliminated in the first round. My Poliwhirl had a nervous breakdown as soon as he got out onto the field. Marina beat me with her Golduck … it wasn’t exactly a League-class battle,” he grinned again.

“ And my Dratini being knocked out by it’s own attack was?” cried Lisa, and they both laughed.

Daniel turned out to be quite a fun companion, so once breakfast arrived, they found a table together close to the window and sat down to eat. Lisa noticed that there had been no sign of Gavin yet – knowing him, he would still be asleep. Lisa wasn’t sure she wanted to see Gavin in a great hurry anyway; their argument had not ended well last night.

“ So are you here by yourself?” Daniel asked, tucking into a plateful of tomatoes, bacon and eggs.

Lisa shook her head and rushed down a chipolata she had been eating; it was surprisingly tasty; despite the generally appearance of the Fairfax Inn, the food and the view had been extremely good. “ I’m here with my friend Gavin,” she explained. “ He should be here actually, he might still be asleep … it’s only seven-thirty, after all …”

Daniel smiled, but Lisa thought she saw his face droop slightly when she said she was with Gavin.

By eight o’clock, the breakfast dishes had been cleared away and people were becoming slightly restless; a few trainers had released their pokémon to prepare them for the contest; one particularly muscle-bound hiker was sparring excitedly with his Machop, which was interesting as the room was quite full of chattering trainers by this stage – and yet still there was no sign of Gavin.

Lisa pushed her chair out slightly, intending to go wake Gavin up, but at the same moment, a hush fell over the crowd of trainers milling about the dining hall.

“ What’s going on?” Lisa asked Daniel, who, like many others, was trying to see what was going on in the centre of the crowd of trainers and pokémon.

Daniel stood up and craned his neck to see. He choked back laughter.

“ The leprechaun’s here.”

It was Paddy. Suppressing a giggle, Lisa joined Daniel and together they peered over the shoulders of the crowd to see the tiny man who stood in a circle of trainers, ready to make an announcement. He was wearing an odd assortment of clothes, including a lime green bandana that would have resembled Lisa’s own scarlet one if it hadn’t been so oversized that it looked like a towel.

“ Ladies and Gentlemen, competitors and spectators, may I please have your attention,” Paddy said, in his heavy accent. “ The Inaugural Fairfax Mountain Contest will begin in just over two hours. I have come to give you instructions on the race –” (He found a wad of pink leaflets and gave them to a young girl to pass around) “ – as well as give you all an idea of what the contest involves …” He cleared his throat loudly, “ The contest, or race, as it were, will begin at noon. The aim is to reach the summit of this mountain as soon as possible – there is no time limit. Whoever reaches the mountain top first wins the grand prize, a new Solara Buggy in pristine condition along with extra items; second and third prizes will also be awarded.”

He paused for a moment; the silence in the dining room was almost deafening – everyone had their eyes and ears on Paddy. He continued. “ There are conditions to participation, though. All competitors will only be able to take three pokémon with them, as well as any other objects deemed necessary by them to take; you are encouraged to use your pokémon to your advantage. However, at no time may any competitor use his or her pokémon to teleport or fly in order to get ahead in the contest; this is considered unfair play and there will be several regulators placed along the way to police this.

“ In order to reach the top, which is approximately 1500 metres above base level, competitors must follow one of several paths up the mountain, and do whatever is necessary to continue their way through. There will be several – challenges – which must be met in order to succeed, and not all will reach the summit …”

He trailed off. A man in front of Lisa handed her the stack of pink leaflets; she took one and passed the pile on to Daniel.

Paddy was not quite finished. “ I have one more thing to say before the race begins in a few hours time,” he said to the group at large. There was an excited twinkle in his eye that Lisa couldn’t quite place. “ The mountain can be dangerous if you venture there alone, therefore, as a surprise, all competitors MUST pair up into teams of two to compete!”

There was a thick silence followed by an instant cacophony of chattering. Lisa turned to Daniel.

“ Did you know about this?”

His raised eyebrow suggested he did not.

“ Quiet down please, everyone!” Paddy cried over the noise, looking delighted that his bombshell had had such an effect. “ Until eleven o’clock I will be at the front desk waiting to take down team registrations. Only pairs will be eligible for participation.”

His final two words to the group dripped with excitement. “ Good luck.”

At once, the room became more like a rock concert than a dining room; Lisa couldn’t hear herself think over the level of noise that broke out. Across the room, people were grabbing partners and immediately rushing outside to register with Paddy.

“ Wanna register as a team?” Daniel said instantly.

“ Oh,” Lisa said, suddenly spying Gavin across the room; he had appeared in the open doorway and was negotiating his way past a group of five teenage girls all wearing pink and holding Skittys in their arms. She waved to him, and he came over.

“ I would, but I came here with my friend – this is Gavin Luper,” she added by way of introduction, as Gavin joined them by the table. He wore a new green shirt that Lisa hadn’t seen before, which fell over his jeans. At the belt of his jeans were his pokéballs and his camera. “ Gavin, this is Daniel.”

They shook hands jovially, Gavin rather rigidly. “ Nice to meet you,” he said to Daniel.

“ You too,” Daniel said. “ You were in the Whirlpool Cup too, weren’t you?”

Gavin paused. “ I was, yeah, I got runner up.”

“ Daniel competed at the same tournament as we did,” Lisa explained, seeing Gavin’s slightly confused expression. “ He’s in the contest too.”

“ Oh right,” Gavin shrugged dismissively. “ Hey, Lisa, all the people I saw in the hallway were talking about the contest, they said people have to sign up in pairs. Have you registered us yet?”

Lisa smiled apologetically to Daniel, who looked deflated. “ Not yet, let’s go do it now,” she said. “ Seeya at the contest, Daniel,” she added as they left.

“ What was all that about?” asked Gavin, once they were in the corridor, approaching the foyer.

“ He asked me to be his partner …” Lisa muttered, feeling bad.

“ Oh,” Gavin said.

They didn’t speak again until they reached the dingy foyer, which was packed with teams lining up at the front desk. Lisa shifted uncomfortably beside Gavin – she wanted to apologise for last night, but she wasn’t sure if Gavin wanted it brought up. After all, if the advice Tom had given her – that the dream could be a kind of vision – was correct, then Gavin’s imprisonment by the Union was very emotional for him.

After some deliberation she decided not to say anything, but at that moment, Gavin nudged her shoulder and said in a rush, “ Sorry I went off at you last night.”

“ I’m sorry too,” said Lisa, just as fast. “ Really I am.”

Gavin smiled. “ I had to say that. I didn’t mean what I said about you always making life harder for us.”

“ You were right,” she admitted. “ Everything could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t gone behind your back. If it helps, my brother’s called the police and told them you and me and Marina and my parents are all safe again. So they can call off the search for us.”

Gavin’s forehead uncreased. “ That’s good,” he said simply. “ So, we’re still going on to Dervine? I have this really strong feeling that the Union’s behind Professor Oak’s disappearance. The sooner we can get there, the better …”

“ Oh yeah … that was one more thing I needed to talk to you about,” Lisa said sheepishly.

Gavin rolled his eyes half-mockingly, half-serious. “ OK, get it over with,” he said.

*

More than a week had gone by since Professor Samuel Oak had fallen victim to an angry gang in the south forest of Dervine. The only way he had of knowing how much time had passed was by listening to the sound of the Noctowls every few hours that signified another night beginning outside the cave.

The weakened professor curled into a ball on the cold rock floor of his horrible prison. Every so often, maybe every two days, he would awaken to find a cluster of berries and a bowl of water near the sealed cave opening – a cruel taunt. The gang, whoever they were, had kept close to him over the week, but he still had no way of escape, no chance of freeing himself. When they had first captured him, he had screamed out for help for hours, but nobody had heard, not a soul. He knew he was becoming ill because headaches were beginning to plague him constantly: he was not getting enough nourishment to survive much longer.

On this particular morning (he decided it must be morning, for the calls of the night birds had diminished over the last few unrestful hours), Oak lay still in the tiny cave, reciting the names of the pokémon he was keeping for certain trainers and wondering if Rachel had people looking for him yet; he did this to keep his mind busy. Quite suddenly, an uncommon noise jolted him from his thoughts. It was not a loud noise, but unrecognisable amongst the usual wildlife: the footsteps of a human were approaching across the gravel outside.

Professor Oak pricked up his ears in curiosity – he had never been awake when his captors ‘visited’. He listened intently to the sound of not one but two pairs of feet approaching. The footsteps were accompanied by deep, complaining voices.

“ … a week. Tried to tell him not to, but that’s Luke for you, never listened to anyone he thought was inferior to him. He’d cut off his nose to spite his face, you know …”

“ He’ll be back, he’s too scared of Den.”

“ Heh heh. True that. Oy, gimme a hand with this.”

There was a cough and a gravelly grating sound. It was then that an idea entered Oak’s head; it was not the most inventive thing he had every thought of, but he could not stay here any longer. As the grating sound of a heavy boulder being moved away from the top of the cave echoed through the cave, he crawled into the foetal position, slowed his breathing down as much as possible and closed his eyes softly. A moment later, light flooded into the cramped cavern.

“ Doesn’t look good does he?”

“ The weaker he is, the less he’s gonna fight … c’mon, we have to wake him up and get him out of here.”

Oak did his best not to move his chest at all, but his heart was racing.

“ Is he –” The first voice jerked. “ Is he dead?”

“ What? He’s just sleeping, idiot.” A grating sound came once again.

Oak nearly jumped as he felt somebody touch his arm and raise it slightly. The man shook him gently at first, then vigorously. Oak remained motionless, holding his breath. The man pressed his fingers against the inside of his wrist, but too far down to detect a pulse.

“ What’re you doing to him?”

“ I’m finding his pulse, isn’t this how they do it?”

“ How should I know, dip****?”

“ He doesn’t have a pulse. He’s not breathing.”

“ Stop screwing around,” came the other man’s voice, although he sounded worried now.

“ He’s dead.”

“ ****.”

Oak remained still, very slowly sneaking a breath as the two men began to argue between themselves over what to do. He was amazed at his stroke of luck, that the man didn’t know how to check his pulse properly. All he needed to do was maintain the façade long enough.

“ Den is going to kill us!” hissed the man who checked Oak’s pulse.

“ Sterling’s gonna kill ALL of us,” replied the other man.

“ What’re we gonna do?”

“ Just pick him up like we were going to. I’ll take his feet, you take his arms, we’ll carry him to the drop-off point. They’re not going to pick him up from there for a few hours. We can act like we had no idea this happened, we’ll just pretend he died after we dropped him off.”

“ OK.”

Oak kept his eyes lightly shut as he felt his arms roughly pulled upwards, and moments later his legs were elevated by two strong hands, until he was suspended in the air.

“ C’mon.”

The two men began to carry him up the slope at the edge of the cave and into broad daylight, which, after so long in total darkness, burned Oak’s eyes without him even opening them. But he couldn’t complain. Thanks to a stroke of ingenuity, he was at last free from the cave and he had fooled the men. All he needed to do now was continue playing dead and think of some way to escape – and some way to find Lisa Walters.

[continued in next post]

[Gavin Luper]

[continued]

*

“ Let’s go, Team Lisa!” Lisa cried cheerfully, shouldering her backpack and striding forward along the dirt path that led to the base of Mount Fairfax.

“ Here’s an idea, how about we DON’T call ourselves that,” said Gavin drily, several paces behind her.

“ Ai pom,” agreed Aipom vehemently, scampering ahead.

Lisa grinned; it felt good to be walking in the wilderness once again. She focused on the road ahead; about two hundred metres away was a tall wooden sign with many signposts on it; it was here that the teams would have to choose their path for the race.

The Fairfax contest had just begun one minute ago – all around the three of them were other teams who were competing. Most of the teams were talking among each other, walking quickly but not running, so as to maintain their pace. Turning back to survey the group of competitors behind her, Lisa judged that her and Gavin were probably coming in the top ten so far, although the pack was right behind them. They would have to keep their wits about them if they were to win the Solara Buggy to return home – which Lisa had yet to persuade Gavin to do. He refused to go home when Professor Oak was still missing after they had come so far to find him; Lisa argued – somewhat contradicting herself – that it was none of their business what happened to Oak, and they should do what she had promised Tom. Gavin had ignored her.

“ Good luck, Lisa!”

The call came from her left; Lisa turned to see Daniel and a brown-skinned girl jogging together, passing them as they headed for the signpost.

“ You too Daniel!” she called back.

“ You too Daniel!” mimicked Gavin under his breath. Lisa shot him a poisonous look, and he smirked, content at having annoyed her.

A few moments later, they reached the signpost, and it was then that Lisa realised how massive their task was going to be: at least a dozen separate dirt tracks spidered up the mountain from the signposts, each of them promising to be difficult, but none was visible beyond a few metres, as every path was quickly swallowed up by a wall of rock or thick forest. Lisa looked upwards and saw the slow rise of the mountain before her. The peak was not visible, but it would clearly be a long contest.

“ Which path do you want to take?” asked Gavin, staring at the signposts; each path was given a number, but there was no description.

“ Whichever,” Lisa shrugged. “ Let’s choose quickly though, everyone’s passing us,” she added, as a middle-aged couple charged into the shade of path seven.

“ Pom! Pom ai pom!” called Aipom. He had run ahead and stood at the entrance to path eleven. Lisa and Gavin exchanged glances and surveyed the path, or what they could see of it. It seemed to be a fairly gentle slope, rising only gradually, and it too was well-shaded by thick foliage.

“ Why not?” said Lisa. Without further ado, they strode across to path eleven and began to journey upwards. After just a few minutes they were passed by two young boys, about ten years old, who were racing up the path into the dark unknown of the forested mountainside.

Gavin grinned at Lisa. “ How the hell did that happen?”

She laughed. “ They’ll tire out or get bored, they’re only kids.”

Sure enough, moments later they walked past the two boys, who were sitting on a rock comparing Pikachus. Lisa resisted the urge to snort with laughter until they were out of sight.

The path continued to rise more steeply as they marched onwards up the mountain, still waiting for any obstacles to face.

“ OK, out of all thirty-three teams, where do you think we stand at the moment?” Lisa asked presently, Aipom now happily perched upon her shoulder, pulling her hair affectionately.

Gavin appeared to be deep in thought about this. “ Well, we know we’re at least thirty-first. We’ve passed those Pikachu kids, and there’s no way we’re behind those obese twins.”

“ Oh, I forgot about them,” said Lisa, biting her lip and feeling sorry for the twins.

“ We’re probably in the top half,” Gavin said seriously. “ I don’t really know though, we haven’t had anything get in our way yet, so we’ve been moving quick.”

Another ten minutes went by. The forest had become even thicker but the ground had begun to level out slowly; Lisa thought they were probably on a wide ledge on the mountain side.

“ Should we get our pokémon out, so we’re ready for an obstacle?” she asked Gavin.

He nodded, scanning the dark forest on either side of the path as he pulled out three pokéballs. “ Girafury, Skarmory, Natu, go!” he called clearly. Three radiant bursts of white light from the pokéballs revealed Gavin’s three chosen pokémon for the race; Natu hovered and settled on Gavin’s shoulder like Aipom, while Skarmory and Girafury stood tall by their master’s side.

“ Vulpix, Fiskmire, go!” Lisa added. She launched two red and white balls into the air, which yielded her other two pokémon for the contest.

“ Vul!” cried Vulpix, flicking his tail, apparently thrilled to be outdoors. Fiskmire stretched and gave a sleepy grin; he had evidently been sleeping.

“ Come with us, guys, we need you to help us out,” Gavin instructed them all, and they obeyed diligently, Vulpix now taking the lead. Aipom slinked down from Lisa’s shoulder to sit on Fiskmire’s shoulders instead.

With the pokémon accompanying them it was more enjoyable, but the lack of any challenges was beginning to unsettle Lisa; had they perhaps taken a path that wasn’t part of the contest?

“ Can you hear that?” Gavin said suddenly.

“ What?” Lisa said, listening out for any uncommon sound; among the friendly chatter of Girafury and Fiskmire came a soft bubbling sound, not too far ahead. “ A stream?” she said uncertainly.

“ That’s what it sounds like,” Gavin said.

As it transpired, just two minutes later they came across a wide stream crossing their path. Its flow was quite strong, and there was no way for them to go around it.

“ Well, this is easy, we can just surf across on Fiskmire, right?” Lisa said, although she had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy.

“ Are you kidding?” Gavin said. “ The current is insanely fast. We’d be swept downstream is we tried surfing or swimming across.”

Lisa sat down on a flat rock near the edge of the stream. She considered the breadth of the stream for Girafury to leap over, but it was definitely more than ten metres to the opposite bank - far too risky.

“ Oh – of course!” Gavin said suddenly, looking up in amazement at all the extremely tall trees surrounding them. “ We can cut a tree down and use it as a bridge to cross the river.”

Now it was Lisa’s turn to scoff. “ Are you serious? How it that possible?”

Gavin gestured to Skarmory, who stood beside Fiskmire, sharpening his blades. “ Skar, hack this trees down for me as quick as you can,” he said impulsively, slapping his hand on a massive pine which was easily twenty metres high.

“ I can’t believe you’re going to do this,” Lisa gasped, as Skarmory began slicing at the tree’s trunk viciously with its razor-sharp scythes; already, amazingly, it was a quarter way through the tree. A sudden possibility occurred to Lisa. “ Uh, Gavin … what if the tree falls on us instead of over the stream?”

Gavin grinned mischievously. “ That’s not going to happen, because we’re going to push it in that direction.”

“ Ohhhhh no,” Lisa said.

Moments later, though, she found herself, along with Gavin, Girafury, Aipom, Natu, Vulpix and Fiskmire, leaning against the tree that Skarmory had almost cut through, pushing with all her might against the trunk so that it would not collapse on them.

“ Here it goes … push!” yelled Gavin, as an earsplitting crack resounded from the tree trunk; ever so slowly, it began to tip forwards, until very suddenly it moved faster, falling with multiple branches cracking and swishing through the air until the huge pine tree slammed with massive force onto the ground, shaking the earth and knocking all of them off their feet.

Nearby, there were several loud shrieks, which Lisa could just detect above the loud ringing in her ears caused by the tree falling. Evidently, some of the paths were quite close.

Gavin stood up and surveyed his work happily. “ There we go,” he said triumphantly. Lisa rose, along with the pokémon, to find the tree had fallen almost perfectly across the stream, locked into place by resting at the feet of several other trees.

“ I can’t believe we just did that,” she cried, staring at the torn-up stump remaining in the ground.

“ I know,” Gavin grinned widely, taking out his camera and snapping the makeshift bridge they had just formed in what seemed like record time. “ Let’s go across then, quickly.”

It was easier said than done – Natu, Vulpix and Aipom were no problem to get across, as the tree’s trunk was wide enough for them to stroll along. Fiskmire and Girafury had serious trouble crossing, however it was Lisa who was most afraid of going across.

“ How do I do it?” she said, flustered as she sat on the bare lower trunk.

“ Just push yourself forward and keep your legs locked around the trunk, you’ll be fine,” insisted Gavin.

Heart pumping, Lisa wrapped her legs tightly around the horizontal tree trunk and shimmied forward very slowly, aware that the water rushing beneath her could catch her and take her downstream instantly. Inch by inch she crawled, focused at Aipom at the other end, who was calling, “ Leeeeeeeeeeessaaaaa!”

“ You’re halfway there, just watch out for the branches,” Gavin urged.

Lisa moved onwards, the branches and pine needles scraping her legs viciously until finally, after what seemed like an eternity and a half, she felt firm rock ground beneath her feet, and dismounted the tree thankfully. She suddenly became aware of the dozens of harsh scratches on her legs.

“ Never again!” she declared loudly, as Gavin joined her and the pokémon a moment later.

“ What are you whinging about, you made it alive,” Gavin scoffed. “ Let’s go on then.”

Lisa took one more glance at the tree and the stream, then turned to follow Gavin and the pokémon.

*

“ Here comes another one!” Lisa yelled hoarsely.

The troupe of angry Bellsprouts had taken them by surprise. As Lisa and Gavin had negotiated a treacherous stairway of jagged rocks after emerging from the thick forest, the grass pokémon had leaped out from behind the rocks and barred their path vehemently with their vine whip. First attempting to be diplomatic, Lisa had offered them some muesli bar, only to receive a razor leaf to her torso; luckily, only her sleeves were damaged. Now they had resorted to more violent means, whipping them fiercely with vines.

“ Dodge it, Vulpix!” Lisa cried.

Vulpix ducked the incoming vine cleverly and sent a spray of fiery sparks at the attacking Bellsprout, blinding it for a moment before it caught on fire, burning it. It’s vines retracted and within seconds the creature had fainted. Mercifully, Fiskmire shot out a quick jet of water to stop the burning.

“ Well, that was fun,” said Gavin, looking over the five fainted Bellsprout before them.

“ Sure was,” Lisa grinned jokingly. “ Good job guys, thanks for fighting so well.” She stepped lightly up the last few rocks and emerged on flat land at last.

It was nearing four o’clock now. After crossing the stream earlier, they had found many challenges to keep them more than occupied – a confrontation with a fierce Snubbull, a patch of sheer ice that they eventually climbed after Skarmory and Vulpix chipped out footholds for them, several small tunnels, a series of slippery stepping stones across a stinking marsh and finally the fight with the Bellsprout. The peak was occasionally visible when they looked up; at other times there was a wall of grey rock that blocked both their path and their view.

“ Another tunnel,” Gavin said, gesturing at the dark opening in the mountain face before them.

“ Right,” said Lisa, digging into her pocket and extracting her Buzzball, which they had already used a few times when they found themselves in dark places. “ Illuminate,” Lisa said. The red ball in her hand enlarged at once, before sending out a tiny globule – a golden pearl of light which orbited the ball so fast it looked like a ring of light. Armed with the makeshift torch, Lisa led the way into the tunnel.

Unlike the others they had been in, this tunnel had no visible end upon entry. The light from the Buzzball lit up a large sphere around them, but they could not see any walls around them, nor was there any visible ceiling.

“ It’s huge,” Lisa said. Her voice echoed at once, sending strange distortions rebounding all around them.

“ Pom,” Aipom breathed.

Gavin hesitated near the entrance. “ Should we keep going on? What if we get lost?”

“ It’s where our path led us, we’ll be fine,” Lisa said confidently, holding out the Buzzball before her. “ Come on.”

*

There seemed to be total silence in the woodland. Professor Oak slowly opened one eye and took in his surroundings: he had been dumped (rather roughly) in a small clearing of a sparse forest. Two large backpacks and a smaller bag had been left beside him. Footprints led away from the clearing into the woods; from what Oak had heard, the men had left to find something they had buried. He had not heard of them for more than two minutes, and that, he deemed, was long enough to wait; he might not get a chance like this again.

He unfurled his weak body and crawled over to one of the large backpacks; he unzipped one eagerly and, after rummaging around, found a box filled to bursting with peanuts and chocolates and crisps. He allowed himself two enormous fistfuls of food, the first real sustenance in many days, before grabbing a bottle of water from the outside of the backpack and taking a long, refreshing swig. Revived, he placed the bottle back, intending to leave.

It was at that moment that he heard two voices again.

“ … next time. OK?”

“ Leave me alone. I will. Now let’s swap it and get the hell outta here. Stupid Rockets.”

“ They’re not Rockets anymore, idiot, we’re all a Union.”

“ Yeah, sure, that’s what they tell us. But everyone knows it’s the ex-Rockets running the show still. ‘Equal responsibility’ my arse.”

“ Don’t say anything bad about them. It’s not safe.”

Oak had frozen, his feet rooted to the spot. The men – his captors – were back already, though they could not see him until they rose over the crest they were climbing. Any second now, they would take a few more steps and see him kneeling beside their backpacks – alive. There was no time to run, for they would see him and catch him at once; similarly, there was no time to play dead, as he had moved from where he had been left.

Instinctively, Oak plunged his hand into the still open backpack, searching for something to protect himself with – a pokémon of any kind. His hand closed on something cold. He nearly recoiled realising what he had in his hand.

“ WHAT THE –”

The two men had appeared in the clearing, one of them carrying a large black bag. They had frozen on the spot, gaping in total shock. Oak stared from the backpack to his two captors in numbness.

“ Don’t move!” bellowed the larger of the two agents, pulling a black pistol from his belt and aiming it at Oak.

It was instinct only. Thinking only to save himself, Oak whipped the revolver out of the backpack and held it, with trembling hands, to his own temple. “ Don’t – don’t move, or I’ll do it!” he bellowed hoarsely, the gun firmly against his head.

He knew he had made the right move. The armed agent reluctantly lowered his gun, seeing what Oak could do. Before the man could make any further move, diplomatic or violent, Oak swung the revolver around, pointed it straight at the man and pulled the trigger; there were two loud bangs and the man was thrown back onto the ground as the bullets struck him. Shaking, Oak turned the gun to the second man – but he had completely disappeared from view – as had the black bag he was carrying.

Professor Oak shivered, still holding the silver revolver, staring at the body of the man he had shot. He timidly crept toward the body only to find that the bullets had struck him in the lower gut; he was still breathing, but he had fallen on a rock and hit his head, rendering him unconscious. There was blood splattered on his clothes. Feeling sick, Oak kicked the man’s gun away from his splayed hands and, hoping against hope that the second man was running away, not towards him.

An eerie silence hung over the glade. A lone Pidgey called out for food somewhere in a distant tree. Gathering his mind, Professor Oak gripped the weapon in his hand and strode out of the clearing and into the forest. At long last, he had escaped.

*

“ This sucks,” Gavin stated mildly.

“ Frr frroo,” noted Girafury.

“ Stop whining, guys, there’s got to be a way out soon,” Lisa said, without hope of her words holding true. She shivered and rubbed her arms to try to keep warm.

The tunnel had become a fully-fledged series of massive caves within the mountain, each one as dark and cold as the next. For nearly an hour, Lisa and Gavin had trudged through the unknown, negotiating dozens of twists, turns and dead ends, led only by the light of Lisa’s Buzzball. They had encountered several wild pokémon in the cave, but nothing that constituted a real contest challenge.

“ Hey – what’s that?” Lisa cried suddenly, her eyes falling on something immediately ahead, blocking their path.

“ It’s a rock. Don’t get excited or anything,” said Gavin sardonically.

“ It’s a huge rock. But there’s some things carved into it.”

The structure completely blocked the path, reaching to the walls of the cave; it was as though they had reached yet another dead end, but Lisa was sure this one had some trick to it. She held the Buzzball up to the rock surface and examined it: there were stone drawings followed by lines of strange symbols engraved into the rock, which looked ancient, followed by a single line of English, which was carved poorly, and quite possibly for the purposes of the race. It read: ‘Down, Left, Right, Up.’

Lisa exchanged glances with Gavin. “ That makes no sense,” she said, studying the symbols, to no avail.

“ Is it a puzzle?” asked Gavin, touching the stone pictures. They remained inert. “ I heard about a puzzle you could do once, in the Ruins of Alph … apparently this isn’t like that,” he explained.

Lisa tapped the rock with her hands, looking for some kind of crack that might be a clue to the symbols, but she found nothing of any use. “ Augh, this is stupid!” she cried, hitting the rock in frustration.

She had turned her back on the stone structure, intending to walk away and find another way through the tunnel when a dull scream reached her ears, although it sounded far away, as though it were coming through the walls of the cave itself.

She whirled around to face Gavin. “ What was that?”

The scream was still coming, more audible by the second. Oddly, though, it sounded not like someone afraid but someone on a rollercoaster.

In the blink of an eye, the rock wall beside Lisa shattered before her eyes, disintegrating into a pile of dust as, one-by-one, four people and a Seel shot out of a narrow tunnel and into the cavern beside Lisa, Gavin and their pokémon, spraying fragments of cold rock and what seemed like snow.

All four people were laughing; one of the boys was whooping with exhilaration.

“ That was awesome!”

The four of them – two boys and two girls – rose to their feet slowly, dusting themselves off. Lisa suddenly realised that the boy who had cried out with joy was none other than Daniel. The four teenagers slowly realised that they had arrived in a cave with two stunned people and six stunned pokémon staring at them.

There was a silence, then Daniel said, “ Lisa!”

Lisa’s wide eyes asked the question better than words could have.

“ Oh right …” Daniel suddenly looked sheepish. “ We were battling a Golbat before and found that some of the walls are hollow. If you knock them down with a pokémon’s attack or something they collapse. There’s tiny tunnels and ice slides everywhere. It’s awesome!”

He was speaking so loud he was almost yelling.

“ He seems mellow,” Gavin uttered under his breath. Lisa refused the urge to turn around and slap him.

“ That’s … different,” said Lisa to Daniel.

He grinned broadly. Meanwhile, his friends had stood up, and were tapping the walls of the cave excitedly.

“ How much further do you think it is to the top?” Lisa asked him.

He shrugged, still panting with exhilaration. “ It’s so cold up here that it must be close to the top now,” he said, watching his three friends tapping the wall and laughing. “ I think we’re close to first place, actually; we passed a lot of people on our way up here, and I know at least three teams have given up at the rope-climbing challenge.”

Lisa imagined the twins she had seen earlier and sighed. “ So why are you guys sliding down the mountain then?” she asked, suddenly realising.

Daniel leaned closer to her and said, in a hushed voice, “ We found a way out of the tunnel, and you end up in a dead end with all these stone symbols facing you, like these ones. So we’re sliding down to find a different path … I don’t think it’s much of a step backwards, really, do you?”

Lisa bit her tongue and smiled politely; clearly, Daniel didn’t want to win the race as badly as she and Gavin needed to. All of a sudden, though, a possibility dawned on her.

Abruptly, the girl who was Daniel’s partner called out, “ Seel, Aurora Beam!” and the ice-white pokémon guffawed and instantly sent forth a jet of rainbow light at a portion of the wall that his master had indicated. The beam struck the wall and crumbled it instantly, revealing a glittering tunnel of cerulean ice.

Daniel winked at Lisa. “ I’d better go then,” he said, as his friends were beginning to slide down the ice tunnel already. “ Good luck Lisa!” He jerked his head in Gavin’s direction. “ Bye Gavin.”

“ Bye Gavin!” Gavin mimicked again once Daniel had disappeared down the shimmering ice slide. He smirked at Lisa.

“ You’re such a baby,” she said. “ But I don’t care – I just had a brainwave.”

“ We’re not going to go backwards too, are we?” he moaned.

Lisa gritted her teeth. “ Hopefully not,” she smiled. “ Fiskmire, use Ice Beam on this rock, now!”

At once, Fiskmire leapt up and fired off an orb of azure hue; it plunged through the rock directly beside the carved symbols, and the cave wall crumbled to reveal not just a narrow ice tunnel, but a passage high enough to walk through comfortably, although it sloped down very quickly.

Gavin gaped, clearly impressed by what Lisa had just done.

“ Let’s go then,” she urged, grinning triumphantly and stepping over the rocky rubble into the dark passage, holding the Buzzball before her.

Aipom and Vulpix began to follow, along with the others. Gavin hesitated. “ How do you know where to go?”

“ I don’t know for sure,” Lisa told him. “ But, unless I’m very much mistaken, we have to follow this passage down, left, right and up.”

She patted the wall gratefully as they began their descent.

*

“ Look!” Lisa cried, jogging ahead of Gavin, who was beginning to lag behind after so much hiking.

It was seven o’clock; night had fallen, plunging them once more into dark. Their path had finally led them out of the mountain caves and back into the forest. This time, however, the trees were darker and sparser, and the ground was spattered with flakes of snow. Lisa knew they were very close to the summit now, and it would not be long before they reached the finish line. The past hour had seen them face several difficult challenges: an Ariados web and nest which they used Vulpix and Skarmory to get them though had been the first task; shortly after they were faced with a crafty Mr. Mime who had placed Barriers across a clearing – they had been forced to find a way through while the pokémon constantly created new blockades. Eventually, Gavin’s Natu used Foresight to see where Barriers were, and they finally made their way through. Shortly after, they had met with a young race regulator, who instructed them on their next task: they had had to run through an Exeggcutor grove, dodging egg bombs, and collect six Exeggcutes from among the grove. Lisa had escaped with only a bruised shoulder, while Fiskmire had to be returned to his ball after an egg bomb exploded on him. After this, they had been faced with a sheer cliff, laced with a massive golden rope net, which they had to use to climb up to the next ledge. However, the net was prone to breaking and reforming it’s bonds at any moment, which had forced speed and skill upon them; returning all their other pokémon except Natu and Aipom, they managed to clamber upwards after fifteen minutes.

Now, just ahead, Lisa could see a figure standing by a signpost at which three paths, including their own, joined together into one merged path, lit by dozens of upright burning torches; it was another regulator.

“ Hello,” Lisa panted, reaching the person beside the sign.

The woman smiled at them. “ Congratulations. You are the first team to pass by this point.”

Lisa turned to Gavin. He grinned. “ That’s great!”

The woman continued. “ If you follow this path,” she said, pointing along the merged track. “ You will eventually reach the summit. However, there are four ways to the summit, so you may be beaten by another team. Good luck.”

“ Thank you,” Lisa said, rubbing Aipom’s ear, “ Come on Gavin, we’re nearly there. We might win!” Suddenly Lisa realised, for the first time since beginning the race nearly eight hours ago, that there was a possibility they could walk away from the contest with a way home and other prizes.

She began to run, her backpack bouncing hard on her back, but she didn’t care. Gavin, too, was running, his eyes focused on the road ahead. Alongside them, the torches burned with vermilion flames. The end was very near now, surely it was just around the next bend …

“ Ouch!”

The female cry came from somewhere close, just ahead through the trees. Lisa looked to Gavin, but he continued jogging. Whatever had happened to the girl, they were about to reach her if they kept running.

“ Wait – that’s not fair – what the -” came a different voice, wafting through the trees before it was cut off. It was Daniel.

Lisa glanced at Gavin. “ What’s going on? You don’t think they’ve got into trouble, do you?”

He shrugged, but Lisa noticed his hand was remaining close to his belt. She surreptitiously took hold of the Buzzball and kept it in her hand – something didn’t feel right.

“ Here it is!” Gavin cried joyously.

They had turned the corner and stood facing a massive dirt plateau, ringed by a rock wall topped in snow. Aside from the flickering torches that cast an orange light on the flat summit, and a metal pole stuck into the ground in the centre of the area that said ‘Finish’ on it, the plateau was completely devoid of any evidence of life.

Lisa tightened her grip on the Buzzball. Something was definitely not right.

“ Do you really think we were first?” she said slowly, her mind drawing slowly to a conclusion. “ I mean … we took eight hours, and we were against some professional hikers … maybe something happened to them …” She gulped, unnerved by the fact that they were so totally alone.

“ Wasn’t Paddy supposed to meet us here?” Gavin interjected. “ And where’s the prizes and stuff?” Gavin said, whirling around slowly but finding nothing of note. The plateau was quite bare. The only way in or out of the clearing was by one of the four paths they could see leading to it, but these paths were all empty.

“ Daniel?” Lisa called apprehensively, her voice echoing eerily into the empty, starry night. There was no reply. “ Paddy?” Nothing.

BANG! The sound of a rifle shot pierced the silence, somewhere distant. Lisa and Gavin both jumped, slowly moving closer together until they were nearly touching. Gavin’s eyes were wide with uncertainty after the gunshot.

“ Should we –” began Gavin, but he silenced himself.

Lisa knew why he had stopped; staring down the path they had just come down, she saw the furthest torches suddenly stop burning. There was no smoke, the flames simply disappeared, apparently extinguishing themselves. A second later, the next closest torches followed suit. And the next.

Lisa heard each deafening beat of her heart. She felt the hairs on Gavin’s arm beside her prickle with fear.

The fourth set of torches died out. The leaves of the nearest trees began to rustle in the cold wind. The fifth pair of lights disappeared.

Lisa touched Gavin’s wrist and gripped it in fear, her other hand clutched protectively around the red Buzzball. They had unconsciously been taking backward steps, away from the disappearing light. Without warning, Lisa felt something hard behind her and jumped – they had backed themselves against the cold grey rock wall.

Every breath was shaky now; every exhalation procuced a puff of frigid mist. The sixth torches flickered and gave way. The leaves began to rustle too heavily to be purely a result of the wind.

The final two torches died, plunging them into sudden total darkness.

And then, materialising from thin air, appeared the last thing Lisa had expected; a massive creature that she had seen twice before in her life; a huge black behemoth, with massive jaws and legs like tree trunks, standing at ten feet high.

It was Lunanine. And he was angry.

[mr_pikachu]

Yes! I get the first reply! Woohoo! ^_^

So that's how the race ends, huh? I certainly hope this doesn't mean that the results are null and void, or our heroes will be in a real bind. Of course, it would appear that they have bigger problems now. Didn't Gavin say, about three years ago (), that every member of his family has been killed by Lunanine? Don't tell me his "final test" comes now? Well, whatever the case, this should be a big next chapter.

I loved your use of setting in this chapter. Everything was very, very well described. Even the darkness was done well, especially with the icy sense you gave everything. In fact, those parts may have been your best description of all. The whole challenge was good in and of itself, and Daniel was a unique, though somewhat undeveloped character. I hope you work with him more in the future, because he could provide an interesting contrast to Gavin's newfound cynicism.

I think a little more editing would have helped, though. I saw several spelling errors that I don't believe could have possibly been due to Australian English being different than how we write things in America. The differences were just too profound. I also saw a few slip-ups where you added letters needlessly, changing the form of the words on some occasions (such as "general" becoming "generally"). I also thought that some things in the race felt overlooked, such as the challenges that were only briefly mentioned, but that wasn't too big of a deal.

All in all, this was good. As always, I enjoyed reading this. The race was exciting enough to captivate my interest, and you pulled yet another cliffhanger. Despite the obvious annoyance factor inherent in those, you've got my attention. Anyway, I'll see you next chapter!

[PancaKe]

why does it take you so long? Theyre soo good, but i know it'll be like, july before we find out what happens next.

Personaly i reckon somethin is up with that daniel. He seems too.. .too friendly to be true, you know what i mean? But yeah, great chapter as usual. Was GAvin always that edgy or is it just me?

[Charles Legend]

It's not a feat I would even consider doing myself.

Yeah Gavin, even if your Computer is not a pice of Crapy hunk of junk, with a modem the Speed of a Slowpoke. :p Like mine is.

I am slowley re-reading this and then once read threw this, I plan on re reading EBTV at some piont in time. so yeah I well still be reading this that is when you post up more chaptes but for now I have a mind full to deal with anyways. :p

And sorry I havent replied in ages thought, I um fogot that I had started to read it untill just the other day.

Btw: I take it the plot gets really werird in later chapters, err what I mean is later then Chapter 28...

~Ryu Slayer