"I refuse to back down!" Dawn cried as she fought against Ash's hold. "Let me at him! Just one hit!"
"No Dawn! Leave them alone!" Marina sighed, placing her head in her hands. "It's okay!"
"LEAF DON'T BE A TRAITOR! HE STOLE MY FAVORITE STUFFED PIPLUP! TRAITOR! HOW DARE YOU KISS HIM WHEN HE'S HOLDING MY STUFFED ANIMAL!" Dawn yelled, pummeling Ash's arms with her fists.
"LET ME GO!"
"NO! YOU'LL KILL HIM!"
"DAMN RIGHT I WILL!"
"SO I CAN'T LET YOU KILL MY COUSIN!"
"OF COURSE YOU CAN! HE'S A JERK! A BIG MEANIE! AND A HUGE JERK!"
"CALLING NAMES WON'T HELP! PLUS, YOU SAID JERK TWICE!"
"HE'S KISSING MY FRIEND WITH MY STUFFED PIPLUP BEHIND HIS BACK, ASH! HOW DARE YOU SAY I CAN'T KILL HIM!"
"IT'S A RULE! YOU CANNOT LET FAMILY MEMBERS DIE!"
"JUST ONE PUNCH!"
"NO!"
"PLEASE!"
"NO!"
Gary broke the kiss for a moment, smirking at Dawn. "It's an ugly doll anyways. Thanks Ash, appreciate it man."
Ash glared at his cousin, "I'm tempted to let her go."
"Nah, you won't," Gary laughed.
"I'm more and more tempted."
"LET ME AT HIM!" Dawn roared.
"DAWN CALM DOWN!" May yelled, trying to calm her friend down.
"NO! MAKE ASH LET ME GO SO I CAN ATTACK GARY!"
Lucas sweat-dropped. "Is she usually like this? I haven't exactly seen her in a year."
Paul gave him second glance. "Yes. Yes she is usually like this. But not this mad...just crazy. Normal crazy."
"Normal crazy? That's not a thing."
Leaf finally broke the liplock, sneakily plucking the Piplup out of Gary's hand, which was behind his back, and tossed it towards Ash and Dawn.
Dawn eagerly caught it, and thanked Leaf with a grin. "Looks like you aren't a traitor yet Leafy! But Marina is being a meanie! So are you May!"
Leaf gave a wry smile. "Yeah. Sure Dawn, whatever you say."
"You know, I'd be mad at you if you weren't my girlfriend," Gary told her, stepping up next to her and slinging an arm around her. "It was quite amusing to see cheerful, subdued Dawn all riled up."
"Good thing I'm you're girlfriend, huh?" Leaf smiled, snuggling a little into his side. "That was pretty mean. What are you, sadistic?"
"Maybe I am, if I was, so?" Gary shrugged, "It was extremely funny."
"Jerk," Dawn huffed quietly, turning to go up the stairs.
"I heard that!" Gary called, lazily pecking Leaf's cheek.
Leaf flushed and batted him away. "Too early for PDA."
"I don't care!" Dawn called back petulantly. "You're a jerk! And I want you to know!"
"Wow. I don't know how you guys even are the best agents around!? You guys are so childish!" Barry commented, smirking. "I think I might be better myself!"
"Barry?" Lucas sweat-dropped, "Hate to break it to you. But, you suck."
"Shut up! Or I'll fine you!" Barry threatened, stomping his foot.
"Now you're acting pretty childish," Paul pointed out.
"Yeah, you really are," Ash agreed.
"You are as well," Paul said.
"No I'm not!"
"I'm not going to argue with you," Paul shrugged, starting upstairs after Dawn. Lucas thought for a moment before going upstairs as well.
"He's right Ash!" May sang, linking her arm through Marina's. "I'm going to the Gym!"
Marina reluctantly got up, but dutifully helped May towards the stairs.
"I need to build up my strength!"
"Poor child, I seriously doubt that she will ever be at her full strength again," Jimmy commented sadly, making a long face at Marina and May's retreating back, because of May's predicament, or because Marina was walking away from him, no one would know.
Barry sighed along with him. "It is pretty sad."
"Yeah," Jimmy agreed.
"But I guess I'll have to fine you for being rude," Barry finished, turning around and following the rest of the boys upstairs.
"Yea-" Jimmy started. He stopped, took off his cap and scratched his head in confusion. "Wait a minute."
"Come on May," Marina urged, her face looming above May's. May struggled to push the large weights apart, grunting in effort. Her vision swam as sweat ran down her face.
"Dr. Hamilton said its good to start nice and slow," Marina said.
"Slow?!" May panted, straining.
"Yes," Marina answered, "Slow."
"This ain't slow! I'm like...dying!" May gasped dramatically, but then she actually started heaving. Marina immediately let go of the weights, dropping onto the floor.
When May's breathing finally started slowing down, Marina brought her a bottle of water, almost hesitantly.
"What if I never get any better? I joke around now, but everything hurts, and I'm just so weak now. I can't do half the things I could before. I feel vulnerable." May whispered into the water bottle, staring glumly at her trembling, frail body. "What if I just become, a useless...burden? The weak link."
"Oh May," Marina laughed lightly, brushing back May's hair almost motherly. "You could never be a burden. You're friends with all of us. You bind us together, however much we hate that sometimes. Your...our backbone. We all need you somehow, as a leader, friend, sister...May, you'd never be a burden. And you're not our weak link. You're one of our strongest. Without you, we fall apart. That mini-mission that we did without you was absolutely horrible."
"But what if I'll never be able to do missions that way again? Go out...and help people? What if I'm weak and crippled for life? I know you guys are worse without like...my leadership, not to sound shallow, but you guys are used to taking orders from me and Paul, so it's weird when it's Calem. But now, I'm so bad, that...what if I just make the team worse? I don't want to stop being an agent, even though sometimes...I hate the killing, and carnage, and just...ruin we leave behind," May admitted guiltily, glaring at herself.
Marina sat with May on the exercise chair. "May, look in the mirror, tell me what you see. Everything you see about yourself."
"Huh?" May said, "Well...I see a weak, tired, girl. Sweaty, brown hair. Blue eyes. Small nose. Uh...workout clothes. Quivering muscles. A useless...freak."
"You're not a freak May, if anything, you're the normal one around here," Marina shook her head. "And I guess I was right. You're being self-criticizing, and pretending to be someone you're not. Why are you suddenly so...self-berating?"
"Berating...seriously Mar, no one uses that anymore," May diverted. "Except for old-fashioned Marina, huh?"
"Stop trying to change the subject May," Marina sighed, staring at May in the mirror. May's chin dropped down, onto her chest.
"I just...I don't know," May mumbled, kicking at the soft carpeting below their feet. "I hate feeling so useless. There's not much I can do. If I can't even do the things I'm supposed to be able to do, how am I supposed to match up...to like Paul? I'm supposed to..lead. I can barely stand on my own. I can't expect people to follow, when I can't even match up to them. Well, I can, but I can't at the same time...I just..."
"Things won't always be like this," Marina said softly. "I'll help you, we can build up your strength May. We follow you because we trust you, and we believe in you. We're not stupid people. We don't just follow anyone, you know that, right?"
"Yea, but now I'm even more afraid of letting you guys down. See? It's an inescapable cycle. You can't comfort me, because I know I'm just being stupid, yet...my doubts and fears...seem legit for a second. Because Dr. Hamilton says there's a possibility that my muscles will never recover the same way. It's so hard to escape the cycle, and I just don't know what to do! See my problem?" May asked.
"That was awfully confusing, but yes, I think I get it. You're struggling with irrational fears, that have some truth, and seems even more rational when you get really into it?" Marina said.
"Yeah...sort of. I just, I'm not sure who I am anymore," May said, defeat clear in her voice.
"Are you just giving up?" Marina asked, running a hand through one of her pigtails. "You can't do that May. You won't. Because you're stronger than that. I know you are."
"Don't give up May, as far-fetched as it sounds, even people like me need you," Jimmy chipped in, sticking his head through the door.
"Go away Jimmy! We don't want you here!" Marina called, sighing with exasperation.
"That's right, because you'd rather hang out with...Vincent." Jimmy shuddered, coming in to sit next to the two girls, breaking the somber mood with some Jimmyness. "I can't believe you would forsake our childhood friendship, for him.
Marina raised an eyebrow, "Dude, if I recall correctly, we grew up together, all three of us. And when we hit the teenage years, it was you wanted me to hang out with Vincent. You did not want me around, or Vincent for the matter. So don't come here acting all smug and righteous!"
"Well...that was when I was younger?" Jimmy offered, grinning sheepishly. "Hey, back to the topic. May we need to cheer you up! Why are you sad today Ms. Maple? What can Jimmy do for you?"
May giggled lightly, amused by Jimmy's antics and Marina's attitude.
"James Kenta, go back to your room," Marina ordered, placing her hands on her hips. "We don't need you around right now.
Jimmy pouted and shot her a pleading look. "But Maaar!"
"James, go away. I'm sure your whining works on everyone else, but Little Miss's Perish Song is better to the ear than your whining," Marina huffed.
"That's because Little Miss has the most beautiful, but scary Perish Song in the world," Jimmy sulked.
"Compliments will not help. Go upstairs James."
"You're not my mommy," Jimmy pouted, reaching over to tug one of Marina's pigtails.
"You're name is James? Good blackmail info," May thought aloud.
Jimmy shot her a dirty look. "Seriously, May? Are you kidding me. That's all you got from this conversation?"
"Hey, as a leader, it's always good to have dirt on all of your...subjects," May shrugged.
"I thought we were just talking about how you think you're not fit for a leader?" Jimmy challenged. "And also, we are not your subjects. What are you? The Queen of Hearts?"
Marina looked scandalized as she burned holes in Jimmy's back. "Of course she's not, Jimmy."
"Well," May's eyes burned with renewed fire, "I guess I'll have to show you how fit to be a leader I am, hmm?"
"That's the May we all know and love!" Jimmy crowed in triumph, getting up and skipping out of the room. "Now Mar, do your job and help May!"
Marina glared at the door as May shrugged and started pushing the weights apart again.
"Did I just hear Jimmy whistling?" Drew asked, popping through the door. "He has been pretty glum recently. Haven't heard that in a while."
Marina groaned. "What is this? A visiting parade?"
Drew shot her a charming smile as he took a bite out of his Oran berry. "Nah, it's just...Paul kicked me out because I wouldn't share Player One. So, I heard Jimmy whistling and came to investigate. And also, Misty was screaming at Leaf about you two being downstairs, so I'd thought I'd come bother Marina and December."
"IT'S MAY!" May shouted, glaring.
"Go away, May's trying to get better and you're distracting with all your crunching and name calling," Marina dismissed.
Drew gave her back an outraged look. Marina's back did not care.
"Go..." May grunted, "AWAY!"
And with an enormous push, she pushed the 30 pound weights apart.
Blue clashed against green as May internally pushed him out the door and down the hallway, while Drew pushed back, refusing and insisting on staying. She challenged him. She would keep the weights apart until either she hurt herself, or Drew left.
After a few moments of battling, Drew gave in, not wanting May to hurt herself.
"Fine," Drew mumbled, popping the last bit of Oran berry into his mouth as he left the way he came.
"I hate Gary. I hate Ash. I hate Paul. I hate all of them...Augh!" Dawn grumbled to Lucas. "I hate all of the Eevee Brothers! Gary stole my Piplup doll!"
Piplup huffed in agreement on Dawn's lap.
"Luke, Kenny, are you listening? Stop rolling your eyes! This is serious stuff! Ash is a traitor! He held me back, and Paul is a grumpy meanie. Jimmy...well, I don't have anything against him, and Calem's okay, but they're so annoying!" Dawn complained, throwing her hands up in the air as she put her head on Lucas's shoulder.
"Sure Blue, sure," Lucas agreed, staring at the Eevee Brothers, who were spying on them, pointedly. They all looked pretty angry at Dawn's declaration.
"I mean, they could be nicer, but they're teenage boys, so it actually makes sense, and I can't really blame them. But they're so mean! And rude! And they defend each other! Not the righteous. And that's wrong! I'm sure Arceus would agree. I mean, if May started like...I don't know, doing drugs, I'd stop her and tell her to stop! It's dumb," Dawn pouted, hugging Piplup.
"Hey, that's offensive. We're teenage boys," Lucas sighed, patting her head.
"Plus, then aren't you being a bad friend? Or, if you meant you would try and help her, and not abandon her, then that makes more sense. And if that's what you meant, I'm sure Ash berated Gary," Kenny explained.
"If he's smart enough," Lucas muttered beneath his breath. "He just didn't want you to kill his cousin, you know. Like you wouldn't want May to die, right? Or, well me. Right?"
"What does he mean?" Ash asked quietly from underneath Gary.
"We don't know Ash, shut up!" Paul hissed. Ash muttered through closed lips as he glared at Paul's back.
"Yeah, okay. Fine. Let's watch TV now," Dawn exclaimed, bouncing up to get the remote. Let's watch Home Alone! Like the good old days!"
"Sure Blue, whatever you want," Lucas laughed, rolling his eyes at Dawn's childish behavior.
The toilet flushed and Barry came out, surprised to see Dawn. "Hey Blue, what're you doing here?"
"Having a movie night!" Dawn answered brightly. Barry shrugged and sat down, leaning back and putting his legs across Kenny's. Kenny gave him a withering look.
"Hey! I haven't talked to Zoey in foooorever, how is your girlfriend?"Dawn asked cheerfully, flopping onto her front, kicking away Lucas's impeding foot.
"She misses all of you terribly," Kenny answered, smiling almost dreamily about his girlfriend.
"Great!"
"This room is really cluttered Luke."
"I don't care."
"You need better interior design."
"Hey! This is my room too Blue! I designed it! I'll fine you!"
"Everything is orange."
"Yeah...because Barry and I share this room."
"That's not good."
"Opinion Blue!"
"Why are the villains so dumb?"
"Dawn, I need to enjoy the movie. This is why I stopped going out with you and Zoey. Just Zoey."
"Hmph."
And Dawn was jumping around subjects again.
"Can we go now?" Ash whined.
"Shhh!" Gary, Paul, Drew and Jimmy all shushed.
"Dawn's right. Meanies, the lot of you," Ash sighed petulantly.
"Ash...she was talking about you too," Calem sighed, turning to the shorter Brother.
"Hmm. Well. I don't understand why they're so obsessed all of a sudden. Even Paul for Mew's sake. It's so dumb," Ash mumbled, turning away. "I'm going back to my room."
"Hey Ash, I'm doing this to get back at May, but don't tell her, or Marina, okay?" Jimmy stage-whispered at the last second. Ash inclined his head curiously.
"Sure, but I'm still leaving," Ash told him. "Why'd you tell me that if you don't want me to tell them?"
"Uh..." Jimmy said thoughtfully, "I don't know."
"I'll come with," Calem agreed, catching up with him. "You know that they just want to be able to blackmail Dawn later. Saying that she likes Lucas, or Barry. But probably not Kenny, because it seems like he already has a girlfriend that Dawn knows."
"Blackmail? When has Paul ever cared about blackmail? Gary and Drew I get, and even Jimmy, because he likes being clever and ahead of everyone, and he wants to get back at May, but Paul? Not Paul for sure," Ash mused.
"That's a good point," Calem admitted, opening and closing his sunglasses. "But maybe Paul cares about the person they want to blackmail."
"Dawn?" Ash asked. "Paul doesn't care about Dawn. He's meaner and crueler to her even though she's the nicest to him. She's even nicer than May to him!"
Calem shrugged and put his sunglasses back where they belonged, right above the beak of his hat. "Not everyone knows how to express affection."
"Like how your rude to 'Rena sometimes?" Ash asked obliviously.
"Huh?" Calem blushed, turning away with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "We're just friends."
He crossed his fingers that Ash didn't catch how unnaturally fast he responded.
"Yeah...really good friends, right? So you have affection for her. Like I do for Mist, and Mari, and even Dawn and May sometimes. Though that's probably because I grew up in the same region as Mist. And she was the sister of the Cerulean Gym leaders...so I knew her pretty well. And Mari is her cousin, so I see her a lot," Ash thought aloud.
"Yeah, sure, "Calem agreed quickly, releasing the breath he had been holding. Of course Ash wouldn't catch it. Calem was relieved that he was walking with the most oblivious Eevee Brother. Any of the other boys would have caught it. Even Paul.
"Alright, I'll see you at dinner, I'm going to go play Mario Cart," Ash waved goodbye cheerfully. "See ya later Calem!"
Calem nodded farewell as he turned and left Ash to his own devices, walking down the hallway towards his own room.
"Oh!"
Serena ran straight into a muscled, lean, body, knocking her sunglasses and hat right off, her hair falling out of the loose bun it had been in.
"Sorry."
Calem's head was ducked and the shadows hid his gray eyes, but his cheeks were flushed and he was gnawing on his bottom lip, just like he did when he was thinking. Serena thought he looked absolutely adorable, but she wasn't going to say anything to ruin their childhood friendship.
"It's okay," Serena said brightly, skirting around him.
Calem thought it was ironic that as he was thinking about the blond beauty, she appeared right outside her door. Her blue eyes were wide and shocked for a moment before giving away to warmth and as Ash had said, affection. Could Ash actually be right? Was it the same for Jimmy and Marina?
Calem had to have a talk with the dark blue-haired Brother sometime.
"Hey! What're you guys doing?" Serena asked curiously as she walked past Lucas and Barry's room, with four boys piled outside of it.
"Spying," Jimmy grinned boyishly, tugging at his hair. "We plan to blackmail Dawn later. Because Barry, Kenny, and Lucas are her childhood friends. They're bound to talk about embarrassing stories. We want to be here to listen to all of it."
"That's mean," Serena stated, with a tilt to her head, ever the voice for kindness.
"Yeah, but Dawn was saying some shitty stuff about us," Gary countered, ruffling his already messed up hair.
"No cussing," Serena said disapprovingly. "Leaf would agree."
"Well then Leaf can tell me herself," Gary said with a smirk, turning back to the room.
"Just...be nice, okay? Elle est finally getting to reunite with her friends. Let her have her fun first. They're her best friends, when she was bullied as a kid, ills stood up for her. If only Leafy had friends like that as a kid," Serena sighed.
(She is...They)
Paul's fists clenched tightly at that, and he stared at them as if they were alien. Why was he getting worked up? It's not like he cared about Dawn's childhood friends. Or that she got bullied. She was just another person in this world, struggling. So what? Everyone had there own struggles. It was no big deal. So why did he feel so angry?
"Wonderful," Paul said, his voice slightly breathy and heavily controlled. "Can you leave now so I can get more blackmail on Lucas and Barry?"
"Fine," Serena agreed reluctantly, backing away. And as she walked, she laughed behind closed lips. "I wonder why Paul isn't targeting Kenny? Could it be? Kenny has a girlfriend. But Lucas and Barry do not. He's soo in for a surprise."
"Well that was awkward. She could have blown our cover, " Drew whispered, peeking through the doorway again.
"Yeah," Gary agreed, leaning against the door with his ear pressed up against it.
Suddenly, the doorknob turned.
Gary and Drew quickly backed away, but not quick enough. The door was opened and the boys were shoved onto their butts. Jimmy and Paul backed away, waiting for the wrath of whoever was inside.
"Hmm? What was that?" Dawn's feminine voice drifted out of the room.
"I dunno, here, I'm coming Blue, I'll check it out with you. Who knows if Team Solaceon got in here. It's not as secure as The Base," a boy's voice followed quickly. Footsteps echoed and the shadows shifted as Gary and Drew tried to scramble for the darker side of the hallway, where Paul and Jimmy was concealed.
As Dawn and Lucas emerged, the boys kept absolutely silent, their training kicking in. But Dawn was a Shadow. She was trained in concealment and hiding. Both in finding, and practicing it herself. So in no time, they were found, because it was much easier finding hidden people, than being the hidden people.
"What are you four doing here? Hmm?" Dawn asked, dragging them one by one into the light, giving them each a kick.
"Were you guys spying on us?" Lucas laughed, shaking his head.
"No."
"Of course not."
"Why would we?"
"Yes."
The all answered at the same time, but all Dawn picked out was Paul's answer. "Yes?"
"Yeah, we were. You two are cute together, when are you gonna admit how over the moon you are for him?" Paul asked Dawn, his dark eyes focused and if Dawn read him right, he looked agitated and almost...angry.
Lucas and Dawn shared amused looks before bursting into laughter.
"Oh...my Arceus! Hahaha...you think...us!? No way...haha," Lucas giggled, leaning on Dawn for support. But she looked ready to collapse in laughter as well. Paul was not amused.
"It's true."
Drew and Gary shared looks. Something was fishy.
When the pair finally stopped laughing, they explained.
"Lucas is my cousin!" Dawn said loudly, making Barry and Kenny come investigate.
"Yeah, she's like my little sister! There's no way we would have romantic feelings for each other, see?" Lucas smiled, ruffling Dawn's hair and stealing her hat. Dawn glared for a moment before huffing and turning away.
"Plus, Luke here is gay. He's dating Barry," Dawn finished smugly. "So it's even more impossible. No way."
"Way to hold a secret Blue, I should fine you for your big mouth," Barry called, sauntering towards them and tossing an arm around Lucas. "But Blue is right. I am, sadly, dating this strange little duck."
"It was one time Barry! One time!" Lucas cried, shoving at his boyfriend. "Stupid ducks."
Paul looked starstruck. "What?"
"I said, Lucas is my cousin, and he's dating Barry! Now go away and stop making assumptions and interfering with my love life! Back to movie night!" Dawn said smugly, memorizing Paul's shocked face as he pulled Lucas and Barry back towards the room, Kenny holding the open door for them.
"So. When did you fall for our bubbly little bluenette?" Gary turned on Paul.
"Never," Paul snapped.
"I think our little Paulie is in denial," Drew drawled. "Shall we call up the master?"
Jimmy stared at all of them with confusion. "Guys...what's going on?"
"We're going to get Paul to admit that he's got a big crush on Dawn Berlitz, and then we're going help him win her over. We are going to the master of getting Paul to admitting things. That's right. Reggie. Let's go," Gary shoved Paul towards the stairs.
"I'm not calling Reggie," Paul said bluntly.
"And we're not asking," Drew retorted.
"Okay fine! I do like her! She's kind to me, even though I don't deserve it. And she's so positive that she brightens up everyone's day, no matter how bad it is. That's why she and May are best friends. Two little optimistic bundles of joy. But May has a competitive side that comes out when it comes to beating me, so she treats me like everyone else. And I don't like her. Maybe like a sister. But Dawn is...different. I feel protective, and angry and all these weird things that I shouldn't," Paul said really fast, not blinking or stopping to take a breathe.
"There you go, Paul," Reggie grinned, pulling his purple hair up into a ponytail. "Now that you admit it, you just have to change how you act. And I'm pretty sure Drew and Gary can help you with that. And possibly Jimmy."
The two boys smirked, and ended the call. "So?"
Jimmy looked lost and confused, and slightly disgusted. Paul and Dawn? No way.
"Go fuck yourselves. I don't need your help, or will I ever. So go away," Paul ordered, kicking them out of his room.
"When you need help nursing a swollen cheek, we're right next door!" Drew called as the door slammed shut.
"Wait for it...1...2...3..." Drew muttered, tapping his foot with a smug smile. The door slowly opened again.
"Alright, fine, you guys can stay," Paul reluctantly agreed, widening the door. "But Jimmy's not coming in. He's too oblivious in that subject. Nobody else is witnessing my horribly painful humiliation. Nope. Go away now."
They slammed the door in Jimmy's face. He stood there, shocked, listening for a second.
"That's more like it," Gary smirked.
"Alright Paul. Dawn's a nice girl, so no more being tough and mean," Drew started, but immediately got cut off.
"Tough and mean?" Paul asked, not even mad.
"Yeah, tough and mean," Gary agreed with Drew. "You're mean to her, and you act all nonchalant and tough when she's around."
"Wait. That's how Paul acts around everyone," Drew countered his own thought, his eyebrows knitting.
"Yeah, but it's more severe with Dawn. Everything's more emphasized," Gary argued.
"True..." Drew admitted.
Paul just stared at the pair. "I'll be over there sitting on the bed when you two are done fighting it out, okay?"
Neither of them heard him. They just kept arguing.
"Nah...Paul's just Paul. You can't force him to change around people. Especially his crush."
"True..."
Jimmy sighed and walked away. They were never going to get done.
"Well, that was awfully horrible," Ash said dramatically, interrupting Misty's speech to Leaf.
"What was Ash?" Leaf asked, rolling over on the bed, her long brown hair making wavy brown and blue patterns on Misty's bed.
"Well, I think Calem might like Serena, but he says they're just friends," Ash started. Misty and Leaf shared excited, half dubious looks.
"And second, the boys are all spying on Dawn and her Sinnoh friends, but I don't think they know that Lucas is Dawn's cousin, and Barry and Lucas are dating. It's going to be pretty embarrassing. Should we go stop them from embarrassing themselves?" Ash asked.
Leaf and Misty shared another look. "Nah, they can handle themselves."
"And also, well, Calem was being hot and cold and pretty strange," Ash finished, hopping onto the bed next to Leaf, laying down with his eyes closed. "Ahh...Is this silk? Wow Mist, expensive stuff."
"You can thank Mari. She brought it all here from Johto. Apparently its pretty common there," Misty laughed, staring at her strange friends as Ash and Leaf snuggled into her bed. She couldn't help but think that Gary would be pretty annoyed with his cousin if he saw this, and with that, snapped a picture with her PokeDex.
"It is, I visited one of it's towns before on a solo mission," Leaf agreed. "It was sooo comfortable."
"Lucky," Ash sighed, nestling into the sheets with a relaxed expression.
"It's silky smooth," Leaf said, running a hand over the waves. "Pun intended."
"Yeah, such a genius observation Leaf," Misty replied dryly.
"Fine then, I'll go to Mari's room. She's still exercising with May I think. I'll take a nap in her room. I bet she has these sheets too. Have fun explaining Corsola's Mirror Coat to...Ash. Bye!" Leaf grinned, getting up and leaving the room, letting the door stay ajar.
"What does that mean?" Ash asked, smiling stupidly, but adorably. "Is she saying I'm dumb?"
Misty was too busy distracted by his dimples. "Mist?"
"Huh?"
"I said, was Leaf saying I'm dumb?"
"Yeah."
"Well, that was mean of her."
"Yeah."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah."
"Is Water Pokemon inferior to all other Pokemon?"
"Yeah."
"Wait. Huh? Ash!? Why would you do that?"
"To see if you were paying attention."
"Hmph. Well that was mean. Anywa- Hey. You know the word inferior!?"
"YES! I'm on Team Eevee! Why does everyone assume that I'm dumb?!
"...I don't have an answer Ash, no answer for you."
"Well then, you guys should stop assuming then."
"Yeah," Misty admitted. "We probably should. But here."
Misty reached over and pecked his cheek. "That's my apology."
Ash's cheeks were dusted with red as he backed away from Misty. "Are you okay Misty? Are you going to break out a gun and shoot me next?"
"Nah," Misty laughed, reverting back to her own self, "I'd beat you to pulp with my baseball bat first."
Three weeks later...
"So, I guess you did your job well," Cynthia said, facing all of them, decked out in full gear. "They never discovered the virus. Lucian has been in the control room from day to night surviving off donuts and coffee. You owe it to him to do this mission correctly. Is that understood? We have back-up if needed. Solidad and Harley are here, Kenny, Lucas, and Barry will be going there as well. We will use the same format as before, but Leaf, you're going in. Calem, since it is your virus, you'll be manning tech base."
Calem nodded, crossing his padded arms, a sheathed dagger pressing into his wrist.
"You guys will have to fill May in, though I'm sure she did her research," Cynthia smiled at the brunette girl who gave her an affirming grin.
"This time, we go in to destroy and collect information. They have labs. That's what we have found. But they're smart. They have no cameras in the lab. We have no idea what they're doing, except that there are abnormal things going on. Something is going on in there, and it's not right. Your job is to go in to find out what that is. And once you find out. You go. You destroy EVERYTHING. The bombs we placed earlier, will destroy half of the building, but the second half, you will have to destroy. Is that understood?"
Paul and May nodded, the rest of the group silent, absorbing everything Cynthia was saying.
"This is the turning point in this war against Team Solaceon. Zelo should be there. He's overseeing whatever is going on in that lab. Kill him if necessary. If we lose this battle, well, there will be a lot of lost lives, not including your own. So for the sake of the world, and your lives, I suggest we succeed no?"
"Don't scare them," Aaron argued, a foot coming out.
"This is serious. Life or death. Way more important than any of the other dangerous missions. It's just as dangerous, but the stakes are higher. They deserve the truth Aaron."
"But, they're just kids!" Aaron said, exasperation clear in his voice.
"I guess we have to agree to disagree," Cynthia smirked, "But since I'm head, and your manager, what I say goes. Alright, any questions?"
Team Eevee all shook their heads. They were set to go. But were they really ready for facing whatever was in those labs? And Zebulon, himself?