[X] My Assistant

[Master Houndoom]

Raven looked back at her two "charges". They had protected her, for no reason other than that she was "fluffy! And Pretty! And NICE!". While she disagreed with the last one, to see such young pokémon do something so brave for someone they hardly knew was...

Weird.

<Pretty Pretty!> the cleffa toddled up to her. <We're scared!>

<You're scared?> Raven shook her head, incredulous.

<The big bug thing spit at you! It was mean!> the igglybuff pouted, trembling next to her.

Raven looked at the two, her eyes narrowing, then sighed, deeply. <Don't worry. Auntie Raven won't let anything harm you.>

She thought she caught the sound of a guffaw, but when she looked back, Topaz was intent in her battling. She glared in her direction, just for good measure. Somehow, Topaz always knew when Raven was doing something silly, and it was getting old.

Of course, it didn't help that the two baby pokemon were now dancing around her, singing loudly, <Auntie Raven! Auntie Raven!>

<Stop it.>

-----

Jay pointed dramatically, and Lady Jaye matched the gesture with her wing. Had she always done that? With a shrug (that Lady Jaye also matched, causing Jay to blink), he gave his command. "Brave Bird on that over grown caterpillar!" As LJ rose on her now mighty wings to comply, flying up almost to the vaulted ceiling to get momentum, Jay barked to Videl, "Fire Fang!" Though he gave no command as to which one of the pokemon to attack, he pointed to the bear. Unfortunately, Videl was well in front of him, and also was not happy with the scolipede for attacking the babies anymore than Raven had been. As Lady Jaye rammed into the gigantic bug, Videl changed and leapt up to his back, sinking flaming teeth into a point above his upper antennae. With a screech that rattled the windows, the centipede's upper body waved in the air and fell, the lower body, which had been his support, crumpling as well.

"Dammit," Stephanie cried. "Diana, help me out!"

"Screw you!" Diana's face was still livid.

"Come on," Stephanie wailed, watching her beartic face off against the two pokemon. "I know you have other pokemon on you!"

"You turned on my pokemon because it was convenient." Diana's voice had gone cold, and she reached to her belt. "Any pokemon I call out will be turned on you!"

Stephanie shot Diana a look that nearly matched the taller woman's in ferocity, then sneered. "This is war, Di. Grow up or get out!" Turning to her beartic, she thundered, her voice louder, more desperate than it had been, "Coca! Blizzard!"

"That will hit everyone!" Diana's anger had broken in shock, but Stephanie's face had turned malicious.

"Yes, but it will take out our opponents..!"

The beartic rose to its legs and let loose a mighty, shaking roar, vapor shooting from his mouth as if powered by the noise. The vapor coalesced near the ceiling into clouds, which grew heavier and heavier, finally letting loose snow, sleet, and ice throughout the dining area.

Raven saw the ice above, and stared in shock as the two babies started crying. Quickly, she shuffled them to a nearby table.

<It's cold!>

<I'm scared!>

The two crying, reaching for her caused something to break in her, something that lead to cold rage. She nuzzled each, then looked at them. <Stay here. I'm going to stop this once and for all!>

<But!>

<No buts! I said I wouldn't let anything hurt you, and I meant it!> She added a slight glare to her features, and the two cowed slightly. <Stay here.>

<OK, Auntie Raven...>

Raven dashed from behind the table, just as Jay sent Videl charging at the beartic. Lady Jaye fluttered one last time, but was driven to the ground, and then to unconsciousness, by the blizzard. Raven could feel her own muscles slowing, but used Quick Attack to increase her speed.

Just as Videl slammed into the beartic's chest, letting loose a mouthful of flames into the bear's face, Raven hit him from behind, her head glowing like before, slamming into him with a vicious snarl. <Nobody hurts or scares my kids!>

The bear arched backwards as the eevee hit, and though Raven fell to the ground, reeling from the impact, the combined attacks finally did the trick, sending the bear backwards, unconscious. Jay, grim faced, recalled Lady Jaye and Raven.

With the bear down, the blizzard quickly dissipated.

Stephanie cursed. "Never mind," she called. "It's time to go!" She dashed out the door, Diane hot on the shorter woman's heels after recalling her wailing baby pokemon. Jay gave chase, Videl ahead of him. They dashed out of a side door and called a pair of spinarak with oddly blank eyes.

"String shot!" roared Stephanie, and the two obediently shot strong webbing to the top of the building. Stephanie and Diana snapped the pokéballs in half and began climbing the webbing. The two spinarak, now free, looked around, confused, with clear eyes before spying the only other threat they could see. As a pair they began shooting sticky webs at Jay and Videl, the designs on their backs showing wide "eye" spots and a wavy, confused "mouth" line.

Jay snarled, his left arm already stuck to his side. With his right he reached to his pocket, enlarging two spare pokéballs he carried around just in case. One by one he threw them at the pair, intending to break the attack and have Videl burn them. Evidently, however, they had not been treated well. The pokéballs snapped shut and, wobbling, finally chimed, indicating captures, and then disappeared to wherever pokeballs went when there were already six active party members.

Jay looked up to the roof, then to the side. The two spinarak had been smart, pinning Jay's arm first, but also Videl's snout. It would take her a while to work the webbing loose enough to burn it off, and slightly longer to make work of Jay's entanglements. Jay followed the two web ropes up to the roof, but, trapped, couldn't follow them. He sat and fumed in silence as Videl growled and whined, working on her restraints.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

"Topaz, use Helping Hand!"

The eevee wouldn't be able to do anything to the ghost pokemon, but she could be a use against the others, and help her team mates out some.

"Umbrae, smog! Shin-" Sagira paused on a thought. Croagunk were part poison-type pokemon, and were resistant, though not immune, to poison type attacks. On top of that, Shinobi had hit himself with his own poison attack, and while the attack may have stung, the poison was his own. So was it really possible that he had poisoned himself, or...

Sagira took a closer look at the clumsy croagunk in her party and then rolled her eyes. "Shinobi, you're not poisoned, you stupid frog! Now use revenge!"

The croagunk actually looked surprised for a moment, and that gave the liepard time to leap first, claws extended, to catch the croagunk across the chest, ripping great gashes in his rubbery flesh. Spinning with the move, Shinobi grabbed the liepard's paws and twisted, pulling the large cat with him and slamming it into the ground.

Hissing in rage, the feline rolled to her feet and turned, spitting as she lunged.

"Mud Bomb!" the croagunk puked a great ball of mud into the purple leopard's face, effectively blinding the cat. "Now, Venoshock!"

Spitting a rain of poison into the air again, the cat was blind and unable to avoid the attack. The purple droplets of toxin poured down onto the purple fur, drenching the feline and sending her into a staggering fit, before it finally collapsed into a shuddering mass on the ground.

"Jaga!"

"Shinobi, Mud Bomb on the rat! Umbrae, Beat Up on the haunter. Topaz, bite!"

The three pokemon moved to comply, and like she had hoped, moved in tandem easily. Shinobi spat the purple toxic rain into the air over the head of the mienfoo, as Umbrae dodged away. The mienfoo took the poison attack, unable to avoid it, but seemed to shake off the effects, only to have Topaz slam hard into him, sinking her fangs into his fur like Sagira had hoped she would.

"Quick Attack!"

Topaz rushed and slammed fast into the mienfoo, sending the muskrat pokemon collapsing to the ground, before both she and Shinobi dashed over to the haunter to join Umbrae in his beat up move, slamming hard into the haunter.

"Topaz, helping hand," Sagira called again.

"Banquo, shadow punch!"

Two black, translucent fists burst out from the haunter and slammed hard into both Shinobi and Umbrae. Umbrae hit the ground with a yelp and didn't get back up, utterly spent after having faced the liepard earlier. Shinobi rolled across the ground, taking out a table with him, and then clamored back to his feet drunkenly.

"Astonish!"

Giving a loud, croaking cry, the croagunk launched himself at the ghost pokemon...

And missed him completely. Catching his foot on the back of a chair, Shinobi face-planted in a half-eaten piece of cake. Sagira groaned softly.

"Banquo, curse!"

Cackling, the haunter drew out his hands, displaying a large mallet in one and a glimmering spike in the other. Placing the spike against its own forehead, it slammed the mallet into the end and let loose a scream as the pin dug into incorporeal flesh. Sagira winced at the image, as the haunter dropped the mallet and it disappeared into a shadow. The haunter cackled again.

"Shinobi, use faint attack!"

"Night Shade!"

Shinobi disappeared abruptly from where he had been faceplanted in the cake, and reappeared in front of the haunter, arm raised in an imminent attack, frosting still covering his face.

The haunter released a beam of light before Shinobi could finish his attack, and the croagunk grabbed his head in pain as he staggered backward.

"Banquo, confuse ray!"

"Sucker Punch!" Shinobi's attack moved first and he slammed his fist into the haunter's stomach area, sending the ghost reeling. Sagira could see, however, that the croagunk was tiring, and she was frankly amused that he was doing so well, seeing as she knew how clumsy he was. It appeared he did have a lot of potential.

"Damnit! Send out one of the pokemon you stole!" Crispy snapped to his companion.

"It's not gonna listen to me," Splatter said, shaking his head. "Screw this, man, I am so out of here."

"Hey!" But Splatter had turned tail and bolted out of the door already, happy to be gone before Sagira finished off Crispy and he risked being caught.

"You gonna run, too?" Sagira asked, smirking.

Crispy grimaced. "Banquo, lick him!"

Drolling out a long tongue, the haunter licked Shinobi up the front of his face even as the croagunk was moving to attack. Shuddering, Shinobi hesitated too long in making his move, and the stiffness of his limbs assured Sagira that he had been paralyzed.

"Try to poison him, Shinobi!"

"Night Shade!"

Shinobi shuddered as he attempted to move, apparently trying to use a few different attacks. Unable to do anything elaborate or move very far, however, he opened his mouth and spat out a few poisoned barbs at the haunter. Not expecting his opponent to be able to attack, the haunter didn't avoid the poison sting, and shuddered as the barbs struck him.

"Damnit, Banquo! Night Shade!"

The ghost pokemon fluttered this way and that, trying to attack, but it had already cut its own health when cursing Shinobi. Shinobi, for his part, had fought even through the curse, but was unable to avoid it. Both pokemon collapsed at the same time and Sagira stared across at Crispy after they had each recalled their pokemon.

"I guess it's a stalemate, then."

"Not quite." Sagira called Topaz back out onto the field. "It's checkmate, and you're sticking around to answer some questions."

[Master Houndoom]

Jay was livid when he finally got out of the sticky mess. Videl had been able to burn her way out, her Flash Fire ability keeping her from taking any damage from the flames, but Jay had to tear his way out, and the process was a slow one. It was also painful. Videl had tried to chew through the sticky webbing, but ended up gumming her mouth closed for a while until she could use Fire Fang to burn the substance away. Finally, with webbing still hanging from his clothing and hair, Jay could move. He stalked back into the restaurant.

The man Sagira had beaten was being menaced by Topaz, which caused Jay to smile. Still, he was standing to his full height, looking haughty through his mask. Jay circled wide, along the wall, to come up behind him just as the man, who's mask looked like a mutated lightning bolt, growled out in what was supposed to be an intimidated voice, "And what's going to stop me from turning around and walking right out that door?"

"Me," Jay said in an oddly high, raspy voice. It was one he had effected for comedy, but had wanted to try to use it ever since he'd caught the second episode of Illumise on DVD. "I am to make you not go out door." His voice, modulated like an old man you might see at a carnival, was given an odd eastern bloc accent to enhance the creepiness.

That and the character on Illumise had the same accent.

The man turned, and there stood Jay, covered in webbing, grinning ear to ear, eyes wide like a psychopath. "You have reputation. "Men in masks take the pokemon. Very scary." Do you know what is reputation? Is people talking, is gossip. We also have reputation, not so pleasant I think you know."

Jay put an arm around the man, who tried to shrink away despite being a good six inches broader than Jay. "You see devastation? We stand up to you. We beat you. All your friends," he made a motion in front of the man's eyes, his forefinger and middle finger scissoring back and forth like running legs, "they run away. Now, to you, reputation is fact, is solid. You give information to nice lady friend, and you are solid, yes?"

The man's eyes widened, but Jay simply smiled, that half real smile, half slasher grin that gave nothing but conjecture as to what his intentions were. The man turned, trying to spin from Jay's hold, but was suddenly faced with Sagira, who had stepped up close both to try to figure out what Jay was doing, and as a measure of intimidation. The second worked. The man spun, stopped suddenly, and gasped, simply because she had gotten within shoulders touching distance and he hadn't heard her.

Jay chuckled dryly. "Ah, Shadowcat. She like to greet up close and personal. Jump out and say, 'Boo!'" Steering the man to a chair that, miraculously, had managed to stay upright and unshattered, with Sagira close to the masked man's other side, keeping him from bolting, Jay sat him in the chair with a press on the shoulder he was clamped onto. "Now, I think, the girl has questions, yes?"

*-*-*-*-*

Keela stepped forward, primed an ready for another battle, but the bald black man behind her stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "Ye'll want tae move tha' hand if ye want tae keep it, Fen."

"Keela," he said, showing no fear at all, "now isn't the time."

"Like hell," she roared, rounding on him. "He's here, he's toast!"

"He has a companion. And we're weakened."

"So's he!"

"And we're on a mission."

"Which has tae be scrapped, an I'm sure he has som'in to do with tha'!"

"And he's caught one of them."

Keela opened her mouth, then stopped, her eyes narrowing. With a huff, she slid sideways, within earshot of the interrogation. "Next time, lad," she muttered, unheard, to the boy with the grin on his face. "We'll meet again, an' then I'll kick yuir arse!"

[Living Arrow]

With Ivy down and unable to battle herself, Epsilon took her opportunity to prove what a real Prime pack member was made of. With a spurt of energy, she poured on a full-frontal assault on the human Prey that had two stolen Pokeballs in his hands. He dodged nimbly, springing clear of the Eevee’s snaps and dashes and keeping those stolen orbs clear out of range of the puppy’s Covet attack.

“Zoroark! Zoroark, help me!” Douglas roared at his fallen Dark-type but Epsilon didn’t need to check that she had knocked the beast out cold.

“Alpha! Use Shadow Ball!” Epsilon commanded the Mightyena lurking nearby. There was a long pause as Epsilon continued her nimble swipes and dodges of her own as Douglas became accustomed to her movements and started to punch back counter attacks. She chanced a glance to where he was watching from a distance. “I said attack!”

“I…” Alpha looked back to where Ivy was watching on with heavy-lidded eyes. He skin had paled drastically and the hand clutched to her armpit was stained red with blood. “I must protect Ivy…”

“And if you don’t help me, this guy will get away!” Epsilon roared, snapping at the thief’s fingers as they flew towards her face but they were pulled out of reach before tooth met flesh. Douglas ducked and span, narrowly avoiding a Quick Attack and instead threw his arm over his head in a tight arc. The edge of his hand slammed Epsilon’s back in a hard chopping motion and with a squeak she was struck to the ground where she bounced twice. A twitch of her ears and Epsilon was back on her feet and leaping away – Douglas’s boot stomping where she had been a moment before.

“Zoroark, return!” Douglas sent out the recall beam even as he began to sprint away.

“No!” Epsilon charged after him but the man’s stride were far greater than hers. “He’s getting away! Shadow Ball, Alpha!”

With no dark sphere passing her by, Epsilon knew her attempt had failed. The thief was about to get away and she had failed in proving that she was able to lead their team to victory. Another try had failed and she was growing sick of taking commands from a weak human being. What could she do now? Without proving to the pack that she could be their Prime, she would be forced to a life of restricted imprisonment in the Pokeball…

“Woah!” Kappa collided with Douglas without warning, his Aqua Jet catapulting him straight out of an adjacent alley without warning. The human Recon expert had no way to stop himself from crashing down to the ground and Epsilon wasn’t about to let such a good opportunity go.

Her teeth clamped onto heel, eliciting a scream from her target and a series of struggling kicks. Losing her grip, Epsilon sprang over the human and blocked off his escape, the shapes her her fellow Floatzel and Manectric lining up alongside her.

“What is going on, Epsilon?” Beta growled at the human menacingly.

“He has stolen those Pokeballs.” Epsilon informed them through ragged breaths. She was tired after battling so hard and fast without support and it was starting to show. This would need to be wrapped up A.S.A.P so that the others wouldn’t realise she was waning this soon… “Beta, use your Thunder Wave to immobilise him and Kappa use Water Gun to distract him. Go!”

“Thunder Wave!”
“Water Gun!”
With a paralysing wave running through his body and water splashing his face, Douglas didn’t prepare for Epsilon’s final Covet attack. With a dash and a grab, she raced back towards the restaurant with both Pokeballs and the next stage of her plan running through her mind.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

The bad man was not tied, but he was restrained just as well as if he were. Fear of her mistress had him glued to the chair, and Topaz knew that she was no longer needed. Raven wasn't completely fainted, so if her mistress and her mistress' mate needed someone's help, her sister would be there to torment the bad man. Raven was very good at stuff like that, but she was also, apparently, very good at protecting little pokebabies.

Prancing through the restaurant on silent paws, Topaz was looking for anymore of the bad man, because bad man traveled in packs called Bad Packs. There were four who attacked her mistress and her mistress' mate, but there might be more, and the human dog who travels with her mistress was missing.

The restaurant smelled like food, humans, and pokemon. It smelled like food because it was a restaurant, and humans because restaurants were where humans eat, but it only smelled like pokemon because of the battle, so Topaz sniffed the air, trying to smell pokemon that she recognized but were not part of her mistress' army. As she moved deeper into the restaurant, away from the lobby area, the smell that became most prominent was that of blood, and that smell was never a good one to catch on the wind.

Her tail and ears bounced as her pace quickened, carrying her across the red carpet, and then the slick linoleum of a dirty kitchen floor. When Topaz found another being, it was in a group of them, and she recognized all but the human who was lying on the floor. He looked like a bad man, because the others - the human dog's floatzel and manectric - were treating him like a bad man, and the mightyena who was the human dog's Top Dog was looking at him like he was a bad man, as he stood protectively in front of the human dog. And it was the human dog who smelled like blood, and was slick with blood as red as the lobby floor's carpet.

Topaz's ears flicked, her tail twitched, and she sniffed the air again. The human dog was very, very hurt, but she was still alive, and Alpha was protecting her, and the others had the bad man restrained as well as her mistress had the other bad man. With a yip, Topaz turned tail and rushed back toward the lobby to fetch her mistress and her mistress' mate, so that they could come and help the human dog.

~*~

The sky outside was devoid of stars, the lights of the city too bright to let them shine. The shade to the window was rolled up to illuminate the pitch night, but the flash of vehicular lights and the steady burn of building electricity ruined what would have been a calm vision elsewhere.

Calypso was curled up in a corner of the room, her head resting on the fluffy pillow of her tails. The brown and cream of Topaz's fur could barely be seen peeking out from beneath the cover of those nine great locks - the eevee curled up within the confines of the ninetails' blanket-like tail, slumbering deeply. Umbrae was lazing behind Sagira, at the foot of the bed, his muscles relaxed in false slumber. Curled in a similar position in front of the door to the hall lay Malchior, the blade crest on his head gleaming from the reflection offered by the outside lights filtering in. Shinobi had made his bed in the bathtub, having apparently known how to work the faucets and the stopper so that he had a shallow pool in which to lay.

All of her pokemon, save Paladin, lingered around her in positions of comfort, support, and protection, but they were able to offer little. Paladin had appeared once, himself, offering his comfort, a psychic touch, but Sagira had known he would find comfort himself in Hinata's presence, and that he could do little for her, and told him such. Reluctantly, he had left her, and she'd remained sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out of the window, seeking... something. She didn't know what. She had such a strange feeling... perhaps it was more than just guilt?

A knock at the door called Sagira's attention. Because it was the door to the room that adjoined hers, and because it was three o'clock in the morning, she knew it could only be one person. Because she knew who it was at the door, she didn't bother to get up from where she sat, still fully clothed. It was only a few seconds later that the door opened a crack and Jay peered in. Sagira made a small motion with her hand, and he entered her room quietly, stepping over and taking a seat next to her on the bed.

They had not had adjoining rooms before, and Sagira didn't know if they would again, once they were moved to the fifth floor. Their rooms on the third floor needed to be completely refinished, as well as some of the rooms surrounding theirs, which had apparently been affected by the force that ripped theirs to shreds. Whether they would have a discussion about the cause of that, she didn't know. At the moment, it was not paramount in her mind. For now, she and Jay were sleeping in temporary quarters on the second floor, and perhaps the closer proximity to the ground was making her nervous?

She wasn't sure, but she had such a strange feeling...

"You should be sleeping."

Sagira didn't saying anything in response. She knew she should be sleeping; she had tried to sleep. It was a futile effort, it appeared. She was worried about Ivy, who was in the hospital... again.

"She'll be okay, you know."

"Will she?" Sagira asked quietly. "Will she ever be okay? She's not right, Jay."

"She wasn't right when we first met her, Catseye, but she's been fine so far." He ran his fingers over the back of her hand until she moved her hand palm-up and entwined their fingers. "You can't change her if she doesn't want to change. Not without forcing it."

"And I won't do that to her," Sagira said quietly. "They shouldn't have."

"I know." He squeezed her hand lightly. "We're going to talk to Bryce about taking the rest of our vacation. We'll be off until Ivy's better and the three of us are back at full strength. He shouldn't have any complaints. We caught them one of the guys who've been causing problems. We deserve some time off."

Sagira nodded. He was right, of course. Bryce had sent them on a mission to gather information, and instead, they'd learned the name of the organization was the MagmAquas, and had even captured one of them. It was better than the higher-ups had expected, to be sure. They didn't have anything to complain about.

Sagira had a few complaints.

"She'll be fine."

"Sore, stitches, some much-needed time off, but yes. Ivy will be fine."

Sagira leaned against him, laying her head on his shoulder. "I told her to find the man who had impersonated Darrow."

"Catseye-"

"I sent her, alone, after that prick."

"She had her pokemon with her."

"But you and I have each other." Her voice was full of stubborn anger and self-recrimination. "We each have our pokemon, and we watch each others back. Ivy is always on her own." She closed her eyes and gave a weary sigh. "There should be four of us."

Jay wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "After our break, when we're all back together, we'll talk about it. If it looks promising, we'll check out some of the new recruits. Even if we have to train someone from the start, they'll do things our way, learn to read us, and they'll be part of our pack."

How did he know she liked that term for them? It suited Ivy best, she supposed, but still she liked it. The sound of the word send a tingle down her spine, though, and that feeling returned...

She didn't like it.

[Master Houndoom]

Jay sat in the office alone, sitting calmly in the chair with his hands neutrally at his stomach, fingers laced together. His eyes never left Officer Bryce, not since he had come in. It had taken, in fact, all of his self control not to burst out laughing when he saw the man pull his coffee cup closer to his side of the desk.

Yes, he did have Siryn waiting outside, just in case, but it seemed she wouldn't be necessary.

"Let me see if I'm clear," Bryce said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You want to take more time off?"

"Yes, sir," Jay said, saying the word "sir" as if it were his name, and one he were familiar with. "Youdid call us back from some much needed time off-"

"Because we're short handed. This isn't one of your parents movies, boy," he said, leaning forward and piercing Jay with his stare. Jay sat up straighter.

There was a long while of looking at each other, then Jay gave a small smirk.

"Sir, I don't think you understand how movies work. There aren't as many people working on a film at any one time as you might think." He sat up and started ticking off fingers. "There's actors, cameramen, crew, and the production team, the directors and cinematographers and make-up artists. And that is the most you'll see, during shooting. There are no backups for any of these, so if someone important, the director or an actor, gets sick or injured..." he clapped his hands together. "The filming stops until the person gets better."

Jay leaned forward, the twinkling in his eye gone, his mouth set in a grim line. "One of our very important members is injured and needs time to heal."

Bryce looked at Jay, having leaned back, his fingers steepled. "You and Smythe have been fine on your own..."

"No, sir, with all due respect, we haven't. We've been lucky, but when the chips were down, Ivy was there for us, getting us out of some serious scrapes. And that's part of my second request... Sagira and I have each other as back up, and Ivy if that's not enough. Ivy needs someone to watch her back."

Bryce pursed his lips, pushing his moustache out and looking more like a walrus for it. "You're getting spoiled, Lange," he said, then shook his head. "But you have a point. You have a week. After that, you and Smythe need to do light work while Kylerian recuperates." He opened a folder, scribbling something in it. "Maybe take one of the new recruits out. See if there's a fit."

Jay tilted his head, giving a tight smile. It wasn't perfect. It was, however, more or less what he thought he'd get.

Now to convince Sagira that it was a good idea.

-----

Two days had gone by, and this time Jay and Sagira had decided two things: The less time at the hotel, the better, and there was no reason to bring their phones. Not with a pair of kirlia waiting to alert them if Ivy really needed them.

They had arranged to meet in a park, where there was a small clearing out of sight of most people, where they could spend time together, out of the sight of anyone who'd wish to do them harm or make them work. This was where Jay found Sagira, in the middle of said clearing looking up at the circle of sky with a slight smile on her face.

Her hair was darkening still, and she had opted not to wear the special cat contacts that made her usual costume unique. Instead the dark blue, nearly black eyes looked up into the noon-day sunlight, shaded just enough by the trees blocking the sun, and she was smiling happily.

It was rare, which made it all the more beautiful.

"Hey," he said softly, loathe to break the spell of this dark sprite in the forest. He did not succeed in that which he did not want to do. She turned, and, if anything, the light of her smile brightened.

"Hey," she said softly, walking toward him. His eyes flickered to her hips, which sashayed seductively even though she put no effort into the act. She noticed his glance and her eyes brightened, twinkling. She stopped within inches, close enough to feel her body heat, but not close enough to touch without him making the effort. Jay liked to savor the anticipation.

"Did you bring it," she said with low, sultry tones.

Jay reached into his pocket, drawing out a smallish package. unwrapped it and ruffled the pages enclosed, smiling at the diagrams for sign language. "Yep. Bring yours?"

Sagira smiled, pulling her own book out of her pocket. "I've been practicing a little," she said with a bare hint of self consciousness. "So... shall we begin?"

[Living Arrow]

Ivy left the hospital on a cold Wednesday afternoon. The nurses had claimed that if she took it easy, walking would be fine but she shouldn’t undertake strenuous exercise for a little while. Ivy had said everything she had to just to get out of the weird-smelling place and back to normality but she knew that would never happen – not when it was Gray that had busted her out. A message had been sent to Sagira, Jay and their boss to let them know where she was and that she was recuperating and a day later, she was an official houseguest of the rich Civilian.

“Woah, slow down.” Firmly gentle hands gripped Ivy’s elbow as she hobbled down the stairs of his enormous mansion in Noverus. The thick brown wool of the cardigan he had donated her felt itchy on her skin but she didn’t complain too much. Instead, she just offered him a grunt and shot him a look of ‘who you touchin?!’. Unperturbed, Gray continued to guide Ivy to the bottom of the staircase and out to the expansive garden.

“I know you probably won’t listen to me,” Gray began in his huskily smooth voice that rang with upper-class tones which Ivy would normally refer to as stuffy, “but maybe you should spend a bit more time in bed… Relaxing?”

Ivy ignored him and focused on getting to the bench at the edge of the park-like lawn. By the time she reached it, her breath was a little faster than she would like and it felt like cotton wool was in her ears.

“I need the air.” She explained, sinking down to the bench with a sigh. “And I need to make sure the others are alright.”

“They’re fine.” Gray settled beside her, peering out over the garden to where Ivy’s Pokemon were playing with a multi-coloured ball. Well, almost all of them. The young Eevee, Epsilon, sat apart from the others, her large brown eyes watching Ivy and Gray closely. Ivy met that stare with flat eyes. “They are more concerned about you right now and I think they would agree that you should be resting up a lot more than you are.”

“I’m resting plenty.” Ivy said back, not looking away from the chestnut eyes that had drawn her in. Gray coughed.

“Um, no you aren’t.” He accused. “I know you’ve been… exercising in your room. You need to take it down a notch.” Ivy shook her head.

“I ended up this way because I already ‘took it down a notch’. And yet again I’m a burden. The only way I’ll be able to keep up with the others is if I work even harder.” Her voice was resolute. Decisions had been made. Gray inwardly sighed. How could a girl as beautiful as Ivy not see that her actions were not good for her? She should be living an easy life in the arms of a loving man, not battling in the streets and getting hospitalised at every turn.

“The others? You mean Sagira and Jay?” Gray frowned.

“Not just them.” Ivy’s shoulders visibly slumped. “Magma, too. Their hold on this city still hasn’t been taken away and they’re allowed to pollute and destroy whatever they need to so that their ambitions are fulfilled. I swore to stop them, Gray-man. I swore…”

Gray didn’t know Ivy as well as a good deal of other people but even he could see that this was not the same Ivy that had dropped into his life a little while ago. She was more determined. More focused on achieving her goals. Her exact goals and reasons for them were still unknown to Gray but he didn’t need to be told them to know he wanted to help her.

“So you think making yourself worse right now will help out?” He pressed her.

“I need to be stronger.”

“Right. Well, if you’re set on this then I suppose you’d better eat properly.” Gray reached into a small bag that he had brought outside with them and produced a rolled up package and a flask. Tearing open the first packet, he plopped the roll of biscuits into Ivy’s hands and started to unscrew the flask. “A little Pidgey told me these were your favourites.”

The flask lid opened and the delicious scent of meaty broth poured out.

“Bizkits and gravy…” Ivy’s gaze finally turned away from Epsilon and to meet Gray’s.

“Get well first, Ivy, and then I’ll hep you to get stronger.” He smiled one of those deep smiles that creased the corners of his eyes. Under that rough stubble and tired expression it was sometimes hard to realise that Gray was as young as he was but Ivy could see it clearly in that moment. “Deal?”

She brightened slowly and took the cup of freshly poured gravy.

“Deal.” She grinned.

[Umbrae Calamitas]

"Argh!"

Jay laughed as Sagira threw her sign language book over his head and into the grass. "It's not funny," she said stiffly. "Why can I not get this letter?"

The two of them had spent the better part of two hours sitting on the park bench and practicing Sign Language. Since their last mission had been completed, they had been spending some part of each day working on it together, and Sagira had been practicing a little on her own, as well. Right now, they were trying to sign the entire alphabet together, and Sagira remember how to do all of them, except the letter R. For whatever reason, she could never remember how to position her hand, and not knowing that letter would make finger-spelling difficult, if she ended up having to use that.

"Like this," Jay said, taking her hand and folding her ring and pinky fingers down. She let her move her middle and index fingers up, and then crossed her index finger in front of her ring finger, and folded her thumb over the two fingers that had been curled against her palm. Sagira, who had been watching her fingers as they were moved into position, glanced at Jay's face when he was done.

"You just wanted to touch my hand, didn't you?"

Pulling her hand closer to him, he kissed her over the veins of her wrist. "Guilty."

Sagira lowered her eyelids at him and tilted her head to the side. "Jay..."

"Hm?" he asked, smiling at her a little foolishly.

"I require use of my hand to sign."

"Ah." Grinning, he let go of her hand. Sagira drew it back, giving him a suspicious glance, and then crossed her legs.

"All right..." She held up her hand and began to sign again, starting with A.

"You know, if you don't get it, we can just sign that your name is Saggy." He grinned at her half-hearted glare. "I know someone who won't have a problem calling you by that name."

"Are you taking many points from Ivy?" Sagira asked nonchalantly, her fingers still continuing to move through the letters of the alphabet. "Because I will be happy to buy you a collar and leash."

Jay's eyebrows ticked upward. "Is that a promise?"

Sagira grinned but didn't say anything. Her fingers moved through the signs, until she abruptly stopped after the sign for Q. "Damnit!"

Jay laughed. "How did you forget already?"

"You distracted me."

"So it's my fault?"

"Damn straight." She unfolded her fingers from their position and poked him in the chest. "Bad dog."

Jay leaned a little closer to her, grinning, which caused Sagira's right eyebrow to jump upward in his signature "what are you planning?" look. "So... do I have to miss dessert, or do I get a spanking?"

Sagira's lips pulled back into a feral smile, her eyes crinkling. "That depends entirely upon-"

"Well, well, well..."

"-whether or not we get interrupted again - WHAT THE HELL?!" Sagira turned from where she had been sitting to face the two people standing some distance away, hidden by the hanging vines of the willow tree they had been hiding under for who knows how long. "Don't you have anything better to do than interrupt us?"

The two stepped out from under the vines, smirking. Sagira and Jay both narrowed their eyes as they recognized Tony and Ezira.

"I don't know. Ezira, do we have anything better to do than interrupt the two of them."

Ezira grinned widely and flicked both of her wrists. A pokeball flew out of each of her sleeves, into the waiting palms of her hands. "I can think of something."

Sagira grabbed at her belt, pulling off two of her pokeballs with one hand and tossing them both to the ground. All four pokeballs were bursting open as she got to her feet and faced her childhood rival.

"I've been waiting for this for a good while, Iris."

"I've gotta be honest with you, Ezira. I really could've got without seeing your ugly face."

Ezira's face went red in rage at the insult and she screamed out orders to her pokemon. "Razor Wind! Bulldoze!"

The red light was just fading from around the pokemon when the ground began to tremble violently. The grey-skinned legs of a rhyhorn appeared, pounding the ground viciously, causing Umbrae and Malchior to stagger against each other. The red-coated Scizor came flying out of the red light that had surrounded him, slashing his claws though the air. The wind picked up, a whirlwind swirling around the insect.

"Double team, Malchior. Umbrae, Smog!"

"Running, Iris? That's so like you." Ezira pointed at Umbrae, who was issuing a toxic black cloud from his mouth. "Fury attack, Rhino!"

Unleashing a braying cry, the rhyhorn lumbered forward at Umbrae, horn lowered to attack.

“Roar, Umbrae!”

Umbrae snapped open his jaws, but before he could roar and frighten the rhyhorn away, a thundering blur of black and white slammed into him from the side. Thrown to the ground, the houndoom yelped loudly, kicking up dirt as he rolled to his feet.

“You damned cheat! I’m your opponent!” Jay yelled at Tony, as the strange zebra pokemon reared up with a cry and just missed slamming her hooves into Umbrae’s head.

“You’re not worth my time,” Tony said, sneering.

Sagira grit her teeth and snapped her eyes around. There were four pokemon out on each side. Ezira had a scizor and rhyhorn – two pokemon that Sagira knew well enough to be able to judge their weaknesses and basic strengths. Tony, however, had two pokemon she’d never seen before. The striped horse paled in comparison to the massive dragon with golden scales and red scythes on his head. She had no idea what the creature was, but it was huge and clearly dangerous. And it was commanded by Tony, and that meant bad news by itself.

She had called out Malchior and Umbrae, and Jay had summoned Lady Jaye and Siryn. Tony never was one to play fair, but Sagira and Jay knew each other. And they worked very well together.

“Umbrae, you’re on the scizor! Fire Fang!”

“Lady Jaye, Aerial Ace on the dragon!”

“Malchior, Razor Wind on the rhyhorn!”

“Siryn, Screech!”

Umbrae lunged with a snarl, darting passed the zebstrika and launching himself at scizor.

The razor wind unleashed at that moment, the whirlwind of blade-whipped air slamming hard into the houndoom. It tossed him backward, but he managed to turn himself in midair and landed on his feet, blood dripping from a few cuts on his torso. With a growl that tore from his chest, he leapt at the scizor.

Lady Jaye swooped upward, wings cutting the air, and twisted. The edges of her wide wings turned a silvery-white and seemed to harden into steel as she let gravity catch her and carry her into a higher momentum as she dove for the neck of the great draconian monstrosity.

Malchior whipped his head around, tossing his blades against the air to churn the winds in his favor. A whirlwind whipped up, just like the one that the scizor had called, and began to sharply bite at the air around him. The rhyhorn grunted loudly and charged, ignoring the danger.

“Siryn is against everyone!” Siryn yelled, and opened her mouth wide.

“Siryn, you’re fighting the horse.”

Startled by this limitation, Siryn closed her mouth and turned to look at Jay. “Siryn is only fighting one opponent? Siryn thinks the Jaytrainyman doesn’t know her Screechyscreech will hit all of them.”

“Siryn, just use Screech!” Jay yelled.

“Okay, but Siryn told the Jaytrainyman…” Opening her mouth wide, Siryn let loose a high-pitched screech that caused everyone around her to flinch.

“Now, Siryn, use Astonish!”

Siryn opened her eyes wide. “Siryn is astonished?” She looked at the zebstrika, who was running toward her, hooves thundering against the ground. “No, it’s the stripystrikyhorse who is astonished!” Suddenly, the misdreavus had exploded in size and towered over the zebra. “Siryn says to be astonished, stripystrikyhorse!”

Umbrae ducked under a Metal Claw aimed at his head and spat an ember attack in the scizor’s face as he leapt to the right, away from the fury cutter strike. The scizor, who had gotten the short end of the stick, was already staggering, being no match for the fire-type attacks being unleashed at him in fervor.

Malchior hit the ground hard when the take down attack struck him. The rhyhorn was knocked backward a little by the recoil of his own strike, but recovered more quickly than the absol, who took a second attack in the side because of his slow recovery.

“Malchior, use Mirror Coat!”

“Chip Away, Rhino!”

Malchior fur flashed as the mirror coat protected him, but the rhyhorn’s attack ignored the protection completely as he slammed heavily into the absol again.

“Finish it! Earthquake!”

The rhyhorn brayed loudly, rearing up and slamming down against the ground. The ground shook violently, sending all of the pokemon and humans to their knees. Malchior hit the ground heavily, unconscious, and the red beam of light from Sagira’s pokeball pulled him to safety.

“Lady Jaye!” Jay’s pokeball recalled the falling swallow after the haxorus’ Dragon Pulse attack had sent her reeling into unconsciousness.

They’re far stronger than I’d thought, Sagira admitted to herself. She only had four of her pokemon with her, but Shinobi was clumsy and very new at this fighting thing. Were it a battle with some weak drones like the last big battle had been…

“Topaz it is!” Sagira drew out another pokeball and was about to throw it, before it was caught in the talons of a great flying beast.

“What the— you damned cheater! Give that back right now!”

The eagle had ripped the pokeball right from her hands, and as she watched, it flew around back to Ezira, dropping the pokeball in her hands. Grinning, Ezira took a glance down at the pokeball and then held it out to the eagle resting on the ground beside her. “Falcon, do the honors, would you?”

With a cry, the braviary hooked its wicked beak over the button on the pokeball and jerked its head downward. The button broke.

“Topaz!”

Ezira held up the pokeball for Sagira to see. “Oh, don’t worry, she’s still in there, safe and sound. For now, at least. The ball is even fixable. If you promise to be a good girl.”

Sagira narrowed her eyes. Be a good girl, indeed. She was not giving up. It was time to call in the calvary. Paladin had taught her to shield her mind, and to open it. They were always linked, but to call him to come now, and to bring with him the rest of their team, she needed to open her mind. And she did.

Tony chuckled, grinned widely. “Good girl.”

What-

The air behind Tony and Ezira rippled. A strange brownish pokemon appeared, hovering in the air, its large odd-shaped head supporting two glowing green eyes. The glowing buttons on its hands that were presumably fingers flashed and blinked, but Sagira’s eyes were drawn to the glowing green orbs in the creature’s head, as though called there. She thought she could hear voices…

”What is it, my lady?”

”Paladin, what’s wrong?”

”I think my lady needs us.”

”Where are there? Are they being attacked?”

”Forget all of that.

”We need everyone.”

”Forget everything.”

"My lady?"

”Forget everything. None of it is important.

”My lady, who is that?

”Nothing is important. Forget."

”Who is that? Who are you?

”Forget…”

”What are you doing?!”

”Forget…”

"ENOUGH!”

"Forget..."

”Paladin? Paladin, what’s wrong! Paladin!”

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!!!"

Sagira clutched her head in her hands as she screamed, the sound ripped from her throat as something forced its way into her head, burying itself deep, penetrating all that she was, settled down deep within her and then shredding her from the inside out. She screamed until everything that she was was no longer, all the breath that’d she’d had was gone, and darkness claimed her completely.

”Forget…

[Master Houndoom]

Always with the interruptions... was Jay's first thought when the voice came out of nowhere, interrupting his and Sagira's quiet time. It seemed that no one would allow them more than a few days peace these days, and he was getting tired of it. As Sagira screeched, Jay stood up with a huff.

Then the woman he'd seen on his first official mission with Aqua, the one who'd given them so much trouble, stepped out with a guy older than he and Sagira. His brown hair was slicked back, slightly longer than norm, but not shaggy; it seemed thin, but not balding, not yet. His clothing was impeccable; white, button down shirt and silk vest pulled tight over a broad chest, black slacks and Italian shoes. It wasn't his clothing that made Jay instantly dislike him, however. It was the contemptuous look on his face, and his eyes pinned to Sagira.

Jay's ears were already turning red as the fight began, and Tony's dismissal of him when he attacked Sagira's pokémon made him even more angry. He pulled out the two pokeballs he'd brought with him and called his pokémon as Tony brought out his second, a tall, tapering beast with nasty scythe-like tusks on either side of his face. Lady Jay flapped to the ground beside him, her face mirroring her trainer's look of sheer contempt.

"Somebody's compensating for something..."

He actually got a reaction out of the man, and couldn't help a cocky grin. He had no idea it would be the only one he'd get.

"Scythe, why don't you dance for the boy," Tony called, drawling out the words, rolling his eyes. The dragon stepped backward, spun, and shot fire in the air, in a surprisingly agile display for one so large.

“Lady Jaye, Aerial Ace on the dragon!” He could hear Sagira shouting out her own commands between his. It gave him a thrill. "Siryn, use screech!"

The battle waged, and it was soon evident that both he and Sagira were out classed. He'd have to bring out the reserves. Evidently, Sagira had the same idea, especially after her eevee was stolen.

Things went downhill from there. Her eyes went vacant, and Jay prepared to send his own call to Hinata, when Sagira stiffened, then fell to her knees, screaming.

Jay looked around wildly, rushing to her side and grabbing her shoulders. Here, the volume was deafening, but the worse ache was the tone; as if something were tearing from her, as if something vitally important were being ripped from her.

And his head exploded in a cacophony of noise, followed suddenly by a silence that felt like Sagira's screams, silent where she was loud. Hinata, somehow, was silent.

Jay's vision exploded in red as Sagira, too, fell silent, and he was, suddenly, up and running. He heard Tony command the haxorus to stop him, possibly kill him, but even as the dragon swung one of its razor tipped claws, jay was sliding underneath it, rising suddenly to run up the tail and launch off of it, sending a fist into the jaw of Tony.

Anyone lesser would have fallen like a sack of pokeballs, but Tony simply rocked back. Jay's fists blurred, once, twice, there was, he was sure looking back, a flash of blue in the peripherals of his vision.

It wasn't enough.

"Eeetea!" It was all Tony said, and all he had to say. The psychic that had appeared behind him and the woman with him before Sagira began to scream turned toward Jay, sending a pulse rushing at him. Jay flew back into a tree and was held there, his chest being compressed. He saw black stars on the edge of his vision before Tony raised a hand, and the pressure eased.

"See, now, kid... you just made yourself worth my time." Tony walked toward him, rubbing his jaw, spitting some blood out of his mouth. "You could have walked away quietly, but no... you had to get noble and fight. For that?" At the words, he pointed at Sagira, and Jay began to struggle harder. "Pathetic."

Tony pulled up close, sneering, raising up on his tip toes to get in Jay's face. "Now, see, I could easily just let Eeetea kill you. Keep squeezing until there's nothing left. But, like I said, you made yourself worth my time... Nobody..." he reached up and grabbed Jay's chin with one hand, gripping as hard as he could, "but nobody makes me bleed my own blood!" He let go, sneering in contempt. "So you get to live. Maybe you'll learn the error of your ways. I kind of hope you don't."

He turned, then, flicking fingers out to Ezira, then looking at the large headed pokémon. "When we're finally out of here, take her back and get her ready."

Jay struggled harder as Tony and Ezira left, almost working his arms loose of the telekinetic hold, when the pokémon floated to Sagira, put its arm on her back, and disappeared.

Jay dropped to the ground, pushing up with his hands to rise, but the pokémon must have put some suggestion in his head; he was sluggish, he couldn't concentrate.

He screamed himself, in frustration, in rage, and collapsed.

Siryn, who had been blown backwards by the psychic, made it to the clearing, looking around with wide, trembling eyes, and said, in the softest voice she'd ever made, <Jaytrainyman? Jaytrainyman..! ... jay..??

-----

Jay woke to psychic screaming. It was cut off as soon as he rose. He may have imagined it. The place where Hinata was, in the back of his mind, was full again, but black, dark. Jay, too, felt that his world had dropped out, so was surprised when Hinata's voice, though frantic, was quiet.

Jay... Jay... Paladin's sick... something happened, and... and... He could feel her weeping, and despaired in it. Paladin, too, had been affected. His one hope for finding Sagira quickly, gone.

Jay, what... what do I do..? He's not answering me, Jay... I can't find him anywhere...

Jay looked at his hands... inadequate hands, he couldn't protect Sagira... he couldn't comfort his pokémon... with dread, he realized he couldn't even summon his projection of calm... there was no calm now.

"Take... take him to Doc Robinson. Take him there, and stay there with him."

He could feel Hinata's shock. But... but Jay--

"Sagira was taken, Hina-- hinata... She was taken, and I... I can't... I'm not fit to be around. I'll... I'll send Siryn to you. She'll carry messages... but you need to stay away from me... for now."

He could feel her protest, but he cut her off. "Don't argue!"

She receded, stroking his mind with a shaky touch. Siryn, watching from behind him, sobbed and faded as well, already going to Hinata without being told, if only to see what happened to Paladin. Jay stood in the clearing, unable to move, except for his hand, which pulled out and raised his cell phone, dialing the number he dreaded.

It began to rain, hard, as Jay pulled the phone up to his ear. It rang once. Twice. Then picked up.

"Ivy," Jay said, the name catching in his throat. "Ivy... Sagira's gone."