The van screeching to a halt jerked me awake. I muffled a cry with a small squeak a I was thrown against some hard object, most likely a wall. I looked down into my arms, where Miku was curled up, her eyes wide in flight as she clung onto my shirt but she seemed okay. To reassure my little Manaphy, I gently rubbed her head, leaning down to kiss her forehead. The sack I was in was lifted from both ends, causing me to again squeak as the instability caused me to shift positions.

I felt my body begin to tremble as I held on tightly to Miku who was whimpering slightly. ~Mama, what happening?~

:I don't know...: I replied honestly.

~Miku want to cry.~ Again the sack shifted, causing us both to squeak slightly and I held Miku closer. ~Can Miku cry mama, or is crying bad?~

With a soft sigh, I held Miku closer. :You can cry Miku, it's okay to cry when you're sad or scared, just try to keep quiet okay? I'm right here with you.: I watched as small tears filled the young Manaphy's eyes and gently rolled over her cheeks. She clung to my shirt like a lifeline but didn't make a sound.

~Miku still scared.~ She murmured after a moment, hickupping as she spoke.

:So am I Miku.: I admitted, gently rubbing the top of her head. :But if we're good then they won't hurt us.: Again I felt horrid making Miku a promise I couldn't keep and I'd have to do my best to keep my baby Pokémon safe, but how could I do that when I was hardly able to protect myself?

The sack we were in suddenly tipped violently, causing me to shriek as Miku and I were sent tumbling to the ground. I landed on my head, earning another pained cry as waves of agony rippled from my head and neck. Thankfully, the fall was only small and I don't think the impact was hard enough to cause anything more then a few hours of pain and a headache but nothing serious. Miku had managed to cling to my shirt and as I held onto her, she managed to avoid any harm.

Groaning in a state close to agony, I scrambled to my knees as I looked around my new environment with fearfully meek eyes — wincing at the throbbing pain in my head, clutching Miku close to my chest without intent of letting her go. The walls were seemingly cut from a large dark coloured stone with the exception of one which was instead steel bars, proving I was in a prison of sorts but much different from what I was used to in Team Plasma's hideout. Five other people were in the cell, towering over me in an easily intimidating fashion.

Two, standing at the back with seemingly little importance to the other in the cell, were Team Aqua grunts — one male and one female. They each stood on either side of what I'm assuming were higher members of Team Aqua, no doubt like the sages of Team Plasma, and stood on either side of a man I'm assuming was the highest ranking of them all.

The man on the right had a darker skin tone then most people I'd seen before and was easily the tallest of the trio as much as he was the most intimidating. He wore no shirt, although his outfit looked as if it had once been a full body suit as his pants and gloves both seemingly had been torn away from some other form of clothing and a ring of fabric around his neck have once been a collar to a shirt. The Team Aqua symbol was tattooed over his muscled abdomen, both prominent and proud. His expression was that which reminded me heavily of Nichole's Krookadile — as if at any moment he would rip me apart without hesitation.

On the left side of the second man was a woman, the smallest of the trio but also, the least frightening. Her dark hair had several blue stripes through it that seemed almost natural on the woman and her eyes held an element of softness lacked by the others in the room. Her arms lay crossed over her short top, fashioned after Team Aqua's logo. Though it was unclear in the top was a summer or winter themed top due to the sleeves reaching all the way to her hands and extended further as fingerless gloves. Her long pants left little show of whether her boots were attached but it only took me a moment to find they were indeed separate.

The man who stood in the middle stared down at me with an odd kind of smirk. He wore a blue bandana with Team Aqua's logo on the front and his face had an odd kind of shadow cast over his eyes. His outfit closely resembled that of a pirate, examining him made me realise that seemingly all of Team Aqua had the pirate like theme. My eyes were caught on his necklace, a thick gold chain with a large, anchor pendant. That in it's self wasn't all that important, small detail, however the rainbow coloured stone set into the cross of the pendent seemed to draw my eyes to it. I wasn't quite sure what it was but it struck my curiosity in a way very few things did despite my natural curiosity of the world around me.

Of course with me being me, the first reaction I gave was a sneeze – followed by another. The sack was really dusty. Sniffling back a third, I clung to Miku tighter. The centre man and the woman beside him chuckled slightly, though for seemingly different reasons. The man's chuckle sounded more like I was nothing more then a punchline of a joke while the woman sounded more like she was holding back a laugh from a cute Skitty video or something similar. The other man to the right simply looked as if he would eat me... (Don't judge, I used to think Ghetsis would do the same... kinda still do...)

"So," The centre man began, cocking his head to the side. "This is the little scamp who gave Ghetsis so much trouble?"

I wasn't sure how to respond. If the question was rhetorical then I'd look stupid nodding but Ghetsis hated it when he would ask me a question and I didn't respond — even I couldn't answer his question due to the lack of being able to answer with a nod or shake of my head — and failure to do so would generally result in him hitting me. Biting my over lip, I gave a single nod as I felt it were better to look stupid then get these people mad with me.

He snorted in amusement. "Little scrawny aren't ya scamp?" He looked me up and down as if judging the size of a Magikarp. "But you'll do for now." He turned around to leave the cell, the second man and two grunts following close behind. The woman remained for a few lingering seconds before sighing and following the others.

"You'll have to sit tight for the next few hours kid. Introductions and other formalities will happen then." She shut the cell door behind her, watching me through the bars for another few moments. "Make things easy on us and we have no reason to make things hard on you, got it?"

I gave a single nod, easing my grip on Miku. I was able to identify her voice as my mystery helper from the journey here — well the only one who'd shown me any form of kindness yet.

After seeing my reply, she turned on her heel and left, meaning that I was alone with Miku until who knows how long. I shifted Miku in my arms, looking down with concern. My little Manaphy was still curled up tightly in my shirt, sniffling slightly as she looked up at me, doe eyed and afraid. Her arms were still cuffed together, as were mine but I hated the fact that Team Aqua had handcuffed my baby Pokémon. I was used to hand cuffs due to Ghetsis almost always keeping me in them - especially for his amusement while I attempted to do the numerous chores he gave me - but Miku was not.

With a gentle sigh, I decided it best to explore my confines — though there was little of interest. A small, metal framed cot in the corner which was bolted securely to the floor. The material the covered it was stiff but smooth and sunk slightly when I sat on it. A neatly folded blanket and single pillow - both stark white - sat at the end of the cot. Other then that, the shoebox cell contained little else. A small window sat near the roof of my cell, it was heavily bared however and I doubt I would be able to smuggle Miku through even if I could reach... Which I heavily doubt, even on tippy toes.

~Mama...~ Miku looked up at me, her eyes still tearful as she held on tightly to my shirt. ~How long we be here? How long Miku have to behave?~

Gently rubbing the top of her head, I had to search every corner of my mind for my reply. :I don't know Miku, I really do not know. We just need to do our best to be good.:

Miku set out a soft sad breath, followed by a hiccup before nodding. ~Okay mama, Miku do Miku best. For mama!~

Nodding my head, I hugged my baby Manaphy — more proud then I could say. :And when the others come get us, we'll go out and get big ice cream for being so good. How does that sound?:

With eyes lit in delight, Miku nodded eagerly. :With extra sprinkle!?:

:Of course Miku.: I smiled, tickling her tummy. :Try to only speak like this okay, so only I can hear.:

~Okay mama, but can we get fizzy drink as well? With lots of tickle bubbles!~

:Whatever you want.: I agreed. :I'm already very proud of you. Do you think you could take a little nap for me?:

Miku nodded eagerly. ~Miku have little nap for mama.~

I set up the bed I was given, putting the pillow up one end with Miku on top as well before pulling up the blanket over my young baby Pokémon. Sitting with her, I gently hummed the tune from my music box as she drifted off. After my Pokémon was wandering over to her own little land of dream I went back to exploring but there was nothing left to explore really. The seamless darkstone walls had hardly more then a scratch on the surface and the bars of the cell were think and sturdy, attached first to a length of steel along both the top and bottom which were drilled into the stone. As if it needed any more strength, there were three lengths of metal running horizontally through the bars. The only space was a rectangular hole at the bottom of the barred door which I'm guessing was so food could easily be passed through.

Sitting on the floor next to the low lying cot of my cell, as not to disturb my baby Pokémon, I hugged my knees close to my chest. My head hurt, really badly too. My neck ached and I just wanted to be with my Pokémon again... Though, I wasn't sure how much they would want me back. Samurai was still mad at me and what if the others were mad at me too? I was so helpless and I couldn't protect them... or myself. How long could I lie to Miku about when the others would come.

I felt tears rolling over my cheeks as for the first time I allowed my helplessness to settle in and with Miku asleep, I didn't have to fake my brave face anymore. Burying my head in my knees, I let out a quiet sob. I was so scared and tired of pretending everything was okay, it most certainly was not okay. Team Aqua could hand me right over to Ghetsis at any time and who knows what he wants to do to me, although it was defiantly bad. He loved tormenting me even before I ran away from Team Plasma, what would he wish to do to me now that I'd ruined his entire plan? Sobbing again, this time without control, I failed to overcome my bottled emotions.

Approaching footsteps made me jump, my instinct told me to hide but instead I stayed put, ready to protect Miku if I needed to. Though, I relaxed a bit when I again saw the lady who had been helping me and had so far been kind to me far more then the rest of Team Aqua. She looked down at me in silence for several moments, a thoughtful smile over her features as I cowered near my baby Pokémon, I tried to be brave but knew I was failing.

"It's okay to be scared kid." She said, a slightly amused smirk over her features. "No one will blame you for feeling so."

I didn't move. More refused to. I knew from experience that I couldn't let my guard down, if I did, then more damage could be done. Though I couldn't help but wince when my head began throbbing, worst then ever, causing me to groan and press the palm of my hand against my forehead in effort to soothe the pain.

"Is your head okay kid?" She asked, mild concern in her voice.

I carefully shook my head no, only gently as not to further hurt my brain. I moved my hand over to the back of my head to point to where I had hit it when falling from the sack, I was too afraid to touch to source of the pain.

The lady frowned, cocking her head to the side as if trying to figure out what could have caused my headache. "Was it when you were dropped from the sack, did you hit your head?"

Again, I nodded, still only softly.

She sighed. "I knew those grunts were being too rough. I'll see about getting you something to help with that but for now just sit tight." The woman gave me a reassuring smile before again leaving me alone. She confused me, she was apart of an evil organisation, yet she seemed much more gentle then anyone else I'd met from an evil organisation... Unless you count N when he was the King of Team Plasma but he treated me more as family then a he ever did a prisoner.

Sniffling slightly, I rested my head on my knees again, tears still leaking from my eyes without a sign of stopping soon. I simply didn't know what to do. I was scared but I had to pretend I wasn't for Miku's sake. My head hurt, my neck hurt and I couldn't stop it. Samurai hates me and for all I know, he isn't even looking for me, and if he isn't looking for me why would my other Pokémon be looking for me either. They knew he was the leader among my Pokémon... well except Champ, he rarely listened to anybody.

I looked up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand as I stared at the sky beyond the window. Apart from a cloud here and there, I couldn't see anything more then the blue sky which despite it being close to midday was dim and pale instead of the normal brilliant blue I was used to but the sight of the sky was somewhat reassuring. When Team Plasma kidnapped me, I'd only ever been outside a few times in seven years. Once a year on my birthday N would get permission to take me out on a balcony and we would have a picnic for a few hours. While I couldn't feel the grass or climb a tree like normal growing kids, it was the closest I'd ever got to feeling free. Although I won't lie, I had more then once thought about jumping from the balcony to try and to escape the dreaded place but each time I gave myself a reason to stay. However having a window in my cell, even though small and out of reach provided a connection with the outside world, a constant piece of freedom I'd never been able to obtain for seven years of my life and who knows, if Samurai and my other Pokémon are looking for me, it may even provide an escape.

~*🌸*~
~Gardenia's pov~

With a small sigh I looked up at the sun, centred perfectly in the middle of the sky before lowering my gaze to my little brother. ~Samurai, we should stop.~ I offered, looking behind me at Jake and Milly who after a long morning of travel, were exhausted.

~Just a little further.~ Samurai pressed, little concern showing towards those he was traveling with.

I stopped the rest of the group before using Psychic to hold my brother in place. ~You've been saying that for the past hour Samurai. The others need to rest and eat okay.~

Samurai gave a sigh and nodded, giving me the reassurance to let him go. ~She'll be fine.~ I tried to reassure him. ~But what use are we if we find her and don't have the strength to fight. Paige wouldn't want us risking our own health just to find her.~

Jake and Milly at this point had both collapsed into the dirt, having been woken up early by Samurai to start moving to not even he knows were. Right now we aimed to get back to Petelburg City, only another hours or so brisk walk away where we'd go to the police and try to find if there is a known base for Team Aqua where we would be able to find Paige. It was a long shot but we refused to give up, just as Paige would if we were the ones missing. Gummie and Angel both started attempting to get food off of Jake and Milly as we were without Paige to feed us and without Pokéballs to return to.

After Samurai too sat in the shade of a tree, I looked around for Champ. He had a tendency to wander, but never far. He hid it well but I could sense his concern for Paige and Miku beneath his toughened exterior. The shiny Meditite was sitting on his own on an old tree stump, his legs crossed as he hovered slightly off the ground. I decided to leave him as he was, quiet and not disturbing anyone else's peace. So I sat next to my brother, leaning against him for support as I picked up a bowel of left over dinner from the night before. Although the stew was cold, it wasn't too bad. I don't think anyone really cared about the taste as building a fire to reheat it would consume time we could be traveling.

I was relieved that Samurai too had begun eating the leftovers, as well as Gummie and Angel who shared a bowel. Champ would not eat as it was normal for Meditites to only eat a single berry a day which he had done this morning. I worried for Paige and Miku, if they were being fed and if they were eating. More then once Paige had gone through such utterly depressed states that she wouldn't eat anything for days at a time. Even with consistent prompts from Samurai and I each meal, she wouldn't eat. Generally it would happen after a bad injury caused by Ghetsis but they had been spontaneous before.

~Now who's worrying hmm?~ My brother teased as I sat up straight, sitting aside my empty bowel to lightly bat at his arm.

~Not once have I said we should be worried.~ I argued, sighing softly as I gathered the dirty dishes which was my normal task after meals. ~I simply do not believe that we should allow our worry to interfere with our search.~

Milly let out her Poliwhirl to assist with washing the dishes, it only took a few minutes to complete with Jake washing with the assistance of Whirlpool while I assisted Milly with the drying. Samurai fidgeted anxiously the whole time, climbing a tree to survey the area before climbing back down and gathering up the rest of Paige's Pokémon. While Angel and Gummie played along with Samurai's anxiety, Champ did so purely for his own amusement.

Much to my little brother's relief, we finished the dishes quickly and after packing them away in Jake's travel bag, we were again moving on our way through Petalburg Woods and with it the hope that each step we took would bring us a step closer to our trainer.

~~~~~~🌺~~~~~~
Word count: 3502

Hello people, sorry but I was forced to update 'Find my courage' over 'Why us?' I had too much too write and wouldn't get everything right if I did a chapter of 'Why us?'. I'll do it next hopefully.

I might need to take another quick break to catch up a little before I get too swamped but for now I'll just see how I go.

As usual please vote, comment and keep on rendering on!!!