For the first time in Arceus-knew how long, I woke up on my own accord feeling fine. Well, "fine" was a bold word to use here. I still felt relatively weak, and my aching chest reminded me that I needed to be careful about re-breaking my ribs, but I didn't feel nearly as sick as I had previously. Things were looking up, if marginally.

   Upon awakening, I automatically called out to Meteor before remembering that his presence was no longer with me. In an instant my heart was crushed all over again. Tears swelled in my eyes while a singeing feeling of anger arose in my chest.

   I closed my eyes, trying not to choke on the turbulence within me. How was I going to function without my partner? His absence was unlike the emptiness one felt when losing a friend or family member. It was so much more that, vital almost. It was like losing a limb, or your sight, or hearing!

   But as much as I wanted to crumble into a sobbing heap, I knew that I would have to adapt to this change. After all, those who were unfortunate enough to lose their limbs or senses learned to function without them. I still had all of those things, I had no excuse to give up. And Meteor wasn't gone forever, I knew I would get him back one way or another. Liam's promise had given me a newfound hope that I desperately needed.

   I waited for the next time the cell door would open, hoping that it was Liam delivering news about Meteor or my possible escape. I slept twice more, signaling the passing of possibly two days.

   After two more times of getting beyond a full-night's sleep, the images I kept seeing of Mom outside of my thoughts stopped occurring. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, I would never stop seeing her in my mind. I surmised that the hallucinations probably had something to do with my sleep deprivation, and I was thankful that they had ceased.

   On that third(?) day, in place of the miscellaneous Insurgent members that would bring me my meals, in walked Liam with the usual tray of food. He set it down on the table, and as he did he caught my eye, quickly glancing at a particular dish on the tray and back to me. He then left without a word.

   Pretending like I wasn't in a rush, I took my time getting up and walking to the table. A simple bowl of soup and crackers along with a bowl of mixed Razz and Pecha berries and a bottle of milk awaited me. I immediately spotted the corner of a folded-up paper tucked beneath the rim of the soup bowl. I was in no mood to eat anything, but I didn't want to appear suspicious.

   As I ate, I slowly shimmied the paper from under the bowl where I then tucked it in my pocket. With the camera watching, I couldn't be cautious enough.

When I got to the berries, I noticed a peculiar metallic shimmer at the bottom of the bowl. It was soon revealed as two small keys on a ring. I wouldn't be able to get the keys into my pocket nearly as easily. I knew whoever was watching the camera might become dubious if they saw me staring into a bowl for more than five seconds, so I did what any logical person would do. I acted like nothing was wrong and put the keys in my mouth like they were nothing other than more berries.

   Obviously, I didn't swallow them or anything dumb like that. I sat there for a few moments longer, the keys' coppery taste making my taste buds curdle. I needed to keep up the act. Maintaining my façade of nonchalance, I stood up and entered the bathroom where I knew there weren't any cameras.

   Once inside I closed the door and spat the keys out into the sink, turning the water on them right afterwards. The gross taste of metal still clung to my tongue, and I rinsed out my mouth while the keys were cleaned off. I then took the paper from my pocket, unfolding it to its complete length.

   I'm sorry to say this, but I was unable to retrieve your Metagross. Valerie has made him part of her team, and he's with her at all times. However, I was able to retrieve your other Pokémon and the rest of your items. I hid them outside near an emergency exit. The keys I have given you are for the locks on your cell's door. At 11:00 tonight I'll short-circuit the building's electrical system. The commotion will both down the cameras and hopefully draw enough attention from those who are still awake for you to escape.

   To get to the emergency exit I spoke of before, when you exit the cell make an immediate right and three doors down on the left you'll reach the door for the stairwell. Take the stairs four flights down and you'll be on the first floor. Exit the stairwell and make another immediate right. Follow the hall to its end and you'll be at the exit. You will have five minutes at the most before the backup generators start up, so make haste. Again, I am sincerely sorry that I couldn't get back your Metagross. I wish you the best of luck, Hoenn Champion.

   Hoenn Champion... I hadn't been referred to by that title for so long. I had nearly forgotten that I was the Champion. But when I read the first line of the note, I knew I wouldn't be able to proceed with the plan. I wasn't leaving without Meteor.

   Y-you have to think a-about th-this rationally! Orbit said, having read my mind.

   What is there to think about? I refuse to leave without my partner, I stated, crumpling the note.

   But L-Liam is going out of h-his way to help y-you! Be l-logical!

   I don't care! I'm not leaving him to suffer as one of Valerie's puppets! I objected. I'll stay and suffer alongside him!

   Think about wh-what Meteor would s-say if he had a say i-in this p-plan! Orbit argued, his voice stern. Wh-what would he w-want you t-to do?

   At that, my stubbornness melted away. I sighed, not wanting to admit the truth. I know. He would want me to leave him so I could escape.

   E-exactly! the Claydol exclaimed. We'll escape and c-come back for h-him once we have help on our s-side.

   I just don't want to leave him...

   I don't e-either! B-but it's better to l-leave than deal with Valerie f-for any longer.

   My heart sank in reluctant acceptance. Okay, I'll leave. If it's what Meteor would have wanted, then I'll do it.

   I un-crumpled the note and reread the navigational instructions until I had them memorized. I then smoothed the paper out before refolding it the way it had been originally and putting it back in my pocket along with the keys. My PokéNav had died ages ago, so I had no way of telling the time. But I was going to try preparing for this regardless.

I made sure everything was in my bag before sitting back down on the bed, shoving my goggles under the pillow. I was going to need them. Everything finalized, I sat back, made myself as comfortable as I could, and waited.

   I was caught completely off-guard when it happened. One second I was talking with Orbit, and the next I was plunged into darkness as the lights abruptly cut out. I sprung off the bed, snagging my goggles in one hand and my bag in the other. As I slipped them on, slight commotion could be heard in the hall, fading into silence quickly.

   The familiar green filter flooded my sight when I activated the night vision, and I wasted no time in unlocking the door. I opened it a crack and listened to make sure I wouldn't be stumbling out into immediate failure. Nothing. I left the room, Liam's instructions looping in my mind.

   Immediate right, three doors down, on the left...

   I found the aforementioned door, a sign mounted on the wall beside it reading "Stairs." I cautiously opened it and entered the pitch-black stairwell. A flurry of footsteps and voices rushed up a floor beneath me, the piercing beams of flashlights flickering about the gray walls. I flattened myself against the wall, my hands flying up to cover my nose and mouth and muffle my breathing.

   The noises continued for a heart-pounding few seconds as whoever was on the stairs raced down them. A door opening, scuffling, some shouts and utterances of curses about how dark it was, and the same door closing. I again waited a moment before proceeding, praying that they hadn't gone to the first floor.

   My feet scuffed on the stone staircases as I made my way down them, going faster than I would normally dare on stairs. An invisible countdown ticked menacingly in my mind's eye, every second passing further increasing my chances of me being caught and dragged back to that Arceus-forsaken cell.

   The slightest of noises echoed at thrice their original volume, each one making me cringe. The creak of a door opening above me rang out, the sound reverberating down each flight like a wave. A horrible wash of dread came over me and I picked up my pace. Floor three... floor two..!

   "Damned circuit breakers! If any of the subjects escaped I'll haul them back myself and wring the necks of whoever let them out!"

   My heart leapt into my throat when I heard Valerie's voice. Distracted by the entrance of the person I feared and hated the most, my foot slid out from under me. I scrambled to grab whatever I could, and my hands snagged the railing, saving myself from tumbling down to the next landing. The noise was horribly loud, though, and I knew it was impossible for her to have not heard it.

   "What was that? Who's down there?"

   I held my breath, my chest clenching.

   "Lady Valerie, perhaps you were hearing things?" Andrew's voice was the next I heard.

   She didn't respond right away. I knew I couldn't stay here for much longer, I was running out of time! "No, there's someone down there..." Valerie said. "Give me a light, Andrew dear."

   No! I hauled myself to my feet and practically flung myself down the stairs.

   "I knew it!" Valerie exclaimed triumphantly. The brilliant flash of a Poké Ball activating lit the stairwell four floors up. "Absol, catch whoever's down there and bring them to me!"

   An eerie howl sounded from above, chilling every last drop of blood in my veins. I couldn't let fear cloud my focus and I concentrated on the potentially dangerous architecture I was traversing. The hair-raising sound of claws scraping against stone rapidly descended, clearing half a flight with each step I took.

   Panic took hold of me the last few steps I had to take and I almost fell down onto the first floor landing. My momentum pitched me forwards and I righted myself in time to avoid a head-on collision with the stairwell exit. I heard ferocious snarling right behind me by the time I got my hands around the doorknob, and I wrenched it open. I threw myself into the hallway beyond it, slamming the door behind me and taking off in a frantic sprint.

   I wasn't alone on the first floor. Several flashlight beams were drawn to the racket I was making, and their bearers gasped and shouted when they caught sight of me. Meanwhile, my attempt at closing the stairwell door hadn't been fast enough, and Valerie's Pokémon burst out into the hall after me.

   I cried out internally when I heard the mounting commotion around me. Then I caught sight of the exit Liam had spoken of. I blitzed towards it, feeling the puppet Absol on my heels along with the Insurgents who had realized I was escaping. Blood roared in my ears as my heart felt about ready to burst from the stress and pressure it was forced to endure, and the rest of me wasn't faring much better.

   The exit door had a wide metal bar spanning its width, showing that it needed to be pushed to be opened. I turned my shoulder to face the door, letting it take the full brunt of the blow. The bar gave and the door was flung wide open. I tumbled onto the ground outside, rolling across a mixture of flagstones, pebbles, and dry grass. I didn't have time to rejoice that I was outside as there was still a vicious Pokémon after me, and that Pokémon had also left the building.

   My eyes frantically searched the bushes lining the building as I got to my hands and knees, my ribs crying out in pain from the blows they received when I fell down. I then spotted a bundle of cloth adorned with eight small pieces of metal and a stickpin half-hidden in a shrub.

I dove for my jacket, five minimized Poké Balls spilling from inside it when I pulled on the darkly-colored article. I reached for the first spherical capsule I laid eyes on, which enlarged when my fingertips grazed its center button.

   "Soll!"

   I twisted around onto my back, eyes widening in terror at the white-furred puppet Pokémon bearing down on me. Its eyes almost seemed to glow against the fine dark fur on its face, violent twitches further twisting its unnaturally cocked neck. Its mouth was wide open to display razor-sharp fangs.

   Don't you dare! The Poké Ball I had enlarged burst open, and Orbit appeared between Absol and me. His red eye-like markings pulsed orange, and sharp spires of earth sprung from the grass under Absol. It was flung into the air and away from us.

   "O-Orbit..." I stuttered, shuddering violently.

   We h-have to go now! he ordered. I nodded and forced my feet under me, trying to stand while ignoring the persistent weakness in my legs. I had gathered up the rest of my teammates and just sent Maverick out when the emergency door opened a second time.

   I didn't bother looking to see who it was, it would have cost me whatever time I had left. I flung myself onto Maverick's back, grabbing hold of the metal ridges on her neck. "Maverick, go!" I cried. She didn't hesitate and shot into the freezing night air.

   A minute into our flight I managed to get into a more stable position atop Maverick's back, my fingers jammed securely but uncomfortably between the metallic plating. It clearly wasn't safe in Mossdeep. I had to go somewhere else, but it couldn't be too far away.

   M-maybe Sootopolis? Orbit suggested.

   No, it's too far from here... I answered, the next closest city coming to mind. "Maverick, head towards Lilycove, and use Agility as much as possible!" She looked back at me, concerned that I might be swept off her back as a result. "I-it's fine! I'll be okay once we get help..." I bowed my head and shoulders, bracing for what was to come. Maverick cawed quietly, then began increasing her Speed. The winds sweeping around us became hurricane-like, and I had to use every last ounce of strength I had to not let go.

   It seemed to take forever for the wind to ease up, signaling that we were approaching our destination. Finally, the gales ceased and Maverick touched down on solid ground. I practically fell off of Maverick, hitting the grass with a thud that knocked the wind from my lungs. I could hardly bring myself to move. Within moments I descended into shivers, but they didn't last for long as I then pulled on my jacket.

   Night vision revealed an empty neighborhood-style street with very few streetlights illuminating it. We were nowhere near the downtown part of Lilycove. I shoved down a sob of frustration and despair. Nothing was going right! But I then recognized the structure and shape of the cookie cutter houses. This was where Faye lived. In fact, where we had landed was where Faye had revealed her true name and past to me.

   I allowed hope to light in me and I recalled Maverick in favor of River. Vinya couldn't run nearly as fast as her partner, or at all. I didn't believe I was out of the woods yet. The Insurgents could have been coming after me right then, and I wanted the security of one of my teammates at my side.

   House after house passed, each not ringing any particular bells within my memory. I remembered one detail about her home, and I was depending on that detail to save me. Then I saw it, the marble Skitty statuette on a porch. The dying flowers planted beneath the front window's windowsill proceeded to conjure more recognition. That had to be it.

   I stumbled up the pathway, my vision spinning and my legs feeling like they were about to give out at any moment from sheer exhaustion and underuse. River had to hold me up, and I mentally thanked him for it.

   Raising a shaking hand, I pounded on the front door. A minute passed, then two. Knocking, knocking, knocking, and still no response.

I didn't want to say it, but the thought left me regardless. "Sh-she's not going to answer, is she?" I whimpered, despair drowning what hope I had. River looked like he wanted to agree but was afraid to do so.

   Then, as if by some miracle, I heard the sound of the front door unlocking accompanied by muffled angry mutterings. River and I were bathed in dim yellow-white light, and Faye's voice gasped my name loudly.

   "Steven? How the... Wh-where have you been all this time?"

   I kept my eyes on the ground, half-blind from the sudden light. "C-can I explain later? I-I can't—" My legs gave out, and I collapsed forwards, both River and Faye catching me.

"Okay, the explanation can wait a minute," Faye said, helping River pull me into the safety of her home.

A minute or so later I was seated on Faye's couch in her dimly-lit living room, a comfortingly warm blanket wrapped around me. I watched her move about the kitchen, which was separated from the living room by a waist-high wall, until she reentered with a glass of ice water.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked, offering me the glass. I numbly nodded and accepted it as she sat down beside me. We stayed quiet for a while, me staring down at the rings on my clasped hands, trembling, while Faye waited for me to say something. By then it had fully sunken in that I had gotten away and that I was safe, but I didn't feel happy about it.

   "How... how long have I been gone?" I asked.

   "Almost three months," she answered. "A week after you went to Rustboro and didn't come back, I became concerned and went to see if everything was okay. I saw that nobody was home, and after hearing from some neighbors that the same two lights and no others had been on for two weeks straight, I got the police involved. We've been searching for you all this time."

   "Three months..?" Those words sounded unrealistic to me.

   "I know, I'm shocked, too." Silence reigned for a moment more. "Steven, what happened to you?" she then asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

   I didn't, I honestly didn't want to tell her. But it would have been moronic if I didn't. "When I got home, I found a note from the leader of the people who attacked us in Mossdeep. She said she had my parents, and I had no choice but to give myself up to them or else they would be... killed..."

   From there I told her the whole story. Mom being murdered, those horrible weeks spent in that cell, how it felt like I was losing my mind, watching Meteor becoming a puppet, being beaten within an inch of my life, everything. By the end of it I had crumbled into a sobbing mess, crying about Meteor, Dad, and how awful I felt for inadvertently causing Mom's death.

   Faye sat there with her hands covering her mouth in shock. "I-I'm so sorry, Steven!" she gasped. Without warning she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. I didn't care that she did this and let myself be embraced, swimming in the bliss and comfort of true human interaction after such a long period of isolation. "I'm so, so sorry you had to go through all of that! But you're okay now, everything's going to be okay!"

   I didn't say anything in response, just cried. And that was all I did for a while.

   Minutes later, when I had cried out every last tear I could shed, Faye let go of me. "Do you feel any better?" she asked gently.

   I nodded, wiping the remnants of my tears away. I didn't have the energy to feel ashamed or embarrassed. "Yes, your concern is very much appreciated." She cracked a smile, and I managed to smile back, if to simply lighten the mood after crying my eyes out for ten minutes straight. Now that I had mostly calmed down I wanted to sit in this peaceful silence forever, but Orbit had other thoughts.

   I s-say we now begin p-planning our next course of a-action, he said to the both of us.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Faye said. "Steven's exhausted, and any more activity could really hurt him." I didn't like that she spoke for me, but I also didn't disagree.

   You're r-right, Orbit responded sheepishly. Sorry.

   "Do you think you'll be okay out here?" Faye asked me. "You could take my room if you want."

"N-no, I'm fine out here," I said. "But can I ask you something?"

"Anything," she answered.

"Could you..." My face reddened. "C-could you please stay out here with me? I know I could let my Pokémon out, but I-I just want to be around another person."

She smiled softly. "Of course, Steven. I understand." She moved to the large armchair that sat adjacent to the couch. "I'll stay out here all night if you want me to."

"Please, and thank you," I said. I closed my eyes as tears of relief threatened to form. "Th-thank you..."

—~*~—

Liam was in complete darkness. The wall against his back and the ground he sat upon were all he had to remind him that he wasn't unconscious. He nearly had been rendered as such when he was found out.

When he was caught in the basement with his Manetric surrounded by shorted-out electrical equipment, no questions were asked or needed. Sure, he had planned on getting out faster, but he didn't account for there to be so many of his subordinates so close to his location.

    He smirked, pain twitching in his busted lip that bled a thin line down his chin he couldn't wipe away. How could he? His bound hands disabled him from ridding his face of the unsightly crimson streak. The right side of his head and shoulder also ached from when he had been rammed into the wall during his "capture."

Afterwards, he had been dragged upstairs and thrown into the very cell he had helped Joseph's son escape from. But the lights weren't on, and there certainly wasn't someone willing to save Liam.

   The door opened, spilling light into Liam's world of black. He raised his gaze and saw three human silhouettes in the doorway. The much taller one tilted its head, allowing Liam to see its facial features, outlined ghoulishly by shadows. 

   "Lady Valerie would like to see you," Andrew said, grinning devilishly.

   Liam maintained his smirk. "Anything for my Lady," he said, chuckling. The two other Insurgents entered the room, grabbing Liam and hauling him to his feet. They roughly hauled him to Valerie's office where she was waiting, her Gallade at her side. Liam was forced down to his knees before her, but he still looked his boss in the eye unflinchingly.  

   "Liam dear, I simply cannot believe you would do something like this," she said, shaking her head disapprovingly.

   Liam saw through her false softness instantly. "Pardon my next choice of words, but I would rather you do as the kids say it and, 'cut the shit,' if you will," he retorted. "I'm expecting a punishment. Where is it?"

   "Punishment? You put it so lightly, Liam dear," Valerie said, her smile fading. "'Punishment' is such an understatement of what I'm going to do to you, traitor!" she screeched, delivering a stinging blow to his face with her open palm.

   Liam hardly flinched. There it was, the attitude he once feared but now couldn't care less about.

   "I trusted you, Liam!" Valerie cried furiously. "I took you in when you were an emotional wreck, promising you the vengeance you wanted, gifting you the position you desired, and you stab me in the back four years later? I thought you said your wife was your world! How dare you disgrace her!"

   "You're correct, my Lady. She was, and still is my world. And yes, I said I wanted to avenge her. But I didn't want to kill anyone else or take someone hostage to accomplish it."

"I was trying to protect him!" Valerie yelled. "You know that!"

"No, you weren't!" Liam's smile turned into a disgusted scowl. "I couldn't stand sitting around and watching you mentally torture that boy, it was sickening! And then you wound him, leaving him for dead without so much as a thought of how that would affect anyone other than yourself." He shook his head. "That is why I helped him. Unlike you, I harbor sympathy and empathy, I have a soul!"

   "Is that what you think, then?" Valerie said, her voice low and deadpan. Liam didn't answer. He had said his piece. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw the blades on Gallade's arms grow and sharpen. He smiled softly, knowing his fate was sealed.

   Eliza...

   "Nothing else to say? Then I guess we're done. You said you wanted punishment, and I'll gladly give it to you." Valerie frowned mournfully. "You were a wonderful admin, Liam. We'll all miss you."

   I hope you can forgive me, Eliza...

   "Gallade, Slash!"

   I'll see you soon.