(Third POV)

The two boys walked down the corridor, every now and then glancing back at the two scientists they had apprehended, who were sitting tied back to back on top of a Pyroar. They were pretty impressed at how well they worked together to bring down the women, as the boy marked as a 'traitor' had stated they were near impossible to beat.

Yeah, The other boy smirked to himself. Impossible my ass.

"You know there's no way you can win." The woman dubbed Libra spat at them "If you thought we were difficult, then the rest of us will be sixty times harder! And that's excluding our boss!"

One of the boy's waved his hand at her in dismissal, not even sparing her a glance "Yeah yeah, whatever. I think we can manage, Keira."

Libra growled at him using her given name, instead of her codename.

"-YOU ARE, AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN THE REAL MONSTER BEHIND THIS!"

The group flinched at the sudden distressed yelling, which caused the two boys' heads to snap towards each other immediately. They looked worried, as the voice they heard was familiar to them.

"Megan..." They whispered.

Without wasting another beat they took off down the hall, Pyroar galloping closely behind them despite his 'riders' objections. Chest burning, the platinum haired boy pushed his legs to go faster, wanting nothing more than to rush to the supposed distressed girl's aid immediately.

They came closer to a closed door, but that didn't make them slow down by even a little bit. Bringing an upper arm each in front of them they collided with the obstacle, causing it to fly open from the impact. They slid to a halt, shielding their eyes from a blinding light illuminating the room. The platinum haired boy squinted at the source, noticing a humanoid outline in the middle clutching her chest. He gasped, realising what was happening as soon as he saw the man in the middle of the room.

Leven's words at the police station rung in his brain.

"JUST YOU WAIT, AETHER! SHE'S GONNA LOSE IT AND THE MOMENT SHE DOES, SHE AND EVERYTHING SHE CARES ABOUT WILL GO BYE BYE!"

No... Not now. I can't.... I can't lose her.

Unconsciously his legs began moving on their own towards the girl, his hand reaching out for her.

"Gladion, no!" Avory screamed, failing to grab the younger male as he dashed forward.

The shouts didn't reach his ears. Gladion pressed forward, desperate to reach the person he cared for. The heartache, the regret, the fear, all of it disintegrated after wrapping his arms tightly around her.

(Megan POV)

I gasped at the familiar warmth, recognising the person's scent as my face was pulled into their shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes with difficulty, wanting to know who this person was.

Is it...

I let out a shaky breath, recognising the person's hair. Familiar platinum blonde locks caught my eye. The french fry styled hair that I had never ever been so ecstatic to see before. For a moment I had forgotten about the burning pain clenching in my chest. My voice was shaky and dry, but I managed to let his name roll off my tongue.

"G-Gladion...?"

I felt him nod his head, his cheek pressed against the side of my head, his hand weaved through my hair, his arm locked around my waist pulling me even closer to him. He was shaking, and I soon found out why when something wet fell onto my shoulder.

He's crying...

"I'm here, love..." He whispered, pulling his head away to rest his forehead against mine "Don't let anger take over you, just keep your eyes on me."

Ba-Dump...

I whimpered, feeling a single heartbeat inside my chest. Somehow, the light around us dimmed by a small amount.

"It hurts..." I sobbed, eyes squinting as more tears fell from them.

"I know. But if you let it take over, he wins..." Gladion removed his hand from the back of my head to place it on my chest, seeming to wince at the lack of heartbeats "You're stronger than that. I know you are... You've never let your pain bring you down - never had let it take you over. I've always admired you for that..."

Ba-Dump...

I wanted so bad to hold him, but was unable to do so as my wrists were bound in front of me. Damn handcuffs...

"You don't have to be in pain anymore, Megan. He's nothing compared to you. He's nothing but a dick, while you're a strong warrior. You can beat this. You can beat him."

Ba-Dump...

He gasped slightly at the single beat inside my chest, and more of the light faded. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the pain.

Ba-Dump.

Ba-Dump.

"Y-You're doing it!" Gladion breathed out, feeling more beats against his hand. I clenched my jaw, holding back any whimpers threatening to escape my lips.

"F-FUCK YOU, DAD!"

Ba-Dump.

"NO MORE SHITTING AROUND!"

Ba-Dump

"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU BRING ME DOWN ANY LONGER!"

Ba-Dump

Ba-Dump

Ba-Dump

Little by little the pain subsided, and the light illuminating through my eyelids soon faded. I let out a large breath, finally able to breathe properly again. I opened my eyes, finding Gladion's watery green orbs staring directly at them.

"You did it..." He whispered, pulling away from me to cup my face with his hands "Oh my God you did it! You're alive!"

I laughed as more tears slipped down my face, reaching up to clutch one of his hands. "Thank you, Gladion."

"What for?"

"For bringing me out of the dark... It's thanks to you I was able to do it."

Gladion smiled, shaking his head and running his thumb under my eye "That was all you, I just gave you motivation." He then sighed, his voice cracking awkwardly as he spoke again "But... Next time you need saving, please don't be in the middle of near death when I find you."

I laughed "No promises, babe..."

I squeeze is hand softly, kissing the inside of his palm before falling into his embrace and letting him clutch me tightly.

"I love you..."

"I love you too..."

We heard someone clear their throat from behind us, causing us to turn our heads to see everyone staring at us. Yes, even the enemy had paused everything to watch our romantic moment.

"Hate to interrupt this beautiful moment, but-" Avory pointed towards my father and the other scientists.

"Right." I cough as Gladion pulled me to my feet, both of us extremely red in the face "This isn't over."

Dad chuckled, eying Gladion and I with his arms folded "Well well, love really can work wonders. But can it save you from my employees and I?"

"Maybe not..." Gladion said slowly, but perhaps... Prince use Psychic!"

As if on cue mine and all my friends' handcuffs fell off, leaving the scientists stunned. Lillie seemed to go into ninja mode, as she quickly headbutted Gemini in the jaw before landing a kick directly into Taurus's crotch. She caught Hau before he hit the floor, slinging his arm over her shoulder before making her way over to us. Sun scrambled over towards Ein, feeling his forehead to check how badly he had been poisoned. Avory rushed to his aid, pulling a Pecha Berry out of his pocket and giving it to his friend. Ein seemed to recover almost immediately, but his legs were still pretty weak and therefore leaned on Sun for support as they limped over to our side.

The said Pokemon jumped out of hiding, holding up his head proudly as his blue rings lit up the room.

"Prince!" I squealed, causing the dark type to turn to me with a massive grin.

'Megan!'' He ran into my arms, nuzzling my face happily 'I'm so happy you're okay!'

"How dare you!" Dad growled, his Dusknoir looking equally as pissed.

"Sorry," Gladion smirked "For not being sorry."

"Drapion use Pin Missile!" Scorpio commanded in a low growl.

"Pyroar counter with Flamethrower!" Avory ordered.

Pyroar shook the two women tied up on his back before unleashing a sea of flames from his mouth. It met Drapion's attack in the middle, and the two pushed each other back and forth until Flamethrower landed victorious. Drapion cried out in pain as it was engulfed in flames.

Little did we know, that was just a distraction.

"Gardevoir use Psychic!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly my friends and I couldn't move, as some kind of invisible bound kept us still. I clenched my jaw, trying to break free, but I was already pretty weak from the recent 'events'.

"Good work, Virgo." Dad praised the white and pink haired woman, who's Gardevoir had her hold on us. She smirked, nodding at him while giving my friends and I the evil eyes.

"Now..." Dad's eyes narrowed at us, lifting his hand to point at us "Dusknoir, Dark Pulse..."

The mouth on Dusknoir's stomach opened, and he held his hands in front of him as if holding an invisible ball. Purple energy pulsed between his palms, which he released towards us with great power. Lillie gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she held Hau in her arms. Sun and Ein gritted their teeth, bringing their foreheads together and closing their eyes. Avory and Gladion glared at Dusknoir head on. And me... I smirked at my father as the attack came towards us all in slow motion.

"Princess, use Ice Beam!"

Just as the attack was about to engulf us, an Alolan Ninetales jumped in front of us and sent an icy blast to block it. It was pushed back, and Dusknoir was hit right in the stomach sending it into a wall.

"Huh..." I blinked "Ninetales ex Machina."

(Guess who got her motivation to write back~! XD)