If this chapter gets confusing and Crystal seems to be in two places at once, you should know by the end of the chapter. And yes, I did mean to make it slightly confusing :)

     A week passed as I perfected my idea. Kevin came over once more to check on my progress, though he still didn't know what my ace was, and I told him it would work, and for him to come back in another week or so to start. The plan was for me to move to another cave with Lucario and Luxray out on watch, and for me to be in the cave I was in right now. Kevin didn't know this part. This will be interesting.

     Within the next week, Kevin had come in, made a show of getting me out of the tunnels, and giving me a bracelet that made my Pokémon abilities inactive, though it was switched off. He took note of my pale complexion and I brushed it off with a "I've been in the caves, out of any light," even though that wasn't the reason. My PokéBag and clothes were paler, too, but I shrugged it off. He couldn't know it was part of my ace.

     "They are right outside. Is your ace ready?" Kevin whispered to me while we were still in the darkness of the caves.

     "It's already activated," I replied in just as quiet a voice. Then we walked out, I made the pretense of being surprised to see Rockets surrounding Mt. Moon's entrance and Kevin blocking the cave mouth, which would be my only escape route. I faked trying to transform and failling, and then I saw Brandon again. He laughed triumphantly.

     "Fool! You can't trust anyone, especially if we promise them your ability!" he called, turning his gaze to Kevin. Until now his jacket covered his uniform, and when I turned to look at him I was grabbed by grunts and was blindfolded. Everything's going to plan, I though triumphantly, fighting the urge to smirk. They then got me into one of the vehicles that was surrounding Mt. Moon.

ΞΞΞ

     That morning I had called out Lucario and Luxray as planned.

     "Stay at the entrance, though still in the shadows. Let me know if you hear or sense anyone."

     They stayed, and were the in shadows on opposite sides of the cave mouth. I walked into the back and sat down to concentrate. I wore my PokéBag like I would when going out, even though I wasn't going to leave the cave. I closed my eyes and started concentrating, by now it was as easy as breathing. Immediately I felt different.

ΞΞΞ

     We took a long time to get to Celadon, though I knew we had to go through Curelean and Saffron to get to Celadon City, it still seemed too long. Then I felt the jerk of the vehicles coming to a stop, and suddenly I was pulled out of the vehicle. I was still blindfolded, but my hands weren't bound. Music then could be heard. The Rocket Game Corner. Perfect. The slot machine noise was always continuous, though right now there was none. It sounded empty. They cleared it just to get me here? We went down the stairs, and entered Team Rocket's maze of an HQ. We went down three flights, then they took me to what sounded like the center of the room. Uh oh. I remembered doing this during my first year as a trainer. I always came back and played here because I thought it was fun. The place was always empty, though. They came back here. They actually use this place again.

     Then all of a sudden, in the empty space around me, someone flicked a switch. In that empty area, I felt and heard something rising from the ground. This all happened in less than a minute, and I took my blindfold off. Dizzy maze. There were black tiles that no one could step around, and they were longer than I could jump. They changed it, so even if I had remembered the one I played in much, I would still be in the same problem.

ΞΞΞ

     I then stood up, looked at my clothes and hands. They were paler. I was paler. "It worked," I murmured, and Lucario nodded. "The ace worked."

     I left the cave I had moved to, and saw Kevin in the cave I was first in. "Ready?" he had asked.

     "I am," I replied. Even though I knew I was safe, back in the cave with Lucario and Luxray, I was still anxious.

     What if it fails, and I'm stuck, and can't return?

     What if they really find me, subdue Lucario and Luxray, and I get captured for real?

     So much could go wrong. But the same thing could've happened at Bill's, when I got my ability, I told myself. I got this.

ΞΞΞ

      I was in the maze. This time, however, I wasn't searching out Giovanni or whatever I had been doing. I was a rat in a maze. To make matters worse, Giovanni put Brandon in charge of this. Why him?

     Brandon sneered over an intercom. "Get started, Crystal. Unless you want something to motivate you." Playing that game, huh? Well, I'll ignore you until I see the purpose of this. I started looking through my options, three halls, and chose the middle one. Once I stepped on the black arrow tile, I was spinning, just as I had years before. Where I ended up was unknown, so I kept going around in circles. Often times I ended back at the center. Sometimes I could hear the voices of grunts. It was no use, though. These were much harder, seemingly changing, halls.

Then I had a startling idea. Are they changing? I was in the middle, the starting point, and I noticed that the three tunnels that went outwards were four, and they were different. I heard Brandon call out a sneer again, though I ignored it and called back calmly, "How am I supposed to get through if it is always changing and making me start over?"

     Everyone went silent. Do they really think I am so dumb that I can't tell when something is repeating? A mechanical noise that I hadn't noticed stopped, and I realized that it was always changing the maze. "Might be a good time," I murmur. Then I saw the other part of me that was back at Mt. Moon. Should I go now? They won't be able to track me. I noticed no surveilance, though I decide against it. I won't learn anything otherwise. So I kept walking through the maze, turning this way and that, getting dizzier and dizzier as I went on. Then I heard another flick of a switch and everything went black. "What happened?" I ask, loud enough that I could be heard by the grunts, Kevin, and Brandon. No one answered. "Hello?"

     Then I heard mechanisms starting up again. Then I was falling. Fear shot through me for a moment, but I fought it down. They couldn't afford to kill me. They want my ability and Pokémon. Then I realized that I had my PokéBag, although it was as worthless as a rock, they could kill 'me' and hope to have my Pokémon under Kevin's control. The thing was, I didn't know if I would actually die or simply vanish if I were to die in this state. No. That's not how my ace works for other Pokémon. I wasn't actually here, so surely I would just go back to the cave, where Lucario and Luxray were guarding the real me, wouldn't I? Lucario must've sensed my anxiety, as I heard his voice faintly as I continued to fall.

     You can't die in that state, Crystal.

     I thought I saw the outline of the cave we were in, along with Luxray and Lucario looking at me with concern, but in a heartbeat I only saw the blackness of the room I was in again, still falling.

     Then the lights came back on, but way below me. Once they were on, I noticed a slight breeze coming from below me as well, though as I fell it grew more brisk and forceful, still a breeze. I could see a light, or at least could see something, below me. I started slowing down, and then stopped, but I wasn't touching the ground. Or anything. The breeze that had turned to a strong wind as I fell kept me floating in the air, unable to move or attack. Though it was only keeping me suspended, it wasn't actually doing anything else. My clothes and PokéBag were still as though the wind didn't exist. Physics-defying wind tunnel?

     I looked around me now, and saw that the circular wall around me was glass, and through that I saw grunts, Kevin, and Brandon. Seeing the thoughtful look on his face, I took my turn to sneer at him.

     "So you keep me in a position where I can't get into trouble? What, are you running out of ideas after only one escape?"

     "Shut it," Brandon said, without any emotion, then added, "Kevin, you know what you have to do. This act will tell us whether you are with us or against us." Kevin was pushed towards my glass wind chamber, and we looked each other in the eye for one moment. Then I protested, "He's my brother! What do you think you can make him do?" which we had decided would be the same as saying, "Do it. I'll be fine."

     Kevin responded instantly and as emotionlessly as Brandon. "I will do what I have to. I want to be able to transform, too." He grabbed a plug, or a tube, I couldn't see which, and the air flow stopped. Then it started again. This time it was pulling air to the side of the room Kevin had plugged the thing into. They're sucking out all the oxygen! Then I felt heat. Lack of oxygen and intense heat... are they trying to make me pass out? Sure enough, my vision eventually started to brighten in a bad way and my stomach twisted. Eventually I could no longer see clearly and I could only see "static," causing me to be unable to stand.

     Then I was in a room. A cell. I passed out. The bracelet Kevin had given me was taken and instead I had tighter, thicker metal bracelets and anklets. It felt like they weighed me down, though I could move my arms and legs like normal. Panic rose in my chest. I looked at my hands and saw they weren't as pale as they were before, more flesh colored. I heard Lucario and Luxray silently gasp, then I sensed them next to me. But it was so faint, like the warm breeze of a summer wind. I tried to look back to where I was fading, in the Mt. Moon cave, but it was like lifting more than I was able or used to lifting. I suddenly saw nothing and was on the ground. I was panting. Bringing up a hand to my face, I felt sweat. This took so much out of me? I was tired, and in the small room I saw the corner of a bed. Crawling over to it and then climbing into it, I fall asleep instantly.

     I opened my eyes to the darkness of the Mt. Moon cave. Fear and relief pulsed through me, and I shut my eyes instantly. "What do I look like? Be careful, I'm here in a dangerous state." I say to Lucario and Luxray. "Be cryptic."

     "We can see you," Luxray's voice said softly and hesitantly. I heard her scrape claws on the cave floor.

     "We see through you, so you are moving. Make sure to keep concentrating. Next time, try to shift fully there." The way Lucario said 'there' told me he was trying to tell me to come back to Mt. Moon, not stray any father into the mess I've made. Then I woke up to someone calling me.

     "Wake up." Someone said briskly. I slowly get up, not feeling any more awake than I had when I went to sleep. "Huh?" Comes my response, thick with sleep. I heard the footsteps recede, and I figured this must've just been the wake up call. Something else would happen soon.

✦ ✦ ❦ ✦ ✦

     Sure enough, someone came to get me. Others were with him. They got me out of the cell, and, while the first one lead me and the others walked on my sides and behind me, we all headed through hallways I've never been in before. Surely my cell can't be too far from the glass wind tunnel? I've never passed out for more than a few minutes. None of these hallways led to the wind chamber, however.

     Then we came up to a door and the Rocket grunt in front of me suddenly stopped, me almost running into him. He knocked. After a few heartbeats of silence, a muffled voice said, "Enter," and I swear my heart skipped a beat. Giovanni again. The grunt stepped aside when the door slid open, and I was pushed through the door by the other people in my escort. The door slid shut behind me and I heard the faint click of a lock. The room wasn't much of anything, just an office. Nothing visible stood out. I could sense all the tech in the room, however. The walls. Celling. Where on the floor there were traps or cages. The only thing that was normal was Giovanni's own office chair.

     "Take a seat, Crystal." He gestured to another office chair. It was more luxurious than his own, but only by a small bit. It had cushioned arm rests and the back reclined if force was used. Both chairs were jet black with leather exteriors. It looked normal, nearly just like the Rocket leader's own.

     Silently, I walked forward, staring him in the eye. I moved like I was going to sit down, and I saw his eyes lighten just enough to confirm my suspicion. Then I kicked the chair over, revealing wires coming from the chair legs and the spot on the floor it was attached to. Still I kept staring at Giovanni. "Do you think my brain is a potato (haha Portal 2 reference (; )? Do you think I can't see a trap right in front of me?" Quick as a snake, I grabbed a pen from his desk, righted the chair, then threw it on the chair cushion. The pen had very little force behind it, but even so metal came out of the chair, made to pin the waist, neck, and wrists of whoever sat there. The measurements were specific. They matched a somewhat lean person. They matched me. I faced Giovanni after the chair had sprung its trap with a scowl.

     He sat there with the biggest grin on his face I've ever seen. But there was malice in his eyes, making the gesture somewhat creepy. Then I anticlimactically yawned. No! Don't show him you're tired!

     He noticed. "Simulation?" he asked, disgustingly eager. I stared cold and hard at him, without giving him any response. "I'll take that as a yes. Before you do that, I wanted to...talk." The hesitation in his voice told me that I was not called here to just talk.

     "Fine." My voice was emotionless. If my double team won't work, then I might as well keep up my charade until it does.

✿ ✿ ✿
You readers confused yet?
If so, good. 😏
If not, congrats on figuring out Crystal's ability before the end. That is why you weren't confused, right? 😐