"I never seen this Pokémon before..." I said while petting my new hatchling in my arms "Have any idea what it is?"

"Not sure. It doesn't seem familiar to me" Lance held his chin "I haven't gotten the chance to travel much, so I can't tell you where it originated from"

"My aunt said it's trainer came from Sinnoh, but I know the Sinnoh Pokémon. This isn't it" I lifted the mysterious Pokémon up to look at it "I've read a lot about many other Pokémon, but this must be more foreign than I thought. Maybe from Kalos or Unova?"

"Who is there to say?" what can I call this Pokémon if I don't know what it's called?

"I'll have to focus on something else before getting to know your name. Sorry, but" I took out a Pokéball and pressed it on the Pokémon's head to capture "even if I don't want to, you'll have to be put to the side" I looked at the ball and hugged it "When this is over, I'll give you all my attention" I stored away the ball and faced Lance again "See? I told you it would hatch"

"A little strange how you knew that, but it happened. Let's take care of this mess so that little one doesn't learn to be aggressive because of the noise" I'm not sure it's going to be aggressive because of the noise if it's going to stay as my Pokémon... as far as I know, I'm worse than that Gyarados.

"It only just hatched. They can't hear for another hour and their vision is a bit blurry, so that's not really something to worry about. What I'm worried about is Team Rocket and their plan in messing up this economy" Lance looked at me "I won't let them get their way"

"Hm.." Lance looked at the shop "Well, keep that in mind. If Team Rocket really is involved here, it won't be easy to take on many at once. I have you here to help me"

"I'm sure there are more people out there that's better qualified than I am, but I'm glad you picked me. When it comes to Team Rocket, nobody else but him is qualified to take them down" Lance watched my determination "I will follow in his footsteps and make sure he won't regret saving my life" he frowned at me and we entered the souvenir shop, where there stood two individuals who immediately knocked my sanity out the door.

"The radio signal is coming from here!" Lance said, or at least I think that's what he said. All I saw was red... "You two, what is the meaning of this!?" Lance took a stance. I walked pass him, walking towards the two men.

"You two..." Pichu got off my shoulder, falling on her butt instead of her face, and went over to Lance's side "It's been awhile" The two men observed me for a moment before smirking devilishly.

"Well well well..." the two of them approached me. I stood still, eyeing them like a Staraptor "What do we have here? If it isn't the cute little kitty" I clinged my fist when hearing that disgusting nickname.

"I have a name" I spat out, trying not to snap "You two bothered going back to Team Rocket... Of course, any kind of decision you make is very stupid" I narrowed my eyes at them laughing.

"Tough words for someone who couldn't speak out before" I glared "Oh what fun those days were" one of them took my chin.

"Hey!" Lance yelled. I raised my arm to keep him out of this.

"Who's that? Someone who bothers putting up with you? Little kitty, you know you're not suppose to do that" the grunt holding me cooed "Ronan might be in jail, but it doesn't mean you're still not our property" my eyes widened "Our boss wants you, and we have no intention of letting you go again"

"I didn't come in here to throw myself at you" I glared angrily "You just happen to be here..."

"And how lucky we are!" The other grunt laughed "You have no idea how many times one of the others had tried taking you back" my neck was snatched "You caused a lot of problems... If you come with us, we won't hurt your Pichu again and put it into another coma on purpo-"

"Use Hyper Beam!" A sudden source of power had shot at the grunt standing beside me. Lance quickly jumped up and punched the grunt who was holding me by my neck. I blinked a few times before noticing what just happened "Valerie!" Lance grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. I slowly looked at him yelling my name over and over. I shook my head, coming back from reality and looked at my hands looking like they were ready to choke someone. I gasped and moved back.

"L-Lance..." I kept my hands to myself "W-What just happened?" Lance sighed and looked at the grunts he took care of.

"You were about to choke on that guy who had you by the neck. I couldn't keep letting this go any further" I hugged myself. I was about to choke the man without realizing..? What have I become..? "Valerie" Lance called. I looked over at him looking at me with a serious face "This might be too much for you. I recommend to leave and-"

"No!" I shouted "I will not leave! No matter what you say!" I looked down "I'm trying... I really am. I'm sorry"

"Who are these guys anyways?" I gulped nervously.

"They..." I gulped "What's a good explanation without giving too much away or giving too much information..?" I played with my fingers "They... hurt me in some ways when I was 13" there was so much into that story that I didn't want to remember.

"Some... ways?" He looked a bit nervous when hearing that.

"It's too much to say so suddenly..." I looked at my shaky hands. Lately, I've been able to control my anger, but it can't compare to the pure hatred I hold towards the men who played with me. They are the only ones I've been wanting to really get my hands on and hurt them, but to think... if Lance wasn't here, if that Kimono girl from before wasn't there... if my old coworkers and the police weren't there... I could had killed someone already.

"Valerie..." Lance walked up to me "Are you sure you can keep going?" I nodded. If I want to remain sane, the best thing to do is stay by Lance just in case I run into the other kidnapper I don't wanna see again and may snap again.

I pointed at the passed out grunts "These two were a problem, but now that the two are taken care of, I'll be fine now" he didn't look convinced. I only just met the guy and how personal can it get that I have to explain to a complete stranger that I only have these issues because I was taken advantage of and robbed from my childhood.

"You just let me know if you run into anyone else who might have wronged you" I frowned at Lance crossing his arms. It's like he read my mind or something... "We don't know what we're getting ourselves into, but..." he looked at Pichu smelling under a wardrobe "I trust you to trust me in protecting you while you help me on this investigation"

"You can count on me, Lance" I nodded "Thank you for understanding"

"Pe!" Pichu yelled out, pointing at the wardrobe. Lance went up to it and pushed it aside.

"Will you look at that. The stairs are here"

"Who would have thought there were stairs in such a small place like this" I said. Lance went over to lock the door and tie the grunts in rope "Can you trust rope to keep them stable?"

"I happen to have some good rope in handy. When you raise dragon types, you'll need something steady" I sweat dropped.

"I don't even want to know what you're into" he jumped and looked at me like I was crazy.

"H-How old are you again!?" I told him my age. He cleared his throat and walked to the stairs.

"Don't say sudden things like that" I chuckled and followed him down the stairs with his Dragonite and Pichu playing with her ears for some reason. I'm actually surprise the noise isn't bothering her and it's bothering Dragonite.

"Is the radio waves still active?" I asked.

"Dragonite is a bit grumpy, so it's certain" I took Pichu and looked at what she was playing with.

"Ear plugs?" I blinked confused "the nurse gave you ear plugs?" Pichu smiled "that's smart. No wonder you're looking better already, but it doesn't explain how you're back on your feet" I'll have to see what they did.

"Look at this" Lance said at the bottom of the staircase. It was a whole new area underneath the town!

"Don't tell me..." I gasped.

"Looks like we found their headquarters..." I took Lance's arm, keeping myself stable "You alright?"

"Y-Yes..." Pichu crawled off my body and started going downstairs "Let's follow!" I took his arm so we can start following Pichu.

"Where's it taking us?"

"Isn't it obvious? To the transmitter. She has a good sense of direction. Don't ask. I can't even explain" I let go of him so I could walk on my own. Pichu stopped when a few grunts came from the corner to attack us.

"Valerie! Ready for this?" He asked me.

"Totally! Let's go, Pichu!" Pichu came back to me to support me and Lance in battle. Though Lance did the hard work, Pichu had made it a lot easier to hit the target.

"Not bad" Lance smirked at me once we won "But that's not the battle I expect from a tiny Pokémon" he began running again on Pichu's lead.

"Pichu is a supporter! Once the transmitter is off, you'll see the full show with the rest of my Pokémon!" Eventually, we made it to the locked door that signed 'the radio transmitter'

"Glad we found it so fast" Lance said after reading the sign "it seems that this door can check the voice of the person saying the password before it opens..."

"Great..." I sighed "How are we going to-" a few more grunts came from each end of the hallways "more?"

"Take that end and I'll take this end" Lance pointed. I nodded and went off to battle the grunts that came from the hallway we just came from and send out Clefairy to help battle.

"Lance!" I ran to Lance after my battle when I spotted him chasing after a grunt that ran off "Hold on!" He turned the corner really quick. I turned to that corner and saw some stairs "Wait for agh-" someone grabbed me from behind and pressed their hand on my mouth to keep me from yelling out at my Pokémon who were running in front of me and didn't noticed I got snatched back.

I threw myself around to get free from whoever was grabbing me and moving me away from the stairs and towards an unknown place. No! Everyone! I'm back here! Help!

"G- off -f me!" I struggled to get myself free and was suddenly released. I fell forward and saw Silver staring down at me "Silver!?" I stood up "What are you doing in a place like this?" He snorted.

"That's none of your business, really" I guess not, but... "You always bother messing with Team Rocket. You must really like them, do you?" He arched his brow when I glared at his comment "Just kidding" he snorted "Look at me... making jokes"

"Why did you snatch me up? My Pokémon went on ahead without me" he looked down "What? What is it?"

"Gather your Pokémon and get out of here"

"Huh?" He turned away, annoyed.

"Look, just do as I say already. Your friend Gold is in the basement level of this place, locked in a cell" I gasped. Gold!? He's here?! "It looks like they captured him to lure you in. But from the look on your face, you didn't know"

"I didn't!" He rolled his eyes.

"Team Rocket is so stupid... They kidnap someone and don't even use him for the reason. Just do as I say and get your Pokémon and that guy out of here with Gold. You shouldn't be here"

"You still haven't answered my question on why" he grabbed my shoulders and pressed me against the wall, looking down with his hair covering his face.

"Don't make this difficult... It's hard enough doing this for you. I don't even know why I bother" I frowned.

"You care about me.." he backed off and walked off. I took his shoulder and quickly stood in front of him "Silver, don't pretend like you're the bad guy here. So what if your dad works for Team Rocket. You can make decisions outside his own"

"My dad didn't make me what I am today because he works here, it's because of what he did to me! I'm not weak, Val!" Val? "I'm already confused as it is... so don't make it harder!" He snatched my shoulder, showing how much he was shaking "I'm... so confused..." he slowly let go again "I don't know why I'm bothering to help you all the time"

"You said it's because I look like her... like who?" He stayed quiet for a moment.

"You look like my mom..." huh? "I don't know why... but I just have the need to help you, even if you're weak" he dug in his pocket and looked at a small picture "This is the only picture I have of her" he handed it to me. I took it and observed the blurry mess of a old picture that looked somewhat destroyed by a storm or something.

"You can hardly see her face" I squinted my eyes to focus on the picture.

"My dad said she died in a hurricane" he sighed. There were a few voices coming from the other corner "If you follow this hallway, you'll get to the bottom floor" he ran pass me to the hallway I came from.

"Silver!" I tried giving back the picture.

"I'll tell your friend or whatever he is that you're going your own separate way" he disappeared. He'll tell Lance? Like Lance will ever believe I'll volunteer to separate myself from him after what happened earlier.

If Silver is going after him, I won't be surprise that he'll challenge Lance to a battle. That'll keep them in place until I can find Gold. I still have my Pokémon on me after all... but all I have is Togetic and Meganium. I hope they won't get too sensitive over the radio waves.

I dashed towards the hallway Silver directed me into, passed a few grunts, and made my way to a resting area with vending machines and a lonely set of stairs going downward.

"Even grunts take breaks, I guess" I snorted to myself to lighten the mood and send out Meganium. As soon as she got out, she freaked out and started waving her head around. I used my own ear plugs to place into her ear holes by her eyes to keep her from hearing the waves too strongly. She calmed down a little and looked around.

"There there, you're okay" she looked at me "I'm so glad I came prepared..." I sighed, grateful I had ear plugs in my bag "Meganium, Gold is down those steps. Prepare to help me if anyone comes to jump us and stops us!" She nodded confidently.

"Lum!" She cried out. I looked behind me to make sure no one was around and climbed down the stairs to find my pathetic friend who got kidnapped by these idiotic gang. I'll give him a bone to pick if he thinks he can worry so many people like that. If someone touches him, they'll be sorry.