Chapter 41

(P.S. Lawdy, there's a lot chapters :P This flashback is eight years after N left, and two years before Team Plasma's second rise to power)

White pulled her hood over her head. People were talking about the break in at Professor Juniper's lab, and it wouldn't be smart for her to show her face to the public. No one actually saw her do it, but four kids saw her face.

She leaned against a wall, watching the people pass by. Accumula Town was strangely busy for such a small place. White even saw people who looked like space men.

White stretched out her hand at a passing man, and she took the wallet from his pocket. He didn't notice anything and continued walking. She smirked as she withdrew the money from inside. She threw the wallet aside and pocketed the money.

Being a pickpocket was the only thing that she liked being. White was forced to be one after her brother left. It was a habit that she couldn't break, no matter how many times she was arrested. Even after Professor Oak caught her, she never stopped.

White picked up her guitar case next to her, and started to move into the crowd. People glanced back at her as she made her way through the crowd. She saw a few people whisper to each other as she passed.

"Hey, you!" a voice called from behind her. White looked around and her heart seemed to stop beating.

Two of the kids who saw her rob the labs were behind her. One was a boy with brown hair, and wore a blue jacket and a red hat.

The other was a girl with a black vest and white t-shirt. She had ripped jeans, and a white and pink baseball hat. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"What?" she snapped at them, "If this is some joke-"

"I've seen you before." the boy said. White glared at them. "I haven't seen you before." She lied.

"Blake!" said the girl, pulling at the boy's arm, "Let's go! We shouldn't-" But the boy, Blake, held up his hand to silence her.

"I saw you in Nuvema Town." He continued.

"So?"

"So I also saw you on Route 1 to. You had a Snivy."

"Small route. So what?"

Blake was scowling at her. "You are the thief that robbed Professor Juniper, aren't you?"  The girl's eyes widened. "Blake, don't-"

"Don't what, Rachel?!" he snapped, not looking away from White, "I remember her! She was near the lab the day Snivy was stolen! She also had a low leveled Snivy and a pokedex! Those were the items missing from the lab!"

White reached for one of her pokeballs, but stopped. She saw a glimpse of the one person she feared and hated more than anyone else. The one man she hadn't seen in eight years.

"Get out of my way!" White snarled, and she pushed the two kids aside and ran. People stared at them as Rachel screamed. White ran as fast as she could and shoved people aside.

She ran toward an alleyway and ducked behind a large trash bin. White collapsed and let go of her guitar case, making it fall with a thud. She grasped at the rainbow brooch clipped onto her brown scarf.

"It was your imagination!" She whimpered to herself, "He wasn't there! He was never there! He's gone! He's gone and he won't come back!"

White looked over her shoulder to see if anyone followed her. People were passing the alleyway, but no one was looking into it. She wheezed and fell on her knees.

Her side felt like it shattered, and her heart was pounding in her chest. White leaned against the alley wall, still clutching her brooch.

She hadn't seen N for eight years, and she hoped she would never see him again. White was ashamed of herself, always thinking that it was her fault that her brother left. No matter what Rapi or any other of her pokemon said, she always felt responsible.

White finally stood up from behind the trash bin and walked back into the crowded streets. She tried to avoid looking into anyone's eyes. She wanted to go to Route 2 before Blake and Rachel found her again.

Then she saw the space people. The same people that she had seen wandering around the town were standing on a large platform in the center of town. Then man in front wore long robes, and had something covering one of his eyes. To White's shock, he had long, light green hair like her brother. A crowd was listening to him speak.

White pushed through the crowd to try and reach the front. People snarled and hissed at her as she shoved them aside, but she ignored them.

Once she was close to the front, she stood behind a young woman and her daughter. The little girl turned around to look at White, but White pulled her hood over her face even further. The girl stared at her for a minute before her mother pulled her daughter away from White. White glared at her for a moment before turning her attention to the man on the platform.

"My name is Ghetsis," the man was saying to the crowd, "and I am representing Team Plasma. I am here to talk about Pokemon liberation. Many of you think and believe that pokemon are your partners and friends. Some of you have lived with pokemon all your lives. But do you think this is true for all pokemon?"

People started to whisper to their neighbors. White stared at the man. Her fists were clenched.

Was this man serious? White would be dead if her pokemon hadn't helped her. They had risked their own lives for her, and Ray the Lucario had died for her.

"People treat pokemon like servants, and they take selfish commands from them. Pokemon are hurt in battle, and are scarred from this. Is this how you treat your partners?" Ghetsis continued, "Wouldn't it be better to just let them go and be happy and free, instead of being imprisoned and tortured in battle? Please think about this. Thank you for your attention."

Then the space people, or Team Plasma, and Ghetsis walked off the platform. Everyone was discussing what Ghetsis said with each other. The little girl that had stared at White was crying.

"Does this mean I have to let my pokemon go?" she cried to her mother. "No, honey," the mother said leading her daughter away from the crowd, "Don't listen to them. He was just suggesting that we should let them go."

White set her guitar case down and put her hands in her pockets. She was furious with Ghetsis. Who was he to suggest that they should all dump there pokemon in the garbage? She would never consider releasing her pokemon unless she had to.

But all around her, people were doing what Ghetsis had suggested them to do. People of all ages were releasing their pokemon. The released pokemon were staring at their retreating trainers. Some tried to follow their trainers, but they would just shoo them away. The cries of the pokemon echoed in White's ears.

White stared at an elderly man that literally crushed the pokeball in his hands. A small Mareep escaped out of it and stared at the man.

"I'm sorry!" the old man sobbed, "This is for your own good!" White winced as the Mareep began to cry to. The old man stumbled away from it, leaving the small Mareep crying and wailing.

White bent down and put her hand on the Mareep's head. "Don't cry!" She begged it, "It's ok!"

"Why did he leave me?" the Mareep wailed, "What did I do wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong." White said, pulling the Mareep closer to her, "It isn't your fault. He just..." But she couldn't finish the sentence. Hatred toward Team Plasma burned in her chest.

"You should go and hide." She finally breathed, "I don't think it's safe here anymore." The Mareep looked frightened.

"Can't I come with you?" it asked. White's heart seemed to break. Half of her wanted to allow the Mareep to come with her, but she knew it would suffer from White's crimes if it came.

"I'm sorry, but it would be safer for you to hide." White said, letting the Mareep go. It gave her one last look before running off.

White straightened up and grabbed her guitar case. She felt sick. Team Plasma was tearing up the relationship between humans and pokemon. The speech was nothing more than a big, fat lie.

She turned away from the crowd and pokemon, and started to walk toward another dark alleyway. She would use Sky Blue's Kirlia to teleport to the next city. He had let her borrow the young Kirlia while he used Tiny the Espeon.

White took two pokeballs from her belt and tossed them in the air. With a flash of red light, Rapi the Rapidash and Shane the Kirlia appeared in front of her. Instead of Rapi's red fiery mane and tail, it was silver fire so no one would suspect that she was the same Rapidash that helped White steal the Snivy and pokedex.

"What happened?" Rapi asked, looking at her trainer. Shane spun around in circles around the Rapidash, not paying attention to them.

"A group called Team Plasma is trying to get people to release their pokemon. The leader of the group lied, and people were actually releasing their pokemon. They took him seriously." She explained bitterly.

Rapi looked shocked and concerned. "That's stupid!" She snarled furiously. White nodded and adjusted the guitar case on Rapi's saddle.

Suddenly, Shane and Rapi made noises of shock and fear. White looked around as the Rapidash reared on her hind legs. Shane stopped his spinning and was staring at the end of the alleyway.

"He's here!" Rapi hissed, her eyes huge. White felt her heart stop. "No... he's gone!" She wheezed, looking around. She didn't see anyone.

"Fire Spin and Protect!" White suddenly bellowed. Rapi screeched and a tornado of fire shot out of it. It surrounded the three of them and lit up the dark alleyway.

Then she saw it just before it attacked. A Zorua yowled and attempted to scratch at Shane, but the Kirlia had already surrounded the Rapidash and his trainer with a large barrier. The Zorua bounced off and screeched with fury.

"YOU!" White screamed at it, "YOU GOT SOME NERVE SHOWING YOUR FACE IN FRONT OF ME!" Zorua spat and growled at her. This was the very same Zorua that belonged to N, and had left with him eight years ago.

"Dark Pulse!" a voice yelled at the Zorua. "Keep the barrier up!" shouted White, and Shane attempted to keep the barrier standing.

Zorua yowled and a dark purple and black pulse flowed around him. But the attack bounced off the barrier as well. Zorua hissed and swore loudly.

Then he appeared at the end of the alleyway. The person White hated more than anyone else. The man who was supposed to have been her brother.

N.

His appearance had changed in the past eight years. N was taller than White, which wasn't surprising. He was three to four years older than her. He looked more serious than White had ever seen him before. N's long green hair hadn't changed though. Unlike White's clothes, which were dirty and ripped, his looked newer and cleaner.

Rapi whined and tried to run away from the fight. White knew Rapi didn't want to fight someone who had once been one of the closest things she had to a son, and White wasn't going to make her.

"Long time no see." N said quietly, walking toward her. White stepped back, staying close to the frightened Rapidash. She wanted to run away from him and hide, but that wasn't a option.

"Go away!" White snarled at him, trying to hide her face. "Why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Shane was still keeping the barrier up between them.

"What have you been doing for the past eight years?" her brother said, stepping closer. "None of your business!" White snapped.

"I hear that you stole a pokedex and pokemon from that lab in Nuvema Town." said N. White didn't reply right away. Her hand didn't reach toward the pokeballs on her belt, but toward the brooch on her scarf.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she sneered, "Turn me in? I would like to see you try."

"Why would I do that?" he asked. Rapi was trying to pull away from White now, but she kept a firm grip on the saddle.

"Because you're a power hungry idiot!" White shouted, and she spat on the ground from fury. N's face hardened, and Zorua snarled.

"Power hungry idiot?" he hissed, "What makes you call me that?"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE!" She screamed, "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST COME BACK TO ME AFTER EIGHT YEARS, AND EVERYTHING WILL BE OK?! NO! IT'S NOT OK! YOU LEFT ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! RAY EVEN DIED TRYING TO PROTECT ME! IT'S A MIRACLE THAT I'M STILL ALIVE! NOW GO AWAY! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"I-"

"GO, NATURAL! GO BACK TO BEING A PAMPERED LITTLE PRINCE! WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT ME?! OR DID YOU JUST COME HERE TO BRAG ABOUT YOUR NEW AND BETTER LIFE?!" White bellowed.

Rapi whined again and avoided looking at anyone. Shane was looking from White to N, seeing what each one was going to do. Zorua was trying to push through the barrier that Shane was still keeping up.

N didn't move. He was staring at White as if he couldn't believe he was seeing her. White shot him a leer before grasping Shane's hand and yelled "Teleport!"

White saw a last glimpse of her brother before the Kirlia teleported away from the alleyway. One of White's hands was holding Shane's, and the other was gently holding onto Rapi's horn. She had to hold some part of the Rapidash in order for her to teleport along with them.

Then White felt the ground again and she collapsed onto it. Shane let go of her hand and twirled around in circles. Rapi whimpered and staggered toward her fallen trainer.

White didn't get up when Rapi nudged her side. She wanted to die. All she wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die.

"Whitney?" Rapi whispered, nudging White in the side again. "Go away." She snarled, not looking up at her. She felt Rapi lay next to her.

"Where are we?" White asked. "Route 2!" She heard Shane reply in a sing song voice.

Rapi nudged her again, but White ignored her. "Can I see your face for a minute?" the Rapidash asked, and White could tell that she was annoyed.

White lifted her head up to look at Rapi. Rapi looked scared and shocked.

"Whitney, I'm sorry, but I don't want to fight him if you two see each other again."

"That will happen real soon, I know it." White interrupted, "Also, don't call me Whitney! She's dead, isn't she? Whitney Gropius is gone! Dead! I wish I was dead too! I got nothing to live for! My life is nothing but a big, fat LIE!"

"Don't say that!" Rapi said in a shocked voice, "You're still young yet! There is a difference between thirteen and-"

"I'm not young!" said White, tears sliding down her cheek, "I've faced more than any other thirteen year old! I've almost died! Ray actually died for me! I'm an adult! I have probably faced more than any adult!"

"White, please understand-" Rapi started, but White stood up.

"I'm tired, ok?!" She bellowed, "I'm tired of being tossed aside for being who I am! My father left me because I'm a girl! My mother left me because I had the talent to speak to pokemon! THEN MY ONLY SIBLING LEAVES ME FOR WHO KNOWS WHY! I'M TIRED OF BEING ABANDONED! THESE PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MY FAMILY! BUT NO! I APPARENTLY DON'T MEET THEIR REQUIREMENTS, SO THEY CHUCK ME OVERBOARD! I'M SICK OF IT, RAPI, I'M JUST SICK OF IT! I'M DONE! I WANNA DIE! NO ONE CARES ANYMORE! NOT EVEN GOD CARES FOR ME! HE JUST LEFT ME IN THIS BIG MESS!"

White fell back onto the grass and began to cry. She saw Shane stop his spinning and looked at her. Rapi moved closer and put her muzzle on top of White's head.

"I care about you." Rapi whispered. White didn't reply or move away. She was shaking violently. Everything had been to much for her.

Rapi bent her head and said quietly "Remember, White, that everything is just the dark before the morning. You still have many years to go. I promise you, things will get better."

***

White bent down over the pile of leaves in front of her. The grotto was dark, so she couldn't see properly. She pushed the leaves aside and found her guitar case hidden underneath.

"He chose a dark grotto, didn't he?" said Rapi from behind her. "Well, Sky Blue likes the dark. I sometimes like it to." replied White, picking up her guitar case and attaching it to Rapi's saddle.

It had taken an hour to find the Hidden Grotto that Sky had hidden White's guitar in. It was dusk now, and White still had to find someone she hadn't seen in years.

"How long will it take to get to Lacunosa Town?" White asked as she led Rapi out of the grotto and into the forest. "Thirty minutes." She said, bending down to let White get onto her back.

Once White got on to her back, she nudged the Rapidash's sides and Rapi started to run. Rapi was going slow for a Rapidash, but she was still probably going twenty miles an hour.

White pulled her hood over her face, and Rapi said "I don't like the way you look."

"I don't like it much either." She replied, adjusting her black gloves. "You look like one of those Veterans." said the pokemon, and White felt her shudder.

"That's pretty much the point." White snarled. Rapi didn't say anything. She could tell that Rapi was nervous about the meeting.

"It's not like you're going to fight him." She said, and Rapi jumped. "I-I know, but he is a bit intimidating."

"Nonsense. He likes you. Why would you find him intimidating?"

"It's... it's just his eyes. They scare me." Rapi admitted. White snorted.

They soon reached a beach, which was completely deserted. White shivered as she looked at the sea. Archy's mother was thrown into that sea and drowned there. Archy said they never found the body. The idea of an Arcanine skeleton laying at the bottom of the sea wasn't a comforting thought.

"There are the stairs." White pointed out, gesturing toward the concrete stairs that led up the cliff. Rapi nodded and leapt onto them. Her hooves echoed around them as they climbed up the steps.

When they reached the top, White got off Rapi's back and looked around. She could see the two fallen trees a head of them.

Rapi moved closer to her. White could feel her shaking. "Come on, let's go." White said, and she walked toward the two trees. Rapi whimpered and ran after her.

White barely got to the fallen trees when a large figure leapt out of the bushes. She screamed and fell to the ground, and Rapi reared onto her back legs.

The legendary pokemon Cobalion was howling and was trying to ram into Rapi. White hurriedly stood up and tried to stop Cobalion from flattening Rapi.

"COBALION, STOP NOW!" She bellowed at it. Cobalion froze. His horns were inches away from Rapi's chest.

"You... you are Whitney Gropius?" he wheezed, "But you don't look like her!"

"I am Whitney Gropius, or you sometimes know me as White Copperstone. The police and Team Plasma are looking for me, so I'm wearing this disguise. I think you remember Rapi." She said, nodding toward Rapi.

Cobalion straightened up, and his eyes seemed to be scanning the Rapidash. "You both have grown since I last saw you." Cobalion mumbled, apparently embarrassed by his mistake. Rapi shivered and ran next to White.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" White agreed, "Sky Blue said you were looking for me."

"I was." Cobalion growled, nodding, "I have heard that you are trying to stop Team Plasma."

"I am."

"Very good. Team Plasma as been trying to capture the legendary pokemon. Virizion, Terrakion, and myself included."

White glanced at Cobalion's side. She saw scars and bruises cover his body. Cobalion didn't notice.

"But, I'm afraid they are aiming for two legendary pokemon." he continued.

"Would this be two of you three?" Rapi asked him. Cobalion shook his head. "I wish it was." he sighed, "But Ghetsis is targeting two Dragon Types. White, you know of one of them."

White stared at him. He couldn't be talking about Reshiram. It was with Blake, and who knows where he was.

"But, you don't mean Zekrom, do you?" she said slowly. Cobalion nodded.

"But he can't be used!" gasped Rapi, "N has him! People can't use Zekrom!"

"They can." Cobalion said quietly, "Team Plasma is looking for Kyurem and Zekrom. They think your brother will come to them, so they aren't worried about getting Zekrom. I fear that they might already have Kyurem, but I don't know."

"Why do they need Zekrom and Kyurem?" White asked, "How are they able to control a pokemon that has already been captured?"

"Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are the legendary Dragon Types of Unvoa." Cobalion explained, "There is an item that can make Zekrom and Kyurem into one. Team Plasma doesn't know where Reshiram is, but they know that Zekrom is in the region. If they get a hold of Zekrom, Kyurem, and the item, Team Plasma will make a pokemon that can freeze the region solid."

White turned away from him. Rapi was staring into the distance, apparently thinking the same thing she was. White couldn't stop N from go after Team Plasma. He hasn't shown himself yet, but she knew he would meet them in the end. There was only one thing White could do.

"Where is this item you keep talking about?" White finally asked, facing Cobalion. "Opelucid City." Cobalion told her, "It's hidden in the gym there. But you're running out of time."

"Why?" she snapped. Cobalion shifted uncomfortably. He avoided looking into her eyes.

"Because," he finally said, "Opelucid City is Team Plasma's next target. They're attacking the city in three days."

(Nightcore Video - Set Fire to the Rain by Adele.

Video DOES NOT belong to me, belongs [I believe] to Minami Fansub.)