The first thing that ran through my head was, What the hell did I just do? She’s going to murder me now!

            I can’t say that I felt like the universe was crashing down around us or any of that romantic crap, because I leaned back away from Luna within seconds, blushing fiercely. She stared at me in shock. Gigi made a jealous-looking face and voluntarily went into her Pokéball. Well, that went downhill quickly, I thought. I needed an excuse. “Uh…aliens. Yeah, that’s it. Body snatching stuff.” Brilliant, Jared, really.

            “Sure.” Luna said, her cheeks tinged pink as well. “We’ll call it that. Must be the same for me, because I should be mad at you.” She looked down at her broken wrist, wincing in pain. Then she lifted her other hand and punched me in the face. “Guess I’m not possessed by the aliens anymore.” She snorted.

            “Jeez!” I groaned, rubbing my nose. “Was that necessary?” My whole body is going to be bruised by tomorrow…

            She frowned at me. “Yes. One, you assaulted me-”

            “Okay, that is not what happened. Don’t girls like it when the guy makes the first move?”

            “If you’ll let me finish.” Luna rolled her eyes. “I’m not a normal girl. And also, you lied. Twice. You had that coming for not telling me that you were actually Jared Wilson, and then why you kissed me. Body snatchers, puh-lease! I know you liked it.” She teased

            “N-no! Not at all. I told you, it was the aliens.” I stuttered. Luna snickered.

            “Okay. Well, the alien was a good kisser. Maybe I’ll kiss him again sometime.” New law of the universe: Women work for Satan.

            We sat in the bottom of the well for the next fifteen minutes, gazing silently up at the stars. It felt like a lot longer than it really was, because it was the very definition of ‘awkward silence.’ I kept glancing at Luna, expecting her to punch me again or something, but she remained quiet.

            I heard a sound, and suddenly someone was leaning over the well. Luna and I jumped to our feet, grateful to be finally getting out of this hellhole. “Stay calm!” A police officer yelled from above. “We’re coming to get you!”

            Within moments, about a dozen police officers were surrounding the well, staring down at me and Luna. I gulped at the sight of all the people, hearing shouting from above. When Bugsy said ‘help,’ he must’ve meant the entire Johto police force or something…

            A rope was lowered down, and I eyed it nervously. If that thing started to look like it was going to break, I would give up. I’ll just stay down here and let Team Rocket ransom me, rather than risk falling to the bottom of this well. And I was still concerned as to why they weren’t making any attempt to stop us from escaping…

            Once they hauled Luna up, I gripped the rope nervously. I clung to it, my knuckles turning white as the rope was raised higher and higher. It felt like an hour before I was safely on solid ground again. I think I must have looked really freaked out from being on that rope, because people kept telling me ‘It’s okay, you’re safe now! They can’t hurt you anymore.’ Which was bull crap. Even if that’s why I was terrified, it would not have comforted me in the slightest. It’s Team Rocket; they can do whatever the hell they want.

            Dawn was starting to break, and I could hear Pidgey chirping over the din of people rushing around. Police, other officials, and civilians were all trying to see what was going on. I even thought I saw a reporter, and I was quick to establish myself as a traumatized teenager so the news crew would leave me the frick alone.

            I found Bugsy and Luna in the crowd, and made my way over to them. “Guys,” I said quietly. “I don’t think we should mention Falkner if they ask us any questions. I would like nothing better than for him to be locked up like he deserves, but they’ll never believe us. They’ll think we’re pulling a prank, and probably start to wonder if we were even in danger. And I really don’t want to be arrested…”

            Luna sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Besides, this’ll blow over quickly if we avoid as much attention from the media as possible.”

            “Fine, but at least mention that they attempted to steal Pokémon. That way they’ll be more likely to investigate and find out about him on their own.” Bugsy pointed out. I nodded in agreement.

            “Oh. And if anyone says anything about me being almost ransomed…I’ll kill you. I have some dignity, you know.” I said, crossing my arms.

            “Okay, macho man.” Luna snickered, nudging my arm. “We won’t tell anyone.” Bugsy just rolled his eyes and sighed, his aversion to me apparently gone.

            “You two are completely oblivious to each other.” He shook his head. Luna and I shared a glance, and I cleared my throat before I could start blushing. Not that I would or anything! …Arceus help me if Bugsy ever found out about the kiss.

            I was beginning to have the feeling that the three of us were…friends, I guess you could call it? I don’t know. The only friend I’ve ever had before was Reid, and I can hardly remember why we hung out. Regardless, I was happy for the first time in ages. In general, I mean. This exact moment I was becoming increasingly pissed off, because police officers and reporters kept asking questions and talking over one another until I couldn’t understand them.

            “Why did you go into the well in the first place? Didn’t you realize that it could be hazardous, with all those unstable bricks?” A police officer questioned me.

            “My Pokémon was stolen, and the captor went down there.” I growled.

            “When you realized Team Rocket was in the Slowpoke Well, what was your reaction?”

            “I don’t see how our opinion is relevant to any investigation,” Luna replied to the reporter, her lips pursed. I could tell that she was getting overly fed up as well.

            “Well, then why don’t you tell us how you managed to get back to the ladder? Surely they must have made attempts to restrain you.” A gruff-looking officer said.

            Bugsy, Luna and I shared a look. A moment passed before Bugsy spoke in place of Luna. “We used our Pokémon to escape,” he lied. They would never in a million years believe that Team Rocket would let witnesses escape unhindered. And I was questioning that myself.

            “I see,” he responded, glancing around. “Let’s get you three out of here, before news crew and magazine reporters converge on you.” He sighed, shaking his head I had to smile at that one. Finally, someone who agrees!

*

            That night, we were offered two choices: Stay at the police station under witness protection, or remain at Bugsy’s guarded gym until it was deemed safe for us to leave. I bet you can figure out which one we chose.

            So, after we went to the police station where we were questioned for three hours (after they looked for nonexistent evidence, of course), ate dinner and showered the grime of that dungeon off- yes, I do shower once in a blue moon- we returned to Bugsy’s gym. It was around seven pm, and we were completed exhausted from getting hardly any sleep the past two days, so we just decided to be lazy and watch TV. Which is why right now I’m sitting in a sleeping bag on the floor of the ‘living room’ of the Azalea Town gym, watching a movie marathon on the independent films channel. Weird? Yes. But it was also a good break from the exhaustion of the past 24 hours.

            The three of us lay on the floor, intently staring at the screen. “C’mon!” I muttered at the main character. “Just kill the guy already! It’s obvious he’s the one who murdered your wife.”

            “Yikes, Jared. Dark.” Bugsy commented, also focused on the movie.

            “What are you talking about? It’s bright in here!” I scoffed.

            He rolled his eyes. “For one, that’s not what I meant. And two, the lights are off. It’s only the TV that’s lighting the place up.”

            “Whatever. I was just saying, I wish that people in the movies weren’t so stupid. They let their enemies get away with everything, all because they’re afraid of facing them.” I snorted. Bugsy and Luna shared a look and started coughing and clearing their throats.

I glared at the two of them. “Oh, shut up.” I turned back to the TV, but the movie stopped as the channel switched to commercial. Luna looked away from the screen and turned to me.

“Jared, gimme the popcorn.” She said, reaching for my bowl. For some reason, we were both just pretending that this morning’s…event had never happened.

            “Nuh-uh,” I stated simply, moving it away from her hands.        

            Luna narrowed her eyes. “I said, give me the popcorn. Now.”

            “But it’s mine,” I complained. “Where did yours go?”   

            “I ate it. Duh.” She took on a scary look. “I will ask you one last time. Please. Give. Me. The. Popcorn.”

            For a moment, I had an internal debate. Then, I stood up and held the bowl high above my head. “Ha! I’m way too tall for you to reach it. The buttery goodness is mine!” I said smugly.

            Luna smirked. “It is, is it? Well, then you’re my enemy. I’ll conquer you even if you are tall! What is it they say in fairy tales? Oh, that’s right: The bigger they are, the harder they fall!” And then she tackled me to ground, sending the popcorn flying.

            “Agh!” I screeched as I hit the ground. It didn’t hurt, but those few seconds in the air were terrifying. Luna crashed down next to me.

            “Ow…okay, I won’t be using that strategy ever again.” She grunted, glancing at the spilled food. The bowl had landed right-side up though, and there were a few pieces left in it. Her eyes lit up and her hand lashed out, grabbing the bowl.

            “Nooo!” I cried as Luna took the last handful and shoved in it her mouth, with a smirk. The second she did so, a loud electrical pop echoed through the building, and the TV went out.

            “Holy crap, Luna! You broke the electricity!” I exclaimed, sitting up and glancing outside. Every other building on the street seemed to be fine…

            “She did not,” Bugsy muttered. “Where’s the flashlight?” I heard him shuffling around, looking for said object.

            Luna was close enough for me to see her, and I crossed my arms defiantly. “That was Arceus saying he wanted me to have the last of the popcorn.” I couldn’t be sure in the darkness, but I thought I saw Luna roll her eyes.

            “Uh-huh. Because Arceus watches teenagers fight over popcorn in his free time.” She snorted. “Just do something productive, like look for the flashlight.”

            “No need!” Bugsy called. “I found it.” He flicked the light on, right in my face.

            “My eyes! I’m going to be blind if this keeps up,” I hissed, covering my face.

            “Sorry,” He muttered crossly. Suddenly, another loud noise erupted, and Bugsy dropped the flashlight with a shriek. The light flickered out as it hit the floor, but it didn’t matter, because the TV turned back on, fizzing with static.

            “What just happened?” Luna asked, plugging her ears. I shrugged, and suddenly the screen flashed. The static disappeared to be replaced by- oh dear Arceus- my brother. He was tied to a chair and looking like utter crap. Once again, the idiot had managed to screw himself over, apparently.

            A Team Rocket grunt was standing next to him, a ski mask over his or her face, with a gun pointed at Falkner’s head. Luna removed her hands from the side of her head, and the three of us stared at the TV blankly. A low, gruff voice came over the speakers. “If you want your precious fellow gym leader back, the six of you have until tomorrow at midnight to have Champion Lance meet us at Mt. Silver with $100,000 in PokéDollars. If the police show up, he dies.” Falkner sent a desperate look at the camera, before the signal cut out and the TV returned to static. A few moments later, it switched back to the movie.

            Bugsy, Luna and I took about five seconds to put it together in our brains, before looking at each other and letting out a simultaneous groan. This was Falkner’s backup plan- to ransom himself? If was that crazy, why didn’t he just do that in the first place? Well, actually, that much was obvious. He hates me. He probably played the 'outside connection' card until it failed, and then went to Giovanni with his ‘spur-of-the-moment’ Plan B. My brother deserves a really slow clap.

            Bugsy was the first one to speak. “’The six of you’…they can’t possibly mean us. Why would we believe that after what happened, or help Falkner even if we did?”

            “I don’t know,” Luna mumbled. Then she gasped. “Wait! I got it. ‘Fellow gym leader’…that was directed at the gym leaders of Johto, and Lance! This was probably the plan all along, when they were going to use Jared- to contact the gym leaders. Therefore, the police couldn’t get involved, and they’d have a good chance to take out Lance while they were at it.” She paused. “But they said six, not seven…I guess they’d already hacked into the gyms’ television signals, and forgot that the video would still be hooked up to Bugsy’s gym after they kidnapped him.”

            I nodded in agreement, and Bugsy started laughing. “That’s too good,” he giggled. “’If the police show up, he dies.’ What is this, a cop movie?” I snickered. It was pretty corny.

            Luna frowned at the two of us. “You know, even if Falkner’s not in danger, the other leaders are probably freaking out right now. And they told Lance to meet them in a remote, dangerous place. He probably believes Team Rocket, so he might go to save Falkner. What if they hurt him?”

            “Luna,” I said, composing myself. “Are we talking about the same Lance? Because I’m pretty sure that he can take care of himself. He’s the Champion.”

            She shrugged. “I’m just thinking out loud.”

            Bugsy yawned. “Let’s not talk about Jared’s stupid brother. It’s a waste of air.”

            “Exactly,” I said with a grin. “Let’s finish watching the movie.” Merely minutes after seeing my own brother taken ‘hostage’ by Team Rocket on live television, I was comfortably ignoring his existence while I watched an adventure movie.

            Yeah, my life is weird.