WARNING! This chapter might be a bit sensitive.

Your friend rushes to hug you as soon as she lays eyes on you.

"You're suffocating me!" You whine.

She loosens her grip.

"I'm sorry. I thought Steven would've killed you by now!" She states, wiping her eyes. "I was so worried!"

"Kirlia would beat his ass" You shrug, giggling.

"I don't think you're wrong" She pets Kirlia's head.

•••

May closes her locker. She's still a little lightheaded because of Brendan and the good effect he has on her.

And yet, Steven still manages to crawl inside her thoughts.

She didn't even bother to look at him as he walked into Spanish class.

He's not worth it. He treats you like crap. Don't run after him.

But she wanted to. She wanted to sit down and talk to him. She wanted to help a friend out, help to work out his issues, and ignoring him was hard.

•••

The man slams his hands on the table.

"What do you mean 'they're gone?'" He yells out in anger, spit coming out of his mouth.

"I-I don't know, s-sir. The grunt went over to the woman's cell and she was just gone, along with her husband" Rebecca stutters. Her whole body was shaking.

"Well, someone better find them!"

He takes a deep breath.

"Tell the girl to come here. I need to teach her a lesson."

Rebecca widens her brown eyes, unable to move.

"What are you still doing here? Go!"

"Y-Yes, sir."

•••

You follow your friend back to her house in Oldale City. You liked it here. It was small and really calm.

"Wait for me!" Your friend yells.

"Move faster, Slowpoke!" You mock, starting to sprint towards Petalburg's Pokémon Center.

She throws a leaf at you.

"You're a terrible friend, (Y/N). I'll ask Steven if he wants to replace you."

"Don't count on that one" You hide a smile.

"Idiot!" She throws a Hard Stone at you, hitting your shoulder.

"Ouch, you idiot!" You cry softly, picking the Hard Stone up and throwing it at the sea. "At least Steven won't have a problem with rocks."

Your friend laughs at your accurate statement.

"Keep going, Murkrow, we're not far from your home" You drag her through route 104.

"Why can't we go to your home? It's closer to the Trainer's School" She whines.

"We just... can't, yeah?" You stutter, gulping. "Let's change the subject, shall we?"

"No, (Y/N), let's not" She steps in front of you, blocking the way. "You have been acting weird for months and I have been patient enough to give you space, but you're concerning me. Heck, even Steven is worrying me. What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything. Who knows what Steven's deal is..." You shrug.

"You're avoiding the subject..." She sighs, slightly disappointed.

"I don't want to talk about it because there is nothing to talk about!" You hiss. Your friend hugs herself.

"Yeah, fine..."

You notice how upset she is, but you can't risk her safety by telling what is going on.

"I need to go..." You lie, grabbing your backpack from your friend's hand.

"No, (Y/N). It's fine, I get it."

"I need to... go somewhere..."

With that being said, you took off to Petalburg Woods.

•••

"I had so much fun today!" May states. "Here you go, Max. A Ralts doll!"

May grabs the doll from her bag and hands it to her brother. Max hugs it tightly.

"Brendan got it for you."

Max raises his eyebrows, giving his sister a suggestive look.

"Brendan, eh?"

May's blood flushes to her cheeks.

"Y-Yes, Max, B-Brendan did it. You should thank him later" She stutters, embarrassed.

"Oh, look! May's blushing!" Max points out, laughing really hard.

"S-Shut up, stupid."

May turns around to place her brand new Torchic doll on her bed, trying to hide her ruby coloured cheeks. Max is still giggling at his sister. Her crush on Brendan was showing, and he's glad to know it is not one sided anymore.

•••

"Steven, you're finally here!" Shane, the lady at the counter, screamed. She hugs Steven tightly, to make sure he still is in one piece.

"How's the beast?" He asks coldly. Shane pulls away with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't know, actually. He hasn't asked for you..."

Fuck...

"So he's pretty pissed. I'll ring you if I need something."

Steven's body is shaking as he climbs up the stairs. His eyes are grayer than usual, completely hopeless.

"Don't even bother knocking, just come in."

Joseph's tone was raspy. Steven gulps.

"I got a call from Mauville's security today. May I know why is that?"

Steven places a hand on his chin. What am I supposed to say? I didn't do anything wrong, it was (Y/N)'s fault.

"(Y/N) got mad at me for slamming the door on her face, so she decided to start screaming for everybody to hear."

Joseph frowns.

"(Y/N)? Ron's daughter?" He asks.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Joseph's lips twitches.

"Nothing. You can go now" He mumbles, sitting on his chair.

"What?!" Steven screams in shock.

"Go. What are you still doing here?"

"Why aren't you punishing me?"

Steven is surprised with himself for even saying those words. Joseph raises one eyebrow.

"It's almost like you want me to punish you. I can always change my mind."

"Tell me!"

Joseph sighs.

"I think you should make amends with (Y/N). You haven't talked about her in a while... You were great friends."

Steven's jaw drops in disbelief.

"Seriously?! Don't you remember what she did to me?"

"I don't care about teenage drama. Think about the good times, son! You used to like her, didn't you? Why don't you ask her out? Oh, and you definitely need a girlfriend. I'm getting old, son, I can't run Devon Corporation forever."

Steven looks away, disgusted.

"She's not the same. She turned into a totally different person. I don't know who she is anymore..."

"Did she? Or is it just you thinking about something that happened over 6 years ago?"

Steven storms out of his father's office. He can't deal with Joseph's crap after the terrible day he had.

•••

"Hey, princess, wake up."

A cold hand touches your face. You slowly open up your eyes, trying to understand where you are and what happened. A bright light shines on your face.

"Where am I?" You mumble. You feel a pounding headache coming, but for some reason you can't put your hand on your forehead.

"I'll let you take a guess."

Your eyes widen. Oh no. Not him. The white light sends out a wave of pain through your head.

"Welcome back! We missed you."

You feel a shiver run down your spine. Suddenly, you begin to understand what is going on and why you can't move your hands. You're tied up.

"S-Sir, I promise I haven't done anything wrong..." You begin, but he raises one hand, telling you to stop.

"Oh, dear, I know. Your parents, on the other hand..." He pauses, letting his words sink in. You open your mouth, trying to say something, but nothing comes out.

Why? When? How?

You didn't know where it came from, so you just let your rage take over your whole body.

"What the hell?! Do you have my parents? I already told you they have nothing to do with this whole thing. Let them go! Now!"

You were shaking. The man had pure fun stamped on his face, which made your blood boil.

"I don't have to" He shrugs. "They escaped this morning, and from what I heard they took a trip to... Mauville. Interesting, don't you think?"

"M-Mauville? What were they doing in Mauville?"

You couldn't believe it. They were so close and you had no idea... So close, yet so far. You feel warm tears stream down your face.

"I don't know, but I don't like their escape. Unfortunately, I have no idea where they are right now, so..."

"And you won't find out!" You hiss, interrupting him.

"Ah, ah. I'm not done yet" He raises one finger. You flinch. "So, I'll have to make someone else pay. And it just happened that I have their daughter working for me. Who could be better?"

You close your eyes. There is no hope for you now, so you just sighed.

Think about mom and dad... They're safe now, and that's all that matters.