Chapter 18

(This chapter is dedicated to @VictoriaRyan6, who was the reader who gave "Spite Without Shame" the votes it needed to reach the 1K votes mark! Thank you so so much, Victoria, your votes meant a lot to me! I honestly can't thank you enough! :) I also want to thank every signal one of you readers who helped me get here after almost two years. Thank you all so much! :) I will be discussing the possible rewards for the 1K mark/SWS's 2 year anniversary in the author's note.)

(Notice: I recommend using Google Translate for this chapter if you don't understand French. Forgive me if my French isn't very good ;-; )

"Finally, we made it to Ambrette Town!" White announced loudly and gratefully as she ran down the concrete stairs that lead from Route 8's cliff roads to Ambrette Town.

"White, wait up!" She heard Amos call after her as she reached the bottom while he was still at the top of the stairs.

White and Amos had finally reached Ambrette Town after almost a week traveling. They had left N on Route 8 in a hidden place where people were unlikely to find him. However, White did learn some interesting things from N.

She had been shocked to find about Margaret's past. She had no idea that her friend had wings and was able to hear pokemon. Sure, she had suspected it, but she didn't think she was right. Nevertheless, White promised to keep Margaret's secret safe unless told otherwise.

"Man, I'm glad we're off that ravine!" White sighed as Amos came down the stairs. "Now we don't have to worry about Ne-Ne anymore!"

"You do seem happier than usual," Amos admitted, though he sounded nervous.

"Meh, don't worry, it'll pass in a few minutes. Anyway, what do we do now?" She continued, looking around the sunny seaside town.

"Well check your Xtransceiver, maybe one group is here already." Her partner suggested, taking out his own Xtransceiver.

Though White would rather think they were the first group there, she took out her device and checked her messages. She had one message, and it was from Danny.

"Darn it, Danny, Margaret, and Fiona got here first!" The older trainer growled, shoving her Xtransceiver in her overcoat pocket.

Amos merely shrugged as he put his device away as well and told her, "At least we're not third. Apparently Sky Blue, Mira, and Leia are still on Route 8."

"That is good news. I can go another day without Sky in my life."

"But what do we do till then?" Amos asked.

"I don't know, go look for Danny and the other two?" said White with a shrug.

"Did they give you a location?"

"Yes, just let me check again..."

White took out her Xtransceiver and opened up her messages again. She noticed that she got one new message in the last minute. She ignored it and looked under her previous texts from Danny.

"It says that they went to explore Glittering Cave, wherever that is." White told Amos.

"I'm sure it's not too hard to find," Amos assured her. "Come on, let's go."

"Just a sec, I got a text from Sky."

The older trainer opened up the message from Sky Blue. She was surprised at the length of his text. Most of his messages were either some kind of "emoji" or less than five words.

Mira's been trying to catch the same Spritzee for three hours now. Plz save me. PLZ.

White sighed and texted back, Sorry, already in Ambrette Town. I would send a pack of poison, but I would've taken it myself. Good luck.

"Alright, now we can leave." She told Amos as she began walking.

"What was that all about?" The younger trainer questioned as they made their way through the town.

"Mira is attempting to catch a Spritzee, and Sky Blue wanted me to come get him. But I told him that he's on his own."

"Is she really that bad?"

"Yes. It takes hours for her to catch a pokemon. Me and Sky had to catch all her pokemon because she took so long. When she tried catching Draco, it took all day for her to catch him, and he was a pretty pathetic Dratini at the time."

"Well Leia wasn't that good at first either, remember?"

"At least she got better. Mira never did. The last pokemon she caught came with her willingly. Most pokemon don't go without a fight."

They continued to talk about catching pokemon until passing a large stadium. A sign in front of the building had a poster taped onto it. It showed the silhouettes of a row of girls and their pokemon. One silhouette and her pokemon were bathed in spotlight while wearing a crown and holding a key. The words on the top of the poster said, "Ambrette Town's Pokemon Showcase!" From the look of the date, the showcase was a little more than a week away.

"Do you know what a Pokemon Showcase is?" White asked Amos after passing the sign.

"It's a girls-only competition in Kalos," Amos explained unconcernedly. "Any girl is allowed to enter as long as she is a trainer and has at least one pokemon. Why do you ask?"

"I just saw that they are having a Showcase here in Ambrette Town in a week or so. Have you seen a Pokemon Showcase before?"

"Well my mom has. She loves watching them, but she didn't always let me watch them. Some of the contestants weren't very...modest..."

"Modest?" repeated the older trainer, showing the fact that much of her education came from an overprotective Mismagius and Rapidash. "What, did they brag a lot or something?"

She had no idea why Amos looked so uncomfortable. It was like she was asking something extremely personally.

"Err, well..." he started, choosing his words carefully. "You see...some of the women in Showcases can be a little..."

"Yes?"

"C-can be a little... you know what, ask someone else, I'm not the right person to tell you this stuff..." Amos then said flatly, speeding up a little as he blushed a deep red.

White, who was very confused by this behavior and the question she asked, tried catching up and questioned loudly, "Did I say something wrong?! What does it mean when a woman's not modest?!"

When Amos merely stammered something about not wanting to answer, the older trainer then complained, "Good grief, sometimes you can be just like Rapi! I'm seventeen!"

She continued to grumble to herself until they reached the gate of Route 9. When passing through the gate, a vast, rocky terrain laid ahead. It was a mountainous area with large, sharp boulders and rocks everywhere. There was even a pen full of Ryhorns. Another sign was nailed near the pen. It had big bold red and black letters on it.

WARNING!

HIGHLY DANGEROUS PATH UP AHEAD! ALL TRAVELERS MUST RIDE ONE OF THE RHYHORN! PLEASE RETURN THE RHYHORN AFTER USE!

"We have to ride a Rhyhorn to get to Glittering Cave?" White repeated, looking over at the pen of Rhyhorns.

"I guess it is safer than on foot," Amos pointed out. "What I don't understand is why there is no one watching or taking care of these Rhyhorns."

"Yeah, you're right," the older trainer agreed, just noticing that all these Rhyhorns were left by themselves. Who would leave all these pokemon unattended?

"Well we better take one with us," White finally sighed, opening up the gate to pen and looking at each Rhyhorn in turn. "Which one should we take?"

Amos stepped next to her and looked at all the rocky rhino-like pokemon. There were a dozen Rhyhorns there, all of different sizes. Quite a few of them had looked up at the two trainers curiously. One Rhyhorn, which was big enough for two people, approached them and wagged its tail. It looked like the youngest Rhyhorn there.

"Let's take this one," said the female trainer, bending down and petting the young Rhyhorn. "He seems friendly."

"Err, shouldn't we take two instead of just one?" Amos asked nervously.

"I'm sure it's fine. It'll take a little longer if we bring another. Besides, I was hoping you knew how to ride a Rhyhorn, because I don't."

"You don't know how to ride a Rhyhorn?"

"No, I heard that Rhyhorns were more difficult to ride than other pokemon. So do you know how to ride one?"

"Once, but I was little..."

"Oh come on, just try and remember," White told him as she led their chosen Rhyhorn out of the pen.

She couldn't help but smirk as she watched Amos take a saddle from the side of the pen and put it on the Rhyhorn. Amos' company was much more enjoyable than with the other boys, well, with the exception of Danny, who was probably the most mature of them. White enjoyed being with N, but they often got into their disagreements. She didn't have to explain why she didn't care for Sky Blue's company since he was annoying and stressful. Amos was more quiet and patient than N and Sky.

"White, you coming?"

The older trainer blinked and realized that Amos was already on the Rhyhorn.

"Yeah, sorry," she apologized hurriedly as she began climbing onto the Rhyhorn's back and sat behind Amos.

Once White was on, the little Rhyhorn began walking onto the rough, rocky path. The Rhyhorn wasn't fast, but it was quicker than if they had done it with another pokemon. There were a few pokemon that they saw in the area. There was a group of Helioptiles basking on the rocks, and there were a few Hippopotas crossing the road. There were even a few Sandiles hiding in the shades of rocks.

After awhile, White began to sing softly, more out of boredom than anything, but she was a little inspired by their surroundings.

Wake up to the morning light
Wipe away the lonely nights
Let a brand new day wash over you,
Wanna see you smile again
Show some love to your crazy friends
Wipe your tears away
Those days are through

If you move just a little bit closer
You can put your head on my shoulder
Yeah, yeah

So boy hold on
Just another day or two
I can see the clouds are
Moving faster now
And the sun is breaking through
If you can hold on, to the one that's holding you
There is nothing that can
Stop this crazy love
From breaking through

We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa
We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa

Wake up to the rising sun
Thank the Lord for the
Things He's done
Lift your eyes up to the
Hope that's ever true
Wanna see you smiling boy
You're a light in this jaded world
Wipe away those tears
This one's for you

Come on, move a little bit closer,
You can put your head on my shoulder
Yeah, yeah

So boy hold on
Just another day or two
I can see the clouds are
Moving faster now
And the sun is breaking through
If you can hold on, to the one that's holding you
There is nothing that can
Stop this crazy love
From breaking through

And the stars are up there
Shining for you
Oh, the Father does adore you
His love, will never change
And you and I
We were born to follow
The hope that will lead us to tomorrow
And no one can take it away

So boy hold on
Just another day or two
I can see the clouds are
Moving faster now
And the sun is breaking through
If you could hold on
To the One that's holding you
There is nothing that can stop this crazy,
Crazy love from breaking
There is nothing that can stop this crazy,
Crazy love from breaking

You see the clouds are
Moving faster now
The clouds are moving faster

You see the clouds are
Moving faster now
And the sun is breaking through
We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa
We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa
We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa
We're breaking through whoa whoa whoa

The song reminded her of the event that happened during her and Sky's depressing visit to Kalos. It reminded her of all the things she had told Sky in order to comfort him when he was miserable. She felt guilty thinking about how she had been giving him false hope when she didn't even believe herself at the time.

She suddenly winced as a sharp pain shot through her head.

"White, what's wrong?" Amos asked with concern, turning his head to look at her.

But White shook her head as the siren-like noise got louder. She only felt this way once before, and that was at Parfum Palace. However, it was different than last time. There were now two voices.

Stop dancing and get to work! a staticky voice ordered someone. The voice was like it came from over a radio.

Non! snapped back a sharp, clear, feminine voice with a Kalos accent. You need my dancing! Isn't that why you wanted me, Patron maîtresse?

No, just stop dancing!

You may be able to harness my mind and my thoughts, prevent my every effort to liberté, but you can't stop me from dancing, you dictateur!

White yelled as the feminine voice suddenly shrieked with agonizing pain. She heard Amos shout something to the Rhyhorn and the pokemon broke into a run. The voice screamed and screamed, until the Rhyhorn haulted. White gasped in pain and fell off the Rhyhorn's back. She clutched at her hair and began crying. She just wanted it to stop...

"Whitney!"

The screaming suddenly cut off and she could finally hear Amos' anxious voice. She looked up at Amos slowly, releasing her hair. Her ears were still ringing from all the noise and her head ached.

"White, what happened, are you alright?!" Amos asked White panicky.

"I...I don't know..." White stammered truthfully, running her hands through her hair. "I...I heard voices..."

Amos looked even more confused and told her slowly, "White...no one was speaking. It was just us and Rhyhorn. No one was around."

"B-But the voices..."

"Whitney, slow down, tell me everything, but slowly."

White took a few deep breaths before continuing to explain what she heard.

"At Parfum Palace, I heard a voice that kept repeating the same two words," she explained, trying to keep her voice steady. "It said something about hiding and scaring. I just heard the same voice, but it wasn't alone. It was speaking to someone, but the person's voice was staticky so I couldn't tell whether they were male or female. But the voice I heard, I could tell it was a pokemon, and its female. She often spoke in the Kalos language and accent. But...but..."

"But what?"

"The staticky voice...it said that the pokemon was dancing and told her to stop. She refused and said that they needed her dancing. When told to stop again, she retorted and said that they could control her thoughts and invade her mind, but they couldn't stop her from dancing. And they...they...they got angry and began hurting her..."

Amos just stared at White. She just waited for a response quietly. Her story did sound farfetched, but she was being honest.

"White, I don't understand why you heard all this," the young trainer finally told her slowly. "I promise you, I didn't see or hear anyone."

"I did though!"

The two trainers both turned to see the Rhyhorn watching them.
"You saw someone?" White repeated, straightening up.

The Rhyhorn looked surprised at her response.

"Sure I did! And you can really hear me?!"

"Yes, it's a long story."

"Wow, no one ever understands me! They always ignore me!"

"Well what did you see?" Amos interrupted the Rhyhorn.

"Oh! I saw someone on a ledge! Whoever it was was moving around a lot, like dancing!"

"Who?!"

"I couldn't tell. The pokemon wore a cloak. But it sensed like a powerful pokemon!"

White and Amos exchanged looks. The description matched the pokemon at Parfum Palace. Why was it here now? Was it just by coincidence?

"If you're right and the pokemon is in pain, we should go look for it," Amos said to White as he helped her back on her feet. "What do you think?"

White nodded and replied, "I agree with you. Hey, Rhyhorn, are you gonna be ok here by yourself?"

The small Rhyhorn giggled and piped up, "Sure I will! I've down this routine loads of times!"

"Where's the entrance to Glittering Cave at anyway?"

"Just go down the path, up the rock stairs, and the entrance should be there!"

"Alright, thanks, Rhyhorn."

"Good luck and have fun!" The little Rhyhorn called as White and Amos ran down the path the Rhyhorn pointed out.

As the two trainers ran down the path, White kept her eyes and ears opened for anything related to the cloaked pokemon. As she thought about the pokemon's screams, shivers ran up her spine. One thing Missy, Rapi, and all her other pokemon taught her kept running around her mind.

There is almost nothing more dangerous than a wounded pokemon.

"There's the entrance!" Amos pointed out as they ran up some rocky stairs.

A dark gaping hole was inside the face of the cavern. There was a large sign outside the entrance that said "Glittering Cave". White noticed a ramp not far from the stairs. Next to the top of the ramp were around four Rhyhorns.

"I guess we're not the only people who've gone exploring," White huffed as she stopped running and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Too bad no one gave us a map," Amos sighed, observing the cave entrance. "We'll get lost easily, it's so dark."

White snorted and said as she unhooked a pokeball from her belt, "Well that's not a problem. Raichu, come on out!"

She threw the pokeball up in the air and white light flashed around it as it opened. She blushed furiously from embarrassment as Raichu came out, but was face down on the dirty ground and her rear end facing the two trainers. She heard Amos stifle his laughter after seeing Raichu.

"Raichu, enough of this!" White snapped at her Raichu angrily and loudly.

"Hey, what gives?" Raichu yawned, slowly getting onto her feet and blinking slowly up at her trainer. "I was having a wonderful dream...I got to beat up Ghetsis and watch him get executed..."

"Well sorry for waking you up because that actually sounds like a nice dream. Now, stop humiliating me and I would appreciate it if you would be our flashlight. We're going in that cave."

Raichu glanced at the cave entrance at this. It looked like she was going to retort, but stopped. She sighed, walked into the cave, and used Flash. Her body glowed and illuminated the entrance with light.

"Thank you," White told the Raichu as she and Amos entered the cave. "And just out of curiosity, how was Ghetsis executed?"

"Really, White? You're actually asking that?" Amos asked as Raichu giggled.

"What?" The older trainer asked defensively. "I need to know if it was a good one or not."

"Well I think it was by decapitation, but I woke up right before they cut off his head."

"That's a shame...sorry for waking you."

Glittering Cave lived up to its name. The dark cave had glittering jewels and stones sticking out of the walls. They all flashed as Raichu's light washed over them. They did see some pokemon inside the cave, but they didn't bother them and Raichu would scare them off if they did. There were a few Cubones hiding in the shadows, and White thought she saw a Kangaskhan down one tunnel. There were even a few Woobats and a small group of Machops.

After awhile, the path split into three separate tunnels. Each tunnel was dark, but White could've sworn that she could hear voices coming from each one.

"Which tunnel do we go in?" Amos asked, looking at each one in turn.

White shrugged and replied, "Dunno."

"Have you heard anything else?"

"If you mean the cloaked pokemon and the other voice, then no. But I do think that whichever tunnel we take, there will be people there."

"White, lights!"

White looked up to see Raichu gesturing to the left and right tunnels. Lights were bobbing along in each one. The voices were growing louder.

"Who's there?" White called out as the lights got closer.

There was a loud roar as two pokemon leapt out of each tunnel. Raichu yowled as two Fire Types landed on her.

"Lionflower!"

"Samson!"

Two trainers came out of the left path as two trainers and a child came out of the right. Xavier and Danny both tried to prying the Litleo and Charmeleon off Raichu while their partners caught their breath. Margaret, Fiona, and to White's displeasure, the snobbish girl from Lumiose City, Serena, were all there. Margaret was carrying Fiona while Green Ivy the Bulbasaur and Abram the Absol were standing next to them. Serena had her hands on her knees while panting. Her ponytail was all messy from the slight humidity.

"Oh great, just what we needed, more trainers to deal with!" Serena snarled sarcastically at the sight of the newcomers.

"White? Amos? What are you two doing here?" asked Margaret in bewilderment after seeing who all was present.

"Well first we came looking for you three, but then another thing kinda popped up," explained Amos, looking from one group to the other. "What are you all doing?"

"We were finding our way back out," replied Danny as he finally detached Samson from Raichu.

"Serena and I were going to go deeper into the cave," Xavier added after picking up the Litleo. "What are you two doing?"

"Like Amos, said we were looking for those three until something came up," White answered, glaring at Serena.

Margaret tilted her head in confusion and stuttered, "Um...what changed your mind?"

White looked at Amos for support, but he just gave a small shrug to show his lack of ideas. She sighed and began to choose her words carefully.

"When on Route 9, we heard a pokemon in distress. It was on one of the ledges of the rock wall, but we think it's in here. Its hurt and we want to help it."

Most of the newcomers looked convinced until someone snorted. Serena looked completely unconvinced and was scowling at White with dislike.

"Oh please," she snarled, waving her hand as if shooing away White's words. "Why should we believe you? This could be another one of your lies! For all we know, you could be on your way to mug someone!"

"S-Serena..." started Xavier nervously, but his friend ignored him.

"I highly doubt that Amos would let her get away with that if that were true," Danny growled. "Look, White has never lied to us before and she has no reason to lie now! Just lay off her!"

"D-Danny..." Margaret stuttered, putting her hand on Danny's arm.
"Don't give me that rubbish!" Serena snapped back at Danny. "I've heard about what she's been doing the past year! Just because she goes to church doesn't mean she's a believer! I've seen her behavior!"

"Oh really? Where's your proof?!"

"Where's yours?!"

"ENOUGH!" White finally bellowed, making everyone flinch or wince. "Look, I'm sick of this! Serena, I don't care if you believe me or not! I don't even care if you hate me! There's possibly an injured pokemon in this cave, and me and Amos are gonna find it with or without your help! Amos, we're going!"

White was about to start going down the center tunnel when Margaret's small voice stammered, "I-I'll go with you..."

She turned to look at Margaret. The rookie had set down Fiona and was now moving forward to face White fully.

"If there's a pokemon that's hurt, I want to help it, that is, if it's ok with you..." Margaret added uncertainly.

"If Margaret goes with you two, I'll come along as well," Danny said, though he sounded hesitant as he stepped next to Margaret.

"We're going down that path too, we might as well come too," Xavier spoke up, glancing at Serena.

Serena snorted and shrugged, but even Fiona ran next to Danny and hugged his arm. Abram snarled unexpectedly and hissed, "No! Why can't anyone understand that it's dangerous down there! Nobody respects my gut instinct!"

But either nobody understood him or he was ignored. The only one who listened to him was Green Ivy, who piped up, "I was told that humans like danger! It apparently excites them!"

"It's stupid!"

"Let's go," White insisted as she began down the tunnel, not wanting to hear Abram's rant on human stupidity.

As the group walked down the path, White strained her ears for the voices. She thought every few minutes she could hear disconnected words, but they were all in the Kalos language. The voice was the pokemon's, but it was weak. Hopefully it could hang on a little longer.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Amos asked as light shined from the end of the tunnel.

"If you mean the voices, then yes," answered Danny, sounding tense.

White stopped thinking about the cloaked pokemon and began to listen outside of her mind. Loud voices and clanging noises could be heard from the end of this he path. Raichu, Abram, Samson, Green Ivy, and Lionflower all began to growl and sped up, running toward the end of the tunnel.

"Green Ivy! Abram!" yelled Margaret desperately as Xavier and Danny all called after their pokemon.

"Raichu, get back here!" White shouted, running after her Electric Type.

The tunnel ended and a large rocky chamber opened up. Filthy lanterns and glowing stones lit up the room. There were mine carts and tracks scattered everywhere, while there were piles of rocks every few feet. Pickaxes and shovels were stacked against the chamber walls. The five pokemon were all standing a safe distance from a group of people.

There were two men and two women, each of the, wearing flame colored uniforms. Their entire outfits seemed to be based of fire. Their red hair even looked like flames. All of them wore red suits and shades.

"White, wait up!"

Amos, Danny, Margaret, Fiona, Xavier, and Serena all ran to White's side, all of them staring at the four strangely dressed adults.

"Great, just what we needed!" one woman complained, stomping her foot in frustration. "More troublemakers, and right before our get away!"

"Who are you people?!" Serena demanded angrily. "And what's in that bag of yours?!"

"What, this?" one of the male grunts replied casually, holding up the large sack he was holding. "Just a few souvenirs those archeologists were so kind to give us!"

"Samson, Dragon Claw!"

Samson obeyed Danny's order and his claw powered up as he slashed at the bag swiftly. The sack cut open and tons of rocks fell out. However, White could tell that they weren't ordinary rocks. They were fossils, each of them different.

"D-Danny..." Margaret whispered to Danny, sounding frightened as she pushed Fiona gently behind her. "I-It's them...the thieves who tried taking Sowny and Petunia! They call themselves Team Flare!"

One grunt laughed and said unconcernedly, "Well lookie here, this little brat already knows us by reputation!"

"You stole those fossils, didn't you?!" Xavier accused furiously, pointing at the fossils that grunts were hurriedly scooping up.

"We won't let you get away with this!" added Serena, folding her arms and standing straight.

"Oh come on, we don't have time for this!" the other female growled, turning to the other three. "We can't let these brats go blab on us, and we can't just hand these furniture merchandises over!"

An evil smirk crossed the lips of one male grunt as he hissed to the others, "We still got Project Danse Beauté with us! She is strong enough to flatten all of them! One of you, call it!"

Before any of the young trainers could respond, a grunt pulled out a remote and pressed the button on it. White gasped in pain as a loud screech split through her head. She fell on her knees and clutched her ears. She heard Amos call her name as a pile of rocks flew apart as a figure materialized across the room. She heard Margaret also cry out in pain as the screech continued on. The cloaked figure approached the group steadly, though it limped slightly. The five pokemon leapt between their trainers and the enemies, though they were obviously hesitant and nervous.

The cloaked pokemon stopped a few feet away from the pokemon as the grunts laughed horribly.

"Meet Project Danse Beauté, your downfall!" one of the male grunts shouted.

The cloaked pokemon took a deep breathe and shook its hood off. A face of a familiar pokemon species was now unveiled. A face of white and hair of green. Its eyes shot open as it gave a loud battle screech, its magenta eyes wide.

It then turned to see the trainers. A weak smirk spread across her face. The Kalos accented voice that White had heard earlier now spoke as if she was hearing one of her own pokemon speaking.

"I guess it's time to see how well you all can danse."