Chapter 19

The cloaked pokemon was a Gardevoir.

Slim and tall, the Gardevoir stood straight up, though it was obvious that she was shaking, but more from pain than fear. The Gardevoir had short light green hair that curled down the sides and large magenta eyes. While her arms and some of her sides were light green like her hair, the gown-like part of her and her legs were white like her face. A red-fin stuck out of its chest and there were three horns on each side of her head, like a masquerade mask.

"Our downfall is a Gardevoir?!" Serena shouted exasperatedly. "Of all the pokemon you could have chosen, it was a Gardevoir?!"

One of the grunts laughed and explained jubilantly, "Ah, but this is an enhanced Gardevoir! It has a power level three times higher than it really should be! Not to mention that it has an IQ to rival an Alakazam!"

"Gardevoir, start it off with your special Moonblast attack!" a female grunt ordered the Gardevoir.

The Embrace Pokemon crossed her arms across her chest before slowly stretching them out again. Two long, glittering, light pink blades materialized in her hands. The Gardevoir's arms fell to her side as she staggered toward the trainers, a wild glint in her eyes.

"ABRAM, TOXIC!" White bellowed over all the jumble of noise ringing in her head.

The Absol roared as his horn glowed murky purple. He leapt toward the Gardevoir and tried jabbing her. The Gardevoir swiftly lifted the blade and blocked Abram's horn.

"Your aim so pathétique!" the Gardevoir snarled as she tried pushing Abram back.

"You have a lousy grip yourself!" growled Abram, who was struggling to keep his horn up.

The Gardevoir's lip curled and suddenly threw the Absol across the room with ease. He yowled as his body slammed against the rocky wall and fell on the ground hard. White saw him try pushing himself back up, but he collapsed unconscious.

"Lionflower, Fire Fang!" Xavier ordered his Litleo, who gave a tiny roar and lunged toward the Psychic Type.

"Samson, Flamethrower!" Danny commanded his Charmeleon while the rookie knelt next to Margaret, who was crying from the pain of the noise.

"Oliver, come out and use Razor Shell!" Amos shouted as he threw a pokeball while Serena yelled, "Quilladin, help out!"

Oliver the Samurott escaped out of the pokeball and roared as a brown and green pokemon popped out of Serena's pokeball. The pokemon, Quilladin, had a large, round, shell-like armor around it body. Two thorns with orange tips were on top of its head and it had a long nose with an orange tip.

White wanted to help but she couldn't think straight with all the noise. The same two words were drumming into her head.

Fight, kill, fight, kill, fight, kill...

"White!"

The older trainer forced her head up. Raichu was crouched in front of her. The pokemon looked worried for once.

"D-Do what you can to stop the Gardevoir," White choked. "I-I can't...I can't..."

"Right, but go by Danny and Margaret! I think Danny's taking care of her!"

White nodded as Raichu leapt into battle. She noticed that Quilladin and Lionflower had stopped fighting the Gardevoir and were now attacking the grunts, who had failed to flee and had released their own pokemon. White could make out a Houndour, Zubat, Gulpin, Electrike, Scraggy, and Croagunk.

She tried standing back up, but her knees couldn't get off the ground. She ended up crawling over to Danny, who was trying to make sense of why Margaret was in so much pain.

"I don't understand!" Danny was saying panicky as he felt Margaret's forehead. "Why are you feeling this way?! Why are you hearing these things?!"

"I-I wish I c-could tell y-you," Margaret cried, her grip on her hair tightening. "I-I'm just as c-clueless!"

Fiona, who was hiding between Danny and Margaret with her Bulbasaur, looked up and saw White crawling over to them. She tugged on Danny's arm before etching out from behind the two rookies and ran next to White. White could see tears of terror streaming down the little girl's face.

"White, what's wrong?!" Danny asked desperately as he supported Margaret over to where Fiona and White were. "Are you hearing voices too?!"

"I-I'm fine..." White answered hoarsely, rubbing the side of her head. "I-If someone could just turn down the volume of that Gardevoir, e-everything would be f-fine..."

"How are you and Margaret able to hear these things?! I can't hear any strange voices, and especially at the noise volume you're hearing!"

"If I knew, I would've told you first thing!"

White stopped after a sniffling noise came from next to her. Fiona had now started to fully cry. The little auburn haired girl was sobbing and rubbing her eyes. Green Ivy gave a small cry and nuzzled his trainer in order to make her feel better.

"F-Fiona, it's ok," the older trainer tried assuring the girl, looking at Danny for help.

"Fiona, everything's going to be alright," Danny told the young girl, putting his arm around her in order to comfort her. "It'll all be ok."

"Fiona? Princess Fiona?!"

One male grunt and one female grunt had broken apart from the fight. The Houndour and Zubat were next to the male grunt while the Electrike and Gulpin were next to the female grunt. Both Team Flare members were staring at Fiona in shock. White was also surprised to see Fiona's eyes widen as she scooted closer to Danny.

"Princess Fiona, it is you!" the female grunt cried happily as she tried approaching Fiona. "Your father has been so worried! We've all been worried! Where were you? Why are you with them?"

However, the male grunt looked furious and gave White, Danny, and Margaret a scornful look.

"You kidnapped her!" the grunt growled angrily. "You three, you're responsible for her disappearance! You took her! Now we'll take her back! Houndour, Zubat!"

Before the pokemon could attack, Danny quickly unclipped a pokeball from his belt and tossed it as he yelled, "Spirit, go!"

Spirit the Honedge burst out and made a clanging noise. The Zubat tried biting the sword-like pokemon, but the Honedge used Fury Cutter on it before it could do any damage.

"Petunia, Fletcher, Sowny!"

Three pokemon materialized next to the Honedge as the Houndour, Zubat, Gulpin, and Electrike advanced on Spirit. Margaret was on one knee as if she failed to stand up. She was panting loudly, and it seemed like she could not give any further command.

White felt a need to help as well as she watched the seemingly recent newly evolved Wartortle, Fletchinder, and Leavanny helped out Spirit. She pushed herself up straight and reached for a pokeball on her belt. After her hand enclosed on the pokeball, she unclipped it, threw it, and shouted, "Penelope, you're up!"

Penelope the Dewott popped out of her pokeball and gave a loud cry as she swung he scalchops around.

"Penelope, do your best to stop those pokemon!" White ordered her Water Type. "B-Be careful when fighting!"

"Righty-o!" Penelope giggled as she staggered over to the battle. The Dewott had been crippled a year before, but after taking her first baby steps when facing Raichu, she had begun to slowly learn to walk. Through the past year, she had been trying to make her legs sturdy through certain activities, like swimming. Hopefully, Penelope was now strong enough to handle herself.

White gasped in pain as a sharp pain shot across her head again. She fell back against the ground and clutched her head. She realized that the staticky voice was back. It was louder and more jumbled than before.

Your mission has been changed! Your new objective is to return Princess Fiona to our leader! the staticky voice was ordering someone.

Make up your mind! the Gardevoir's strained voice snapped. I can't fight a Samurott and a Charmeleon while trying to get back your princess!

Forget the pokemon, bring back the princess NOW!

White stared in horror as the Gardevoir threw aside Oliver and Samson before turning to limp back over to the battle between Sowny, Petunia, Fletcher, and Spirit and the four Team Flare pokemon. She was going straight for Danny, Margaret, and Fiona.

"DANNY, GET YOURSELF AND THE OTHER TWO AWAY FROM THAT GARDEVOIR!" White bellowed as the light pink blades appeared in the Gardevoir's fists.

The rookie trainer turn swiftly to see the advancing Psychic Type before grabbing Fiona and Margaret and hurriedly getting them away from it. The Gardevoir gave a loud furious screech and tried swiping at the rookies and little girl. White forced herself on her feet and staggered over to the cave wall. She took up one of the pickaxes and swung it over her shoulder. She rushed toward the Gardevoir and yelled as she swung the pickaxe at her.

The Gardevoir growled and clashed her Moonblast blades with the pickaxe.

"Such esprit!" The Gardevoir sneered. "I sense so much haine from you! It's so strong! Show me MORE!"

White roared furiously and tried throwing the Gardevoir off. The Gardevoir was right. She hated her. If her normal hatred of Gardevoirs wasn't enough, the loud ringing noises increased her fury. She wanted to cause her pain. She could never forgive them for what they did to Sky Blue. Even if it was one Gardevoir that was hundreds of miles away, the sight of a Gardevoir angered her. They were responsible for Sky's suffering. They had hurt him, made him vulnerable. She had failed to protect her best friend once, but she wouldn't fail this time. She would never let the Gardevoir hurt her friends or take away Fiona.

White pushed the Gardevoir off and tried swinging the pickaxe at the pokemon's side. The Gardevoir blocked it and suddenly twirled in the air as White tried hitting her again. The Psychic Type dodged every swipe the trainer put her way. It twirled and leapt gracefully around. White suddenly realized that the words drumming in her head had suddenly changed.

Dance, fight, dance, fight, dance, fight...

"WHITE, LOOK OUT!"

The trainer was so thrown off by this that she forgot about her hand-to-hand fight with the Gardevoir. The pokemon spun on the spot and jabbed White right in the face with the end of her blade.

Gasping in pain, White dropped the pickaxe and collapsed on the ground. She felt her nose start bleeding from the impact. Her noise didn't feel or looked broken, but she was still in a lot of pain.
She heard the Gardevoir give a dry laugh as she stepped over the trainer's body and closer to Danny, Margaret, and Fiona. White lifted her head up to see Danny shielding the two girls from the Psychic and Fairy Type, who was swinging her blades back and forth. The male rookie's teeth were clenched and his fists were balled. White knew he was trying to be brave for Margaret and Fiona's sakes.

White wanted more than anything to help her friends, but she could barely get off the ground. With all jumble of noise and the intense pain she was feeling, White couldn't help them.

Oh God, please don't let them die! She prayed in her head, squeezing her eyes shut so she couldn't see what would happen. I'll do anything, but please don't let them die! Please, Lord, I'm begging you, please save them!

"BUBBLESTAR, WATER PULSE AND FAST!"

There was a loud croak as a blue frog-like pokemon leapt over White and jumped in front of the Gardevoir, blocking her path to the rookies. The Frogadier formed a sphere of water between its webbed hands and threw it straight at the Gardevoir's face. It screeched furiously and leapt back, its blades disappearing as she rubbed the water out of her face.

Xavier had broken away from the fight. He was covered from head to toe in dirt and was scraped up and bruised. His Litleo must had fainted or was on the verge of fainting because she was no longer out. Xavier's trusty Frogadier was out instead, and it looked completely psyched up.

Samson the Charmeleon landed next to his trainer as well, snarling at the opposing pokemon. Petunia and Green Ivy also leapt to their trainers' defense while the Gardevoir tried wiping the water out of her eyes. Serena and Amos and their pokemon were still fighting the other two grunts. Raichu and Penelope were still fighting alongside Oliver and Quilladin.

"They weren't lying when they said that that pokemon was powerful!" huffed Xavier as he ran over to White and helped her up. "Why'd you go hand to hand with it?! It could've kill you!"

"I-I lost control..." White stammered, wincing as another sharp pain shut through her head. "T-They want Fiona back badly, b-but I c-can't..."

"She's the little girl, right?"

When White nodded her head, Xavier glanced at Fiona. He then said, "Alright, just don't do anymore fighting! We'll make sure nothing happens to Fiona! I promise!"

"F-Fine..." White growled as Xavier helped her over to Danny, Margaret, and Fiona.

"We'll never get out of here with that thing on our tail!" Danny hissed as he helped Xavier support White while Margaret kept Fiona close to her.

"We can't keep fighting it either," Xavier added as they looked back at the Gardevoir, who was rubbing her eyes and hissing rapidly in the Kalos language. "If only we knew if it had some sort of weakness! It seems impossible for any of our pokemon to do much damage to it, the Water Pulse only distracted it!"

"A-Abram only got defeated b-because he is a Dark Type," stuttered White, trying to concentrate on the battle instead of the noises and words drumming in her mind. "Moonblast is a F-Fairy Type move, and Fairy Type attacks double the damage on Dark Types. But the Gardevoir is also h-half Psychic Type, so he would've been helpful."

"What about Jeremiah, the Gengar Fiona has? He's a Poison and Ghost Type pokemon, he would have a great advantage against a Psychic and Fairy Type." Danny asked.

"Maybe...F-Fiona, we need you to bring out Jeremiah. H-He's probably the o-only pokemon who can help us."

Fiona, who was clinging to an exhausted Margaret, looked at each teen in turn before nodding and digging around in her coat pockets. She pulled out a pokeball and rolled it across the ground toward the Gardevoir. It burst open and Jeremiah the Gengar popped out.

"Oh lookie what we have here?" The Gengar giggled, floating a few feet above the ground and turning upside down in mid air while watching the Gardevoir. "So you think you're so tough, pussycat?"

"I am not weak, you fool!" The Gardevoir snarled, straightening up as her hands curled into fists.

"I never said you were, pussycat!"

"You moquer me!"

"That's putting it kindly! I'm mocking you!"

The Gardevoir howled with rage and frustration. Her fists were suddenly surrounded by fire as she lunged at Jeremiah. But Jeremiah was ready for it. His hand was suddenly surrounded with a purple, red, and black aura, and it stretched out. Jeremiah's Shadow Punch clashed with the Gardevoir's Fire Punch, making sparks and flickers of aura fly around them. It was hard to tell who had the advantage.

Then the Psychic and Fairy Type's eyes glowed light blue. An aura of the exact same color suddenly surrounded Jeremiah. He yowled and struggled against the Psychic attack, but it was pointless. The Gardevoir laughed cruelly and punched the Gengar back at White, Xavier, Danny, Margaret, and Fiona. Jeremiah tumbled across the stone floor. He barely avoided hitting Samson, Bubblestar, Petunia, and Green Ivy, who all yelped and quickly backed away. He finally stopped a few feet away from the trainers. White could tell that he had been left burned by the attack. He was wincing and clutching his chest in the place where the Gardevoir had hit him as he got up.

"Now we know that it knows a wider variety of moves than we thought..." she heard Xavier mutter next to her.

"Jeremiah!"

Green Ivy had ran over to the Gengar. The Bulbasaur looked scared and concerned for the condition of his fallen teammate. The Gengar huffed over and over but would hiss sharply from the pain of the burn.

"I-I guess I'm not as young as I thought," Jeremiah growled weakly. "After all, I am over a hundred and twenty years old..."

"Who's getting...mocked...and humiliated now...fool?"

The Gardevoir had collapsed slightly from exhaustion. She was kneeling on one knee, rubbing her fist. She panted a lot as she got back on her feet. White could tell all this battling was weakening her.

"I'm not defeated just yet!" the Gengar growled back, but he winced and collapsed again.

The Embrace Pokemon laughed cruelly and took a step closer. She suddenly gave a loud ear-piercing screech that made the pokemon and the small group wince and cover their ears. White and Margaret both gasped with pain. The drumming of the same two words was bad enough, but the Gardevoir's Disarming Voice was almost twice as painful. Bubblestar, Samson, Petunia, and Green Ivy all cried with pain and each of the used an attack on the Gardevoir. Though the Gardevoir did stop, it made another Moonblast blade and swiped at the Water Pulse, Flamethrower, Bubble Beam, and Razor Leaf. The attacks barely scathed her.

"I would say your prays, humans," the Gardevoir sneered as the blade disappeared snd she began storing energy for an actual Moonblast. "It's unlikely that you'll survive this."

As the Gardevoir began storing energy, White saw most of the pokemon gave frightened cries and run to their trainers. There was no attack that could counter or defeat it. Serena and Amos were so occupied with the four Team Flare grunts that they didn't notice what was happening. She watched as Danny hugged Margaret and Fiona tightly as the Moonblast reached the peak of its power.

But White wasn't afraid. She had faced death before. She would die with her eyes open. However, if she did died, White was scared that she wouldn't go to heaven like last time. She had just proven how much hate she still held in her heart. All because of a past event that involved a Gardevoir thousands of miles away.

Oh God, forgive me! White prayed as the Gardevoir released the Moonblast.

A loud scream from Fiona snapped White from out of her noisy thoughts. To her horror, White watched as Green Ivy ran straight for the large Moonblast that was shooting toward them. He was glowing light blue and white.

"GREEN IVY, GET BACK HERE NOW!" White bellowed desperately at the Bulbasaur, but it was too late.

Green Ivy was already engulfed by the center of the Moonblast. A few seconds later, the Fairy Type move exploded. Wind blew everywhere, and the noise was so loud that battle between Serena, Amos, and the other pokemon and the four grunts had stopped. Samson and Petunia both cried out Green Ivy's name, but there was no response. White looked at what she could see of the Gardevoir's face. The wind and blown the cloak off of the Gardevoir, and she looked completely shocked about what the little Bulbasaur had just done.

As the pink and white remains of the attack subsided, a larger pokemon than what had entered fell to the ground with a few leaves. A much larger and more monster-like Green Ivy was now facing the Gardevoir. Green Ivy was now an Ivysaur. He had two fangs visible. The bulb on his back had peeled open to reveal to palm tree leaves and a large, dark pink, flower bud. He was a foot taller than he was as a Bulbasaur.

Green Ivy had evolved in order to protect his trainer.

"But...but that's ce n'est pas possible!" The Gardevoir stuttered in the Kalos language, White what believed that it was trying to see how her Moonblast could have been destroyed.

"Green Ivy!"

Samson and Petunia both ran over to their friend and hugged him, making him squeak in surprise.

"How did you get out of that alive?!" Petunia asked worryingly.

"I guess my evolution protected me!" the Ivysaur explained. "I used Razor Leaf inside the Moonblast!"

A loud scream from the Gardevoir interrupted the three pokemons' reunion. The Gardevoir was shaking from rage. White winced as the words fight and kill became more rapid and furious sounding. The pokemon obviously wanted the battle to finish.

"Why aren't you mort yet?!" She shrieked, pounding her first into the ground. "Why aren't you abandonnez?!"

Out of anger, the Gardevoir then began punching the rock wall. She seemed to be attempting to calm herself down. The odd thing was the way she was attacking the wall. She would jump up, spin around like a top in mid air, then kick or punch the wall. It was like she was a professional dancer and fighter in one.

"Stop messing around, you thick headed animal!" One grunt shouted at the Gardevoir while the other grunts yelled insults at it.

While the Gardevoir distracted the grunts, Serena, Amos, and the other pokemon that were fighting along with them regrouped with White and the others. White noticed that Oliver was carrying an exhausted Penelope, Spirit, and Fletcher on his back, along with Abram, who was still unconscious. Raichu and Quilladin were half dragging themselves over. Sowny seemed to be holding up better than the rest of the pokemon.

"We really need to think of a plan to get past that Gardevoir," Serena insisted as she and Amos reached the others. "After what just happened, we should be lucky that you're all still alive. That thing is capable of killing someone!"

"Not to mention it can probably mutilate someone if angry enough," Amos added as he watched the Gardevoir continue taking her anger out on the rock wall. "I've never seen a pokemon with such a big temper before! I didn't think Gardevoirs could get so bitter!"

White snorted and said weakly, "Now you know why Sky Blue's so scared of older women and Gardevoirs..."

The older trainer then noticed what Margaret was doing. The rookie was still plugging her ears with her hands, but she was staring at the Gardevoir. Something about it seemed to fascinate her.

"Margaret?" White whispered, hitting her friend lightly on the arm. "You alright?"

Margaret shook her head but turned weakly to the rest of the group and stammered nervously, "I-I think I know why the G-Gardevoir is so violent..."

"You do?" questioned Danny. "How?"

"I-I just noticed it...a-after that wind blew away her cloak, I-I noticed something around h-her neck..." The maroon haired girl explained while pointing shakely at the Gardevoir's neck.

Everyone all looked at where Margaret was pointing. Sure enough, White could see something metallic around the Gardevoir's neck. It was hard to tell, but it looked like a collar. She could see sparks flying from it.

"Is...is that a shock collar its wearing?" asked Xavier uncertainly.

Margaret nodded and continued on, "Y-Yes. I-I think that collar is also giving her instructions and orders. It's hurting her, and it making her agitated and violent. I-If we distracted it, w-we could somehow remove it from her. I-It might stop her from battling."

"Well how do we distract it? All the pokemon are exhausted!" Serena pointed out.

White wasn't listening to the conversation. Her attention was back on the Gardevoir. She closed her eyes and tried blocking out the noise in her head so she could concentrate. She thought about what the Gardevoir had said to the voice earlier.

Non! You need my dancing! Isn't that why you wanted me, Patron maîtresse?

Project Danse Beauté...

Then it clicked. That was the Gardevoir's special battle style. It battled by dancing to a beat. White had seen it before, but that was three years earlier. A trainer had taught her pokemon to dance to the beat of her tribal drum. If they could just throw the Gardevoir off the beat...

"Danny," White started in a serious tone, bringing all further conversations to a halt. "Have you by any chance taught your Spinda to battle to a beat?"

"Err, what...?"

"Have you trained Loopy to battle to music, like your violin playing?"

Danny thought for a moment before answering, "I have tried to teach her to battle to my violin music, but-"

"Well get your Spinda and violin out, and start battling that Gardevoir!" the older trainer snapped.

"White, I'm sorry, but have you lost your mind?!" demanded Amos as Danny hurriedly got out his violin case from his bag without objection. "Most of the pokemon out now could barely land a hand on it! How is a Spinda gonna make much of a different?"

"Don't you see? The Gardevoir was able to beat the other pokemon because she was dancing, and all of her strategies were made to match her movements! Now unless one of you has been hiding any pokemon that can dance to a beat, then speak up now!"

"No, but seriously, there's got to be something else we can!" Serena snarled at White.

"Well Serena, if you have a better idea, then by all means share it with us!"

To White's relief, Serena didn't reply. When Danny released Loopy from her pokeball, the little panda pokemon looked up at the Gardevoir and squeaked from fright. After noticing her new opponent, the Gardevoir stopped punching the rock wall and slowly turn to face the Spinda. Her lip curled maliciously at the sight of Loopy.

"What is ce?" The Gardevoir sneered, circling the Spinda slowly like a Sharpedo ready to strike.

The Spinda cowered in fear and backed away from the tall pokemon. But the other pokemon all began cheering for her from the side lines.

"You can do it, Loopy!" cried Samson while Spirit made a weak clanging noise because of his lack of a voice.

"Show that bully who's boss!" Sowny called out while Petunia, Green Ivy, and Fletcher kept chanting Loopy's name. Even the pokemon like Raichu, Penelope, Bubblestar, Quilladin, Oliver, and (to White's surprise) Jeremiah joined in encouragingly.

The Gardevoir growled at all the noise. White noticed that the Psychic and Fairy Type was now moving from foot to foot as if starting her own rhythm.

"Let's finish this up quickly!" one of the male grunts shouted to the Gardevoir. "Use Fire Punch!"

The Gardevoir smirked at the order. The Embrace Pokemon twirled around and sent her now flaming fist at the Spinda.

Then the music started, and Loopy suddenly leapt into action. Her ears suddenly glowed in multiple colors and enclosed over the Gardevoir's fist, trapping her. Danny's violin music had started up. White was surprised that the Spinda could read the music by the speed it was going. It was like Loopy could hear hidden commands in her trainer's violin music that no one else could decipher.

When the music reached a high point, Loopy tightened her grip on the Gardevoir and literally threw the pokemon at the wall. White winced as a screech of pain split through her thoughts. The Gardevoir in reality gasped in pain and slid to the ground. Now it was Loopy who was hopping from foot to foot and twirling around.

"Get up, you stupid animal!" a female grunt yelled at the Gardevoir as she pushed herself back on her feet shakely.

The Embrace Pokemon huffed and snarled furiously, "I will not be defeated by un petit panda stupide!"

It was amazing watching Loopy and the Gardevoir fight. While the other pokemon had been on uneven ground when battling her, Loopy now had an advantage. Though the Spinda occasionally misread her trainer's music and fumbled, she was giving the Psychic and Fairy Type a great deal of damage. It was like Danny and Loopy were in sync with each other.

It was obvious that the Gardevoir was beginning to become exhausted. She was taking short ragged breaths, and she wasn't moving as swiftly as before. She was even a bit disoriented from the Spot Panda Pokemon's Teeter Dance and Dizzy Punch.

After awhile, Loopy suddenly began charging electrical energy for a Wild Charge. To White's bewilderment, the Gardevoir stopped her dancing and fighting and fell on her knees. She must have been on the verge of fainting.

It gave a loud screech as the Spinda pelted at the humanoid pokemon and slammed into her. The little panda stumbled away from her quickly as the Gardevoir got on its hands and knees, trying to stand back up.

"Try and get the collar off it now!" White shouted to the others. "Amos, you and Oliver make sure those grunts don't interfere!"

Everyone took action at once. All the pokemon were already advancing quickly on the Gardevoir, while others like Xavier and Bubblestar and Serena and Quilladin assisted Amos in stopping the grunts and their pokemon. The remaining pokemon were doing their best to remove the shock collar from the Gardevoir's neck. It seemed to take their combined efforts to even dent it. All the while, the Gardevoir did nothing to stop them.

Then two pokemon finally broke through it. Samson was holding Spirit like a regular sword, who had his sash wrapped around the Charmeleon's arm. Together they were able to tear the collar off of the humanoid pokemon's neck.

White gasped as all the noise in her head suddenly vanished. Her thoughts were now silent and free of agitation. The collar had somehow caused all those words and feelings to be forced into her mind.

But then the loudest screech yet echoed throughout Glittering Cave. The Gardevoir's scream of pain seemed to stab White. The Team Flare grunts and their pokemon all seemed to tremble in fear as the trainers' pokemon backed away from the Psychic and Fairy Type. The Gardevoir was clutching the back of her neck and was taking large gulps of air.

"So much...silence..." She panted. "My thoughts...are alone...no more chaos..."

The Gardevoir then stood up and slowly turned to face the Team Flare grunts. Pure hatred was shown in the look she gave them.

"W-What do we do?! It'll kill us!" One of the female grunts stammered as the Gardevoir made a short Moonblast blade.

"Ditch it, that's all we can do!" A male grunt answered nervously before turning angrily to see the group of trainers. "But mark my words, we'll get our princess back!"

"GET OUT OF MY VUE!" The Gardevoir shrieked, throwing the blade at the grunts. "YOU ARE NOT MY MAÎTRISE ANY MORE!"

The grunts yelped and tore off toward the cave entrance, dodging the blades that the humanoid pokemon threw at them. The Gardevoir continued to curse and throw the Moonblast blades at them until they were no longer in the cave area. She gave one final shriek before collapsing on the ground, her body trembling.

White leaned against the wall and tried catching her breath. She jumped as someone touched her hand. Fiona had come next to White. Tears were still sliding down her face.

"Your...Your father is from Team Flare, isn't he?" White huffed to her quietly.

Fiona did nothing, but after a minute she gave a tiny nod. White sighed and put her arm around the little girl.

"It's ok," she assured her quietly. "We'll figure something out. I won't let them take you away."

Margaret, who had been crouching on the ground from the pain the collar had caused, was the first to reach the Gardevoir. She gasped as she lifted the pokemon's hair.

"G-Guys, she's bleeding!" Margaret stuttered anxiously.

"What?!" White snapped, but her arm back by her side and ran next to Margaret to see the Gardevoir's wound.

Sure enough, the back of the Gardevoir's neck was bleeding. Some of the collar was still trapped in her skin. Blood was leaking from the edges.

"Move back, I can try and help her!" ordered Serena, moving between White and Margaret looking at the wound.

"Serena, I don't think you can fix that," Danny told her as he knelt at the Gardevoir's other side.

"It's a piece of metal in her skin, I can get it!" The other rookie snapped, reaching to touch the collar part.

But she yelped as Danny smacked her hand away and snarled, "Don't touch it! It has to be treated at a Pokemon Center!"

"Who made you boss?! That thing will kill her!"

"Have you noticed where it's placed? Serena, I think that piece of the collar is connected to her brain. You can't just yank it out!"

"Serena," Xavier started as he lightly tapped the collar part. "I think he's right. We don't have the equipment or experience to take it out, we'll have to take it to a Pokemon Center. If we aren't careful, we could kill her."

"But its in pain!" Serena protested. "We can't leave it like this!"

"Well does anyone have any medicine she can take?" Amos asked, as he felt the Gardevoir's forehead shakely. "A Super Potion might keep her going for awhile longer, and a Hyper Potion would work great."

Danny nodded and answered as he set down his violin and opened his bag, "I think I have a Super Potion that will work."

The Gardevoir, who seemed to be listening to their conversation, sat up slightly and allowed Danny to tend to her. Serena and Margaret both tried helping, but the Gardevoir would snarl at them and back away. For some reason, she only seemed comfortable with Danny so far.

"That should do it," Danny finally said after a few minutes and finished spraying the last of the pokemon's wounds. "That should help her until we get back to town."

"Merci."

Everyone froze. White couldn't believe what she heard. It almost sounded like the Gardevoir had spoken in the human language. The others seemed to have heard it too.

"Is it just me, or did it just talk?" Xavier whispered in disbelief.

"Oh please, don't insult moi," the same voice scoffed. "I'm obviously a Dame."

If White had not seen the lips of the Gardevoir move, she would not have believed it. Never in all her life had she heard a pokemon speak aloud in English. It was even more weird for the others, who never heard a pokemon talk at all.

"You...you can talk...?" Serena started weakly, staring at the Gardevoir.

The Gardevoir suddenly blushed and shut her eyes tightly before hissing, "Oh my, this will take a lot of expliquant."

"T-This isn't possible though," stammered Amos. "Pokemon can't speak like us."

"I beg to differ," snorted the Gardevoir. "Your pokemon can't, that's obvious, but I am a cas spécial."

"Have you spoken like this before?" White asked, trying to remain calm.

"Yes, to moi même."

"I-I'm sorry, but w-we can't understand you," stuttered Margaret nervously and quietly.

"I wouldn't worry about that, little redhead," the Gardevoir sighed, her eyes glowing slightly. "There will be lots of time to discuss this, I think."

"Danny, she has one of your pokeballs!" Xavier hissed loudly as the Gardevoir used Psychic on one of the empty pokeballs on Danny's belt.

Before anyone could stop her, the Gardevoir let the pokeball drop on her head. The pokeball opened and sucked the Embrace Pokemon inside. The pokeball fell to the ground and started to shake. It shook three times before clicking.

The Gardevoir had caught herself.

All the trainers watched the pokeball. Most of them were trying to process everything. But none of them looked as shocked as Danny.

After a moment, Margaret said quietly to Danny, "Well, Danny, I guess you have your fourth pokemon now."