Chapter 36

White pushed aside a bush as she struggled toward a dark shape ahead of her. It was large, and had a redish glow around it. Its mane was like fire.

She stumbled over a fallen branch, but the pokemon didn't notice. It was farther away now as it weaved in and out of the trees. White caught a glimpse of its tail before it vanished into the darkness.

"Wait!" She cried, running after it. "Come back! Please! Don't leave me!"

White burst through the trees and saw the large pokemon waiting for her in a large clearing.

It looked like a large brown lion with a fiery mane. It had a stern look around it, and its eyes were bright blue. She only saw a pokemon like this once.

White approached the Pyroar cautiously, not sure if it was safe to touch it. She reached out to stroke its mane, but it growled.

It looked into her eyes and said in a low voice, "Watch your step from now on. Remember to follow your heart instead of your mind." Then the Pyroar vanished, and the darkness pressed toward her.

***

White screamed and bolted up right. She heard someone yell next to her as she stood up.

She was in one of the Hidden Grottos, and Hugh, Amos, and Shane the Gallade were there. Hugh had fell backwards and Amos was kneeling a few feet away from her. Shane had ran into a tree.

"Oh it's you two!" She snarled and stepped backwards. "What was that about?!" snapped Hugh, straightening up.

She blushed and muttered, "It was just a dream." Amos gave her a nervous look and rubbed his eyes. White's stomach burned and she sat back down, wincing slightly.

"How's your stomach?" Amos asked her.

"It hurts a bit," she replied, holding her coat close to her. "What happened back there? How did I get here?"

"Zinzolin tried to get us to hand you over to him," Hugh explained. "We refused, and got angry with us. He probably would've killed us if Sky and the others didn't come."

"And where is he?" White asked, looking around.

"Still in Driftveil. He had Shane teleport us here when we were still at that ship. That Zinzolin person called this Shadow Triad to attack the others when we left. Its been a few hours since we got here on Route 7." Amos answered.

"What about Mira and Leia?"

"Mira was with Sky and Cheren. Leia was still at that tournament." said Hugh. Her heart skipped she beat.

"Cheren was there?" she asked. Shane snickered from his corner.

"Yes. He was worried about you." Hugh said with a smirk. "He wanted to take you to a hospital, but Sky said no."

"Good for him," White snarled, rubbing her wrist. Every breath felt like she was stabbed. She wheezed and leaned against a nearby tree.

Amos was shaking slightly, and looked very nervous. Hugh looked exhausted and was pulling grass out of the ground. Shane was scratching marks into a tree trunk.

White had always liked the Gallade. She had borrowed him a lot from Sky Blue when she needed a Psychic Type. Shane was one of the pokemon that she had used to steal Seth.

There was a sudden outburst of noise from outside the grotto. Hugh and Amos stood up, and Shane turned around. White clutched at the rainbow brooch that was still clipped to her coat collar.

Sky Blue, Mira, and Leia ran inside as another loud noise echoed outside. "Shane, go and scare off this Liepard out there. Its been tailing us for awhile now." Sky told him, and the Gallade nodded and left.

Leia gave a small squeak and hugged White. "Leia, please!" White hissed as her chest began to burn again. Leia started to cry and said, "I thought you were dead!"

White looked up at Mira, who looked worried and scared. Sky had a large scratch on his cheek, but seemed to be ignoring it. Leia's clothes were slightly torn, and her hands were dirty.

"What happened to you guys?" Amos asked, pulling Leia off White.

"Those Shadow Triad people know how to fight." said Sky, leaning against a tree, "We barely got out alive."

"How are you feeling?" Mira asked White. "I don't know," she muttered, "Those claws didn't belong to an innocent kitten." 

"What happened after we left?" Hugh asked the three new comers. Leia's arm twitched.

"We had to retreat." Mira said quietly. "They were too strong. Most of our pokemon were pretty beat up. Team Plasma isn't just after White. They're after Sky Blue as well."

"Why?" asked Amos, looking at Sky. He had his head in his hands. When Sky looked up, White could see how exhausted he was.

"For the same reason as last time." Sky croaked. "I have a talent with technology, and I have made some pretty good inventions. Team Plasma wants me to make special tools for them."

"What took you so long?" White growled, folding her arms.

"Team Plasma was in Chargestone Cave." Leia explained hurriedly, "They were looking for you."

"I got your stuff from there." Mira told her older friend, "Your guitar and bag is hidden near this grotto. I can get them later."

"I can get it myself." said White, standing up. But Sky Blue pushed her gently back onto the ground.

"You can't go out." He said sternly. "None of you guys can. Not yet."

"Why?" Hugh asked fiercely. Sky didn't answer. Mira and Leia exchanged looks.

"What is it?" said Amos, looking at his younger cousin.

"White," Mira started, pulling a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, "We wish we didn't have to tell you this, but..."

"But?" White snarled.

Sky finally said "White, Team Plasma turned you into a wanted criminal. The police are looking for you."

White stared at him, unable to understand. "What?" she hissed. Mira handed her the piece of paper, her hand shaking. White unfolded it and saw that it was a clipping of a newspaper article.

White Copperstone Wanted for Criminal Activity

"WHAT?!" Amos shouted as he read the title of the article from over her shoulder. "On what charges?!"

"The same thing as last time." Sky said bitterly. "Working as a spy for Team Plasma, theft, and working along side other criminals."

Mira gave White a look that told her who this 'other criminal' was.

N.

White felt numb. Her head was spinning. She threw the article aside and hid her face in her hands.

Everything was to much. She shouldn't have helped N. She knew why he made her do this now. He made her try and stop Team Plasma so he didn't have to face his foster father or this.

"I'm sorry." Sky said, sitting next to her.

White didn't respond. She hated her life. She hated herself. All she ever wanted was to have a normal life, and she got a life full of suffering in return.

"But they can't get away with this!" Hugh said finally, his voice cracking.

"They did." Leia said in a small voice. "Team Plasma is everywhere. A few grunts are in Mistralon City right now. That Liepard Shane is fighting belongs to a grunt. Police are even looking out for White."

"I'm not leaving her." Amos snarled. "This is all just a big fat lie! White didn't do anything wrong!"

"We aren't leaving either." Mira said, nodding toward Sky.

"Nor us." said Hugh, and Leia gave a small nod.

"There's just one problem," Sky started slowly. "Team Plasma gave a list of White's pokemon team, her appearance, and all the people she has contact with. It will be hard to get her from city to city."

"I can't do much about that." White muttered, wiping her eyes.

"We had a thought on that." Mira said putting her bag on the ground, "Now White, I know you won't like it, but you'll have to cooperate."

"What?" she asked as Mira pulled out a pink box. "I'm going to have to dye your hair, and you'll need to wear those colored contact lenses things."

"No." White said flatly.

"You got to!" Leia pleaded, her eyes wide.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" She repeated, shaking her head. "I'd rather go to jail."

"Would you rather face the police and Team Plasma?" demanded Hugh. White sighed and facepalmed.

"I'll do it if I choose the color!" She snarled.

"Do whatever, just do it!" said Amos as he sat on the ground.

While Mira started pulling out bottles of dye, Sky started to say, "I'll have to do a bit of improving to. We need to make a fake Trainer Card, and you'll need to have a new pokemon team."

"Don't we need a PC to make another team?" Amos asked as Sky Blue started to dig around on his satchel.

"Not really." He replied and pulled out a laptop. "I can get into her PC with my laptop. I can also make a trainer card from here."

"I'll continue to have Zoroark, Pignite, and Penelope on my team." White said. "Team Plasma doesn't know about the two starters, and Zoroark can illusion its self into some other pokemon."

"We should nickname your Pignite." Hugh advised. "Otherwise we have two of the same pokemon with the same name."

"Good point," White agreed. "Change it to Amycus. It fits him better, plus I always liked that name." Sky nodded.

"And what about the remaining three pokemon? Any suggestions?" Sky asked.

"You can use Taxi if you want." Mira said as she took out a small blue box. "I don't need him."

"I can give you Abby, my Audino!" piped up Leia, "I don't use her as much!"

"Fine then." White said, nodding, "But what about Archy and the others?"

"We can watch them." Amos told her, "I can take three."

"Same here." said Hugh. White forced herself to give a small smile.

"What about the last pokemon?" Sky asked.

"I'll figure something out." She said, folding her arms again.

"By the way," Mira started, and turned to White. "Cheren was going to try and explain things to the gym leaders. He's on our side." White's inside squirmed, but she nodded.

White watched as Leia and Mira started talking to each other in low voices. She was wondering if she would ever survive this war. Her team was breaking a part, she had to have another false identity, and a false appearance.

Now she realized how much her friends cared about her. They were taking a large risk in helping her. All she needed to worry about now was N.

~~~

Wow, I'm so nice to White. *Note the sarcasm*

THE HORSE MADE ME DO IT.

So, I gave two hints on who Mira's older brother is in the last chapter. And shinymewgirl figured it out! :D Good for you! If you want to know, look at the comments on Chapter 35. I'm not saying the answer.

I'll be updating a bit more now that I have something exciting to write about. So vote and comment please! Don't hate me, please >.< I'm only doing my duty as a writer.

Good night! :)