Chapter 14: Separation

"Oh, shoot," said Professor Oak.

"What is it?" asked Chris.

"I'm supposed to be giving a presentation right now. I should call the organizers, tell them I'll be late." He started patting down his pockets. "Where is my phone?"

"It's in your hotel room."

Professor Oak frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Steven tracked it. We were hoping you had it on you, but it showed up in a hotel. We assumed it was your room."

"Oh." The Professor looked around for a moment. "Do you have a phone I could borrow?"

"Uhm..." Chris went through his pockets and pulled out a shiny looking device. He held it out to the Professor "Here."

As the Professor pressed a few buttons, Carol asked, "Where did you get that?"

"Found it," said Chris offhandedly.

I tuned out their conversation. I wasn't in the mood. We were the only ones in the carriage, but I still felt uneasy. Val seemed to share my feelings, so I went over and sat next to her.

"Why did I ever agree to start a team with you?" she asked.

"I sort of pressed you into it," I said.

"I could've forced you out of my house."

"You don't seem like the sort of pokémon to get in fights."

"You seem like a dork."

"Hey! I'm—"

"'...the strongest electric pokémon in the world.' I know. You blew up my shrub with your thunderbolt." She sighed.

"Tell you what. Once we get out of this, I'll plant you a new shrub."

She gave a wan smile. "Yeah."

"We're gonna get out of this," I said with certainty.

She clearly didn't believe it. And to be honest, neither did I. We were gonna be stuck in the future forever.

Even if those thieves managed to find a way back to the past, they weren't gonna take us with them. Why would they? We'd be a liability. And they definitely didn't trust us. How could they? I didn't trust them.

No. We had to find our own way home.

Grovyle sat down next to us. "How are you two holding up?" he asked.

"We're fine," said Val.

"Good. We're currently in the humans' capital city, Washington D.C. You should stay close. It's easy to get lost."

"Good to know," I said. I started planning an escape plan.

The Professor finished his phone call and gave Chris his phone back.

"Tell me. Where exactly did you get that phone?" It was one of the top-of-the-line Blackberry models released right before the world went to hell. Color screen, internet, QWERTY keyboard, the whole deal.

He thought for a moment, and then said, "I've had this phone for a while. Traded it with a business man for some ammunition. Best deal I ever had."

"Really? How come it wasn't confiscated when you were captured?"

"Oh, um... I don't know. Maybe they didn't notice it."

Something seemed off. Grovyle noticed, too. He asked, "How did you get back to the future? I don't remember you being captured with us."

"I came looking for you," said Chris. "I went to Treasure Town and watched you get thrown into the Passage."

"Why didn't you do anything?"

"I had no chance to help. I would've been captured if I tried to help you guys."

"And yet you got captured anyway."

"Why are you grilling me all of a sudden?" asked Chris. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"We never said you did," said Grovyle. "We just want to know what happened."

Before Chris could respond, a synthetic voice interrupted, "Next stop: L'Enfant Plaza. Please stay clear of the opening doors."

"Oh! This is our stop," said Professor Oak. "My hotel is just a short walk away."

"Good," said Carol. Public transportation always made her a bit nervous, and she wasn't feeling very comfortable about being underground either. She looked around the carriage one more time before they left. Val and Peak were standing apart from the rest of them, and Chris noticed that, too.

"Hey guys," he said. "We're gonna be moving again soon."

"Alright," said Peak. "We'll be right there."

The two quadrupeds jumped down from the bench and walked up next to the door.

"Just in case we get separated, the Professor's staying at the Holiday Inn just a few blocks away," said Chris to Peak.

"Got it."

The intercom spoke up. "The doors are now opening."

"Ready?" asked Peak.

Val nodded. "Yeah."

Very suddenly, there was a great white light and they were all temporarily blinded.

"Ack!"

"Now's our chance!" There was the sound of receding footsteps, and by the time vision returned, Val and Peak were gone.

"Oh, crap."

"Come on! Follow me!" Peak blazed a path through the crowd of humans and pokémon milling about.

"Do you know where you're going?" Val asked as she kept right on his tail.

"Let's get away from here, first! Up those stairs!"

They ran up the stairs, and after a few flights they were at the surface. The crowd thinned out as they got further away from the entrance to the subway station, and they slowed down somewhat once the entrance was out of sight. After a few more minutes of this, they paused to catch their breath.

"Now what?" asked Val.

Peak sighed. "I'm still figuring that out."

"Really? I thought you said you had this all planned out."

"Well..." said Peak sheepishly.

A voice interrupted them. "Hey! Peak! Val!"

The two turned to look at the source. An Emolga was standing at the entrance to an alleyway. A worn pair of Safety Goggles hung from his neck.

"Huh? Who are you? How do you know our names?" asked Peak.

"Look, I don't have time to explain right now. You guys need to come with me," insisted the Emolga.

"Why should we trust you?"

The Emolga sighed. "We don't have a lot of time. I'll tell you whatever you want to know once we get to a safe place, but right now, you need to follow me."

After a tense moment, Peak turned to Val. "What do you think?"

She paused to consider things. On one side, she had no reason to believe that this Emolga was trustworthy. He could merely be trying to trick them. On the other side, though, she didn't really have much left to lose. "I think we should follow him."

"Alright," said Peak. "I trust your decision, but only on one condition." He turned to face the Emolga. "Tell us your name."

"My name's Randy. Now, come on. Let's go." Randy waved for them to follow, and they fell in line behind him, darting through narrow alleyways at break-neck pace. After a few minutes, they slowed to a stop in front of an open window about three feet off the ground.

"Is this your safe place?" asked Peak.

"Yeah. I'll go inside and open a door for you," said Randy, jumping up to the windowsill and entering the building. The window shut behind him with a sharp snap. After a few moments, a door a few feet down the alley opened up. "Come in, quickly."

They all ran inside and Randy shut the door behind them. While he locked the many, many padlocks on the door, Val and Peak took a look around. The building was bathed in darkness, and it was difficult to see anything outside of the small areas illuminated by the light that filtered in through the window Randy entered. The place seemed to be a warehouse, with ceiling-height shelves filling almost the entire building. The shelves were sparsely populated with an assortment of cardboard boxes.

"Nice place," said Peak with no small hint of disapproval.

Randy scoffed as he hung from the top of the door. "Yeah, you always were a bit of a hard-ass."

Randy jumped to the ground and led his guests to a small area in the corner of the warehouse, where he had set up a small living area under one of the taller shelves. There were some cushions sat around a table, a makeshift bed stuffed with packing peanuts, and a small battery-powered lamp. "Sorry about the mess," said Randy as he turned the lamp on with a click. "I would've cleaned up, but things have been pretty hectic with the convention in town." He gestured at the cushions. "Have a seat, we have a lot to talk about."

The three of them sat down around the table and got comfortable.

"Alright, now I know you probably have a lot of questions, but just let me say a few things first." Randy cleared his throat before continuing, "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are. You're the founders of Team Flash Burn, and you're in the future from your perspective. There's a lot of things that have happened between your time and now, and a lot of the major things happen in your time. Like, within a year of the date you joined the Wigglytuff Guild. Basically, the world came to an end, and this is how it happened..."

Dusknoir floated outside Steven's cell, considering his options. He wasn't going to work for Dialga anymore, that was a certainty, but what was he going to do? Retirement wasn't something Dusknoir had ever even seriously considered. It's not like Dialga offered a pension plan. He could resign with grace, try to live a quiet life and forget all this, but that wasn't his style. Besides, it was unlikely that that "messenger" would let him go so easily.

Then there was the other option. Betraying the cause. This one was dangerous, risky, and unlikely to work. Even more so than the other one. Grovyle and company would never accept him, would they? They would probably see it as a trick, with good reason. It's exactly the sort of thing he would try to pull off, gaining their trust and double-crossing them at the last moment. Still, it was worth a shot.

Dusknoir entered Steven's cell and quietly examined him. The boy was disheveled, tied to an uncomfortable chair, and understandably angry. After a moment, Dusknoir started untying Steven's ropes.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Steven.

Once the ropes fell to the ground, Dusknoir pulled Steven out of his chair.

Oh, no. What's he gonna do to me? Steven thought to himself.

Dusknoir led Steven into the hallway and took him down to another room. It was another holding cell. There was a sleeping figure tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Dusknoir put Steven in one of the corners. "Stay there," he commanded. Dusknoir left Steven and went to untie and rouse the sleeping body.

Even though Steven couldn't understand Dusknoir's words, he understood the intent. He looked longingly at the open door. He considered running. With Dusknoir distracted, he might be able to get a good thirty seconds in the hallways before he was captured. It might be just enough to get to an exit. Steven was about to go for it until the person in the chair woke up.

"Mmph? Where am I?"

"Chris?"

Chris looked at Steven, not noticing his terrified expression or Dusknoir right behind him. "Oh! Steven! Where are we?"

"You're in prison," said Dusknoir once he untied the ropes.

"What?" Chris turned around in his chair and was face-to-eye with Dusknoir. "Aah!" He jumped back out of his chair and immediately tripped onto the floor. In a panic, he scrambled up and ran to stand next to Steven in the corner. "What the hell?"

Dusnkoir gave the two a moment to calm down. Then he said, "This may sound a little strange, but I need you to translate."

The fear turned to confusion. Chris asked, "What? What do you mean translate?"

"Your friend can't understand me, but you now can, apparently. I need you to act as an intermediary."

"Why would I do that?"

"I have a proposition for you both."

The Professor's hotel room was on the ninth floor. Carol, Grovyle, and Chris were sitting down on the bed while the Professor made some more phone calls. There was an action flick on TV, but none of them were really paying attention.

"I'm gonna take a shower." Chris got up and left the room. A minute later, the sound of running water could be heard from the bathroom.

"This is a disaster," said Grovyle.

"I know." Carol turned to Grovyle. "What are we going to do?"

"We can't give up hope. We're going to rest a while, and then we'll search for Val and Peak."

"What about Steven?"

Grovyle sighed. "Once we get Val and Peak, we might be able to go after Steven. But it's not likely we'll be able to help him. The best thing to do would be to return to the past and finish the mission."

"..." Carol seemed as if she was on the verge of tears. "I hope he'll be okay."

In the bathroom, "Chris" relaxed. "Alright. What do we have here?" He didn't have much time at all to grab things from his target before switching places with him, but he managed to grab the shotgun and the pistol. He popped out the magazine and checked it. "Full. Should prove useful." He reinserted the magazine with a click. The shower drowned out any sounds, though, so there was no chance they would hear him.

He leaned forward and took a good look at himself in the mirror. "That looks about right. Gonna be tricky to keep this transformation synced up, though. Still, they don't call me the best for nothing, do they?" He picked up the shotgun and got a splinter on the wooden grip.

"Ack!" The illusion wavered, and Zoroark's true form briefly flashed in the mirror.

The Professor, hearing his exclamation knocked on the door. "Everything okay in there?"

"Yeah," called out Zoroark with Chris's voice. "Water got a bit hot, that's all."

"Alright. Don't burn yourself." That seemed to satisfy him.

Zoroark cursed inwardly. He would have to be more careful. He had already had a close call on the subway. He looked in the mirror once more. Chris stared back at him with blue eyes. He quickly corrected that, the boy had brown eyes. Attention to detail was everything in his line of business. All he had to do was keep appearances up until the time came.

"They'll never suspect a thing."

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I think I've managed to figure this out now, though. Thanks to those of you who contacted me and inspired me to hunker down and write stuff. You guys know who you are. I'll update my other projects soon. Also, just bear with me for a moment, please.