[CyberCubed]

Sorry for being a little late with this chapter, been busy.

Chapter 43

The mood in the Petalburg Gym was somber, yet filled with a renewed sense of hope. May curled herself up on an armchair, with a blanket covering her body and a cup of hot coffee in her hands. She sipped from her cup slowly, trying to absorb all the new information given to her by the person who intervened during her struggle with Ross in the alley, Tana.

She was still terribly shaken up by the revelation that horrible things were happening to her mother, it was a disturbing and heartbreaking thought for the young girl. She was frustrated and repulsed, so much so that she immediately wanted to storm out of her house again after Tana revealed some new information about Ross. She couldn’t let her mother rot away in some hole as she was being abused and tortured, and she was over-anxious to rush out onto the street to find Ross again and bring him to justice. After being physically restrained and told to calm down by her father, Norman, May managed to subdue her fear and anxiety for her mothers safety, and rest up a bit before rushing into action without a plan.

Her hands trembled as some coffee spilled out of her cup and stained her white skirt, but she didn’t care. For all she knew, her mother could be enduring some unimaginable pain while she was sitting on a chair doing nothing. She tried to push the disturbing images out of her head, for it would allow her to think clearly and not feel hopeless. She struggled with her psychological turmoil, no matter how this situation would be resolved, the horrifying tragedy would forever be burned into her mind, and would stick with her for the rest of her life. Whatever the case, she knew she had to rescue her mother as soon as possible, but her father and the others didn’t see eye to eye.

“You could have been hurt! Why did you confront that man in the alley?!”

That was what her father scolded her with. She had always loved her father, but instead of being proud of his daughter for nearly bringing down the man that kidnapped his wife, he instead decided to scold her, perhaps out of the fear that he would lose his daughter, in addition to his wife. Norman was already suffering an emotional heartache over the abduction of his wife, and he was fearful that his only daughter could have fallen victim to the same man. May understood his reaction, fair enough, she did put herself into physical danger. Yet at the same time, she was as frustrated as ever with him for not working toward rescuing Caroline as efficiently as possible.

There was also her younger brother, Max, who was awake and in the living room when May was transported back to her house with Tana and Gardevoir. The first thing May’s eyes connected with were her little brother’s sad and innocent face, and she immediately rushed over and hugged him in her arms. She almost didn’t let him go, for she knew as painful as she felt about losing her mother, Max was in a state of shock. As she was cradling her brother in her arms, Tana explained everything to Ash and Norman.

“I’ve been using Gardevoir to try and track down Ross for about a week,” Tana said, “Being a psychic Pokemon, she can sometimes sense a certain person after being in close vicinity of them. After searching on the mainland where Jamie and I were staying, Gardevoir’s search led us to Petalburg City. I…was rushing down the street disguised so I wouldn’t be recognized, when I accidentally bumped into May. I immediately recognized her, but realized it would be best to confront Ross myself rather than put her in danger, so I pretended not to know her. A little while after that, Gardevoir was finally able to lock on to Ross’ location, where we found May battling him with Combusken in an alley.”

“I can’t believe she would do something so stupid like that,” Norman said, angrily, “May, you should know better!”

May frowned and continued holding her brother as her father scolded her.

“I think it’s perfectly reasonable!” Ash retorted, “She wants her mother safe and sound more than anything…I…I know I would do the same thing if my Mom was ever missing.”

Ash defended her, as usual. May smiled, he was always on her side no matter what the situation, and she appreciated it.

“She nearly took the man down, your daughter is truly a courageous girl, Norman,” Tana said, “I would expect no less from the daughter of a Gym leader.”

“My Combusken,” May uttered, faintly.

She held its Pokeball in her right hand while her left still held her brother close, Gardevoir quickly took it out of her hands. Combusken materialized on the floor, still flinching from being hurt by the taser. Gardevoir knew immediately how to heal the Pokemon, as it had been trained in the medical field for several years by Professor Latrommi and Nurse Joy. Having a ton of experience at a number of Pokemon Centers, the Pokemon quickly pressed its hands against Combusken’s chest as it used its “Recover” technique. Gardevoir and Combusken glowed in a bright blue aura as the healing technique was being administered.

May watched timidly with a confused Max by her side, as her starter Pokemon was being relieved of its disorientation.

“It’s going to take a while for Gardevoir to be finished, just so you know,” Tana said.

“Thank you,” May replied, it was all she wanted to say.

“Why do you have Gardevoir in the first place?” Ash asked, impulsively, “It’s Professor Latrommi’s Pokemon, why did he give it to you?”

“Because I needed help, and the Professor was the only person I could turn to,” Tana said, frowning, “Since you and May had started traveling again, Professor Latrommi was the only other person I was familiar with that I could go to for help. I knew all about him thanks to Brock telling me on the beach, especially after that weird walking Premium Ball fiasco that stole your money, plus I went to visit you guys at the lab before you set off again, remember? I didn’t even ask for Gardevoir, but once I told my problem to him, he immediately insisted that I use one of his most trusted Pokemon, and called for it to be transported over to his lab so he could give it to me. He really trusts me with Gardevoir it seems, which is strange, because I’m almost like a total stranger to him. I guess when I told him about Brock, Latrommi immediately sprang into action because he cared so much about him and the rest of you, since he considers you guys to be his friends.”

“You never did explain why Brock isn’t with you. Is he with Jamie or something?” Ash asked.

“It’s…a long story,” Tana sighed as she sat down on the couch, “A really long story.”

“I don’t know, from what you say, the Professor seems to be extremely worried about Brock as if something bad happened to him. This isn’t all connected to Ross, is it?” Ash asked.

“It must be,” Norman said, “Why else would she be trying to track down the same man who kidnapped my wife?”

“Mom,” May muttered as her eyes scanned over Combusken’s body.

“I’m right about this, aren’t I?” Norman asked, turning to Tana. “You said you were searching for Ross with Gardevoir, that must mean that Brock is related to this incident as well. Ross is a real low class scumbag, but he’s not a well known person or anything of the sort. How did you come across this man?”

Tana’s face began to broaden, as she sat up astute in her seat. What she had to tell them wasn’t easy, but she knew it had to be done.

“I’ll try to make this as simple as possible,” Tana said, carefully, “Jamie, my friend, and Ross know one another. They’re…good friends.”

May’s eyes twitched.

“Damn, well, how do I put it?” Tana pondered, “Jamie and I…kind of duped Brock into thinking we liked him.”

“What?” May gasped, turning around quickly.

Tana slouched in her seat, she began to look uneasy.

“When we met Brock on the beach, it was right after Jamie had broken up with her ex-boyfriend…and she wanted someone with a little more dignity. Brock seemed like a nice candidate, but when he revealed to us that he used to be the Pewter Gym leader, that’s when Jamie and I realized he was a perfect match. So…we kind of threw ourselves all over him,” Tana said, reluctantly.

May suddenly stood up and faced Tana.

“What does that have to do with Ross?” May snapped, holding Max by her side.

Tana took a deep breath as the worried siblings clung to one another, waiting for her to finish her story.

“You see, a Gym leader is a very important person. They’re officially licensed by the Pokemon league to give out badges to winning trainers. They get paid a healthy salary. They end up being famous in their hometown and even the whole region. Gym leader’s seem to lead such great lifestyles, however, there are also a bunch of people who are envious of Gym leaders, and well, want to take their position,” Tana said, “When Brock told us he was a Gym leader, Jamie and I agreed that he was the one to introduce to her ex-boyfriend.”

“Which is…” Norman realized.

“Yes, he’s the man who kidnapped your wife, Ross,” Tana said.

“So then what happened?” May yelled emotionally, “You let Jamie take Brock to Ross, and now he’s gone too?”

“May, calm down!” Norman shouted.

“And you lied the whole time when you said you really liked Brock?” May continued to yell, pushing her brother aside, “What kind of person are you, Tana? I thought you were our friend, I thought you and Jamie really liked Brock. I…thought that Brock was finally going to be happy.”

“May, please,” Tana said, rubbing her right eye.

May continued to argue with Tana, so much so that Gardevoir was beginning to lose its concentration with healing Combusken. The Psychic Pokemon raised its head and stated that the noise was bothering it during the healing process.

Ash and Max quickly ran over to May and tried to comfort her, they both put their hands on her shoulders and walked her backward to a seat on Norman’s armchair.

“She lied to him, to us!” May cried.

“I know, but we need to hear the rest of her story,” Ash said, “For your mother, May, for your mother.”

May looked up at Ash and slowly turned her face away in disgust. She was frustrated that two people she trusted may have led Brock into the same dangerous situation that her mother was in. Was everything that happened down at Atona beach just a farce?

“Tana, please go on,” Norman insisted, “I’d like to know everything about Ross and how I can get my wife back. My daughter can get very emotional, you have to understand that.”

“Dad, sometimes I wonder if you really have no emotions AT ALL!” May retorted, “You’re too calm for your own good.”

“Sis, please,” Max whimpered, “I want to see Mom again, let her talk.”

“But, Max, after what she said about Brock?” May asked.

“Just let her talk, please,” Max said, as a few tears ran down his cheek.

“Max,” she said, softly.

Max climbed up on the armchair and squeezed himself next to his sister. Norman glanced at Ash, and he knew immediately to stand next to them. He knew how close Ash was with his family, and intended for Ash to stand near his children and comfort them if need be.

Gardevoir nodded as it continued to perform its technique now that the noise was gone, and the blue aura encompassed the patient completely. After a few seconds of total silence, Tana continued telling them what she knew.

“Yes, May, Brock is being held at Ross’ place too,” Tana said reluctantly.

“Disgusting,” May responded.

“But this is why I want to make things right again. I know you probably won’t believe me, but after spending all those days on the beach with Brock…I really did fall in love with him,” Tana said, sighing, “Jamie didn’t feel the same way, not so much anyway, as she was still willing to use Brock as a tool for Ross. Strange, she broke up with Ross because of his controlling and sadistic personality, but…she seems to want to make up with him. I…I guess by handing Brock over to him…it’s her way of saying she’s sorry.”

“Go on,” Norman said.

“She’s such a fool,” Tana said, shaking her head, “She’s going to get herself back into trouble again. I wish I could do something to convince her to stay away from Ross, but she’s too loyal to him. She…actually picked him over me, if that’s any indication as to where her loyalties lie.”

“So you mean Jamie is with Ross right now too?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, I believe so. This…this is why I came to Professor Latrommi and you guys. I…I want to save them all. I want to atone for what I did, I…I want to save my friend from going down the wrong path. You guys don’t know Ross like I do, he’s a man who enjoys inflicting cruelty and pain upon people, and is amused by the despair of others. I…don’t want to see Jamie fall victim to that man twice. I want to save Brock before it’s too late, I feel horrible for contributing to such a situation. And of course, I want to save your Mom.”

“How did you know that Ross had my mother in the first place?” May asked, irritably.

“It’s all over the news,” Tana replied, “Once I started to search for Ross using Gardevoir and entered Petalburg City, I couldn’t escape it. Caroline’s kidnapping was all over the newspapers and the TV, and when Ross was identified as the kidnapper, I nearly gasped in shock. I already feared what reaction you guys would have to Brock being kidnapped…I…I didn’t know what to think when it happened to your mother as well. The news really shocked me.”

“Figures that those low-life reporters and TV stations would glorify the kidnapping of my wife all over the media,” Norman grunted, “They’re cowards, every one of them. And to think that being a Gym leader, the news will only continue to publicize this further for ratings. Truly disgusting, and those reporters are nothing but cowards.”

May sighed as she recalled the reporters fleeing the alley when she asked them to help her with Ross. “You’re right, Dad,” she said.

“Pikachu, pika?” Pikachu asked, while resting on Ash’s shoulder.

“You’re right,” Ash responded, “I don’t get it, why does Ross need Brock anyway? If it’s for the Gym badge thing, Ross can’t use a Kanto badge to qualify for the Hoenn league. And besides, was Ross really that desperate for a last badge that he asked you and Jamie to bring him a Gym leader?”

“I don’t think it is about needing a badge, Ash,” Norman said, “He might be desperate to qualify for the Pokemon league, after all, he did assault my family when I banned him from my Gym, but this sounds more like jealousy as well. I’m guessing that he wants to become a Gym leader himself, so it would make him feel like he has some authority. Right now he’s nothing but a nameless street punk, but as a Gym leader, he would be well respected and have real power.”

“You’re probably right,” Tana said, “He’s always had a thing for wanting power, I noticed it when Jamie was dating him. He always wanted to be in control and have some kind of dominance over people.”

“But he’s insane if he thinks that by kidnapping Brock that he could become a Gym leader!” Ash exclaimed, “What does he think, that somehow he can gain control of the Pewter Gym or something? That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Would it need to make sense, for Ross though?” Norman countered, “He is not a healthy man, I imagine there is something wrong with him. In his twisted mind, he might believe that he can actually gain leadership of a Gym if he has a current Gym leader in his possession. If worst comes to worst, he might actually kill Brock and try to assume his identity.”

“DAD!” May screamed.

“You can’t say that Brock is going to die!” Max yelled, bursting into tears.

May quickly pulled her brother into her arms and let him wet her shirt with his tears again.

“Dad, you’re always like that!” May exclaimed, “Brock is our close friend, you can’t just say he’ll be killed without a care in the world! I can’t believe you sometimes!”

“May, I’m sorry. I was speaking rhetorically, I didn’t mean to frighten you two,” Norman said.

“You sure did a pretty good job at that,” May scoffed, caressing a terrified Max in her arms.

“Great,” Ash muttered.

Tana impatiently waved to get Ash’s attention.

“I have to ask, Ash, will you help me?” Tana asked.

“Of course I will, I’m not going to let him get away with doing terrible things to Brock and their mother,” Ash said, “In fact, I’ll be willing to go with you as soon as Gardevoir finishes healing Combusken.”

“Thanks, I’ll need your help. I’m not sure what we might have to deal with when we arrive,” Tana said.

“I’m going too,” May said. She brushed her fingers through her brothers’ hair as he looked up at her. “I’m getting my Mom back.”

“May, it might be dangerous,” Ash warned.

“Save your breath, Ash, you’re not going to talk me out of it. You know that,” May said.

Ash and Pikachu exchanged glances as they sighed. They knew trying to persuade her otherwise would be a lost cause at this point.

“May…thanks,” Tana said, “If we come through this thing successful, I hope you can forgive me at some point.”

“So we’re going to use Gardevoir to try and track Ross down then, right? We might have a long search ahead of us, so we might as well think of a plan now before we get going,” Ash said.

Norman stepped forward and towered over Ash.

“None of you are going anywhere,” Norman said sternly.

“What?” Ash asked, surprised.

“Sorry, you and May are staying here. I’m not letting you two risk yourselves as you try to play the heroes in some rescue attempt. It is not going to happen,” Norman said.

“Dad, you’ve got to be kidding me!” May yelled.

“QUIET!” Norman bellowed, “You’re staying here before you end up getting yourselves killed.”

May sunk down in her chair a bit when Norman raised his voice, he was always a little scary when he screamed.

“But…I needed their help,” Tana said, meekly.

“You’re getting mine,” Norman said, turning to her, “I’m not going to let my daughter or her friend thrust themselves into a dangerous situation, they’ll stay here with Max.”

“Norman, I thought you said that I mean a lot to your family!” Ash retorted, “Why won’t you let me help you rescue Caroline? It looks like you could use all the help you can get!”

“NO!” Norman shouted.

“Pika-pikachu,” Pikachu sulked, lowering its ears.

“Forget it, Ash,” May said angrily, “Dad wants to have things his way.”

She got up from the armchair and forcefully brushed past her father as she walked toward Gardevoir and Combusken. The annoyed girl flicked her hair as she kneeled down in front of her recovering Pokemon.

Norman turned toward Max, who was still sitting on the armchair. “Go to your sister,” Norman instructed.

Max nodded meekly, and scurried over to her. With all the commotion and the current crisis going on, he didn’t want to do anything that might upset or challenge his father.

“So…that’s it, you won’t let us come?” Ash asked, irritably.

“No, and you know why,” Norman said, placing his hands on Ash’s shoulders. The Gym leader and the boy exchanged long, determined stares, their opposing points were being well implied. “I’ll accompany Tana with my Slaking, and I’ll promise to bring back my wife and Brock safely. This means as much to me as it does to you, and I’m sure you understand after all the talks we’ve been through.”

“I…I don’t know what to say. I respect you, Norman, but I think I have to side with your daughter on this one. We’ve been through some pretty dangerous situations before, and we always managed to pull through, I’m sure it is heartbreaking for May to not come along to save her Mom,” Ash said.

“I know, and that’s why I need you alive,” Norman said sternly, placing his hands down harder on Ash’s shoulders, “If…I don’t make it back, I need someone to continue to look after my kids. May and Max are your family now as much as they are mine, I need the three of you to be safe.”

May and Max overheard their fathers conversation, but sat silently on the floor as mixed feelings ran through their head.

“I won’t permit any of you to get hurt under my watch, and if the worst case scenario happens and I don’t return, I would appreciate it if I knew my children would be well taken care of,” he said, “Please, Ash, stay here with them. I don’t want to lose you or my children.”

He stepped away from Ash and approached Tana, nodding at her as he showed her Slaking’s Pokeball in his hand. The two talked privately together, as Ash and Pikachu watched from afar.

“Pikachu, what should I do?” Ash asked, uncertainly.

“Pikachu, pika, chuu,” Pikachu shook its head, it didn’t know what to think.

Brock’s there too, Ash thought, as he walked over to the siblings and Gardevoir, Brock.

That’s where the conversation went. Presently, May had calmed down and was sipping her hot cup of coffee. Ash was standing next to her with his arm leaning against the arm chair. Norman and Tana had went into another room in the Gym to discuss their plan, away from the kids so they wouldn’t overhear what they were going to do.

Combusken made a full recovery, and was currently relaxing and eating Pokemon food out of its dish. It took the little chunks of brown food with its claws and slowly brought it to its mouth.

“Chew slowly, Combusken,” May said passionately, “I want you to take it easy.”

“Combusken,” the Pokemon nodded, smiling at its trainer.

Max held Skitty in his hands, petting its soft pink fur as it watched Combusken eat its food to regain its strength.

“Combusken sure likes that food,” Max said.

“It should, it was…Brock’s recipe that he made specifically for Combusken,” Ash said.

“Pikachu, cha,” Pikachu sighed.

“Brock always did make good recipes for all our Pokemon, he was perfect with tailoring the flavor to their specific tastes,” Max noted.

“Yeah,” May said, lowering the coffee and placing it in her lap, “Brock’s done so much for us and our Pokemon, such a great person doesn’t deserve to have such a tragic ending.”

“May,” Ash motioned.

“But then again, neither did Mom,” she sulked.

The room went silent, as the three kids watched Combusken eating its meal, annoyed and frustrated that Norman and Tana excluded them from saving their loved ones. It was hard to be left out of such an important situation, almost as painful as wondering what Caroline and Brock were enduring right now as well.

~**~*~

Ross paced the floors nervously, he had his hands behind his back as he walked from wall to wall in the small damp room. His eyes twitched as his feet stomped the pavement, he was enraged and frustrated that he was caught off guard by a Shadow Ball attack in the alley.

Caroline was in the room as well, the poor mother had one arm chained to the pillar to prevent her escape. She was sitting on a plain mattress on the floor, without any apparel covering her body, in her sorrow. The mattress she was sitting on was stained with blood, mostly her own.

Her body had bruises and various burnt marks, as well as some cracked skin that was desperately trying to heal after Ross toyed with her with his blades. Despite all the pain and abuse she had to endure, the strong woman made sure never to show a sign of weakness. She never cried, or moped, or begged him to stop. She maintained her strong vigor and promised herself that she would be reunited with her children. She couldn’t show any weakness, not to Ross, she wouldn’t allow him to have that satisfaction.

One thing she did regret however, was how stupid the idea was to let Sableye out of its Pokeball to help her get free. The Pokemon was awfully loyal to Ross, she should have known better. The only thing that managed to get her was Sableye’s jagged teeth sinking into her skin painfully, causing her to scream. This alerted the woman in the room adjacent to her own, who immediately called Sableye off and smacked Caroline to the ground. She then removed the taser off of Ross’ body and helped him recover. Despite striking the mother and helping Ross, the woman did hand the mother a towel to tie around her leg that Sableye sunk its teeth into. This contained the bleeding and stopped the wound from spreading, but they were already pretty deep cuts. Caroline wanted to cry, but she held in her tears as she sat against the pillar as the pain from her leg consumed her. She was in a moment of pure hopelessness, as her captive was recovering from her attack and Sableye stared at her maliciously. As much as the pain from her leg hurt, that was only a taste of what she had to endure when Ross decided to get his revenge for knocking him out.

At the present time, Ross was getting careless and frustrated. He failed when he tried to take down May, and apparently she had some strong friends willing to back her up. He was angrily pacing the floors as he tried to formulate a plan to get back at Norman’s daughter. Being taken down by a 38 year old Gym leader was one thing, being taken down by his young teenage daughter was another. This frustrated him greatly, because he wanted to inflict as much emotional pain on Norman as possible. If he had managed to kidnap his daughter in addition to his wife, his sadistic pleasure of watching Norman in despair would be complete.

Caroline lifted her head up as she noticed Ross starting to punch holes through his walls. He didn’t literally punch through the walls of course, but he did manage to leave some pretty big dents.

“What’s the matter, did you get a parking ticket on your car today?” Caroline asked sarcastically.

“SHUT UP!” Ross retorted, turning toward her as she sat on the mattress, “Don’t you dare mock me!”

“Never mind then, I just thought you looked emotionally distressed,” Caroline said.

“Haha, you’re a riot. That girl is coming for me, and I know it,” Ross said, angrily, “She’s going to try and track me down again.”

“…May?” Caroline asked, meekly.

“No, not your stupid daughter. She wouldn’t know how to find this place if she tried. I’m talking about the woman who most likely interfered back at the alley, Jamie’s friend, that Tana girl,” Ross said.

“Oh, you mean your sickening loyal girlfriend has a friend of her own who hates your guts?” Caroline laughed, “Well, that’s amusing.”

“If you don’t shut up, I won’t hesitate to use the larger blades this time,” Ross warned.

“I’ll be quiet, but you do know I have to eat, right?” Caroline asked, trying to keep him occupied, “I haven’t eaten anything since last night, I’m starving.”

“I think you’ve really cracked, why should I give a damn about you? I’ll let you rot on that mattress for the next month if I have to,” he said.

“If I end up collapsing, you’ll have nothing to occupy your time with when you get bored,” she said, “But I’m sure you have better things to do than torture a fully grown woman and do unmentionable things to her body, right? I mean hey, don’t you have that Masters degree you’re working on? I hear a therapist is a well paying job these days, you would be interested in a job that deals with the sadistic and insane.”

Ross furiously marched over to Caroline and swiftly slapped her across her face. The woman fell to the mattress upon impact and slowly rubbed her left cheek which was pounding from the pain.

“I told you to shut up!” Ross yelled.

“Did I say something wrong?” Caroline snickered.

“You dumb bitch, maybe next time I’ll just use my knife to cut off your tongue, let’s see how you talk after that, huh?” Ross yelled.

Caroline turned away and kept silent.

“That’s better.” he smirked. He walked away from the mattress and back toward the table he was marching in front of. Tana was still on his mind, and he knew that unlike Norman’s family, that girl was a real threat.

“I better find out a way to get rid of my problems,” Ross said, pondering as he exited the room, leaving Caroline alone in her despair, once again.

~**~

The evening crept upon Norman’s family quickly, as everyone in the house was anxious and unnerved about the upcoming do-or-die situation. Tana waited on the porch of the Petalburg Gym, while Norman stood in the open doorway to say goodbye to his family before he went off to rescue their loved ones.

Ash, Pikachu, May and Max stood side by side, hoping that when Norman and Tana returned, they would return with two extra people. The anxiety was getting to them, as May and Max became emotional while Norman bid them farewell.

“Ash, you already know what I expect you to do. Please, look after May and Max for me,” Norman said.

“I…I will,” Ash said, nodding, “I know you’ll succeed too, and I’ll be ready if you need me. Caroline and Brock will be home safely, I know it.”

“Pikachu, pika, pika!” Pikachu cooed.

“You watch after them too, Pikachu,” Norman said, smiling as he patted Pikachu’s head.

“Chaaaaa,” Pikachu cooed.

Norman turned to his daughter, who was trying to hold back her tears as she gazed upon her father. She held her arms behind her back as she sniffled emotionally.

“May, you know you’ve made me proud, if I don’t return, I want you to continue living your life to its fullest,” Norman said.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” May whined, wiping her eyes, “I’m sorry for yelling at you before, and for all the arguing. I know you want me to be safe, but I can’t help but feel I lashed out on you for no reason.”

“Nah, you did have a reason.” Norman winked at her. “You’ve been so strong throughout all of this, and so brave, you remind me of your mother when she was younger.”

May walked forward and wrapped her arms around her father’s torso, and rested her head against his chest. Norman rubbed her back compassionately as she sniveled.

“Don’t die, Dad,” May whispered, “I still need my parents around. I…I still want a loving mother and father, I want us all to be reunited shortly.”

“We will, if there is any God in the universe, we will,” Norman promised.

May moved apart from her father, she looked up at him in the eyes and nodded. She stepped back into the doorway as Norman approached his son, Max.

“Dad,” Max said, quietly.

Norman kneeled down in front of his son so they could be face to face.

“Yes, Max?”

“Good luck,” Max said while rubbing his right eye tearfully, “Bring Mom home…and Brock too.”

Norman nodded as the two shared a hug similar to the hug with his daughter just moments before.

“We should get going,” Tana called out, walking down toward the street.

Norman got up and took one last look at the children standing in the doorway. Throughout all the pain, they managed to put on optimistic demeanors as the trio waved while smiling. He knew for their sake, that he had to succeed. He couldn’t let his family be ruined by such a tragic ending, he promised himself that he would restore his family to what it once was, no matter the costs.

He waved one last time to his family, and then walked off with Tana into the unknown. With only Gardevoir and Slaking in their arsenal, he knew they might be in for a tough fight. He felt his heart beating rapidly and the tension in his body rising, as he was thinking about what he might do to Ross when he finds him. This wasn’t just a simple Gym battle with Pokemon anymore, this was a matter of life or death. Ross had crossed the line, and Norman wasn’t sure if he would be able to restrain himself from physically beating the man to death for what he had done. It was a difficult decision, but Norman had to struggle with his conscience and what was right and wrong, as well as determine what Ross’ ultimate fate would be.

~*~*~*~~*

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