Nothing, Everything

[Goodnight Seadra]

Thanks DarkPersian479 for betaing! Third… hope you enjoy Mambo #16. A little Bun-Bun on the run, a little Jacob going to use a gun, a little Balin wanting some fun, and a little Brenda with her hun…

*coughs* Ignore my bad parody. XD

Chapter Sixteen
Flares and Shots

Bunny and Jacob turned around and screamed when they saw Timmy and Lucas. The couple twirled the other way too, but Thomas glared at the three wanted people while Brenda stared at them in confusion.

“Jenny, Bunny? What the hell’s going on here?” Brenda shouted, her voice laced with anger and confusion. “Are you two criminals?” She then pointed at Jacob. “And you! You’re not Richard, aren’t you?”

Jacob and Jenny gulped. The two opened their mouths, but no words came out. They had that woman’s trust, but they betrayed it. The news of them being criminals was too much for Brenda.

Bunny glanced at Timmy and Lucas and grinned. There would be all sorts of chaos if they were to escape.

“Sky, Ominous Wind!”

The Drifblim giggled, blew in some air, and let out a black wind that swallowed Lucas and Timmy. Not long after, the two male officers crashed into the wall and dropped to the ground. Jenny, Jacob, and Balin stared at Bunny with shocked eyes.

“We must leave now!”

As soon as Bunny ran, everyone else followed. Timmy and Lucas got up slowly and rubbed their shoulders to ease the pain. The chief gritted his teeth and took out his pokéball immediately.

“Sandi, Hypnosis!”

The ball opened and the Kirlia burst out, her eyes turning blue.

“You too, Eisen!”

Eisen came out immediately, his eyes blazing the same color as Sandi’s.

Bunny turned her head to see both Pokémon. Both need to be distracted somehow. She smirked.

“Both of you, Will-O-Wisp!”

Sky and Balin nodded at each other and both spat purple flames at Sandi and Eisen, causing them to scream and lose their concentration. Bunny motioned her hands for Jacob, Jenny, and her Pokémon to move and so everyone was able to get away.

The chief screamed and stomped on the floor. “You two, try to tame the flames before it gets worse!” Lucas ordered.

Both tried to get rid of the flames, Sandi rolling on the ground and Eisen using his wings. Not long thereafter, the two contained the flames and they sighed. Other than a few burn marks, they were fine. Lucas clenched his fist, his eyes bloodshot.

“Sandi, Future Sight!”

The Kirlia nodded and her eyes glowed purple. After Sandi’s eyes turned back to normal, nothing happened. Lucas grinned, though. That was expected.

“Let’s make a move!”

Timmy nodded and both men went chasing them. Inside the ruins, Thomas and Brenda just saw the whole thing with wide eyes. They trembled in each other’s arms.

“Did you even know?” Thomas whispered in a cold tone.

Brenda shook her head and stuttered, “I didn’t know they were criminals.”

***

Outside of the ruins, Bunny, Jenny, Jacob, and the Pokémon were descending down the ruins’ stairs, each panting. While running, Jacob took out his pokéball.

“Okay Xatu, Telepor…”

Zappppppp

Jacob was about to throw the sphere when all of a sudden purple lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere. Everyone screamed and jumped. The attack struck on the stairs and luckily no debris flew as a result. On the left side next to the ruins, the girls and the Pokémon got up quickly after being knocked to the ground. After Bunny and Jenny looked around, the two gave each other concerned looks.

“Professor Alexison, where are you?” Bunny screamed.

“I’m on the other side! You guys go back to Solaceon while I take this side!”

Jenny gasped. “What? Why, Doc?”

“I can’t use Teleport with those guys launching attacks at us! I’ll meet up with you two over there soon!”

Both girls nodded, knowing that was the case. The two officers would not hesitate to keep attacking them every chance they got. Jenny, Bunny, Sky, and Balin dashed towards Solaceon Town.

When they got out of the ruins, Lucas and Timmy saw the girls and Pokémon running one way and Jacob taking the opposite direction. Determination could be seen in the officers’ eyes.

“Timmy, you get Bunny and Jenny while I get that old man.”

Again Timmy nodded and the two went their separate ways.

***

On the right side, Jacob was in the grassy area, far away from the ruins. He bumped a few people who were training, some yelling at him for not apologizing. While running, he threw a pokéball and his Xatu came out.

“Xatu?” the Pokémon asked while titling his head.

“One of the policemen is after me. Can you protect me for a while?”

The Xatu gazed at his friend for some time. At first he was not sure because of last night, but the psychic type thought about it some more while inside his pokéball. Jacob would never shoot anyone, never. It looked like Jacob had some sense in him, too. Making his decision, the Xatu nodded, and Jacob grinned in return.

Lucas also bumped into some people, most just staring at him in confusion and disbelief. Lucas’ eyes gazed at Jacob’s Xatu and smirked.

“Shadow Ball at that Xatu!”

The Kirlia smiled in a sly manner and formed a red and black ball. She pitched it towards the bird Pokémon and the attack hit him on the back, causing the Xatu to scream and grit his teeth. Jacob gasped and when he turned around, he saw Lucas and Sandi chasing them.

“Great! Now, Psychic!”

Sandi cheered, her heart racing in anticipation. Her eyes glowed with all colors blending together. A rainbow colored beam shot right out from her eyes and went towards the Xatu.

“Xatu, hit back with the same attack!”

The bird winced but then screeched, already wanting payback. The Xatu turned around, his eyes glowing the same way as Sandi’s, and a rainbow beam came out of his eyes. The two attacks collided, creating a small explosion and causing some people to cough. Jacob and his Xatu managed to get away. When the smoke cleared, Sandi gritted her teeth and shook her head while her master groaned.

“Shock Wave!”

“Dodge and then use Drill Peck!”

The emotion Pokémon nodded and her body glowed yellow. Electricity flowed out of her body, darting towards the Xatu. The shock wave almost hit some people, but they screamed and ran. The Psychic Pokémon easily dodged the attack, dived towards Sandi in a spiral motion, and his beak began to spin like a drill. Jacob’s Pokémon soon crashed into Sandi and his beak drilled on her chest, a bruise mark forming. Jacob cheered and motioned for them to get away. For a few seconds Lucas stared at his Pokémon in horror, his mouth quivering.

“Are you okay, Sandi?”

Despite Sandi panting, she smiled and nodded. Lucas had his eyes wide, seeing Jacob and his Pokémon running away. He felt his chest burning.

“After them!”

The two dashed off and tried to follow them, but they soon got stuck at traffic in the form of a crowd. A couple hundred feet away, Jacob glanced at both at them, chuckled, and continued running.

***

Thomas and Brenda were now outside of the ruins, the two walking slowly. The old woman had her head down and her fingers began twitching. The chaos outside was out of sight for both of them, the two instead thinking more about how Jenny, Jacob, and Bunny lied.

“So what’s the deal with Ana, Richard, and Samantha?”

“Well, the girls are Bunny and Jenny while the unidentified old man seems to be a new accomplice.”

Brenda felt the pain inside her heart deepen. Ironic that she still thought of them as Ana, Richard, and Samantha. True, she would have reported to the police if she knew they were criminals, but she did not. She thought they were nice people that decided one day to go on a treasure hunt for the fun of it.

“Basically,” Thomas continued, “Bunny was accused of murdering Ernest Norrison, but Jenny and the old man helped her out of this situation.”

Brenda’s eyes went wide when she heard that name. It sounded very familiar to her. After taking some time trying to remember him, she gasped.

“Wait, Ernest Norrison? The man you saw on that documentary on those pixie legendaries a couple days ago?”

Thomas nodded. “Yep, that guy. Just yesterday she was involved in some kind of ruckus at a contest in Hearthome City, but they found a wig and a strand of hair on it.” The husband sighed and rubbed his forehead. Who knows what chaos Bunny and her accomplices are capable of? However, he grinned. “Come on, we need to go to the newspaper place. I think my boss will love this.”

Thomas chuckled and ran. Brenda just sighed and walked slower. This was going to be a long day at the newspaper place.

***

On the left side of town, Jenny, Bunny, and the Pokémon had just entered the city. While running, they bumped into a few people that thereafter screamed at them. That did not bother them; everything was a blur at the moment. The officer halted though, when she saw an abandoned one story building. There was graffiti written everywhere and wood covering the windows. The sign on top of the walls had the words, “Val’s Salon” fading away.

“We can hide over there!” Jenny yelled while pointing to the building.

Everyone dashed towards the building. When they went inside, they took quick glances at the place. Nothing much except the dusty floor and the web covered walls. The girls and the Pokémon sat down and took deep breaths.

“Okay, I think we lost Timmy. We should be safe…”

Jenny stopped there and raised an eyebrow when she heard Bunny muttering something.

“Stupid Brenda. She thinks she can just guess locations. That leads to more troubles, like right now.”

Even though Bunny saved Jacob and Jenny, her mind thought back to Brenda. True, the old woman seeing the officers being attacked would lead her to become suspicious, but Bunny did not care. There was still that grudge of how Brenda led the three of them to Solaceon Ruins in the first place.

“Don’t tell me you think you’re more mature than her again!” Jenny screamed at Bunny while panting.

“It is not about that! Do you not want to know what the deal with the plates is, too? Do you not want to know what secrets you uncle hid from you?”

Jenny gasped. True, she wanted to know what kind of secrets her uncle hid all these years. That was one of the reasons why she wanted to go on this trip. She shook her head, knowing they went off topic.

“That’s not the point. Seriously, you’ve been acting childish to that lady. Looks like it’s too late to apologize, though.”

Bunny did not pay attention. She instead thought about her Pokémon’s safety. Both Sky and Balin needed to go inside their pokéballs fast. Bunny grabbed the spheres and was about to return her Pokémon when she heard a rush of wind. The two girls turned around and their eyes widened when one of the boarded-up windows exploded and Eisen flew inside the place with a scream and a smudged grin.

“Balin, hit Eisen with Flamethrower!”

Flames streamed out of the Pokémon’s mouth and the attack bolted towards the owl. Eisen tried to dodge it but screeched and felt the left side of his wings burning. After Eisen shook his burnt wing a couple of times and made the flames disappear, the owl grinned. Both Bunny and Jenny gasped when they saw the Noctowl flapping his wings rapidly and felt a sharp breeze pass through them.

Swishhhhhh

The attack was too fast. Balin screamed when he felt the right side of his body cut, blood dripping slowly on his fur. Timmy soon came inside the building and smirked.

“Steel Wing!”

The Ninetales let loose a spinning vortex of fire at him, but the owl just flew through it with ease, his wings glowing white. Eisen dived down on Balin and slashed the fox’s face. The fire type crashed on the ground, dust flying up. The owl Pokémon chuckled.

Sky screamed and he blew in some air, making himself bigger. Soon he streamed out glittery wind, but Eisen smiled. The owl Pokémon flapped his wings and there was a slashing sound that dissolved the Silver Wind attack. Unaware, Eisen used Air Slash again, the attack opening a hole on Sky and deflating him instantly. After Sky went flying all over the place, he fell to the ground. Next to him, Balin took deep breaths.

“Balin! Sky!” Bunny screamed in terror. She just froze right after.

Timmy smirked when he stared at Jenny. He thought he already won, his heart beating a victory song. The female officer glared at him.

“Come on, Jenny, it’s over. You two have been running away for too long.”

Not far from Jenny and Timmy, Balin slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Sky on the ground, the fox’s eyes blazed.

Jenny grabbed a pokéball. “I won’t mind battling you again. Besides, it’s you who needs a reality check. Jacob actually has proof that Bunny’s innocent.”

Balin turned his head slightly to glare at Timmy. He felt his body burning. Something new was emerging inside the fox Pokémon—

The male officer snickered. “Really? Shouldn’t he be here with you instead of having the chief chase after him?”

—and consuming him too.

Jenny’s heart drummed rapidly. She almost threw her pokéball up in the air, but halted and turned around when she heard growling from behind.

Balin got back up with his wobbly legs and smirked. After he roared, his body engulfed in flames, the fire spiraling out of control. Everyone watched and gasped.

“What is that?” Bunny screamed.

“Flare Blitz!” Timmy stuttered. He then turned to his owl, knowing how powerful that attack could be. “Eisen, think of another attack before it’s—”

—too late. Balin shot straight up, crashed onto Eisen, and the bird screeched, the flames licking all over his body. The fox Pokémon, on the other hand, crashed down on the ground and closed his eyes, his breathing becoming louder. Knowing this was a perfect opportunity to leave, Jenny instantly grabbed Bunny’s right arm.

“Return Sky and Balin now!”

Bunny was at first frozen at the event she just witnessed but nodded. She returned her Pokémon and both were out of the abandoned building. Timmy glanced at them angrily but turned back to his Pokémon. He needed to think of a way to prevent Eisen from being fried.

“Try to use Defog!”

Despite his chest burning, Eisen flapped his wings and misty fog appeared. Eventually the Defog technique paid off, the flames fading away. Timmy smiled but then frowned when he could not see Bunny and Jenny anywhere. He continued running, his owl following behind.

***

While Timmy battled against Jenny and Bunny, Jacob and his Pokémon hid themselves behind a huge tree close to the edge of the hill. They saw Lucas’s head turn left and right while his Kirlia gazed at him with concern.

“Where are you?” Lucas shouted. “Show yourself!”

“He’s getting close,” the old man whispered to his Xatu. The Pokémon nodded back.

Jacob opened his mouth to say a command but smirked when he felt something inside his pocket. He took out his gun slowly, careful not to let the bird Pokémon see it.

Need to stop them, or at least one of them for now. For both girls’ sake.

Jacob aimed for Lucas’ back and almost pulled the trigger, but the Xatu screeched and pecked his head. The man kept screaming and waving his hands. After the Xatu finished, he yelled at Jacob.

Not far from them, Sandi’s ears wiggled. She turned around and grinned when she saw a Xatu and an old man arguing, knowing that must be the same bird she battled earlier. After the Kirlia dashed off, Lucas’ eyes went wide.

“Sandi, wait!” The chief darted off after her.

“We already talked about this before!” Jacob snapped. “You know I’ll use it on those officers to stop them from getting Bunny and…”

Jacob was interrupted when he saw both Lucas and Sandi. The chief grinned while Kirlia glared at them, her body glowing yellow.

“Got you, Bunny’s…”

Lucas gasped and stepped back a couple of feet when he saw Jacob holding a gun. Danger was just a shot away. However, Lucas regained his senses and smirked. Intimidation would be his best friend.

“I dare you to use it. I’m not afraid of death.”

The Xatu screeched and flapped his wings frantically. Jacob grunted when he took a glance at his gun. This was his chance. Jacob’s fingers gripped the trigger, ready to pull.

“Why don’t you try me, too?” Jacob said with a smirk.

Lucas’ eyes went wide and gulped. He thought his dare would scare the old man, but it did not. Knowing he would get killed soon, Lucas whipped his head the other way to face Sandi and had his finger pointing at Jacob.

“Get them!”

A wave of electricity burst out from Sandi’s body and the attack came striding towards them. Jacob and his Xatu felt their hearts stop beating and they gulped silently. When the man took a quick glance down and saw nothing but grass and trees, he grinned.

“Dive!”

Before the Shock Wave hit them, both Jacob and his Xatu dived down. Sandi and Lucas stared in disbelief at first; both could not believe they jumped off a huge hill.

“What the? No way can they—”

Boom!

Pink light suddenly appeared and the two could not take their eyes off of it. For a second they thought they heard humming and lightning. As soon as the glow disappeared, Lucas clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

“Ki?” Sandi asked while staring at Lucas with a puzzled look.

That smart bastard. Not even Sandi could do a Teleport that powerful.


***

Jenny and Bunny hid behind the Contest Hall building; luckily it was not open yet. They were quiet until Jenny broke the silence.

“You think Doc got away from Lucas yet?”

Bunny’s mind was not on Jacob. Jenny could tell in Bunny’s eyes she was still thinking about Brenda.

“Now seriously, Bunny, this is getting ridiculous! So what if we didn’t get the next half of the plates? We’ll get the rest sooner or later!”

Bunny did not say anything. Jenny put her left hand up and was about to slap the archeologist’s face, but then she shook her head and sighed.

Bunny’s smart enough to learn from her mistakes on her own.

Jenny suddenly gasped, remembering how Bunny too believed the next clue could be the Solaceon Ruins. The wanted person was so mad at Brenda, she forgot about that.

“You know what, Bunny? I think you’re actually upset the plates aren’t at the Solaceon Ruins, since you guessed it too. You just want to blame the failed expedition to someone else!”

That got Bunny’s attention. Her head and shoulders whipped the other way slightly and she glared at Jenny, eyes bursting into flames.

“Excuse me? Me, upset the plates are not at the ruins?” She then gave a fake laugh.

“Yes! Look, so far we got all the clues right in one try. You can’t handle that there will be times we might get a location wrong.”

“Am I the one that wanted to go to the Solaceon Ruins?”

“Well, you guessed too! Also, Brenda’s trying to help!”

Their argument came to a halt when out of nowhere, pink light appeared and revealed both Jacob and his Xatu panting. Bunny and Jenny turned around and gasped.

“Something the matter, Doc?” Jenny asked.

“We better leave now! No time to explain!”

***

“You hear about what happened here? Bunny Spruce has been spotted!”

“Bunny Spruce, the gal that murdered Ernest Norrison and is now wanted?”

Already at the newspaper place it was chaos. Many people were typing or taking phone calls. The journalists ran in all directions carrying a few stacks of paper. Some people were talking to each other about this new development. On one desk, Brenda glared at her husband while he made some phone calls to a few news stations.

“Yes, Bunny Spruce and Jenny Emblem. My wife Brenda Silvermen told me she actually met them.”

Brenda stayed silent, her eyes staring at the floor. Because of the busy air in the newspaper place, she found out more about Bunny in less than a few hours.

She, murderer.

She closed her eyes and imagined the little woman using a gun and then shooting an old man.

Bang…

Her eyes snapped open. Brenda clenched her chest and she began panting.

She does seem to have this deceiving air to her, and thinks she’s all that…

It all made sense to her now. Brenda began thinking back when she and that lady were at the Solaceon Ruins. First she remembered Bunny smirking at her after the wanted woman finished her explanation. Oh how that smirk touched the old woman's soul and stayed. Memories then fast forwarded to Bunny criticizing her.

“And you know what? That was very immature of you to just guess the location. You cannot just assume it would be there! I showed you that note, so you could at least think that note through!”

Brenda bit her lips and clenched her fists. She took one quick glance at her husband, still talking on the phone, and then at the news place. The reports of Bunny Spruce still spread—

—like wildfire during an autumn day. All it took was a flick of fire caused by someone.

“I hear too that she has accomplices again!”

The blaze kept getting stronger and fiercer.

“Oh man, the wanted Bunny Spruce in this town! We’ll be getting tourists here soon!”

It would be a while until all of the flames were contained.

“Hey, Jubilife City News Station, I got some info on Bunny Spruce, recent accounts of her at Solaceon Town.”

As soon as the flames faded away—

—half of Sinnoh would soon know the whereabouts of Bunny Spruce—

—who deserves to go to jail.

***

I really had fun writing this chapter. I experimented with a new writing style and also had fun writing the action scenes. I think I messed up a bit on the Pokemon battles, though. XD Ah well, again had fun at least.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter shall be on November 4—mah birthday! =D