Talonflame's speed – consequence of the urgency he felt in me – made it no soft landing once we reached our destination. He quickly flew down, coming as close to the ground as he could without stopping, and I jumped off when I felt the time was right – I stumbled forward as soon as my feet hit the ground, skating over the fallen leaves scattered across the empty street. Keeping my legs moving forward helped me regain my balance, and Talonflame flipped his wings next to me during those seconds of uncertainty, flying in the same speed as I ran. I stopped, sliding on the floor and stopping against the wall surrounding the Pokeball factory.
I looked around the city: There was a pair of grunts in each corner, watching, and another one blocking the entrance...
"Good thing I have you, buddy!" I panted, recovering my breath "They'd never let me in through the road..."
As I analyzed the situation, Talonflame perched up on the wall's column. Sneaking around and stretching my neck, I could see Shauna inside. She stood next to a knocked-out grunt, possibly watching him to make sure he wouldn't wake up – she also half-panicked in the process.
"It's no use!" Trevor sounded scared. "We have to get out of here!"
"No!" Calem's voice struggled out: he moaned and panted as he tried to lift a large roll-up door leading into the factory.
"Come on, maaan...." Tierno cried, moving his legs agitatedly through the ground "There will be more of them soon! We have to go!"
"It won't do... That door won't budge! We're just wasting time here!" Trevor desperately tried to reason.
"He's waking up... He's waking uuuuup!!" Shauna announced, pacing backwards from the grunt, who now moaned lazily and threatened to move.
...But Calem didn't hear them. He struggled on: his face was red, his muscles were tense, his arms trembled as he invested all his strength in trying to lift metal door.
"Man, we have to leave..." Tierno sighed – it was a 'with or without you' sigh, and Calem could sense it. It still wasn't enough to make him stop trying:
"He called us for help..." he groaned through grinded teeth "he'll get help!"
I rushed forward. Talonflame flew away and cried, announcing our entrance as I walked up the stairs.
"It's Anne!" Shauna exclaimed to herself in a bit of disbelief.
"Anne!" Trevor ran up to meet me. His excitement was the only one untainted by the distance that fell between us through those last couple of months. It felt good to be among them again. I smiled... but didn't stop.
"Where was she?!" Tierno asked Trevor in his loud curiosity as I moved past them.
Stopping only next to Calem, I bowed down and locked my fingers under the door as he did. I used all my strength, as he had been doing. The door slowly shook, seeming to start to move.
"Anne..." Calem looked at me, utterly surprised and slightly speechless.
"Reproach me later... just pull it!" I demanded.
But it still took him a while until he could stop looking at me and summon back his strength, as if I had been presumed to be dead all this time.
"Yeah..." he murmured, falling back into reality. A smile stretched across his face – the old, brave smile I knew him for having "Yeah, pull!!!" he commanded with renewed voice and renewed strength.
The large door shook and screeched, its resistance giving in progressively more. Trevor and Tierno watched what they judged an impossible progress, then rushed to help us.
The four of us eventually managed to push it all the way up, revealing the factory: The rolling treadmills had stopped, pokeballs were scattered all around the raw cement floor and only the sound of metal crackling against metal could be heard here and there.
"They've taken the company's president..." Calem explained through his shallow breath "He's being held somewhere in here!"
We all looked into the darkness, deciding what to do.
"I'll go get help..." Shauna prompted from the back, starting to move towards the exit.
"It's no use!" I alerted, stopping her "Team Flare is blocking all the exits, you won't be able to get past them!"
"They've started causing mayhem all around..." Tierno cowardly cried "I don't think we will get away with this... They're taking over Kalos, man!!!"
"Well, I won't let the president down!" Calem's eyes were fixed ahead. "Are you with me, neighb... I mean, Anne?"
We locked eyes – his were close enough for me to see the strangeness in them: the change that only distance can conjure... But though I now dressed differently, though I had grown stronger and much more confident in that time away from them, though I felt virtually everything in me was new... right there, subject to the shy caution in his eyes, I felt like a kid again – like the kid we all were. But it wasn't unpleasant... No, it wasn't unpleasant at all!
"I am, neighbor!" I reassured.
Calem's seriousness gave way to his pretty smile again, and we rushed forward – the two of us marching bravely ahead, the rest of the guys following with uncertain footsteps.
"Some kids just don't know when to stop, do they?!" A lady grunt walked from behind one of the machines and stopped before us – the reflex of both me and Calem tensing up could be seen reflected in her red shades...
But the flashy crimson outfit emerging from the darkness was no surprise to me, and from what I could tell, Calem was just as accustomed to their sneaky ways - a half-annoyed smirk marked his face:
"Don't flatter yourself, lady! You look well over your 40's..." Calem mocked without care.
"Oh, you..." the woman clenched her knuckles – the leather gloves stretching and squeaking under her fist.
"It makes no difference..." A male sigh interrupted her soon-to-be threat. "The plan is already in motion... Nothing can stop us now!" A second grunt smiled as he appeared from the left.
"A glorious future awaits Team Flare, children! You should be thankful that we will even bother battling you in such a special day... As of now, we are the masters of the new world!" She held out a pokeball, and threw it up: Mightyena was sent out.
"We are in a bit of a hurry though, so forgive us..." the man complemented, picking up two of his pokeballs and sending out Swalot and Toxicroak.
With a nervous forehead dripping sweat and a quite decent sense of right, Tierno walked up, stopping in line with us. It didn't take a second longer for Trevor to follow, and Shauna to come up right behind him.
I had always believed in them, surely... But I have to admit I was surprised: None of the trio was very good at battling, and none were holding up their confidence as well as Calem and I were... but they were still willing! It was okay to feel fear, as long as you were still able to trample it and do what's right, they knew it much better than I ever did. Their angry glares shining through tensed brows and fearful spirits made my bones shake with excitement! I looked back ahead, anxious for the thrill:
Three more grunts walked out of the shadows and each stopped before a selected rival.
"Well, this is gonna be good..." I smiled, deriving the same fun Calem did in teasing their pride.
"Don't be so sure, missy!" they chuckled collectively, slowly walking forward.
Calem picked up his pokeballs, dropped his bag on the floor.
"For the good old times, neighbor?"
"For the good old times!"
They launched their pokeballs on us. The sound of energy filled up the place.
"Talonflame, brave bird!" I pointed ahead, and a flaming cross lit up the factory as it charged inside, wrenching a gasp or two of horrific fright.
A massive Chesnaught materialized next to me, then immediately ran into battle!
The little ones followed bravely behind, representing the rest of the gang.
There it was, and everyone could feel it now – the thrill. In that wave of heat, there was no time left for losing!