Chapter Three Lola had grown up under the care of her Uncle. When she was just seven years old, she ran away. She joined a vicious group known as Team Galactic. They were bent on harnessing the boundless energy, Cosmic Energy. But two years ago, they lost a lot of members, including the thirteen-year-old Lola, due to a boy whose name nobody knew. He led Master Cyrus into the Distortion World, where Giratina roamed, and got him lost. Now he is back and reforming members. Lola came back to her Uncle with but three PokŽmon, a Skitty, Glamour, a Graveller, Specs, and a Staravia, Birdy. She now helps her Uncle with all kinds of things around his lab, from dangerous experiments to gardening. Her only regret of leaving was Dean. She had loved him like a brother, until Master Cyrus disappeared. Then he got all moody and started attacking her Skitty for no reason in a battle. That was what really drove her to quit. 'Glamour, Assist!' The attack became a Steel Wing. It hit the Magmar hard, but barley sent it reeling. It retaliated with a massive Fire Punch, which made the Skitty fall back. Glamour then struggled to get back up. Dean sent in another Fire Punch, which was bound to send the Skitty down. Magmar shot down on Glamour like a rocket. The Skitty bounce off of the floor, high into the air, and landed in front of Lola. Lola went down on her knees and nurtured her fallen warrior. She heard its faint breathing and prayed that a miracle would happen. It did. The double doors burst open, banging against the walls as they were tested to the strength of the hinges. A Scyther buzzed through the gap, followed by the white haired boy. He stood over Lola and gazed at his opponent. His Scyther hovered a couple of feet above the steel floor and looked at the Magmar ahead. 'Magmar,' Dean said coolly, 'Flamethrower.' 'Slash! Up!' The Scyther responded by flying above the blast. It followed him around the corridor until the Magmar ran out of breath. 'Slash Attack!' Spook was using the Scyther's Speed and Attack to his advantage. The Slash cut right into the Magmar's left arm; leaving him with a nasty gash. 'Magmar! No!' He turned to Spook. 'How dare you stand in the way of Team Galactic!' The Flamethrower that followed hit Slash square on the chest. He was sent flying backwards and into the far wall. 'Dean. How could you?' This was Lola. 'He's only a novice. What will defeating a child of my age bring?' 'It will show our true power! Now, Magmar, use Fire Punch!' Another effective attack that caught Slash in the stomach. This time he came flying at Spook. He hit him and knocked him down to. They were both unconscious. The Professor ran through at the second that they were knocked down. 'Oh, my. Spook, my boy? Are you O.K?' No answer. 'Was this you?' He pointed at Dean. 'Yes.' Terry ran up to Dean. 'Lab secure, sir! Master Cyrus has been informed and is coming to collect the PokŽdex now.' 'Excellent. You have done well, Terry. You shall be rewarded for your efforts. But first, help me fend off this old man and his niece, hm?' 'Yes, sir!' Terry released his Pinsir, which resulted in Lola sending out Birdy, her Staravia. Spook began to stir. What happened? All he could remember was a flash of red and yellow, then a mass of green, then black. He opened his eyes and sat up. He was in a hospital bed, with Slash on the bed next to him. He tried to get out of bed to comfort him, but he was too weak. He rolled over and saw cards on the cabinet. There were cards from his Mum, Prof. Rowan, and even a girl he didn't know called Lola. He grunted and rolled back over. He remembered Rowan talking about his niece, then seeing a girl curled up on the floor with a Skitty. Could that have been Lola? The nurse walked in through the door. She looked at Spook and then smiled. She had a nice, comforting smile. She also had curly pink hair. 'Hello, Spook,' she said, 'Finally come around then!' Spook smiled and nodded. He signaled towards Slash with a twitching motion of his head and asked, 'Will he be O.K?' 'Of course!' Nurse Joy replied, 'He has just suffered from serious burns and a knock to the head. Nothing little old me can't fix!' Her smile faded. 'Prof. Rowan told me how it happened. Nasty pieces of work aren't they. Team Galactic, I mean. Cosmic energy. A load of mumbo jumbo if you ask me.' 'Cosmic. You mean like, outer space and stuff?' 'Yep. Haven't you seen them in their space suits?' 'Actually, the occurrence at the lab was my first encounter with them. I'm sure it won't be my last either.' 'Well Team Galactic have been like this before. They once tried to destroy the world because it wasn't perfect. They thought that if they had cosmic energy, they could clean up their new world. It failed of course. A small boy of age about you stopped them. 'He just appeared and trapped their leader in the Distortion World. Strange stuff.' 'Not very nice people at all then. Sorry, can I just ask. Where am I and exactly happened?' Nurse Joy looked at him sweetly then said, 'Sandgem PokŽmon Centre! The best place to get cleaned up! As for what happened, I was told that you were hit by your burnt Scythe-' 'Slash,' Spook said. 'Right. Slash was badly burnt and came flying into you. You were knocked out but the battle carried on. 'Rowan was using his Empoleon and extinguished the Magmar. His niece, Lola, used her Staravia to save you from Pinsir. It was a tough battle apparently. 'They then carried you here and I rushed Slash into a bed right next to yours.' 'I've let him down. I don't deserve a PokŽmon as noble as him. He's just too strong,' Spook said disdainfully. He wondered if Slash would still fight alongside him. He rolled over to look at him. His breathing was strong, but his chest was black, instead of white. Spook was flushed over with guilt. He had put him through that pain, and had only ended getting himself hurt at the same time. 'Don't worry. He'll heal quickly. I'll let you be for a while. Your Mother has already seen you. She will come back later.' And then she left. 'I'm sorry, Slash. You don't deserve a trainer like me. You should be in the hands of someone strong like Lola.' Tears began streaming down his face. 'Don't cry child.' Spook spun around quickly. A cloaked figure sat in the corner. 'You weren't here before?' 'Maybe. I am Cyrus, Master of Team Galactic. I believe that you have something for me.' 'I don't think IÉ You want my PokŽdex right?' 'Of course.' Spook clenched his fists. Rage built up inside of him, bubbling to the surface like a kettle. 'You sent the people who did that to my Slash?' The man called Cyrus nodded. 'YouÉ' Spook whispered. 'Hand me the PokŽdex and it will be O.K.' 'No! Rowan gave me this! I thought you took one from Rowan anyway.' 'Those incompetent buffoons couldn't have pulled something like that off. It wasn't real. I planted it to test them. They failed when the old man took them down. I shall deal with them later. 'But I came straight for you because you had the real one,' Cyrus smiled, 'I can finally get the data on the Legendary PokŽmon that can travel through space, helping us collect the cosmic energy! The New World will happen this time around! And not even you can stop me!' He laughed. Then the door opened. Spook turned and saw a girl standing there. Lola. He turned back to Cyrus, or where Cyrus was. He had just vanished. 'Spook? Who were you talking to?' Lola asked. 'Cyrus, but he just, vanished.' 'Hmmm? Do you still have the PokŽdex?' 'Yes.' Lola knew what was happening. She explained more about the cosmic energy. Spook understood now. They weren't planning to destroy the world, but recreate it! Spook knew that she was from Galactic, but had left. She had explained that too. A noise came from the bed next to Spook. Slash was coming round! Lola helped Spook out of bed and they both stood by Slash's side. His eyes opened and he stared at Spook and smiled. Even though he had just met him, he knew that Spook was the trainer that he had been waiting for. He always knew that, one-day, a trainer would come forth and take control of him. And he liked the name Slash too. 'Hey, buddy,' Spook said with a hint of unease in his voice. Slash made the call of the Scyther and smiled again. 'I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make this happen!' Slash just raised his left scythe and touched Spook. His eyes then closed again.