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Zinnia pushed her freshly shorn hair out of her face. She was out in the wilderness, alone except for her pokemon. Zach was leading the way, using his sensitive horns to detect the emotions of pokemon nearby. he told his trainer as he moved through the underbrush. Zinnia followed the ralts, and the other three members of her team trailed behind.

They finally managed to creep up close enough for Zinnia to begin making observations on the population of rattata that she'd been commissioned to study in the area. Research jobs were time consuming, but they paid better than battles.

Qixel

The mewtwo's eyes glowed bright purple as she telepathically searched for her sister. Having felt the mew's mind before, it was easy to seek it out and recognize it once she got within range. Ems said with satisfaction. She lightly touched Walpurgis's shoulder with her tail and teleported them both to Zinnia's location.

Upon the mewtwo's entrance, the family of rattata squeaked in alarm and ran off, ruining Zinnia's research opportunity. Ems turned to lock eyes with the source of her DNA. she said.

Shadow returned the greeting with an icy glare. Zyk and Zebo were both clearly alarmed. They had not been prepared to see their enemies again so soon.

The rush of emotion was enough to overwhelm the ralts. Zach retreated to the back of the group, remembering the last time they'd battled. He was not eager to repeat the experience.

Zinnia's reaction most resembled Shadow's, however. It was almost as if she'd expected to see Walpurgis. She sank into a battle stance, the pose that Officer Osmond had taught her. She raised her fists to guard her face. "Here to fight again, Walpurgis?" she asked coldly. "Leave the pokemon out of it. Fight me instead. Or are you too much of a coward to take on a 15-year-old girl?" she taunted. It was a farce; she silently thought to Shadow, Tell Zyk to attack!

Shadow passed on the message, and he crobat eagerly dove for Walpurgis's face while he was hopefully still distracted by Zinnia's challenge.

Ems wouldn't give Shadow the chance to pass along any more silent orders; the Mewtwo moved for the attack, forcing Shadow to fly away to prevent her friends from getting caught up in the blast.

Zinnia's eyes widened in alarm when she saw Walpurgis draw his knives. "NO!" she screamed, racing forward to defend Zyk. As she forced her way between them, however, one of Walpurgis's knives flashed directly for her eye. Zinnia tried to pull away, but the knife sliced cleanly through her eyebrow. She screamed in pain as blood poured from the wound, forcing her to close her left eye. She fell to her knees and covered her brow with her hands, but the blood flowed through her fingers alarmingly fast.

Zyk squealed in rage when he smelled Zinnia's blood. He was determined to make Walpurgis bleed as well, for revenge. Behind them, Zebo also roared in outrage and charged forward to aid Zyk in the bloodletting.

Zach screamed telepathically. He could feel everyone's emotions; Zinnia's pain, Zyk and Zebo's rage, and his own fear.

Shadow released a low hiss. She could not safely teleport back to her friends while Ems was so close on her tail, so tried to lose her by cloaking her mind and body and attempting to vanish in the trees.

Ems did her best to follow; her telepathic abilities were greater than the mew's, but it was difficult to track Shadow when she was concentrating so hard on keeping her mind hidden. Ems began hurling Shadow Balls into the forest at random in frustration.

"Stop, STOP!" Zinnia shouted through her tears. Zyk immediately returned to her side, trying to peer through her hands at her wound. He tried to lick the blood clean from her face, but it was still pouring out fast. Zinnia had to tilt her head to prevent it from dripping on her clothes.

Zebo remained, standing with his forepaws pinning Walpurgis down at the shoulders. His fangs had been inches from the man's neck when Zinnia had called off his attack. He remained in that position, snarling and daring the Rocket to make the wrong move.

"C-call off your mewtwo," Zinnia said. She'd meant for her voice to sound authoritative, but she was beginning to feel woozy. She could feel her heartbeat in her forehead, and the pain was terribly distracting. Zach approached worriedly. He placed his hands on her leg and tried to send her good feelings, but there was too much tension in the air for him to effectively change her mood, let alone his own.

Ems replied to Walpurgis's orders by broadcasting her anger and annoyance over their telepathic link. Still, with Shadow out of sight, she decided it would be best to give in this time. But she seriously considered lobbing a Shadow Ball at him if he didn't have a good reason for calling her back so soon.

She teleported back to his side and blinked in alarm at the sight of the liepard pinning her partner. She raised a hand; Zebo's body was enveloped in a purple light, and he was suddenly thrown backwards off Walpurgis and into a tree. The liepard growled as he struggled to regain his feet and the breath he'd lost on impact.

Zach cowered when the mewtwo entered. Her anger was palpable, and the little ralts knew how she itched to destroy them all.

Ems lifted both arms and prepared to defend Walpurgis, but before she could act, Shadow reappeared. Purple eyes locked onto purple one last time, before Zinnia and her team vanished.

Ems told Walpurgis.

Ems sifted through Walpurgis's thoughts. <... Tch. Better off without her,> she muttered. But, nevertheless, when she teleported them away, it was back to the Rocket base.