A/N - I have had no motivation to write for the past week. Hopefully this will wear off soon and this story won't be put on hiatus... That's the good thing about writing chunks in advance. I've got 12 chapters written for this so far.

...

The buildings blurred past as Pixel and Leaf zipped along on a pair of hoverboards, following the flow of traffic in hot pursuit of their base. Cyan Island was visible above the skyscrapers, trudging steadily along as it followed its circuit.

"How close are we now?" Pixel asked.

Leaf looked down at his digital map. "Its moving over Proxy City. That might prove problematic if we need to board there, especially now the sun's setting."

She pursed her lips and fixed her attention on the island. Hopefully their fresh purchase of hoverboards (much to Leaf's dismay when he had to fork over three-thousand credits per board) would give them the edge they needed to avoid any unwanted conflict. The outskirts were renown for the hostile pokemon that inhabited them.

A loud horn rang out through the streets as the traffic came to a sudden stop, shattering any hopes the pair of them had about making it through Proxy City before sundown.

"What's going on?!" Leaf whined, straining to see around the rear of a particularly large lorry. "Argh, we're never going to make it at this rate!"
Pixel hopped from her hoverboard and scooted over to the side of the road. The head of the traffic jam was hidden from sight as the chain of traffic vanished around a sharp bend between a department store and an electronics tower that displayed an advert for a new camera on a massive LCD display.

She returned to her hoverboard and Leaf looked over at her.

"Any joy?" he asked.

She shook her head. "We'll have to move on foot if we want to get past it."

He dismounted his board with a sigh and tucked it under one arm, waddling onto the sidewalk on his hind legs. She followed after him, casting a glance back at the motionless traffic. Many of the other hoverboard riders followed their example, gathering their boards and deciding to go on foot.

"You know what would be useful?" said Leaf. "If we could fly like your human friend."

"I think it would be more useful if we could get the drifting continent to move backwards and come for us," said Pixel.

"You don't want to fly?"
She chuckled. "Not especially."
He grunted and paused at the edge of a narrow road to allow a lorry past as it deviated from the traffic. "I suppose any desire to fly went out the window when you fell off Switch's back, huh?"

Before she could answer, he waved a paw to silence her and turned his focus onto his headset. They walked across the street in silence, joining the pedestrians on the other side. He appeared to be having some difficulty hearing the speaker on the other end as he apologised a couple of times and had them repeat themselves.

Finally, he looked back at her, but his expression caused a flood of nauseating anxiety in her stomach.

"That was Byte," he explained. "They're actually in Proxy City but they're not having the best time."

Her eyes widened and she picked up pace to walk beside him. "What's going on?"

"They've had a run-in with the vigoroth brothers. We're going to need to hurry." He pulled out his computer, dodging the pedestrians without even looking up while he scrolled through a map of Meta City. "There are several side streets we could take to avoid this traffic, provided it doesn't go the full length of the city."

He paused and looked left and right, muttering the names of the road signs and comparing them to the map. Finally, he stuffed it away and grabbed her paw, dragging her down a narrow street. He ran off ahead of her and hopped onto his hoverboard, causing a squeal of surprise from a young glameow.

"We need to hurry," he called back. "They're not known for being understanding."

Pixel gave the glameow a quick apology as she zipped past after him, the hoverboards whipping up a light trail of dust.

...

Proxy City was cast in shadow, rarely getting much sun as it was situated between the high rise buildings of Meta City and the high peak of the Backbone Mountain. Empty wrappers blew across the streets, joining small spirals of debris amongst the wind-traps and moving along the alleys like tiny tornadoes where they joined the garbage filling the gutters and crevices from the overflowing trash cans.

Curious pokemon daring not to step outside watched Pixel and Leaf as they zipped through the streets on their hoverboards, the sound creating a gentle thrumming in the polluted air. Few pokemon were on the streets at this hour. Even though the sun wouldn't be setting for a little while yet, it still seemed very dark, almost as though it might rain but there were barely any clouds in the sky.

"Did they say where they were?" Pixel spoke quietly, almost a whisper, keeping an eye on the shadows of the alleyways.

"They were ambushed at the Metalclaw Tavern," answered Leaf. "They'd gone in to ask for information, and as soon as they stepped outside they were bundled into an alleyway. The brothers had left them tied up to go and look for someone they were calling Hax."

She grimaced. "Hopefully they've not returned with him yet."

"I'm hoping that's the case. I dread to think what kind of trouble those kids have landed themselves in."

An endless flow of questions ran through her mind. Who would want to harm Nybble and Byte? And if so, what had they done to trigger the anger of the vigoroth brothers? Did the brothers have something to do with the missing vulpix?

The questions kept on coming as she followed Leaf around another bend, this one revealing a small group of pokemon standing outside talking, clutching glasses in their paws. A sign creaked in the wind above their heads displaying a crude drawing of a bisharp's claws that were designed to look like they were slicing through the sign itself. The group looked up at them as they drew closer, and one of them – a toxicroak – narrowed his eyes in a leer.

"Newbies!" he grunted.

"More o' them?" An aggron crossed his arms, fixing one eye on them. "Thought those pesky kids were weird enough."

Pixel leant into Leaf and spoke quietly. "Do we talk to them?"

"Just keep going," he muttered back.

"Oi!" The aggron stepped in front of them, and they brought their hoverboards to a halt. "No whisperin'! You got summat t'say, you say it t'me!"
"Okay!" Leaf stood up as tall as he could. "We're looking for those 'pesky kids' you were just talking about."

Pixel grimaced at the ivysaur's use of air quotes and watched the aggron closely, bracing herself for him to lash out in anger. Instead, he pointed at Leaf and looked over at his friends.

"They lookin' for 'em emolga kids!"

A durant whistled through his mandibles and looked up at a charizard and the toxicroak. "Think summat's happened to 'em?"

"Yes," Leaf went on. "I got a frantic call. They've been taken by the vigoroth brothers, and they've gone to find someone named Hax."

The aggron's demeanour changed drastically. He leapt back from Leaf, his weight causing the buildings to shake and the sign to swing dramatically, its rusty hinges screeching with the momentum. His wide eyes reflected fear at some unseen memory and he scurried backwards, almost tripping over the toxicroak. The other pokemon looked uneasy, and the durant walked backwards until he was crouching safely just inside the bar.

"I take it you've heard of them then," said Leaf.

"Heard of them?" The aggron shook his head. "You ain't wanna be messin' wi' them. You turn around an' go back. Those kids are a lost cause. Take my word fer it."

Leaf exchanged glances with Pixel and they both looked up at the aggron.

"They're our friends," said Pixel. "We're helping them. Where does this Hax hang out?"

"On the roof tops," answered the charizard. "Keeps an eye out for easy victims. Has the vigoroth brothers doin' his dirty work, and he comes along and finishes 'em off."

The aggron glanced away from them and wrung his heavy paws together. "Look. Ya gonna be messin' wi' him, yer messin' wi' the wrong pokemon."

Leaf hopped onto his hoverboard and kicked it off the ground, moving slowly past the now spooked gang.

"Then don't follow us," he said bluntly.

Pixel followed after him, looking back briefly as the aggron shouted after them.

"Yer brave, ivysaur! But yer foolish!"

His words didn't seem to phase Leaf at all. He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, scouting out the alleys they passed for any sign of their friends. Pixel, however, kept looking up at the rooftops. Those jagged black lines were visible above the low buildings, causing an unsettling feeling to spread throughout her stomach. However, her mind was on rescuing Nybble and Byte right now. If they lost them, that would be to more of their rapidly decreasing team. What kind of pokemon was this Hax and what danger did he pose? She had no idea.

"Ah!" The tail of Leaf's hoverboard screeched against the floor, digging up the dirt as he brought it to a halt. He pointed a stubby claw into a narrow alley. "I can see them!"
Pixel's violet eyes widened as a smile spread across her face, but it was soon wiped off when she noticed the two emolga's matching expressions of fear.

They were both sat on the filthy floor in the shadow of an overflowing trash can, tied up back to back. The wall behind them marking the alley's dead end seeped a green, slimy substance that Nybble flinched away from as it dripped by her head. When they spotted Leaf and Pixel, Nybble almost cried with relief while Byte strained against his tethers.

"Hurry!" the male emolga hissed. "They said they're coming back!"
Leaf was already beside them, tugging at the ropes while Pixel kept an eye on the alley's opening. There was no sense in all of them becoming trapped between angry pokemon and a brick wall.

Leaf ushered the two emolga out of the alley, following close behind and giving Pixel a nudge to follow him.

"You take Nybble. If we move now, we should be out of this city before -"

"Where d'ya think yer goin'?!"

The gritty voice caused all four of them to spin on the spot. Two vigoroth rushed at them, their sharp claws raised above their heads. Above them, whipping up dust with his powerful wings, was a large unfezant, a heavy gold medallion swinging from a thick chain around his slender neck.

"I'm assuming that's Hax?" said Leaf.

The emolga twins let out a squeal and threw themselves behind him.

Pixel grit her teeth and braced herself to launch a counter-attack on the closest vigoroth, but before any of them could reach them, Leaf span in the air, firing a cloud of spores at the three aggressive pokemon.

The vigoroth sniffed at the air and sneered, flashing their canines in an intimidating grin while the unfezant screeched and beat his wings, sending the spores back at Leaf and his friends. Pixel covered her mouth and nose with her paws, but it was too late. Leaf looked back at her, doubling slightly in her vision.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking."
The vigoroth lunged at them, their roars almost shaking the flimsy windows. She span, bringing her horn up and clubbing one on the chin, but the other grabbed it in his paws and dragged her backwards. As she fell onto her back, she saw Hax strike Leaf and send him rolling backwards into the alley. The large bird battled with a spray of paralyzing spores the ivysaur had scattered during the impact. He beat his wings against the wall, trying to beat them free of the powder, his movements erratic. No longer able to stay airborne, he'd be easier to battle.

That was, if she'd not inhaled a lungful of sleep-inducing spores. She struggled to sit up, pinned in place as the vigoroth refused to release her horn, but her efforts were becoming weaker as the sleep powder took over.

Hax cast a glance down the alley and grinned, turning his beady eyes back onto Pixel. She could hear the cries of the two emolga, but they were out of her eyeline.

"Well!" The unfezant stood over her, watching whatever was going on behind her. "Looks like your friend's out of action. Pity it only took one air slash to take him down. Pathetic weakling."

He blurred in and out of focus as he moved with jerky motions, keeping one eye on the vigoroth and the other on her. Her heart was pumping. Any moment she feared she'd fall asleep.

"Grab those two, and dump them in the alley with the mawile and ivysaur. I've got some questions for them."
"Aye!"

She felt herself hoisted discourteously onto her feet. Sharp claws rammed into her back, pushing her into the alley. She almost tripped over Leaf sprawled in the opening. He groaned as the vigoroth grabbed him and threw him forwards into a pile of trash bags. She rushed to assist him, but the other vigoroth grabbed her horn and threw her further into the alley towards the dripping wall. She landed with a grunt and pushed herself up, fixing the group in what she hoped was an intimidating glare.

"What do you want with us?!" she roared.

"Tsk!" Hax strutted over to her, his movements more fluid as his body won the war against the paralysis spores. "I didn't want you. I wanted them." He nodded to Nybble and Byte.

The emolga twins cowered between the vigoroth brothers.

"Giga and Tera told me they'd found them poking around Proxy City looking for a vulpix pup." Hax shrugged. "I don't really want pokemon sticking their noses into my business. So I wanted to know how much they knew. Then you two showed up!" The large bird looked back at Leaf with a leer then narrowed his eyes at Pixel. "How much do you know?"

She rubbed a paw over her head and pushed herself into a sitting position. Hax watched her cautiously, his entire body taut like a spring.

"Not much," she said. "All we were told was that a vulpix child has gone missing, and her mother wants to know what's become of her."

Hax chuckled drily and looked up at the sky. She instinctively followed his gaze to the jagged black line poking above the rooftops.

"Do you know what that is?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Neither do I." He looked back down at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his beak. "All I know now is, you go into it, you don't come back out."
Everything inside Pixel suddenly felt very heavy. Her jaw dropped as the realisation of the poor vulpix child's fate fell heavily upon her. Her head shook from side to side of it's own accord.

"No..." She glanced over at the two vigoroth then back at Hax. "You wouldn't."

He closed his eyes and shrugged.

Her skin prickled as her fur stood on end and she sprang to her feet, but the large bird didn't so much as flinch.

"You're a monster!" she roared.

"Hey! At least we know it's not safe, right?"

The two vigoroth laughed, and an amused smirk spread across the unfezant's face.

"You killed her! She was a child!"

Hax inclined his head on one side. "Hey. I never said she was dead. I said she never came back out."

Pixel clenched her jaw and glanced away from him. "It's as good as," she muttered.

A movement in the trash bags caught her eye, and Leaf winked at her. She looked back up at the unfezant and scowled.

"Why a child?"

"She was as curious as I was," he said. "And an easy pokemon to talk into doing it."

The vigoroth chuckled again.

Pixel placed her paws over her muzzle and shook her head. "I can't believe this. It makes me feel sick."

Green spores engulfed the unfezant in a cloud and he let out a squark of surprise, spinning to face Leaf. His legs wobbled and he fell sideways, and Pixel leapt back, narrowly avoiding the large bird's falling body.

The vigoroth stood wide-eyed, watching their fallen comrade and scratching their heads with their claws. One of them looked up as Leaf raced towards him on all-fours, his head lowered as he picked up speed. The vigoroth dropped the rope he was holding and raised his paws to defend himself. His claws fixed over Leaf's ears as the ivysaur launched himself into a full body tackle, sending his target tail over head.

The other vigoroth rushed at Pixel, and she raised her horn to meet his claws. His paws struck his own face and he stumbled backwards into the two emolga. His body jerked as electricity coursed through him, and the twins leapt aside to make room for his falling body as he spasmed on the filthy floor.

"Quick!" Leaf barked at them. "Climb on!"

Byte joined him on his hoverboard and he waited for Pixel to gather hers and follow after him. Nybble held onto her waist, watching with fascination as the buildings rushed by.

"Do you think they'll chase us?" she asked.

"If we're not fast enough!" Leaf jabbed at his personal computer and glanced back at Byte. "How did you get yourselves caught?"

"They ambushed us," said Byte. "And that rope absorbed electricity. There was nothing we could do!"
Pixel crinkled her muzzle in thought. "It sounds like they were prepared for you."

Leaf made a thoughtful noise. "Either they overheard you and singled you out, or someone's intersecting our computer."

"Which do you think is more likely?" asked Byte.

"The first one, although I am going to make sure the computer is safe just in case. Ah!" He pressed a claw to his headset. "Yes, police department please."

He glanced back as he muttered to the pokemon on the other end of the line. Pixel followed his gaze. No one was giving chase. Hax was likely still under the influence of the sleep powder. Fortunately she'd managed to battle it, otherwise she feared they wouldn't have been so fortunate.

That poor vulpix...

A wave of nausea ran through her and she turned her back on the city. Buildings zoomed past in her peripheral vision, but she couldn't shake the mental image of the vulpix child walking straight towards her demise.

She wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep that night.