Break for Freedom

"No, not this way either�" Cypris snapped her fingers as a sign of disappointment. The group had been trying to find a way out of the building they were trapped in, but to no avail. Cypris had led them to a dead-end, a wall at the end of a corridor.

Genro had been complaining the whole time. "It figures� leave the job to a girl and it NEVER gets done!" Cypris pounded the top of his head.

"Shut up! I have a short fuse right now."

"If we don�t get out soon they�ll find us," Kaumi groaned.

Cass played with one of her ponytails over her shoulder. "We�ve gotta figure this one out�" Dark scowled, but said nothing. She was extremely frustrated and edgy after all that had happened. Cass looked down the hall to a window a few feet away and went to it. "Oh look� it�s dark� we need to go�"

Kaumi slumped down against the wall and on the floor. "I�m tired�"

Cass sweatdropped. "Hey� you just got healed half an hour ago, you can�t be tired!" Something came to her. She slapped her forehead. "Of course� Why didn�t we think of this?"

"Have a way out?" her cousin asked with a bit of curiosity.

Nodding and flashing a peace sign, Cass walked to Cypris and put her lips near her ear. She whispered something no one else could hear, but once she backed off, Cypris� face was lit.

"Perfect. You�re a smart one. Jubei, you�re up, hon." She held out a pokeball that had been at her waist. A Hitmonchan formed before her. He swung his fists at the air a couple times.

"Mon-chan?" He flashed a questioning look of obedience to his trainer.

"Mega Punch. At the window."

"Chan!" was the affirmative, and Jubei leapt into the air, throwing a fist at the window. It shattered on contact.

Cypris put her forefinger and middle finger together, kissed them, and moved them away from her lips in a peace sign. An alarm began to sound�

Genro huffed. "That�s why I didn�t suggest that." But no one paid him mind. Kaumi hadn�t hesitated, and was already pulling himself out the window.

Cypris shoved him gently toward it. "You next. Hurry up."

"What?"

"We have a way out, just go with Kaumi!"

"�But-"

Cypris cut him off. "Go!" Kaumi was out, and Genro slowly made his way to the window.

Cass unleashed Gengar, who used a Rock Throw to break open part of the wall. The girls ran out, and Gengar was returned after serving its purpose. Cypris took a minute to examine a section of the wall on the outside.

"Cass, Dark�"

"What?" Dark turned to her.

"This is the emblem of Sliph Co., here, on the wall." Dark joined her and saw it too.

Cass thrust a fist into the air. "So we�ve been set up!"

"Maybe not�" Cypris thought hard. "There isn�t time to sit around, let�s go before the cops get here!"

Dark caught a glimpse at a single police car turned on its way to the company�s building. Why was there only one�? Something couldn�t be right.

The three stopped to catch their breath, gasping thirstily for oxygen. They had made their way down a few streets and alleys, and had been safe the whole way.

"Ka�gu�ya�" Cypris said between breaths as she let a pokemon out. Materializing before the three of them was a gorgeous Espeon. She lifted her head into the air and sniffed it lightly, then examined the two new faces without movement.

"That�s a beautiful pokemon," Cass commented.

"Yeah," Cypris said, having regained all the oxygen she needed, "I usually let her stay out, but I didn�t want her taken during that run-in. Funny thing they didn�t take our pokemon."

"I noticed that too. It�s how we got Kaumi and ourselves out alive."

"You also saved us. Anyway, where did those two go�?"

"They�re free-spirited, let them run around the city for as long as they want." Dark ran a hand through her short hair.

"Cous, where are we anyway?"

"Don�t know. Cypris�? You�ve seemed to be full of answers."

Cypris let out a loud laugh. "Have I? Hah! We�re in Saffron! This is Sliph Co.�s main factory; you can tell from the size of the building and that emblem!"

Dark sighed and looked down the alley. She hoped Kaumi was safe� Then she began to hear a distant voice coming from a megaphone�

"Dark, what are you doing?" Cass questioned as she noticed her cousin at the end of the alley.

"Come here."

Joined by the others, Dark looked on, down the street they now stood on. There were some kinds of law enforcement cars scattered all over the road down a ways, moving closer.

"Look at that." Cypris outstretched her hand and pointed to a figure ducking into an alley. "It�s not Kaumi or Genro, right? They�re together."

"No, but whoever it is, they�re getting a lot of attention," Cass noted.

Cypris was off, dashing across the street, her long white hair flowing behind her. Kaguya was at her heels.

"Cypris!" Cass cried in surprise.

"Come on!" she called back over her shoulder. "Let�s get out of here before they come after us!"

Dark and Cass tore after her, seizing the moment. But when would they encounter Genro and Kaumi? And why were there so many police cars after one person, on foot�?