Who is Zinnia? What are her motives? Does Brendan even care?

Brendan and May left the house together. She was going to pick up her Absol, he was heading off to Petalburg to join Norman at the Gym. It was going to be just like any other morning.

So naturally, the woman with the Whismur standing right outside the door, hand outstretched as if to knock, threw them both into defense mode.

The woman was the first to laugh. "Talk about timing," she said with a bright smile. "I was just thinking about you two."

"You know us?" Brendan asked uncertainly.

"Of course I do. It's no secret when someone becomes honorary Champion, only when the title passes. And everyone I know saw the Rayquaza fly over Sootopolis."

Brendan couldn't decide whether to send out his faithful Blaziken or his recently-evolved Metagross for defense purposes, but May stopped him.

"And who are you supposed to be?" she asked, and the woman looked down at her Whismur.

"I did get a bit ahead of myself," she admitted. "I'm Zinnia, and this is Aster. We came to ask for a demonstration of your use of Mega Evolution."

Yeah, there was definitely something suspicious going on here. "Sorry," Brendan said, nearly retreating back into the house and stepping on May's foot by accident, "but neither of those names are familiar, and we don't give out demonstrations to just anyone."

Zinnia only looked mildly disappointed. "I wasn't expecting it. I know who you are, and that's good enough for now. But I hear you've got your own supposedly criminal organization. Is it true?"

"Why are you bringing that up?" May asked, and Zinnia faked innocence. Brendan immediately didn't trust her - that was his move, and only initiated Team Breakneck members could copy it. May didn't notice. "Is there something debatably legal you need Team Breakneck to accomplish?"

Zinnia laughed like a child. "Oh, you kids are just too cute. No, I don't really need your help, but it's always nice to know that people would be willing!" She smiled as Aster let out a cheerful Whismur-cry. "I've changed my mind, but you know? We'll probably meet again. Small town and all."

And, with barely a goodbye, she left, taking the Pokémon with her. May turned to Brendan, horror in her eyes. "What." The word wasn't even a question.

"Don't think too hard," Brendan told her immediately. "You might get a brain cramp trying to make sense of it all."

May rolled her eyes. "Just like when dealing with Archie and Maxie."


Wally probably should have paid more attention to Dusky's behavior back in Petalburg Woods. Maybe he would have known to go hide in the Gym and convince Norman to be his bodyguard and tag battle partner.

Instead, he was facing down not one but two people, in uniform, that had cornered him before realizing the other one was there, and now they were glaring at each other. And this was less than five minutes after he'd discovered that he'd been robbed while he was out.

The man was huge. Tall and muscled beyond belief, Wally simultaneously decided he was built like a Machoke and wished he would put on a shirt. The woman was much smaller and wasn't built like a warrior princess to make up for it, but there was something sinister about her very aura that put him off. She wasn't a Kirlia, she was a Mismagius.

But even more concerning than that was that he thought Brendan and May had put a stop to this insanity two years ago.

Dusky, who had been walking beside him on their way to Littleroot and had likewise been cornered, was feeling less concerned and more vindicated. "I told you so," he said, looking pointedly at the human boy. "First the Wurmple, then the robber, and now these guys. You are a danger magnet, Wally."

Wally, not understanding a word, just focused on the other humans. "If you're going to kill each other, can you do it somewhere you won't be blocking someone's path?" He gestured behind them. "I will have no problem calling Brendan and May. You remember them, don't you?"

"Give it a rest, lettuce-head," the buff man hissed. "You know what I'm here for."

"No," Wally said, though he could guess. "I don't."

"Your Key Stone, you idiot! Hand it over!"

"And what makes you think you should get it?" The woman didn't sound as angry as Wally had expected, but she was certainly packing a lot of determination. "You aren't the only one with a grudge against those kids. I'm doing this for Maxie."

"And I'm doing this for Archie!" The man jabbed one large finger in her face, but she didn't even flinch. "He's my best friend! You think I wanted to see him suffer like that?"

"And do you think I am an emotionless robot?"

Wally cleared his throat. Dusky looked away pointedly. But Matt, of course, dared to speak again. "Well, if the hood fits."

"And I'm done here," Wally said, reaching for his Gallade's ball to forcibly remove these people from his presence. "I don't have my Key Stone. Go home."

"We all know you can use Mega Evolution," Courtney cut in. "Just give it to me, and there won't be any trouble."

"I don't have it," Wally repeated. "You missed your chance. I'm giving you a warning. I WILL get Team Breakneck involved."

Matt stopped for a moment. "Team Breakneck? You're still doing that stupid thing?"

"You're still involved with your teams," Wally pointed out.

"And they're pathetic compared to ours."

Matt and Courtney both got distracted at the new voice, and simultaneously turned to see a grinning Brendan and giggling May standing right behind them. Wally looked just as surprised, but pretended he'd been in on it the whole time.

"These guys giving you trouble, Agent Broface?" Brendan asked, and Wally cringed.

"Please don't call me that." He hadn't been given a COOL codename, like Lisia's 'Dancing Shadow,' or even one that made sense, like Sneakers or Songbird. As fun as being in a crime-fighting organization was on paper, Brendan's relentless mockery made 'Broface' the most annoying thing he'd ever encountered.

Well, the second most annoying thing, his childhood illness being the first. By a very narrow margin.

Brendan shrugged. "You can get a new codename, but it'll cost you."

"Discuss it later, guys," May interrupted, her hand moving toward the ball holding her Swampert. It should be easy enough to wipe down Courtney with him alone. "I think protecting Wally is more important than his codename."

"So you're going to step in?" Matt asked, and laughed. "Sounds easy enough, I've gotten stronger over the last few years. And when I win, I'll take your Key Stone."

"You mean when I win," Courtney corrected. "I suggest a free-range battle - you, me, and the girl."

"Double battle," Brendan insisted. "May and I fight as a team, just like we always have."

"But we don't," Matt told him.

"Then you're right. It should be easy."

He sent out Metagross, May used Jerry. Once the expected Camerupt and Sharpedo were out, Dusky sat down and watched.

This was no disaster. Not for Brendan and May.


Surprising no one, Brendan and May won. They didn't even use Mega Evolution.

Courtney was the first to recover from her loss. "I'll be at Meteor Falls," she announced, like she didn't care who followed her. "I'll look for my own Key Stone."

"They come from Meteor Falls?" Matt didn't waste time, and ran away, clearly hoping to get his hands on one before Courtney could. Realizing what he was doing, Courtney followed, walking away at a normal pace.

"Well," Wally said after a moment of silence, reaching for his Key Stone before remembering it wasn't there, "thanks for helping me out."

"You could have handled it yourself," May said, waving a hand.

"Did you see Matt?" Wally shuddered. "He's built like a dump truck and his fist is the size of my head!"

"His fist is the size of my Aggron's head," Brendan agreed. "If you break her horns off, anyway."

"But how did you lose your Key Stone?" May asked. "Does Gallade know?"

"Gallade knows. I think he blames himself, but that's just the protective instincts kicking in." Wally nodded at Dusky. "Your Absol tried to warn me, but I was the one that left it in the house when we went out. It's my fault, not Gallade's."

Dusky picked up his own ball and moved up to May, where he picked out Wally's Magnezone and sent it rolling back to him. He liked Wally enough, but in times like this, he preferred to be with his own trainer.

"I'll stay here and protect my parents," Wally decided, continuing a conversation Brendan wasn't sure they'd been having. "Your dad and I can handle the town's defense, Brendan."

"We'll go ahead and look out for any Key Stone users we know," May replied. They definitely made plans while Brendan was watching the Absol. "Starting with Lisia, who might get a message in with Wallace, who can probably pass it on to Steven."

"Assemble the team, Broface," Brendan said, watching Dusky return to his ball. "You get down on that, and we will figure out what Matt and Courtney were doing...and if they were following orders."

Though the codename filled him with disgust, Wally agreed without question. He trusted Brendan and May to track down his Key Stone, and that was more important.


Now that she thought about it, being a Gym Leader was just like Lisia had imagined it. Her babysitter had trusted her enough to let her come to the Gym and make friends with the challengers, so she had been sitting in the stands for nearly half an hour.

Of course, since Lisia was in normal clothes instead of her performance costume, and even though the hair band that held her Key Stone was still in place, she wasn't as easily recognized. If she wasn't recognized, then she tended not to make very many friends. How did she even start conversations that weren't about Contests? Was it as easy as asking for battle advice, or were there unspoken rules she'd forgotten?

Ali wasn't having much trouble at all. He had quite clearly developed a small crush on the current challenger's Pelipper, and was currently mourning her defeat by sulking in the corner. Lisia, on the other hand, knew he'd be over the Pelipper in a day and continued to watch the battle in silence.

Flannery had given up trying to act tough, at least. Brendan had mentioned that it had been a problem two years ago. Now she just did what came naturally, and Lisia attempted to memorize her strategy.

The sound of the alert startled all of them - Lisia, Flannery, Ali, and the challenger. Giving a quick, frantic apology, Lisia stepped outside to answer the call.

Wally spoke first, and the greeting was in a deeper voice than his usual range. That, combined with how he called her Dancing Shadow instead of her name, told her right away that there was a problem that Team Breakneck needed to solve.

"Do you still have your Key Stone?"

"My Key Stone?" Lisia repeated, reaching up against her will to touch the item in question. "Why? Don't you still have yours?"

"No, it's gone." Wally's voice was no longer falsely deep. "I left it at home when I went to test May's Absol for potential breeding, and it was gone by the time I went to give him back."

"Huh." Lisia carefully removed her hair band, making sure the stone wasn't fake. "I'm sure Wallace still had his when he left on his Champion mission..."

"Champion mission?"

Didn't Wally already enter the Hall of Fame? "Aren't you and Brendan tagging along?"

"No, we're not. What mission?"

"He and Steven got a call to investigate something at the Mossdeep Space Center," Lisia said, trying to keep cool. "They're probably just dealing with an extraterrestrial Pokémon, or something. Like Solrock and Lunatone."

"If it was a Solrock and Lunatone, you'd think they wouldn't need two Champions and a bunch of rocket scientists."

"If it was something bigger," Lisia countered, "you'd think that you and Brendan might have been called in for help. Four Champions are better than two."

"We're investigating the Key Stone disappearance and the revival of the Teams from two years ago," Wally told her, not in the mood for debate. "Pass on the message to Wallace and Steven, and anyone else you know with a Key Stone. Matt and Courtney are collecting them, but a third person got mine."

Lisia promised him that she'd do exactly that, the wheels in her head already turning. By the time the call had ended, so had the match, and both of the other humans had left. The only living thing in the room was Ali.

It almost looked like a trap.

Lisia immediately called him into his ball and ran to the break room where she knew the Gym Leader was healing her Pokémon. She needed an adult to help guard her Key Stone while she told Wallace to look out for his own.