Touko was beginning to feel like one of the Shadow Triad. Except they were a lot better at sneaking around than she was. And they probably didn't have a war of emotions going on inside their heads. Touko, however, did.

Seeing her friends had made the pain in her chest so strong that it almost choked her. God, how she had wanted to call out, to let Bianca and Cheren know she was there, and that she missed them. But she couldn't. And she wouldn't, if she wanted to stay on Ghetsis's good side.

Anyway, she had a job to do.

Scoping out the Sinnoh League Champion was a lot easier than Ghetsis had made it out to be. She didn't seem to notice Touko's presence at all, though admittedly the older girl was a bit preoccupied.

The situation with Alder and Professor Juniper had Touko puzzled too. If this were part of Team Plasma's plans, then Touko didn't know anything. And the possibility of her not knowing such a plan irritated her to no end. Not only that, but knowing that the Professor could be missing... Well, that wasn't something Touko liked to think about.

Touko watched the party of four from the second floor of the Pokemon center in Castelia City. The four trainers were sitting at a booth near a window, where Touko could view them from the balcony on the second floor. She could see which drink they had on their table, and also hear them, just.

"Are we sure this boy is going to come?" Sky asked.

Lucas shrugged. "Of course not." He said something else, but he said it too quietly for Touko to hear.

The Champion shifted. "...don't like this," she said. Or, Touko thought she said. Lip-reading wasn't as easy as it looked.

"Perhaps we should call Alder's Xtransciever again," Cheren suggested. Touko's chest squeezed painfully at the sound of his voice.

Sky shot Cheren an irritated look. "Why are you still here, again?" she asked.

To his credit, Cheren didn't back down. "To help," he said.

"There's nothing you need to help with." The girl raked a hand through her dark hair, her voice louder than before. Touko kind of wished it weren't that loud, because she didn't really want to hear the Champion anymore. She was getting on Touko's nerves.

"Let me rephrase," Cheren said. "I need you to help us defeat Team Plasma."

Touko did not miss the way Sky's hand tightened on her glass of water. "I've had enough of extremist groups for a lifetime," she murmured. "You'd think, after taking care of Team Galactic, we'd be given a break."

"Calm down, Sky." The Pokemon researcher, Lucas, did not look up from his Xtransciever. Touko wasn't sure about what he was doing, but she figured probably texting one of his Sinnoh friends. "We were given a break. I think it's a good idea to help with Team Plasma."

Sky scowled. "Team Plasma can go fuck themselves," she announced, and downed her glass of water. She slammed her glass back down on the table, making everyone jump, as well as several strangers walking past their table.

"Calm down, Sky," Lucas repeated. He put down his Xtransciever, and took Sky by the arm. He murmured something to her and Touko couldn't quite catch. The girl visibly relaxed, her grip on the glass loosening. She muttered something back to her friend, and he smiled. They were incredibly close, Touko realised, and also realised – and hated herself for doing so – that Ghetsis could use their bond against them.

Touko didn't usually try to think of all the ways to hurt a person. But since she'd joined Ghetsis, he'd asked her to do many things like this and ever since then, she couldn't help but think like that even when she wasn't on a mission.

Touko shifted in her position, suddenly aware of three presences around her. Slowly, she stood, turning her back to her friends, and said, "Afternoon, Shadow Triad. You can appear, you know."

One of them did. Touko had learnt awhile ago that his name was Kuan. "Lord Ghetsis wants to know what you have found." His face was blank under his mask.

"I found this task rather boring," she said, and he was not amused. She sighed. "I'm not done yet. Tell Ghetsis I will report back to him in the morning." She scowled at the man, and turned her gaze back to the group she'd been studying.

There were only three of them, though, and for a moment she panicked. What had she missed?

She scanned the Pokemon Center, and finally saw the boy; Lucas was talking to Nurse Joy, smiling and chatting animatedly. She said something, gave a sly grin – were they flirting? – and gave him a glass of juice. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief as Lucas turned to go, but then that breath froze in her throat as she noticed Lucas had stopped.

And was looking right at her.

Sorry for the short chapter, anyone who reads! I'll admit I enjoy writing from Sky's point of view more than Touko's, but Touko will have a lot more in the future. Also, sorry for the long wait, anyone who has been waiting!