Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday to me... Happy birthday dear MEEEE! Happy Birthday to me! Yep, it's my birthday, May 17th! Hooray! I got a pack of Altoids, mechanical pencils, and a huge sunburn... :P

Oh well, onto the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON. I NEVER WILL.


Rex waited patiently outside the Daycare center, his head tilted up so he could see the sky clearly. It was truly the calm after the storm, with the sky a nice blue color with almost no clouds. Miss Lena seemed to have no recollection of last night, or she was too proud to admit she had been the slightest bit insecure. Either way, she was keeping oddly quiet.

"So, when's this delivery coming?" She asked loudly. Scratch the part about being quiet.

Rex sighed loudly. They had been waiting outside the Daycare center for about an hour, up bright an early to wait for whoever or whatever was bringing his new styler and Almos' new translator. After many of the toddlers in the daycare center had made fun of the blue-haired boy, he had stopped talking for awhile to pout. Well, not really, he just hated the sound of his translator glitching up to that degree, and along with the teasing children, Almos had decided to shut up for awhile. He was currently waiting silently beside Rex, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Lena, if you think this is bad, when we were investigating Stark Mountain in Sinnoh, we had to wait three whole days for a new translator. Three whole days of doing nothing but stare at the sky!"

Lena didn't look phased at all, and yawned, "This is still boring." She stuck her tongue out at them. "And when can we get going? I've got an agenda, you know! That package won't deliver itself."

Rex frowned, remembering that Lena had her own mission to complete. She had to give whatever 'package' she had to Professor Juniper, the man, not the lady.

"Why don't we leave right after the styler and translator come? It would be best to leave without causing a commotion or drawing attention to ourselves," Rex offered, glancing at Almos to see if he agreed with the plan. The blue-haired boy nodded slowly, analyzing the plan, before giving a nod of approval.

"Great!" Lena exclaimed, her short brown hair bobbing up and down. Rex still had to get used to her being a brunette. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just confusing. He could tell she was slightly apprehensive about her change in hair color, but she hid it well. Rex, on the other hand, was glad to be blond again. The hair dye he had used in the first place as a disguise had flaked a bit and he just wasn't used to it.

Lena shaded her eyes and glanced up, before jumping and pointing to the sky. "Hey! What's that?"

Rex followed to where his finger was pointing. It looked like a huge bird Pokemon flying towards them. He immieditally recognized it to be a Fearow. "Yup," He said, noticing the package in it's claws, "That's what we've been waiting for!"

"Ugh, finally!" Lena groaned, happy that the waiting was over.

The bird pokemon dipped lower, and Rex rushed up to meet it. The Fearow didn't even bother landing, dropping the package straight down into Rex's arms before flying away.

"Great!" Rex cried, ripping oped the package. "Yeah!" He held up triumphantly a shiny new styler in his signature 'ranger pose'. Almos slapped his forehead and groaned at the cheesy comical face Rex was making.

"J-j-j-just g-g-give m-m-me m-m-my t-t-translator!" He stuttered, reaching for the box and pulling out his collar. Almos sighed in relief, putting it on and hearing it snap into place. "That's better."

Lena smiled, before cocking her head to the side as if thinking about something. "Hey! Can I have the old translator?" Lena asked.

"Why?"

"For Chenly! It would be cool to hear what he has to say, you know?" She explained, holding out her hand impatiently.

Rex and Almos looked at each other, and shrugged. "What could go wrong?" Rex asked, handing her the collar.

Lena squealed happily, jumping up and down. "Oh! Wait, watch this," She said, digging into her bag and retrieving a miniature Pokeball. It was slightly worn since it had been used before, but it still worked fine. Mrs. Woods had to look everywhere for it, but she had finally found one in an old closet. The brunette enlarged it, getting into a battle pose and tossing it up, just like she'd seen the people on TV do, "Let's goooooooo, Chenly!" In a burst of light, the ancient bird Pokemon materialized. He sort of sat there, letting out a dull squawk.

"Now, let's see how this works..." She fastened it around his neck, making sure it wasn't too tight. Lena flipped the 'on' switch, and stood up triumphantly.

Static. Nothing but static came out of the translator. Chenly looked at her inquisitively, before staring straight ahead blankly.

"Um... Rex? Why isn't he saying anything?" Lena asked, straightening the collar and making sure it was on correctly.

"Well... he might be not able to talk? Or have nothing to say?" Rex suggested, looking to Almos for help.

Almos shook his head, confused, "The collar uses Psychic Pokemon energy to read basic brainwaves and interpret them into languages that humans understand. It should be picking up something... The only reason why it would be static is that maybe Chenly has so low of an intelligence quotient that the collar can't pick his primal brain waves up."

Lena looked offended, gasping and gathering up the bird Pokemon into her arms, cuddling him, "Oh, don't listen to him, Chenly! Big bad Almos doesn't know what he's saying. You're smarter then any pokemon, you're the smartest..." Almos sweat dropped as Lena fawned over her Pokemon. Rex sighed, rubbing his forehead at Lena's stubbornness.

"So... should we get going already?" Rex offered, breaking the silence.

"Good idea. Chenly, return please!" Lena tapped the bird Pokemon with her poke ball, putting it pack in her bag. "Off to Nacrene City!"


The one thing Rex learned about Lena, two minutes into the road, was that she was not fond of walking. He also deducted that Almos was loosing his patience fast.

"I'm hungry... When are we gonna be at the city?! My feet are killlliiiiiinnnnngggg me!" Lena complained for the fortieth time, dragging her feet on the ground.

"Lena! It's been three minutes! Be quiet, please!" Almos barked, grabbing his head and groaning. The poor Zoroark had been pushed to the ends of his nerves, and frankly couldn't take it anymore. He didn't like to be annoyed. Lena liked to annoy. This plus that equals BOOM!

The brunette looked a bit taken aback, but soon regained her signature stubborn pout and crossed her arms, looking very upset. Almos sighed, content with a few seconds of silence, and Rex let out a deep breath as well.

"Hey, is that Nacrene city up there?" Lena asked, ten minutes later. Rex could tell that she had been dying to talk, and finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He guessed it was the longest she had gone without talking in the longest time.

Almos groaned, glancing up to see the silhouettes of dark warehouses against the sky. "Yep, that's Nacrene City." A sly smile spread across the Zoroark's face as he formulated a plan, "Hey Lena? There might be some Team Plasm guards up ahead. Why don't you just run ahead and check? Just to make sure it's safe?"

Rex grinned, noticing this as a plan to get Lena to shut up for awhile. "Yeah Lena, run ahead and scout for Plasma guards!" He made a 'shoo'ing motion with his hand. There probably weren't any Plasma guards. Rex knew that for a fact.

Lena nodded eagerly, "Yeah! Don't worry, Rex, me and Chenly'll get whoever's up ahead." She flashed a peace sign, before taking off at a low jog.

"Chenly and I!" Almos shouted at her. He couldn't stand bad grammar.

"Whatever!" She called back, before disappearing around a corner.

As soon as she was out of sight, both Rex and Almos heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Arceus, is she annoying or what?" Rex asked, rubbing his head.

"T-tell me about it!" Almos laughed.

"Yeah, kinda makes me regret taking this mission. I don't think my ears can take much more..." Rex mused.

"B-but, just wait for the reward money! That'll make up for it, I-i'm certain."

"You're right. 'Good things come to those who wait'."

"Where'd you hear that quote?" Almos asked, surprised that Rex knew something relatively sophisticated. Rex wasn't the person who quoted famous philosophers.

"You."

"That makes sense.." Almos sweat dropped. They rounded the bend to see Lena, stopped short at the entrance to Nacrene. Rex squinted, trying to see what was blocking her, and bit his lip when he realized that it was two Plasma Guards. Lena glanced over her shoulder, waving him over. Plasma Guards. Just his luck.

"Guys!" She called, waving them down frantically, "Guys! Come over here, these nice people want to know why we're here." She looked at them and made a panicky motion when the Plasma Guards weren't looking.

"Uh... Coming Livia!" Rex responded, jogging quickly over to where the two Plasma Guards were stationed at the gate.

She looked at him quizzically, "Who's- OH! Never mind..."

Rex sweatdropped as the two Plasma Guards looked confused. The first one, a girl about Rex's age, spoke first. "We're just checking who comes in and out of the city. What is your business in Nacrene?"

"To go to the museum-" "-Eat at the Cafe." Rex and Lena said at the same time. Rex glared at Lena, flicking her on the forehead. He made a mental note to teach her how to lie.

"What my friends meant was that we were going to the museum and then eating at the Cafe," Almos explained, causing the two to breath heavy sighs of relief.

"May I see your ID?" The other Plasma guard asked, a tall man about Rex's age as well. Wow. They really were recruiting young.

"Oh. Um... we forgot-" Lena started to lie, when Rex pulled out three fake ID's. He showed them to the lady, with very very blurry pictures of people who looked like Rex, Almos, and Lena. "I mean, we didn't forget!" Lena nodded quickly, and Rex face-palmed.

"Can we go through now?" Rex asked, wanting to get out of this situation as fast as possible, before Lena blew it again.

The girl looked them over, before giving a small nod, "Go ahead."

The trio breathed silent sighs of relief, before rushing through the gateway and into Nacrene city. As soon as they were out of Team Plasma's sight, they relaxed.

"Arceus! That was close," Lena breathed, "I thought for a sec that they recognized us."

"Yeah, Lena," Rex said, shaking his head, "We really need to teach you how to lie."

"Teaching me how to lie? Rex, isn't that morally wrong?" She teased, nudging him with her arm.

"Yeah, well, when we're on the run and can't blow our mission we need you to know how to lie!" He protested, walking a bit faster then her, trying to get away.

"Did you just call it our mission?!" Lena demanded, her eyes lighting up.

Rex stopped short, "N-no! I mean Almos' and my mission, I didn't mean to include y-"

"Yes! I am finally a member of this mission! Go Team Flame!" Lena cheered, jumping up in the air and pumping her fist.

"N-not so loud!" Almos hissed, "And, really? This T-t-team Flame thing again? Seriously, we're rangers, not some terrorist group!" He shook his head and corrected himself, "I-i mean, Rex and I are rangers and would prefer not to be a clumped in with this 'team' group. I mean, Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, we're not one of them!" He looked to Rex for agreement.

Rex shrugged, "I think it's kinda cool. Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yes! I'm right," Lena cheered, and Almos groaned, face-palming. Lena stopped, frowning, "I'm hungry." She pouted, and her stomach let out a loud growl.

Rex laughed, "Yeah! You sound like you are." She glared at him, and was about to kick him when Almos stopped.

"We can go have lunch at that famous Cafe, just like to told the guards." He snickered, pleased about how well they had deceived the guard at the gate.

"Sounds cool," Rex said, shrugging, "Is Team Flame all in agreement?"

Almos growled. Lena nodded eagerly, "Yeah!" They set off to the restaurant without another single word; they didn't need one. Strangely, they had begun to work as sort of a mismatched team. Rex had begun to notice this, and it made him a bit proud. He could just imagine them breezing through the rest of this mission, fighting like ninjas and blowing up Plasma Bases like there was no tomorrow! Rex betted the rest of the mission would be easy...

Speaking of easy, Rex thought, things have been oddly quiet. As they made their way into the Cafe, Rex immediately knew something was going to happen. It was too easy, no bad guys attacking them or secret bombs under the table (Rex had checked) or anything dangerous. Rex sat down and they waited for the waitress to take their orders.

"Hello, and welcome to the Nacrene City Cafe! May I take your order?"

"Uh... I'll have the Watchog Waffles please," Rex ordered. It was still pretty early, and the gang had missed breakfast while waiting for Rex's styler and translator.

"Coming right up!" The waitress smiled at him, taking Lena's and Almos's orders before rushing off to prepare their food. Yep, it was defiantly the calm before the storm.

"Look at this food!" Lena exclaimed, chowing down her Pidove Pancakes (do not contain actual Pidove) like a Grumpig. The service was insanely quick. Too convenient. Rex knew something was wrong. He cut up his waffle, and took a bite. Mmmmmmhhhh... This tastes like heaven! Rex thought, wolfing down the rest of his meal.

Maybe he was just being too paranoid. Yeah, that was it. Maybe the rest of the mission will be a breeze. Maybe he'll finish early, and get the reward money plus a bonus earlier then expected. Maybe-

"Uh... Excuse me, sir," A short, gangly man wearing glasses and a lab coat tapped Rex on the shoulder. "Are you Rex Kenzington?" He added in a hushed tone. Rex stared at him in shock, unwilling to say anything that would give away anything more. The man straightened up, pushing his glasses back. "Your expression tells me everything, son. I've come to deliver a message. Ex-Gym Leader Leonora would like to speak with you right now."

Oh shit.


Outside the city gate, the two Plasma guards were huddled, conversing frantically with each other. The girl, Elise, was pointing to a very blurry picture of three people.

"That was them! I know it, I saw those three in Accumula," Elise said angrily.

Leo, the boy, shook his head. "Elise... are you sure it was them? Because if you're not and we-"

"Yeah yeah, I know what will happen," Elise interrupted bitterly, "But it was them. That girl... she was defiantly a redhead. But, now she's a brunette! Why would she need to change her hair color? For a disguise maybe? Hmmm?" Elise nudged Leo frantically.

"Elise, that could mean she just got tired of her old hair color and wanted a change," Leo said, shaking his head, "Come on. It could be anything! They could just be random nobodies." Elise was about to open her mouth, when Leo silenced her again, "I admit, it is a bit suspicious that three people, one girl and two guys, are traveling from Striaton City to here. We're supposed to be looking for three strangers, one girl and two guys, that are traveling from Striaton. They could be our fugitives, but they could also be random people. Let's try and-"

"Yeah yeah, get all our facts straight before we jump to conclusions," Elise grumbled, "All are innocent before proven guilty."

Leo smiled warmly at her, "Good job. You're finally starting to get it."

Elise didn't respond, biting her lip as she thought.

Leo glanced over at her. She really never was this quiet. She'd usually be giving him a lecture on the native Pokemon in this area, but she didn't say a word. "Hey, Elise, are y-"

"I GOT IT!" Elise exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "Give me your phone," She commanded, grabbing it out of Leo's hands before he could react. Smart Phones connected straight into the PC computer system, and since both Elise and Leo were members of Team Plasma, they had access to all sorts of confidential papers, lists and charts and such. You could also find a list of everyone that lived in the Unova region.

"Can I have my phone back?" Leo asked irritably, holding his hand out.

"Look." Elise commanded, handing him his phone.

Leo glanced at what was on the screen, and raised an eyebrow. "You looked up all the people named Livia? Why-"

"Because that's what the girl's name was, remember? He distinctly called her Livia," Elise explained, "And, the search I did includes all people named Livia, nicknamed Livia, and named slash nicknamed Olivia, just in case we heard wrong." She pointed to the screen, "There are only twenty-five people in this region who fall under that category. Look at their pictures."

Along with a personal record of a citizen of Unova's name, nickname, age, date/place of birth, and anything else that Team Plasma wanted, a recent picture was mandatory.

Leo scrolled through the pictures, squinting, "None of them look remotely like the girl. But they could be from a different region or-"

"No, they couldn't," Elise argued, putting her hands on her hips.

"Why not? Not everyone has to live in Unova," Leo countered.

"Because, you saw their ID, right? That was Unovian ID," Elise said, grinning. At the age of ten, you were issued an ID in whatever region you lived in. This also functioned as a license to train Pokemon, but Team Plasma had taken that aspect away. All the IDs were distinct colors, red for Kanto, gold for Johto, pink for Sinnoh, green for Honnen, and gray for Unova and so on and so on. "You can only get Unovian ID if you're a-"

"Unovian citizen!" Leo exclaimed, fitting the pieces all together. "And to be a Unovian Citizen, you have to be-"

"Registered in the PC computer," Elise finished, grinning madly.

Leo grinned back, "Elise, you're a genius!" He exclaimed, patting her on the back. She grinned back at him, a small blush forming on her cheeks. Leo didn't notice. "I think we found our fugitives!"

"Oh, when the seven sages find out, we'll be promoted for sure!"

In all their celebrating, neither of them had noticed a hooded figure approaching. The figure stopped, tapping Leo on the shoulder to get his attention.

Leo jumped, turning around. "What do you need, sir?" He asked, barely able to contain his happiness.

"Did I hear you correctly? You found the people Team Plasma has been looking for?" The person asked in a low, slightly dangerous voice.

Elise didn't notice the threat in his voice, and frowned at the figure. "I'm sorry, but that is Team Plasma's business, and Team Plasma's business only," She said with authority in her voice. "You may pass into Nacrene City now."

The figure ignored her. "If that is the case, then I can't allow Team Plasma to find them."

"Huh?" Leo said, honestly confused, "What do you mean by-" Almost instantly, Leo could only see red. He heard voices, screaming, crying, laughing maniacally, much to loud and way to soft everywhere. He fell to his knees, or at least that's what he thought he did. Swirls of colors danced in his vision, threatening to swallow him up, and a red sticky substance began to cover his hands, feet, knees, chest, shoulders, all the way up to his mouth until he couldn't breath anymore. He did the only thing anyone in his situation would do: he screamed. He could vaguely hear Elise screaming beside him, but that didn't matter. He didn't know what mattered...

The hooded figure stepped over the two grunts, kicking them aside like trash before heading through the gate. "Don't worry," He whispered, as if to no one, "Rex, Almos, Lena, your secret is safe for now."


At least we got some action in! Yay! Action! Oh, and if the Daycare couple had a musical theater theme song, it would probably be something like "Be Our Guest", From the musical version of Beauty and the Beast, NOT the movie. (Though, I don't think there's a difference, the musical version sounds better.)

Ok, see you all next time!

~Miss Optimism