Author's Notes: Wow, has it really been almost a year since I last posted a chapter? Goodness...I have to apologize for that. I've been super busy with college, and the change of employment took a way more of my free time than I had hoped. However, I assure you all that any free time I do get is being put towards continuing to write this story. Seriously, I still have ideas for the latter part of the story with details that need to be worked out.

This chapter is about the same length as the previous one, somewhat short but not too short. There are some interesting surprises here, so you should enjoy it.

Once again, feel free to review the chapter. Hopefully you guys haven't abandoned or vowed to kill me yet. XP I still love you guys, so the praise and constructive criticism would be much appreciated. :D

Disclaimer: After almost a year, I still do not own Pokémon.


Chapter 8: Secrets and Suspicions

As they walked, they kept to themselves, not speaking to one another. This bothered a certain Blade Pokémon. As he walked behind his trainer, he noticed how Keith remained in the back of the group and how he idly kept his distance. Gallade sensed a strong vibe about the sailor that bothered him even more. Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out why.

Brooke and her friends must have known this man called Keith, since they were speaking on friendly terms. However, he was a complete stranger to the Psychic. Gallade couldn't see the man's face, but he knew that Keith was bearing an expression that just spelled trouble. Unfortunately the others didn't notice, and nor would they ever notice at this point.

The group made its way inside, and just as they did so, Oak and Delia happened to have walked in on them.

"Ah, Keith, I see you've returned," Oak spoke up as he approached the sailor, who nodded. He and Keith exchanged a handshake.

"Yay, that means we can get going soon!" Delia delightfully added.

"Actually, the kids and I were just talking about that," Keith replied as he turned to her. "I was informed that you all had to be somewhere soon, but I thought that we could discuss that matter before we make any plans." Before Delia could go in over her head, Oak agreed and invited everyone to gather around the coffee table in the living area, so everyone picked a place to sit and got comfortable.

After about ten minutes of explanations, not including certain details that the others wanted to keep secret, Keith paraphrased what was told to him.

"I get it; so you guys need to leave whenever possible so that you can make that flight, correct?" Delia nodded eagerly. Clearly she was getting impatient about their next trip. "Well, I should tell you that I checked the weather forecast earlier. The skies looked pretty cloudy over in mainland, and chances are it'll rain pretty heavily later today. If you ask me, I'd rather not risk anything today. We can leave first thing tomorrow morning if that works with everyone." The others chatted amongst themselves once again, commenting on Keith's idea. They weren't sure if waiting another day was the best thing to do, but they did agree upon the fact that they didn't want to get caught in more bad weather and have another boat incident like the one from days before.

"Keith makes a good point," Brock mentioned. "We should stay here for another night and then take off in the morning."

"In that case I should book our flight for tomorrow and inform the pilot of our arrival," Oak added. "I'll go do that now." With that said he stood up and left the room to go use the nearest computer. Delia sighed, seemingly with more impatience.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Ketchum," Tracey said to her. "We'll see Ash in due time."

"You're right, Tracey," she replied. "Oh, I'm just anticipating this meeting so much that I can barely sit still." Misty could see what she meant; she glanced at Delia's foot and saw it tapping the floor rapidly. "So, what do we do in the meantime?"

"We relax for one more day," Brock answered. "Hey, how about some lunch?" Everyone else agreed excitedly. Delia offered to help cook again, so the two of them retreated into the kitchen to get started on another awesome concoction.

Meanwhile Keith took off and went back to his boat. He said that he was going to go fishing and catch something good for the next meal. Misty offered to help and went with him.

That left Brooke, Tracey, and Oak in the living area, not really sure what to do. Oak suggested that Brooke and Tracey help each other set up a table for seven. They agreed and searched the kitchen for the proper table settings. Tracey carried plates and napkins, while Brooke grabbed silverware and glasses. They decided that another outdoor lunch would be fun, since everyone would be joining this time.

"So, how's Arceus?" Tracey immediately asked Brooke the second they were outside. He was careful not to ask her this question within earshot of Keith.

"Hmm? Oh, I guess Arceus is fine," she replied while arranging the silverware where Tracey set the plates. "I'm actually wondering how long we can keep it hidden."

"Yeah, me too. How come you wanted Arceus to hide, anyway?" He tucked the napkins under the silverware, while Brooke placed the glasses with them.

"Well, I only wanted the six of us to know about Arceus until circumstances change where it needs to manifest itself. You know what I mean?" Tracey nodded. "Even though Keith might be a good person, I think it would be best if he didn't know about it, just in case he were to have a slip of the tongue and tell someone who definitely shouldn't know. We're just fortunate that President Markheim didn't find out about Arceus." Tracey nodded again. It made perfect sense to him now, even though he had suspected it before.

"I see what you mean. That brings me to another question: you said that you were discussing a plan with Brock. What exactly is this plan?" Brooke stopped to make eye contact with Tracey.

"Actually, I never relayed the details to him, since they're still pretty hazy in my head. I only mentioned that I had a plan, but I suppose I can tell you the basics." Tracey silently implied that he wanted her to continue. "I planned on releasing the legendary Pokémon with Arceus' help."

"Yet you have no idea how exactly you're going to do that, am I right?" She nodded, despite expecting a different reaction from him. "I'm guessing you forgot to mention this to Brock."

"Yeah, I did." She laughed halfheartedly. "Hey, can you blame me? I was quite shaken at the time after that storm hit."

"You mean when you had to save Brock from drowning?" She nodded again. "No, I can't blame you. I'm sure most people would have felt that way if it happened to them. In any case, you're both okay, and you've got a plan to save the world. That works for me. Don't forget that I'll support you in any way that I can to see this work." She beamed at his last statement.

"Thanks, Tracey," she said to him, giving him a tight hug without warning. "It's good to know that you're on my side – ahem, rather, at my side." Tracey returned the hug, satisfied with the knowledge of her intentions and with the fact that he had just acted like a good friend to Brooke, even though they were only acquaintances.

The two teens separated when they heard a voice shouting from the building. Gallade had called to them and motioned them to come back inside to help Delia and Brock. They returned inside as they were told. Brooke mentioned to Tracey that she was going to change into some dry clothes before getting back to work, so she retreated to her bedroom.

Meanwhile at the dock Keith was reeling in another fish on his rod. He whipped his prize out of the water and placed the poor fish with the rest of the fish in his rather large pile, cheering as he did so.

"Do we really need that many fish?" Misty asked as she sweat-dropped. "There are only seven of us and probably a hundred fish in that pile." Perhaps Keith did catch too many fish…

"Yeah, I guess you do have a point there," Keith answered, chuckling to himself. "I suppose I'll just throw some of them back into the water, and then we can keep the good fish for lunch." Misty nodded in agreement and began to help Keith sort through the fish, keeping the good ones and throwing the bad ones back into the water.

Delia and Brock were making small talk as they worked diligently in the kitchen.

"Do you think that Keith might know about Arceus?" she inquired, looking a little worried.

"No, I don't think so," he answered. "Brooke told me that she had Arceus hide on the roof, and that's where it's been since then." They all had the same concern that even Keith shouldn't know about the Alpha Pokémon.

"Yeah, I certainly hope he doesn't find out about it," she mentioned. "We'd better watch our tongues, or something might slip." Brock nodded in agreement as he prepared gravy.

"What do you need me to do?" Tracey interjected as he entered the kitchen.

"Could you cut up some vegetables and put the salad mixings together?" Delia requested while checking the rice. Tracey got to work on that without even saying anything. He was pretty eager to help out.

"Where's Keith?" Brock inquired. "He and Misty were supposed to have brought the fish here by now."

"We're right here!" Keith shouted from afar as he and Misty brought in their haul. One hundred fish turned into only about a dozen and a half fish. With their help Brock got to work on cooking the fish, while Delia took over the job of making gravy. Tracey continued to prepare the salad.

At that moment Brooke walked into the kitchen with a clean outfit.

"It looks pretty cramped and busy in here," she commented. "Although, now that I think about it, I don't see Oak anywhere."

"Yeah, where is Professor Oak?" Misty asked, looking around. Just then they heard a voice shouting from the living area.

"Sorry!" he called. "I fell asleep on the sofa by accident." The others laughed. Oak made his way into the kitchen and decided to help out as a way to remedy that blunder. He, Delia, and Brock continued to cook, while Misty, Brooke, and Tracey carried plates and bowls of food to the outdoor table. Brooke and Tracey whispered to Misty and reminded her not to mention anything to Keith about Arceus. She understood this and confirmed it with a nod.

When everything was ready the group gathered around the table and proceeded to eat. Some of the Pokémon invited themselves to portions of fish (especially Floatzel), while the rest of them resorted to just eating berries or Pokémon food. One particular Pokémon, though, was not joining in on the feast.

"Gallade, how come you're not eating anything?" Brooke asked as she turned in her seat to look at the Blade Pokémon. He sat on the ground with his arms folded and his legs crossed, facing away from the group and looking into the horizon.

"I'm not hungry," he said to her and to her only. "There's too much on my mind right now. I'll eat something later." Brooke was a bit concerned, but there was no point in trying to force him to eat.

"Alright then, suit yourself," she replied, getting back to her meal. The majority of lunchtime was spent not talking very much, likely because everyone was stuffing their faces with incredibly good food. Some small talk was made, but otherwise it was a rather uneventful meal. That was probably a good thing, since most of the group was tired of the drama.

Sometime after the group had finished eating and clearing the table, they spent a good part of the afternoon just relaxing. Keith went fishing (for sport) again, and Misty decided to do the same. Delia decided to sunbathe. Tracey and Brock were playing with the Pokémon, while Oak took another nap.

Brooke was inside playing chess and having a snack with – whom else? – Gallade.

"Okay, now you can explain yourself," Brooke said to him after she insisted on him having some kind of food. They finally agreed on having some toasted chips. "What exactly was on your mind earlier?" The Blade Pokémon was hesitant on saying anything, but he had to tell her the truth.

"To be honest I don't trust that man, Keith," he answered as he moved his white knight to steal her black pawn. "Something doesn't seem right about him, and I think he's up to something."

"Oh really? What's up with him?" She moved her black bishop to steal his white rook. This was news to her, as no one had raised any suspicions about Keith until Gallade mentioned this to her. After all, she didn't think anything bad of him.

"I can't explain it very well, but I could sense a strong vibe emanating from him. Something deceitful resides in his soul; I just don't know what it is." He ate some more chips and gathered his thoughts. "I think it has something to do with Arceus."

"But he doesn't know about Arceus, or at least he shouldn't know." Brooke also ate some chips and drank a lemonade/iced tea mix (she called it an Arnold Palmer). "You're worried that he might find out about Arceus, aren't you?" He nodded.

"Somehow I think that if Keith learns of its origins and power, then he might become ambitious and try to capture it. That can't happen, and I won't allow it." He moved his white queen to steal her black knight.

"You're right, Gallade." She moved her black rook to steal his white bishop, leaving his white king in danger. "Check. Of course, Arceus is hiding quietly on the roof, and it's invisible, so Keith can't see or get to it."

"Yes, everything is as it should be for the moment," Arceus' voice boomed in their minds. Only the two of them could hear it. Gallade was a bit more surprised at the fact that it could hear them and speak to them from such a distance. A couple moves later Gallade still had his doubts.

"Still, I believe that Keith is suspicious of us, thinking that we're hiding something from him. If he knows that we're keeping secrets, then he's likely trying to learn the truth."

"Don't worry; we'll keep an eye on him for now. I know you will, anyway." She ate some more chips. "I'll relay this message to the others and let them know how you feel."

"Thank you." He moved his white knight once again and left her black king defenseless. "Checkmate."

"Aww, man, you won again!" She sighed, being a bit disappointed at losing the game. "I'll admit that I suck out loud at chess, but then again I think I taught you well." He just smirked and ate another chip. "Anyway, let's go tell the others about your case." Brooke got up and invited Gallade to tag along with her, and they made their way outside to meet up with the rest of the group. They had a lot to tell them, after all.

Dinnertime that night ran its course in almost the same manner as lunchtime, except that Gallade had actually joined the others in having a meal, while Keith left towards the end of dinner to take a phone call, saying that he was going to retire shortly afterward.

That gave everyone else the same idea. After clearing the table and gathering the Pokémon, the others bid each other good night and retreated to their rooms.

Of course, before they went to bed, the Blade Pokémon had something to ask.

"Brooke, is it all right with you if I stay out of my Pokéball for another night? I can't help but think that Keith will try to do something, and I just want to be precautious."

"Sure, that's fine," she answered. "Now, I don't know if he's actually going to do anything in the middle of the night, but I suppose you can stay on guard for a while. Just don't keep yourself awake all night." He nodded in agreement.

Brooke changed into her flannel clothes and crawled under the covers, bidding her Pokémon good night before she fell asleep. Gallade, on the other hand, sat on the other side of the bed and stared out the window.

For what seemed like hours Gallade kept his senses heightened and stayed alert for any sign of a problem. As if he was meditating, he listened for the slightest sound, he let the slightest breeze touch his skin to indicate movement, and he tapped into his Psychic power to 'see' everything around him. There was no way that Keith was going to get past him.

After a while, though, he gave up and fell asleep on the spot, while still guarding his trainer even in slumber.