I awoke and sat up in my sleeping bag, my mind immediately turning to last night. Hilner and Gracie both…I hadn't known about Gracie being gay. She hadn't told me, and I never saw any sign. I shrugged. Not that big of a deal, I suppose…just gotta get used to it. I walked out of my tent and saw Hilner standing at the edge of the clearing we were in. "Mornin."

She glanced at me. "Mm."

I sighed silently. "Still not talking to me?"

She turned away, and I heard from behind me, "She's stone. Remember?"

I turned to Reledre and shrugged. "Maybe we can break through that rocky exterior and see something delicate inside."

Reledre laughed. "Thanks, I needed something this morning to laugh about. The day Hilner opens up is the day I-"

Gracie walked up to Reledre from behind, turned him around, and slapped him. "You keep saying it like it's never gonna happen! I'm sick of you being like that! Maybe she's just really shy, and your mocking is only making it worse!"

"Not shy."

The three of us turned to Hilner, who had turned to us and continued, "I'm defensive, not shy. Just to clarify." She turned back around, and I looked around. "Well, that happened. Where's Linec?"

Something dropped out of the sky, right in front of me. I recoiled, and the thing, which was ball-like, sprang up and changed into Linec, who was grinning. I sighed again. "Linec, seriously?"

He shrugged. "No big deal."

As we entered Pewter, I could feel some tension within the group, more so than usual. Linec noticed as well, and he stretched his head from his body to my face, whispering, "What do we do?"

I thought a moment as we walked, and I shrugged. He frowned and brought his head back to his body, and I heard, "Why so defensive?"

Uh-oh. This could get bad. "Because the last time I was open with someone, they hurt me bad."

I stopped and turned to Hilner, who gave me her deadpan look. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

Gracie asked, "You sure?"

Hilner glanced at Gracie. "Yes. I'm sure." She walked on, leaving us behind to ponder. Gracie ran after her, and the rest of us walked after them. I sighed and muttered, "This is really not how I expected things to go…"

Reledre shrugged. "You can't really have a say."

"Guess not."

Linec stopped, and Reledre and I did so as well. "Something up, Linec?"

He glanced around. "Something…lurking."

I focused on finding any abnormal energy…and got a ping. But…from close to us?

I looked around and saw waves near Reledre, like heat waves. "Linec, how's it feel to you? Temp wise?"

He shrugged. "Moderate."

Reledre grimaced. "You sure? I feel really hot…since Cerulean, actually."

I blinked. "Duck."

Reledre hit the deck, and I blasted a Hydro Pump towards the heat wave. Something recoiled, and when it shimmered into appearance, I recognized it as a Chandelure. Its black chandelier-like body, with flames in place of bulbs, gave it away. "A Chandelure…in Kanto?"

The Chandelure regained itself and began to float again. "Ugh…water sucks…"

I narrowed my eyes. "What's a Chandelure like you doing in a place like this?"

The Chandelure smirked, somehow. "Like I'd tell you. Good thing you don't understand me."

"You sure about that?"

"Wait-oh, damn. Anyways…die!"

It blasted a Hex at us, and I countered with a Hex of my own. I fired off a Rock Blast at it, and it dodged all but one, which it got pinned under.

I stood over it. "Name?"

The Chandelure scowled. "And that's all you'll get from me. Grinum." Grinum faded away, and I swore. Reledre asked, "Should we worry?"

I shook my head. "Isolated incident. If it happens again, then we worry."

Reledre and Linec nodded, and we continued to follow the girls towards the airport.

As the five of us wandered around the airport, Reledre asked Gracie, "So did you and Hilner talk?"

"Yes."

"About?"

"Nunya."

"Is that a city?"

"Yeah. The city of Nunya Business."

I chuckled. Reledre had walked into that one, and he sighed. "Got it."

I laughed a little and almost ran into someone. "Oh, sorry."

"It's alright."

I looked at the man I had ran into had blond hair and green eyes, and seemed lanky, like Linec. I blinked. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The man shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Sorry." He walked away, and I looked at him as he went. Something about him seemed familiar…I shrugged and kept walking towards our gate.

After the plane took off, I glanced at Hilner, who sat between me and Gracie. "Hilner, that guy seem familiar at all?"

She looked at me. "Kinda…it was weird. Like déjà vu."

I nodded. "I know him from somewhere."

"Where?"

"Dunno."

Hilner shrugged. "Best not to worry about it. Once we get to Goldenrod, we should hurry and secure the Radio Tower."

I nodded, and the plane shook a little. "Turbulence."

Hilner grimaced. "Nope."

I looked at her. "You?"

She nodded. "I've always been nervous about flying in planes, and my nervousness affects my powers. We won't crash, but turbulence will still be there."

Great…

As we touched down in Goldenrod and walked through the gate, Reledre ran to the nearest bathroom as fast as he could. Airsickness, I guess…I chuckled, and Gracie asked, "What's funny?"

"Reledre."

She nodded and grinned. "Yeah, his speed's impressive."

I was about to respond, but someone caught my eye. He had black hair and was wearing a dark purple suit, and his face…seemed kinda hawkish, with a sharp nose and well-worn frown lines. I went over to him and said, "Hello, sir."

He turned to me. "Hello, young man. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Maybe. You look like someone I know. Can you help me?"

The man shrugged. "Yeah, sure. What do you know about the guy?"

"Well, just tell me about yourself."

The man thought. "Well, my name's Edgar, and for some time, I used to be part of a big corporation."

Hm. "And this corporation's name?"

"You probably wouldn't know it."

"Nevermore's not that old."

The man's green eyes turned cold. "I turned my back on them."

I held up the Normal Band, and he glanced at it. He turned to my face and examined it. "You're not Redoni."

"His son."

He scoffed. "Why would you reveal yourself to me?"

"Because you were the most lenient of the Nevermore admins and might actually help us."

Edgar groaned. "Oh, Arceus, you have a team."

I nodded. "You wanna help?"

He sighed. "What do you need?"

"You have underworld contacts?"

He nodded. "I still have Nevermore connections. Let me guess: you want me to use them to have you guys keep a step up on Noir."

I nodded, and he said, "Deal. I saw reason; I want these guys stopped."

I handed him a communicator. "Whenever you have info."

He nodded and walked away, leaving me wondering what happened to the other admins…