Chapter Eleven – Drifblim's Warning and Custap Berries

A few minutes later they were running down the corridors again. Fortunately, Squeak had noticed that there was a quicker way to get to the front of the Veilstone HQ by going through the tunnel leading to the wind turbine maintenance building and they managed to avoid getting spotted too many times and when they were it was only by Zubat or occasionally small blue ghost types which Squeak had explained off handedly were called Misdreavus. These Pokémon only eyed them in brief curiosity and didn't stop them as they hurried on their way. Snivy found that it was a relief to be outside again as they pushed a door on the side of the building open and found themselves in a deep patch of flowers which smelled gorgeous. He inhaled a deep breath of fresh air which was full of the aroma of flowers and breathed slowly out again with a sigh. He'd forgotten how much he loved basking in the sun amongst the flowers. Squeak; however, looked highly uncomfortable in the grass and Snivy remembered that as a water type this was only natural. They were crouched behind a wind turbine looking out over the river and the flowers where it wound slowly out of sight, revealing another rocky looking route leading away into the distance.

"Come on, let's move…" Squeak shifted uncomfortably in the flowers and began to push his way around the wind turbines towards the front of the HQ.

"Shhh!" Snivy hissed at him as they reached the edge of the building and the two of them could see the six Golbats, including Alpha, Beta and Sigma, along with the small purple balloon. In between them, Snivy could see a large purple Pokémon which Squeak had shown him many times before and he'd seen on wanted posters all over Unova before his disappearance. It was Drifblim, the messenger and guardian of the skies for the ghost forces. Drifblim didn't have a wispy air about him like the Drifloon which had brought news to the Golbaten team. He looked very authoritative, his voice was sharp and crisp and he held himself like Commander Crobat, like a leader should appear. Once again, it took Snivy a moment to link the Pokémon he now saw before him with the image he was used to seeing in Unova. Drifblim wasn't glowing, his eyes weren't narrowed and menacing looking and there was nothing hostile in his position. On the contrary, though he was flustered from flying at high speed from Veilstone city and a long way to give some crucial news, he looked relatively relaxed and collected.

"We need to get closer…" Squeak told Snivy in a voice so low it was barely a whisper, "We can't hear what they're saying very well from here." Snivy nodded without another word and the two of them risked running across the flowers to hide behind the next turbine which was closer to the conversation going on behind them. Snivy pressed himself as flat as he could against it and Squeak beside him did the same. If he listened very carefully, Snivy found that he could listen in on the conversation. His heart was hammering. He didn't trust Drifblim at all and, unlike Commander Crobat, he owed him nothing.

"…essential that it's done quickly." Drifblim was in mid flow, "Tonight if possible, if not then tomorrow morning."

"These orders come from Mistress Haunter herself?" Alpha looked impressed, though also confused

"Yes." Drifblim nodded, "I've never seen her so insistent."

"I knew there was something unfamiliar about that grass type we brought back, but you know; I never even assumed it would be something that would worry Mistress Haunter so much." Alpha continued. Snivy took a deep breath in. So they were talking about him. What were they planning to do?

"I haven't seen him." Drifblim shook his head, "But that doesn't matter, Haunter's instructions are that it needs to be done as soon as possible."

"What about the Piplup, him too?"

"Yes. Haunter insisted that we had to include anyone who knew the grass type so closely, in fact, that includes the three outlaws that your team picked up today."

"Suits me. They're not pleasant company anyway, I'll be glad to be rid of them, the outlaws that is. The grass type and the Piplup on the other hand, they're really quite charming if you ask me…" Beta pitched in but he was cut off by Drifblim

"Be that as it may, Haunter's orders are manifest." He said sternly, "As much as you enjoy having them around she is to be obeyed, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Beta backed down a little.

"Is that all Mistress Haunter wishes?" Sigma asked

"No, there's something else." Drifblim said and then lowered his voice so that Snivy had to strain his ears to catch what they were saying, though it was difficult enough to focus as it was with his head swimming with what this alarming conversation could possibly mean.

"Darkrai insisted before we left and Mistress Haunter agreed…that it is imperative nobody knows that we have the grass type or the Piplup here." Drifblim told them quietly, "It is to be a matter of complete secrecy. Have you told anyone externally from the forces HQ about the presence of the two Pokémon?"

"No one." Alpha shook his head

"And there have been no visitors? No one who might have seen the two Pokémon in our hospitality?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I can't attest to that." Alpha shook his head, "If we'd known that this was to be a secret, we'd have denied access to the HQ altogether, but we have had visitors today. I don't know how much they were told, and I also can't guarantee that the Zubats, Misdreavus and others based here haven't leaked information."

"We shall have to hope that they are trustworthy then." Drifblim looked as though he didn't think much of this, "There's nothing we can do now. When you say visitors, what are we dealing with?"

"A couple of reporters from Sandgem town, including Idol Espeon of all Pokémon." Alpha began to list them off, frowning in thought, "Then there was the Vespiquen from the colony of Combees who live just across the river and the chief of police, Combusken, paid a quick visit too."

"Reporters?" Drifblim asked, suddenly sounding sharp again, "What were reporters doing in our HQ?"

"They were merely writing an article on the capture of the three bandits we apprehended." One of the Golbats whom Snivy didn't know said, "As far as I know they were here to photograph them and get a statement of arrest for the newspaper."

"And they didn't find out about the grass type or the Piplup?" Drifblim insisted

"No." Alpha reassured him, "I'm pretty certain they didn't. They would've had no reason to even think of asking."

"Check." Drifblim told him fiercely, "Check everything to make sure no word of those two Pokémon leaves this HQ."

"Yes, sir."

"Check with Combusken too. Ask subtle questions; make absolutely sure that no information leaks out."

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. I'll be heading back to Veilstone now and inform Haunter of these developments. I expect everything to be ready for tonight."

"Yes, Drifblim." Drifblim nodded, saluted them with one of the long purple 'wings' he had near his balloon base and took off back into the air again without a second look back at the members of the Golbaten team.

"We've got to move!" Squeak seemed to come out of a stupor and nudged Snivy, "If Drifblim flies this way he'll see us instantly, and I bet they're going to go check on us right now!"

"Huh?" Snivy asked vaguely. He felt sick. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Surely, surely, this would have been enough to convince Squeak that the ghost forces couldn't be trusted.

"Come on, Snivy!" and with that Squeak tugged him back into motion. The two Pokémon set off back through the flowers at high speed and round the back of the wind turbines where they found the door. Fortunately, Drifblim had not decided to fly in their direction and had instead moved north east, over the lake towards where the forest stretched out in the distance. This meant they could slip back inside undetected from the air. It didn't take them long to find their way back to the room. They followed the corridor straight back at high speed, pushing through Zubats, Misdreavus and Porygons at every step who, though agitated by the interruption, didn't try to confront them. Eventually they rounded the corner and the door leading back to their room was revealed and they burst through it, falling onto the bed in an exhausted heap. Snivy couldn't help it, he had to get this off his chest.

"How can you still support them now?" he erupted at Squeak, "This was all a trap! It was a trap!"

"No…no it isn't!" Squeak insisted

"For the love of…" Snivy began, "I don't know what they're planning but they're intending to do something with us by tonight under Haunter's orders and by the way they said that it would be good to be rid of the bandits…they're going to kill us! I knew there was something wrong here, I knew it!"

"No Snivy, you've got it all wrong!" Squeak insisted, jumping to his feet and flapping his wings up and down in panic

"Wrong? You heard them!"

"Snivy, calm down!" Squeak insisted, looking flushed, "Okay…some of that might have sounded a bit odd, but…"

"A Bit odd? They're obviously planning to…"

"Let me finish!" Squeak interrupted in an irritated voice, "Hasn't it occurred to you that they might be doing this for our safety? That they might be trying not to let anyone find out you're here?"

"You heard Drifblim! They're…"

"We already know that someone's after you and that they're commanding a whole army of Metagross…" Squeak's voice rose in fright as he watched his friend, "It makes sense that they wouldn't want anyone to know you were here!"

"Then explain what it is that they were planning to do to us that involved 'getting rid of us?" Snivy argued, barely letting his friend get a word in edgeways

"I don't know, but the ghost forces are on our time, they're on the team of the good and the innocent! They probably think that our information is important…I don't know okay!"

"Why are you so determined to trust them?"

"Why are you so determined not to?"

Their fight was interrupted by the sound of swishing wing beats from the other side of the door which signalled the return of the Golbaten team. As Snivy and Squeak immediately tried to look casual, the door flew open to reveal Alpha, Beta, Sigma and one final Golbat they didn't know. Snivy's head was spinning. He didn't know what to do. He was so convinced that the ghost forces were behind all this now that he felt scared just to look at the Golbats. Originally he'd wondered whether they could be trusted and had gone along with it so that Squeak felt better, but now there was no way he could carry on. He needed concrete solid proof that the ghost forces were working against them and he had to get it before the night and the ghost forces pulled Drifblim's orders, whatever they might be, into action. Oblivious to how pale and awkward the two Pokémon in front of them now looked the Golbaten team closed the door as they entered and fell into a formation.

"Good day to you both." Alpha said politely, "I believe we never introduced ourselves properly and as you're our guests I thought it only proper." What kind of an act was this? Snivy wondered as he watched the bats, trying hard not to betray any indication that he might have overheard their conversation with Drifblim.

"I am Beta." Beta gestured to himself using his wing, "And these are my co-workers Alpha, Sigma and Tau." The Golbats all nodded in turn as he gestured to them, "What might your names be?" Snivy was definitely in half a mind to give them a fake name but thought better of it, after all, he had already given Commander Crobat his real name and if he now gave the Golbaten team a fake one it would only make Crobat's suspicions of him worse, if it even came to that.

"Snivy." He admitted only grudgingly and Squeak gave his name too, far more willingly.

"Right." Alpha waved Beta aside with one of his wings and it couldn't have been clearer that he'd been meaning to get introductions out of the way as quickly as possible, "We've come down here to discuss the arrangements for tonight." Snivy and Squeak caught each other's eyes but looked away immediately, knowing how suspicious it would look if they were caught behaving like this. They had to pretend that they were ignorant to whatever was going on. Snivy couldn't; however, hide how curious he was about what it was that they were planning to do tonight.

"We received contact from Drifblim of the ghost forces only an hour or so ago…" Alpha began.

That's a lie. Snivy thought at once, It's barely been thirty minutes since Drifblim got here…but if I somehow seem to know that then it'll look so suspicious… He shot Squeak another sideward look and by his expression it appeared that he was thinking exactly the same thing and the two of them decided to remain silent

"And the arrangements tonight are that the two of you are both to be moved from this Headquarters." Tau took up the story. That made Snivy look up. They were being moved? Why were the Golbats telling them this? They were lying….they had to be. They'd lied once whatever said they couldn't do it again, "Haunter's made the arrangements. A special procession will escort the two of you from this Headquarters to our main base in Veilstone at around one this morning. We need the cover of darkness to move safely.

Sure. Snivy though viciously, That's exactly why we need the cover of darkness, so that no one can see you taking us or moving us. Again he remained silent, but Squeak spoke up enthusiastically and Snivy could tell that his attitude towards staying with these Sinnoh celebrities hadn't changed at all, despite their obvious lie about the timing of Drifblim's arrival.

"We're actually going to the Veilstone HQ?" he asked, beaming up at them enthusiastically, "That's the coolest thing EVER!" He picked up his sticker book again and tucked it under one arm. Sigma smiled endearingly at him as though he appreciated this reaction and glanced at Snivy. Snivy, noticing this, forced a smile onto his face though he knew how obviously forced it looked. Sigma regarded him for a second but decided not to press him.

"As you understand…for security reasons we cannot give you any more details than that at the moment." Alpha pressed on, "And by this evening you'll know exactly what will be happening. I'm sorry to push this onto you so suddenly but we've received orders from much higher up that this is what's going to happen. Who knows, you may even get to see Mistress Haunter before dawn tomorrow." Squeak let out a chirrup of nervous excitement and dropped his sticker book. Snivy still didn't say anything, attempting to hold his forced smile on his face. For security reasons? That sounded like what Squeak had been saying earlier, that the Golbats were doing all this for their protection, and now he was thinking straight that did make sense…but that lie at the start of the conversation…what purpose had that served? And had they mentioned that no one knew about them outside the HQ and they were under strict instructions not to let anybody know they were there? No. No, that particular topic of conversation had evaded them. Looking at Squeak; however, made Snivy feel slightly guilty for all these thoughts. He could tell just by looking at his star struck expression Snivy could tell that it was his life's dream to meet Haunter, possibly the dream of everyone his age in this entire region.

"So…" Sigma seemed to be trying to lighten the mood, "Lunch. What do you two fancy?"

"Uh…what?" Snivy asked, caught off guard by the question

"You two haven't eaten since this morning, I assume…" Sigma continued sympathetically. Snivy's hunger suddenly hit him. He was starving. He hadn't eaten a single thing since the Pecha berries back with Empoleon, and with the attack, running around the region with Squeak, the guilt he'd felt at the lake, encountering the bandits and worrying himself sick over the true motives of the ghost forces, food had been driven right out of his head. Beside him, Squeak's stomach also gave a loud rumble as though the exact same thought process was going on with him. Despite the fact he didn't trust the ghost forces in the slightest, and that he was sick with worry about what was going to happen to them, he couldn't deny that he was hungry and before he could stop himself had blurted out his favourite food in the whole wide world.

"Can you manage Custap berry soup?" he pleaded. The Golbats looked for a second a little confused by his change in attitude, but let it pass at once

"I think that can probably be arranged." Sigma shrugged

"I know Custap berries are rare, but I really like them." Snivy excused himself guiltily.

"Custap berries aren't rare, Snivy." Beta frowned at him, "Especially not around these parts. We're in the home of berries and flower growing here. I'm sure that can be arranged."

"I'll take a full Magikarp meal!" Squeak said enthusiastically, "With every side you can manage!" The Golbats looked at each other and smiled in what Squeak saw as a friendly manner and Snivy saw as evil.

"We'll be right back." Alpha told them and the four Golbats left the room in silence, closing the door behind them. Snivy, regretting his outburst, turned back to Squeak but before he could even open his mouth Squeak had interrupted him.

"They won't try and poison us." He told Snivy firmly, "Even from what we heard from Drifblim, it's tonight they want to move, not now. Besides…" He rubbed his stomach, "If I don't eat something soon I might fade away from hunger right here." Snivy couldn't help himself grinning and this made Squeak smile too and they sat back on the bed to wait for the meal. Squeak produced the packet that he'd stolen from the cabinet in the room with the long meeting table. It turned out that he had been right about it being full of stickers and he tore it open so they fell out with the pictures facing downwards.

"Here!" he separated them excitedly out into two piles so they both had five to open and immediately began turning them over nervously. Snivy picked up the stickers himself and for a moment smiled again despite himself, feeling as though they were back in Squeak's room in the cave…though he knew deep inside that room no longer existed. The first card was a picture of a small blue squirrel and Snivy recognised it as one of the ones he'd seen on his way to the town. He showed it to Squeak, who muttered something vague about 'Pachirisu' as he leafed through his sticker book before taking the sticker and tossing it behind him into the bin. The next two stickers received similar treatment before Snivy revealed a small blue Pokémon which looked a little like a gauntlet.

"Ooo…" Squeak leaned over and took the sticker from him, "That's a Beldum! They're very rare…I wonder if..." He ruffled the pages of the sticker book enthusiastically and Snivy saw him stop on the page bearing the Metagross and his face fell, "Sorry Snivy, I already have one, but I've never had a duplicate before. I'll keep it anyway, I know they're pretty difficult to find." He shut the sticker book after tucking the Beldum inside it. Snivy turned over the last sticker as Squeak turned away and couldn't help himself grinning again. It was a Piplup just like Squeak.

"That's all of them." He lied to Squeak, tucking the Piplup sticker into their bag in a side pocket so Squeak wouldn't notice he was keeping it. If he ever got home again, he didn't want to forget about his new best friend.

Barely fifteen minutes later, the Golbaten team returned with their lunch and set it down on the desk. Snivy's suspicions flew back to him, but he thought back to what Squeak had said and one glance at the Custap berry soup made his stomach rumble loudly and his mouth water.

"By all means tuck in, you've gone through a lot." Sigma said sympathetically as the two Pokémon jumped off the bed. Squeak was on top of his food in a matter of seconds, gulping down the food so fast it was vanishing in front of his eyes. The Golbats grinned at him and even Snivy couldn't have mistaken those kind amused smiles for hostility. He hopped towards the table himself and pulled the bowl towards him, inhaling deeply as the smell of freshly cooked Custap berries filled his nose.

"We're going to explain a bit about your transferal this evening." Alpha told them and the Golbats entered the room, closing the door behind them, "As far as the details go it's important that we let you know the exact timings of your escort. We wouldn't normally have bothered with one, but it's Mistress Haunter's orders…" Snivy dipped his nose into the bowl and took a long drink of the soup. It was bliss, the Custap berries were extremely sweet and creamy with only the slightest bitter edge…Snivy had always loved them. Alpha and Beta continued talking about the arrangements. It seemed that it would be up to the Golbaten team and Commander Crobat to complete the operation, though they would be joined by 'Rotom' (a Pokémon Snivy had never heard of) for the second stage of the journey. By three they were to arrive at a base in a city called Eterna, then rest for an hour and arrive in Veilstone hopefully by about eight the next morning. Either way, it was going to be a very long and exhausting night. Squeak was still wolfing down the Magikarp when Snivy finished draining the soup from the bowl and pushed it to one side. He felt warm and content inside, realising just how desperately hungry he'd been.

"And that's how the situation stands." Tau completed the explanation, "Do either of you have any questions before tonight?"

"Mmm…" Squeak said through mouthfuls of fish and raised his fin, all thoughts of dignity abandoned, "When are we going to sleep?"

"I recommend you get some rest now." Tau told him, "We won't have time tonight."

"Okay…" Squeak was about to bury his head in his food again when he stopped and turned left in concern, "Snivy? Snivy are you okay?"

But Snivy wasn't okay. His head was suddenly pounding horribly and he clasped both hands to it in pain. The warm feeling he'd got from eating the Custap berry soup had disappeared and he now felt as though he was going to be violently sick. The throbbing in his head was getting worse and now his vision was blurring before his eyes, he felt dizzy and disorientated. The pain was so intense he barely comprehended the fact he staggered forwards vaguely but his legs wouldn't support him. The whole world was spinning now; everything was swirling around in his vision.

Poison…the soup…there was poison in the…

But everything was going black…he couldn't see anything for the pain…He vaguely realised that he was lying face down on the floor, he was screaming without meaning to do so. Then his energy failed him altogether, the whole world vanished and he succumbed to the pain, slipping into unconsciousness…