Whoa. It's been a little while since the last update. I guess the semester ending will do that to ya, but it's the summer now. I don't really have any excuse to get rolling on these updates so hopefully I can get more consistent with them.

Fern's point of view

"I already told you we have our own priorities Jane, I can't afford to use resources to help find your friend."

I frowned "It's not that Zain, we know where he is. I'm here asking for help getting him out."

The Zorua sighed "Out of where?"

"A Galactic facility called the Asylum, we know he's there and I'm asking for help." I answered with hope that Zain would listen to my proposal. We were in the basement headquarters for his organization, in a side room having a serious conversation.

"Jane…"

"It's Fern now."

"Whatever you call yourself now… we have our own problems now and as much as I'd love to get some of us to help it just can't happen." Said the fox sadly.

"Aren't you guys supposed to protect other Pokémon from humans? This is a prime opportunity to do that." I replied trying to convince him.

He sighed "We can't protect other Pokémon if we can't protect ourselves. Team Rocket's been taking stabs at us recently and we've yet to respond in a big way, and now you want us pissing off Galactic now too?"

I bit my lower lip, because he was right. I didn't think about what something like that would entail for the Resistance "I… can I get you to help then."

"Fern I just said-"

"I mean as a personal favor Zain, as a friend."

The fox gave a sad smile "Are you using that word to get what you want, or as an actual statement?"

"Don't be like that Zain… I really need some help with this and I don't have many people to turn to." I pleaded.

"This Umbreon, he means a lot to you?"

I lowered my ears as I answered truthfully "Honestly, not that much. I met him one time before and he seemed like an alright guy."

"So why go through all this trouble to help him then. I'm not saying that to be mean… you're risking a lot for a person you barely know." Questioned Zain.

"He's in this situation because of me, because he was seen with me and because I let him. I knew Galactic was coming for me and I knew about the Asylum. Letting my guard down cost him his freedom and I intend to get it back." I said with confidence.

"You're blaming yourself again…"

"And that's why I need to do something. I don't care what you call it, but I feel responsible and I'm going to at least try and solve this problem. I know now that the Resistance can't spare too much manpower… but can you please help me Zain? I… we all have things that weight on our conscious… I don't want to add someone else to mine."

The fox's blue eyes glared at me intently, studying me for any emotional hiccups. I was telling the truth, I just needed Zain to believe me. He quickly looked around the room before taking a step forward "You said you knew where he was, how?"

My eyes lit up "You'll help?"

"How do you know where he is?" Insisted Zain.

"A close friend of mine."

"You trust this person?"

"With my life…"

Zain paused for a few seconds as his gaze went down to the ground before shooting back up "Where will you be tonight?"

"If you're going to help, wherever you want me to be." I replied with a smile.

"Meet me at the Pokemon Center. I want to have another talk about this with your friend that knows about the Asylum." He said before walking away "Right now I'm busy though, so I'd suggest you leave."

For the third time I asked "So you'll help?"

"Fern…" he said before flashing a rare smile "You said you needed me, I thought you'd know me enough by now that I fight for my friends." He motioned towards the door "Now if you'd excuse me I have a few things to handle."

Steel's point of view

Life is full of conflict, in fact, I'd say it's the defining characteristic. Fighting over what we want and how we want it has been the basis of all life since the beginning. Some like to think peace is realistic, but not when what you want doesn't involve agreeing with others. Some think that their purpose is more important than others and are willing to do whatever is needed to achieve their goal.

I, however, am not one of these people. Compromise was the basis of my life and it was how I made it so far.

"I told you, security measures need to be increased.". I said the human next to me. We were walking through the dark halls of the ex-Rocket facility talking about the recently foiled escape.

"You did, and I'll take the blame for it if you stop bothering me about it." Replied the human as she crossed her arms stressfully.

"Mars this facility can't be run properly if it is too easy for patients to get out." I said with some anger.

"Remember who outranks you here Steel." Replied the red haired human with a bit of anger.

"I do." I said as I looked down the hallway we were walking down "I'm just saying what I know after being here for so long."

"…And I respect your service. Cyrus has nothing but praise for the Warden of the Asylum but in this moment I need support, nor your nagging." Replied Mars before sighing "It doesn't matter anymore anyway, this place is shutting down within the month."

I nodded "We can still make it a better place while we're here though-"

Looking at the human I remembered why I had spent so much time learning how to speak their language. Communication was our best asset and it was a priority of mine to make sure that humans could understand me.

"Maybe…" said Mars with a fading tone "Did anyone in your team get hurt?"

"No." I replied quickly "The outburst was quickly put down, but a Blazikin guard was injured before we got involved. Also two human guards were knocked unconscious and one of our Treeckos had his arm broken.

"They're going to be okay though, right?"

"Of course, they just need some rest."

Mars sighed "Oh good. With everything died down this should give Sapphire the time she needed with that Purrloin… by the way, how did she do?"

"Quite well. She took on the Purrloin, Charmander and Umbreon prisoners by herself and defeated all of them."

The Galactic commander smiled "Really? Good, I was hopping training was helping her and it did. She has great potential and I'm glad she's tapping into it."

"Great potential?" I asked wanting more information.

"More than any Pokémon I've ever seen Steel She snapped her fingers "And before I forget, bring the Umbreon and the Charmander to me for questioning soon, I need to know what they know about the Resistance and that rouge Leafeon."

I nodded "I'll take care of it myself, is there anything else you need?"

The human crossed her arms and shook her head "No… you can go now Steel." She said in a hidden melancholic tone even though she was still smiling. Sometimes, even though she did annoy me, I worried about Commander Mars. She had so much ambition for Team Galactic and would do anything for Cyrus, but I could tell that this station was getting to her. Honestly it was getting to all of us. Some of these Pokémon actually needed mental help, others were just political prisoners that we needed information from. We were told that we were doing a service, when in reality we were just making things worse.

"I'll be on my way then." I said as I dipped my head and started to make my to the holding cells, if we were going to hold the Umbreon and the Charmander for the sake of efficiency we should at least use them.

Crystal's point of view

"Are you sure about this Claire?" I asked with worry.

The Pikachu rolled her and put her hands on her waist "Are you? It's gonna be fine, me and Zain go way back. Even if he thought he could do something to me I have friends that would put him in his place the moment he did." Despite what Zain was asking for Claire appeared confident.

"Then we're all set for this afternoon. Personally I'd suggest that we stay here to make sure we don't miss him…" said Ace before pausing "The thought of him controlling my trainer's life is getting to me though."

"Don't let it." Spoke Claire bluntly "There's nothing you can do about it that you aren't doing right now."

"That's really easy to say and hard to do-"started Ace.

"Yeah, it is, but you need to hear it. I won't have this melancholy attitude around me…" the Pikachu snapped her fingers "Speaking of which-"she tapped her finger just below the start of her ear "Yo, Amethyst you read me?"

'Who is she talking to?' I thought.

"Yeah I know. Listen, I'll be busy for the rest of today and tomorrow I think, can you guys handle the Galactic assault without me?... Well gee thanks…Good that's all I needed to hear. Hope you don't die, have a good day." She lowered her hand "Just needed to check if the rest of my team needed me… turns out they don't."

"So we're really all set then?" I asked with a slight smile on my face at the thought of being able to see Amber again.

"Yep… and look you're even smiling." Responded Claire with a smirk. The Pikachu was starting to grow on me. She came off incredibly sharp and brash, openly insulting you when she deemed it needed. However, there was a heart to her… not to many people would spend this much time just to help the stranded Pokémon of Rocket grunts.

"We just might be alright if this goes the way we want it to." Said Ace before shifting his sight to the alley entrance "What are you doing here?"

I turned my head to see who our guess was and was actually kind of happy to see the Espeon that had helped me the night before. His dull blue eyes looked at the three of us, but stayed mostly on me. "Dexter," I commented "What are you doing here?"

He bowed his head slightly and responded with "I was hoping you'd be in this alley again…" he looked over to Ace "…I'm glad to see you're both alright?"

Claire didn't seem impressed "Who's this guy?"

Before I had the chance to answer Dexter spoke up "I'm Dexter, an Espeon that's been in contact with these two for a day or so… and from the looks of it you must be Claire."

The Pikachu flashed a smile "You know who I am?"

"Of course, anyone who claims to have tertiary information on Team Rocket needs to know about their most successful single operative." Said Dexter with a slight smirk.

"Flattery won't get you everything… but it is appreciated." Replied Claire before looking at me "You know this one?"

"Yeah, he... he probably saved my life the other night. I was being chased and jumped thought the Pokemon center window in a panic. He convinced the person chasing me to give up and got me to a nurse." I said honestly. I'm not one to express much gratitude, but Dexter had done much more than he needed to in that night and I still owed him for it.

Ace looked surprised "He did?" The bird turned to Dexter "Is that true?"

The Espeon nodded "Just about." He looked at both me and Ace "I wasn't aware that you'd be in contact with Claire anytime soon."

"Neither were we, but we've found ourselves in a rough spot and she's gonna help us get out of it." I said looking at the Pikachu with a small smile.

That roused the psychic's interest "Does this have to do with your missing trainers?"

"Look. No offense Dexter but I think we'd like to keep this private. "Spoke Ace in the kindest voice the usually blunt bird could muster.

Dexter nodded "Understood." He looked at me "And you look okay for someone who jumped through a glass window yesterday, so I take it you'll be alright."

I shot the Espeon a sly glare and smirked "Really, you care?"

"I just prefer it when people I know don't die." Replied the psychic with the flick of his ears "Whatever you're planning, I hope it goes well." And with that the Espeon turned around and walked back towards the Pokémon Center.

"There's something about that one…" said Claire with a finger on her chin "Blue eyed Espeon… I think I read that somewhere."

"Really, is our acquaintance someone important?" I asked.

"Can't remember right now… maybe I'll look it up later maybe I won't... I probably won't." She looked up at the sun "Either way Zain should be here soon, make sure you're prepared."

Night's point of view

"Azelf… good, I was starting to think you forgot about me."

The Legendary smirked "You're keeping your mood, that's a positive."

We were back in the white grassy plans of my subconscious and it was actually sort of comfortable. I was safe here with Azelf and I was really starting to get used to the idea of have infrequent conversations with an incredibly powerful being.

"I try to keep a smile on my face." I said brightly as I quickly remembered the actual situation I found myself in "So… any news on a way to get me out?"

Azelf gave a sad smile "We're getting there Night, how're you feeling?"

"Like crap." I replied quickly and honestly "Don't know if you were watching, but we just got our asses handed to us during that escape attempt… also got my mind messed with for the second time this week." I think I was complaining, but it wasn't like I expected Azelf to do anything for me in that moment.

"I know its hard Night, but I know you can last. It won't be much longer, maybe another day or two, and I promise you'll be out of there." Responded the pixie in a hopeful tone.

I forced a laugh "It be easier to do that if I could tell what time it was."

"You'll be okay, you've got it in you." Said Azelf with a reassuring smirk.

"You are a legendary, I guess I have to trust you." I replied in a slightly snarky tone.

Azelf nodded "Just keep yourself from getting too down, I'm here for you and if there's anything I know you can't handle I'll step in. Besides that, you and your friends can handle anything thrown at you. Trust me on that."

"I do." I said with a truthful smile "Thanks."

"Good." spoke the legendary as he folded his arms "When I leave you'll wake up, so I suggest you prepare yourself-"

The brightness of my dreams were quickly extinguished for the darkness of reality. Well, it would have been a darkness if there wasn't a fire going.

"Night, you're awake!" Exclaimed Pyro in the corner of my eye, his tail wagged and moved the only light source in the room around.

I mumbled something I didn't even understand as I got to my feet, but I was glad to see the Charmander regardless "How long have I been out?"

The fire type shrugged "I literally have no idea, I came to in this room when you were still out." He walked over to a black iron door that was barely visible due to that being the main esthetic of the asylum and knocked on it "Tried to melt this bad boy but nothing happened. We're locked in until someone decides we're not."

I coughed and looked around the small room we were in "Where's Dawn?"

"I wish I knew. I'm assuming she's in a cell just like this somewhere else." Replied Pyro as he tightened the cloth wraps around his arms "I'm sure she's fine though."

I sneered at our situation "Well crap then, so we just wait? What about food, what about when nature calls?"

"I'm sure they'll feed us, if they wanted us dead they could've killed us a while ago. As for bathroom stuff... I can burn it if it ever gets to be too much if it makes you feel better?"

Sighing I shook my head "Not really."

Ace's point of view

"She's actually here, I'm honestly surprised." Said the Zorua with a serious face.

Claire smirked "Didn't expect to see me Zain?" The Pikachu seemed more than happy to be faced to face with this Zain person. I had only known her for a day, but she was more excited about seeing him than I had ever been about anything. Granted, that might be more of a statement about me than her.

"No, I didn't…" he glanced at Crystal "You delivered, that's more than most people can say. I'll see to the release of your trainers."

"Excellent... is that all we have to do?" asked Crystal with a slight smile on her face.

"Yes." Replied Zain calmly as he looked at Claire "As long as Claire agrees to take a walk with me."

I stepped in "I don't like how that sounds."

"You don't have to." Spoke Claire as she winked at me "Zain and I are old buddies, we have some business to talk about. If it gets your trainers free, then that's a plus."

This didn't make sense and the more I thought about it the more nervous I became. Why would Claire, one of Team Rocket's most valued assets, be so willing to basically give herself up to the Resistance? Something more was going on and the way to find out was not to ask questions.

Zain motioned away from us with his head "Claire, come with me. You two meet be here tomorrow at the same time to finalize the deal with your trainers. The Resistance may be your enemy, but we keep our promises." He gave both Crystal and I a look in the eye "I'll see you two in 24 hours then." And with a quick wave Claire followed Zain out of the alley and into the streets.

"I don't like how this looks." I said the moment I was sure they wouldn't hear us "This has to be some kind of trap for her."

"Does it? If that Zorua is telling the truth we'll get our trainers back-"started Crystal.

"And if he's lying they could try to kill Claire." I looked up at the sky "I'm going to follow them for a bit, if they pull anything violent I can swoop in and get her out of there."

Crystal didn't seem to agree "Is that really a good idea?"

I nodded "I won't be seen and I won't be aggressive unless they are. I'll be a guardian angel of sorts."

The Glaceon didn't seem to feel strongly for my plan and shrugged "Well, you can do what you feel like you need to."

I nodded before lifting off and zooming towards the nearest rooftop to get my bearings. It was the middle of the day and Cerulean city was as at its most lively moment. This made it slightly harder to get a lock on where Zain and Claire had gone, but not impossible. A bright yellow contrasted by black caught my eye and I noticed Claire slip back into a different alleyway.

Taking off from the rooftop I glided over to them and stayed high in the air, casually looking down to see if anything would happen. My hearing is nowhere as good as my sight, so all I could do was observe.

"What is your plan Zorua?" I asked myself out loud in a worried tone. Honestly I was starting to like Claire. She basically saved my life and was risking hers trying to help us. The very least I could do is make sure she had backup if things went south.

After a few minutes of tailing them they eventually stopped at the same area I had found the Machoke a few nights before. Of course they went in, and I wasn't going to follow them. Landing on a nearby rooftop my choices were to wait for them to come back out, walk in myself, or fly away. Walking in by myself a few days after directly attacking the Resistance would be suicide and running away wasn't and option. I got myself comfortable for a long wait as I perched myself over the small alleyway entrance.

"What are you doing here?" spoke a male voice. I quickly turned around and saw I was in the presence of a Meowth. He looked at me menacingly and sharpened his own claws against themselves as he stared me down.

"Do I know you?" I question him.

"Maybe you were in too much of a hurry the other night, but I know who you are Rocket. You wanna tell me why you're standing watch over our headquarters? Looking for another person to ambush?" asked the Meowth as he took a step towards me.

'Crap.' I thought to myself as my past actions came back to bother me "I'm just here looking after an ally." The moment those words left my mouth I knew he wouldn't believe me.

"I don't care what you're here for, we have some questions to ask you. Surrender now and I promise you won't get hurt."

I frowned "What's stopping me from just flying away?"

With speed I honestly did not see coming the Meowth materialized a coin in his hand and whipped it at one of my wings, hitting it right where it bends. I yelled in pain as he rushed up to me with his claws drawn. In desperation I flapped my wings and a gust attack pushed him back as I gained some height.

"That was dirty." I said with a wince as I lowered back down to the rooftop, my injured wing too weak to support me.

"War usually is." Replied the cat as he charged me again. I ducked under his sloppy scratch at my head and peaked him in the gut as a counter. Backing up he sheathed his claws and punched me right in the beak, dazing me. I caught myself inches from the edge of the roof and was too busy trying to not fall off to see him grab me by my chest feathers and throw me towards the center of the roof.

I scrambled to my feet as I tasted blood in my mouth and felt it in my nose "You're fast…"

Without smiling he cracked his knuckles "Thank you, decide to give up yet?"

"Never." I answered quickly.

He didn't seem bothered by my answer "Suit yourself. Choke?"

Suddenly I felt a presence behind me. I barely had time to turn around before a giant fist crashed into the side of my head. I hit the ground very close to losing consciousness, my head bleeding from the side that hit the roof. My legs were then grabbed and lifted. Despite being upside down and very close to passing out I could tell who my second attacker was.

"Should have taken your one chance to run Pidgeotto." Spoke the Machoke I had attacked previously, the white scars on his torso spoke to that.

"Now you have to answer to Blake."

Dawn's point of view

"How do you…"

Sapphire smiled "You don't even deny it, must be bothering you then." Said the cat as she took a step towards me. In fear I back up as I base reaction "There's no need to be afraid Dawn, I won't hurt you, I'm only here to help bring out what's inside of you."

I tensed my paws as my back hit the cold wall behind me. How did she know about Darkrai and how could she tell he had been talking to me. It didn't make any sense.

"You want to bring out something, what is it?" I asked trying my best to conceal my terror.

"If you want to find out you have to trust me." Replied Sapphire, still smiling as if this whole situation was giving her enjoyment.

Breathing in deeply I tried to calm myself down to get out a logical answer "I'm sorry, but if everything you've done to me and my friends has taught me anything it's that I shouldn't trust you."

"What? Like stopping you from escaping this facility… I can see how that might look." She looked around the plain room we were both in "But what we have to do shouldn't be stopped by some minor disagreements. I've been searching most of my life for someone like you Dawn."

"You mean someone who's talked with a legendary Pokémon?" I asked.

Sapphire laughed a bit "Talked? No… you'd be surprised how many people they talk to. No I mean someone who has part of their legacy within them, someone that they care about." Replied the Delcatty.

I looked at her curiously "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Darkrai's blood is within you Dawn. Either that, or you have some kind of outrageous gift. The Dark resides within you, the true Dark." She said with confidence "You are of Darkrai."

I frowned at the ridiculous notion "Even if that was true, how would you ever know?"

Sapphire gave a large smile "Because Dawn, you aren't the only one the Legendaries are interested in."

My eyes went wide "You've been in contact with them too?"

"Only one, and from who it is I can guess you won't be very pleased." She paused for a second "You know Darkrai's main rival don't you?"

I crossed my arms and frowned "No. Up until last week I didn't have any reason to know about my mythology."

Sapphire kept that smile on her face as she said "You have some of Darkrai in you, I can feel it because I have some of Cresseila in me Dawn."

I looked at her like she was crazy for a moment, what she was saying was outrageous… until I started to think about my situation. By then I was past the point of thinking I was crazy, too many things were happening for me to just be imagining them. Darkrai was talking to me and there was no doubt in my mind about that. I needed to know if Sapphire was telling the truth.

"Can you prove it?" I asked trying not to sound intimidated "Sorry, but that's a pretty strong statement."

"If you let me do what I want to I won't need to prove it." She replied.

"You still haven't told me what you want to do."

Sapphire sighed "I want to go into your mind, look around your subconscious a bit."

I frowned instantly at the thought of that "What? Are you kidding me? I…" I paused before I said something to anger her "Even if you could do that I would never just let you."

The Delcatty shrugged "What? You got something to hide?"

"Yes!" I shouted back "Everyone does!"

She nonchalantly rolled her eyes "Well I didn't know that… maybe because I live my life more open? Don't worry, I'll try my best not to stir up to many memories you've settled upon."

"What do you mean by that?"

She looked at me like I was stupid "Come on. Really? Um… what you did in Pallet Town ring a bell."

I felt a cold sting rush through my body as the words were spoken. I had nearly forgotten that it was Galactic that facilitated that whole ordeal. Anger rose up within me and I instantly started to blame them, then subsided as I came to the understanding that it was my choice that let it all happen.

"I don't blame you. You needed money and we provided a way to get it. Besides I honestly don't care how you rationalized it to make yourself feel good. If you let me do what I'm here to do you'll be on the fast track out of here. Kay?"

"I'm assuming that means I'll be here a lot longer if I don't comply?" I asked.

"If you don't go along… you'll be spending a lot of time with me. If I were you I'd take the deal. Promise I won't mess with your head." She finished that statement with a quick smile.

If that was the case then I really didn't have a realistic choice. Either I let her mind read me, or I get forced into it. My whole life had been out of my own control for as long as I could actively remember, at least if I agreed I could fool myself into thinking I chose my own path.

"Just to warn you, I think I've been in my subconscious before and it isn't pretty." I said as the cat walked up to me and placed a paw on my head.

"Good, because neither is mine."