Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!

A/N: A filler chapter regarding how suspicious Jessica is behaving.

Chapter 38: Jessica

"Hi there, it's nice to meet all of you, my name's Jessica, what are your names?" Jessica said with a sly grin.

"Hi, my name's Kellyn!" I said.

"Hello, my name is Luana, it's nice to meet you as well!" Luana said as Sven and Wendy looked at each other.

"My name is Wendy and this is my partner, Sven!" Wendy said.

"Aw man, come on Wendy, that's my line!" Sven said as we all chuckled.

"Kellyn, Luana, Wendy and Sven, I'll make sure to remember those names. It's nice to finally meet the Top Rangers that I've heard so much about!" Jessica said.

"Good, you've all been acquainted! Kellyn and Luana, can you two please show Jessica around the Ranger Union? I will need all of you to help me out with organizing some paperwork later which will take some time and require you guys to be separated every so often." Chairperson Erma said as the four of us looked at each other.

"We can get to know Jessica later, Sven and I will see how Murph is doing and if he needs us to help out with something. We'll see you guys later!" Wendy said as they went down the escalator.

"We can show Jessica around if that's okay with you, Kellyn! It would be nice to give her a tour, don't you think?" Luana said.

"Good idea, let's go right ahead. Before we go, Chairperson Erma, did Professor Hastings fill you in on his project?" I said as Jessica quickly gave me an intense gaze, which caught me off guard.

"He certainly did, hopefully it's finished soon! Enjoy showing Jessica around!" Chairperson Erma said with a smile.

"We will, thanks Chairperson Erma!" Luana said as we made our way back over to Marcus, Linda and Rhythmi.

"Hello Marcus, Linda and Rhythmi, we weren't able to check up on you earlier and we really apologize about that. We noticed how exhausted you three look, were you three…up all night?" I said worriedly considering how even though Luana and I said hello to everyone and got hugs from them when we woke up, I never got a close look at Marcus and Linda and how tired they were.

"I'm okay, Keith is doing good aside from the fact that he seems rather troubled about something, I'll ask him what's up on my break…actually, I'll ask Chairperson Erma if I can take that break now." Rhythmi said as she slowly walked over to Chairperson Erma, looking as if she was about to collapse as we turned to Marcus.

"Poor Rhythmi…Marcus, I remember how you and Linda entered the room after everyone was waking up. I could tell that you two were here all night given how tired you all look." I said as Marcus nodded.

"Hi Kellyn and Luana, you're correct, Linda and I headed back here after you and Luana fell asleep and were here assisting distraught Rangers and some Mechanics who saw the smoke coming from the Ranger Union as they were in Pueltown celebrating. Of course, as you both can imagine, word quickly spread on the attack on the Ranger Union and Area Rangers as well as Top Mechanics all around Almia and even some in Fiore and Oblivia started to call us since they wanted to make sure their friends and family were okay. Rhythmi came to help us after we got twenty calls or so and she was more than happy to assist us, after that though, we were just getting call after call for hours." Marcus said.

"That's right…it was awful, everyone we spoke with were hysterical about their friends possibly being killed. It makes sense though, the Operator's Room is in a mess as you guys can see, aside from that, the ceiling on the fourth floor is damaged thanks to Team Dim Sun's raid. What matters is that everyone is okay." Linda said as she started to nod off.

"Wow, you three went through a lot in such a short time…looks like Rhythmi is still asking Chairperson Erma about if she can take a break or not, she looks so dazed…poor Rhythmi." Luana said as I saw Rhythmi struggling to stand while Jessica sat in a corner, looking at the destroyed monitors and other equipment.

"Yeah, let's go see if everything's alright with Rhythmi, she looks like she's going to collapse. Also…Luana, Marcus, Linda, does Jessica seem…off to you? It's like…she's pretending to be friendly, that look she gave me earlier was concerning." I said as everyone nodded their heads.

"She does seem a bit…different, maybe she's a bit taken aback by being in the Ranger Union for the first time?" Linda said.

"Could be…come on Marcus and Linda, it's time you two got a break. You're both overworked." I said as I helped Marcus up while Luana helped Linda to her feet.

We carefully helped our friends over to Chairperson Erma and Rhythmi, with one of their arms draped over our shoulder. As we got closer to the two, I could see that Rhythmi was trying her best to form words but wasn't able to do so. Chairperson Erma gave her a sympathetic smile and then hugged her, which seemed to help Rhythmi a bit.

"Chairperson Erma, can Marcus, Linda and Rhythmi please get some time off? I'm sure as you can tell, but they're all exhausted." I said as Jessica looked at me for a few seconds and then continued looking at the damaged equipment.

"Of course they can, they'll have the rest of the day off to make up for the lack of sleep. Linda, Rhythmi and Marcus, go rest now, you've all earned it!" Chairperson Erma said as all three of them gave her a smile.

"Thank you, we'll be going to sleep now." Rhythmi said as she went over to a large table with a few chairs, sitting down in it as she immediately fell asleep.

"Thanks Chairperson Erma, thank you Kellyn and Luana." Marcus said with a smile as he went to one of the chairs and also sat in it, placing his head on the table.

"We'll be here if any of you need anything. I'm exhausted but if you see Murph, tell him I'll be ready for our date tomorrow." Linda said.

"We will, don't you worry!" Luana said with a smile as Linda gave a thumbs up and walked towards the chair, sitting down in it and promptly falling asleep.

"Those three are such great Top Operators, they're really dedicated to their work, just like the four amazing Top Rangers! This place will be built back good as new in no time as well!" Chairperson Erma exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're really awesome at what they do! Hopefully the Operator's room is back to normal soon, we'll be showing Jessica around, bye Chairperson Erma!" Luana said as we went over to Jessica as she happily got up.

"Ready to go? We'll show you how awesome the headquarters are!" I said.

"There's quite a few facilities, but you'll be able to memorize them all in no time!" Luana said as Jessica smiled.

"Awesome, let's get going then!" Jessica said as we made our way to the escalator and headed to the second floor.

"Okay, so the first place is the cafeteria, self-explanatory, it's also open twenty-four hours in case you're ever hungry!" Luana said as Jessica nodded.

"Twenty-four hours a day huh? Sounds good to me!" Jessica said cheerfully.

"It definitely is. By the way Jessica, I'm curious, what sort of enemies did you deal with in Oblivia? We have Team Dim Sun here and Go Rock Squad in Fiore, but what does Oblivia have?" I said as Jessica appeared deep in thought.

"Well, Oblivia didn't have any teams going against the Rangers, just a few people who would be goofing off, but nothing as dangerous as these Team Dim Sun guys. I'm happy I came here to help as best as I could." Jessica said.

"Wow, Oblivia sounds awesome, you make a good point though, we need all the help we can get, it's great to have you with us, Jessica!" Luana said.

"Yeah, especially since Team Dim Sun is getting more and more dangerous. Rangers, people and Pokémon could get killed by their attacks, we have to stop them." I said.

"That's right, Team Dim Sun is a big threat compared to anything I've faced in Oblivia, it's why I was sent here." Jessica said, though I couldn't help but be very suspicious of her, her smiles and overall demeanor seem like a façade.

"That's true, what things did you do in Oblivia as a Ranger? Sounds like a pretty relaxing place to me considering there aren't many threats there!" Luana said as Jessica started to tense up.

"Well…as a Ranger, I did the same thing you guys do. I addressed the needs of the citizens, helped out Pokémon and that's all there is to it. There wasn't anything else to do but I enjoyed helping the people of Oblivia." Jessica said as I watched her facial expressions, noticing how…angry she seemed by the questions we were asking.

"Ah I see, very cool, I can tell you enjoy being a Ranger very much!" Luana said as Jessica smiled.

"I certainly do, is there anywhere else of interest in the Ranger Union?" Jessica asked.

"Hm, aside from the cafeteria and of course, the Operator's room, there isn't anywhere else in particular that you may need to go at the moment. Would you like to walk around Pueltown for a bit and do some patrol?" Luana said.

"Hmm, sure, that'll be fun! I haven't been to Pueltown yet, the Staraptor dropped me off about an hour ago and I wasn't able to really see anything because of the height!" Jessica said, though she seemed rather disinterested.

"Great, you'll enjoy how awesome Pueltown is! Let's go!" I said as we all headed out of the Ranger Union and walked along the Union Road.

'This woman…she's making me feel very uneasy, she might be new to the Ranger Union but…I don't trust her at all, she seems like she's planning something nefarious. The entire time that Luana and I asked some basic questions, Jessica only appeared annoyed. Even now, her demeanor just seems to exude her as being ticked off.' I thought to myself as we entered Pueltown.

"Oh wow, Pueltown is so pretty! There's a lot of people here, is that a marketplace I see?" Jessica said.

"Yes, Pueltown has a few marketplaces set up with some local vendors who sell furniture or food items. The town attracts many people from all over!" Luana said as Jessica smirked.

"Awesome, I'll be exploring here for a while, when I'm done I'll let you guys know!" Jessica said as she ran off, getting lost in the crowd.

"Well…at least we're free of her, I'm sorry Kellyn, but I don't like her, her behavior is very abnormal." Luana said as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"No worries Luana, I feel the same way, she seems like she's been putting on a friendly façade since we first met her. When she smiles, it certainly doesn't seem genuine at all." I said as Luana and I went over to a small bench and set down.

"Yeah, we'll have to keep a close eye on her and also let Wendy and Sven know about her odd behavior so that they're on alert as well. Did you see how annoyed she looked when we were asking her simple questions about her being a Ranger in Oblivia?" Luana asked.

"Oh I remember, she looked so annoyed with us. It's a good thing Chairperson Erma told us her name, otherwise she would have gotten ticked off at us if we asked her." I said as Luana giggled.

"Haha, you're too funny! Was there anywhere you wanted to go see in Pueltown today?" Luana asked as I was deep in thought.

"Hmm, there was this one shop I noticed the last time we went around Pueltown, can we head there?" I said as Luana grinned.

"Of course we can, ready to go when you are!" Luana said as I locked arms with her.

Looking around Pueltown for the small shop was difficult, especially because of how many people were around Pueltown. Thankfully, it wasn't crowded enough to the point where we weren't able to walk at all, it's just that there was such a drastic increase with people enjoying Pueltown, far more than usual. After we walked around for a few more minutes, the shop, which was a small bakery where customers could make their own desserts and then pay at the end, as we headed inside, we were immediately welcomed by the smell of chocolate and berries.

"Welcome to the Chocolate café and bakery! If a wonderful couple such as yourselves are ready to make some lovely desserts, just head on over to that table over there and pick any berries or chocolate that you'd like. My name is Ron and if you two have any questions, just let me know!" Ron said.

"Sounds good Ron, thanks!" I said as we headed over to a nearby table.

"This is a nice little spot, it's a good thing here isn't too crowded! What are you thinking of making?" Luana said.

"Yeah, a bit of peace and quiet is nice, the dessert I'm making is a surprise though!" I said.

"A surprise? Oooh, I like surprises! I'll close my eyes until it's finished, then I'll make my own dessert!" Luana said as she closed her eyes.

"You know, you really are adorable, especially with how your eyes are closed. You're not even covering your eyes with your hands!" I said as Luana giggled.

"Aw, thank you Kellyn, you're just so sweet and handsome! Alright, I'll go ahead and cover my eyes with my hands if you insist!" Luana said as she did so.

Now that Luana had her eyes closed and covered with her hands, it was time to make her dessert. I got a few pieces of milk chocolate along with some cake mix and an Oran berry, which I would put on top of the cake. I went over to Ron with the cake mix since there wasn't an oven anywhere in the store that I could see, as well as the fact that the box was just a simple brown box without any instructions.

"Er, excuse me Ron, I was about to make this cake for my girlfriend and noticed there weren't any instructions on how to make this cake. Usually there would be some basic things like adding Torchic eggs, water, or milk." I said as Ron checked the box and opened it, taking out the cake mix as he inspected it.

"That's a fair point sir, upon close inspection, this cake mix can be made with just a cup of water, it'll make a cake that's about as big as two medium sized cupcakes and doesn't have to be baked. There's a container of filtered water along with some cups that are over there in the corner. We're working on showing the instructions on the box since a few people have already asked about it, sorry about that!" Ron said as I smiled.

"No worries, that's not your fault! Thanks for the help!" I said as I went and got a cup of water.

As I was heading back over to the table, I saw that Luana still had hands covering her eyes, which made me chuckle as I saw how patiently she was waiting. I looked around for anything to prevent the cake from becoming a pancake when the water was added, after looking through some of the small cupboards that were embedded in the table, I found a small heart shaped pan along with a spoon. I quickly added the cake mix and the water and I was about to stir the cake mix until I saw it solidify instantly, after that, I took the spoon to the container and cleaned the spoon just in case the people from last time didn't clean it. After cleaning the spoon, I walked back to the table and I added the Oran berry in the center, along with the chocolate pieces being put around the Oran berry.

'I may not have made this from scratch, but Luana is so wonderful, that she would still appreciate it regardless.' I happily thought to myself.

"Luana, I think that you'll love what I made you, you'll have to keep your eyes closed the whole time, though you can take your hands off from your face if you'd like. I'll feed you the dessert, I hope you like berries with chocolate." I said as I felt my face getting hot.

"I'd love anything made by you, I can't wait to taste this dessert! I hope you'll eat some too, I wouldn't feel good knowing I ate all of it when we could share." Luana said as I slightly moved her hands upwards so I could feed her a piece of the dessert.

I went ahead and gave Luana a small piece and fed her some of it, I couldn't help but grin when I saw her eat some of the dessert and smiled even more when I saw her smile back at me.

"Since you're so happy, I guess that means you like it?" I said as Luana giggled, making my heart race.

"Of course I did, can I open my eyes now? I want to see how handsome you look!" Luana said as I gently moved her hands off of her face completely, which made her open her eyes.

"Let's share this dessert, just like you said, it wouldn't be right if you ate all of it!" I said as I winked at Luana.

"I agree, I think sharing something like this would be really great, besides, look at how adorable it is! Good choice having it shaped like a heart!" Luana said as we finished the dessert and headed to the counter to pay.

"Ah the lovely couple finished the dessert? I hope you two enjoyed it, no need to worry about the utensils and pan, we'll wash them later. The total will be fifteen Pokédollars!" Ron said as I paid and we both left the small bakery.

"That was great, the atmosphere was relaxing and enjoyable, but the best thing about going in the bakery was eating something you made. Next time, I'll make you something!" Luana said as she put her arm around my shoulder.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, knowing you're happy makes me happy. It's good that we're able to relax a little before heading back to the Ranger Union to help out with that paperwork." I said.

"That's a good point, we'll have to be heading out of the room several times as well since it'll be quite a lot of paperwork according to Chairperson Erma." Luana said.

"Oh man…that's right, do you want to head back to the Ranger Union now and see if Chairperson Erma would like us to get a head start on getting them organized?" I said.

"Good idea, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes! Let's go ahead and look for Jessica first, she ran off towards one of the marketplaces, hopefully the crowd dispersed a little." Luana said as we made our way back to the main area of the town.

Luana and I looked around for quite a bit, asking various vendors if they saw a woman with orange hair, none of them saw her, so we continued looking for her until I felt a feeling of dread.

"Luana…something…something's bothering me about Jessica. You know how that imposter Rhythmi mentioned a girl named Jessica? What if this Jessica and that Jessica are one and the same? Is it possible that Jessica is only pretending to be working for the Ranger Union? Do you think that it's possible that impostor Rhythmi had a…spy sent here?" I asked as Luana gently turned my head and looked into my eyes.

I could tell that Luana was thinking the same thing I was as she gently unlocked our arms, such as how odd Jessica has been behaving the entire time.

"Kellyn, everything you said is completely true, I feel exactly the same way about Jessica being a spy. Remember when she ran off to explore the area? She didn't seem thrilled like most people would be and this is her first time in Pueltown, so why would she not enjoy the new sights? I remember how happy you looked when you came here with me!" Luana asked.

"That's right, I couldn't stop grinning as you held my hand, that was awesome! As for Jessica when she first met us, she just seemed as if she wanted to look friendly in front of Chairperson Erma. Let's keep looking for her, when we head back to the Ranger Union, we'll keep a close eye on her and also let everyone else know about her behavior too." I said as Luana smiled and nodded.

We continued searching for Jessica and found her sitting down on a bench, when we approached her, she gave us a small wave.

"Hi Jessica, did you get to see all the stores and vendors around here?" Luana asked.

"I certainly did, none of them had anything I liked though!" Jessica said.

"Sorry to hear that, we're headed back to the Ranger Union so we can help Chairperson Erma get a head start on the paperwork she needs us to do. Are you going to come with us or do you want to head back by yourself?" I said as Jessica appeared to be thinking.

"Sure, let's go ahead and go back to the Union! I enjoyed Pueltown a lot!" Jessica said.

"Great, if we start now then we can introduce you to our other friends later on!" I said as we all walked down Union Road.

After doing some walking, we reached the Ranger Union and headed inside, quickly going upstairs to the third floor so that we can meet Chairperson Erma and help her out as soon as possible. As we made our way inside the Operator's Room, I smiled as I saw how it looked much better compared to earlier, with all of the broken equipment being taken out.

"Hi Chairperson Erma, we came back quickly after Jessica explored Pueltown for a bit. We'd like to get started on organizing the paperwork for you if that's okay." I said as Chairperson Erma turned around and smiled, while Jessica went over and looked at the Operator screens.

"Welcome back dearies, Sven and Wendy are downstairs in their room, I'll go ahead and ask them if they can come up to help." Chairperson Erma said as she went to the phone and made an announcement.

"I can only imagine how most of the Rangers would react to hearing that Sven and Wendy have to file away paperwork." Luana whispered to me as I chuckled.

"Sven and Wendy, please come to the third floor, Kellyn, Luana and Jessica are here to help you with filing paperwork." Chairperson Erma said.

Within a few seconds, we heard Sven and Wendy come up the escalator as they happily waved to us.

"Hi guys, we were just about to head up here and prank…I mean…see how Marcus, Linda and Rhythmi were doing!" Sven said as we all grinned.

"Hah, sure you were! By the way Chairperson Erma, where is all this paperwork that needs to be filed?" I asked.

"The room is going to be located where the Operators sleep, it's going to be the fourth door on the left! Sorry to ask the four of you like this, but I trust you four the most out of all the Rangers. Thank you for the help dearies, you're going to be paid once the four of you are finished. There will be some additional money for the four of you as well for the great work you've all done." Chairperson Erma said.

"Don't worry Chairperson Erma, we don't mind at all! We'll get started right away!" I said as we were about to make our way to the room.

"Wonderful, also, the four of you and Jessica will have Murph assisting you! He's already in the room trying to organize some of them!" Chairperson Erma said.

"Murph is going to help us? The more the merrier!" Wendy said as Jessica made her way back to us.

"Alright, sounds good, we're ready to go!" Luana said as we all headed inside the rather large room where it was terrifyingly cluttered with multiple piles of paper stacked high, nearly to the ceiling. There were a few desks and chairs scattered around, but they were nearly impossible to see when considering how much paper was in the room, there were even quite a few papers on the floor.