Me: A CHAPTER IS COMING! A CHAPTER IS COMING!

ALSO. So, if you guys haven't checked out either of my collabs with The Tiny Foxtail on my shadowninja account, you need to. Not just for shameless self-promoting purposes (although, reviews are my life force, hehe), but also because I listed a long ramble about our vocabulary faceoff in both A/N chapers...and frankly my fingers hurt from typing it over and over again...So please...do me a favor and at least go check out the A/N. Please.


Matt's POV

"There you guys are! Do any of you own a watch?" Cilan nearly shouted, standing up from the sofa abruptly the instant we entered the Pokémon Center room. I stopped and blinked, my hand still on the doorknob, and contemplated leaving and coming back later. He sure was angry.

I felt the people behind me getting anxious with my hesitance and so I stepped to the side, my eyes never leaving Cilan as I allowed the others to pass. Cilan was oddly scary when he was mad. I would've never thought it, but for some reason that expression on his face made me want to head for the hills.

Emerald patted me on the shoulder as she passed, "Not afraid of a little kid, are ya?"

I glared down at her and she chuckled to herself, shaking her head as she entered the room.

"You all better pay up for this! I thought a three bedroom room cost a lot, but oh boy try to get a one with four and you'll really break the bank!" Cilan said, roughly holding out his hand, the scowl still on his face. We all grumbled to ourselves as we dipped into our pockets to reimburse Cilan for the room.

I closed the door, walking over to Cilan and slapping a stack of Pokedollars into his hand. Eva and the other two brothers were next, followed by Roma. Cilan nodded to himself at the stack of money in his hands. My eyes flitted over toward the back of the room where Emerald was slowly inching toward a bedroom door. She never carried money with her, I knew that, and so she was probably trying to save herself the embarrassment of writing the green haired connoisseur an IOU.

As she quickly slipped into the room I sighed, pulling out a little more and handing to Cilan. "There, that's Emerald's share," I mumbled. I had spent more money on that woman than I could count. I could only imagine how much it would be if we actually started dating. I suppressed the awkward sound that threatened to shove its way out of me at that thought and focused back on the door Emerald had slipped through. No doubt she was about to call Ghetsis, and I needed to be there for that.

"Alright, I'll make dinner while you all…" Cilan trailed off, looking back over his shoulder as he turned toward the small kitchen, a pot already in his hands.

Roma shrugged as her Eevees hopped off her shoulder and onto the couch. "We'll figure out something to entertain us," she said, shooting a very devious look my way. If she thought she was going to somehow listen in on our conversation with the Harmonian leader she was sorely mistaken.

"How about we play a game!" Chili called, his face already alight with excitement.

I took that as my cue to leave and stalked back toward the furthest bedroom. I slipped inside, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Jeez, take long enough?" Emerald asked.

I rolled my eyes before turning around. She expected everyone to be as fast-paced as she was. She had plopped down in a chair, and was currently wiring up her X-transceiver to a computer monitor. I took a quick sweep of the room. It was cozy, a small space with a queen sized bed, a few chairs, and a desk. Wait… only one bed? Oh dear Arceus. I shook my head, trying to focus on the task at hand and not the sleeping arrangement for tonight. For all I knew, Emerald would make me sleep on the floor.

"Come on," she growled, patting the chair next to her as she typed in the numbers to dial Ghetsis at our headquarters.

I obliged, shuffling over quickly and sitting down in the small rolling chair. Emerald set down her X-transceiver on the desk once she had dialed, her gaze focused on the computer screen. She scooted a little closer to me and I sighed. Ghetsis had sent me after Emerald to keep her in check, and therefore I would be staying with her and Roma and her traveling group. But Emerald didn't know that; she had just thought I wanted to tag along. Keeping that from her was going to be a little more than challenging.

The screen blurred to life and Ghetsis's ever-angry face popped up on it. "I see you've made it," he said, cutting straight past the introductions as he always did. "How is Roma doing?"

"She's doing fine, sir. We met up with her and her companions in the Desert Resort and escorted them to Nimbasa. They are doing well so far and I intend to keep it that way," Emerald answered, her voice as stern as ever. It was hard to believe she was talking to her father. She had done well concealing any attachment she had to him over the years.

Ghetsis nodded. "Good. Anything change since we last spoke?"

Once again, Emerald beat me to the punch, and I sat back in my seat, crossing my arms. It was obvious I wasn't going to get much of a word in in this conversation. Not that I really cared. I yawned.

"Yes, sir, actually there has been a change in the accompanying party's lineup. The one named Rictor isn't with them anymore," Emerald said, her back as straight as a board. Man, she was good.

Ghetsis cocked an eyebrow and leaned to the side to rest his head on his hand. "Really now. That's a shame; I liked that boy," Ghetsis huffed. "Where did he go?"

Emerald stiffened before slowly looking over her shoulder and raising an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. I had no idea where Rictor had gone. I had honestly barely even noticed he wasn't with them anymore when we arrived, and they hadn't made any conversation about where he might've run off to.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know," Emerald said, her head bowing slightly.

It wasn't hard to notice exactly how much Emerald respected Ghetsis. I wasn't sure if she exactly looked up to him, but she sure did take her job seriously, and something told me it was partially because of him. Maybe she wanted to impress Ghetsis with what a good job she did and what a good worker she was before she dropped the bomb that she was his child. Maybe she wanted him to be proud of her before he ever knew they were related. I really didn't know, but she did her job very well, and it was a thing of pride to her. Even a small amount of detail missing, such as knowing where Rictor went, upset her, and I could tell.

Ghetsis sat back up and sighed. "That's quite all right. Next chance you get, ask Roma and report back."

"Yes, sir," Emerald said, her spirits back up upon the realization Ghetsis wasn't going to be upset about it.

Ghetsis's attention then swiveled to me. "And you, Matt, how is your-"

I knew it was coming: the inevitable question about how Emerald was behaving and how I was doing with subduing her. I had leaned back, quickly dragging my hand across my neck in a symbol to tell him to stop. Emerald would undoubtedly react in the most bellicose* of fashions if she found out the true reason for me tagging along, and I knew I'd be the victim, since Ghetsis was on the other side of a screen, and hundreds of miles away. I was trying to save myself some injury, and a few weeks of Emerald not talking to me.

Ghetsis seemed to catch on before Emerald did and nodded, his one visible eye flicking over to her. "Would you mind letting me speak to Matt in private please, Emerald?"

I almost slapped myself in the face. That wasn't much better. She'd ask me later about what he had wanted to talk about. But I guessed I could spin up some sort of excuse.

Emerald looked back to me with confusion before slowly nodding. "Yes, sir," she said, turning back to Ghetsis and bowing slightly. She shoved out of her chair, stalking back and into the adjoining bathroom. The door shut with a click and I sighed. I was just so damn paranoid around her.

"So, Matt." Ghetsis' harsh voice pulled me back and I nodded, sitting up straight again and scooting forward and on my chair slightly.

"Yeah everything's gone fine with her so far," I answered, my eyes trailing to the left as I contemplated whether or not to report to him about the Colress incident.

"Good. I heard she had a close call with my head scientist, but you were able to distract her, am I correct?" Ghetsis asked, setting his hands down on the desk in front of him.

I nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

Ghetsis' mouth twitched slightly. "Good. I knew you were a good choice," he nodded to himself slowly, his slight smile lingering. "All right then. You two report back tomorrow. Keep up the good work."

The screen clicked blank as Ghetsis reached forward and I sighed, setting my elbows on the desk and putting my head in my hands. Sure, this mission was good in its own respect because of the time I was able to spend with Emerald, but I feared the day that I wasn't going to be able to stop her from one of her more sadistic streaks. One day I wouldn't be there, or I wouldn't be able to calm her down and someone would get hurt. And I dreaded that day with all of my being.

I heard the door behind me open and looked up slightly. I was able to see the reflected silhouette of Emerald in the computer's screen. She had changed back into her more normal clothes, the ones that resembled the Shadow Triad's getup and I was thankful.

"What was all that about?" she asked. Even if I hadn't have been able to see her in the reflection, I could've felt her intense stare on the back of my head. She wanted answers. She wasn't exactly one to let things slide. I groaned and let my head fall to my hands again. C'mon Matt, think of something you can tell her.

"Nothing, Em. He was just asking about my staying on this mission with you." It wasn't a lie. He was asking about it, in a way.

"Oh, yeah, so he's fine with you tagging along?" she asked. I could hear her moving around in the room and closed my eyes. One day, I'd have to tell her I was her babysitter, but it wasn't going to be today.

"Yeah he's fine with it. He's actually all for it. I guess the more people to be with Roma from Team Plasma the better," I sighed.

I assumed she had nodded because she didn't answer me, and her footsteps had stopped.

My mind wandered for a moment, back to our time on the Ferris wheel. She had opened up to me in a way she hadn't ever dared to before. And although I doubted her thoughts were still on it, mine sure were. She had never told me her personal feelings about anything regarding work. Let alone what her nightmares were made up of. I felt closer to her on a very intimate level, and for some reason I almost wanted to thank her. Of course she wouldn't appreciate that. I could tell it made her uncomfortable letting someone that close to her. But still, I felt like I needed to say something.

I sighed, taking my head out of my hands and swiveling around quickly in the chair. "Hey Em, listen-mmph."

When I had swirled around, I had expected Emerald to be on the other side of the room, lounging on the bed, or maybe she had even gone back into the main room, she was insanely stealthy after all; but the one place I hadn't expected her to be was inches from the back of my head, which was my face when I turned around, which had resulted in our mouths somehow making contact with one another.

We both were frozen on the spot, disbelieving of what was happening. What the hell had she been doing that close to me? I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or creeped out, but either one seemed to elude me at that moment, the spotlighted emotion being panic. This could not be happening. It was too much, too fast, and somehow neither of us were moving, our eyes wide and locked on each other's. I for one didn't know what to do, and so I did the only thing my brain could think of at the moment. I bolted.

I detached myself from Emerald's face and fled as fast as I could. I had pictured kissing Emerald for the first time more times than I could count, but none of my scenarios had been anything close to this. It was an accident. A pure accident, and a very embarrassing one at that. She probably hated me now. Great.

I wasn't sure if Emerald had reacted to my quick departure, and at that moment I didn't care. All I knew was I had to get out of there.


Eva's POV

"Alright!" Chili yelled, bursting through the door and slamming it shut behind him with his foot. "All they had was Pokeopoly. Nurse Joy said people keep taking the stuff and never returning it." Chili shrugged. "But this sounds pretty fun."

He tossed the box down onto the coffee table we were all sitting around and Cress groaned. "That game takes forever."

"You better be ready for dinner when I'm done," Cilan added from the kitchen, his back turned to us. He apparently still hadn't gotten over the fact that we all had been late. He was so timely, and so irritable.

"We can always stop in the middle," Roma sighed, sliding off the couch and onto the floor. She opened up the box and we all helped her slowly but surely set up the game. Chili plopped down on the floor next to me and Eve settled down on the couch, looking over Roma's shoulder. It was a comfortable living area; even the floor was soft, as I had found out when I had taken up residence on the soft plush carpet when Chili had left. The small coffee table was just the right size for the game board and each of us sat on one side.

"Alright, who goes first?" Chili asked, rubbing his hands together in excited anticipation.

Just as we were all about to tell him to shut up and go already, a loud, ringing sound broke through the air. Chili groaned in displeasure and boredom as Roma reached into her bag and pulled out her X-transceiver.

"C'mon Roma! It's probably just Ghetsis or something. He's always mad anyway, you could just wait a while and make him a little angrier," Chili whined. I slapped his arm and shot him a glare. He couldn't help but smile back and chuckle under his breath.

Roma let out a small squeak of excitement. "It's Rictor, you guys!"

Cress and I rolled our eyes in tandem. Great, it was the mind reader. Hadn't he gone back to Kanto and Team Rocket where he belonged? I was still very hesitant to mix ourselves in with those criminals. Plus he was just kind of a jerk, even if he had given me Deino. My eyes widened slightly. He couldn't read minds through the phone, could he?

Roma answered it. "Hi Rictor!"

Rictor chuckled, "Hi sweetheart, and before we begin, yes Eva, I can read minds through this thing."

I squeaked out in surprise and slapped my hands over my head again. It was freaky! He was freaky! No one should be able to do that! "Stay out, Rictor!" I warned.

I heard his throaty chuckle again through the speakers. "Fine, but there's no need to call me freaky."

I glared at the device in Roma's hand and contemplated smacking it across the room. She seemed to catch on and held it a little farther away from me before she turned her attention back to Rictor. "So, I'm guessing you're back in Kanto now?"

"Yeah. I just arrived, and I'm already bored," Rictor sighed. I rolled my eyes. He was so dramatic.

"So I take it you don't like it there?" Roma asked, an amused expression on her face.

I glanced over to Cress, who was staring in the opposite of direction of Roma, his arms crossed and a pained look on his face. I felt bad for him, but at least Rictor wasn't actually with us, just talking through a device. I wondered to myself a lot what Cress thought of all this. I was afraid at times he would just throw his arms in the air and say that this was too much trouble. I honestly wouldn't blame him. But that didn't make me want him to be with Roma any less. They were made for each other. Plus, he wasn't some cocky freak who creeped on people's private thoughts.

"Well, let's just say I'd rather be there with you guys," Rictor said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "I was just calling up to see how you were doing, and if anything else excited had happened after I left."

Roma gave the screen a hesitant glance. I couldn't read her expression, and I smiled at the thought of how crazy it must be driving Rictor that he couldn't read her mind to find out.

"Well," Roma started, tilting her head to the side. "We made it to Nimbasa City, Eva got her badge, and we rode the Ferris wheel!" she said, her eyes lighting up at the mention of the last event. "Oh! And Matt and Emerald were sent to look after me."

"Emerald and Matt? Weren't they the two who piloted our helicopters?" Rictor asked. "The ones that kinda had the hots for each other?"

Roma sputtered out a giggle and nodded, "Yep, that's them, though I don't think they realize it."

Rictor laughed, "Well that right there sounds like one heck of a development. It'll be fun to watch those two around each other, eh?"

Roma nodded quickly, "Oh yeah, it'll-"

Her quiet and mischievous comment was cut short as the door to the farthest bedroom bust open, slamming on the wall. We all jumped a mile, Cilan cursing to himself as he spilled some of our dinner on the floor. Matt was standing in the doorway, and quickly stalked across the room and out the door into the Pokémon Center without a word. We all stared at the closed door with shock on our faces. What the hell had that been? What had happened.

I slowly looked back toward the bedroom he had come out of and saw Emerald standing inside, her eyes as wide as saucers and her body completely frozen to the spot she was standing.

Rictor once again burst out in fits of laughter. "Oh yes, it'll definitely be fun to watch those two."


Bellicose (which I misspell every dang time, thanks Poke-lover -_-): adj; demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight.

Me: I'VE READ OVER THIS CHAPTER FOUR TIMES AND EVERY TIME I GET TO THE END I WISH I COULD KEEP SCROLLING DOWN T-T But I can't because that's where the chapter ends...Okay! Review, please!