"Ma'am. The captive has escaped."

Olive narrowed her eyes. This could be trouble. We need that captive for the negotiations.

How did she escape? Our sources told us she is relatively hopeless. She has a single un-evolved pokemon!"

The grunt, now slightly nervous, took a step back. "It was an outside job. Cameras were disabled remotely, and we only got a single shot. It appears to be a lucario leading the prisoner away. All guards were knocked out with no memory of what happened."

Olive nodded. A lucario…

She looked back at the grunt. "Find the captive and bring her back. Alive. If you find her rescuer, capture them if possible, but if it proves to be too difficult, you may use lethal force. Go now."

The grunt nodded, and left.

"Now, to do some research…" she muttered, turning to the display in front of her.

Lillie followed the lucario through the snowy forest, unsure of what to do. She had been attacked by thugs on her way to Snowpoint City, near Lake Acuity. She had then blacked out. When she woke up, she was in a small cell with no way to tell time. After a while, a woman had entered her cell, introducing herself as 'Agent Olive'. Her captor had only briefly spoken, stating that she was under the authority of 'The Neo-Crusaders of Valor'. She was then left alone in her cell, being left utterly confused.

Lillie awoke suddenly as her cell door opened. She expected Agent Olive and her espeon to walk in again. However, she was taken by surprise when a lucario walked in and offered her its paw. Confused, she took it, and was quickly led out of her cell and past several unconscious guards. They were joined by an absol and umbreon with blue rings outside her cell, as well as a pokemon which Lillie didn't recognize, but seemed to have similar spots to a ledyba's shell on its head. From there, she was quickly led through several halls and past several more unconscious guards. Soon, they reached a door, and the small group snuck into a snowy forest, away from her captors.

After they entered the forest, the small group was joined by a glaceon, silver kantonian ninetails, and alolan ninetails, who were being followed by a familiar alolan vulpix who squeaked in excitement when she saw her trainer.

"Snowy!" Lillie cried happily, glad to be reunited with her pokemon.

The group continued through the forest once more. After a half hour walk, they reached a small clearing, in which several pokemon were either resting, eating, or guarding the small camp. The lucario led her to a small campfire in the middle of the camp, and she gratefully followed, being cold and tired from her time in captivity and their walk through the cold forest, which she was not used to, as she was from the usually warm Alola.

After she had settled down, Lillie took a look at her surroundings. The lucario who had seemed to lead her rescue was nearby, speaking to a bipedal fox, which she recognized as a braixen from the pictures Ash had shown the class of his travels through Kalos. The two ninetails who Snowy had been with were resting nearby along with a small kantonian vulpix who seemed to have a single silver tail and ear, while Snowy observed them from Lillie's lap. The blue-ringed umbreon that had helped free her had taken a spot at the edge of the camp, seemingly guarding, and the absol was nearby as well.

She noticed a small group entering the camp, and was surprised to see a black cloaked person walk in, followed by several pokemon, including a decidueye, espeon, and a red and black fox she didn't recognize. "They haven't followed us. Auramask, Flamebranch, I would like to speak to you for a second!" The cloaked person announced, beckoning to the braixen and lucario, who had halted their conversation when the group entered the camp, nodded, and made their way over to the newcomer.

They began to whisper to each other, occasionally glancing at Lillie, who was watching them curiously. She had a gut feeling that she could trust this group, and was not worried. Soon, they finished their conversation, and the three parted, the lucario and braixen walking over to a small group of birds who were roosting in trees on one side of the camp, while the cloaked person made his way to Lillie. When he reached her, he sat down and pulled off his hood, revealing his face.

Lillie had imagined that the cloaked person would be a middle aged man, but was taken by surprise when it was revealed that he was young, about her age, with kind eyes.

"Greetings. My name is Graeme, but most call me A. Are you feeling alright?" Lillie nodded, stroking Snowy. "I'm fine. Thank you."

Graeme nodded at this, and then continued. "Can you tell me anything about the group that you were abducted by?" Lillie hesitated, then responded.

"The lady called them 'the Neo-Crusaders of Valor'." She hesitated. "I think the lady called herself Agent Olive." This got the attention of nearly everyone in camp. Several growls could be heard. Lillie saw Graeme's eyes darken, and he nodded.

"Of course she's involved" he muttered to himself. He looked back at her. "Thank you. Go ahead and grab yourself and your pokemon some food. When you finish, ask Flamebranch" he motioned towards the braixen Lillie had observed earlier "and she will show you where you can sleep. Tomorrow, I will accompany you to ensure that you stay safe." He then got up and walked over to a small group of eeveelutions, and briefly spoke to the glaceon that had accompanied the two ninetails and Snowy during the rescue. The glaceon nodded, and the two walked into the forest. Lillie got up and made her way to a pile of berries near the middle of the camp, and picked out a few for her and Snowy to eat.

After finishing their food, Lillie made her way over to Flamebranch. The braixen smiled kindly when she saw Lillie, and led her to a small tent, which contained a sleeping bag. Lillie thanked the braixen and slipped into the sleeping bag, auickly falling asleep.

"What do you think about the girl?"

The alolan ninetails chuckled, and turned to face her mate, who had asked the question.

"What do you mean, Silverflame?"

The shiny kantonian ninetails shrugged in response. "I mean what do you think is going on? Why was she abducted by Neo? We all know what Olive is capable of, she's not a fool. This abduction happened for a reason."

The snow fox nodded in understanding. "I don't know. I remember during Auramask's briefing he mentioned that she is part of a powerful family, but that's not a reason for Neo to capture her. There's something bigger going on, I just don't know what yet."

A small voice broke out between them, interrupting their discussion. "What are you talking about?"

Silverflame smiled down at his son, who had woken from his nap and was now looking at his parents curiously.

"Nothing, sweety. Now, let's get you to your nest. We have a big day tomorrow."

The three foxes got up, but before they reached their nests, a voice called out to them. "Hey, Whitetails, can you fill in for Snowstorm on Goldeye's patrol? Graeme had to take her and Greenleaf to check something out."

Whitetails nodded, and turned to her mate. He chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'll put Redtails to sleep. You go." She nodded, and ran over to the forming patrol at the edge of the camp. The patrol leader, a large male luxray, nodded in satisfaction as the last member of his patrol arrived, and led the patrol into the forest.