So this is the fourth week of quarantine. Yaaaaaaaaaay.

Amy47101 does not own pokémon, only her OCs, Vale, Sara Knight/Agent Blitz, and the Bennet family.

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The Adventure Saga

The Truth Behind Us

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Start Date: June 2nd, X017

Current Date: November 4th, X017

o.0.o.0.o

Black hardly recognized the woman standing before him, but considering only one woman outside of Hilda knew his full codename, he could make a pretty decent guess at who it was.

"Agent Blitz." he addressed her calmly, stepping in front of Hilda. It was kind of jarring, really, seeing Blitz like that. When he first flipped through her file, she had a similar look in her eyes that all the young officers had. Hopeful and ready to change the world for the better.

But now? She looked like a husk of that girl. There were dark circles under her eyes, she looked exhausted and was breathing like she ran a marathon. Her voice had a certain rasp to it that Black recognized, she wasn't having a proper intake of water, she was thirsty. Additionally, her cheeks were a little more sunken… Probably an improper intake of food as well.

But the most jarring change, to him, was her eyes.

Black has looked many hardened criminals in the eyes. He's seen the darkest depravity of men. He's seen the haunted look in agents eyes… Sara wasn't quite at the point of that, but her gaze in her photo was so kind. She was in this to genuinely help people, she wanted to do good for this awful world. But now, those eyes were exhausted, fueled only be rage and, apparently, revenge.

… She shouldn't have that depressed look in her eyes, not so young.

"You…" she bowed her head. "How dare you!"

"Hey, what's going-"

"Hilda, stand back and stay out of this." he ordered, stepping forward and bringing out a pokéball in response to the one that Blitz had grabbed. "Blitz, before you follow through with attacking me, ask yourself if this is what you really want to do. Is this why you became a police officer?"

"Why I became an officer?" Blitz clenched her fists tightly. Snapping her gaze up, she continued. "The reason why I became an officer is dead! She's dead, Pitch! Or at least… I thought she was."

Okay then, wrong thing to say. Black was going to have to tread carefully around this, clearly she was slightly unstable. He glanced at Hilda, who met his gaze and mouthed 'what the fuck?!' to him. Blitz's main source of anger seemed to be towards him, so he didn't think that Hilda was in any immediate danger. To be frank, she didn't even seem to acknowledge Hilda at all, she was focused entirely on him right now.

"Put the pokeball away." Black said simply. "This is a cemetery, Blitz. Let's talk like adults."

"The time for talk has long since passed!" Blitz snapped back. "It passed when you ignored mine and Lookers calls, it passed when you only answered me, just to flirt…!"

She heaved out a breath of air as she began to cry.

"You are supposed to be our captain! You were supposed to guide us on what to do! and you… you were flirting with girls…!"

"I won't deny that."

"You can't!" Blitz seethed. "I heard the recordings! You were so focused on that stupid bet with Hilda and flirting with girls that you didn't even connect the dots that Vale was alive!"

"Wait, what?" Hilda finally spoke up, grabbing Black's elbow. "Hold on. Recordings? Vale? What does she have to do with this?"

"You don't know?" Blitz asked her. "No, of course you wouldn't know."

She thrust an accusing finger at him.

"He's been recording you since the beginning of all this, probably since he met you. He put a recording device in the town maps he gaze you, Cheren, and Bianca."

"What?" Hilda sounded utterly baffled, staring at him. Black kept his expression calm, but internally, he felt himself cringe. He had planted those recordings in the maps way back when, but that was only because he thought it would be quickest way to get concrete, incriminating evidence on Team Plasma attacking civilians.

"He's been so caught up on this stupid bet with you, with flirting with girls and such, that he completely neglected his duty as an officer!" Blitz accused. "He's been so negligent he didn't even know that a missing person whom was presumed dead is actually alive and well! He talked to her and didn't even bother to inform me or Looker of this!"

"Blitz, I had no concrete evidence that they are the same person." Black cut in. "I can't just inform you of things on a maybe"

"I could have identified her! Silver could have too!" Blitz exclaimed. "And I'm not asking you to arrest her! I'm asking you to maybe inform me that my best friend who I thought was dead was alive! I needed that maybe so I had a damned reason to hope!"

"Blitz, your emotions are overshadowing your sense of logic. You are a international police agent, you can't rely on something as flimsy and unreliable as hope." Black tried to talk to her again. "You have to remember-"

"What use is logic?!" Blitz demanded. "Where was your sense of logic during all of this when you were flirting?! Do you think this is all fun and games?! Are you just negligent or do you just not care?!"

Black didn't know how to answer that question. At this point, anything he says would probably upset her even more, so he figured keeping his mouth shut was probably the best option.

"I've been running myself ragged, trying to get ahead of Ghetsis, trying to bring this man to justice for my friend… My friend, my best friend… And all this time she was alive… Don't you have anything to say?! Or are you going to just stare at me with that same look on your face?!" Blitz was openly sobbing now. "Cici was my best friend… She was my sister… And I thought she was dead."

"But she's not." Black said simply.

"I shouldn't have to find that out from a stupid amusement park photo that Silver managed to get on a whim!" Blitz exclaimed. "You should have informed me that you even suspected that she was alive! Me and Looker should have been informed! Random trainers shouldn't be doing a better job than you! You are supposed to be the most superior officer that that force has, and you're wasting your time, wasting the worlds time with goofing off and flirting?!"

Sara continued to scream at him, so much so that her voice cracked halfway through, but she didn't stop.

"Ghetsis is insanely dangerous! He's had others kill people, pokémon… He's kidnapped children, kidnapped the dexholders… He's going to destroy everything if he isn't stopped, and all you have the decency to do is flirt!"

She fixed him with a menacing glare.

"I've had enough talking to you! It's obvious you don't care at all!" Blitz enlarged the pokéball, sending an Escavalier out.

"Blitz, think about this." Black sighed, selecting a pokéball. "Think about why I was in charge, and why you worked under me. Do you really want to follow through with fighting me?"

"You're not my superior." Blitz hissed out. "You're not my mentor, you're nothing to me!"

"Hilda, keep back." Black told her again as she reached for a pokéball on her belt. "This is my fight. Blitz and I are probably going to come to blows, she won't listen to me."

"Black, what's going on?" Hilda looked completely baffled. "… Is there more going on than what you told me in Chargestone Cave?"

"… Yes." Black said simply. "There's a lot I haven't told you yet. A lot of suspicions and possibilities. I'm sure you're confused, it's no big surprise. Blitz and I will explain everything once this is settled."

"… I'm not sure how I feel about all this recording shit, but I'll step back for now."

With that, Hilda took a few steps back, standing closer to the bell. Black turned back to Blitz. The rage still burned bright in her eyes.

"Last chance, Blitz." Black threw the rope out there, hoping she would use it to climb out of this mess rather than hang herself with it. "Are you sure about this?"

"You ran out of chances a long time ago, Agent Pitch Black." Blitz hissed out in response. Her arm slashed through the air as she ordered Escavalier to attack. Black sighed, sending out his first pokémon.

Simisear met Escavalier in the middle of the battlefield, Simisear gripping Escavalier's lance-like arms in a fight of brute strength. Simisear grinned devilishly as Black sighed.

"Simisear, just end it quickly."

With that, Simsear spewed flamed from her mouth, scorching the entire front of Escavalier. Escavalier tactfully retreated with a cry, smoldering from the attack as it fell in front of it's trainer.

"Ransu!" Blitz exclaimed.

"Blitz, I'm going easy on you." Black warned her again. "Pull back now, your pokémon are just going to get hurt senselessly if you continue."

"Shut up!" Blitz snapped at him. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop mocking me!"

"You're not a trainer, Blitz." Black said simply. "You're trained for hand to hand combat and weapon handling. You're an international agent. And even if you were to engage me in hand to hand, you know you'd loose."

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?!" Blitz demanded, sending out another pokémon. Black stared at the Musharna, then sighed. "Yume, Hypnosis!"

"Simisear, Shadow Claw." he ordered simply. While Musharna was preparing the Hypnosis, Simsear darted forward and mercilessly slashed at Musharna with ghostly claws. Blitz ground her teeth together, returning her Musharna. "Blitz, are you even aware that I no longer am employed by the international police? I was fired."

"… So what?" she asked, eyes shrouded in shadow as she stood stock still. "Do you think that changes how I feel at all? You got fired? Good!"

She spat the word at him with such intense venom and disgust that Black actually felt himself flinch. She sent out the rest of her team, clearly fed up with her loosing. A Druddigon, a Braviary, and an Emolga.

"That makes it all the easier. I never wanted to crush a fellow agent, couldn't do it in good conscious." Blitz slowly lifted her gaze, an unsettling smile on her face. "Now there's nothing holding me back!"

As she screamed that final line, her pokémon lunged. Black ground his teeth in annoyance, sending out Archeops and Seismitoad. As their pokémon fought, Blitz suddenly rushed at him.

Her fist hit surprised him, he wasn't expecting such a strong punch from someone who seemed utterly exhausted and deprived of nourishment. Then again, though, emotions can be one hell of a fuel. He stumbled back, wiping away the blood that dribbled from his nose on his sweatshirt sleeve. Blitz came again with her fist raise, and he blocked, holding her fist in his grasp.

"Blitz, I have been incredibly patient," Black spoke calmly as her other fist swung out. He grabbed her wrist to stop her, trying to wrestle her down, but she stood strong as stone, refusing to budge or yield. "I don't want to hurt or restrain you, but I am currently without insurance, and if you broke my nose…"

"Me breaking your nose should be the least of your worries!"

They were stuck in a gridlock, a battle of pure brawn as they struggled back and forth. Suddenly, Blitz shot her arms out as wide as they would go, forcing Black's wrists to go along with it. Then, she rammed her head into his. Black felt the pain echo his skull, and he loosened his grip on her wrists. She broke one free, but before she could punch him, he ducked his head down. He hooked his leg around hers and yanked, taking her to the ground.

She snarled at him as he struggled to pin her. Blitz then unexpectedly elbowed him in the jaw, and when he eased back from the blow, she tucked her legs in and kicked him over her head. He landed on his back, scrambling to his knees. Just as he got on his knees, Blitz was on top of him, taking a running leap to aim a punch to his face. Black ground his teeth as he grabbed her fist and blocked her blow just inched from hitting him in the face again.

Grabbing her wrist with both hands, he tightened his grip and hurled her to the left, out of his range. She slid back on the snow, glaring at him when she came to a stop.

"Ah…" Black spat out the blood in his mouth, having bitten the inside of his cheek from her elbow. He let out a sigh, then stood as tall as he could. "All right, then. Clearly I'll need to take this fight with you seriously."

"You should have taken this seriously from the beginning!" Blitz exclaimed as she ran forward. Black dodged to the left and ducked, trying to take her legs out from under her. She stepped back, out of his reach. "Was this nothing but a game to you?! People's lives are on the line, and you're sitting here playing?!"

"Of course I wasn't playing!" Black exclaimed. Sara charged him, lifting her leg to kick him. He blocked, grabbing her by the leg. Using her lack of balance against her, he lifted her straight off her feet, spun with her ankle still in his grasp, then released. She slid across the snowy stones until she slammed into the barrier wall.

"Don't sit here and tell me," Sara hissed out, coming to her feet. "That you were being serious about this the entire time!"

"I won't claim that I was being one-hundred precent serious all the time either." Black said as he stood straight, meeting her gaze. He fixed her with a grin. "Agent Blitz, you're quite skilled! I knew you were well trained in hand-to-hand combat, the brawn to Looker's brain, so to speak. However, most people can't land a hit on me, even if they are trained. This is impressive! However..."

Black unzipped his jacket and tossed it aside. She tensed, keeping her fists up and preparing for a fight.

"I'm sick of playing."

o.0.o.0.o

Sara could still feel the rage bubbling in her as she stood across from Black. To the side, her pokémon were fighting valiantly, trying to win on her behalf.

In truth, she was surprised she managed to even land a couple of hits on Black to begin with. When she and Looker were assigned to this mission, they were informed their superior was the most elite of the elite in terms of agents. They were informed that he was entirely focused on his mission, personally trained by the head of the international police himself. There was no better. There was the creme of the crop, and then there was better. Agent Pitch Black rose above the creme.

He was esteemed, almost legendary. And like the legendary pokémon that wandered this earth, his accomplishments whispered about. When she was in the officers academy, he was almost revered as a god, this child that was so special and so elite, that he graduated the academy early, that he was already dispatched to missions and was a rounding success, but due to his age, he had to be kept a secret.

Back in the academy days, the students fondly referred to this mystical child as the "Kid Cop", because they didn't have any better name for him.

When she and Looker were dispatched to work under this mysterious agent, she was slightly excited, despite her mental state. They were going to be working for a prodigy. The head of their department even said it himself, this was the legendary agent, the one trained specifically under the head of the international police. She thought that he would be on the case, that there investigations would go seamlessly, that he would have a ton of information that she could work with, that they could move forward with.

But then, to find out he was not only slacking, but not even focusing on the problem at hand? That Vale was alive and interacting with him, and he didn't bother to tell them? That he was openly disrespectful to Looker, the one person who understood her and supported her and vouched for her?

She wouldn't lie, giving Black that bloody nose gave her a twisted sense of satisfaction.

But even still, this wasn't an easy fight at all. Her pokémon were all unconscious, she didn't stand a lick of a chance against him. However, with close combat, she thought she was holding her own pretty well. When she was in the academy, she always had superior physical skills. Not anything crazy, but she always excelled at hand-to-hand combat, both defensive and offensive. Looker always told her it was because her reaction time was top-notch…

Looker…

This brat made fun of Looker. Mocked him and mocked her… But Looker was the only one who was taking this seriously! He was the only one who even seemed to care! And Black was supposed to be their superior? Her superior? Lookers superior?!

He made them look like fools! If this mission failed, then not only did it jeopardize her training, it jeopardized Looker's livelihood! When it came to Ghetsis, it was their lives on the line! Due to his negligence… Due to not taking this seriously…!

"You're done playing?" Sara snarled at him. "Then so am I! Come here, Pitch!"

She took a running start towards him. Just as her fist was about to connect, she hit air. Her eyes widened a fraction, then she felt something hit the middle of her back. The sharp pain shot up and down her spine as she rocketed to the ground. The stinging pain was still there as she turned over, seeing Black lowering his foot. He kicked her…?! When did he even get behind her?!

Black regained his footing, then sprinted towards her, so fast she barely saw it.

"Damn..!" she exclaimed, just as his foot began to fall over her face. Immediately she blocked, using both her arms.

"You can still give up, Blitz." Black said with a hauntingly calm expression on his face as he applied more pressure to her arms, trying to break through.

"Black!"

Hilda's voice echoed over their makeshift fight ring. Sara had honestly forgotten she was there in the midst of this fight. She sounded horrified at the sudden switch in Black… and in truth, Sara was a little bit disturbed as well. Was this the true strength of the "Kid Cop" that was so revered in her academy days?

Sara heard footsteps, and saw Hilda through her arms, gripping Black's arm and trying to get him off of her.

"Black, holy fuck, stop it! Stop! Her pokémon fainted, you won!"

Black's foot slackened a little as he paid attention to Hilda, as if mulling over what she said.

Sara ground her teeth.

"I'm not going to give up! Not like you!" she spat her answer to his previous words. As his foot was about to stomp down, she grabbed his ankle and yanked him off balance. Pulling a similar, if not more poorly executed version, of what he did earlier, Sara twisted around and swung him with her, tossing him to the side. Hilda was screaming for her to stop the entire time.

"Shoot! Ah, Fuck!" Hilda exclaimed as she got plowed into by Black. Sara furrowed her brow. She wasn't trying to hit her… Was she trying to stop Black from flying? "Black!"

They slid off to the side, coming to a stop. Sara clenched her fists tightly. She hadn't intended for Hilda to get caught in this.

"Hilda, get out of here!" Sara demanded. "This is between me and him, if you try to intervene, you're going to get hurt."

Black slowly got off Hilda.

"… Black?"

"… I'm fine." Black said simply. Putting an arm out to keep Hilda back, he stood. "Stay out of this."

With that, he charged. Sara immediately went on the defensive, blocking his punches and dodging his kicks, waiting for an opportune moment to get a decisive strike in.

"You know," Black suddenly spoke between punches. "I would've gone a little easier on you if Hilda didn't get hurt in the process."

"If you didn't try to curb stomp me, then she wouldn't have tried to stop you." Sara hissed back.

"True." Black acknowledged what she said with a nod. "But it was you who hurt her."

"Are you kidding me?!" Sara snapped back. "I don't get innocents involved, not like you! She was trying to catch you!"

She shoved him back and leapt up, kicking him in the chest and sending him back. Once he was down, she ran towards him, but he grabbed her arm before he could make contact. With surprising ease, he completely flipped her over his head, hoping to slam her to the ground. She, however, regained her footing and turned, full on tackling him. Wrapping her arms under his and around his back, she charged with all she was worth. She heard Black grunt, indicating she was actually having an effect on him, but he managed to find traction on the ground. Once he did, he brought up his left leg and kneed her in the stomach, then kicked her back when the shock of the blow caused her slacken her grip.

She slid back, holding a hand on her stomach as she tried to regain her breath, but Black was already charging. Sara dodged to the side, avoiding his tackle. She took a step forward, and began to release a flurry of punches. Not one of them seemed to connect with him, however. He was consistently dodging each punch. Narrowing her gaze, she lashed out with her left hand. Predictably, his head dodged to the right, and in that instance, she lashed out with her other fist and punched him in the cheek. The force of the punch was enough to send him to his rear.

She charged towards him. As she approached, his leg snapped up and hit her in the stomach. As she stumbled back, Black leapt to his feet and roundhouse kicked her in the face.

She actually flew through the air, landing in a heap off to the side. Slowly, she got to her knees, pain wracking through her stomach as she tried to stand. However, as soon as she put pressure on her left leg, pain crackled through her knee. She looked down, horrified. Had she twisted her knee? She glanced up at Black, eyes shaded by the visor of his cap.

Sara thought she knew strength. She thought she understood her way around a fight, but Black was incomprehensibly strong. He was walking towards her as if he wasn't even effected by her attacks. And through all of this, he was so calm. His attacks were terrifyingly precise… And she couldn't fight like she was previously.

Is he even human?

As he took a step forward, she scooted back.

Why do I feel like prey right now…?!

"You know, Agent Blitz," Black said simply. "That was actually entertaining. Normally the fights I get into end so quickly. The fact that you're still conscious makes you truly exceptional."

Black positioned himself to charge, bending at the knees slightly with his fists clenched.

"Black, don't-!"

Hilda's voice rang over the area as Black took off. Sara screwed her eyes shut, lifting her arms to block whatever was coming, waiting for the blow to land.

"ENOUGH!"

The authoritative shout was followed by the howl of a pokémon. Sara felt heat radiating off something, and she opened her eyes. An Arcanine was standing defensively in front of her, glaring at Black. It glanced back at her, right eye marred with three scars from wounds of the past. Sara felt her heart clench. She knew this Arcanine.

Glancing around her, Sara saw that Black was being held back by both Hilda and, surprisingly, Silver. Silver's arms were locked under Black's, whereas Hilda had her hands braced against his chest, physically acting as a barrier between her and him. Sara slowly turned her gaze to the staircase, and saw Lyra standing next to Looker. Her hands were over her mouth as if she was horrified at the fighting, where as Looker was panting, but kept his face straight.

"Looker…" Sara averted her gaze. "Why are you here? How did you catch up to me?"

"Mr. Gray helped us." Lyra offered quietly. "He teleported us to Mistralton, and then we got a lead on where you were, so we followed you here."

Looker, keeping his cool and calm expression through the situation. He walked past his Arcanine, placing his hand against the loyal fire type, easing her from snarling to standing formant.

"Pitch, Blitz, that's enough. Clearly we all have some explaining to do here."

o.0.o.0.o

There was a tenseness in the air as Hilda sat at what she presumed was a conference room in the Mistralton hospital. Around this table, alongside her, was Looker, Blitz, Lyra, Silver, and Black.

As it turns out, two specialized secret agents getting into a fistfight wasn't something that they could exactly walk away from, according to Looker. Blitz twisted her knee, and Black's nose was broken. Both were sporting some nasty bruises, but were otherwise fine. Black got his nose set and an icepack, Blitz got her knee wrapped with instructions to not put to much weight on it.

After Blitz and Black got basic checkups for their injuries and got fixed up, alongside their pokémon placed in the care of the nurses at the pokémon center, they were all gathered into this room. Apparently, Looker was going to put everything on the table, and force everyone else to do it too.

"Um, should I really be here?" Hilda was the first to break the tense silence. "Like, you're cops… and you two are dexholders… I dunno, seems like a bad place for a random trainer to be."

"No, you have a right to be here." Black responded. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "We're probably going to talk about Team Plasma, and I know there's some things I still need to tell you."

"Now that we are all reasonably calm," Looker adjusted his tie slightly, then turned to Blitz. "Sara Knight! Do you have any idea how irresponsible your actions were?"

Hilda blinked as Blitz shrunk into her seat. From how much she knew about Looker, it seemed really out of line for him to be using full names… If she were to presume that Blitz's true name was 'Sara Knight'.

"You're currently dehydrated, you lost almost thirty pounds since your last physical, which might I remind you, was only seven months ago, and the doctors are worried about your lungs." Looker said simply, slamming down pieces of paper in front of her. "They are expressing that your lungs are functioning at a below-average level for a nineteen year old girl, that you are malnourished, and if you keep going like this, it's going to lead to irreversible health complications. We can discuss your diet later, but for now,"

He held out his hand.

"Cigarettes and lighter, now."

Sara quietly reached into her pockets, pulling out two packs of cigarettes, and placed them in Lookers hand. She hesitated on the lighter, holding it in her hand, then reluctantly placed it on top the cigarettes. Hilda noticed that it wasn't just some random, cheap lighter that was in every corner store by the cash register. Instead, it was an old zippo lighter, emblazoned proudly with the international police logo with three initials on the lid.

"This is done, Sara." Looker said sternly, tucking the lighter into his pocket, and crushing the two boxes of cigarettes in his palm. Calmly, he threw the remains into the trash. "You and I will discuss your current health later. As of now, we are going to be moving on to more important matters."

He turned to the rest of the table.

"For those of you who are unaware, my codename is Looker, and I am an international police agent in charge of investigating villianous gangs and their actions." he pointed at Blitz. "This is my apprentice, Blitz. Most of you know her as Sara, however, because she didn't start taking the codenames seriously until we got to Unova. Please refer to her as Blitz outside of this room."

Then, he pointed to Black.

"You, I'm assuming, are Agent Pitch Black, our so-called boss. Silver and Lyra are two of the secondary dexholders whom are heavily involved in the happenings of Team Plasma due to what happened in Johto, and Hilda is currently a target of Team Plasma. Team Plasma previously was led completely by Ghetsis under the name "Masked Rockets", and Ghetsis adopted the psy" once he got through everyone, he moved back to his chair, bracing his hands against the table as he spoke. "We are going to go one at a time, share what information we have, and move on. Understood?"

A chorus of agreement echoed from around the table. Looker nodded, then finally sat down.

"Good. Now, who shall begin?"

Hilda felt like she was suddenly plunged into an AA meeting… or maybe a Team Plasma support group? She wasn't sure, but everyone went around the table and spoke. Sara and Looker were international agents investigating, originally, Team Rocket. This evolved into them investigating the Masked Rockets. Silver was a victim of the child kidnappings, executed by Ghetsis himself. He and Vale "grew up" together under Ghetsis's teachings.

Vale… is, well, Black's rival. Or his inspiration. She was that destructive toddler that Black had spoken to her about, the one who wouldn't be stopped unless she was killed. Hilda tried to imagine it, but all she could see was Vale with Jolt nestled against her neck, affectionately calling her by the nickname she had somehow adopted. She was struggling to see it, but even still… parts of it did poke through here and there…

When it came to Black, he told his story with an air of indifference. Said he was taken by his father to rival Vale and that he was fired. Hilda could tell he was trying to distance himself as much as possible from the conversation. He was so uncomfortable with it. Sara and Looker seemed horrified by his story, that the head of the international police basically committed the same crimes as Ghetsis, just… through "somewhat legal means", as Black put it.

Looker connected the dots pretty quickly. When he asked if the budget cuts and project cancellations were the result of "Agent Pitch Black" being created, and Black confirmed it, he went a little pale, and sat back. Hilda felt bad for him. Dude seemed like the type of guy who was extremely justice orientated. He lived for the civil duty of fighting crime, but his big boss was an abusive son of a bitch that tossed his perfectly trained son aside when he didn't turn out as perfectly as he expected.

They talked about Black compromising the talked about why he was terminated. Sara almost seemed sympathetic for him, considering she apparently used her real name all the time. Hilda didn't have much to contribute to the conversation, but eventually she knew it was going to be her turn to say her piece.

Silence settled over the room. Hilda broke that silence.

"I have questions!" she spoke sharply. "First things first, Black, what the hell did Sara mean by 'recordings'?"

"Starting off on a hard one." Black muttered with a humored smile. "Yes, Hilda, I've been recording you. Is it creepy in hindsight? Yeah. I won't deny the creep factor of it all."

"Yeah, 'cause I'd give you a black eye to match your broken nose." Hilda snapped back. "How and why?"

"The town maps were planted with recorders." Black said simply. "Obviously, my dad working for a 'innovative company' was a lie, my Dad had those made specifically for my mission. The reason why was because we already connected the dots that the dexholders are of extreme interest to Ghetsis. So I proposed the idea that I try to get a pokédex and find a way to keep a close eye on the other dexholders, not just to gather information on their interactions with Team Plasma, but also to have someone specifically trained be a target, rather than some innocent, random trainer."

"But that didn't work out." Lyra murmured. "Because if I remember, Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca were the trainers given pokédex's."

"Yeah. I tried to convince Professor Juniper otherwise, but it didn't work." Black blinked, as if he thought of something. "Since we're clearing the air, Hilda, Professor Juniper isn't really my aunt. It was a lie, a cover up. It's just something we were saying because she was helping to back my investigation… And also so you three would trust me a little more. You know, which is more trustworthy? Random trainer giving you town maps, or the nephew of a neighbor giving you town maps?"

"So what happened to the recordings?"

"Blitz and I were given orders to gather them." Looker said simply. "So we need to get into contact with Cheren. I ran into Bianca on the way here, in Chargestone Cave, and explained I had to confiscate the map because it was government property. She gave it up pretty quickly."

"If it's any consolation, those recordings gave us plenty of evidence to convict Team Plasma of being terroristic." Black said simply. "Kidnapping, extortion, assault… just a couple crimes we have happening, on tape."

"… Doesn't lower the creep factor at all." Hilda said simply. "I understand why you did it, but it does not make it any less weird."

"I'm painfully aware." Black said, waving his ice pack for his nose around for reference. "And I apologize for that. As for the flirting, Blitz, I have a reason for that."

Black moved on, meeting Sara's gaze. Her face screwed into a scowl, but she didn't say anything, simply listened.

"As you well know, the international police is a widespread agency with plenty of newbie recruits. Of course, there's something of a rookie 'right-of-passage'. When I first started interacting with other agents, the passage was for older officers to fool the newbies into thinking another officer has a thing for the rookie. They got a kick out of watching the rookie's squirm."

Looker crossed his arms, a look of discomfort on his face. Black picked up on that with a grin.

"Something tells me you were a victim of it?"

"I was young, but yes, it is something of a tradition."

"Looker fell for it?" Sara mused, a smile tugging at her lips.

"You know, Sara, I bet watching him squirm was funny." Hilda offered up with a grin. "Considering the stick so far up his rear punctured his fun gland…"

Sara covered her mouth to keep from laughing, Lyra snorted through her nose, and even Silver had a humored smile that he tried desperately to hide. Looker adjusted his tie, then spoke up.

"What does any of this have to do with you and the flirting, Black?"

"Well, the old coots met their match in me. Instead of fumbling like a moron, I managed to flirt my way into getting the officer in question to confess to me. Eventually, the right of passage evolved, and the female officers had to not admit their undying love for me in less than three hundred days. This, of course, started with people placing bets and it got wildly out of hand. And so, the bet with Hilda."

He met her gaze.

"I did not lie about the bounty that you would have gotten, if, you know, I was still employed and you won. But I started the bet with you specifically because I needed to keep an eye on the Unova dexholders. I knew that Ghetsis would target you, and I figured that, since you, Cheren, and Bianca seemed close, if I thought of a way to stick

close to one, I'd be able to keep an eye on all three of you."

"Okay, so why me?" Hilda crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. "I think Bianca could've used more protection than me."

"Because you're you." Black shrugged. "I had a feeling you'd be more stubborn than her. Additionally, I had no clue how long the Team Plasma investigation would take. So that's why I tacked on the whole 'you're stuck with me for another year if you loose' thing."

"So was it all a front?" Sara demanded. "You just did it for your job?"

"At some points yes."

"What about the other girls you were flirting with?"

"An easy means to get what I want." Black answered, not even phased by the obvious irritation in Sara's voice. "If I needed information, I flirted it out of people. I mean, it amused me to an extent, but the amusement is gone."

He paused for a moment, taking his chin in his hand, contemplating.

"Though I'm not sure when I stopped taking any sort of joy from it." he sighed. "I can understand why you were upset, Blitz. My methods aren't exactly orthodox, and I know I didn't put communication with you or Looker as my top priority."

"Even if your reasoning is decent, it doesn't change that we're grievously behind." Sara crossed her arms, glaring at him. "It feels like you prioritized Hilda's safety over actually investigating Team Plasma. While I won't criticize you for wanting to keep her safe, the fact that you are withholding information from us for no apparent reason outside of not wanting to talk to us is frustrating."

She stood, slamming her hands into the table.

"Vale was alive this whole time! I'm aware her appearance and name isn't exactly normal. Near six-foot girls with half their face covered aren't something that comes a dime a dozen. You had your suspicions, but you didn't think that this information was important for us to know? Why wouldn't you tell us this?! Why wouldn't you give us instruction, meet with us, talk to us, something, anything that would've kept us from floundering around desperately trying to get leads?!"

"I was already investigating Team Plasma far before you two came into the picture." Black said. Hilda could tell from his tone that he was beginning to detach himself from the situation as a whole. "I just sort of forgot you two were around."

"You-!" Sara's nostrils flared at Black's candid response. "Do you not understand that we're talking about international terrorists?!"

"Of course I understand that!" Black snapped back, glaring at her. "I've been working here alone for almost a year and a half before you and Looker pranced onto the scene! Where do you think your current information came from? The Seven Sages, the existence of the Shadow Triad, the fact that Team Plasma is practically split into two factions… What did you contribute to this?! Have you gotten any leads, have you even focused on your goal here?! You, Blitz, didn't even know I was fired, yet you hunted me down to punch me in the face!"

With each sentence, Black rose from his seat, glaring at Sara. The fact that Black raised his voice genuinely surprised Hilda. He usually kept a lid on his emotions, the fact that he was yelling at Sara was just… weird. She was pretty sure she never heard his voice rise above a calm, even tone.

"I've made my mistakes!" he continued, pointing at Sara. "I paid for them too! I don't need a lecture from a trainee!"

With that, he fell back in his seat, clearly still simmering and avoiding eye contact. Hilda lowered her gaze, then sighed.

"… I won't excuse Black's lack of communication or whatever act he decided to put on. And I get that you're pissed, Sara. Trust me, I would be too. There is nothing more infuriating than poor management, and I'm only speaking from school cafeteria experience. I don't even want to try to put it in the context of being a police agent, it's gotta be fucking nuts. And Black, I'm not sorry to point this out." Hilda turned to Black. "You poorly managed two capable agents. Clearly they're intelligent enough to connect the dots… They would've have been dispatched here if they weren't capable. Like Sara said, international terrorists here. They needed you to guide them, and you didn't."

Black was quiet. Hilda wasn't sure if he was ignoring her or just silently stewing.

"… Black." Looker suddenly spoke. "Your fathers secretary, Alice, informed me of your termination. When speaking of your position, it seems as if Mr. Burns was your boss, but typically, Alice seems to do all communication for him. How did it feel, to you, to have been fired by proxy rather than hearing the news from your father?"

Hilda whipped in Black's direction. His eyes were wide as saucers, and in his lap, his hands were trembling like mad. Then, he stood so abruptly the chair fell over, and ran out of the room.

The slam of the door caused some of them to flinch. Hilda clenched her fists tightly, shooting a scathing glare at Looker.

"What the fuck, man?!" she turned to go after him, but Lyra stood as well.

"Hold on, Hilda." Lyra grabbed her shoulder as she reached the door. She smiled a small smile that… made Hilda wonder. It was a smile that Hilda saw before, a smile that didn't quite reach the eyes… just… pitiful. "I'll go after him. Black mentioned that you might have some information that could be useful to Sara and Looker… So you should stay and fill them in."

"Are you sure, Lyra?" Silver asked from across the room. "… I'm not really fond of this guy…"

"It's fine." Lyra smiled at him cheerfully. "He just needs someone that understands, and besides, I'm not contributing much to the conversation. I'll bring him back, and if something goes wrong, well… I've got my pokémon, so no worries!"

With that, she turned and opened the door, leaving the room. Silver was quiet for a moment, then pulled out a pokéball.

"I don't trust the guy and Lyra's heart is to trusting." Silver said simply as he tossed it in the air. Hilda faintly recognized the ghost type, Gengar. "Gengar, follow after Lyra and make sure Black doesn't try anything."

Gengar let out an unsettling chuckle, then faded away to the shadows. Once it was gone, Hilda felt three pairs of eyes on her. She glanced up at them, then sighed.

"All right, fine. So there's a crusty old legend in Unova that the descendets of the original kings are going to pick up the fight they left off. A war of truth and ideals. According to my Dad and to N, N is the Hero of Ideals, and I'm…" she paused for a moment. She didn't want to say it because if she said it that made it more real. Scowling, she finished her sentence. "… I'm the Hero of Truth."

o.0.o.0.o

Done. Mistralton is turning out a bit longer than I planned, but oh well. All for the sake of getting everyone on the same damned page, lol

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^