Afternoon was a slow, and fast time for restaurants. It was always random which one it was, it felt like.

Today, the wooden floorboards didn't have much in the way of people standing on them. Combined with the pale white walls and lack of color, the place seemed as dry as the sandwiches they made.

Still, Furret Abigail heard it was the usual place for coffee. Since she lost that bet with Aaron on who could eat a bite of bell pepper without drinking water the longest, she had to try it.

That was enough for her to push through the glass doors. A bell at the top of the door rang as she entered. The only other customer was a Pancham sitting at a short table. She leaned on her elbow and stared at her tiny phone screen. At the front counter, a lone Gliscor struck the same pose next to a register as Abigail approached.

"Welcome to- fuck!" Gliscor blinked once, but didn't skip a beat. "Welcome to Sawsbucks! How may I help you? Holy shit. Today's special is… ah, it's… shit."

"Hi," Abigail said, smiling. "I'll take one small cup of coffee. A latte with cream and sugar."

"Yes."

Abigail had never seen someone so stiff before. Gliscor's arms trembled as she knocked over cups in her pointless rush.

In the meantime, she reached from her hoodie and checked her phone. She always checked for texts from Aaron first out of habit. She'd been out for a walk for an hour, now, but he hadn't texted her anything. When she left, he was playing some kind of video game for a while, and she learned a lot.

She wanted to give it a try, but the controller was a little too small for her. Just like with clothes and phones, they had differently sized controllers for different species. She needed to figure out where to buy one for herself.

But now that Aaron wasn't texting her, she felt antsy. His confidence was infectious. Still, she'd seen him right after she got the coffee. He wanted to watch her try it.

"Here's your dr—eik!"

Abigail caught a flight, sealed cup paper cup. She only realized it was accidental when she saw the Gliscor's claws in front of her mouth with wide eyes.

"U-uh, that'll be three fifty," she mumbled.

"Yup," Abigail said. "Thanks."

Abigail could only imagine the kind of sight she was. She was on the sides of the street with an invisible bubble around her to protect from huge crowds. Everyone that noticed her gave a wide birth, so she was almost walking on the street alone. She learned not to flinch from camera flashes, but looking up from her cup of coffee felt oppressive.

With how everything was lately, she didn't stray too far from the black Nightlight tower. It always stuck out from the other bland, metallic skyscrapers.

The space at the foot of the building was filled up with carriages and bustling pokemon around all four sides. Four or five of the carriages were lined up in a row she had to walk around. On the side of one of them, she noticed a school logo with some strange, long, unpronounceable name.

Behind the sliding glass doors, the lobby was filled to bursting. There was a pokemon behind every desk, working on the surface of the tables that doubled as screens. Around the two at the front, swarms of teenagers encircled every inch. It must've been some sort of field trip.

Abigail needed to learn about the tables herself. If she stood in the back, she had a chance at blending in with her voice alone. It could probably work just long enough for her to listen in. She walked forward wit her plan in mind.

A Ducklett stood on top of the edge of the table. Abigail took cover from his eyes behind a Herdier and Pignite.

"Is everything gathered around, as close as you can?" Ducklet asked, looking around. "Can everyone see? Alright."

Ducklett pushed in a button on the table with his foot. The screen lit up.

"The primary function of these tables is informational sharing. If you were to, say, choose a job down here, your job would be to extract the important information that civilians give you and enter into the database. So, as you can see here, there are different menus for criminal activity, missing persons, and mental health, and a few more less threatening ones.

"We send the Nightlight Agents out on missions based on the level of priority. The people upstairs read through the reports and assign missions to teams, directly to their phones. Dealing with people under stress all day is very stressful itself, so it's important that you feel out whether or not you're a good match."

"Are we able to go to the second floor?" a Croagunk asked.

"I'm afraid not," Ducklett answered. "There've been recent security changes, and no civilians are allowed to use the elevator for right now. That's why we'll be visiting a Nightlight Dome after this, which will allow us to see some of the more centralized action that happens around the city."

"What's the main focus of these Nightlight domes?" Abigail asked.

"Who was that?" Ducklett asked. "Could you show…"

The Herdier and Pignite next to her almost fell over. Ducklett squawked in a shrill voice.

"Holy fu… Fudge!" Ducklett yelled. "I mean, yes!"

"What's the main focus of these Nightlight domes?" Abigail asked. "What's in them?"

"What's in them?" he repeated. "Oh, well… They're, ah hah, purpose, is to, uhm… Spread out… Okay." He took a deep breath. "Their purpose is to provide services to be available in different parts of the city. The Nightlight tower always deals with the mission priorities, but Nightlight domes offer health and wellness services along with security in different areas, spreading out the range of the N.A. to all of Valor."

"So in other words, more of the same?"

"Yes, that's about right. Some do have specialties you might not even find in the tower, though. Like areas of research."

"Oh, thanks."

For some reason, the staring began to sting on her fur. Her confidence battery she borrowed from Aaron challenging a random stranger to a card game called Uno grew weaker by the second. She felt unwelcome.

"Have fun…" she mumbled, turning away.

Abigail hurried over to the elevator and jabbed the button a few times. The chorus of heavy breaths and whispers behind her pushed her against the doors until they opened.

Somehow, the elevator wasn't as busy. The Hippopotas and Morpeko inside talked to each other in the corner. They continued seemingly unbothered by her coming in, but she still stayed right at the side of the door. The pair walked past her a few floors higher, then Abigail continued to ride further up.

On her way up, Abigail considered the Nightlight Domes a little more. They each had these kind of small "Overlords" of their own, if she remembered correctly. Based on what the Ducklett said, they didn't seem to have changed much, if at all, from the last time she learned about them. She should probably visit one to see for herself soon.

The doors opened to her floor, and Abigail walked through the metallic hallways back to her room.

She expected shiny Zorua Aaron to still be inside, but she didn't expect Quilava Gawain or his grandfather, Umbreon Amadeus. They were all gathered in a semi-circle around a phone screen Gawain was holding as he sat next to Aaron on a cushion in front of the muted television. They only glanced up when she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, Abigail," Aaron said. "Come in. We were just talking to our friend here."

"Oh?" she asked. "Who?"

Abigail walked towards the cushion. She circled around to the back of the cushion in order to see.

"Oh, hey!"

A Sky Forme Shaymin's face was on the other side of the phone screen. A long bruise went down the side of her face.

"Uh, Ariel?" Abigail recalled. "What happened!?"

"Well, I was just telling these two about how we were attacked by a Sylveon with the Acuitan blessing. And she fights like an absolute beast."

"Did she resemble Angelo? Gawain?" Amadeus demanded.

"Definitely Light," Ariel said. "Or, er… 'Angelo'. Round face. Both of her eyes were white."

"Older or younger?"

"Older. She might be in her early twenties."

"Okay."

Amadeus rubbed the bridge of his nose. Gawain and Aaron shared a glance.

"If she's really how you describe, she has to be Light's sister," Amadeus said. "My son's wife had a very round face. If Gareth had a daughter, she wouldn't look like that."

"But what happened to her to end up all the way in Lao Shen?" Ariel asked.

"I don't know… Just… tell me how she battled. What did she use? What did she do?"

"She had a lance with a built in Grappler. I couldn't even pressure her enough to see anything unique about her battle style. She didn't… try hard enough for me to see. Our friend Chad thinks she's a warlord, and he's got plenty of experience."

Amadeus' eyes shot left and right. "Okay, I'll name off a few techniques. Tell me if one of them sounds familiar."

"Uh… okay."

"Did she use any headbutts?"

"No."

"Back to back quick draw?"

"What's that…?"

"It's where you are back to back with your opponent and you have this sort of quick draw and who can turned around fastest. Kind of. It's hard to describe past that."

"I think… I think she did something like that on Light. Or, uh, Angelo."

Amadeus' face fell. "Did she only fight with one arm most of the time…"

"Yes."

"Shit…"

"What is it?" Abigail asked quietly.

"Those are Acuitan warlord strategies," Amadeus said. "And there are not supposed to be anymore Acuitan warlords. The back to back quick draw was invented by my father. The practice of only using one arm swings was to protect from killing people meant to be captured. I don't like this at all."

"Were you an Acuitan warlord? Do you know what it could mean?"Ariel asked.

"A warlord's entire life is battle. I didn't even learn to read and write until I was, say… Twenty-five at the earliest. There aren't supposed to be any more warlords past my sons, and all of them knew that. And even more strange, to pass on the Acuitan blessing without telling the rest of the Royal Family is akin to treason."

"Do you know where Light's father is?"

"He's been missing for more than twenty years. Even if he wasn't dead, I have no idea."

"But wait, I thought he'd been missing for around fifteen years? Starting with that accident?"

"What?" Amadeus asked with thin eyes. "That was more than twenty years ago, now. Why did you say it was fifteen?"

"Light told me it was fifteen."

"And who told him that?"

"I'm… not sure. I can ask, but he's resting right now."

"Let him sleep. Thank you for calling me. I'll look into it."

"Yeah, of course…"

Abigail leaned closer to the phone.

"Hey, Ariel," Abigail said. "How strong was she?"

"Too strong," Ariel said. "I'll talk to you all later. We're getting help soon."

"Alright," Amadeus said. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

The call closed. Amadeus stood up along with Gawain. They stared at each other's ruby eyes for a short moment.

"You're going to go try and find him?" Gawain asked. "Lancelot, right?"

"Your father can teach you everything you need to know," Amadeus said, nodding. "I'm sorry. There's no chance that Lancelot is alive, but I need to look into this Sylveon."

"It's fine," he shrugged. "Gotta' do what you gotta' do."

"You're not going all the way to Lao Shen, are you?" Abigail asked.

"I am. Why?"

"Well, Charlotte's actually going, too. She said so right after I, well… Told her."

Amadeus' eyes fell to the floor. The air in the room stayed still as his thinking face remained.

"Okay, he said, finally. "I'll travel with Charlotte. I'll probably head out soon, but I'll still be in contact, of course. Call me anytime."

"Okay," Gawain said. "Should probably call Charlotte soon, so we'll see you."

Amadeus nodded one last time. His eyes grazed over Abigail's as he turned for the door. As he left, Aaron and Gawain shared a strange look that Abigail couldn't see through.

"He'll be alright," Aaron said. "Lemme' tell you, he's still got it. Can prolly' de-rust on the way there, too."

"Yah," Gawain said. "I'm not worried. Strange about that Sylveon, though."

"So, what were you doing here, Gawain?" Abigail asked. "Isn't our date on a different day?"

He turned his face up towards her. "Actually, I'm here because I have a sick Chun Li."

Abigail blinked at his blank stare. "What."

"Boot it up, Aaron."

"Kay'," he answered.

Shiny Zorua Aaron bounded off the cushion. He walked to a plastic, black brick on the floor in front of the TV and pressed buttons along its surface.

"What's a Chun Li?" Abigail asked.

"She's his main," Aaron said. "Like, the main character he plays as."

"What's she like?"

"Well, you know the type. Really good at fighting. A total hottie. You're probably related, you know."

Abigail smiled at the floor with a warm face. She twisted the growing fur on top of her head.

"I want to look and buy a controller to play with you sometime," she said.

"Well, we can show you how the game works and stuff in the meantime," Aaron said. "Poor Gawain, though."

"Nah," Gawain said as he reclined back in the cushion. "I've seen you play. Your neutral sucks."

"Uh huh. Yah, sure."

"Dammit! That. Isn't. Fair!"

Furret Abigail felt like all the energy from her one sip of coffee had shot out of her body. Seeing Aaron get angry was more depressing the more his voice chopped up. She wanted to jump off of her cushion and punch Chun Li in the face.

"Okay, that was a first to ten," Quilava Gawain said. "Zero to ten."

Abigail stood up and walked to shiny Zorua Aaron's side. The tears streaming down his face ignited a fire in her chest, but she had to cool it down.

"You want to know what one of the first things I learned was?" Abigail asked.

Aaron turned up to her. "What?" he squeaked.

"I had to watch paint dry on a plain, wooden board."

Aaron's confusion soothed his tone. "What? Why?"

"Patience. To do what you need to get stronger or win a fight, you just have to keep at it. And thanks to patience, that's why you can beat him. Just wait for your moment, no matter how long it takes."

"It'll be longer than just paint drying," Gawain retorted.

Abigail glared at him. Gawain reeled back in his cushion.

"U-uh, just remembered I have… homework," Gawain said. "Uh, see you two later."

Gawain scrambled to his feet and sped-walk out of the door. Abigail continued staring in case he dared to pop his head back in.

"Feels like I've been waiting my whole life to turn sixteen," Aaron said quietly. "I just… I don't think I could do what you do. I mean, when you spend your whole life waiting for something, what if that moment never comes?"

"Well, my moment never came," Abigail said. "Walking my dad out of this place. I guess I don't really have an answer. But… I do think you can beat Gawain in a video game if you just play it more."

Aaron's eyes returned to the screen. "Yah, I just never had the time to practice much."

"Alright. So let's order some food and figure out how to end Gawain's career."

Aaron's usual smile returned, and Abigail welcomed it back. She sat on the cushion next to him and looked at the screen.

"Have you ever had cheese fries?" Aaron asked.

"Nope."

Abigail liked cheese fries. Foods Aaron suggested were always hit or miss, but he started to hit a lot more lately.

The shiny Zorua put on a headset and sat on the floor while Furret Abigail curled up in the cushion. With a small paper basket of cheese fries, she nodded on and off between his matches. She hadn't been this relaxed in a long time. His occasional banter was music to her ears.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

Aaron took off one side of his headset from his ears and turned his back to Abigail. "Hey, so uh, you're not going to believe who I just queued up with."

Abigail raised her head. She felt her memories of hundreds of knives pointing at her flooding back.

"What," she blurted. "Wait… What!?"

"His username is 'I am ascending three-sixty' and he's playing as Guile."

"Your rank is so low. I keep getting paired with combo-less peasants with no drip."

"Call Anne," Aaron said.

Aaron put the headset back on. Abigail pulled out her phone and dialed Anne as the match was starting. She held it right up to her ear as the match was starting.

"Hello?" Anne responded, answering the phone. "Abigail?"

"Hey, Anne," Abigail greeted. "So, uh. You'll never believe who Aaron queued up with on Street Fighter."

"Uhm…"

"It's that Hypno."

Anne paused. "The fuq?"

"Aaron randomly queued up with that Hypno in the game."

"Uhm… Okay. Okay… Tell him to stall. I don't know if it's even possible to get his location, but I'm calling it in. Stay on the line."

"Aaron," Abigail hissed. "We need you to stall."

"Hey, man," Aaron said. "Could you give me a minute or two? My mom's getting on my case about the clothes again."

The voice came through the TV, "What? Please, she can wait while I wipe the floor with your-"

"B-o-o-o-o-o-o-y!" Abigail shouted. "If you dun't come in here and fol' some towels, I swear, I'mma' beat yer ass!"

"I'll give you two minutes…"

"Thanks," Aaron said.

Shiny Zorua Aaron took off the headset and sighed in relief. He turned back to Abigail.

"Damn, I'd wish you'd always talk like that," he said. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Buy as much time as you can," Abigail said.

"His rank is out of this world. I can't buy much time."

"Hey, you played a lot today. You can hold out long enough."

"Turns out we can track him," Anne said. "Tell Aaron to stall as long as he can. I'm coming over. Get ready to fly."

"On it."

Abigail continued to hold the phone up to her ear as she stood up. The box of cheese fries fell into the cavity she left in it with her body weight. She raced back to the edge of her bed and pulled off her hoodie to exchange it for her cape. She set her phone to speakerphone so she could hear Anne if she spoke while sliding the Grappler onto her wrists.

"Abigail," Aaron said. "I don't know if I can stall him long enough to track him or anything like that. He seems… intense."

"Yah, trust me. I know," Abigail said. "But you got this. Just stay patient for the hits you want. And if we can't get him, it's fine. It just means pizza, right?"

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. What's taking so long?"

Aaron reached and threw the headset back over his ears. "Uh, nothing," he said. "Thanks. I'm ready now."

Within a few seconds, they reached the loading screen. Aaron's eyes wrenched themselves open on the screen as the final countdown started.

"Ken, huh?"

"Uh, yah?" Aaron said.

"Your combo game is probably ass, isn't it?"

Aaron recoiled and raised his controller over his head as he pressed buttons.

"Relax," Abigail said. "You're okay."

"Your neutral is shit. Your combos are bad. Irredeemable. This gameplay is so bad, I'm worried I might catch it."

"Camp him," Abigail hissed. "You can do it."

"Sonic boom! Sonic boom! Sonic boom! Sonic boom! Sonic boom!"

Aaron tried to jump.

"Flash kick! Sonic boom!"

"What do I do?" Aaron asked.

"Uh, uhm…"

"Can't believe this is ranked. What a joke."

Abigail flinched at a noise on the door. Victini Anne rocketed into the room after bursting through her door. She glared at the screen with her arms folded. Her blue eyes shot around as the match continued.

"Aaron," Anne said. "Your neutral is shit."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?"

"Oh, hey… Uh… sis. I'm trying," Aaron grumbled.

"A sisterrrrrrrrrrrrrr?"

Anne peeled the headphones from Aaron's head and lowered her mouth to the mic.

"Hey," Anne said. "Don't get cocky just because you can beat a dumb casual. I don't even play Ken, and round 2, I'm kickin' your behind so far down the ladder, you won't be able to even stand up without buffs. Lil' prissy."

Abigail had to wonder how she got in this situation, or rather, how it unfolded in front of her. All she could do was lean back and take it all in as Anne snagged Aaron's controller after he lost the first round to another bicycle kick.

"I've never lost to a girl in all my years of-"

Anne wasted no time. Her fingers moved on the controller with the precision of a pro painter, and her character got closer than Aaron ever did in less than a second.

"What. No. No!"

"Your neutral is paper thin," Anne yelled. "You should just sell this game back and use the money to buy a carton of milk to cry yourself to sleep with. I'm nodding off, myself."

"What even is this combo!? And why am I still in it!?"

"Garbage," Anne scoffed. "Did your mom even tell you to play the tutorial when she bought it for you?"

"Wait, now hold on… Do you have any idea how far I'll rank down? I accept defeat, just please. You know this isn't fair."

"C'mon, where's that flash kick now? Why bother trying to remember what a low is when you're clearly so used to being just a noob gatekeeper?"

"You insane witch…"

Abigail watched Anne take round two and three in less than a minute. She admittedly didn't really understand what was going on in the screen, but there was a lot of fire. The other player looked like they were in a constant explosion.

"I… I've never…"

"Never lost to a girl before?" Anne asked. "First time for everything," she smiled in satisfaction and turned back to Abigail. She winked. "And maybe a second time, too."

Abigail checked her phone when it pinged in her paw. She had a notification for a new mission. As the game ended, the Hypno on the other end cried until the sound cut out.

"Alright," Anne said. "Take him into custody. Make sure to record."

"On it," Abigail nodded. "Okay, uh, see you."

"Good luck."

The finishing touches were putting Abigail's phone in her cape pocket and adding her tiara on top of her forehead. She hit the red button on the door and grabbed her glider as the window opened.

"Abigail!" Aaron called. She turned around and noticed his irritated, shaky eyes. "Get him for me, okay?"

"Yah," she said. "If I don't get him for me first."

Abigail hopped out as she gripped her glider. The cold, slicing winds invaded the room until the doors closed.

Victini Anne stared at shiny Zorua Aaron. His eyes fluttered from left to right.

"Just guard, dude," Anne said.

"I'm… not that good at guarding."

"That's trash… At least you're decent at the real thing. That'd be way more embarrassing."

"Doesn't feel like it…"

Looking down at other skyscrapers was a weird perspective. The cement rooftops appeared like blocks of gray covering over the street far below. The constant hue of light turned into a string that Abigail followed along with to keep track of where she was going. Knowing how to use her Grapplers, she was a lot more comfortable with the idea of falling, so she was more comfortable flying higher than she had been before.

The location on her phone always came with directions. The Hypno wasn't very far, but Abigail had to play a numbers game with the street intersections. The numbers played on repeat in her head until she had finished going through all of them.

The apartment building seemed like a short skyscraper itself. Abigail pulled the handles on her glider to morph it into a parasol shape and floated right down to the roof. She had to fight with the wind to keep herself steady, which helped to occupy her time on her slow descent.

When she reached the cold, cement rooftop Furret Abigail dropped her glider and left it for another Nightlight to fly back and grab later. She concerned herself for a way into the building. She didn't see anything that would lead down to a ramp, so she gazed over the edge of the roof.

There must've been half a dozen open windows. Abigail didn't know which floor the Hypno was on, so she'd have to ask residents where he was. It would definitely be room to just swing in, but she preferred it to walking through the front doors. Otherwise, she'd risk the Hypno finding out before she arrived, meaning he'd be able to act.

Abigail shot her Grappler on the ground and pulled to make sure it was stuck. She lowered herself down the side of the building and looked into one of the windows.

By some miraculous stroke of luck, it led into a dark, empty hallway instead of someone's room. Furret Abigail swung in, then released her Grappler's grip on the roof. She stood still until the cylinder popped back on to her wrist.

Doors were on either side of the hallway. A layer of dirt was on top of the carpet, but Abigail was used to literal dirt, so she didn't mind. She looked between different doors until she settled on one she heard loud talking behind. She'd have to ask a resident if they knew where that Hypno lived here.

The talking paused, then lowered as one of the individuals opened the door.

She was a Leavanny with brisk, brown eyes. She hid behind the door, then dropped her guard out of shock when she saw Abigail.

"Hello," Abigail whispered. "I'm sorry to bother you, I'm just looking for someone. Do you know if a Hypno lives in this building?"

"A Hypno?" she repeated. Her dazzled stare continued for a moment. "Ah, well, there's one on the first floor, I think."

"Happen to know his room number?"

"I think it's… Room one o' four."

"Thanks," Abigail smiled. "Have a good night, miss."

"Uh, you too, Lodestar…"

Abigail nodded and eave a last goodbye. She walked off to the right in search of a rampway or an elevator. Leavanny took a moment to close the door as she left.

At the end of the hallway, Abigail saw steel elevator doors. She clicked the button on the side of the wall and wiped her paw along her cape. She rode the elevator down.

It opened to a hallway that could've been the exact same one. Even room numbers were on the right, so she kept her head tilted as she scanned until she found the door she was looking for. She knocked on it out of habit.

"Coming," a tired voice answered.

It wasn't the Hypno's voice. Abigail prepared to ask for where he was again.

An Infernape pulled the door open just enough for Furret Abigail to see his face. He blinked a few times, then rubbed his eyes as the fir on his head grew.

"Was that kid earlier Aaron?" Infernape asked.

Abigail didn't answer. It hit her she might have the right room.

"Thought so," he sighed. "Alright, hold on a second. People are trying to sleep, so let's do this outside."

Infernape closed the door. Abigail stared at trying to find an answer for what to do. It didn't seem right to just barge in now, even if she could. Instead, she shifted her weight from foot to foot until he came back.

When the door opened again, Infernape wore a leather scarf. A Hypno with a similar leather scarf stood next to him and groaned.

"Of course," Hypno mumbled. "Well, let's just get this over with."

Abigail stood off to the side. As the door opened and closed again, she realized the Infernape carried a long, brown staff in his hand. The top of it ended in a red swirl while the bottom was flat. He used it like a cane, but didn't put any of his weight on it.

It was a Blast Wand on the tip of a polearm. Abigail was used to reacting whenever she saw one, but this time, she kept perfectly still. Infernape and Hypno walked side by side down the hallway as she followed behind.

"Is that tiara of yours recording?" Infernape asked.

"Uh, no?" answered Abigail.

"Good. There's a few things you should know."

The hallway continued straight outside. Infernape pushed open the hefty, double glass doors and let in a wave of cool, night air. The Hypno held one of them open for Abigail with a weird, weary look on his face.

It opened up to a large, open space of black pavement. They were behind the apartment building based on Abigail's earlier overhead view. A few skyscrapers loomed in the distance spraying yellow lights from their windows across the pavement. The wind seemed stronger with all of the room it had to move. Abigail rubbed her paws together to keep them warm.

Infernape continued to walk forward without turning around. His feet alternated between stepping on patches of weeds growing out of cracks and patches of dirt.

"Did the Nightlights tell you what the Eye is?" Infernape asked.

"The Eye?" Abigail asked.

"One of those orbs we heard you were told to guard."

Abigail recalled a smooth, red sphere with a white center that Victini Anne had given her as her first assignment.

"They're connected to a Legendary species," Infernape said. "There are six in total. Only a few mafia leaders really know about them, and of course, the Nightlights. Your father had collected them all and spread them out, so the Nightlights killed him."

Abigail didn't have a single reason to trust what he said. She wondered what logic he had to even try to lie like this.

"How should I be able to tell you're not lying?" Abigail asked.

"Ask Anne. She'll tell you about the Eyes. She wants all six. The Nightlights want to control the Legendary pokemon to overthrow Valor and make their own nation. That is why we fight them."

Abigail stopped walking when the Hypno crossed her path. He gestured for her to stand in place and then walked back.

"We'll take the Eyes and dispose of them ourselves," Infernape said. "One is still in the possession of the Nightlights. Another two are in ours. The fourth is owned by a government research facility looking into it for the Valorian royal family. And the last two are currently in possession of large scale mafias, who the Nightlights plan to deal with using you."

"How do you 'know' any of this?" Abigail asked.

"We have people inside the Nightlight Association, doing their best to keep the Eyes away from muddy hands."

Infernape turned around. It clicked in Abigail's mind what was going on.

They were at the distance used before formal battles. The Hypno stood between them a few paces back like a referee.

"I don't expect you to really reason with us or anything," Infernape said. "But, if you have the chance, try and keep any Eye the Nightlights obtain to yourself. We don't trust Anne."

"Then why trust me to do that?" Abigail asked.

"We have reasons. If you win, we'll come with you quietly. If I win, we were gone before you got here."

If Abigail didn't agree and just tried to arrest them, it'd be two against one. Besides, it would be the same difference whether she won or lost, anyways. She liked not having to deal with the possibility of the Hypno chucking knives.

What she didn't like was the Infernape's first-class stance with his polearm behind his back in one hand and a fiery look igniting in his eyes. Abigail could hardly even focus with all of the possible lies he just filled her head with.

"How much do you know about my father?" Abigail demanded.

"He died in the Nightlight's prison," Infernape said. "They probably said it was from illness. That was a lie."

"I don't know you. You can't just expect me to take this seriously."

"I know."

Abigail leaned her head to the side. Something small whizzed past her ear and landed on the black pavement.

It was a dart. Abigail thinned her eyes and glanced behind her. A Golduck wearing a leather scarf with a similar looking staff shrugged.

"Honestly," Infernape huffed. "I wish I could battle you to test myself, but I'm not allowed to. I hope we can sometime."

Blinding, white lights showered from above in all directions. There was too much to dodge. Abigail crossed her arms to try and guard the impacts of whatever was coming at her from all sides.

It was the effect of Slumber Wands. It only dulled her feelings at first, but the multitude of it brought her down to the ground. She still stood on all fours when it ended, but her struggle to keep her weight from crashing down kept growing.

Two masses of metal crashed onto the pavement in front of her. An Ambipom landed and stretched his back straight after bending his knees. His leather scarf wrapped around the length of his right tail. Abigail honed in on his seething, red eyes.

Ambipom walked forward and grabbed the fur on top of Furret Abigail's head. He looked down straight into her eyes with a blank stare.

"I. Never. Lie."

Sunflowers covered over the long, blue sky. As a Sentret, Abigail had to stand on her tail to see over the field. She walked down a row of them as her dad checked for bugs or other signs that they were struggling that year.

"Hey dad," Abigail said, "why are sunflowers your favorite?"

A Lombre walking next to her swayed his head from side to side. He gazed at a sunflower's petals and answered, "Well, they're durable. They grow just about anywhere if they have enough sunlight. I jus' like the look of 'em. A lot like your mother, actually." Lombre stretched his arms into the air, then let them fall back to his sides. "So, what do you want for dinner?"

"I'm bored," she complained. "Teach me something,"

"Uhhhh, like what?"

"I dunno'."

"Want a story or something?"

"Yah!"

Lombre pulled of a yellow petal and raised it up to the sunlight. He inspected it with one eye open, then let it go.

"Okay," Lombre said. "There once was this legendary knight. The most powerful, skilled foe there ever was. One day, the knight was challenged by a young girl."

"How young?" Abigail interrupted.

"No one knows for sure, but something like the single digits, I'd say. So, when she challenged this knight, the knight asked her why she wanted to fight. The girl answered that her parents had died, and she wanted to learn how to fight to protect other people. So, impressed, the knight trained the girl for years until one day, she finally defeated him.

"The knight disappeared and left her. But before that, the knight promised her that one day, her ancestor would fight alongside the knight when the world seemed like it would be ending soon. Ad an good knight always keeps a promise."

"This story's weird. I want another one."

Lombre grinned. "Well, shoot. Alright."

"Okay, how many times are you two planning on playing reverse cards?" a voice whispered.

"I dunno. How many you got, Nick?"

"Eh, well. Enough to say 'no you' until he caves."

Abigail was starting to get tired of fainting and waking up back in her bed. It made her feel helpless, but she was distracted by the weirdest sight to wake up to.

A Raichu, Swampert, Dewott, and Latios sat in a semi-circle at the base of her room on a round, brown carpet. They each held cards in their hands with a messy pile of cards in the center and a straightened out pile of cards off to the side. The Raichu with sild fur set down a card, leaving him with one more.

"Aden," Dewott said, "you have to call Uno."

"Dude," Raichu huffed. "That's stupid, just-"

"Call Uno or draw two," Latios said.

Aden glanced between all of them and hung his head low. "Uno."

"Hey?"

Abigail's call was cut short by a yawn. Her body shivered as she pushed the covers off.

"Heyo," Swampert called back. "You got bulldozed with Slumber Orbs and Wands and stuff, like a minute before we got there. And they were all, like, gone."

"Uhhhhhh…. Yup," Dewott added . "Here, have a plus four, Aden."

"Die," he hissed.

"What happened to them?" Abigail asked.

"We tried," Aden groaned. "They were already long gone when we got organized enough to get there."

Abigail sighed and rubbed down the center of her forehead.

"Hey, dun't worry about it," Swampert said. "We got a lot of leads from the room and stuff. Also, is it really true that you guys found him randomly on Street Fighter?"

"Yah," she answered.

"Yo, that's kinda wack."

Raichu Aden rolled his eyes and kept staring at his cards.

"I need something to protect against getting hit with that stuff," Abigail said. "I'm getting sick of this."

"You already got something," Aden said. "That cape isn't just for show. It helps prevent and stave off status ailments. The problem is that you just keep getting hit with buckets of them at once. You always stay way too out in the open."

"Hey now," Dewott said. "That's not really fair. She did fine with that Scolipede and his guys."

"Because of the cape, yes. But she wasn't also as distracted." Aden turned his gaze to Abigail. "Just be loose. Or ask to practice with us to just go over the basics. Don't worry about it so much."

"Hey Aden," Latios said quietly.

"Nick," he glared.

Latios set down a card with a plus four in the top corner.

"Why."

"Where's Aaron and Anne?" Abigail asked.

"Uh, Aaron's with Anne," Swampert answered. "Anne's doing… Uh, Anne things. Why?"

"I need to talk to them," she insisted. "Could you take me to them?"

"Adam," Aden said, "you take her. We need to clean up a bit more in Charlotte's lab before the new guy comes in, whoever it is."

"Ehhhh," Latios moaned, "I don't really feeeeel like it."

Raichu Aden pointed his right arm at the Latios. A small yellow spark advanced over the top of his paw.

"Eeeeeh, okay."

Furret Abigail let the others go first and use the elevator. She took the extra minutes to make herself look decent before meeting the Dewott Adam outside her door.

Together, they walked to the elevator and rode it down a few floors. Abigail wasn't sure where they were going, but she didn't think to ask Adam until the elevator was already slowing down.

The doors opened to a huge, dark room. The main source of light were from computer screens glaring down from the walls. Light on the ceiling were turned off, and Abigail could imagine it was because no one noticed they weren't on. Rows of pokemon sat in cushions under each screen, working with buttons on a table in front of them. Many of them were talking into small microphones, and those who weren't were simply sitting idle.

At the end of the room, Victini Anne faced the largest computer screen with her arms crossed and back towards Abigail. Just behind her, Buizel Zen, Quilava Gawain, and shiny Zorua Aaron also faced towards the empty, pale blue screen.

Anne heard her footsteps and glanced at her. She turned around once she caught a look.

"Abigail," Anne greeted. "You can have the rest of the day off. You did good work out there."

"Oh, well, thanks," Abigail said. "Actually, I just came to ask you something. What are you guys doing here?" she asked, looking at Zen, Aaron, and Gawain.

"They're here because they all want to be your Navigator," Anne said.

"Navigator? What's that?"

"Basically, they give you directions, strategies, and information during organized missions. It actually takes a high level of education to become a Navigator, but Aaron happens to have the credentials."

"Which means you'll get to hear my beautiful voice every time you go out on missions," Aaron finished. "That is, if you say the word."

"Isn't that kind of like a job?" she asked. "I mean, you don't have to take a job for me."

"Well, I've got nothing better to do. Besides, my main job right now is finding a wife, sooooooo…"

"It's your decision," Anne said. "We'll have a test run, later. What did you want to ask me about?"

"I want that red orb thing back."

Abigail wanted to draw them closer to her instead of getting pushed away. She didn't know how this Eye worked, but they seemed to want it. The difference between kidnapping her and putting her to sleep and running away was night and day.

She'd push further and ask about it as "the Eye" or about her father, but she didn't want to do it in front of Aaron and the others.

"You're trying to draw them to you?" Anne questioned. "Are you sure? I didn't think you'd feel comfortable after last time."

"I know, but I'm tired of having them run away. I know it's a risk, but I really want to get these guys."

"I don't really know what this teed orb thingy is, anyways," Aaron said. "But they kidnapped Abigail for it, sooo I'm totally fine with using it as bait to take them down. Clearly, it'll work."

"It would," Anne interjected. "but we don't want to lose it, or to have another situation like last time."

"Then maybe you should get your hands into the situation to help out," he suggested giddily.

"Aaron, I nearly made a skyscraper fall. If I battle in the city, I'm more likely to get her killed."

"Uuuuuugh, laaaaaaaame."

"This is too far in the future," Buizel Zen said. "There's a lot of leads to look into. Why don't we all just get some sleep? No reason for you to have to carry bait just yet."

"No."

Zen jumped.. Abigail made a mental note to ease her tone.

"No," she repeated. "I want to be the one to protect it. There's something under the surface and I want to figure out what it is."

"Okay," Anne said. "I'll give it to you tomorrow. We should all get some sleep."

"I'll take it tonight."

Anne blinked a few times. "Alright, tonight. I'll be in your room in ten minutes."

Abigail lay awake in her bed, twisting and turning the red orb in her paws. With the darkness and silence, she could feel a quiet pulse underneath the surface.

It felt like it was staring back at her. It was probably just from being told it was called an Eye, but the effect it had was real enough. She pushed it under her pillow and turned over her head.