7: Early Warning

Espeon

It seems such a long time ago that I met Red, a young boy that was full of energy and curiosity while I was just a normal pet living with an older gentleman in Celadon City. I had never intended to become a battling pokemon, much less evolve into what I am today, and to be honest, I was scared of everything outside of the cozy home I used to live in.

I had no idea where I was going and Ivysaur had a hard time trying to calm me down when I learned I was to become a part of a fighting team. My old human would never do such a thing with me! The first time I was called to a battle with Red, I froze in my panic and had no idea what to do as I shook like a leaf, too timid to even avoid a simple Tackle from a Rattata.

To avoid myself getting hurt, he sent Wartortle to finish the battle against a youngster and I was relieved that he wasn't angry at me when it was over. Instead, he encouraged me to gain more confidence in myself and told me he would first help me learn my own moves and then begin the real training with Pikachu, Charizard, Wartortle, and Ivysaur. He had never doubted me even when I constantly doubted myself and my abilities.

I thought such a small pokemon like myself could go nowhere in the world, especially since I had been treated like a pet that had led a very comfortable life thus far. Granted, the pet life isn't bad. You were always pampered in a way battling or working pokemon weren't and the fatter you got, the cuter you were.

After two months of training with my new team, I realized that I didn't want to go back to that life.

I didn't want to have all day every day with nothing to do. Yes, it was nice to be pet and paid attention to, but for every single waking moment every day for the rest of my life? I loved seeing the untamed wilderness, meeting new people, and relished the satisfaction whenever I defeated an opponent.

I slowly started to understand that I was truly meant for the battling lifestyle and thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of a fight. There was no doubt in my mind that I still loved my old human and occasionally I would wonder how he was doing and if he still took his pills on time but I would never go back.

With this new way of life, I formed my own family and sure all seven of us were completely different species and we each had our own personalities, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses, and pet peeves, but the thing that stood out was that we were inseparable.

Every time someone in the family was having a hard time with something, we would do our best to cheer them up and help them get better. This most definitely included our human, who always took care of us and would pull all-nighters if one of us was sick just to make sure we got better but as of late he was the one who wasn't doing so well. He was too stubborn to admit that anything was wrong and held too much pride to talk to anyone about everything, not even to us.

He had always been like that though and no matter how many times he was told it was unhealthy to keep feelings bottled up for so long, he would keep everything to himself. I knew it was eating away at him slowly and if seeing Giovanni for the first time in years and running to our room to hide wasn't a good enough example, I don't know what was.

We could all tell he was still distracted by it and it bothered him enough to give him nightmares. Usually, those nightmares would come in spurts, sometimes only one night, sometimes for a few days, and only twice had the dreams come for at least a month each. I'm sure Pikachu suspected something when he realized Red had barely gotten any sleep last night. Red would never admit that he would need to talk to someone about them and while Blastoise was convinced us being there was enough, I highly doubted it could stay that way forever.

Many years ago, when we realized he was plagued by nightmares and was the cause of his many sleepless nights, I was overjoyed to learn that there was something called a technical machine, or a TM, out there in the world that I could use to help our trainer. It just so happened Red had the device in his backpack, among many other TMs he wasn't using.

However, there was one major flaw to my plan: I couldn't learn Dream Eater unless I evolved.

No matter how many times I clicked on that button with my little paw, the move just wouldn't imprint itself into my brain and I cried when I found out. My crying at least woke Red up, and freed from the dream, he was once again trying to help comfort me from my misery.

Snorlax was the one who told me that there were two different evolutions I could take instead of the normal three to help him: one would be the dark-type Umbreon, where I could learn moves such as Confuse Ray and Assurance. The other choice was Espeon, where I could learn to communicate directly with my trainer, and that alone outweighed any possibility of becoming Umbreon.

Once I made my decision, I was dead set on battling only during the morning and daytime, confusing my trainer greatly but he didn't object when I would jump out of my pokeball and take the place of whoever's pokeball he had in his hand or shoving Pikachu out of the way. Pikachu hadn't liked that and would get frustrated when Red wouldn't do anything to stop me. I still laugh thinking about it to this day.

The final battle against Giovanni hadn't been as horrible one as the battles in Saffron or even Celadon City, but with the way the two were battling against each other, it was clearly just a fight to assert dominance over the other and thankfully we won that battle. I had evolved into Espeon just after we earned our eighth and final gym badge, and as overjoyed as I was to have evolved, I still needed to teach myself Dream Eater as soon as I could.

We didn't even stay in the pokemon center that night, Red decided to keep moving towards Victory Road that very same night. We were halfway there when he finally decided to stop for the night, unable to keep his own eyes open for much longer. Once he had fallen asleep, I took the TM and taught myself Dream Eater while Charizard let himself out of his pokeball to share his warmth, engulfing the troubled boy into his wings when we sensed the nightmare coming instantly.

I promptly used the new move I had learned on our trainer as weak as I possibly could and smiled to myself when I heard Charizard give a grumble of approval. Red had fallen into a deeper slumber, horrible dreams forgotten as he caught up on much-needed sleep while Charizard didn't let him out of his sight for the entire night and most of the following morning until he woke up.

I was happy I could finally do something for him instead of being just another pokemon on a battling team. I would always continue to try and help him and always stay by his side, especially if it meant helping him find friends and hopefully get closer with a certain trainer from Unova.

I fully intended to get Operation: Get A Date's first step in the plan rolling as soon as possible.

-x-

It was late when everyone left Red's room to retire for the night. His mother was the last one out and she gave him a tight hug. She bid him good night and told him to get some rest before she closed the door behind her. As soon as the door was closed, Red let out a long, exhausted sigh and didn't even bother to mask his fatigue. He hadn't slept well last night and looked ready to pass out in bed at any second. Without another word after locking the door, he wandered to the bedroom and as soon as he kicked off his shoes, and took off his vest and hat, he sank into the sheets and pulled the quilt over his shoulders.

I watched him for a moment and after hearing the unmistakable sounds of him sleeping not even a minute later, I gently closed the door with my psychic abilities. Once the door was closed, I spun around quickly to face the rest of the boys with a wide grin plastered onto my face. I could sense the other's sudden caution without even looking at them. They never trusted my ideas or plans, even if they worked.

I sauntered towards them, jumped up, and sat on the back of the couch. "We need to find a way for Red to notice White," I said. My tail flicked slightly and I glanced back at Charizard as he frowned with displeasure. "What's the matter?"

"It isn't a good idea," he answered. "We stay out of her business and she'll stay out of ours."

I rolled my eyes. Trust Charizard to stay away from anyone that wasn't Red, Blue, Leaf, Ethan, or Red's mother. "Everything will be okay, Charizard, I promise!"

"Every time you say that, something happens that lands us all in trouble," Blastoise mumbled from the side.

"Did you guys really not see White staring at him the entire time we were at the beach?"

I glanced at Pikachu and realized he hadn't until I had said something to him and Jolteon. He'd been too busy playing in the sand and having the time of his life to notice any sort of connection between the humans.

Ampharos was right: like pokemon, like trainer.

For now, he looked hesitant, and then finally he said, "We went grocery shopping earlier to get dinner supplies and he stayed with her the entire time. Blue and Ethan were doing their own thing and Red seemed… really weird."

That intrigued me and I tilted my head slightly as I thought. "Seemed really weird how?"

"She was talking a lot, like Leaf a lot, but he didn't try to run away. He didn't even look annoyed!" He looked at me. "I think he knows something's up. He suspected something ever since Blue told us that she was asking questions about him."

This was perfect! The inner matchmaker in me squealed and I couldn't help but try to get some of that excitement out. "So, you think he's already beginning to like her? Like, like her?"

"I don't know!"

I cackled and pretended that I didn't see the boys' alarmed faces and scurry a little bit away from me. I had no idea that happened! This would just make O.G.A.D. go by faster than expected! Maybe we'd even complete the mission before our tournament started!

I coughed into my paw to calm myself and sat back down, but the smile never left my face. I was excited about this but for now, we couldn't do anything except tell the others about the plan. "Exciting new revelations aside, Blue and Ethan's teams have agreed to help keep them away for a little bit when needed."

"The teams meaning Pidgeot and Ampharos, right?" Snorlax asked.

"Ampharos, Mienshao, and Zebstrika," I clarified. I huffed at Blastoise when he rolled his eyes at me and I stomped a paw onto the couch to get their attention again. "Jolteon and Pikachu were there too!" I looked at Pikachu quickly. "Right, Pikachu?"

The others looked at him with disbelief and Pikachu sheepishly nodded. "I was coerced into it!" he tried to defend.

"Mm-hm," Venusaur mumbled but he didn't sound like he fully believed him if that amused look in his eyes told me anything.

Charizard remained quiet but if I hadn't known any better, he looked upset with Pikachu.

I almost felt guilty but Pikachu looked at the others confidently and told them, "I have seen them together. She is nice. She's patient and said Red, Ethan, and Blue were fun to hang out with when we had dinner with Red's mom."

Charizard finally spoke up, lifting his head from his spot. "A few days is not enough to get to know her very well," he said and we all looked at him. "Why are you trying so hard to get them together? They will both be upset when it comes time for us to return to Kanto."

I noticed he wasn't the only one that looked to me for an answer.

"Long-distance relationships have worked out before," I answered with a shrug. "It doesn't hurt to try. The worst she can say is 'no' and we remain friends with her."

Snorlax grumbled something to himself. He scratched his belly fur then steeled himself as he turned his head to me and asked, "Then what do you propose we do?"

I smiled and felt like I had won the lottery. I knew that if Snorlax agreed with me, then the others were sure to follow! Charizard still didn't look convinced and grumpily tucked his head back into his wings for the night. Eh, I'd get him later.

I turned to the others, making sure they were all listening. I knew exactly what we had to do. "We impose O.G.A.D."

Venusaur looked at me, confused. "O.G.A.D.?" he finally asked.

"Ugh, here we go," Pikachu mumbled. He quickly wandered off to the other side of the couch, wanting to watch television.

I snickered at him then I explained to the others what we had discussed on the beach. The only one who didn't like it was Charizard but that was expected. It would just take more convincing for him to realize this wasn't a bad idea!

I went to sleep that night excited about getting our plan rolling.

At least, that's what I had hoped we could do the next morning but it wasn't meant to be.

The weekend was full of training and we didn't let up for hours on end and paused only for meals. The weekend passed by so fast because of that, we hardly had time to go over the first step in the plan to get Red and White together. If we weren't training or eating, we were sleeping or complaining about being sore. Red had told us it was to make up for the lost time over the last few days and while I couldn't blame him, he could've held back at least a little bit! I could barely feel my tail by the end of the day on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday produced the same exhaustion at the end of the day on Wednesday, he told us we were finally going to rest a couple of days before going back to training.

Thankfully, we hardly had any interruptions throughout the intense training. Blue and Ethan smartly left us alone in the middle of our training sessions and we saw nothing of White, Brendan, or anyone else for that matter. I wanted to believe that they, too, were in the middle of their own training to prepare for our upcoming tournament.

On Wednesday night, I flopped onto my stomach, groaning in agony. Everything hurt—I was sore, exhausted and I couldn't even feel my tail. I didn't need to look at the others that they were in the same boat. The only one who kept quiet about it was Venusaur, but I could see how tired he was when he let out a relieved sigh as soon as he was laying down next to the windows while the petals on his back drooped slightly. Even Charizard had groaned about his wings feeling like they would fall off at any moment.

I glanced up as Red pulled out his pokegear, typing out a few things with a small smile on his face that formed. I flicked my ears a bit. Why was he smiling? Who was he messaging? I got off of the floor and quickly jumped onto the couch beside him. He looked up and he quickly turned the screen off so I couldn't pry. It was frustrating when he seemed to know what we were up to. I felt the gem on my head warm a bit as it shined with my ability. "Why're you smiling?" I asked him curiously.

He shook his head instead of saying anything and set the pokegear down on the cushion beside him.

"There has to be some reason!" I tried to tell him.

"You don't have to know everything, nosey," Pikachu told me and ignored me when I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I call it genuine curiosity."

Red rolled his eyes at us. "I'm just messaging someone, that's all," he answered.

I blinked now and my tail twitched a little. He never texted anyone back unless it was Leaf, his mother, or, on the rare occasion, Blue. It had to be one of them, right?

Snorlax seemed curious as well, his large paw full of food as he sat behind the couch to try and peer at the dark screen as well. "Who is this someone?" he asked then stuffed the food into his mouth.

Our trainer looked between everyone when he realized we were all staring at him, expecting an answer. The only sound in the room was Snorlax's chewing until he sighed at us. "Is nothing sacred in this place?" I rolled my eyes at him. Red could be such a drama queen. "I'm texting Brendan."

"Since when did you get Brendan's number?" Pikachu blurted. If he didn't know, I was surprised. He was out of his pokeball all the time and for him not to see that, I wondered what else Red was doing without us noticing. Unless he had snuck out when we were all sleeping, I had never seen him exchange numbers with the Hoenn champion or anyone else, for that matter.

Red just shrugged. Something was suspicious and I narrowed my eyes at him. He wouldn't just be chatting with Brendan, not with that kind of defensiveness. Was he lying to us? What reason would he have to do that?

Now I could have just gone into his mind to pry but respecting his privacy, I just accepted it and stretched out across his lap and gratefully accepted the pets I was getting. I guess my time as a pet still hadn't completely gone away.

Pikachu was staring at me expectantly, assuming I was going to read our trainer's mind. I just shook my head once and he groaned with exasperation before he jumped off the couch to get a drink from the bowl of water in the kitchen all the while mumbling, "Now she chooses not to be a mind-reader. Perfect. Wonderful."

There was one thing that I loved to do: annoy Pikachu. If not knowing who Red was texting infuriated him, then I would gladly not read his mind or try to see what he was doing on the pokegear in his hands in order to aggravate the little pokemon. I snickered and Red glanced at me but with a scratch under my chin, I was purring all over again. I did love the attention.

A quiet and peaceful night passed before the others started to fall asleep near midnight and quietly, Red turned the television off and got up himself to get ready for bed. I yawned and watched as Pikachu snored away on the loveseat in a tight little ball. The only other one who wasn't asleep yet was Charizard, but he never slept if Red was still up. The large fire-type was overprotective of our trainer and as much as he denied it, I thought it was cute.

I jumped onto the sheets as Red climbed in, stretching out on the other side of the large bed. Normally, Pikachu would also be here but he was dreaming away on the loveseat without a care in the world. If he woke up later in the night, I wouldn't be surprised if he found his way to join us. I lay there stretched out with my eyes closed until I fell asleep, the exhaustion from training finally claiming me.

-x-

I had a single dream that night that simply involved the peak of Mount Silver, our home away from home. I believed it was my conscious telling me that I was homesick despite being away for a week. I dreamed of rolling around in the snow again, snowball fights with Pikachu and Blastoise, or making snowmen with Venusaur. Flying with Charizard on the rare days when the sun would peek through the thick clouds was always refreshing and at night, he and Snorlax would keep us all warm, no matter how cold it would get.

My peaceful dream was interrupted by a loud noise and at first, I thought it was because of something happening in my dream but when it continued and I was awake, I blearily rose my head. Red's pokegear was ringing, the shrill sound echoing through the room and no doubt waking the others up as well.

Red made no move at first to deal with it but it faded by itself. At first, I thought that was it yet when it started to ring again, I glared at the device through sleep-deprived eyes and Red managed to reach over to see who was calling. I assumed it wasn't anything important since he simply declined the call and I glanced at the now-fixed alarm clock on the nightstand. I frowned deeply when I read 3:28 A.M. Who in the world was trying to call us at 3:28 in the Arceus-forsaken morning?

We had no intentions of getting woken up at 3:28. I clearly remember the alarm Red set was for 7:30.

Our human groaned and tossed in his sheets when it rang again, its piercing tone making Pikachu whine loudly from the living room. With his eyes still closed, Red tried twice to turn it off and miserably failed. I was the one who turned it off for him and his arm went slack instantly, flopped down onto the sheets, and tried to get back to sleep until it went off a fourth and final time.

Red finally sat up, looking annoyed and borderline pissed as he sat up a little and glared at the little screen as he read whatever number was on it. I could've sworn that if they could, his eyes would be glowing a bright red with hatred.

While he looked tempted to throw the thing across the room, he was at least responsible enough to just turn off and set it back down next to the alarm clock. He then double-checked the alarm and finally fell back into the pillows. He sighed as he buried his head into it and I rolled into his side, accepting the gentle scratches as he tried to get back to sleep.

Whatever that was about, we had yet another interruption before we could even begin to relax. There was a single hard knock at the door and I knew everyone else was starting to get irritated as well. I heard Snorlax whine about something from the living room and finally, after the second knock, Red sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed and forced himself to the door. Whoever was trying to get a hold of him was starting to piss us all off.

I yawned and sat up, deciding to follow him until I froze when I sensed a distinct aura at the door. I could recognize it anywhere, no matter where we were. Panic flared up in me and I looked at Red as he turned the doorknob, too tired to check the peephole, and cried out, "Don't open it!"

The others looked at me with alarm at my tone, now wide awake as they got to their feet.

It was too late and the door was already opened. As soon as he saw who was standing behind the door, Red's eyes visibly widened, and was about to slam it shut when a shoe caught it at the last second. "I would not come to you like this if it wasn't important," a gruff voice said and upon hearing the voice, Charizard was snarling.

Giovanni, clad in what was obviously pajamas, easily overpowered Red as he forced the door open a bit more. I was beside Red's feet loyally as he stumbled back a few steps to get out of arm's reach, hissing as I glared at the man and Pikachu was at his other side, his cheeks sparking as he gave off his best snarl as well. I honestly hadn't expected to see him, we had been avoiding him wherever possible. I could sense Red's anxiety skyrocket and was proud since he did a damn good job of hiding it from Giovanni as he narrowed his eyes at him.

Giovanni couldn't see the others, but he could hear the various growls as he remained where he was. "You are the one who did not answer your pokegear, otherwise I would not be here at this ridiculous hour." How he even got Red's number was a mystery to me, even now. The gem on my head was glowing, ready to throw him away from us if he tried anything.

He kept his dark eyes on Red, completely ignoring us pokemon now. "I am not here to fight you," he said as calmly as he could. "I am here to warn you; I was visited by three people who claimed to be their king's right-hand men just now. I don't know how they got in, but they asked if Team Rocket could help them with something."

The snarls and hisses increased and he finally glanced at us, almost nervous that we would suddenly pounce on him. Venusaur even had his thick vines out and flower wide open, ready to attack Giovanni if need be and I was positive that the smell leaking from his back was the start of a gruesome Poison Powder. If it wasn't for Red blocking the way, I'm certain our four largest teammates would have crushed the human in an instant.

He returned his eyes to Red. "Of course, I declined. Team Rocket is no more. I disbanded them when you won the Earth Badge."

Red didn't relax and said nothing, keeping a close watch on the man in front of us. Hatred was coming out of every pore of his body and he struggled to contain it but just like I was, he was confused. Why was Giovanni telling us this? Why should we care what happened to him in the middle of the night?

"I have a feeling that will not be the last time I hear of them. If they are asking aid from Team Rocket, then there is no doubt they are seeking others for help for whatever they want." I frowned as he turned around. "I warn you now: be careful while we are here. Don't do anything stupid."

It sounded so strange hearing that from Giovanni but that didn't calm any of us even as he walked away out of sight.

My trainer glared at the man's back until he disappeared into the elevator and when he had finally gone, Charizard stopped growling and the electric sparks from Pikachu disappeared and the rest of us followed suit quickly. Red closed the door firmly and locked it but he made no move to go back to bed for at least a full minute. He took a deep breath to calm himself and went back to the bedroom and I was right beside him, sensing just as well as the rest of us his troubled state of mind. I was positive he wasn't going back to sleep tonight. So much for a few peaceful nights.

All of us managed to squeeze into the large room—although it was a tight squeeze—and I said nothing when he sat down on the edge of the bed. Charizard nudged his chest gently with his snout, trying to distract him from whatever thoughts he was having. He knew the perfect way to get Red's mind off of troubling thoughts at any time; sure, we all had our ways to comfort our human, but sometimes it obviously wouldn't work.

Luckily, the large fire-type managed to push through to Red enough to get him to at least pet him. This time was no different as he patted his muzzle, causing a gentle growl to come from the large lizard.

Eventually, the others fell back to sleep surrounding and on the bed. I was surprised to see that Blastoise had gotten onto the bed and with plenty of room, he kept himself between Red and the door though I stayed up with Red as he stared at the ceiling, clear that he was deep in thought. He occasionally reached over to pet me as I nestled into his side where it was warmest and Pikachu was on his other side, though he was out cold, small snores coming in a repeated fashion. For some reason, it was mesmerizing and it lulled me into a light sleep without me even realizing it.

I was surprised when the next sound I heard was the alarm going off and while I usually got up early, I wanted to sleep in to make up for the lack of rest we all didn't get.

It quickly disappeared and I noticed Red's spot in the bed was gone and it was Pikachu that had turned off the alarm—thankfully he had learned how after he broke the first alarm clock.

He yawned and I stretched just like a persian would, front to back to get every stiff muscle loose again then shook out my fur once I was done. Snorlax was sitting up at least and just like Red usually would be when he first woke up in the mornings, he had a dopey look on his face as he scratched himself with a yawn. Blastoise had to wake Venusaur, much to the grass-type's displeasure.

That's when I noticed Red and Charizard were gone and the balcony door in the living room was open. It made me wonder when they'd gone out for a flight and when they would be back but with a sigh, I got up and went into the living room. "When did Charizard and Red leave?" I asked.

"About two hours ago," Snorlax answered with another large yawn.

Did that mean Charizard and Red had been up the entire night? With maybe two hours of sleep total, those two would be grumpy and irritable all day. I was worried that Snorlax had remained awake too, but maybe he had at least gotten a nap in. He seemed tired and suddenly I was grateful for the rest day we had planned.

I frowned to myself as I sat out on the balcony to await Red and Charizard's return. I knew we had to tell someone about our little night visitor. Red's mother was out of the question, she would just worry herself sick, while Lance was a viable option. I wasn't sure if we would go see him, he was the one who knew about Giovanni being here in the first place and didn't even think to tell us. Bitter about it, I pushed him aside.

Blue was a possibility. While he didn't directly help take down Team Rocket, he knew what they were capable of and he understood the after effects but most of all, he understood Red himself.

On the other hand, Ethan seemed to be the best choice of all three. He took down Team Rocket when they tried to resurface four years ago and even though he didn't talk about it much, I knew it bothered him as well. He would understand the urgency the most out of anyone and being stronger than both Lance and Blue, we'd be able to stop whoever had visited Giovanni in a heartbeat.

All of them would no doubt be alarmed but I wouldn't be surprised if Red didn't want to tell anyone. I sighed to myself when I realized he would likely remain quiet on the issue. My trainer was stubborn and set in his ways. My eyes drifted towards the clear morning sky and widened when I had a sudden epiphany.

What if we told White?

Not only would this allow Red to get something off his chest to someone that wasn't Blue or Ethan, I was positive it would get the two of them closer together. O.G.A.D. had to start somehow! As grim as the situation would be, from what I'd seen of her she would listen without judgment. I was positive that she would understand; she wasn't the kind of person to run around and tell everyone and gossip about our problems.

I spotted Red and Charizard in the distance flying back and I smiled. I sincerely hoped Red would talk to someone—anyone about what happened last night. I truly hoped that person would be White.

As the dot in the sky became larger as they neared the hotel, I looked down towards the city below us. There was a strange feeling that pricked at the back of my mind but when I tried to see what caused that feeling, I sensed nothing. A frown replaced my smile and I looked through all the rooftops I could see from the balcony. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, not until I saw something standing still that hadn't been there before.

A red, silver, and black pokemon was standing on the roof of a building not too far from ours but it quickly noticed it had been spotted and turned to flee. Reaching out with my psychic abilities, I tried to get it to stop but winced when nothing worked. A dark-type.

I scowled when I realized this and watched it jump into the alley beside the building. Unable to do anything unless I wanted to jump to my death, I continued to stare at the roof when Red and Charizard landed. I hadn't moved from my spot, too focused on trying to find anything else watching us. Red looked at me and then turned his eyes in the direction where I had seen the pokemon. When he saw nothing, he motioned with his head for me to get inside and I obeyed willingly.

What was going on? First Giovanni came in the middle of the night to warn us and then just now with that pokemon. It spooked me, something had been watching us, otherwise, it wouldn't have run away when it had been seen. Was it a reporter's pokemon trying to sneak pictures for their tabloids? For some reason, I didn't think that was the case.

Pikachu sensed my unease first when I stayed near a window without the balcony so I could see the world below. "Espeon? What's wrong?" he asked, coming to my side.

I was quiet for a while before I glanced at him. The gem on my forehead glowed, ensuring Red would be able to hear me as well. "We're being watched."

From the living room, Red looked at me sharply and the others glanced between each other.

I headed into the living room, quickly using my psychic abilities to close the curtains. Even if the offending pokemon was long gone, it was better safe than sorry. "Something was watching the room before you and Charizard flew back," I told Red. "It ran away when it noticed I saw it."

He seemed to be instantly troubled by that, remaining quiet as Blastoise said, "It could've been a fan or a wild pokemon."

I frowned and shook my head. "Wild pokemon don't just run away when someone looks at them."

"I would have," Pikachu told me. He was the only one on the team that had truly been a wild pokemon so maybe it was true, but his nervousness told me otherwise.

Charizard was frowning as he listened and glanced at Snorlax as he tapped his claws on his belly. "Do you know what it looked like?" he asked.

I shook my head. "All I saw was it was red, silver, and black. Definitely a dark-type because I couldn't grab it and only knew it was there until I saw it."

There was a sudden knock on the door and we all stiffened and snapped our heads to the door. None of us wanted a repeat of last night and when I sensed Red's mother, I instantly felt relieved. Everyone else looked at me and I gave them a nod to let them know it was okay to open it this time. Without any more hesitation, Red went to the door and jumped when his mother stepped in quickly.

He was immediately smothered into a tight hug by her and I heard Venusaur chuckle as Red stumbled from the sudden weight but hugged her back despite his confusion. I kept the door open using Psychic; I didn't want the door to smash into Red or his mother's faces.

She chuckled as she looked up at him with a large smile, looking rather relaxed. "Good morning, Red!" she said. "I'm leaving for a wine tour so I expect you to behave until I get back. There's so many wineries to choose from, all over Unova! We should come here more often, Red, Unova has an excellent brewery nearby that I took a tour of yesterday—"

"Mom, what are you—" Red tried but gave up when she kept talking.

"—But I couldn't just pick one, so I bought three cases of different kinds! The girls and I will celebrate after the tournament is over though."

He blinked and looked up, only now noticing the two ladies standing behind the doorway. He waved meekly at them, looking embarrassed already.

His mother looked around his room, spotting the dishes in the sink and the dirty clothes draped over the back of the couch. "You know, I tell this kid to clean his room and look, he still doesn't do it. Even Blastoise tries to get him to clean."

Red's face was instantly flushed with embarrassment as Blastoise bobbed his head up and down and if given the chance, I knew Red would hide his face from everyone as the two women snickered from outside the door. I was surprised to see Cynthia and Diantha. They both seemed to be incredibly amused by their interaction and gave us kind smiles.

"Don't mind us, we are all heading out soon but she wanted to say goodbye until tonight," Diantha explained.

Red nodded once at her. I wasn't the only one grateful to know that she was in safe hands.

He then looked at his mother as she smiled at him again and then turned towards the two other champions and asked, "Did I tell you about the story of Machoke Man?"

"Mom, please don't," Red instantly begged, causing the ladies to laugh hard at his reaction. I smiled as Red's mother decided to continue to embarrass him in front of the other two.

"He was also obsessed over Digging with Diglett when he was a little kid."

"Oh, but that's such a cute kid's show, isn't it?" Cynthia said and smirked as Red's face grew, well, red.

"Or that his favorite pokemon was Clefairy?"

Red clearly felt humiliated, nearly pushing his mother out of his room. "Out!" he said, flustered as the women laughed and down the hall loudly.

"Get some sleep, honey, you look like you need it! And eat some breakfast! I'll know if you don't! None of that sugary crap!" I heard his mother tell him before the three ladies went into the elevator.

He groaned when he closed the door, rubbed his face, and shot a glare at the team as most of us laughed with his mother and the champions. He recalled most of the team, allowing them to sleep. When he looked at me, I shook my head. As tired as I was, I wanted to walk around for a while and didn't feel like sitting in my pokeball.

As we ate breakfast like she told us to in the cafeteria, Red was completely distracted by his thoughts, the look of full concentration on his face as he stared at his half-full plate. I didn't have to read his mind to know what he was thinking about. I glanced at Pikachu and he returned the worried glance, but we both looked up when we heard Red's name being called.

Blue and Ethan were suddenly on either side of him and he flinched their trays landed on the table. "You're easy to scare," Ethan teased with a grin as Red scowled. "What are you doing anyway? I called your name a few times and you were just staring at your food."

"He was staring at his food because he didn't want to look at your ugly mug," Blue teased as he stabbed his fork into a piece of cantaloupe.

"I am not ugly. Everyone loves this face!" Ethan winked. "That's why I get so many phone numbers."

"Phone numbers from who? Little old ladies, that want someone to mow their lawn?"

"No!"

Red narrowed his eyes at them as he slowly grew irritated. Not wanting to risk getting Thundershock from Pikachu so early in the morning, both stopped their argument to begin eating. "I saw your mom head out with Cynthia and Diantha, by the way," Blue stated and Red groaned, nodding once and Blue grinned. "Did she start telling them stories?"

"More than one, I hope!" Ethan added with a smile of his own.

Pikachu snickered from beside me. He was certainly happy to hear more stories of our trainer's childhood. I believed that if he had a notebook full of Red's most embarrassing moments and every story his mother told, he would fill the pages with as much content as he could get.

I saw White enter the dining hall, however, she abandoned her brother to sit at the table with us, letting him wander off to sit with Iris, Rosa, and Nate as they wandered in with sleep still in their eyes. She grinned mischievously. "Your mom is really, really nice. She told me you used to run around outside with just your underwear on and a blanket to pretend you were flying," she said and Red groaned again, this time loudly as he dropped the fork to rub his face. She laughed with Blue and Ethan. "She said like three times that you used to call yourself Machoke Man or something, too."

I hadn't meant to, but I heard his thoughts say, Arceus, Mom will never let that up, will she?

"Nope. But we all think it's a good story," I answered and smiled as he rolled his eyes.

As Blue, Ethan, and White talked amongst themselves, I felt the slight change in his mind, causing me to lose the smile. I know it's bothering you too.

He was right. I was still bothered by the fact something had been watching us. I sighed, glancing at my bowl again. At this point, O.G.A.D. could wait. Something stalking us took precedence over any dating operations. "Maybe it's a pokemon native to this region. Ask White to see her pokedex, maybe she has something scanned in it that will tell us something," I answered.

He glanced at me and then at White, who stopped talking to blink as he asked seriously, "Can I see your pokedex?"

She slowly nodded and said, "My pokedex? Um… sure, I guess."

Blue was staring at Red with disbelief, shocked he would say even one word to someone he barely knew. Ethan was likewise startled but he said nothing about it as White handed Red the pokedex.

"Can I ask why you need it?"

Red didn't answer her and allowed me to jump into his lap so he could flip through the entries. There were so many new pokemon it boggled my mind, but I squinted suddenly when I recognized a couple of entries. While it could have been either one, the taller one was the most likely suspect since it stood taller than its pre-evolution.

He read the details, then handed it back to White, who was still confused along with the other two. Ethan leaned over to peer at it. "Bisharp? That looks like a really cool pokemon, but why that one?" he asked and looked at Red as he frowned, looking at me as I nodded once. "What? Hey, Red, where are you going?"

Red had gotten up and left his mostly-full tray while Pikachu and I followed him out the door with Blue running after him with Ethan not too far behind. "Red, what happened? You usually don't act like this unless something happened," Blue said as Ethan stopped beside them.

"There was a pokemon that was watching us," I explained for him as White came over as well, and naturally her brother followed with concern. "We didn't know what it was, but now we know it was a Bisharp."

"Why would it watch you?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

Black frowned deeply and looked at White. They seemed paler than normal and I felt a pit in my stomach grow. That wasn't a good sign.

"Probably because of us," White said softly and we all looked at her with confusion.

"Why would it watch Red because of you two?" Blue wondered.

White was frowning, her face dead serious as she shifted uncomfortably and silently.

Black was the one who spoke up. "Have you ever heard of Team Plasma?"