As it turns out, Dawn and Nate didn't go far from the docks, as I find the latter watching over the former while she rests her back against the first house at the top of the stairs, head lowered with her eyes focused on her boots as she takes unsteady breaths. I reach them as quickly as I can.

"Are you two alright?"

Nate instantly turns to me. Dawn's gaze stays lowered.

"I'm fine," Nate replies, before his brow furrows in worry. "But Miss Hikari-"

"I'll be fine," Dawn chimes in, without looking up to us. "I just...I need a moment."

After she says that, Nate and I both just watch as she keeps looking down at her feet. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it isn't just a moment that she spends like that, but longer. I don't know exactly how long the three of us stay there without doing anything, but I do know it's quite a bit.

Ultimately, I decide I need to step in.

I approach Dawn, ignoring Nate's pleas of not doing it. I reach with my hand beneath her chin and gently lift her head up with my index. Her pretty blue eyes are now reddened and full of sorrow.

"Want to talk about it?" I ask her.

"I just…" She gulps. "I shouldn't be snapping like this. But I…"

"You have every right to be angry," I cut her off. "The wound is still fresh. And no one - knowing or not - has a right to make fun of it."

A tear slips down from the side of Dawn's eye. "I miss them," she sobs. "You know that, don't you?"

"I can imagine," I confirm. "I don't know how I'd handle it if someone kidnapped Annette, or Seteth or Leonie. But I suspect I wouldn't handle it any better than you are. Heck, I most likely would handle it worse."

With a suddenness that takes me by surprise, Dawn rushes at me and wraps her arms around me into a tight hug, almost making me lose my balance in the process. Her head then comes to rest on my shoulder as she lets out her tears.

I don't stop her. I just return her hug. All under Nate's widened eyes.

It takes Dawn quite a while before she manages to calm herself, but thankfully she eventually manages to calm down and let go of me.

"Thank you," she tells me as she clears her eyes of the last tears.

I nod to her. "Any time."

After that little exchange, the three of us head for the nearest Pokémon Center, intent on booking rooms before we decide on how to proceed with Tabitha.

However, when we say our names at the reception, there turns out to be a surprise for us.

"Excuse me, can you repeat your names?" the receptionist asks, eyes widened in surprise.

I arch an eyebrow. Dawn frowns. Nate winces. All three of us still repeat our names.

"Aaaaah, I see, I see, so it's you," the receptionist replies, all while nodding in understanding to something we don't get. She then gives each of us a key as she smiles at us. "Your friend Mister Wes said you were coming and already booked rooms for you all."

...who?

"Uh…" Nate intervenes, turning to Dawn and me. "Do you two know who she's talking about?"

I shake my head. "Never heard before."

Dawn is right after me. "I may have met a few people with that name over the years, but none that I would call my 'friend'." Her brow furrows right after she says it. "Although…"

She turns back to the receptionist, still frowning. "Does this 'Mister Wes' have a surname? What does he look like?"

The receptionist is visibly taken aback by that question. "Uhm…" she hesitantly says. "Tall, tanned, beige hair and orange eyes. As for his surname...I'm afraid he didn't give one."

A guy can seriously book rooms without giving a full name in this world?

"With a white tattoo over here?" Dawn asks while pointing over the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, that's right!" the receptionist replies. And Dawn bites her lips at that reply.

"You know who this guy could be?" I then ask her.

"I may have an idea," she admits as she turns to me. "I don't know the specifics, but I remember hearing of a trainer matching that description that was active in the Orre region over a decade ago."

"Bingo. You got me."

The three of us instantly turn to the voice coming from behind us. It turns out to be a man wearing a blue cloak, sporting some kind of visor over his head and matching the description of this 'Wes', arms crossed and eyes set in a scowl.

"My apologies for this little surprise, you three," he starts. "Was hoping to catch you at the docks, but I got busy with another matter."

I furrow my brow and my hand goes to my Poké Balls. Dawn and Nate don't do the same, but I can see the perplexed and worried look they regard this Wes with respectively.

"Who exactly are you and what do you want with us?" I ask.

His mouth twists into a small smirk. "The name's Wes. Weren't you paying attention?"

My frown deepens.

Wes clicks his tongue. "You should try to laugh some more, buddy. The frowning lines will only make you look older."

Oh, we've got a wisecracker here, huh?

"But anyway," he says before I can voice any reply, his smirk now gone. He nudges toward Dawn. "As she said, I'm a fellow trainer. I'd heard you were coming to Virbank, and since I was already here, I thought I'd take the chance to meet you."

I can not begin to list the number of fishy things with that statement. Dawn, however, is the first to voice the most obvious.

"Who told you?"

Wes massages his left wrist. "Sorry, that's confidential information. I am willing to share it, but not with her around."

As he says that, he nudges once again, this time to the receptionist, who looks utterly uncomfortable with what's happening in front of her.

"I've got a room of my own," Wes continues. "We can talk freely there."

I turned my perplexed look to Dawn and Nate. Dawn's gaze matches my own. Nate just looks uncomfortable.

Dawn ultimately nods. "Let's do it."

I nod back. "Very well." I turn to Wes. "Lead the way."

"Good," is all the acknowledgement he gives my words before he uncrosses his arms.

Without uttering another word, Wes heads straight for the elevator, our group hot on his tail. And as we enter said elevator, get to the third floor and walk over to his room, not one of us four utters another word. If Wes feels anything about the looks we three throw his way now and again, his stoic face hides it all.

If there were any doubt this guy is actually a trainer, it's quickly dispelled when Wes opens the door to his (very regular) room and there are an Espeon and an Umbreon sleeping on the bed. The two are then woken up by a whistle from their trainer and lazily raise their heads to him.

"Sorry, guys," Wes tells the two. "I've got guests. And not that many other options for seats."

Both Pokémon tilt their heads to us. The Espeon narrows its eyes. The Umbreon yawns at us. Both ultimately get up and jump from the bed to the one sofa in the room. And then they lay down again.

Wes nods to them. "Good boys." He then turns to us and nudges to the bed. "Sit."

One at a time, we follow that instruction and sit down on the bed. As we do that, Wes leans his back against the wall near the door and crosses his arms, his eyes kept on us.

"Now," he starts. "As you may have guessed, I'm not a simple trainer."

"Yes, I've heard," Dawn says, causing Nate and I to glance at her. "Something about a group called Cipher?"

Who?

"That's old history, lady," Wes replies. "Nowadays I'm just a private investigator. One whose current client is concerned about your latest actions."

Huh?

"Good idea asking the Hymerlay girl instead of Professor Juniper. However, you should have told her not to talk to the Professor about it. Otherwise, Juniper wouldn't have called the International Police agent that had already visited her to denounce you."

What?!

"What are you talking about?" Dawn replies, far more calmly than I'm feeling.

Wes smirks. "For once, the International Police was smart and decided to send an agent to question the Professor about trainers she was sponsoring. An agent that - upon hearing someone that claimed to be Dawn Hikari had shown up near Nuvema - looked into the Relic Castle incident, put two and two together and, rather than dispatch for your arrest, called yours truly."

Uh-oh.

"So, are you here to tell us to back off?" Dawn responds.

Wes lets out a derisive scoff. "That would miss the point of calling me, wouldn't it?" He then shakes his head. "No, no, no, that's not why I'm here. I'm here because this agent is interested in working with you rather than against you."

I frown. "First the International Police decides to cut ties with us and fire her," I nudge to Dawn, "and now they want to work with us again?"

"See, that's the thing," Wes replies. "It's not the International Police as a whole. It's just this one agent." He narrows his eyes at Dawn. "Who is risking a lot by covering the fact you are still getting involved in this Plasma mess. A good thing he's the kind of good samaritan who empathizes with people that got their Pokémon stolen, isn't it?"

Is he? Or is that just what he wants us to think?

"Does this agent have a name?" Dawn instantly rebukes. "Is he someone I should know?"

Wes shrugs. "I doubt his codename - that's Catcher, by the way - means anything to you. And I don't know his real name either."

The blue-coated guy pauses and glances at each of us with a neutral look. He then continues. "So what do you say? Work together or work separately, possibly getting in each other's way?"

Nate and I both look at Dawn, who is biting her lips in thought.

"What should we do, Miss Hikari?" Nate asks her.

"The support of an agent of the International Police would solve the problem of how to protect Rosa," Dawn admits. "And if he's truly covering our activities, we owe him." She looks up to Wes. "But I'm concerned with how much freedom he'll let us operate with."

"That is between you and him," Wes replies dismissively. "I'm just the messenger, I'm not privy to details."

"Including the details on whether he'll sell us out to the International Police when we're done with Team Plasma?" I ask him, causing Dawn and Nate to look at me concernedly.

The beige-haired man widens his eyes for what feels like the first time since I've met him. But that only lasts a moment, as he soon closes his eyes, shakes his head and lets out an amused snort.

"My, but you are mistrustful, aren't you?" he tells me amusedly. Which only serves to make me scowl at him.

He then returns serious. "But anyways, no, I can vouch he won't do that."

I arch an eyebrow. "Because he told you?"

"Because if he did he'd be ass-deep in trouble as well. We can agree that doesn't sound good for him, can't we?"

...ok, I suppose he has a point.

"So, what do you say?" Wes continues. "In or out?"

Dawn, Nate and I look at each other again. Nate and I both shrug. Which leaves Dawn as the one to answer.

"In."

A smirk spreads over Wes' face. "Excellent. In that case, first things first." He uncrosses his arms and places his hands on his hips. "What do you want to know?"

Nate intervenes before Dawn or I can. "Is Miss Whitley safe?" he asks, anxiety easy to notice in his voice.

"Oh, she's perfectly fine, don't you worry," Wes replies nonchalantly. "The assistant Professor Juniper sent to meet the girl has been keeping an eye on her ever since arriving. As has Gym leader Cheren. Not to mention a Dark-types specialist that is on her way to Aspertia to aid right now."

A Dark-types specialist? "Who is she?"

"No one that is particularly famous, so I doubt you've ever heard of her," Wes replies, stirring irritation in me. "But I know enough of her background to tell you she's trustworthy."

This partnership is really off to a good start already.

"Next?"

"When," Dawn intervenes, "did the International Police contact Professor Juniper?"

"Right after they fired you." Dawn frowns at that reply. "They knew the Whitley kid could be a target, so they acted with what they knew." Wes then turns to me. "And you? Any questions?"

Only one I can think of. "There's you and your boss, there's Bianca, there's Cheren and there's this Dark-types specialist. Who else is involved?"

"You mean besides the three of you now? That's pretty much it."

"And their other targets?" Dawn chimes back in. "The PWT and Opelucid?"

"They are being kept under watch as well. But due to the change of circumstances," Wes bites his lips, "they have not been deemed as important as this right now."

God-fucking dammit. "Please tell me at least the Giant Chasm is secure."

"Oh, that it is." Wes reassures. "They are not so stupid as to leave a giant world-freezing dragon for the taking."

I let out an internal sigh of relief. At least there's that.

Wes gets off the wall and then spreads out his arms. "Anything else?"

No one answers him.

"Okay, my turn then." He walks over to me. "Any other information you didn't share with the cops, Mister Faller?"

I wince at the name. "First of all, don't call me that."

Wes shrugs. "Duly noted."

As if I needed another reason to regret calling Nate 'boy'.

"And second of all, no. I told them everything I know already. If your boss hopes I'll have something more for him-"

"No, no, no," he cuts me off. "This was all just my personal curiosity."

Son of a…

He then moves over to Dawn. "And you, Ex-Cop? I'm assuming you're the leader of this trio. Have you learned anything new?"

...Ex-Cop?

Dawn doesn't look any more pleased at the nickname than I was at 'Mister Faller'. Unlike me, though, she decides to ignore it and just answer. "We were following a lead on a potential other member of Team Plasma. Do you know who Tabitha Harlan is?"

Wes frowns. "Yeah, what about him?"

"We believe he is here in Virbank under a false name. That of the Terra Foundation's Mister Ottavio."

Wes' following derisive snort irks me even more. "That butter ball? Seriously? Do you have any proof at least?"

Dawn remains unfazed by that reaction. She even smirks before retorting. "Is the word of Hoenn's Champion Brendan enough?"

The amusement leaves Wes' face. "Okay, that's pretty good proof. That is, proof that he is Tabitha. But how do you know he's with Team Plasma?"

"A lieutenant of a criminal organization that has been on the run for a decade just so happens to show up in Unova right after another lieutenant of another criminal organization did?" she shakes her head. "This can't be a coincidence."

Wes takes a pause before weakly replying, "That it can't."

Why is he so meek all of a sudden?

"Either way," he clears his throat. Some of his bravado returns to his voice, but not as much. "How were you planning to handle him?"

Dawn is unable to formulate a reply. And so am I.

"Well," Nate intervenes. "Since the Terra Foundation was looking for trainers to sponsor and I don't have one, we were arranging a meeting with Tabitha."

Wes arches an eyebrow at him. "And then?"

Nate fidgets at that question. "Well, we...uh…"

Wes starts clicking his tongue, but Dawn cuts him off before he can get in more than one click.

"I was hoping that by asking him a few questions, we could have found holes in whatever cover story he's made for himself and then present our suspicions to the local authorities. Just enough to get him investigated."

Wes takes another pause at that. "And if you had, how were you hoping to prove if he was working with Team Plasma? Once in custody, he could easily claim to have no affiliation with them."

Once more, Dawn can offer no answer.

"That is, unless you can associate him with Team Plasma's activities here."

Huh? "What do you mean?"

"There's been a growing problem with poachers in the past two weeks on the peninsula," he explains.

Poachers?

"I don't have the means to prove it, but the timing makes me think we may be dealing with Team Plasma trying to gather Pokémon to use against us. So far, they've been able to escape the authorities. And a potential prominent figure working for them might explain how they managed to evade capture so far."

Another pause follows his statement. This time on our part. And it lasts for a while before Dawn and I break it with basically the same question.

"What do you suggest we do?"

After Wes is done explaining his plan to us, we each go to our respective rooms, which just so happen to be on the same floor as his. Clever scoundrel.

Anyway, after I've set down my stuff, I go back down and buy some food for my Pokémon. And when I'm back, I call all three of them out and set their snacks for them. And while they're busy munching, I decide to take a shower.

While I'm in the middle of it, though, I manage to hear something past the sound of the water.

"Hera! Hera cros!"

"Mara!"

"Sig!"

"Ra!"

Ugh, what are those three arguing about now?

I turn off the water, grab a towel, use it to hastily clean myself up and wrap it around my waist.

I then walk out of the bathroom. "What's going on he-?"

To my utter shock and horror, there is Dawn inside my room, without her usual hat and trenchcoat.

When I first see her, she's looking at my Pokémon. Then, as she hears me, she turns to me. Her eyes widen before trailing off to my chest. My bare chubby chest.

"Uhm…" she says, blushing and smiling embarrassedly as her eyes turn back to mine. "Hi?"

My brain stops working right that instant. One moment, I'm standing in front of Dawn, the next I'm back in the bathroom, my back resting on the shut door and my breath unsteady.

Okay, okay, let's calm down. Dawn just saw me almost naked, no biggie. I'll just get dressed again and walk out like nothing happened. Surely, Dawn will do the same, right?

Yeah, of course she will. It's totally an every day event seeing a chubby guy walk out of the bathroom with a towel as his only decency. Definitely not something she'll keep thinking about.

Goddammit…

I do the getting dressed part. That is as much of the plan as I manage to accomplish. My breathing is still partially irregular and, looking in the mirror, my face is almost red like a tomato.

It takes me a couple of deep breaths before I can actually walk out of the bathroom. And when I do, I find Dawn sitting on the sofa, eyes laser-focused on her boots.

Annette, Seteth and Leonie are standing in another corner of the room, as distant from her as possible, but still keeping an eye on her.

I will have to find a proper way to thank them later.

It is only when I walk over to the bed and sit on the corner right in front of the sofa that Dawn looks up to me. And reveals she's blushing about as much as I am.

"Sorry," the bluenette gulps. "I…didn't mean to-"

Oh, boy, we're doing this?

"How did you get in here?" I cut her off before it can get uncomfortable. "The door was closed."

"Leonie opened it for me."

I glance at the Heracross in question. That glance turns into a glare when I see her wrapping her arms behind her back and looking away from me, mouth set into an embarrassed grimace.

I then massage the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. "Can we agree not to talk about this ever again?"

The fact Dawn glances down to my chest again instead of just answering concerns me a lot. That concern, though, is quickly dispelled when she shakes her head and then looks at my face again.

"Agreed."

Good, good. No need to remind her how chubby I am.

…what sort of thinking is going through my head?

"Aaaaanyway," I intervene before this gets any more awkward. "What did you come for? Did you need something?"

Her face instantly returns to her normal color. "Yes, actually. I wanted to ask if you noticed something about Wes too."

I can not thank whoever is responsible for this change of topic enough.

"You mean how he acted when we mentioned Tabitha?" I tell her.

Dawn nods, her brow furrowing. "And not just that, but also the fact he didn't bring up these poachers he claims could be working for Team Plasma sooner."

I frown as well, "You think he's setting us on a wild goose chase?"

She looks at me confusedly. "What's a goose?"

Good job, me.

"It's not important," I tell her. "What I'm saying is, do you think the poachers are a false lead he's setting us on?"

"No," she replies. "No, I don't think that. But I have a feeling there's something about Tabitha he's not telling us. I'm not sure what, though."

That's…a concerning possibility. "What do you want to do about it?"

The bluenette shrugs. "For now, we have to stick with what he's told us and hope we can figure out the truth." She then smiles at me. "But thank you for hearing me out."

I smile back and nod. "Any time."

After that exchange Dawn stands up and walks over to the door. But after opening she lingers by it, giving no sign of moving.

"Is there something else?"

She doesn't turn, making it impossible to see what her expression is. And her following words betray no emotion. "This might be a strange question, but…what was up with that gesture earlier?"

Uh? "What gesture?"

"Before we came to the Center. When you were trying to console me. What was up with that gesture with your finger?"

Oh! Uh, I…

"I don't know," is all I can tell her. "It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment."

"I…see," she replies. "Well, uh…good night."

She leaves and softly closes the door behind her.

What's up with her all of a sudden?

"Ra!"

Annette's sudden cheer takes me by surprise. And turning to her, I find her smiling broadly at me with her arms stretched out, each hand with one of her spike-fingers pointing upward. Almost like she's giving me thumbs up.

At her sides, Leonie is looking at me confusedly and Seteth has one of his lower eyes widened.

"What?" I ask them.

Seteth picks up the notebook and pen.

I am not familiar with the proper terminology, so apologies

But do you seek to mate with her?

WHAT?!

"Whoa, slow down, you three," I tell them. "I don't think of her like that."

Annette lowers her arms and drops her smile. "Ra?"

"I mean, sure she's beautiful, a caring person and a good friend, but I just…don't…"

Well, shit.

[Wes]

Come on, kid, answer.

"Hello?" Michael's voice says as the redhead finally appears on the screen of my computer.

"Oh, good," I huff out. "Took your time."

"Sorry, about that," he chuckles as he nervously rubs the back of his head. "Things here in Driftveil are a bit hectic."

Yeah, I can imagine. "Did you manage to get the PWT called off?"

"If only," he sighs. "And you? Did you meet Hikari and her group?"

"Oh, I have," I reply. "And I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Michael massages the bridge of his nose. "I could use some good news right about now."

Don't we all.

"Well, they've agreed to work with me. And I've found a potential bodyguard for the Whitley girl."

His face brightens up at that. "Really? Who?"

"An obscure Dark-types specialist from Galar. A pretty good one."

Not the friendliest, but that's not important.

"Excellent," Michael tells me before the corners of his mouth drop. "And the bad news?"

"Hikari and her gig know about Tabitha," I groan out. "And they think he's in league with Team Plasma."

The redhead's eyes widen. "Uhm…did you tell them…?"

"No," I reply. "For now, they think I'm helping them expose him. But I'm actually gonna use their help to catch the Pinchers. That should clear Tabitha of any connection with those Plasma bastards."

Michael hesitates before asking, "And if it turns out you're wrong and he actually is in league with them?"

"He's not," I retort. "Trust me, this is my field of expertise. Not yours."

"Okay," he replies half-heartedly. "Then you have this under control?"

I smirk at him. "Absolutely."

Michael opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, the sound of knocking comes from his end.

"Alright, let me know if anything changes," he sighs. "Now excuse me, but I've got a Gym leader to meet with."

I let a small chuckle come out of my mouth. "Have fun with that," I tell him before ending the call.

And thus, our trio of characters meets Wes as well. He's been a fun character to write so far, and you guys can expect to see quite a bit of him for the next chapters. Hope you'll enjoy him.

Ah, and yes. That is happening.

Also, if anyone is curious, there will be no mention of the new Pokémon introduced for Pokémon Legends: Arceus. We have too little information about them at the time I'm writing this, and I don't want to put Underdogs on a 5+ months hiatus just for them. Hope you understand.

Thanks to Softandhappy for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you all next time!