"Zaveid," Rosa commanded calmly, her tone laced with steel, "Use Aqua Jet."

"Golbat, watch out!"

The mammoth-sized sea lion, who was already wound tight as a wire from a long afternoon of battling, howled maniacally and lunged forward, baring his needle-sharp teeth. Rosa was aware of the overly excited air about him – of the way his iron eyes glinted with zealous fire, fierce and full of blood lust – but she did nothing to squash it. She was wound up too. The heat of battle licked at her insides, fueling the crazed rage she was in. Pokémon battles always soothed her. They required focus, which was exactly what she needed.

But this battle was too easy.

Moisture gathered from the humid, beachy air, enveloping Zaveid's body in a whirlpool. He ducked his head forward, and with a burst of speed, ricocheted across the beach toward his opponent. Gobat's eyes widened and he flapped his velvet wings to gain altitude beyond his opponent's reach, but the damage was already done. Zaveid slammed into him, and the force of the blow knocked the bat out of the air and onto his side in the sand.

"Razor shell."

There was no hesitation. Zaveid ripped the handle-shaped shell from the sheath on his leg and gleefully approached his struggling enemy. The blue smolder of the spirit sword glowed from the handle, burning with electric sparks that crackled and rippled up the weapon's spine. Grinning triumphantly, Zaveid brought the sword down on Golbat's head, and the Pokémon lost consciousness.

Rosa pulled Zaveid's pokeball from her belt and recalled him, a grim smile on her face. The battle was over. Golbat's trainer was finished. And she still didn't feel better.

"Don't worry Zaveid," She said scornfully, reattaching the ball in place next to the others. "We'll find someone worth our time."

Golbat's trainer, a long-legged beach dweller with a killer tan and a bikini too small for her bust, withdrew her Pokémon with a disgusted humph.

"You didn't have to go so hard on him." She complained, her voice nasally like she was fighting a cold. "We were already as good as finished. Do you always battle so seriously? It's like you and your Pokémon are possessed or something."

Rosa squared her shoulders to retort something rude, but the woman was already walking away, her hips swaying as her sun-kissed hair flowed behind her. She was headed back to Undella town, it looked like. Probably to find somewhere more peaceful to swim.

Blood boiling, Rosa clenched her fists and stalked away, ready to find another victim. She'd won the battle, but the swimmer's parting words almost made it feel like a loss. She wasn't going too hard on her opponents, they weren't strong enough. And she was not possessed.

She was worried.

Although to the long stream of trainers she'd crushed that morning, it probably looked like the same thing.

She'd arrived in Undella Town the previous morning, her anxiety high from another day of not hearing from Hugh. It would likely be a few days before she heard back from Curtis – though she was troubled by that as well – so she'd started a more thorough search for her friend, starting with a forbidden phone call to his mother.

Regina Heu hadn't taken it well. Apparently her son rarely called, because not only had Hugh not contacted her, she hadn't even known he was missing. Rosa almost felt bad for telling her, as the fragile woman had immediately gone into a fit of hysteria.

"My baby boy is gone?!"

"Well I can't say that for sure Mrs. Heu, but I haven't heard from him in a long time and-"

"Rosa Whitley Mei, how dare you hide this from me? Why haven't you called the police? My precious baby is missing. The entire region should already be searching for him! I knew I shouldn't have let him leave home. He could be starving, or cold, or dead. My sweet baby . . ."

Evidently she'd taken it upon herself to call the cops, because within a half hour, a pair of officers had caught Rosa in the Pokémon center and taken her in for questioning. The rest of her day was spent at the police station, trying to persuade the deaf sheriff that Team Plasma had returned to Unova.

That hadn't gone well either. According to police, the Plasma members she'd run into were "stragglers" who "weren't an actual threat to Unova or its citizens", and Hugh was "probably training in a cave somewhere."

What a joke. No wonder Ghetsis nearly took over the Pokémon League.

"Hey, you!" Rosa barked, catching the eye of a jogger and his Togekiss leaving footprints in the sand by the water. "I want a battle. Oh no, there's no running off! Get your fit butt back here!"

Her wrist buzzed. The change didn't register at first - Rosa was too busy stomping over to her next target so he couldn't escape - but then she was frantically pounding the answer button and shooing away the bewildered jogger with an aggressive jerk of her head.

It wasn't Hugh, but it was the next best thing.

"Thank goodness." Rosa exhaled, relief pulling at her as Curtis's familiar features flashed across her xtransceiver. Even if he didn't have a lead, at least he could distract her from thoughts for a couple minutes. "Please tell me you've got something."

There were bruise-like circles under his eyes, like someone had swiped purple eyeshadow across the bones. Had he not been sleeping well?

"Well," Curtis said slowly, his intense eyes tight, "Maybe."

Finally!

Rosa started to smile, but Curtis cut her off with a shake of his head. "Don't get too excited yet. I've managed to get in contact with Professor Rowan – he's the one who gives out starter Pokémon here in Sinnoh – but he specializes in evolution, not legendaries. It's possible he doesn't know anything at all, but he's agreed to meet with me tomorrow after I'm off work. It isn't a great lead, but its something."

No wonder he looked so exhausted. He'd been helping her in between shifts. "Curtis, I'm so sorry. I know you're super busy, and I swear I'd have never asked if it wasn't important-"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Rosa's brow creased. "What?"

"You know what. About Team Plasma returning to Unova. Why didn't you tell me?"

Her heart sunk like an anchor as a wave of guilt flushed the color from her skin. Despite the warmth of the sun shimmering against the sand on the beach, she suddenly felt cold. She'd told him almost everything when she'd called him from the strange house. Wasn't that enough?

"I did tell you. You know everything I do now." Okay, she'd left out some of the more graphic details, but he didn't need to know everything.

Curtis's expression turned stony and he shook his head. Some lime-tipped hair fell in his eyes, but it didn't lessen the weight of his accusing stare. "I meant before, Rosa. We've been talking for months, but you only mentioned Plasma once. One time. And then you hung up on me. But I've been doing a lot of research these last few days, and now all I really want to know is what in Arceus's name you were thinking.

"Don't you think I deserved to know?" He asked, bitterness turning his voice almost inaudible. The betrayal she heard there stung. "You're not the only one with family in Unova. My mom, my brother Levi, Sophie! They've all been in danger this entire time, and you never told me."

"Now that's not fair." Rosa said, finding her voice through his resentment. "We hardly knew each other; we weren't even friends at the time. I didn't want you involved in something I barely knew about myself. I didn't understand how dangerous they were-"

"That is a lie!" Curtis's face disappeared from view from a second, but from the side shot that followed, she knew it was because he'd jumped to his feet. "You knew exactly what they were! Every phone call, every message; you always played it off, but you've been anxious about Team Plasma since the beginning. You kept it all to yourself!"

"It wasn't your fight!"

"But it suddenly is now, because you need my help with something? What kind of selfish crap is that? You let people in when you need to use them, is that it?"

She dropped her wrist away from her face, unable to look at his fierce expression any longer. Dread doused Rosa's guilt: although she wanted to argue, she had no real claim against him. Curtis was right. She'd been selfish. She'd been frightened.

And now, she'd been caught.

"You don't know anything." She finally managed, though she kept the xtransceiver hanging like a dead thing at her side. "Do you think I've enjoyed dealing with them? That I've liked hiding this from you? I've been trapped in this hell for months. One minute I'm training for gym battles like everyone else, and the next my best friend's Pidove is dead, Aspertia's been attacked, my records are missing, and the champion of Unova is gone! I don't know what Team Plasma is planning, or why they seem to care about me. I don't know anything about Arceus, or that stupid guardian Pokémon that's apparently important. The region I love is in danger. That's all I've got. So with that in mind, what would you have had me do differently, Curtis? Tell me what I should have done, and I'll take it all back. Because I'm making this up as I go along. I'm just trying to minimize the casualties!"

"I love Unova too, Rosa." Curtis retorted angrily. "Why doesn't that make me solely responsible, as you seem to think it makes you? No one died and made you hero. That isn't how this works!"

"Because I don't want you getting hurt, alright?" She shouted, her own anger coming to her defense. Her nails were biting moons into her palms, but she couldn't loosen her hands enough to relieve the pressure. "Hugh is already missing, and as far as I know, Plasma has him! What am I supposed to do if they get you too, huh? Especially knowing I'm the one who dragged you into it. You're supposed to be the random guy I gave an xtranciever back too, not a friend I pulled into war. I was trying to spare you pain, Curtis! And in the end I forced you into it anyway."

She was losing steam now. Rosa exhaled and crossed her arms against her chest, trying to steady her breathing. It had been wrong to ask Curtis for help. But she needed it. She needed help so bad.

"If you're going to be mad at me for anything, be mad at me for that. I shouldn't have told you anything in the first place. You could have lived in ignorant bliss forever, if I stopped Plasma before they caused too much damage." She ran a stressed hand through her hair, tugging at the tangles hanging from the ends. "But I'll admit it: I was - am desperate. I need you. That's why I told you anything. It was selfish, but there it is.

"I won't apologize for trying to keep you safe, though. Screw that. Screw you."

A Wingull passed through the sky overhead, drawing Rosa's attention. She watched it loop and whirl over the ocean waves, searching for a fish Pokemon to munch on. The sight didn't soothe her, as bird watching had when she was young. There was too much to worry about. Too many things going wrong.

She heard Curtis draw a steady breath. He'd been quite for a few beats, waiting out her outburst, but then he broke the heated silence. "Rosa, look at me."

"No."

"Come on."

"No!"

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn? How am I supposed to properly argue with you if I can't see your face?"

Rosa stood there for a long time, considering the best way to hang up without him seeing her do it, before she sighed and jerked the xtransceiver back up towards her eyes. "What?" She snarled.

"Are you finished pouting?"

"Are you?" She jabbed, her gaze snapping to meet his projection on the screen.

The anger in his emerald eyes had evaporated. There were crinkles fanning out around the edges of his eyelids, effectively erasing the hard expression he'd worn, and a tiny smile tugged at his mouth.

He was Curtis again, unreasonable compassion and all. The veil of forgiveness took the edge off her own fury, but she didn't know if she wanted his mercy. Or deserved it.

"You're a good person, Rosa." Curtis said, peering away from her at something out of view, despite his previous insistence on seeing her face. "I've always known that. Even when you drive me nuts, which is often. I won't pretend I'm not upset, but I already knew you were just trying to protect me. What I've been trying to say is that I don't need your protection. I'm not a trainer like you, but I can handle the truth. It isn't your job to save Unova. Especially not by yourself."

He looked back up to meet her stare. "So here's my deal: if you want my help in finding information, you have to swear that you'll stop hiding things from me. No more lies. No more secrets. If I ask you to tell me what's wrong, I expect the truth.

"Oh, and I especially won't put up with anymore 'I can handle this myself' nonsense. One person against an army is a death sentence. And if you think you can take Team Plasma down alone, you're kidding yourself."

Rosa kicked at the sand, his words piercing her like scalding knives. Why did he have to be right? It would be so much easier to reason against him if his point didn't make sense.

"I'm not fighting them alone. I've got my Pokémon with me." And Hugh, when she found him again.

His expression didn't change. "Promise me. Or I'm out."

"Curtis-"

"Rosa."

She rubbed at her eyelids, suddenly feeling very tired. It had been a long, emotional morning, and she was done arguing with him. The truth about Plasma was out. Curtis was in neck deep, and even if she didn't agree to his terms, he'd probably join the hunt anyway.

She'd signed his life away when she'd called him at the strange house. Her choice had already been made.

"Fine! Just . . . fine. You wanna throw yourself to the dogs? Go ahead. I don't care. It's none of my business. I want my information, that's all. So if something happens and this ends badly, you only have yourself to blame. Got it?"

Lies, but he nodded, appearing satisfied. "I can live with that."

His words made her inwardly flinch. She just bobbed her head with him anyway, like she was content too. She'd thrown herself into this cause for the same reasons he wanted too. Her family. Her friends. Her region. She couldn't blame him for that.

But if their future encounters with Team Plasma were anything similar to the ones she'd already faced, she didn't know if he could live through this.

And that was something she didn't know if she could live with.

Hey guys! Another late one for you, with more dialogue than action. But as I was writing this chapter, trying to follow my original sketch of what was supposed to happen, my characters told me they fought in this scene. So there it is. They like to run the show sometimes. *shrugs* It's a bit short as well, but what happens next needs its own chapter, so I cut this one short to allow for more wiggle room next time. I hope you guys enjoyed. Have a great week!