Everything felt normal. Or should I say...everything was normal.

As Bettie was talking to Scottie, Hilbert came in with a concerned look. Scottie noticed it. "Hey, Hilbert. What's wrong?" Hilbert walked closer to Bettie and Scottie. "Well...um..." He points at a poster in a wall. They looked at the poster as they inspected it closely.

It's a missing poster.

Wait...the person on the poster...

It's Cheren!

Bettie and Scottie was shocked. "Cheren's missing?!" Bettie said, shocked. "So is his Stoutland!" Scottie said after reading the poster closely. Hilbert nodded as he swallowed the urge to cry. All he wanted was his childhood friend to be at least. He felt worried for his friend.

"I wonder...is there anyone looking for him?" Bettie asked to Hilbert. Hilbert shrugged as he didn't know the answer to that. Scottie looked at the missing poster again to see if it said where Cheren was last seen. The poster said that Cheren was last seen in the city and that he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Suddenly, the doors to the Pokemon Center opened. Scottie, Bettie, and Hilbert turned to look at who came. Their eyes widened when they saw who it was. It was none other than the prince going on king of Pasio, Lear. In addition, Rachel and Sawyer was with him. However, all three of them seemed to have worried looks.

"Prince Lear...?" Hilbert asked, confused. Lear was looking around as if he was looking for someone. Was he looking for Cheren by any chance? When his eyes met the trio standing, he immediately began walking towards them. Rachel and Sawyer followed behind him. Hilbert clutched onto the strap of his bag in fear. Bettie and Scottie held each other as the twins also felt fear.

Lear was probably gonna talk shit to them again...

Once Lear approached them, he was still silent. Bettie looked at him with a irritated look. "What do you want now, Lear?" She asked as her voice began filled with hostility. Yes, she hated Lear very deeply. He talked crap about Scottie and his Pikachu and Bettie got very pissed off at him. Scottie held onto his older twin sister's right arm tightly. When it came to his perspective of Lear, Scottie felt scared.

He always felt fear when it came to Lear. When he sees Lear, he hides. When someone talks about Lear, he immediately tries to get rid of the subject. Lear growled at the hostility. "Well, I'm sorry." He replied with the same hostility. Bettie made a worried look when she heard her younger twin brother whimper. "Look, I'm looking for that goody two shoes boy."

Bettie looked at the missing poster. "You mean you're looking for Cheren?" The trio looked at Lear. "Does that mean...you actually care?!" Hilbert asked with excitement. Lear blushed red like a tomato. "N-No!" Lear replied embarrassed. "I'm just...looking for him because Rachel and Sawyer asked me to do it as people also asked me."

Lear replied surprisingly fast, as if he was trying to come up with an excuse. Sawyer laughed so hard while Rachel giggled. "That sounds suspicious coming from you." Bettie said to Lear. Scottie nodded in agreement. Lear growled. "Look, will you help me find him at least?" He asked as he was out of patience. Bettie and Scottie looked at each other confused. "Help you?" Scottie asked after finally regaining his ability. Lear nodded.

Hilbert smirked. "Oh, we will help you."

Along with some help of some Sync Pairs Scottie and Bettie managed to recruit, they looked all over of Pasio, but only to find no sign of Cheren. Even when they used their Pokemon, their Pokemon couldn't smell Cheren's presence. Suddenly, Bettie's Squirtle smelled something and he made a cry. "What is it, Squirtle?" Bettie asked and they looked at what Squirtle smelled. "Is this...?" Hilbert asked. Scottie growled.

"Team Break's hideout..." While Bettie held a grudge to Lear, Scottie held a grudge against Team Break. "Do you think they may have something to do with Cheren?" Winona asked. Lear allowed Bettie and Scottie to bring one sync pair each. Bettie brought Winona while Scottie brought Siebold. "That could be the case possibly." Siebold said. "But we may have to go through the hideout in order to find out.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They began to walk down the path in the hideout. There was no one at first. Not even a single Team Break grunt. They continued looking around. Where could Cheren be? Suddenly, they heard footsteps that came with a voice that sounded quite emotionless.

"You shouldn't be here."

They looked and saw a Team Grunt. Although, this wasn't a normal one. He was wearing the obvious mask on his face, a black and white hat that covered all of his hair, a black and white dress that came with a black and white belt that had a yellow buckle (AN: Haha, you can kill me for it later), black leggings, and white boots. An ace trainer and a collector that was wearing the masks also came in.

"That grunt doesn't look normal..." Winona said. Everyone nodded in agreement. "You actually decided to come here? This is something I find amusing." The collector said. The ace trainer laughed. "We are so gonna crush you!" He said through his laughing. They saw three more grunts (a street punk, a rising star, and a swimmer girl) surround them. Lear stepped in front. "I'll defeat you three!" He yelled at the ace trainer, collector, and the mysterious grunt.

Bettie stepped in front. "No, you're not. You are not battling them alone." She said with a stern voice. "I a-agree!" Scottie said nervously. Lear growled. He rather have no one help him. However, he knew that they would persist like such brats would. He sighed and nodded. "Fine, you can help." Hilbert, Siebold, and Winona looked at the other three. "I guess we'll handle you three!" Hilbert said. Winona and Siebold nodded in agreement.

It was silent for a few seconds before all of them began to battle. The ace trainer giggled. "Go, Gyarados!" He sent out his Gyarados. "Go, Garchomp." The collector said as he sent out his Garchomp. The mysterious was silent for a few seconds before sending out his Pokemon. The next words he said shocked Lear, Bettie, and Scottie.

"Go, Stoutland."

His Stoutland came out as well. Come to think of it, his Stoutland showed no emotion as well. Bettie, Lear, and Scottie got ready. "Go, Squirtle!" Bettie yelled. "Go, Pikachu!" Scottie yelled. "Go, Donphan!" Lear yelled. Once the Pokemon was sent out, they began to battle. As the battle went on, they noticed something. The way the mysterious man was fighting along with his Stoutland, it looked like the same way Cheren battles. The man used 'Apply Yourself!' skill. However, instead of charging up Move Gauges, it sped up the Sync Move gauge.

Lear, Bettie, and Scottie was horrified at the sight of it. Suddenly, they saw the mysterious man activate his Sync Move with his Stoutland. "Go." His monotone command to Stoutland was all it needed in order for it to attack. It attacked Lear's Donphan as Donphan let out a painful cry. Once Stoutland was done, it ran back to the man. The trio was horrified on how Stoutland defeated Donphan almost immediately. Lear ran to his Donphan with a scowl on his face.

Bettie and Scottie looked at each other and nodded. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Scottie yelled. "Help Pikachu with Hydro Pump, Squirtle!" Both of Pokemon followed their orders. Stoutland got hit by both attacks and it gave out a painful cry. Suddenly, both of the Pokemon got hit by an Earthquake the collector had commanded his Garchomp to do. Bettie and Scottie knew they had lot of work to do.

What the actual fuck.

They got defeated by them. Hilbert, Winona, and Siebold managed to defeat the other three grunts. But this wasn't enough. "That was trivial." The mysterious man said. The ace trained and the collector laughed while the mysterious man stared at them. Lear got up as he used a Revive on Donphan.

He couldn't accept this. He couldn't.

Lear walked weakly to the mysterious man. The man just simply stared at him. Suddenly, Lear's hands went to his face. Lear growled and punched him, which shocked everybody, even the grunts. The mysterious gasped as this knocked the mask out of his face. Suddenly, the man's eyes widened as emotion came into it. The man felt dizziness in his head.

Lear noticed this as his eyes widened. The man almost collapsed on the ground but Lear managed to grab him. He noticed that the man still had his hat on. Lear slowly began to remove it when he noticed-

...Black hair?

Lear immediately removed the hat and was horrified at the sight of who the man was. It was indeed Cheren. Not to mention, he punched him so...oops.

"C-Cheren?" Lear said as he was horrified, yet relieved. Cheren opened his eyes slowly. Lear felt relieved to see him okay. Bettie and Scottie sighed in relief as well. All it took was a punch to snap him out of it. Cheren groaned in pain. "W-Where am I?" Cheren asked as he regained composure. Suddenly, he felt Lear hug him tightly with a soft sob.

Cheren gasped as he felt this. "Lear...?" He heard more soft sobs escape Lear's mouth. "You're okay...you're okay...!" Lear said through his sobbing. Cheren smiled gently and held onto him as well.

Cheren managed to recover. From what the group found out, Team Break kidnapped Cheren for his knowledge of Hoopa. But thank god their plan was foiled. Let's just say, Lear amd Cheren became a couple. And Lear is still a cute tsundere to Cheren.