The road to the Old Chateau was a dark and twisting road. Colin and Baz must've somehow missed the road during their original trek through. They watched as the trees shifted with every blink and the road take turns that weren't really there. They were in the Forest's hands now. Cynthia and Gardenia were chatting back and forth about the people in strange outfits and the Pokemon they were disturbing. Baz was watching the trees carefully, studying every shifting shadow. Colin twitched, jumping at every noise that shrieked out every few minutes.

Even Gardenia and Cynthia seemed uneasy. Gardenia could be heard muttering phrases like, "This doesn't feel right." and "It's never this dark on this path." Cynthia wasn't speaking, but rather was watching the road ahead intently. The group hadn't even noticed that it had raining. They only realized it when the group jumped as Croagunk woke up and subsequently yawned. Croagunk looked up at Colin and slowly climbed onto his back. After what seemed like an eternity, Gardenia stopped the group to point out a clearing up ahead and just beyond that, a pristine white fence.

Baz perked up at the sight of the white fence and charged ahead. Colin chased after him, leaving Cynthia and Gardenia behind. The opening had nothing in it other than Baz's footprints in the tall grass. The rain began to pick up, forcing Colin to make a break for the Chateau itself. Colin struggled to see under the sheer amount of rain. Colin reached what he thought was the door.

As Colin reached for what he assumed was the doorknob, it reached back at him. Colin jumped, making the figure who'd grabbed him scream. Colin squinted. "Looker? Is that you?", Colin asked loudly. Looker gestured to stay quiet, then pointed towards the Old Chateau. The building looked older than the forest itself. The outer walls' paint cracked. What little decoration lay outside the house Colin could only assume that the inside looked the same. From what little windows the house had, it was evident that there was some form of electricity inside. The lit rooms seemed as dusty and decrepit as the outside.

The main lobby, however, seemed like the room with the most activity. A large group of people could be seen inside, as someone had opened the door not too long ago. Colin and Croagunk looked at Looker. "Team Galactic?", he questioned. Looker nodded. "I'm going undercover right now. Something big is going on in there and I'm not quite sure what it is. It has to be something big, because they sent an Admin out to oversee the whole thing.", Looker whispered. "Admin?", Colin asked again. "Higher-ups in Team Galactic. There's four that act like their leader's personal attack dogs. The one that's in there right now is Mars. Jupiter is in Eterna City. Saturn usually runs with the leader. The newbie, Charon, he's technically an Admin but he acts as Team Galactic's Head Scientist.", Looker explained.

Voices fast approached Looker and Colin. Looker grabbed Colin's shoulders. "You brought Cynthia and Gardenia with you, yes?", Looker asked quickly. Colin furiously nodded his head. "Listen, I need you to play along with everything that's about to happen, OK?", Looker bargained. Before Colin could reply, two Galactic Grunts found them. The taller one spoke first. "You there, Grunt! What are you doing outside?! Admin Mars is about to brief us on the mission!", he said harshly. Looker grabbed Colin by the shoulders and shoved him forward, into the arms of the taller Grunt. "I found this one lurking outside, attemtping to listen in on our mission details.," Looker said nervously. The smaller Grunt grabbed Croagunk.

"Look! The little runt even brought us a donation!", the smaller grunt said, holding up Croagunk by the scruff of its neck. Croagunk kicked and flailed at the Grunt's throat, to no avail. "Did you search the little spy when you found him?", the taller Grunt questioned. Looker nodded. "Yes, the Croagunk is the child's only Pokemon.", Looker responded. The taller Grunt nodded. "Good. Take the child to the holding area. We shall take care of the Croagunk.", the Grunt said finally as he walked off with the other Grunt.

Looker helped Colin off the ground and began walking him toward the Chateau. "What happened to Baz?", Colin asked. Looker shrugged. "Same thing that happened to you. Only difference is that Mars was the one that found him and not me. He should be in the same holding cell as you.", Looker said plainly. Watching as the two Grunts carrying Croagunk disappeared into the Chateau, Colin only had one more question: "What about Croagunk?" Looker looked down at him with a somber feel about him and replied, "I don't know, Colin."

Authors Note: Happy Holidays everyone! Hope you have a good time with exams and all that. I don't know if Chapter 15 will come out during this time. So if 15 doesn't come out before Christmas, expect a January addition. That's all I wanted to say for now, so bye!

-S

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