A/N: No, I'm not dead yet! Just really busy! There is going to be a massive update soon, so don't give up on me yet! Thanks for sticking with me so far, and enjoy!

The storm showed little sign of subsiding. The eight trainers were all huddled under the eaves of the Pokémon Center, discussing the situation amid the pouring rain. Thanks to Lune's mind-link, everyone had managed to communicate their stories to each other. After much initial confusion, the group had finally caught up to speed with one another. A strained silence had now fallen over everyone as they mulled over each others' stories, and Gloria was starting to get anxious. She finally spoke up after several moments.

"Can't say I like what I've heard," she looked sharply at Evan, "Especially you, Evan. You're Solstice's younger brother?" Evan nodded, but before he could respond, Gloria waved a hand at him, glaring, "Do you really expect me to overlook that?! That crazy robot has been harassing us for too long now! I can't trust you of all people."

"But he's the best link to Solstice we've got." Gloria glanced back at Sarah, who was staring off in the direction of the forest. "I don't like it either. We don't have any better options right now though..."

Cheren nodded once, turning to Evan. "Evan, I have a question."

Evan simply cast the Gym Leader an uneasy look . "Is this about Alicia?"

"Yes. You mentioned earlier that her goal is to destroy emotions. Just how does she plan to get this done? I can't imagine something like that would be even possible."

Evan lowered his head, his violet eyes showing a hint of sadness. "That is a question I have as well. We parted ways well before she was this...prepared."

Gloria sighed. Sure, the issue of Solstice's plans was important, but it could wait. Right now, it was clear that Leo needed finding first. If he was injured again, he could be in danger. Not that she could say that out loud, lest she make Amber cry again. She turned to Amber, who was still staring at her feet uncertainly. Amber looked up at her, her eyes wet with tears.

"Didn't I tell you to stop crying already?" Gloria smiled at her, trying to put Amber at ease, "We will find Leo. I promise that."

Amber ran a hand down her braid. "I can't help it, Gloria. I'm really scared for him."

"Amber, I think it's best if we go after Leo in teams of no fewer than three each. It's far too dangerous for us to split up too much," Shawn offered, "How's that sound, everyone?"

Gloria nodded, "It's as good a plan as any. Objections?"

Nobody disagreed but Cheren, who shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline. In light of what Evan has told me, I think I need to have another talk with the Elite Four. Evan, are you willing to offer what you've told us about Solstice as evidence? Maybe with this new information, they'll finally help us."

Evan nodded once. "I hate that it's come to involving the Elite Four, but Alicia, rather Solstice, crossed the line long ago. I need to stop her..." Evan paused, his face showing a resigned note of resolution. "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Why the hesitation, Evan?" AJ asked, "The Silicon Movement won't just apologize or anything. We have no choice but to force it."

"I know..." Evan still seemed withdrawn for some reason. "I..."

Gloria looked sternly at him. She could sympathize with him, but this was hardly the time for indecision. "You need to make a decision. Are you with us or not?"

Evan sighed, lowering his head. "I will fight alongside you. I already said as much. I want to stop them, but I don't want to fight my sister... does that make me a hypocrite?"

"Evan..." Gloria sighed and turned back to Cheren. "Keep an eye on him."

Cheren smiled reassuringly. "Of course. If I took down Team Plasma twice, I can certainly get rid of Silicon. Especially now that I have some inside information." He turned, glancing to Evan. "Coming?" Evan still seemed distracted. He was staring up at the sky with a far-off expression. Cheren nudged his shoulder, making Evan jump a little.

"I..." Evan still wasn't focused, and he kept looking back up at the sky. "The sky...something approaches. I can feel it. Can't you feel anything, Sarah?"

Gloria noticed that Sarah was staring off into the distance too. The look on her face had changed from concern, to suspicion, then to confusion. "I don't feel anything. You're imagining things."

"Hm...maybe you're right," Evan shook his head, "My apologies. Cheren, you said you needed me?"

"Yes. Come with me." Cheren lead Evan off towards the Gym. As the two left, Gloria noticed that Evan still looked anxious, like a Pidove that just spotted a Liepard. Lune appeared to have picked up on his trainer's edginess, and he was glancing about worriedly as he toddled after Evan.

"Well," Gloria looked to Eeveen, who had spoken up, "If we're going to continue the search, I think it's best if Gloria, Sarah, and I go first. Unless the rest of you have some way of getting through this storm, then I'm open to other ideas. "

Gloria looked among her companions. AJ and Shawn seemed at a loss, and kept exchanging looks. Melody looked annoyed, much more than usual. "What do you expect us to do, just wait it out?" she said, clearly soured by the notion, "That's just stupid. Besides, Gloria doesn't have a Pokémon that can protect her in a storm, right?"

"Actually, she kind of does," Sarah said. Gloria shot her friend a look, and Sarah immediately bit her lip. Sarah usually knew better than to talk about Gloria's transformation, as she preferred not to transform. She wasn't in as much control of her Pokémon form as Sarah was. To top it off, Sarah wasn't shy at all about her ability, and that sometimes lead to conflicting opinions. Sarah looked genuinely embarrassed about her gaffe, and glanced among everyone with an awkward expression.

"What do you mean, 'kind of?" Melody asked, "Either she does, or she doesn't."

"She's talking about Bulbasaur," Gloria deflected quickly, "He can't protect me from the rain, per se, but the rain won't bother him either."

"Yeah, that's it." Sarah pretended swiftly.

"Melly has a point you know," AJ agreed, changing the subject, "If we stay put too long, Silicon will find us. What should we do?"

"There's nothing we can do," Shawn seemed downcast, "Even my dragons can't fly in this kind of rain. And Serious, let's not even go there. He's a fire-type. All AJ's got is Thorn and Jaws. Melody, Ivory is a ground-type. She can't handle rain like this. None of the rest of us have much choice..."

"W...what about me?" Gloria turned to Amber, who had spoken up. "I can't sit here, I simply can't. I already got Leo hurt-"

"Stop being such a damn martyr, Amber!" Melody snapped, "You're not the only one feeling helpless here, so knock it off!"

"Both of you, stop it!" Sarah shouted, stepping between the two of them. Amber immediately lowered her head meekly, while Melody shot her glare to Sarah instead.

"You better have a good reason for getting in the way, Sarah." Melody's tone darkened further.

If she was intimidated, Sarah never showed it. "Melody, you still have that Haunter issue to work out, right? Why don't you, Amber, Shawn, and AJ team up and try to find some more clues? That should give Gloria, Eeveen, and me some time to look for Leo."

"I'm scared, Sarah." Amber's voice was almost too quiet to hear. "I...I just want to-"

Gloria cut her off, putting a hand on Amber's shoulder. For someone who cared so much about her friend, she sure was indecisive. "I promise to find Leo. Leave him to us. You don't need to be so scared anymore."

Amber's face brightened slightly as she looked up. For once, she wasn't crying. "Hearing you say that makes me feel a little better. Thanks..."

Gloria smiled at her. "If you understand, then start by acting like it. Leo wouldn't like seeing you cry. Do it for him, do it for both of you, ok?" Amber nodded once, then stared back at the ground again. Gloria wasn't so sure Amber understood her point anymore.

"I think we've wasted enough time," Gloria said, "Sarah, Eeveen, we should be on our way. The longer we just sit here, the less chance we'll have of finding him."

Eeveen nodded, assuming his Vaporeon form. "I'll see if I can sniff out something. Does anyone-?" Gloria saw him staring off into the distance towards the forest, pausing in mid-sentence. His ear-fins were at full-prick and Eeveen was standing as still as a statue.

"Does anyone else hear that weird noise?" He asked. "Something's...barking."

Gloria tried to focus. Her own hearing was nowhere as good as Eeveen's right now, but she strained to listen regardless. Sure enough, she could hear a faint cry, like a whine or yelp. Homing in on the sound, Gloria walked out from under the roof. She didn't have to go too far to find the source. In a bush some ways off, an injured Growlithe was hiding in the foliage. She could see the poor thing was utterly soaked, shivering, and scared. As she quietly approached, she could see that it was Flare. She had a cut to her right side, but seemed surprisingly okay for her state.

Kneeling before the bush, she switched to Pokémon language. "Flare? Are you okay? C'mere girl, it's me."

Flare stared for several moments, then crawled from the bush. "Gloria? I didn't know you could talk like this."

"I'm glad to see you in one-"

"I can't find Leo! The rain's washing all the scent out!" Flare howled, cutting her off.

Gloria scooped up the dog. "I'll find him, I promise."

"I see you found something?" Eeveen said from behind her. "Oh, I think it's Flare! Hey, good to see ya, girl!"

Flare whined and wiggled in Gloria's arms, clearly eager to get moving. Gloria didn't release her grip. It would be too dangerous to let her run loose in the rain. Since she didn't see Flare's ball anywhere, she couldn't recall her.

"Put me down!" She whined, "I have to find him!"

"We're working on it, Flare." Gloria coaxed, stroking her head-tuft. "Hang in there. We'll work together."

"You know, I've never seen him without Flare before..." Sarah had turned into a Milotic, and was weaving through the grass and looking back and forth. "He must be close."

"Then let's start here. You two go on ahead. I'll patch her up." Gloria shifted Flare to one arm, reaching for her supplies. As soon as she did, Flare took the chance to wiggle free. Yelping and barking, she dashed away into the forest.

"Flare! Don't run away like that!" Gloria called, chasing the frantic puppy. As she ran through the trees after her, she could only hope Flare was onto something...