I changed a few things regarding the time of day the previous chapter took place, so if you're confused, you can always reread that.

Oh, and I'm forgetting that "Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon" thing. So there you go.

As soon as Shelly left, there was an uncomfortable silence filling the room. No matter how many times I'd face it, it was always insufferable. I felt pitied by it, almost as if it was mocking me for being alone.

"No one should be alone," I whispered to myself. I talked to myself a lot when all the other members of the Team were out doing their various jobs. I internally sighed and set to work trying to figure out what symbols I was dealing with.

"Hmm, they're definitely not symbols from Johto - those look too much like common letters. These might be from Sinnoh, but if they were, they must've been ancient lettering, which they're not. Um…" I ran through all the possibilities in my head, each one progressing to sound dumber and dumber.

"Could be Kalosian…" I muttered. "Kalosian… Kalosian…" The last region on my list was very vague in general. I'd only read about Kalos in tourist magazines, and frankly it seemed rather dull. The tourism mainly came from its lore-focused vibe and large cities, which wasn't my cup of tea.

Well, the cities anyway.

I leaned back in the chair, once again hating how it was attached to the metal desk my work was on. I stared at the dark stone wall in front of me, deep in thought.

Kalos… who could I ask about Kalos? Father was gone and so was Shelly, so my choices were extremely limited.

"Well screw this!" I yelled suddenly slamming the book shut. "I'll get nowhere like this!" I looked to the right hand corner of the desk and grabbed the folder sitting there.

"Tch, why did I do that?" I asked aloud to the air. "My drawings won't help now." I sensed the bitter feeling of defeat creep along my skin. It was time to change the subject.

There was no reply. As if I even expected there to be one, I thought. Sighing, I set the book and folder down, one on top of the other.

So much for that. Now let's see, what else could we do instead of sitting here all day? I referred to myself as "we" a lot when I was alone, though I wasn't quite sure why. We could vandalize the Team vending machine! And if we don't, we could just buy something from it.

"So it's settled then!" My decisions when it came to activities were generally made very quickly. I slid out of my chair and quickly changed out of my pajamas into my normal clothing.

I stood on front of Shelly's mirror and nodded confidently. Unlike most female trainers my age, I didn't worry too much about appearances- mostly because I never made one. I did however feel the need to wear something similar to the other members of Team Aqua, so I had chosen to wear blue, black and white.

Over a white tank top I wore my sleeveless dark blue shirt. It was outlined in black and it didn't have any zippers- only gold colored metal buckles- to keep it closed. It had a higher collar that stopped just below my cheekbones, but I kept it unclasped a little bit so my neck wouldn't be invisible. Besides that, I wore simple black sweatpants and black boots.

"I look like my mother," I suddenly said aloud. I didn't know where the words had come from, and a few seconds after saying them, I began to wonder if I even said at all.

Why would I say that? I don't even remember h-

And suddenly my emotions raced through me like a flood. Tears began pouring down my face uncontrollably, my heart beating faster as they did so. The dark room around me was comforting though, and soon I calmed myself, remembering where I was.

I was with my father. I was with my father.

My… father. He wasn't much of one, but he was all I had now. It had taken a while to find him, and I wasn't going to let that go to waste by thinking about what life might've been like if I still had Mother.

Those thoughts satisfied me.

I stood up straight and wiped my face with my arm, putting on a cold look as I did so. I will become unbreakable, I thought. Father wants me to end up working at his side. No, I want to work at his side. Therefore, I must act like an adult to gain the respect of one.

I walked by my desk, grabbed the small box from Father, and strode out of the room.

I was unknowing of the events that would follow in the next two hours. I was unknowing of the fate of the whole region was about to be changed.

I leaned over and looked at the digital alarm clock on the mahogany nightstand beside my new bed. It told me the time was twelve forty-seven in the morning.

I hadn't been sleeping per se, it was more like I had been dozing and dwelling on my own thoughts.

Antares had shown me to my bedroom- it had been across from the kitchen and was painted a dark blue- and let me settle in. He had changed his mind about meeting everyone, but I had a feeling something else was up.

The room I was in wasn't extremely large but at the same time, it wasn't small. Steven had been kind enough to place files containing information on my new "teammates" on a small wooden desk pressed against the wall. There had been a small package on top of all of them, but I didn't exactly feel like opening it. Nothing felt right to me at all.

I'd tried reading a little about the privileges of being a PMS (Proud Member of Service), but none of it interested me. The only extended privileges a person got were a little more food and a little more money, but that was about it. It wasn't the greatest leap from having citizen benefits in my opinion.

I was sitting on a full sized bed, desperately waiting for the people outside in the main room to go to sleep. I wanted to run away from here and meet Sidney and Phoebe.

From what little news I'd been watching, I could tell the two of them were acting very low-key without me. When it was the three of us, we'd attack food shipments to the military and deliver what we stole to the homeless and starving. It had been a nice adrenaline rush, and I had honestly felt like I was making a difference for others.

It made me feel happy and peaceful and brave all at the same time.

"YOU CAN'T JUST EXPECT THIS TO SLIDE WITH EVERYONE ANTARES!" came a shout from the other room. I recognized the voice from last night (it technically was- don't judge) and cringed. Tate had given the first impression of an authoritative figure, but he didn't seem like that great a leader.

There was silence for a few seconds before more voices rose to either argue or agree. I couldn't hear them very well, but I had a feeling they were talking about me.

There had been no way I could afford new clothing, so my friends had made my old ones bigger using fabric from my military uniform. I'd added a few hidden pockets for stealing things but still to think, I had that same buckled shirt after seven years! My right hand instinctively went up my left arm, stopping near the top. I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary on my skin, but the tattoo was still there whether I could feel it or not.

Whether I can feel it or not, whether I realize it or not…

"WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT LIZA?!" Liza. Tate's twin sister. "BRING HER OUT HERE?!"

More hushed conversation ensued.

Dear Arceus, do they really think I can't hear them? No, the question would be if Tate thinks I can't hear him yelling, I thought dryly. I eyed the files on my desk. No. We are not about to read military files on these people. That would cause trust issues.

I almost laughed. It was all about trust- wasn't it? I definitely had my work cut out for me. I mean, after leaving the military and then coming back? Two words- trust and issues.

I shook my head and stood up, walking towards the door and desk. Steven would eventually make me read the files anyway, so why not get it over with now? Besides- there were probably sound recorders or something in the room that would allow the surveillance division of the military to hear me. If I did anything, I was sure they would somehow know exactly what it was.

Freaks.

"But she's the daughter of-"

"I know who she is Rox! But if you expect me to allow a parasite like that to infect our division, then you are wrong!" I heard Tate's voice again, but it was softer this time.

"Well fine! You may be against getting our ninth, but most of us aren't. Right guys?" That was Roxanne.

I heard some grunts and muffled replies, but nothing firm.

"…if you expect me to allow a parasite like that to infect our division…" So I was a parasite now?

Parasite.

I was considered a parasite by one of the people I was going to be working with.

"Oh no," I whispered angrily. I left the files and marched towards the door. "You will not get away," I twisted the door handle and swung it open, "with calling me something as insulting as a parasite!" My voice had transformed from the whisper to a yell.

Everyone in the main room turned to stare at me. They were gathered around the couch, sitting on beanbags and stools they must've gathered. Tate stood closest to my room, not sitting on anything.

At any other time, I would've felt embarrassed to be stared at like that for so long, but I had created tension. By doing that, I had entered more of my element.

"What are you doing?" muttered Tate. "Can't you see we're in the middle of a conversation?"

A girl taller than me but shorter than Tate stood up and shoved his shoulder angrily. She walked over to me with a neutral expression on her face.

"Please forgive my younger brother. He can be kind of an idiot sometimes," she said. She extended her left hand to me and I uncomfortably shook it. Left hand shakes were always awkward to me.

"Don't call me your younger brother!" Tate hissed between his teeth.

"I take it you must be Liza?" I asked, ignoring Tate's comment. She nodded, her dark blue eyes seeming to sparkle a little bit. I heard Tate scoff in the background.

As soon as we dropped hands, Liza turned around and glared at her brother. "Do you have a problem?"

Tate shrugged but I could tell it was a pissed off kind of shrug. "I'm not going to saying anything until the non-member leaves the discussion."

Non-member?

"Non-member? Really?" a fiery looking redheaded girl with fiery looking red eyes who was sitting on a stool asked dryly.

"Shut up," Tate muttered.

The redhead held up her right index, middle and ring fingers. "Read between the lines Tate."

Antares and a green-headed boy started snickering as well as the redhead.

"Ha ha, very funny Flannery," Tate said with a glare. He ran a hand through his dark blue hair aggressively.

"Um, what's going on here?" I whispered to Liza. She had turned to stare at me, her gaze briefly resting on my left shoulder.

The bluenette replied in a soft tone. "Tate doesn't see you as a member here, more or less as an intruder."

Yeah, I kinda picked up on that. "So how would he see me as a member of your little club here? Is there like an initiation or something?" I asked. I needed to hurry up and get involved with these people here before they tried to involve me or else I would look like an idiot.

A man sitting next to Roxanne spoke up. He was wearing a simple black hoodie and some cargo shorts. "Y'know, you're not the best at whispering over there. We can all hear you." The man looked to be around the same age as Roxanne, maybe younger by a year. His hair was sort of an aqua color, was cut to about his chin, and seemed to be naturally spiky. He had slightly tanned skin and bright aqua eyes to match his hair.

"Maybe I wasn't trying to whisper," I countered quickly. Was I really that loud? The man looked at Roxanne with a confused expression. I noticed that she was wearing the same one.

My face suddenly felt hot and I did a one-eighty to head back to my room. I quickly shut the door and heard the conversation pick up again after about a minute.

Feeling self-conscious, I walked over to the desk and sat down, looking for the jacket I had thrown on top of it recently. As soon as Liza had started looking at my shoulder, I had felt sick and unwelcome by all. Maybe it was too soon to go showing my true colors.

Not that I was, mind you.

I sat in silence, staring at the files Steven had placed for me. They were sitting on top of my jacket. How is that possible? I wondered. I threw that thing off after Steven left.

It freaked me out.

Was there someone else here? Could someone else get in? Was I just hallucinating? Was I being overly cautious?

The package.

Those words seemed to ring in my head. "What package?" I whispered. And then I remembered. There had been a small package on top of the files. Maybe there was something in there that could help me.

I reached for the files and package, surprised when my own hands set the package down. It felt so wrong to go digging through other people's personal information. But then again, they all knew about me, so why couldn't I know about them?

I wanted to scream in frustration. Steven hadn't told me anything! All he had given me was the prideful smirk, one that I wouldn't forget. I didn't feel safe or at ease here; I felt like an intruder.

Was I agreeing with Tate? Was I saying that I was an intruder?

Probably.

There was a soft knock on my door. I could still hear the murmurs of conversation, so I was sure it wasn't Tate knocking. Maybe it was Antares! He could help me! He had seemed so accepting before, so maybe he felt sorry for me or just wanted to flat out help.

The knock came again, a little more forceful this time. I placed the files in the upper right hand corner of the desk and pulled my jacket on. I didn't bother to zip it up.

"You can come in," I said. I figured it would be loud enough to hear, but apparently it was not due to the fact I heard a third knock. Internally sighing, I stood up and walked towards the door.

I opened it.

To my surprise, the redheaded girl from earlier walked in. She looked around briefly and she wore a stunned expression on her face.

"Impressive," she said. I quickly shut the door behind her before I had any other visitors.

"I'm sorry but what exactly is impressive?" I asked. Her name is Flannery, I remembered. Flannery… The name sounded familiar to me somehow.

Flannery smiled and shrugged. "This room used to be our storage room, but whoever cleaned it up did a really good job! You should've seen this place before it looked like this!" She let out a low whistle.

Something Flannery said piqued my curiosity. "You mean you don't know who cleaned it up?"

Another shrug. "Nah, not really."

"But since you guys are part of an elite division, doesn't that restrict ordinary members from being down here?"

Flannery hadn't been facing me before, but she was now. "Look kid-" she started.

"Don't call me that," I interrupted angrily. I hated when people called me "kid." I really, really hated that.

"Kid, we have elite officers too y'know? None of us are fully in charge of everything here." Flannery continued on as if I hadn't said anything.

"Okay? Is that supposed to mean anything to me?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you even come in here?" I questioned.

"Um…" Flannery put a finger to her chin and looked around some more. She apparently found what she was looking for when she saw the package on my desk. She swiped it up and unwrapped it quickly. Whatever she pulled out was smaller than her hand and rolled in clear plastic bubble wrap. The low lighting in my room made it hard to see, but I could make out a dark blue and red coloring inside. "Gotcha!"

"What is that?" I asked. I was feeling stupider and stupider around these people. They all seemed to know things I didn't and to me, that was frustrating.

"This," Flannery said, "is your ticket to hearing everything."

"What do you mean?"

Flannery smiled and held up her left hand. On one of her fingers was a ring with the same design as Roxanne's hairpin and Antares' tattoo. Hers was colored differently, but it was indeed the same.

"Your name's Astoria right?"

I nodded my reply.

"Well Storie- can I call you Storie?- this little symbol indicates you're one of us," Flannery explained. I was partially confused because of my sudden "nickname", but the given information did make sense. The anklet I had seen Tate wearing on the elevator probably had the same charm. It was like two crescent moons had been stuck together, their points facing opposite ways. In between them was a piece of colored glass. It looked extremely familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"So, all I have to do is wear it and I'm in?"

"Uh huh. Now um, do have like a necklace or something I can put this on?"

I held out my hand with the bracelet on it. I hoped Flannery wouldn't be looking too close at the various charms on there- key stones were illegal nowadays.

She smiled and unwrapped my symbol. One of the moons was a deep, dark blue while the other was a bright white. The glass in between the two was a blood red, gradually getting lighter and lighter at the glass's edge.

"Sweet! This will only take a second to put on."

I remained standing while Flannery clipped the charm on one of my bracelet's golden loops. My thoughts kept drifting however. Flannery, Flannery… Where have I heard that name before?

"There! It's all finished!" Flannery took a step back as I brought up my bracelet to eye level. Among all the other charms, there it was, hanging as if it had been there the whole time.

"Thanks Flannery," I said quietly.

"No prob. It was the least I could do. I mean, I like Tate as much as the next girl, but sometimes he can be a pain in the ass."

"I'll bet," I replied.

Flannery smiled. "Yeah, it's a good thing you showed up because you're probably the only one that can bring his ego down to the level it needs to be."

I stared in surprise. "Even his sister doesn't get through to him?"

Flannery shook her head in response. "Nope. I don't really know how the whole sibling works out for those two, but their relationship is definitely below average." She shrugged. "But hey, now that we have your membership sorted out, why don't you come join us?"

I almost laughed. "Am I so likeable that off the bat you want me to be a part of things?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not entirely." I then yawned in spite of the fact I felt awake. A sudden thought occurred to me. "Say Flannery, why are all of you up so late?"

"What do you…? Oh I get it! You see, if we have any special assignments or missions, then they mostly take place in other regions that have different time zones. We just naturally got used to going to bed around one in the afternoon."

"Other regions?" My interest piqued immediately after hearing that.

"Yeah. We've been to Sinnoh, Kanto, Unova, Johto, Orre, etcetera. You name it we've probably been there at one point or another." She paused and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, except for Kalos. None of us have ever gone there."

Kalos huh? That's strange considering it's one of the most famed regions. Kalos had exploited its central city and turned it into a tourist attraction, making it one of the top regions for travel and tourism.

"Wow. That must mean you guys all get international status. That's impressive." International status was what everyone in Hoenn wanted for one reason or another. Most people wanted it to get away from the oppressive nature of the military, but it was exclusive to the highest of the high. Military officials and occasionally rich investors of the military would get the opportunity to gain the status.

Once you had international privileges, you could go anywhere in the world you wanted. Most people I knew would fly off to regions farthest away from Hoenn, but the choices for exploration were there.

Other regions. Steven Stone as the General. Maybe he's finding a way to relay information to other people against Hoenn's rule. All of my speculation would be incorrect if he wasn't actually on my side, but it was worth it to think about the reasons for everything happening.

I mean, Steven Stone was my comrade for Groudon's sake! Why wasn't I trusting of him? He had been working with me for years!

Granted he hadn't been a thief for years, but he was still working with me. There was definitely something bigger going on, but I couldn't figure it out. With what Flannery had just told me about the Division's sleeping schedule, sneaking out to meet up with Sidney or Phoebe would be difficult.

And to be fair, I wasn't in the best position to go and ask Steven. He was being very secretive- which wasn't unlike him- but it was a different type of secretive. He didn't want me to know, which was something I was not used to. In the old rundown cities of eastern Hoenn, I was trusted by everyone with all the information my brain could handle.

I had to collect myself again and remember that I was in the upper levels of command now. To me, it seemed that whenever you got higher in the chain of power, the less you ended up knowing. So, where did that place me? How much knowledge was I to gain from this experience, if any?

Was that the reason I was here now? Was I here for my own benefit under someone else's power? Or was I still sticking to my true goal of freeing my friends? It was hard to discern, that was for sure.

"Hey Storie?"

"What? Sorry, I kinda spaced out." Flannery's voice had jerked me away from my thoughts and into reality once again. I needed to talk to Steven and this time be truthful about what was on my mind.

But I couldn't. As much as I needed to, as much as I wanted to, I was unsure. And even a sliver of uncertainty in that situation was enough to make me say no.

"I just asked if you were coming."

He was huddled inside one of the darkest caves in the region and the glow from the projection had only blinded him momentarily. Everything had adjusted.

Well, except for the fact that the tensions between the two were higher than ever.

"As if! Everything will work out. Trust me," the man continued. The two had just engaged in a high-pressure argument, leaving a sour feeling in the air.

"How can I trust you if you're unsure of the way this will work? I swear to Arceus if this whole thing fails…"

"It won't."

"And you can you be certain of that? You just voiced your concerns to me!"

"Your point?"

Silver scowled. This man had contacted him over four years ago, offering an interesting proposition. Now he was saying that there were concerns?

Silver wasn't even sure he wanted to continue going with this anymore. He was an adult now! He could do what he wanted! Sure, some people might've seen the offer as a privilege, but it wasn't seeming as luxurious now.

"I just don't know if I can do this anymore!" Silver whispered angrily to the holographic projection in front of him. He was wearing a specially made Holocaster from the Kalos region, and even after four years it never failed to amaze him.

"Oh? Why not? I already told you that you were a great candidate for this. But you know, if you choose to move on, then I'll just pick out another trainer instead." The holographic man was playing with his mind. Silver knew it.

He ran a gloved hand through his long red hair. "I've spent four freakin' years trying to find this book of yours! Do you have any idea how frustrating this has been?!" Silver was losing it. This guy had demanded the impossible.

The man sighed. "Look, Silver, we both know this is indeed a daunting task, and we both know you can handle it. You've already discovered the location of Lugia and how to summon Ho-Oh. This book is no different than either of those things."

Silver buried his face in his right hand. He had been right.

"I honestly expected the son of a criminal organization to be better at such things."

And everything inside Silver snapped with just that sentence. The worries and concerns were washed away, leaving only what he enjoyed the most about himself- thirst. There was thirst to prove himself to everyone, to not be overshadowed by any.

"I'll do it. I swear I'm not giving up just yet," he said calmly. A strange glaze had come over his eyes, the thirst showing vividly. It was like a lust, a need so strong he would do anything to get it.

Anything.

Silver started laughing, but it was like a kindergartener's laugh; small and high-pitched. His face remained hidden by his hand, but if anyone had seen his eyes, they would have thought him demented.

The projected man's face broke into a large grin. So the Soul's been re-ignited. That was surprisingly easy; I didn't even have to use any manipulative strength. Nice change of pace. Silver continued to giggle as the man thought to himself. So, who's next on the list?

An image showed up on a screen in his current location. He quickly ignored the manic projected in front of him and opened up the new encoded message. It was from Sinnoh, and the man immediately expected to hear the worst.

His eyes skimmed over the text, looking for the real message in there.

He found it.

No, more precisely she found it. Cynthia had actually gone and found the last book from Sinnoh.

She'd really gone and done it. Now all that was left to do was get it from her somehow…

Hi guys! It's good to be able to have time to write again! I've been pretty busy with classes and such, but I am still alive and planning to update. I'm also a little shaken up because of a recent encounter with two massive spiders in my bedroom. I don't know if I can sleep tonight...

Now, I can't say I'm extremely happy with this chapter. I might go back and redo it if I have time...

Reviews!

Guest1267: Believe me, my eyes are red too.

lightxhope2124: Thanks for the compliments. I was super nervous when I started this- mainly because I thought no one would like it. And Hoenn characters are awesome, so yes expect many more to appear. And thanks for saying I deserve a cookie (I really want a physical one right now)!

Shinymudkip25: I have no words for you right now except thanks for the support. Really. I am that unenthusiastic right now.

cometshadow: We already talked. Plus, I hope you're feeling better! My um, whole weird motivational speech made me sound drunk, but I assure you I was not. I was merely tired.

Please review if you like it or not! And I am currently looking for Beta Readers, so if anyone is interested at all...

Yeah. Have a nice morning or night or evening or whatever this is.