A/N: Sorry for the ridiculously long wait, everyone! I just keep getting distracted from writing, and when I feel like writing there's no computer available...I'm such a horrible author. x_x I shall write as much as I can now!

Okay...so I know that in the last chapter, they probably flew out towards the direction on Veilstone City...but they went to Eterna City instead. XD *plotholecough* Truthfully, it's because I just thought of what to write in this chapter recently, so I didn't completely plan is through all the way...sorry for my amateur-ness. And also, school has started for me, so I will be SUPER slow at writing chapters now, but I am still 115% planning on finishing this fanfic. Anyways...

4: Missing

Riley and Lucario stood together, staring up at a giant building that was at least 50 levels high. They both seemed quite amazed by it, looking without blinking.

"L-Lucario..."

'I know...' Lucario answered, the two apparently sharing the same thoughts.

"I have never...seen any building this tall before..." This building was probably even taller than Cameron Palace, though not nearly as fancy and grand enough to be called a castle. It reached for the sky, casting a looming shadow over the people of the city as they walked by. There were quite a few of these plain, rectangular buildings standing around everywhere, and seeing these was a new experience for Riley and Lucario. They had been standing there looking up at the building for a few minutes by now.

'...Riley...' Lucario said suddenly, looking around slightly. Riley nodded, feeling the people's uneasy gazes at them as they walked by.

"We are attracting attention, it seems," the man sighed. They've been staring at the building for too long, and it was starting to look strange. Riley casually pulled his hat lower so that the brim covered his eyes, and stepped away. "We should be heading off anyway. Let's go, Lucario." Lucario nodded, following him away. They walked along the streets of the city, looking around curiously as they went. The tall buildings stood orderly on the sides of the roads, all looking the same, decorated with thousands of windows made of glass. The two passed a few smaller buildings as well, but even these houses were strange. They seemed to be small shops, and were decorated with unnatural lights. They weren't natural, these unflickering lights. Riley eyed them strangely, but shook the feeling off. If he let every little thing in this new generation bother him, then he'll be too distracted to carry on. Instead, he ignored the strange new things that were created by technology. At least, for now.

Lucario stopped walking abruptedly, to look at an even stranger building that towered over all the others. It was a menacing looking structure, isolated from the others with a hedge that bordered the area around it. The building was colored dully, with a giant sphere built as the top half. The sphere was crowned with a few spikes on top, and a yellow ring rotated slowly around it. The building looked like private property, as the windows were sparce unlike the other buildings of the city.

"What kind of place is this...?" Riley wondered aloud, then spotted a stone sign, with words imprinted on the flat surface. He walked closer to it and inspected the message:

Team Galactic Eterna Building
We Want Your Pokemon!

'..."We Want Your Pokemon"?' Lucario growled incredulously. The jackal had come over, reading the sign as well. Riley frowned, staring at the ridiculous slogan. This was the building of Team Galactic...and they were openly demanding people for their pokemon? What kind of organization was this? The man noticed something and looked around for a moment, seeing the people as they passed by the building. Some of them were a bit uneasy, and others scared or irritated as they paused to stare at it before going their way. Team Galactic was evidently bothering them, though no one was stepping up to do anything.

"We should do something about this..." Riley said, looking again at the building.

'Are we going inside it?' Lucario asked, looking at the man expectantly. Riley hesitated slightly, wondering what to do. It was unwise to just barge in when they didn't know the whole situation.

"I am not sure..." Riley answered truthfully. He stepped back a little. "Perhaps-"

He didn't have time to finish the thought when someone suddenly ran into him from the side. This impact knocked both people over, and they both fell to the ground. Lucario yelped in surprise.

'R-Riley!' he exclaimed, swiftly stepping over with worry.

"I-it's okay, I am fine," Riley reassured him, quickly getting up and picking up his hat which had fallen off, replacing it on his head, "don't worry..."

"Ouch..." the person who crashed into him groaned, rubbing her head. The stranger was a young woman dressed completely in black, wearing a black dress and black hair clips in her hair that looked strangely like a Lucario's aura filters. She had very long, curly blond hair that went down to at least her waist, with bangs that covered her left eye.

"Are you all right?" Riley asked her, lending her a hand. The girl looked up at him, and took his hand and he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks," she sighed, dusting herself off. She looked a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that...I was in a hurry and didn't see where I was going..."

"No, it's fine...it was my fault for backing into your path," Riley answered.

The young woman finished her pampering, and peered up to observe the two people standing in front of her. When she saw Lucario, she eyed the jackal curiously before asking, "Are you a Pokemon trainer by any chance?"

"...Yes," Riley replied, deciding to let people refer to him as that title from now on. The woman smiled at him knowingly.

"I see...you seemed like a strong trainer. My name is Cynthia," she introduced herself, offering him a hand.

"Ah- nice to meet you...I am Riley," Riley said, shaking her hand. He felt as if he heard this woman's name from somewhere before.

"Nice to meet you," Cynthia echoed brightly. "So, Riley, what brings you to this place? Are you taking on the gym leader, by any chance?"

"Um...no, I don't think so..." Riley replied, not sure yet what a gym leader was. Cynthia seemed puzzled by that answer, frowning curiously.

"No? Hm...well, I suppose that even if you're looking for the gym leader, you won't find her here right now..."

"Why is that?" Riley asked her.

"You've heard about Team Galactic, right?" Cynthia asked, looking at the strange building.

"Yes. What about them...?"

"Well, Gardenia-"

"Hey! You people! Quit loitering around in front of the headquarters!" a voice suddenly shouted. Riley, Lucario, and Cynthia all turned to see a Galactic Grunt who had stepped up to them menacingly. "Unless if you want your pokemon taken away from you, we'll gladly-" He stopped sneering abruptly when he realized that one of the people standing in front of him was Cynthia. "Er- uh- I mean..."

"Is there a problem, sir?" Cynthia asked while blinking her eyes innocently, making the Grunt act even more flustered. He mumbled something quickly and nervously before managing a weak dismissive wave and stumbling away.

'What was that about...' Lucario wondered, ears twitching slightly in confusion. Riley shrugged subtly to his question, staring at Cynthia. Apparently, no one messed with this woman...Cynthia watching the Grunt wander away before turning back to the two with a new air of seriousness.

"Well, this place isn't a very good place to talk...shall we go elsewhere?" she asked them, and started to pull them away before they could answer. Riley and Lucario glanced at each other before letting her lead them down the road.

In a moment, they arrived at a small house, contrasting the tall buildings surrounding it. Cynthia reached into her pockets, searching for something there as her two companions waited.

"Do you...live here?" Riley asked her. He saw that she had found the object she was looking for, and pulled it swiftly out of her pocket, revealing a small shiny key. With a satisfied smile, Cynthia stepped up to the door of the small house in a graceful manner, sticking the key into the doorknob.

"No, I don't," she answered as she unlocked the door, pulling it open with another soundless movement. "Professor Oak lives here, actually. His lab is all the way in Pallet Town though - in the Kanto region - so this is just a house that he uses when he visits Sinnoh. I'm pretty well acquainted with him, so he lets me use this place. Here, we can talk without any interruptions."

"I see..." Riley replied, looking to Lucario, who looked back at him with the same expression. Neither of them knew what exactly she was talking about... Cynthia turned back to them after stashing the key back into her pocket.

"What're you still standing there for? Let's go in," she urged, gesturing the two to go inside. Riley hesitated, then nodded in response, stepping forward into the house, with Lucario following after him like his shadow.

The interior of the house was small, but had a warm atmosphere. It was only one room, with hardly any signs of the space having been used at all. Still, there were some bookshelves lined with complex books, and some paintings and such hanging on the walls. Cynthia was walking around as if she owned the little house, knowing where every little thing was placed. "Would you like a drink or something?" she asked as she sat on one of the cushions surrounding a table in the middle of the room. She looked at her two guests, then to the cushions across the table to indicate that she wanted them to sit.

"Ah- no, thank you," Riley replied, taking a seat. Lucario sat next to him, not taking his eyes off of Cynthia once. Riley could tell without reading his thoughts that he was still wary of this woman.

"All right," Cynthia sighed, getting comfortable. "So, what were we talking about?" she wondered thoughtfully, leaning her elbow on the table. "Oh right, Gardenia." She sighed, looking at Riley with raised eyebrows. "You wanted to know about her, right?" Riley just nodded, not wanting to open his mouth and say something that sounded strange. "Okay...," Cynthia said, nodding as well. "Gardenia - the gym leader of this city - she knew that Team Galactic had been stealing people's Pokemon since they moved into that office building that they made. About a day ago, she told some people that she was going to get help, to stop Team Galactic from taking any more Pokemon. She headed out of the city, into the forest to the west over there." She pointed in a direction which was probably west. "But the thing is...no one's heard from her since," Cynthia finished with a frown. "Maybe she got lost or something, but she just up and vanished. People are planning on going to find her, but the forest's a dangerous place for common people. There's poison Pokemon everywhere, and some say that there's ghosts at night. Probably true." She shrugged. "Anyways, since Gardenia left, Team Galactic started to do whatever they wanted, even more so. They won't even let people walk past their building in peace, as you saw earlier. I just got here today and heard the news. It seems to be getting pretty bad for this place."

Riley listened intently at Cynthia's explanation, and frowned when she finished. He looked down at the table thoughtfully. "That sounds bad..." he muttered, mostly to himself. Whoever this Gardenia was, she was evidently the person needed to handle this situation. "If Gardenia returns, then will Team Galactic leave the people alone?"

"Probably," Cynthia said with a shrug. "She did have something planned from what I heard." Riley looked to Lucario, and the two exchanged looks.

"Very well," Riley finally said with a nod. He and Lucario stood up at the same time, confidently, like one being. "We - Lucario and I - will go look for her." Cynthia raised an eyebrow, but didn't look surprised in any way. She was expecting an answer like this.

"You sure?"

"Yes," the man replied at once, looking to Cynthia with a light smile. "We are after Team Galactic as well, so this will be the best thing to do right now; no matter how dangerous, we'll try."

"If you say so," Cynthia replied carelessly, though it looked as if she was hiding a smile. "Well, good luck to you, then. I've got to get back to work," she said, standing up as well. "Do you need directions?"

Riley shook his head. "We'll find our way on our own." He glanced back at Lucario one more time before nodding to the woman politely. "Excuse us." With that, the two exited the house, following the street to the outskirts of the city. Cynthia watched them go for a moment before revealing her smile, brushing her hair back a little with her fingers. Then, she herself walked outside, going the opposite direction.

...Riley, huh? she thought as she walked. Why is it that you seem so familiar...?

~o~o~o~

"Here it is," Riley said as he opened his eyes. Lucario nodded, opening his eyes as well. Sure enough, the entrance to the forest was right in front of them. This place was very easy to find using the aura vision. A draft blew out from the arches of the trees, as if wanting to pull them inside.

'...Riley?' Riley turned his head to look at Lucario questioningly, though the jackal didn't look back at him, staring at the dark forest ahead. 'That woman was strange, wasn't she?'

The man hesitated, then nodded in agreement. "Yes, she had a strange aura," he answered. "It was different than those of others - stronger, and more defined..."

'Should she be trusted?' Lucario suddenly asked, eying Riley for an answer. Riley sighed, looking forward again.

"I believe so," he finally replied. "Always have faith in people, Lucario." Lucario hesitated, then nodded, and Riley smiled to him brightly. "So, shall we go?"

'Yes...' Lucario emptied his thoughts, focusing on their task. Together, they walked into the thick forest - hopefully to find what they were looking for.