Six months ago, a girl with dead eyes slowly lifted her head at the sound of hurried footsteps, although they didn't seem to bother her much. Even when a stranger with messy brown hair burst through the door, all she did was stare for a moment and look back down. Only the Skitty on her lap seemed even the slightest bit alarmed.

"Phew, looks like I lost 'em!" The strange boy closed the door behind him with a relieved sigh. It wasn't until a few moments later that he noticed the girl and held up his hands. "Oh, my bad! I didn't mean to barge in like that, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't rat me ou..." He trailed off, noticing the blonde girl's hospital gown and the hospital-like room. "Say, are you hurt or something?"

"No. I'm perfectly healthy," she answered quietly, in a voice scratchy from lack of use. Her Skitty growled once before determining the stranger wasn't deadly, then turned away to ignore him.

"You really don't look it..." he noted, shuddering at how sickeningly pale she looked and the dark rings around her eyes. Upon closer inspection, even her Pokemon's movements seemed abnormally sluggish for a Skitty. "But hey, I'm sure you don't want me to pry! Mind if I hide out in here?" Receiving a small shake of the girl's head in response, he clapped his hands together. "Thanks, you're a lifesaver!"

"They'll find you sooner or later, though," she warned in a soft monotone.

"You think so, huh?" The boy wandered the room, looking absentmindedly around at everything while trying to hold back a frown. "I take it you're not a member of Team Galactic."

"I'm not."

"How many other people here aren't members?"

"Many."

"Then it looks like I might be busy for a while...but enough of that! Have you been outside today? The weather's great! Sinnoh's a little colder than what I'm used to, but that just makes the sunny days feel even warmer."

"I haven't," the girl answered, slightly melancholy this time.

"Well, then. How about..." Hearing more footsteps, the brown-haired boy cut himself off and crawled under the bed. He thought the girl might say something to whoever opened the door, but thankfully that didn't happen. The door simply opened, a short conversation of 'Did someone walk in here? ...I'll take that as a no.' transpired, and the door closed again.

"They're gone," he heard her say.

"Hah, I didn't think that would actually work! Thanks for telling them I wasn't here."

"I didn't tell them that. I just said nothing."

"Either way, it worked. Thanks!" Smiling gratefully, the boy crawled out and dusted himself off. "So. You seem pretty gloomy. Wanna see if the great weather outside can cheer you up?"

"I can't go outside."

"Sure you can. Unless of course you don't want to." The boy pulled out a Pokeball and pointed it towards the wall.

The girl shook her head. "No—I mean, I'd like to, but—"

Immediately, she was interrupted by a roar when a colorful feathered Pokemon appeared in front of the boy. "Then let's go! No use rotting away in a place like this. Archeops, use Stone Edge!"

For the first time since they'd met, the girl's apathetic mask was broken by a face of shock and confusion. "Y-you can't do that! They'll find you if—" This time, a loud crash interrupted and even made her Skitty leap up and start hissing at the newly-formed hole in the wall.

"That won't matter if they never catch up. Come on!" Not waiting for a response, the boy scooped up the girl's Skitty with one hand and used the other to pull her onto the fossil Pokemon's back. "I'll keep your Skitty from falling, so just focus on holding on." He hopped up to sit behind her. "Come on, Archeops! Use Stone Edge again, and just Giga Impact your way through if there's more walls!"

The girl clutched Archeops's feathers tightly and screeched in terror when the ancient bird Pokemon sped forward. Yet, despite her petrifying surprise, she couldn't help but feel a long-forgotten emotion well up from inside: hope.

"Can I please let the Delcatty out first?" Judy pleaded, practically shoving its Pokeball into the other grunt's face.

She and the small group of grunts had brought the Pokemon to one of the lesser-maintained lower floors, as they always did when receiving more of the little creatures to tame. Unlike the upper floors, these rooms had remained relatively untouched, with every rune and pile of sand still there, making it ideal for training since there wasn't any equipment to damage. Along with being the safest to damage with little financial consequence, this floor was also one of the most unexplored. Several grunts, Judy included, would often wander off and get lost when given the chance.

"Aren't you supposed to be careful with that one? I'd start with a Pokemon that isn't so notorious," one of her coworkers cautioned.

"But it was so cute! Can I let it out if I promise to call it back when something goes wrong?"

"I don't really think—hey!"

"D'aww, look at the wittle fuzzy baby kitty cat!" Before the grunt even had the chance to give a definite 'no', Judy already had the Delcatty out of its Pokeball and in her arms, assaulting it with baby talk and nuzzling.

The grunt winced, expecting a fit of screeching from both the cat and Judy in what was almost certain to turn into a scuffle.

…Nothing so far. The grunt strained his ears for any signs of the Delcatty's reaction.

"Prrr..."

"What...?"

"You are just the biggest sweetheart, you know that!" The newbie grunt squealed in delight, tightening her grip on Delcatty in a big hug. This Delcatty, the escapee's Pokemon...was actually purring in the presence of its trainer's enemies? Judy seemed to be the only one oblivious to how strange this was.

Every grunt looked to one another as if to confirm that they weren't the only ones seeing this.

Delcatty had been expecting many things when he woke up in his Pokeball. He had expected to be in a cage, maybe a lab room, maybe in front of a Pokemon meant for him to fight, maybe in the presence of a tyrannical grunt...what he didn't expect was to be greeted by the most obnoxious squealing he'd heard in all his life. Arceus, what's going on?

The cat Pokemon was one second away from clawing this loud grunt's face off when he stopped himself. No, this is a good thing. He grinned. Yeah, this could work. Maybe we're not doomed just yet.

Gathering all of his willpower, Delcatty mustered up a loud purr and tried to ignore the humiliating baby talk and uncomfortable cuddles. This elicited surprise from the sane grunts in the area, but only earned more cries of adoration from the one holding him.

Eventually, the nearest grunt had finally regained himself and placed a hand on Judy's shoulder. "Hey...try putting the Delcatty down for a second."

"Hmm? Okay!"

Delcatty gave an inward sigh of relief once his paws were on the ground, with no arms threatening to hug him to death. Alright, they're letting me walk. So far so good. He sat down and stared up at each grunt with a calculating gaze. Okay, so there's five of them... He glanced around for a bit, spotting a few tables with a single open box sitting atop one. Looks like there's eight Pokeballs in there...probably Annette's and that detective's Pokemon.

Let's see how fast I can get them to slip up. Already forming a plan, the cat Pokemon stepped forward and rubbed against each grunt's ankle with a purr.

All of the grunts except for Judy muttered among themselves.

"Did they make a mistake?"

"Is this thing really something worth worrying about?"

"Maybe it was just a pet. A...really tame pet that can't fight."

"It's still gotta be loyal to us, though, or it's no good. Judy, try giving it a command since it seems to like you best."

Delcatty turned away briefly to cringe at the statement before looking up with big, innocent eyes. Stay calm, Loki. This time, you're ready to get Annette out of here without that boy's help.

"Really? You think so?" Judy asked, beaming. "Alright! Delcatty...um...roll over?"

Seriously? Nonetheless, Delcatty rolled onto his back with a quiet mew.

"Er, Judy...how about having it fight?" One grunt reached into the box of Pokeballs and took one out. "Here, I'll send out one of its allies and if it listens to you when you tell it to fight, then I think we can move onto the next Pokemon."

Perfect! The feline quickly sat up and stared expectantly at the Pokeball. Maybe this time he'd be able to save at least one of his trainer's Pokemon, too.

...Or so he thought. When a white and red furball appeared before him, Delcatty was visibly disappointed. 'Oh, great. It could've been one of my own partners, but no. It just had to be your furry butt I get to save.'

Zangoose unsheathed his claws and snarled. 'Watch your mouth, kid!' Glaring, he whirled to face the grunts. 'I don't know what's going on, but help me fight 'em off!'

"Delcatty, use Tackle on Zangoose!" Judy's command echoed in the spacious training room.

'Ha. They actually think you'd listen to—what the!?' The cat-ferret, taken by surprise, was knocked onto his stomach by Delcatty's Tackle. 'Are you insane?! You're makin' things worse!'

'Am I?' Delcatty sneered, pinning the stronger Pokemon down. 'I'll admit I have been wanting to beat you up since we first met, but do you even know what you're doing?'

Zangoose tossed the feline Pokemon off of his back and yowled. 'I'm tryin' to get outta here! What about you?'

Landing on his paws, Delcatty stepped forward. 'I'm getting us out of here, as nice as it would be to leave you here. Your brute strength might come in handy.'

'Getting us out of here? You're doing a pretty crappy job of that, kid.'

'Look around you. Do you think you were let out on accident?' The cat Pokemon narrowed his eyes. 'They're expecting you to fight, and they'll put both of us back in our Pokeballs once one of us faints. If we let that happen, then we can kiss freedom goodbye.'

'Hmph...' Zangoose's claws retracted slightly. 'Then what's your big plan?'

'Good. You understand which one of us is more competent in this situation.' Delcatty ignored the growl this earned from Zangoose. 'Right now, they think I won't do anything to them. If we can get my Pokeball out of their hands, it'll give me time to put them to sleep.'

The cat-ferret would have raised an eyebrow if he had one. 'And how can I trust you to get me out of here? You did say to get your Pokeball away from them, so that means you'd let them use mine.'

'Hey, do you want to be out when I put everyone to sleep again? I'll have all the time in the world to let you out once they're out of the picture.'

With the two Pokemon simply standing and growling at each other and no way of knowing that they were having a conversation, the grunts were growing confused.

Zangoose wrinkled his nose. 'Your word's hardly worth anything, but it's all I've got. Screw this up, and I won't let you keep your fur next time we meet.'

'Well, aren't we friendly.' Delcatty's tail twitched, and he looked up at an ever-oblivious Judy.

'Alright,' he meowed. 'Ready, set...now!'

Immediately, Zangoose leaped at Judy and managed to make her lose her balance. Keeping hold of the Pokeball was hardly her first priority, so it slipped to the ground where Delcatty ran over to curl his tail around it. The moment it was safe, a melodious meow sounded from his throat.

The grunts had reacted quickly, considering Zangoose didn't have a chance to lay a single claw on the rookie grunt before getting called back, but there wasn't much they could do in time to stop Delcatty's Sing attack. It wasn't long before all of the humans slumped to the ground, leaving a triumphant cat Pokemon with his chin raised. 'Ha! Who's a kid now, Zangoose?'

Delcatty padded over to the grunt who had Zangoose's Pokeball and snatched it away with his tail before releasing the Pokemon as promised. Without another word, he hopped up onto the table and pointed his paw at the box. 'So, does your trainer have anything useful? A Keckleon, a Zoroark, a Psychic or Ghost type...anything like that?'

'No, she doesn't. What about your trainer?' Zangoose asked, making his way around the room to make sure the grunts were asleep. 'And useful? What's that supposed to mean?'

Ignoring the second question, Delcatty flattened his ears. 'So much for that, then. Does she have any Pokemon species that are native to this area?'

'Well, she has a Trapinch if something from outside counts. What are you getting at?'

'That'll have to do. Tell me which Pokeball it's in.'

'The Net Ball, but why does that matter?' Zangoose asked once more, growing irritated at the Delcatty's refusal to give answers.

'We'll need someone who can move around without tipping off the grunts. You know, someone who'll be mistaken for a wild Pokemon,' Delcatty answered, pawing at Trapinch's Pokeball to release it. After inspecting the orange Ant Pit Pokemon, who was blinking and looking around in confusion, the cat Pokemon gave a nod of approval. 'Yes, I think it'll be able to carry eight Pokeballs in its mouth.'

'You're kidding me,' Zangoose growled, eyeing his confused teammate. 'This plan of yours had better work.'

No way! Amy sat on the bed, glaring at the ground. I can't just let this happen!

Standing up, she stormed towards the door for the third time since having it shut in her face earlier and tried to turn the knob.

"How many times do I need to tell you that the door's locked, and there are guards out here?" The detective heard a slightly annoyed voice from the other side of the door.

"Shut up!" The young woman shouted, ramming the door once with her shoulder. She refused to accept that the enemy was really going to win. That she had failed both as a detective and as a hero.

"You do know you helped this happen, right?"

This was enough to stop Amy's tantrum. "What? What do you mean by that?" The anger in her voice faltered a bit, as she feared what was about to be said.

"That girl was in pretty competent hands, you know. Those nurses could've kept her from us for years, but you came around and brought her right back into the open. We were worried that you'd actually be a threat, seeing as you volunteered to be a bodyguard against the most famous crime syndicates of every region put together."

A third voice laughed and spoke up for the first time. "But there was nothing to worry about, apparently. Seriously, thanks for helping us get her!"

The news felt like a slap in the face. Amy's own overconfidence and selfish desire to be a hero had gotten the kid captured. "No way. There's just...no way..."

"You know, you ought to be more worried about yourself. So far you haven't even asked what's gonna happen to you."

"That's..." Amy felt herself begin to shake in fear. This mistake wasn't just costing Annette her freedom; it could cost her own life, too. Calm down, Detective Amethyst. You can't just sit here and mope. This isn't going to happen.

With a deep breath, the woman looked back up at the door. "I know exactly what's going to happen to me! I'm going to shut down this base, and keep that girl safe from you just like I promised!" Somehow, anyways...

"Really now, you still believe that? Whatever." Alfred sighed and seemed to be addressing his fellow grunts next. "Go check on the Pokemon training room and see how those rookies are holding up, would you?"

"Sure," two pairs of footsteps echoed in the halls before vanishing.

"How many guards are out there now?" Amy asked, heading closer to the door.

After a short pause, she heard Alfred's voice. "Just me. What, thinking of fighting me off?"

"That's a secret!" The detective stated.

"Childish little..."

"So!" Amy ignored the groan on the other side of the door. Come on, how can I get out of this mess? She took another careful glance around the room. There was a bed, a desk, and a chair, but it was otherwise pretty bland. "This looks more like a bedroom than a prison cell. Do you not have those?"

"In this situation, I don't think you're supposed to care about stuff like that. But no, we don't have a prison. You're in one of the vacant living areas for the grunts."

"Is that so?" Okay, maybe this can work. "Is Annette in one of these rooms, too?"

"You're not escaping, you know."

"Then why not answer the question?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. The less you know, the easier my job is."

You're no help at all! Rather than shouting some indignant comeback, the detective settled with a simple "Hmph!" and went silent for a few moments.

"What, nothing else to ask?"

"Well..."

"What?"

"Can I use the restroom?"

"You're not seriously thinking that'll help you out," the grunt deadpanned. Nonetheless, Amy could already hear the lock being undone. "I've got a full party of Pokemon if you're actually stupid enough to try anything. Follow me."

As soon as the door was open, Amy stepped out and walked beside the grunt. "Thanks!" Just wait, Plasma fiends. You'll be at this hero's mercy soon enough!

Annette sat quietly, hugging her knees and listening to the whirring of the machines in the room. I hope they're not too cruel to Loki. And miss Amy's probably angry right now.

So this is it, isn't it? The teen held out her hand to look at it, and before long a dark mist formed in her palm. Just as quickly, however, she put her hand down and it vanished. If she was even the slightest bit alarmed by this occurrence, it didn't show. Maybe it's better this way, not having to worry about running.

Hearing the door open, she looked up and was surprised to see a familiar face. Rather than the woman from before, this man had been one of the scientists working with Team Galactic.

"Surely you knew we were helping Team Plasma find you, yes?" The scientist asked, noting the girl's surprise. "Of course, we'll be leaving you in their hands from now on. We've long since found a replacement, and you may be pleased to know that Pokemon has been spotted here in Unova."

"It has?" A bit of light seemed to return to Annette's eyes at this news.

"Yes, so you may not want to run off to another region if you ever plan on meeting it. Your best bet will be to stay here and wait for Team Plasma to catch it."

She lowered her head. "I wouldn't be able to escape again, anyways."

"That's exactly what we all thought before you ran away in Sinnoh, now isn't it? But, enough of that." Reaching into his pocket, the man pulled out a syringe filled with an inky black liquid. "I'm here for something else. Here, hold out your arm."

Annette reflexively began to comply, but thought better of it and pulled her hand back. "And what's that?"

"Theoretically, something to make sure you won't need any more operations."

"Then it'll be permanent, won't it?" She kept her arm close despite the fact that it wouldn't do her much good.

"At least until they find that Pokemon, yes. But that shouldn't make a difference to you," he reminded her sharply.

After a while, she took a quick breath to calm her nerves. "I guess not," the teen responded, averting her eyes as she held her arm out.

"That didn't take much convincing."

"Last time I fought back, all it did was get someone else involved." Annette flinched when the needle was administered. "It only makes things worse."

"So you've finally given up, huh? Well, I'm not complaining." Pocketing the syringe, the man turned towards the door. "There is one more thing, though. Someone will be here soon to ask you about the trainer that brought you to this region. Would you care to save them the trouble and tell me now?"

"That..." The teen looked away and shook her head lightly. I have to at least keep that secret from them. "It really was just a passing trainer who wandered into the base. I don't even remember his name very well."

"I thought you'd give an answer like that, but they won't be satisfied with it. At any rate, it's not my problem anymore. Enjoy yourself here in Team Plasma's care from now on." The door closed behind him, leaving the room silent again.

Sighing, the girl curled up on her side. I'm sorry, but it looks like your efforts to save me were wasted. She lay there in silence for a while, but a familiar voice outside the door made her sit up suddenly.

"I have a name, you know! Use it!"

That loud, indignant voice was all too familiar. "...Amy?"

She heard what seemed to be a grunt respond. "If you care about names so badly, tell us your real name and I'll call you by it, brat."

"You're horrible, calling an adult woman a brat! At least use 'Miss Detective' or something."

Thank goodness she's okay, Annette thought with relief. Carefully, she stood and walked up to the door to test the doorknob as quietly as possible. He didn't lock it. She listened to the voices for a moment longer, hesitating to open the door. There's no way I can ever get away from them for good. Every time they catch me, they'll make it harder to escape again. I know that, but...

The teen clenched her fist. At the very least, I owe it to Amy to get her out of this. She never hesitated to help me, and neither did that boy. And she's right there, too—no locked doors or anything. I might not get another chance like this.

As much as she resented the ability those people shoved on her, she knew she would have to use it to help the detective. Closing her eyes in concentration, Annette began to surround herself in a dark, mist-like substance. They won't like this very much. I don't even want to think about what they'll do afterwards.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Annette opened the door.

Amy's Trapinch stumbled along in the sand, making sure to avoid eye contact with the grunts just as Zangoose had told it to. Whatever's going on, it must be serious. I just have to get out of this building. The Pokeballs it carried in its mouth made its steps particularly clumsy, but that didn't seem to attract too much attention.

Before long, the Ant Pit Pokemon made it outside with no problems and spat out the Pokeballs so it could let Zangoose and Delcally out. 'We're outside now, Zangoose. Now what?' It glanced expectantly from its partner to Delcatty.

Delcatty wrinkled his nose at the drool-covered Pokeball, but shook his head. It was arguably more pleasant than being in that squealing grunt's arms. 'We'll need to get some kind of help. I vote we go to Nurse Joy, unless you know someone better.'

'I do, actually. We should go to Smith, since he probably knows how to handle things like this,' Zangoose suggested, giving Trapinch a pat on the head. 'By the way, good job.'

Delcatty snorted. 'I don't understand how you and your trainer can trust than person when he's obviously hiding something, but I'll tag along.'

'Hey, we know him a lot better than we know you,' Zangoose snatched his Pokeball and turned to Trapinch. 'You and the others aren't strong enough for this kind of danger, so take them to the Pokemon Center. Is that alright with you, Loki?'

'My nickname is reserved for my trainer and my trainer alone; call me Delcatty,' the cat hissed, wrapping his tail around his Pokeball to pick it up. 'But yes, that will be fine. None of Annette's other Pokemon will be helpful here, and the nurses might send help when they recognize her Audino. Now, you lead the way.'

'Right. Well, see you later Trapinch!' The white-furred Pokemon ran ahead and disappeared into the sandstorm, followed closely by Delcatty.

Watching them disappear, Trapinch went back to gathering the remaining Pokeballs. Several minutes had passed and it was just about ready to start stumbling through the sand again when suddenly a series of growls stopped it.

'Another one.'

'You smell like those humans from before.'

Much to the orange Pokemon's confusion, dozens of angry Sandiles began to rise from underneath the sand. Trapinch backed away slightly. 'I don't understand what's going on, but why—'

"Seismitoad! Muddy Water!" An aged man's voice boomed from up ahead. Each Sandile turned around in horror as a massive blue toad Pokemon stepped forward, bringing an equally massive wave of water with it. The attack instantly knocked the ground Pokemon out, Trapinch included, and soon the now-muddy desert floor was quiet.

"Hmph, pests. Seismitoad, return!" The frog quickly disappeared into its Pokeball as its trainer walked past the field of fainted Pokemon. However, he paused when he saw a very short trail of Pokeballs. Picking them up, he noticed that the rest were in an unconscious Trapinch's partially-opened mouth and raised an eyebrow. "Interesting." Calling the Ant Pit Pokemon back, he pocketed the Pokeballs in his cloak and continued on his way. I will have to look into that later, the olive-haired man thought as he reached the entrance to Relic Castle.

The Plasma Grunts at the door pulled down their face masks and bowed deeply.

"Welcome...Lord Ghetsis."

Maybe a feigned bathroom break wasn't the best of plans, but it really was all Amy had and, evidently, just what she needed for this not-thought-out-at-all escape plan to work. She thought it was a great way to get the layout of the castle and maybe even slip away from Alfred somehow, so it was worth a shot.

What she hadn't known was that her bickering was what would help, or even that help would come in the form of the one she was supposed to be rescuing.

"You're hardly much of a detective, so why would I address you as one?"

"Take that back!" The detective shouted, causing the two guards the passed to cast sympathetic glances towards Alfred.

Before the veteran grunt could retort, the door behind the two guards opened and shadowy trails of black mist floated out through the doorway.

Surprise evident in their faces, the guards instantly turned around as two trails of the shadowy substance wrapped around their heads while the third got Alfred, just as he was trying to call out a Pokemon. The three grunts fell first to their knees, then to their sides where they lay motionless.

"What...?" Amy braced herself for the weird shadow to go after her, but it never did. Instead, it faded away from the grunts' faces to reveal pained expressions on the now-unconscious men. "What just...ah, well..." After rubbing her temple, the detective threw a fist into the air. "Ha...ha! Justice always pre...Annette?"

She finally looked to the doorway and saw the girl, surrounded by whatever was left of the fading mist and supporting herself on the doorway.

"Amy, you're...alright...I'm glad," Annette panted, seemingly exhausted. "I didn't...know if it would really...work on people...but..."

"Thank goodness!" Amy rushed forward and hugged the girl tightly, relieved she was still okay. "I'm so sorry! I promise I'll never make a stupid mistake like that again!"

She isn't angry with me? The blond started to bring her tired arms up to return the hug, but thought better of it and pulled away. "Never mind that...you need to hurry and...get out of...here..." She urged, her voice becoming strained. Actively controlling that Pokemon's power had taken a lot more out of her than she thought it would.

"Hmm? Yeah, I guess there's gonna be plenty of time to catch up later. Say, do you know what was up with that mist?"

"I'd rather...explain that later..." Keeping a hand against the wall to support herself, Annette made her way down the hall.

"Well, alright..." Amy watched the teen stumble along, growing worried. Whatever it was that made her so tired, there was no way she'd be able to outrun any grunts that happened to pass by. "Hey, wait up!"

"What is it?"

"Well...in a situation like this, we should take their uniforms, right? There's no way we'd make it far otherwise," the detective pointed out, gesturing towards the unconscious grunts. "It wouldn't hurt to take their keys and weapons, too."

"Oh...you're right." Annette sheepishly returned to Amy's side.

"And...there!" Amy adjusted her cap and mask, then looked to see if Annette was finished putting on the uniform. "They don't fit all that well, but they'll have to do," the detective commented, dragging the three grunts into the room where Annette was being kept. "These doors can be locked from the inside, right?"

"Yeah, I think so..."

"Perfect!" With that, Detective Amethyst locked the unconscious grunts inside and headed down the hall. "You don't look so good, though. Want to lean on my shoulder?"

"Okay," Annette answered, letting the detective help her walk along as they remained silent. Aside from a few concerned glances from passing grunts, they went unnoticed right up until the exit was in view. Keeping her eyes to the ground, the blonde tried her best to suppress that feeling of hope that was beginning to resurface again. I'll end up here again. They might leave Amy alone with enough effort, but expecting anything else will only leave me disappointed.

When Amy came to a sudden stop, the girl looked up in confusion and immediately froze at what she saw up ahead. "I-is that...?"

The cloaked man in front of them was one that nearly everyone on Unova knew all too well. One whose face had been all over the newspapers and television.

"Ghetsis," Amy answered under her breath. The man was supposed to have retreated for good, having been reduced to nothing but a lunatic after his last defeat at the latest champion's hands. What was he doing here?

Knowing there would be time to question that later, the two girls lowered their heads and tried to sneak past him unnoticed. They relaxed as soon as he was behind them, but jumped in unison when they felt a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Eep!" The detective yelped.

"Are you two going somewhere?" The old man asked in a tone that sounded more demanding than questioning.

He doesn't recognize us, does he? Amy slowly turned her head back, her muscles growing uncomfortably stiff. "Y-yes, my...lord." The detective mentally gagged at the title she had just addressed that awful villain with. "We were told to go stop any trainers who got past the guard," she explained, making up an excuse on the spot. The guard was still there, right?

Ghetsis stared down with a narrowed eye for a painfully long time before lifting his head to give the other grunts a deeply dissatisfied scowl. "I have a more important mission for you two."

I...guess he doesn't. At least, he hasn't asked us who we are yet. "O-oh? What is it?"

"There is a certain Pokemon called Cresselia," he began. Hearing this, Annette whirled around to face Ghetsis with wide eyes, having had her back to him the whole time. The man's eye narrowed...was that a grin? "One of her feathers is said to be in an abandoned house near Lentimas Town. I want you two to investigate that rumor."

"Right, we can do that!" Amy said, turning to leave and urging Annette to do the same.

"And you might also want to know that we'll be bringing some new Pokemon to you when you get there. Ones that used to belong to a pair of pests that were recently brought here. Of course, we'll make some other use of those Pokemon if you don't arrive to collect them."

"What?" The detective turned back again to look at Ghetsis in horror. He knows, doesn't he?

"You may be on your way now. Mundane as this mission may sound, I trust you may have some motivation to go."

"Yes..." Her expression unreadable, Annette tugged at Amy's arm and started to leave.

"R-right." He's toying with us! He's letting us go because he knows where we're going now. With a sickening feeling in her stomach, Amy hesitantly followed after Annette to leave.

When the two girls were finally out of sight, Ghetsis turned to watch as grunts began running around in a panic, shouting about the escapees. "Such incompetence," he muttered, pulling out a Pokeball. Had it not been for that meeting just now, those two nuisances could have completely escaped Team Plasma's grasp. They were luckily under control again, but the grunts still needed to be punished for their blunder. "Cofagrigus, go! Use Psychic!"

The nearby grunts trembled in fear as the coffin-like Pokemon was sent out to exact punishment, and their screams alerted all others in the castle that they were next.

Author's Note: Hello again! I'm pretty sure a long explanation as to why I was gone would be appropriate, but...I just needed a break from stuff. I'll try my best to be more timely with updates from now on.

So this chapter was probably going to be split into three at first, but that's just way too long for the protagonists to be trapped when they could easily save their own butts in one long-ish chapter(well, long for this story). They're competent enough to survive for at least a few more chapters, yeah?

Hmm, I hope I'm not making Annette's...everything...too obvious or confusing. Well, it shouldn't be a problem once it's all explained in the next couple of chapters or so. Flashbacks every so often couldn't hurt, either. I never knew how much I liked writing flashbacks until this chapter.

Enjoy!