It seems I don't know the order of my own chapters! :p But I know a way to fix that! Today's going to be a double-chapter special - especially considering that Cyrus' part in his is so small.

Chapter 45 - Infiltration, Day 2

Nick's POV, 3rd

When Nick woke up the next morning, he hadn't expected to see the female Raichu sitting on his chest, looking at him suspiciously.

"The grunt's up!" the Electric-Type called to her Trainer, who was standing off to one side and talking with Shelly.

The teen turned to look in her direction. "About time. Now, get off his chest before he knocks you off."

The Pokemon complied, glaring at Nick as he got out of his bunk, careful not to hit the bed above him with his head, thus disturbing the sleeping form above. "Why are you up so early?"

"I need to get moving in order to take out the outer defense system," the teen explained, "and I'm getting the feeling that you might know the general location of the control system for that."

Nick frowned. "Outer defense system?" he repeated. "I only know my way around the Pokemon storage facilities..."

"There's a possibility that the Electric-Types are powering the system," the Zoroark explained from where he and the other Pokemon stood behind the teen. "If you can lead us there, we can take care of the rest."

Understanding came across Nick's features. "Oh. And you want to go there now?"

"That's pretty much the idea," the girl confirmed.

Nick took off his bandanna and and ran a hand through his black hair. "I don't think we should go right away," he remarked. "Your little fiasco with the Psychic-Types yesterday has everybody on edge. The Aqua members who were out doing their shifts were pretty antsy when they came in."

"Well, we're going to have to move fast. The attack's going to get here by tomorrow at the earliest." The girl looked over at the female Raichu, who's glare had now moved to Shelly. "You really ought to relax, Raichu. They're on our side, not Cyrus'."

Raichu looked at her Trainer sharply. "What makes you say that?"

"Darkrai told me they'd broken away completely," the teen stated calmly. "Try to put the past behind you for a bit."

The Electric-Type snorted. "Yeah. Sure; like it's that easy."

"So, you're the friend of that boy."

The group turned to look as Archie approached from the warp panel.

The girl smirked. "Yup! I got back late last night."

"So I heard. The Rocket grunts are in a panic from your antics." Archie looked over at Shelly. "Jirachi's disappearance seems to have everyone on edge."

"That's just because the Psychic sensor's down," the teen stated carelessly, ignoring the look the two were exchanging. "I'm planning on going after the outer defense system next, but Nick's hesitant to take me to where the Electric-Types are being kept. Like I told him, we don't have much time before the attack starts."

"How long, then?" the Aqua leader inquired.

"Tomorrow at the soonest, two days at the latest. I won't know until I send a progress report down there." The girl shrugged. "Point is, we don't have much time." She sent a quick glance at the Pikachu with a scarf that was perched on her backpack. "Plus, I bring news from the dream realm."

Shelly frowned. "Dream realm?" she repeated.

"Darkrai got me into another person's dream last night," the girl explained. "He asked me to try and free them from their dreamscape, so that they could gain control of themselves and start freeing others."

"Well, it certainly couldn't have been Spiky," Shelly remarked. "Otherwise we wouldn't still be in this mess."

The teen shook her head. "No; it was the leader of the other Hoenn organization. I got Maxie to slip out last night."

Archie's eyes widened. "You freed my brother?"

The teen nodded, not seeming to take notice of certain words in the question. "Darkrai said that if he could be rescued, then the rest of Team Magma would wake up faster than if I went to each of them one at a time." She frowned. "Although, I was a little surprised to see that there was a Blazikan in his dreamscape..."

"It was his first Pokemon," Archie responded. "Just as Swampert was mine."

The girl's eyes widened. "Seriously? I hadn't known that. I wonder if mine is related to yours."

The Aqua leader shrugged nonchalantly. "It's possible - I sent her back as soon as Sharpedo was strong enough to hold his own, long before I had assembled my team."

The teen frowned. "So that means my Swampert could be the son of your Swampert?"

"It's possible."

The girl smirked. "Oh, man. I don't know how Swamp is going to react when he hears about this!"

Shelly frowned. "Swamp?" she repeated. "That sounds familiar..."

The girl blinked her blue eyes in confusion. "It does?"

"Yeah...I think that was what White called her..." Shelly gave the teen a weird look. "You're not White, are you?"

The girl snorted. "No way. I haven't been here. Swamp must be a common name, maybe." Despite the determined look on her face, the girl sounded...strangely unsure of herself. A moment later, she shook her head. "No. My name..." She looked up at Shelly with a more determined look in her eye. "It's Khrista."

There was a strange silence in the room when the girl - Khrista - had spoken her name. Nick couldn't believe his ears, that was for certain.

"Khrista?" Archie repeated, rolling the name around in his mouth. "Such a strange name for an Avatar."

Khrista gave the leader of Team Aqua an odd look, then shook her head and turned her gaze to look at Nick. "That's besides the point. Can you help us take care of the defense system or not?"

The two Raichu and Linoone gathered around Khrista protectively, looking around and daring anyone who would to come near to their Trainer.

Nick thought for a moment, a slightly nervous look coming across his face. It vanished rather quickly, however, and he put his bandanna back on, a determined look on his face. "Let's go."

Hee hee. ;) Khrista's going to be making her move reeeal soon.