We scramble out of the prison.

It's nighttime.

A few sounds and lights emanate from the Center. We have to move. If Lurantis catches wind of our escape, she won't just arrest us—she'll probably execute us herself. Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a teensy bit, but I don't exactly want to test her patience.

"Follow me" Noibat says. Either he's leading us to safety, or directly to Dr. Laurel, but there's no time to argue. He brings us around to the back of the Center. I never noticed, but beyond the massive trees the ground starts sloping downwards, extending into thick woods below. Noibat swoops down as we look on, apprehensively. "This way, hurry!" He hisses. We carefully and not-so-gracefully (Skitty trips a couple of times and I do a somersault) descend down the hill. Noibat waits for us at the bottom, "there's a cave this way, we should be safe there," he says while turning towards the forest. We try our best to silently move through the trees with…mixed success, but at least no one seems to be following us; that or they're having just as much trouble getting through the heavy foliage as we are.

We finally approach a hole hewn into a rocky wall. I'm amazed we haven't been torn to shreds by the various plants, although I expect I'll be pulling leaves from my fur for days to come. Noibat flies in, and we cautiously follow. I'm listening for anything out of the ordinary, but all I hear are the echoes of our own footsteps. It's dark, and appears to be getting darker. I see the faint sillouette of Skitty in front of me, but nothing more.

Suddenly, I'm squinting my eyes shut against a harsh light. We're revealed to be standing in a large cavern, Noibat flapping in the center.

"Sunny Day," he says, explaining the light, "didn't want to use it earlier to keep stealthy, but it should be safe now." Looking around, I see we're alone.

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Thank Arceus he didn't betray us again.

Yet, anyway.

"…thanks for getting us out." I start, breaking the silence. "Traitor," Skitty mutters, refusing to look at him.

"…I feel like I should explain…" Noibat says awkwardly. "How can we trust anything you have to say?" Skitty says pointedly. "I-I…uhm…" watching him struggle to find his words, I realize how young he looks. He had been the newest addition to Dr. Laurel's team, and then it was in a world where pokemon were expected to do as they were told…and to have a trainer as demanding as Dr. Laurel…

It's got to be difficult for him.

"I…uh…" he's still searching for the right words. "The boss was…all I ever had. And when we got here…he thought I could finally be of some use." He turns to me, "the original goal was to get you all captured, frame you as criminals. That way he figured you'd have no choice but to leave us alone, and we'd have time to get back home." He looks down. "But when he realized he'd been turned into a pokemon…he figured you may have been too, but he obviously had no idea what kind. So the first step was to target your team." He glances at Serperior, then quickly looks away after meeting his glare. "When we arrived, we were in the middle of Windswept Desert with Dragalge…so that's where we started. The boss and Audino attacked them until they went to hide in the oasis…then the two of them left the desert. I was to follow Dragalge; keep an eye on them while a police report was made. I followed them and waited…he thought you'd show up Gwen, looking for your team." He looks at me, sadly. "Then we could have at least captured the two of you. But the plan was that it'd take a little longer than one afternoon, he and Audino were supposed to be back by then…"

I'm starting to see where this is all going.

"So when they weren't back…and a pair of explorers came and captured Dragalge…I didn't know what to do, but then!" He's tearful now, "I heard your name! And you weren't looking to find Dragalge…you were coming to arrest them! When I saw you do it with their own pokeball, I knew it had to be you, that somehow…you were confused…didn't know what you were doing…and that I had to join your team to…to monitor things."

Every move he made…really was a trick.

I feel deflated.

"I've been updating the boss on everything…every time we separated…" He swallows. "that's why you fled before we fought Rotom!" Skitty cuts in, "you knew she'd eventually recognize you!" "I wanted to come clean…I was-" "WHEN!?" Skitty cries, "Skitty…" I try to calm her, but it's no use. Angry tears are flowing down her face, "Please tell me exactly WHEN you were going to tell us? Because as I recall, we only found out from PRISON!" she's shaking. "I-I…you were supposed to catch Serperior…" he scoffs in the background, offended. "I had no idea that you had suspicions about your past Gwen…that you'd start asking questions instead of just putting him in the dang ball. You would've caught them…we were going to get them all secured, and with your memory loss, we could just…leave you and quietly continue our plans."

"Oh please, you must realize that's not true." Serperior interjects, Noibat looks genuinely confused. "You must know Dr. Laurel well enough by now, he'd never have let Gwen run around here, memories or not! What would it mean for him if she started remembering?" He starts poking Noibat in the chest, punctuating his words, "he would have had her…'secured,' as you put it, he would have made sure she was locked up or injured or…something! He would ensure she couldn't get in his way, and if you're too naive to see it, then there's no hope for you, even if you can somehow become strong enough for your crazed trainer to accept you!"

Ough, that seems to have done it. Noibat looks shattered—based on his face, I think the idea of Dr. Laurel being anything less than 100% honest is a huge blow.

He turns to me again, voice shaking, "I-I never thought…I'm so sorry Gwen! And Skitty! I know I can't undo what I've done…but I want to help! Really! I know where they're keeping the rest of your team! We can save them, then we can stop the boss!"

"…stop him from what?"

"From reopening an ultra wormhole…his plans have changed, somewhat, he wants to…take over this world…but now from the inside."

I'm not quite sure how he could achieve such a thing from here; great scientist or not, right now he's just a phantump.

But instinctively, I know he's got the drive and the devotion to try anything.

And that it's up to us to stop him.