First Lavaridge and now this? Wallace thought to himself, controlling the immense desire to slam his face into the nearest wall. However, it would be unseemly of him to do so. Thoughts of the past few weeks raced in his mind, overpowering and far too numerous.

There he was, strolling along Rustboro, wondering if he should pay Roxanne a visit for old time's sake. And then, when things couldn't get any worse for his stress levels, this happened. Came right out of the blue, just like last time. No one expected a group of Salamence to attack anything at once. Team work and dragons didn't even belong in the same universe! For this to happen, and injure Drake and other officials, as well as that many foreigners… it was bad. Really bad. Word had already spread from the distressed and lamenting families who had lost loved ones in the attack. Wallace could almost hear the biting criticism now. The media was no doubt spinning this into something twisted to cause a major pain in the backside for the League. Being the symbol for the League as champion… it would be more than just a pain in his case.

Drake unconscious in the hospital bed with an oxygen mask over his face let that fact sink in.

"He looks peaceful," Glacia said coolly, scanning the sleeping man with her eyes. Sorrowful eyes. It hurt, seeing a friend injured.

"At least he's going to get some rest," Wallace responded. "As for us…"

Glacia sighed and exchanged a look with Phoebe. "We're going to get thrown into a fire pit. It's inevitable. Especially with such a high profile festival. I'm not sure how we're going to salvage this… mess."

"If at all," Phoebe said quietly. "When the rest of the general public gets wind of this, hell is going to break loose, Wallace. It's worse enough the council knows. You saw how angry they were at Lavaridge." Absolutely livid was a good description.

"I know. I know." Wallace frowned. "Where are the council members anyway? I expected at least one of those Weavile to show up already."

"Sidney's holding them off," Glacia explained. "He wanted to make sure you had time to see Drake before the floodgates opened."

"Rather thoughtful of him. I suppose he doesn't have much longer, does he?" No response practically confirmed his suspicion. They'd already been here for about thirty minutes, and the council was notified at the exact same time as the League. If anything, Sidney had already been called a buffoon and those snakes were already crawling their way there.

Sure enough, council member Varn could be heard shouting his urgent desire to see the Champion. Leave it to that fool to shout at the top of his lungs in a blind fury in the middle of a hospital with injured people. They still hadn't even cleaned the blood off the floor yet. And there was a lot of it. What a rude individual.

Stepping outside, Wallace politely told the council member to shut his mouth and pointed to an empty conference room. Flicking a glance towards the other two, he readied himself for a major migraine.

As soon as the door shut, Varn raised his voice again.

"WALLACE!"

Migraine starting. "Yes? Can you kindly refrain from shouting? These walls echo. Terrible on the ears, you see."

"Don't play games with me. You know exactly why I'm here!" Varn snarled. "You irresponsible, idiotic fool!"

Wallace smirked. "And here I thought you came to check your steadily increasing blood pressure."

"Jest and joke all you want you arrogant prick, you're going to-"

Wallace narrowed his eyes and maximized a pokeball. "Call me an arrogant prick one more time and I will teach you what frostbite can do to a person's extremities," he threatened, with a mock friendliness he saved for people he genuinely disliked. "I don't want to talk to someone as crude as you. Insults? Really? Is that what you are capable of? It's quite pathetic."

Varn's face reddened as he was about to let out the longest string of curses to grace the hospital but was stopped by the entrance of a more respectable and less hot-blooded council member.

He placed a hand on the seething man."Councilman Varn, if I have to remind you, we are professionals. Vulgarity is not appreciated. The champion and the Council may be at odds, but that gives you no right to insult him. Please, exit the room if you are too clouded by anger to make reasonable comments," he said, gesturing the glowering man outside.

"Thank you, Councilman Kregin," Wallace said, bowing. "That man always did hate me."

Kregin nodded slightly, adjusting his glasses. "I am not sure why he's on the council myself. But no matter, I came to discuss very important issues with you. Sending Varn was… a mistake."

"'Mistake'. Of course it was, Kregin." Wallace said pointedly. They knew Varn hated the League with a bloody passion, for reasons only that blind bigot knew of. They also knew how much Wallace disliked him as well. To send him deliberately, that was troubling. Relations between the two chambers had really deteriorated.

"Perhaps, but that is not my problem. This mess, is." He clenched his jaw, and paused for a moment to think. "The League is in dire straits, I'm afraid. The Council is not much better. Drake being incapacitated is known. We couldn't hide it this time. Social media is in an uproar. Among the words I've seen, two appear the most- apparently describing the state of the officials, the league, and the council. Incompetent and useless."

Wallace winced, and felt like someone had kicked him in the teeth.

Kregin shook his head. "By god, how could they not think of us like that? Twenty eight dead, forty three injured. Among those casualties were eleven foreigners, ten children, and one official. Many of them in critical condition still. That's not even counting the sixteen rangers killed in outpost MF1. It was razed to the ground. Nothing bloody left."

The water master slowly sat down, and buried his head in his hands. For once, just once, he wished this was a dream. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Everything was real. Too real. His headache seemed to increase, as if the pressure inside his skull would expand and cause it to burst open like a watermelon. Or it felt like a Crawdaunt had his head in vice.

Kregin sat next to him, setting his briefcase down on the table. "It's overwhelming. I understand. An Elite Four couldn't stop those dragons, but a group of mid level trainers did. Children- again. Is that all we are? Are we really that incompetent? I'm not so sure myself."

Wallace looked up and glared at him, as cold and unforgiving as the sea.

Kregin waved a hand. "Don't misunderstand. I was in office at the time of the Magma and Aqua crisis. To feel helpless- like I could have done something- I know it, Wallace. It isn't a good feeling. To have a mere boy convince a legendary to stop the fighting was like having someone step on an open wound and pour salt in afterwards. Despite all of our best efforts, we couldn't stop them. But a child did."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"All I'm saying is that we can't let children solve our problems. We must act. Right now, the Hoenn peoples' favor of us is the lowest it's ever been since the Magmas and Aquas. They don't believe in us. And with all the damage reports and the recent events of Sinnoh in the past years… they don't hold trainers in a high regard either. The fact that this Gray is still running amuck is also troubling. They're afraid of trainers with questionable mental states, and with good reason, if that video was anything to go by."

"Absolutely no sense," Wallace muttered, clutching his head. "None at all."

"I'm sorry?"

"It doesn't make sense," Wallace repeated. "Berry fields being burned, 'random' pokemon attacks, a whole group of Salamence attack a highly publicized festival? It's never happened before. Not to mention Lavaridge and Petalburg. Even if they were coincidences, they don't make sense. One of the injured officials said that the delivery for the eggs was hijacked, yet still made its delivery. That's… incredibly odd."

"And?"

"If our suspicions from the last gym leader meeting are right- we're dealing with something bigger than just coincidences. Maybe even some kind of backstage organization. One that doesn't show its face until the right moment. I don't know for sure. But trouble is brewing. Let's hope we can contain it before it explodes out of control. Right after we take care of this mess that is."

"Blake, what in the blazes are you hiding?" Kim asked, scowling. This had better not be one of those stupid tricks, or he was going to splash hot coffee on him this time.

The spectacled man shifted uncomfortably in his seat, before a betraying yip came out from under the desk. Kim's scowl deepened and Blake grew even more restless, shoving his hands down. "Looking at NSFW things?" Blake winced as he said that, falling back on one of the most embarrassing things he could think of. Or be caught doing. He shifted his eyes around the room, evading the other scientist's judging glare.

Both irritated and amused, Kim pointed a finger at the dark computer monitor. "Your computer is off, genius."

Blake noted the screen and instantly felt like jumping out the window.

"That failed fantastically, where did you pick that one up? The internet?" Kim asked wryly. Terrible excuses were terrible.

Then, a fluffy brown fox emerged from under Blake's desk, yipping in protest from being smothered. Blake's eyes widened and held Kim's gaze for a few seconds in complete silence. The fox looked up at him, cocked its head, and yipped. Cutely.

Calmly taking a sip of his coffee, Kim silently went over to his chair and sat down, pushing the power button on his computer, face devoid of emotion.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Blake asked, expecting a blow up or scolding of epic proportions. It was always, Blake this, Blake that.

"Don't have to. Your job is done. Completely, irreversibly, and permanently. You brought a pokemon into the research lab. Doesn't matter how good a scientist you are, Lund isn't going to give two shits." He set the mug down and stared at the furry pokemon. "Now that that's done with, how did you manage to get an Eevee in LaRousse? Which loan shark do you owe money to now? There's no way some idiot trainer gave you it. It's still a kit."

The brown fox scurried up Blake's body and onto his shoulder, licking his cheek. "Gah! Stop it, Coeurl."

"Coeurl? Like those RPG games? That douchebag creature that casts doom on everyone? You're such a nerd," Kim chuckled.

"Hey, you're a nerd too. You recognized the reference instantly."

"Well, I am a scientist. But you haven't answered the question."

Blake scratched his cheek. "Actually, a friend of mine gave it to me. Breeder based in Johto. His eon pair had plenty of kits this time. He sold most of them but he had two leftover. Gave one to his little brother and he said I could have the other."

"Wow, no bullshit? You have connections with a breeder? That owns a pair of eons?" Kim was surprised. Thoroughly surprised. He always thought Blake was the antisocial type. Must be a different person outside the lab then.

"He's an old friend from back when I worked in Johto. He was much younger at the time but he said he had just gotten started becoming a breeder. He's originally from Slateport actually. We talked a bit after meeting up in a bar in Goldenrod. Just straight pokemon talk. He actually listened to my theories. Unlike most people."

Kim shrugged and shook his head as he watched the little fox play with the computer mouse. "What're you going to do with it now? If Lund fires you-which he will- your theory can't be tested. You'd need the labs materials. Unless you apply to a lab in Slateport or Mossdeep. But that would be a either a downgrade or an incredibly hard position to land."

Blake looked down and sat still for a minute. Kim knew that look. It usually meant Blake was going to make a big decision, good or bad. Either way, when the guy got that look in his eyes, there was no stopping him. "What did you do?"

Blake snapped his head back up and scooped up Coeurl in his arms, scratching him behind the ears. "I was planning on quitting anyway. But I'm still going through with my theory." The eevee yipped again and curled up in a ball of warm fur.

Kim raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what he was getting at.

"A group offered me a job. Amazing pay and… they actually care about what I say. Not only that, but they got a hold of a blood analyst from Slateport named Izak Koveks, who apparently found an extremely unique blood sample that could make breakthroughs if true. Entirely natural and untampered with. Naturally it caught my eye pretty quickly."

"Hold on, hold on. What blood sample?" This was the first he'd heard of it.

"It's really secretive because there's only one test tube of the stuff. It's practically human DNA with a code for a certain type. Simply fascinating. I really want to see it for myself! I want to know what it came from and study it thoroughly. Even if it's a fake, it's a very good fake."

Kim held out a hand."Slow down, Blake. You don't even know if that's true. And besides, is this organization some kind of scientific one? Or?"

"Well, yeah. They have a lab and everything. State of the art and all that jazz. LaRousse may have cool stuff but that lab has so much more, and Lund isn't going to be breathing down my neck." He had free reign to conduct however many experiments he wanted, as long as it worked towards the organization's goals, which were pretty vague at the moment.

Kim rubbed his chin and thought it over. Something didn't seem right. "If that's what you want to do, I'm not going to stop you. Personally, I don't trust it. Sounds fishy to me. Just… don't regret it. If you ever want to come back to Lund's lab though, don't expect a recommendation from me."

Blake nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"What was the name of the organization again?"

"Singularity… I think."

"As in the transhumanist idea?"

Blake nodded.

"Hmmmmmm. Odd name."

Beep, beep, beep.

Eyes slowly opening, Riven groggily woke to a white ceiling. He held his head, feeling a little dizzy as well.

A window was open, letting in a dry breeze. The faint murmurs of people talking could be heard outside over the beeping of heart monitors and other medical equipment. He was garbed in a hospital gown and lay in white sheets, just like in Oldale. Closed his eyes again, hoping he was having a dream. Last he'd known, he was in the middle of… something? He concentrated, trying to think about where he'd been last. The festival! Salamence!

Suddenly remembering what happened, he tried to sit up. Intense pain flashed through his center and he let open his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. He lay in the bed writhing, feeling like someone had shot fire into his stomach and out of his back. The door opened, to reveal Gale holding a bag of candy.

She saw Riven writhing in pain and rushed over, nearly dropping her snack. "Riven!" She called out.

The boy stared at her weakly, pain receding into a duller stab, but nonetheless still powerful. His toes curled up from the feeling.

"Don't move. Please. You'll reopen your wounds. The doctor said you might be in intense pain after the drugs wore off. He said the medicine should have lasted for a couple more hours. I didn't think it'd run out this quickly," she said, trying to calm the boy down and prevent him from moving too much. His eyes were definitely watery, trying to fight it. She watched in sympathetic silence and waited until the pain had receded and Riven was coherent.

"G-gale?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened… to me? And where are the others? Drake? Yelena? The dragon tamers?" Last he'd remembered, he was with them, then… this.

She stared at the area where the wound was supposed to be located and winced. "You and the others were blown clear by a hyper beam. That rock tomb might have saved you from the lightning bolts, but the blast basically turned the rocks into a shower of shrapnel and spears. A lot of the tamers had shrapnel wounds, including Drake. You were one of the worst," she explained, pointing to his abdomen.

He gently ran a hand over the patched up section, feeling the gauze, cloths and bandages. "It's a large wound…" he noticed.

"You got impaled by a piece of jagged rock. Went straight through your body and poked out through the back. You were losing blood. A lot of it. Doctors were afraid of taking it out of you. Normally, a person would have died. They had to be extremely careful. They were freaking out for a whole bunch of reasons that don't make any sense to me. Or them," she said, looking at him strangely. "They still don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one, they couldn't find a blood type to match yours. They just gave you O because they didn't have any time to spare, but it didn't seem to help much since you were leaking like a faucet. Also, they were extremely surprised a trainer had to use shadow sneak to even get you here. Or else they would have taken the long way." And you probably would have died, she thought.

"Why's… t-that?" Riven wondered, flinching from a sharp stab of pain.

"They tried to teleport you. It didn't work." It was really strange. Everyone else teleported fine. Except Riven. The officials and medics didn't really know how to react, to say the least. They lucked out that the man Amy and Seab knew had a ghost pokemon. However, it was even odder that Riven didn't appear to think this was anything new. "You're not surprised."

He sighed and adjusted his neck on the pillow. "I found out in Forina. Baron and I tried it, but nothing happened. He could teleport the others just fine. Well, except Haona. We tried and tried but he could only manage to teleport himself. I'm not sure why." It puzzled him too. He didn't think much of it at first but seeing it now… it could be a problem later. He couldn't fly without hurling and he couldn't teleport. His transportation options were starting to dwindle. And that, was not a good thing.

Gale would think about it later. The point was that he got here."You should have died, you know. That's what the doctor said. Called you one lucky son of a bitch."

"Then how did I-"

"You really are a good trainer you know that?" She said, smiling lightly.

"Huh?"

"Your Gallade. Baron gave it his all with heal pulse. He was the only reason you even made it through the surgery, or else you would have bled out a long time ago. He was exhausted from using heal pulse for so long, but he kept going. Well, that and the fact that you heal faster than any human the doctor has seen in his life helped. Almost pokemon fast."

Riven's stared wide-eyed at her. Mentioning his pokemon reminded him about the others involved, namely their attackers and one brave electric mutt."What about Grumpy and the Salamence? They didn't just leave them there did they?"

Gale shook her head, opening her bag of candy. "They took the unconscious Salamence back to the Falls, along with their eggs. As for Grumpy, they took him for treatment. Amy and Seab went with them. He was sparking out of control, he needed immediate attention or his entire nervous system would fry itself."

"Went where?"

"Ever Grande City," she said, throwing a berry flavored candy into her mouth.

"We're in Ever Grande? The city with the Elite Four and everything?" Riven was incredulous. He'd seen a picture of the city in a travel guide. Really beautiful place. He had to admit, he got a little giddy thinking about it.

"Oh, no. We're in Lavaridge."

Wait, what? He gave her a sidelong glance, utterly confused.

"You didn't really think they'd trust a ghost to take you that far?" She asked, munching on another one of her sweets. "Shadow sneak doesn't have the kind of utility teleport has. That's what the officials said anyway. I'm not a trainer."

Riven frowned. He kind of hoped he was in Ever Grande, so he could go sight-see and maybe watch how the most elite of trainers battled. Well, at least he wasn't dead. "I suppose…but-Gale?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Oh. I'm sorry. I was only trying to be a decent human being, you know, with a heart? That can sympathize? Unlike you and your damn paranoia. All you think about is the worst in people!" She stood up to leave. "If you don't want me here then just say so. You don't have to be an ass about it."

"Gale, wait. I didn't mean it like that." He swore under his breath. "But still, it's a legitimate question. You didn't have to come here. I'm just a customer or client, whatever. There was no obligation to do so." She had no relations with him, or connection of any sort. Why would she care? They'd probably known each other for less than a week really, since he hardly ever spoke to her during those five months in Forina.

Gale glanced at the holo caster on the table near Riven's bed, and what looked like sorrowful pity came over her. "I was going to leave. I only stayed because- well… being your travel companion for the time being, they asked if you had any family." Hesitated a little, walking back to the seat across from the bed. "But you don't, do you?"

Riven shook his head slowly.

"They told me to go through your contact list to see if I could contact any family members. There were only five names there…" Benjamin, Samuel, Will, Steven, and her own. Five people. No parents to speak off. No mom or dad, or home. Nothing. Trainers always had those, even the older ones. To say he didn't have family was an understatement, he hardly had anyone apart from his pokemon and those other four. He was probably used to being alone, without any help.

"Riven, I'm sor-" she started.

"Don't," he replied, voice cutting like a knife, with a touch of anger and bitter resentment. "I don't want your pity, Gale. Or anyone's. I'm not a poor thing people can look at and feel bad for." He looked at her, eye to eye, with a gaze that could pierce solid rock. "Life isn't fair. Things happen. That's the way it is. Not all of us are so fortunate. Drop it."

She looked down at the floor and murmured, "Okay…" Gale fiddled with her fingers before speaking up again. "What happened to them? Your parents? Your home?"

As if reaching into a deep place in his mind, Riven paused before answering her question. "Fire. When I was seven. No siblings. House burned down, nothing left. Was on my own for a long time, before… before other things." He cut himself off there. "That's all I'm going to say. Friend or not."

Gale nodded and silently ate her snack in the following minutes, the only sound in the room being the irritatingly consistent beeps of the monitors Riven was hooked up to. Other things. From what she knew of Petalburg, he probably meant unsavory things. Child soldier? Crime? There were people like that. Some in Orre, some in other places. They never quite came back all right. It explained a lot about his rampant paranoia and distrust of people in general. Even now, he didn't trust her. What kind of life did he live?

"Gale." His voice knocked her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him. "I need something very important," he said, gravely serious. More so to change the mood. It was uncomfortable, talking about his parents. Or anything from back then to anyone from now.

"What do you need?"

He remained quiet for a few seconds before deadpanning, "I want some of that candy."

She brought a palm to her face and shook her head. "I thought it was important!"

"But it is important," he insisted.

"Candy? Seriously?"

He grimaced. "Do you know how bad hospital food tastes? It's atrocious. Shouldn't even be called food. And here you are waving sweets in front of my face. I like sweets. Sweets are good."

Dully blinking at him, Gale shoved the entirety of the candy into her mouth and chewed it slowly. Taunting him.

"You're a spiteful, cruel woman," the young man scowled.

"Serves you right."

The scowl transformed into a frown. He didn't mean to insult her when he asked her why she was here. In fact, the question was perfectly acceptable in his mind. But reasonable didn't always coincide with tactful. And when it came to social situations, Riven sucked at them. Very much so. "Look, I didn't mean to doubt you. It's just… it's hard to trust people. Betrayal is an ugly thing."

"Why? It's happened before?"

Thankfully not."Never let them get too close," he said frankly. "Others anyhow." The only people he could trust were his own, and they were gone. Here, he didn't know who was trustworthy or not, and it bothered him. "Best be prepared than regret it when the knife plunges into your spine."

Gale stood up and threw away the wrapper in the garbage can. "That's your problem. You're too paranoid. Too distrusting. You're going to die alone if you keep that up."

"That's what's kept me alive all this time. And I don't mind being alone. I really don't."

"Maybe so, but that isn't any way for someone to live. Everyone needs a family, or some kind of support. I may not be that, but...argh. Need somesense knocked into you... You really should talk to your pokemon more. Your Gallade was worried sick! All of your pokemon were." She let out an exasperated breath. "You can be distrusting of people but at least you can depend on your pokemon. They're fiercely loyal, they wouldn't betray you. They'll do anything for their trainers."

"I… guess you're right," he started, "I'll talk to them later. Baron especially. I have to thank him. Would have died if it wasn't for him." Blinked and frowned again, receding into deep thought. "Why are pokemon so loyal? Can't they think for themselves? What if their trainer did something they didn't agree with? Why would they do it?"

He knew pokemon were weapons back in his time, but they were born and raised that way. They were bred to kill, not to be friends. It was one thing for a born killer to do something atrocious, it was quite another to have a loving companion do the same thing, all because someone said so. For god knows what reason. He never really thought pokemon had much of a conscious until he came here.

Gale smiled faintly at him, bittersweet."Love is pretty strong. Sometimes it pushes others into doing drastic things. Not all of them good." She noticed the pensive look on his face, no doubt tying it in to his own actions.

Hmph. Love. "Never felt that before," he whispered quietly, just low enough for Gale to miss it.But hate? That I do. I know all about that.

"Hmmm?"

Before she asked Riven to clarify what he had said, his holo caster buzzed, making a loud sound as the device vibrated along the table. Riven and Gale watched it ring a couple of times until the sound ceased. And came back again. The bed-ridden boy lifted a hand, pointing to the thing. "Can you answer that?"

"Uh, sure." Gale picked up the device, reading, incoming call: identification, Will. Fiddling with the caster, she pushed the answer button and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Riven! Riven! Riven!" A frantic young voice came through, concerned and slightly scared, if a bit jarred. Young boy, early teens. Voice not deep enough to be an indication of puberty. Less than fifteen or so."Wait, what happened to your voice? You sound like a girl."

Gale arched an eyebrow and looked back at Riven, who held a look of confusion. "Ummmm… this isn't him."

"Well then, where is he? Wait. Wait. Are you his girlfriend? What the hell? This world's going crazy! First there's freaky desert-y magic things then suddenly, fire is coming-"

"Can you please slow down? I'm not…. his girlfriend," Gale stated nervously, seeing Riven mouth a flat "what".

"Then who are you?" The young boy's voice demanded, a bit skeptical. "Why do you have his holo caster?"

Gale couldn't help but sigh. It seemed like Riven's paranoia was starting to rub off on people. She didn't know if that was good or something to be wary of. "Just a friend. That's all."

"Where is he then?" The boy asked. "He wouldn't hand it over to anyone. I know that for sure. He trusts his knife more than other people!"

That. Is something I can believe, Gale concurred, looking toward Riven's neatly folded pile of clothes, and his trainer bag. Somewhere in there was his survival knife. One that looked far less suited to being used to cut meat, and more for ending a life. Quickly. It bothered her when she first saw it, wondering why any trainer would carry around something like that. "He's paranoid, I'll give him that."

Riven scoffed.

"Nevermind, you do know him," Will sneered. "You haven't answered the question, whoever you are. Girl? That's a friend? Friend girl? I don't know."

"My name is Gale."

"That's a boy's name."

"Yeah…" Gale kept turning back to see Riven, who was making hand gestures to know who in the blazes was calling. She waved a hand, trying to calm him. "But ummm, he's… he's in the hospital right now." She hoped the boy would understand and call back later.

A second of silence, then the boy's voice came blasting through.

"AGAIN?"

Completely wrong response. Gale thought, taken aback. "What do you mean, again?" She asked, a bit perplexed. Was Riven facepalming? He was.

"Yeah! When I was with him, he got thrown through a window, shocked, broke his arm and cracked his ribs. Before that, he said he was in the hospital in Oldale for ten days because he got turned into a human practice dummy by Scyther! Oh and did I mention we nearly died in the desert?"

Gale's jaw nearly fell off.

She whipped around and shot a glare at Riven, promising several divebombs on the next flight. She held a palm over the speaker and said, "You, are going to tell me everything that's happened to you or else." Shoving the caster into Riven's hands, she sat back down, still incredulous. "It's your friend Will. Says he has something extremely important to tell you."

"Oh." He held the caster up to his ear. "Will? That you?"

"RIVEN!"

He wrenched the caster away and winced. He pushed a button and put it on speaker. He'd learned that one at least. "Ears. Bleeding."

"Oh, sorry about that. But I needed to tell you- wait, am I on speaker?"

"Yeah."

"YOU CAN'T LET YOUR FRIEND GIRL WITH THE BOY'S NAME HEAR THIS!"

"Gale. Her name is Gale. And this is precisely why you're on speaker. My ears would have imploded had the phone been near my face," Riven replied dryly. "What do you want? Just checking up on me?"

"No. Yes! I don't know! But you're in the hospital again! What tried to kill you this time?"

"Several things, actually. It wasn't my fault this time though. Really."

"Sure it wasn't. Spill it."

"A group of Salamence. About thirty strong."

"Oh, shit. You were at the Dragon Festival?"

Riven raised an eyebrow and exchanged a concerned look with Gale. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"The whole god damn region knows! That festival gets a lot of publicity from the trainer community. You can't believe how angry some people are right now. I hear the injured people had it pretty bad. Some crazy lightning shower or something. You had something to do with that?"

"Yes, and no. It was someone else's plan. I just helped a bit. Not doing that again. Ever." It hurt too much. He didn't like pain. Pain was bad. Hospital food? Even worse.

"You got smashed pretty hard didn't you?"

"Got impaled by a rock and nearly bled to death. Right now, I can't even move without flinching in pain. It's healing but it was too close this time."

"You are a doom magnet."

"Never doubted it. Anyway, what do you want?"

Will felt uncomfortable, knowing this Gale person was listening. Riven had mentioned to keep things secret. "You know after I left, I spent some time with my family?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well something happened last night and- you know what? I'll just show you… Which hospital are you in?"

"Lavaridge- ironic huh?" It was almost funny. Almost. If laughing didn't hurt like hell at the moment.

"Okay, I'll be there soon."

"You don't have a psychic-"

The line clicked and the call ended. Riven rolled his eyes and handed the caster back to Gale.

She took it, putting it back in his bag. "What do you think he wants?"

Riven put a hand on his chin. "Honestly, I don't know. Probably something pointless." Most likely not, he had a feeling it was related to what happened in the desert. He'd told Will not to tell anyone about that, guess he was taking it seriously. That was good. The kid could keep secrets. That went a long way in not getting yourself murdered.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Gale opened it, seeing a short boy with red eyes, wearing a trainer hat and what looked like standard trainer attire. Standing beside him was a taller woman with the same red eyes and waist length black hair. She wore a trainer belt too, and had that experienced air about her. Pretty too. Really pretty.

Riven lifted his head, seeing Will and his… sister? Lucia, he recalled. Rather tall, compared to Will. Attractive too.

Will and Lucia walked inside, heading to the foot of the bed. Will stared at Riven for a few seconds, an awkward silence filling the air. Lucia looked between her brother and him in slight bemusement.

"You're an idiot," Will started, breaking out into a full grin.

"Great, you just get here and you're insulting me," Riven frowned, and shifted his eyes to his sister. "Lucia right?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding with a smile. "Will talked about you. Thanks for looking out for my brother in the desert. I was relieved to find out he was okay." She cocked her head, examining him. He was exactly as her brother had described him. Mismatched eyes, tall, black hair, not lanky but not too heavily built either. Less track runner and more climber about him. And that white streak of hair on the right side was there too. The "skuntank" hair, as Will has mentioned. Spot on."You've been out in the wild for some time haven't you?"

"It's that noticeable?" Riven chuckled.

"The hair mostly. It's unkempt and fairly long, happens a lot from what I've seen." She smiled, pointing to her own. "I know the feeling, the only reason mine doesn't look like a spider's web is because I actually had to go back to civilization. Hats help." She put a gentle hand on her brother's head, who didn't seem to mind.

Gale snickered.

Riven grimaced again. "Yeah, I've gotten enough pestering about my hair from that one over there."

"You look like shit though," Will stated, "And you got pale again. How was Forina?"

"Got a new pokemon, got attacked by a dragon, hunted, survived. Ate berries, tasteless meat. You know, the entire experience. Among other unpleasant things."

Lucia's eyes widened. "You got attacked by a dragon there too?!"

"Well… yes."

"H-how?"

"Well, I just happened to get out of the dawn caves and in my excitement I accidentally challenged its authority. It… didn't appreciate that very much." He noticed the blank stare she was giving him. "What?"

" The dawn caves? The spires? You went up there to get a dawn stone?"

"They're expensive?" He replied sheepishly. "Had to get one somehow."

Will's sister turned to face her brother. "This is your idea of a good influence?" Dragons attacking him in the wild, climbing spires, challenging a dragon's claim to territory, and getting unlucky enough to be stranded on a desert? Her own brushes with danger paled in comparison to his. That meant bad news for her brother, who was notorious for making things explode. Even when they shouldn't.

The younger trainer laughed loudly, enjoying the shock on his sister's face. "Your face is priceless! Besides, he's not the only one that bad stuff happens around."

"Except that's Quil's fault most of the time."

"Uh, I guess you're right."

"Will," Riven cut in, "what is it you came for? It was urgent, right? Then tell me." Noted the bandage around Lucia's arm, and a calculating gaze swept over the siblings. "Her right hand is wrapped in a bandage. I doubt an experienced trainer like your sister would get close enough to a fire pokemon to be burned like that. And if she had a fire pokemon herself, she wouldn't get burned by it. Those bandages are fresh. Something about last night? It isn't just any little thing."

The atmosphere of the room completely changed. The light-hearted playfulness from before was entirely gone, replaced by discomfort, worry, and hesitation. Whatever Will and his sister wanted, it wasn't anything to scoff at.

Lucia was uneasy, looking behind her to see if anyone was listening in. She unwrapped the bandage to reveal a burn on the top of her hand that ran from the tip of the wrist down to about her knuckles. First degree. Small ember at best. They had taught him about burns and treatment for them. Fire was the expertise of the Roses, and considering the amount of time they spent fighting the bastards, the army was fairly used to burns of all kinds of severity.

"Will burned me," she said, staring at it. "It just happened while we were out training last night. There were some thugs and I could have handled them, but he tried to be a hero and…"

"Wait. Wait. Stop. Will burned you? With a pokemon? With Quil?" Riven questioned carefully, finding it incredibly odd why a Quilava would be using ember on thugs, of all things. He could believe Quil burned her, but using an ember? It didn't make sense. If it was against thugs, a flamethrower or incinerate would be far more useful. That and the fire pokemon's aim must have been terrible.

She shook her head. "Will said you might know something." Wrapped her wound and looked down at her brother. And nodded. "So we figured it was best for him to show you. You might not believe it if we told you."

Riven raised a skeptical brow. He'd seen plenty of things that would be classified as unbelievable. He was starting to consider anything at this point.

Will tensed and breathed deeply. He pointed to a random section of the room and held out an arm. "Let's see if this works…" He thought back to the events of the night before, where the thugs were ready to do horrible things to his sister. Anger washed over him as his blood seemed to boil, his feelings to protect his family intensifying. I won't let harm come to his sister. I won't! Heat rushed to his finger tips and a flash of fire sprang out of his fingers, scorching a section of the wall black. He jumped back, not expecting so much fire. He went to sit down, disoriented.

Riven and Gale froze, not daring to breathe, not daring to move. Gale was shocked, while Riven remembered something he'd only seen at Nimva Plains, where everything went wrong. The place where more than half of the army had been slaughtered, including most of his friends. There he saw them. Pyrolancers. Elite Rose troops that shot fire with their hands and feet. He'd always thought it was magic they used.

"That-that isn't possible," Riven whispered. "They're dead. They're all supposed to be dead."

Once again, he felt like the world had slugged him in the gut. His eye burned as the desire to destroy, tear apart,and murder returned stronger than ever. No, no he can't be a Rose. Can't be. He doesn't even know what's going on. And the fire… in the desert. That's the only explanation. He's not the enemy!

The heart rate monitor picked up, measuring Riven's rapidly increasing beats per minute.

Gale watched as the older trainer seemed to struggle in his bed, beads of sweat forming along his forehead. "Riven, are you ok? Your heart rate is skyrocketing. What's wrong?"

Kill! NO! Breathing hard, Riven waved a hand. "I'm- I'm fine... Really." Blew out another breath, slow and steady. "Just some pain, that's all."

Will turned back to both of them, regarding their wary stares. "I'm a freak aren't I?" He said, balling his hand into a fist.

"No one said that, Will," Lucia reassured. "Whatever's happening to you, I'll be there to help you." She eyed Riven. "You reacted… pretty strongly. I take it you know something?"

He clenched his jaw and swallowed. He had an idea. One that would make him look utterly insane. But he had another fallback, which was the complete truth anyway."I didn't want Will to tell anyone of this, but in the desert, we found some kind of sphere. I had a blue one, nearly identical, that I found in Dewford. It… reacted. Opened something and that's when we saw the red one. Will went out to touch it, and it engulfed him in flames. I thought he was dead, but he came out unscathed. After that, he began acting strangely. He started to like the heat, said he felt a fire in his chest. Right, Will?"

He nodded.

"Anyway, the sphere disappeared as soon as Will touched it. Maybe that's the reason for this. It did something to him."

"You said there was another sphere?" Lucia mentioned, face grave. "Where is it?"

"I gave it to Steven."

"Steven Stone?" She repeated, gawking. "You have Steven Stone on dial?"

"Yeah."

Former champion on dial? Who was this guy? Even if she was a fairly experienced trainer, she'd only ever met the man once, and that was during a battle she thoroughly lost. "A-and he has it?"

"He is a rock expert, I figured he could come to some kind of conclusion. I haven't spoken to him in a few months though. Don't think he lost it."

"We need to talk to him then!" Will pleaded. "I need to know what's happening to me! I burned Lucia- I…"

"No," she cut in, stern and protective, in her best big sister voice. "This has never happened before. If they find you, they're going to turn you loose to a bunch of scientists and other people who would love nothing more than to stick needles into your spine and arms. I do not want my brother to end up a lab rat. I won't let it happen. Riven was right. You can't tell anyone about this."

"Which means, what happened here can't leave this room, right?" Gale figured. "Don't worry about me, I can keep secrets," she assured, and looked at Riven. "I'm already holding some now."

Riven looked away and nodded. "Listen to your sister, Will. Don't draw attention to yourself, just do what you've been doing all along. Be a trainer, plain and simple. But if you can't help it, and you're in trouble, burn the bastards. Shooting fire out of your fingertips like a damn pokemon... It's weird but… you might as well learn how to use it. In secret. Keep low and don't trust anyone."

The younger boy nodded vigorously. "Looks like I am turning into you after all," the boy said, remembering what Riven had said to him before he left for Slateport. I don't want you turning into me.

"As long as you don't get involved in half the crazy things your friend does, a little bit of paranoia is a good idea. So, what now then?" Lucia asked. "Maybe I should go speak to Steven. I nearly got to him once…"

"He doesn't know you. No one else really knows about this sphere business. He could get suspicious of you and how you found out if you ask him." Riven thought carefully about the attack in Lavaridge, giving it another judgement. "There may be other people looking for whatever it is we found. We don't want to give them clues to find Will. They already tried to kill us once."

"Wait, what?" Gale and Lucia both said in unison.

"Long story. Point is, they came after us, looking for information on what happened in the desert. You guys didn't know about it probably. Officials made sure to keep it from the public."

"How could they keep that from us?"

"I don't know, I'm not an official. Personally, I think most of the laws are stupid and pointless. But those guys came after me and Will specifically. Killed two people. They were stopped. Permanently," he said, darkly.

Gale swallowed, knowing what he'd meant.

"That was just before I got put into the hospital for the second time within a year."

"I don't believe this!" Lucia said, running a hand through her hair. "My brother's involved in a conspiracy of some sort?"

"Life has a funny way of working out doesn't it?" Riven smiled, short and wry. And I never thought I'd get caught up in an assassination attempt which to this day is still screwing me over. No rest for the wicked.

"He's barely had any trainer experience and people already want him dead?" She said, worry evident in her words. "He doesn't even have his sixth badge yet!"

Riven thought about it and sighed. "I'll talk to Steven. I don't want to. But I will. This has me concerned as well, and not just because he's shooting fire out of his hands. But that's a solid reason why." It raised even more questions he didn't have answers to. He thought the Roses were dead. But this showed otherwise. Or maybe they were dead… and this was entirely different. Which made things far more troublesome.

Will's sister went and sat down beside Gale, trying to sort her thoughts.

"But I can't do that until I've healed from this first. And before I go talk with Steven, I still have one more stop."

"Which is?" Gale asked.

"Norman." He smirked at her. "And you, still owe me a free ride. Remember?"

So there it is. Took long because finals will be upon me soon and I've been bombarded with midterm after midterm and paper after paper.

Anyway, the plot is accelerating now. I wonder if anyone knows where I'm going with this? He-he.

Thank you for reading, you guys be awesome. Follow, favorite, review at your own discretion. It would be appreciated.