The delcatty walks in, first with an expression of shock, calling out my name with disbelief, then a wide grin slowly spreads across her face.

No…no it can't be. This cannot possibly be happening.

But the smug look on her face tells me that it unfortunately is.

"Well, well, well," she says, sauntering over to the cell. "Whatever do we have here? You seem awfully familiar, but…my memory seems to be failing me. Tell me, have we…met somewhere before?" She's casually leaning against the bars now, feigning disinterest. "Yes, yes, laugh it up Skitty. Hilarious, isn't it?" I say, exacerbated. After everything, I am totally out of patience, so much so that it's overshadowing any excitement I'd have felt at seeing her at this moment. "That's Master Delcatty to you, criminal filth!" Ampharos says haughtily. "No worries Ampharos, this is the same serperior I was looking for. He probably just annoyed a cop or something until they decided to lock him up and be done with it," she jokes casually, while Ampharos continues looking angrily my way. "Well, actually…" I start, not sure how to break it to her. They turn to me, expectantly, "I may have sort of…um…accidentally…attacked a certain uh…'Madame'? Gardevoir…" I admit, feeling my face get hot.

Delcatty's easy demeanor instantly falls. "Wait, you WHAT!? You idiot, what were you THINKING?!" "Hey! That's a bad word!" Elliot says, pointing to Delcatty, who seems to notice him for the first time. "Aww, and who's this little guy?" She says, anger vanishing for a moment. "I'm Elliot! Idiot is a bad word, and poop and butt and—" "ok that's enough of that," I say, scooping him up to stop his chattering. "I had to attack Gardevoir because she was about to attack him…because…he attacked…her son," I offer feebly.

She doesn't look impressed. "Alright, that's great, really. But the fact remains that she and Sir Gallade are probably the most influential family in the continent!" "So I've heard…after the fact, unfortunately." "I'm not kidding around," she snaps, the forcefulness of her words surprising me, "they're gonna want to see a big punishment…or at least expect a lot of money to keep them quiet…" she seems to be thinking out loud, her brows knit tightly together as she studies the floor. Ampharos takes the opportunity to shoot me another nasty look. Delcatty suddenly looks back at me, "I'm sorry, but you're just gonna have to stay here until I fix this whole mess." She abruptly turns to leave, Ampharos following close behind. "Wait, Delcatty? How long are we to stay here? What's happening? Delcatty!" I call, but she doesn't respond, or even look back. I hear the trap door slam behind them, then we're alone again.

She…she seriously left us here? Without another word? Elliot's kicking again, complaining about wanting to go back on the ground, but I'm still too stunned to move. That…that seemed so different to the Skitty I knew. I suppose she's got the stressors of the Center now—it didn't escape my attention that Ampharos called her 'Master,'—but…but I thought we were supposed to be friends! To just come in here, make fun of me for two minutes, get angry, then just leave? I get she might not be able to just…let us go, given the circumstances, but she could show a little more…decorum, if nothing else. She could let us know what she's going to do and what to possibly expect. For example, how long are we supposed to just wait around in here? It's no different from the way that Lurantis and the rest of this place treated us last time!

"Sperpy I wanna go DOWN!" Elliot complains, breaking me out of my trance, "sorry kiddo, there you go," I say, gently setting him on the ground. "Are we gonna see mommy and mama soon?" He says, eyes wide. "I-I…don't know…" I stammer, realizing it's probably doing little to set him at ease. I can't quite seem to focus…something just isn't sitting right about the whole encounter. I turn it over in my mind, then finally realize the problem. Delcatty didn't seem as…surprised as I would've been, if I'd unexpectedly ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in years…someone who came from an entirely different world, no less. There's no way…Gwen…the others…they couldn't be…here with her already, could they?

No…no certainly not. Because…if they were…and Delcatty knew…she would've told me…right? She wouldn't just keep it quiet and leave me to wonder…leave me thinking we were all alone here…

Would she?

I'm feeling a headache coming on; it's all been so much all at once, and this last encounter has pushed me to my limit. I lie down and feel angry tears prick my eyes. I just want to know where everyone is…to know that they're safe. I…I just want to go home.

"Oh no! Don't cry…shush shush…" Elliot wipes away a tear and kisses my cheek. I smile weakly, even when he doesn't know where his moms are…where we are…he's trying to comfort me. He really is a good kid. "Don't worry Elliot. I'm ok…it will be ok," I say, drawing him into a hug.

Whatever Delcatty's up to…I ultimately know her…at the very least, she wouldn't want to do anything to hurt Gwen…

For now, however difficult it's feeling…I suppose I'll just have to trust her.

—

That stupid…ridiculous…I can't believe he's done this! Now I'll have Gallade's family on my back, looking for some kind of…resolution to all this. For Arceus' sake why couldn't he just behave for one day?

On my way back to my room, I was notified by reception that Gwen was finally ready to see me. I felt just awful having to turn her down for once. But, her dear partner put me in quite a situation. I can't let them get an official prison sentence, it just wouldn't be fair, given the circumstances, so I'll have to draft the most apologetic, forgiveness begging, bribe-laden letter in the history of the Exploration Center. But the sooner I get this whole situation sorted out, the sooner we can get everyone reunited. I just hope Gwen can be patient with me a little longer.

—

I just checked with reception, and it sounds like Delcatty's tied up with some kind of emergency and can't meet me right now. It's a shame…I've felt terrible dismissing her over and over again, but Stephanie…she really needed some time with me to just process…well everything. Realizing neither of us had any idea where Elliot was is a huge blow—I could hardly think straight enough to catch up with Delcatty. Ultimately, it was good to make sure she and my team were all ok. And ultimately I know Delcatty, I know she'll understand.

Well, now what? I told everyone I'd be meeting Delcatty…I'm pretty sure they're taking the opportunity to catch up with some important napping. Stephanie, Rotom, and Dragalge looked absolutely exhausted; it sounds like they were up half the night coming here! It was really a miracle they ran into Espathra and Grapploct (I still can't believe they're all grown up too!). Maybe I could take the opportunity to…explore the Center? Oh! There's the Artifacts Wing…I'd always wanted to check it out properly when not trying to steal something from it. Maybe I could go and request a tour from one of the guards…

"Gwen? Is that you?" I hear a voice above me. Looking up, I see Noivern, who swoops down in front of me. "No way, Gwen? I didn't know you were here too! What happened?" I rush to give him a hug, "Oh, thank goodness you're ok! When did you get here, to the Center? Most of us are actually here…Stephanie, Seviper…we've found everyone now except Elliot and Serperior…but we have no idea if they're even in this world." I say, feeling frustrated with the situation all over again. Imagining my little boy out there, possibly all alone—

"Oh, they're with me," he says simply, knocking me out of my thoughts. "What!? Where?" I look around frantically, but don't see them. "Noivern! Where is my son?" He suddenly looks quite uncomfortable. "He and Serperior…well, they got in some trouble in the town we found…and they were…well uh…they got…arrested." I blink for a moment, searching his face. How he could think such a thing is appropriate…"…ha ahaha…ha. HA!…Noivern, Noivern my dear friend…beloved teammate…that's not even the tiniest bit funny," I say through gritted teeth. I see confusion spread across his face at my words. "I-I'm being serious! We arrived in the middle of the night! They're in the prison here awaiting trial!"

Looking at his earnest expression, I realize he's telling the truth. I'm feeling a lot of things all at once. Relief. Irritation. And finally, blinding anger. Delcatty's 'emergency'…it couldn't have anything to do with this…could it?

No…no…she'd tell us first…she wouldn't just…just leave them there…all alone…and not even tell me…right?

"Gwen, are…you ok?"

"I…I have to see them. Right now."