"Oh Nemona! It's been far too long. We haven't met since that party, have we? I'm so glad you decided to come to Blueberry!"
Lacey's enthusiastic greeting made the battle fanatic smile, "Thanks Lacey! It's great to be here, really! I love how everyone isn't afraid to battle!"

Lacey gave a confident smile in return, "Tee hee! I knew you would say that! You know, my daddy asked about you yesterday! I think you made quite the impression on him at that party! You know, when you asked for a battle in that fancy dress!"

Nemona bashfully put a hand on her head, "Ah geez! I'm so sorry about that! Once I heard that he was a Gym Leader I just couldn't help myself…"

Lacey assured her, "But daddy was so pleased with you! You know what he said? He said, 'Nothin' wrong with a young missy who knows what she wants!' hehe!" Putting her hand on her hip as she lowered her voice in an attempt to mimic her dad. But with her natural high pitch she sounded comical.

Nemona sighed in relief, "Aww, I'm glad! Clay's very kind!"

The two girls had spotted one another in the League Club room and immediately began to chat. It wasn't known to many that they had become acquainted with one another a year before at a social gathering hosted by Nemona's parents. No one would forget the young girl in a shimmering gold, fully beaded cocktail dress and matching heels taking a confident stand in front of the Gym Leader and declare she wanted a battle. Everyone was stunned at her bravery, or foolishness depending on who you would ask. Lacey remembered Nemona's parents immediately rushing over to try and contain their daughter, but Clay assured them it was okay, laughing in amusement the whole time. They didn't get to actually battle, considering they were at fancy party. And Nemona was wearing the worst kind of footwear for a fiery battle.

Lacey giggled, "You should visit him in Driftveil City sometime! I'm sure he would love to see you again!"

"That would be amazing!" Nemona agreed, "We can have a proper battle then!"
She then saw Juliana and Penny walk into the room. Juliana had her phone in front of Penny.

"Look Penny! The Eevee you gave me evolved!"

"Let me see!" Penny enthusiastically responded, her eyes widened looking at Juliana's phone, "Oh, you turned her into an Espeon? That's cool!"

"My mom really likes her a lot!" Juliana mentioned, "Say Penny, I noticed that you don't have an Espeon on your team."

Penny affirmed, "Yeah, I don't like mornings. So I haven't really gotten one."

Juliana giggled, "Right, you're more of a night Noctowl."

Nemona called out to them, "Juliana! Penny! Over here!"

Juliana eagerly waved, "Nemona! Lacey!"

Arven quickly made his presence known, "Hey, I'm here."

Juliana looked around, "Oh wow, everyone's here! Well… almost everyone!"

"Lacey and I were just catching up on things!" Nemona told, "To be honest, I really wanted to battle her! But she had just had one and needs to rest her Pokemon… bummer!"

Lacey smiled, "I'll be sure to save a time for you, Nemona!"

"Woo hoo!" Nemona cheered, "Thank you so much!"

Penny shook her head, "Geez… Welcome to the Nemona Survivors Club Lacey."

Lacey giggled, "Hehehe! Don't worry, Penny! I can handle her!"

Penny chuckled, "Nemona truly fits in here, huh? This place was made for her."

Meanwhile, Juliana and Arven started a conversation.

"So, what have you been up to cutie?" Arven asked.

Juliana replied, "I went for a walk this morning and watched Amarys battle someone. She won."

"Amarys… she's the one with the steel-type Pokemon, right? The girl that always speaks like she's a robot?" Arven tilted his head inquisitively with his arms crossed.

"Mm-hmm!" Juliana confirmed, "She's also Carmine's best friend. They're the same age."

Arven was surprised, "What? Those two? Best friends? Haha! Well, I'll be a Mankey's uncle! What a shocker!"

"I know, right!?" Juliana replied, "Is it me, or is it always two opposites that attract the most?"

"Well, that is how the saying goes."

The door opened once more, and in walked Kieran. The second Nemona caught him in her sight, she immediately bounced over to him, "Kieran! Hey Kieran! I was just wondering where you were!"

Kieran reacted nervously, "O-Oh! H-Hey Nemona! Well, uh… I come here a lot…"

Juliana, Arven, and Penny joined them.

"Nemona, what did I say about dialing it back a notch or nine?" Penny scolded, "No, actually, dial it back ten notches!"

"It's okay." Kieran assured, "I don't mind. Wowzers, you're all here."

"Hey Kieran!" Juliana greeted.

"How's it going, buddy?" Arven spoke.

Kieran replied, "Nothing really. Have you guys seen my big sis? I saw Crispin and he said he was hiding from her…"

Arven chortled, "I might know what that's all about."

Juliana asked, "Huh? Arvie? What are you-?"

Speak of the devil, Carmine flew the doors of the room, stopping Juliana in the middle of her sentence. Before any of them could react she rushed up to the group, "Oh, good! You're all here! Hey listen! I gotta talk to all of you! Come on!"

She guided the confused gang to a corner of the room at once. Juliana said in a hushed voice, "What's going on, Carmine?"

Carmine whispered, "So Juliana, those guys you brought with you. The Paldea Elite Four? They've left! I heard them saying that someone broke into Area Zero!"

The mood went from worry to absolute terror.

"What!?" Arven reacted before looking around to ensure no one was in earshot.

Penny whispered to Nemona, "Do you think it's Professor Raifort again?"

Nemona shook her head, "No, I saw her earlier this morning. She was teaching a class. Director Clavell was watching her."

"Who could it be?" Arven wondered.

No one noticed Juliana's face go from deep thought to a slow horrifying realization, "Oh no… No no no… it can't be."

Arven heard her, "What's wrong Juliana?"

"What if it's Perrin? She was showing me pictures the other day!"

"Perrin? That photographer?" Arven inquired.

"Don't you remember? She had those pictures from Area Zero!" Juliana reminded.

Penny was startled, "She had pictures from Area Zero!? What the heck!?"

"She could die down there!" Kieran worried.

"He's right." Arven replied, a somber look on his face, "What are we going to do?"

Juilana pondered over it. The mere thought of going back down there once more was making her sick to her stomach. But she didn't want to leave this alone. She faced the gang, "We have to help!"

"Juliana…" Arven began to speak, but Juliana continued, "She may not realize that she's way in over her head…"

Nemona agreed, "That's right! Plus, we've been there before. We can do it again!"

Carmine was ready, "Well, what are we waiting for? We need to find a flight to get on ASAP!"

Penny sighed, "Here we go again…"

By a stroke of luck, none of them had any classes to go to for the rest of the day. So, it was easier for them to leave the school without anyone noticing. Juliana was unsure whether the League would want them to get involved. But now that she knew, she had to take action.

Next stop, Paldea. Then after that, the dreaded Area Zero.

In Paldea…

Rika and Hassel had already arrived at the Zero Gate, where they encountered Joseph, the old friend of Director Clavell. The taxi driver gave his account, "I had just dropped off some trainers in Medali. Because it's so close I can swing by here to keep watch. That's when I saw a young lady with a camera entering."

Rika put on her glasses and shook her head in frustration, "Great. This is the last thing we needed right now."

"I agree." Hassel replied, "It's especially concerning with all the strange reports we've been getting. What's the plan now?"

"Larry and Geeta are on their way." Rika informed, "They had some other things to take care of at the Blueberry first. Plus, the flight me and Hassel got was completely full."

Joseph asked, "Has Clavell been informed?"

"I called him but he didn't pick up. So I left him a message." Rika sighed, "I hope he hears it soon…"

"Should I venture down there?" Hassel offered.

Rika immediately shut that down, "No, not now. Let's wait until everyone else gets here." In the meantime, she checked the monitor that controlled the teleportation pad and looked at the history. Sure enough, it had been recently used to teleport to the first research station.

She put a hand on her forehead, "Ugh… I hope whoever the young lady is down there doesn't get herself killed…"

The tension among the gang was present as the airplane they were on seemed to be moving slower with every minute. Mostly due to the mission at hand, partially because they were all squeezed together in the tiny seats. Because of the rush they were in, they had no choice but to go with the lowest fare with restrictions. It didn't have the best seating arrangement, barely enough space for everyone's knees.

"I hate this so much…" Carmine mumbled under her breath, "I feel like I'm in a box!"

Kieran tried to calm her, "We're almost there, sis. Just hang in there."

"That's easy for you to say! You barely take up any space!"

Nemona put on a smile, "I try to imagine I'm in a wide field, having the best battle ever!"

"You're talking about battles again!?" Carmine blurted out.

Juliana put a finger to her lips, "Shh… not so loud, Carmine."

Penny sighed, put her headphones on, and shut everyone else out. Arven put an arm around his girlfriend, "Maybe we should have waited for better seats…"

Juliana was embarrassed, "Yeah… we'll do that on the way back…"

Hopefully, this flight will be over soon.

Author's Note: Ah yes, the pain of tiny plane seats. I've been there.

See you all next time!