Chapter 44: Noise Complaint

When they arrived back at Nika's house, they were greeted by a smiling Nika who welcomed Hibiki, her team, and Aria back. "Sorry about the quick leave, just needed to clear my head a bit." Hibiki told Nika. Nika simply nodded in understanding as Hibiki and Aria took a seat next to each other, with Eclipse staying by HIbiki's legs.

"Now before I elaborate on my offer, let's get Eclipse's want to evolve out of the way." Aria said as she reached into her bag.

"Oh right, the whole reason you went to get me. Now, I just want to ask her myself, are you sure you're ready?" Hibiki asked Eclipse. Eclipse nodded enthusiastically as Aria smiled and got out the two stones that Nika had given her. "All right, if you're sure, then I'll happily oblige." Hibiki responded.

"Ok, so as you know, Eclipse is a Curoine, so she has two choices for evolution. Either a Prekari with the use of a Shiny Stone or Kurayami with a Dusk Stone, it's whatever you want Eclipse to evolve into." Aria explained. HIbiki nodded and immediately reached for the SHiny stone before pausing as she hesitated for a moment. "Second thoughts about wanting to be like your grandmother?" Aria questioned in a knowing tone.

"I guess… it's just everything that has happened has made me think about the idea I had in my mind when i started." Hibiki responded.

"I still remember the weeks leading up to the start of your journey. 'I'm going to build a team like grandma's to make her proud.' At least I think that's what you said." Aria commented with a smile. Hibiki immediately blushed as her team and Nika giggled at the comment before smiling, Eclipse giving a comforting pat on her leg.

"Yeah that sounds about right. God, that really doesn't feel like it was that long ago, but it feels like an eternity right now." Hibiki said with a heavy sigh.

"You know what I think? I think mom would be proud of what you've accomplished so far. Admittedly, I do think she would have gotten a bit peeved that you had gotten into your current situation, but she would be proud to have her granddaughter following in her footsteps." Aria told Hibiki, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Proud huh…" Hibiki said to herself. As Hibiki said that, she looked over at Eclipse, who was eagerly awaiting Hibiki's choice. "Hey, what do you think about your mom?" Hibiki asked Eclipse, wanting her opinion. Eclipse looked over to Nika, who gave her a big smile, before flexing her arms and earning a giggle from Hibiki. "Someone wants to impress them. All right then, are you fine with going a different route than her?" Hibiki questioned. Eclipse paused as she thought for a moment before nodding in affirmation, making Hibiki smile and turn back to her mother.

"Found your answer?" Aria asked, a proud smile on her face. Hibiki nodded with enthusiasm as she looked at the stones once again, reaching out and grabbing the Dusk Stone.

"Yeah I have, one that I think I've had in my mind for a while. I was so obsessed with whating to be like my grandma at first that I didn't see it til now, I'm not just going to follow after my grandma, I want to exceed whatever expectations that she had for me." Hibiki responded, a confident smile on her face. Aria simply nodded in approval as she looked over to Nika, who was doing the same as she was looking at Eclipse.

"You know, sometimes I am surprised that there is some logic in that brain of yours given how much you rush into things." Aria joked with a small giggle.

"Hey… fair enough." HIbiki responded, a small smile appearing on her face. Eclipse stepped back a bit as Hibiki stood up before kneeling down to face Eclipse. "You ready?" Hibiki asked, holding out the Dusk Stone. Eclipse nodded as she took the stone and stood still before concentrating as she absorbed the energy from the Dusk Stone, turning a brilliant while as the stone clattered to the ground devoid of any energy. Hibiki took a step back as Eclipse grew taller and her form changed, the process continuing for a few seconds as continued to change before the light faded as her evolution.

"Yami!" Eclipse cried out as her evolution finished. Eclipse was now about the same height as Nika with light blue skin, black eyes with red iris' and flowking pink /purple hair held together with a crown that had a broken heart with backings as the center design. She was wearing a dark pink, magical girl-like dress with a blue corset, dark blue gloves and leggings, with a green vine-like object snaking its way around her left leg, and dark pink 'boots'.

"You look amazing." Hibiki told Eclipse. Eclipse smiled as she looked at her mother before giving a flex in her direction, earning a big smile from Nika. Eclipse looked back at Hibiki , before smiling smugly as she crossed her arms. "What?" HIbiki questioned, looking a little confused. Her confusion disappeared as Eclipse lifted one of her hands before putting it a few inches above Hibiki's head and lowering it to pouch the top of Hibiki's head, showing a small height difference. "It's not much of a difference." Hibiki said, a small pout on her face.

"It's at least three to four inches." Aria commented.

"Mom!" HIbiki responded, looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Hibiki's team and Nika all giggled at that comment, with Aria smiling as she let out a happy sigh before getting up and moving next to Hibiki.

"You know I mean well with the teasing." Aria told Hibiki.

"I know, still doesn't mean I get embarrassed by it." Hibiki responded. Aria smiled as she nodded before sitting back down on the couch, putting her hands to her lips as she thought of what she was going to tell Hibiki.

"I take it you're thinking about the thing you were going to tell me about?" Hibiki questioned, also taking the chance to sit down.

"Yep, just winding how I am going to go about wording this." Aria said before going back to thinking.

"Mind if I take a shot in the dark as to what it is? I'm only asking because I have something that has been nagging me for about the past week, something that I have a feeling you're about to comment on." Hibiki asked.

"...Go ahead." Aria answered, curious to hear Hibiki's answer.

"Ok, would what you have to tell me relate at all to Nel and the fact that she might possibly be a Neo Cypher spy?" Hibiki guessed. Aria stayed stone faced for a moment before smiling and nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah that would be what I was going to discuss, though I do wonder when your suspicion started." Aria responded.

"Remember the incident at the Desert Terra Dome? That was bugging me for so long cause it just didn't feel right." Hibiki began to explain.

"I did hear about that incident and it's actually what spurred me to do some investigating on my own." Aria told Hibiki.

"Something tells me that you've had some doubts about her for a while now." Hibiki commented, leaning forward a tad.

"That I did, though that was more of a gut feeling on my part. Oh and before I forget, care to take a guess about that favor I was going to ask you?" Aria questioned. Hibiki paused for a moment to think as she went through possibilities and simply gave a big smile as she realized what the answer was.

"You want me to head with you to Noise Town and see if we can get some answers out of Nel about what is going on." Hibiki said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"That I do, that I do." Aria responded happily. HIbiki simply clapped as she got up and looked at her team before pausing, thinking about something. "Want to talk with your team for a moment?" Aria questioned.

"Yeah, it'll only be a bit." Hibiki told Aria.

"All right then, let me know when you're done. I have some stuff to take care of in town real quick, would you like to join me Nika?" Aria offered. Nika nodded as she began to walk towards Aria before stopping and going to hug Eclipse, who returned the hug as she gave a smile, looking at Hibiki.

"Enjoy yourselves, I'll call you when I'm done." Hibiki said. Aria nodded as she and Nika left the house to head into the village, leaving Hibiki and her team alone. "Ok… now how do I start this talk?" Hibiki asked herself. As she was thinking about that, she looked up and saw her team looking at her with reassuring smiles, Viola included, which put her at ease. "Man, I want to give you all reassurance and you're doing it to me instead. …Not that I necessarily mind." Hibiki told her team with a smile. They all nodded at that as Hibiki stood up and stretched, letting out a sigh of relaxation.

"Let's keep it simple then, you all have been a massive help to me throughout this journey, some of you longer than others. That being said, what I am about to ask of you is not something that's going to be easy, far from it actually. We're going to get Melody back and stop Neo Cypher from whatever they are doing, that much I swear. I know you all are more than likely going to cheer, but I still must ask, are you willing to stick with me through this to the end and beyond?" Hibiki spoke, confidence and a hint of nervousness in her voice. Her team all cheered in response, making Hibiki smile as she nodded happily getting out all of their Pokeballs.

"Ok then, let's get this little trip on the road." Hibiki said. They all nodded and gave happy cries as they returned to their Pokeballs. As Hibiki was about to return Viola, she paused as and turned to the window, seeing the brief flash of what she thought was another Meloetta. "... Oh right, your village did move in relatively close to here. Want to pay a visit when we finish up with my Mom?" Hibiki asked. Viola immediately shook her head no before pausing and thinking about it for a moment, now shaking her head in agreement.

"At least let your mom know that you're ok." Hibiki suggested. Viola cried out happily as Hibiki returned her to her pokeball and sighed before getting out her phone, dialing her mother's number. After a few rungs, she heard her mother pick up as she began to gather her things so she could leave.

"Hey sweetie, you finished talking with your team?" Aria questioned.

"Yep, just wrapped up and am getting everything ready." Hibiki responded.

"Perfect, I'll join you at the edge of town heading to Noise City, I want to finish spending time with Nika for a bit." Aria told Hibiki.

"All right, I'll meet you there. Love you mom." Hibiki said.

"Love you too… and thanks for agreeing to this." Aria answered before ending the call. Hibiki smiled as she put away her phone and headed upstairs to grab her stuff, mentally preparing herself for whatever was in store for her.

Road to Noise Town, 10 mins later…

"You know, I just realized something." Hibiki said aloud. The two had met up at the edge of Serenity Village, waving goodbye to Nika, and they had been walking in relative silence, save for HIbiki apologizing more for her recklessness, until Hibiki had asked the question.

"What would that be?" Aria asked.

"How do you know Nel anyway?" Hibiki questioned.

"Have I not told you about that?" Aria responded in confusion.

"Either I'm just forgetting, you haven't told me, or you told Echo about it." Hibiki answered. Aria paused as she thought about it before nodding as she remembered what had happened.

"It was the last one, thought I really did think I told you." Aria said with a sigh.

"Hey don't beat yourself up about it if you're upset about not being able to tell us apart." Hibiki reassured, giving Aria a few pats on the back.

"I know, it just stings a little everytime it happens." Aria sighed. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two of them before Aria coughed and got HIbiki's attention. "Well, the answer to that question is rather simple. The two of us have known each other since we went out on a Pokemon adventure a good 20 years ago." Aria explained.

"That long ago huh. I take it that the two of you were rivals?" Hibiki commented.

"We were, though admittedly she was a bit of a brash one. Always talking about how she was better than, that she couldn't wait to beat me in the league, how she would show me how Pokemon are meant to be used… and to be fair, she was right on that second point." Aria elaborated.

"Really, she beat you?" Hibiki questioned, a bit surprised by the comment.

"Yeah, for all the talk, she definitely did have the skills to back it up. That being said, she was not able to beat your grandmother back then and it wasn't even a close fight from what I remember." Aria answered.

"Sounds about right. God, she was champion for a while." Hibiki said, realizing just how long Symphia had been champion.

"A good 25 years if I recall correctly." Aria answered.

"That long? I knew she was champion when we were still born but being one at around her late 50s is something magical." Hibiki commented.

"Yeah sometimes champions are just that good despite their age. I remember that she was very adept at building teams, she usually didn't run the exact same team every time she was challenged." Aria reminisce.

"I take it that some of those teams weren't the best?" Hibiki questioned, sparkles in here eyes as she wanted to hear more.

"Oh god no, sometimes she would just bring a team that was completely out of left field for the opponent and they would have a hard time. In fact, I remember one year where she brought a team of just Ludicolos and the trainer challenging her ended up losing, if only barely." Aria continued, her face taking on a smile. Hibiki burst into laughter as she let that sink in, picturing the poor trainer losing to a team of dancing Pokemon.

"Man, that is amazing." Hibiki said, sighing as she recovered from the laughter.

"Yeah, it's always good to remember those moments, the ones where she made us all smile." Aria commented as her smile weakened in happiness. Hibiki nodded as she gave a sad smile alongside her mother, the two of them staying silent for a moment as they both prayed for Symphia.

"You know, I can't believe I forgot about this feeling." Hibiki eventually spoke, happiness in her voice.

"What would that be?" Aria asked.

"The feeling of being able to smile when I remember grandma. For so long, I had just… shut myself away without thinking about her much. Even when I did, it was always the sad memories I had of her and my recurring nightmare." Hibiki responded in an embarrassed tone of voice with a tinge of sadness.

"...Sorry for not being able to help you cope. I had a lot on my plate at the time with everything going on." Aria apologized in an ashamed tone.

"Don't worry about it mom, it's fine. Just always a bit hard to look back on that year or so of my life, I was not in the best head space then. I'm not sure she would have been proud of me looking back on it." HIbiki said.

"Stop that right now." Aria told Hibiki as she stopped walking. Hibiki did the same as she turned to her mother before being pulled into a tight hug that caught her off guard. "Of course she's proud of you, haven't you seen what you're done the past few weeks and are doing right now?" Aria questioned in a pained tone.

"Mom…" Hibiki said in a low voice.

"She wouldn't blame you for having such a hard time accepting her death, all of us were doing the same. In fact, I think she would have been a bit happy in the way you handled it knowing her." Aria explained.

"...but I kept myself locked away in my room." Hibiki tried to argue.

"For a good reason, no one should have to see the ones they love in that kind of position or send them off in a depressing way." Aria responded, tears in her eyes as she started to cry. Hibiki was in stunned silence as she shakily returned the hug to Aria, the two hugging each other in a quiet embrace. "I'm sorry I'm letting this out now, but I just didn't know a good time to let this go. I'm sorry for not being as good of a mother as I could have been." Aria cried out, her voice cracking because of the tears.

"It's fine, I know how it is to keep something pent up that you just want to talk about. Just let the tears out, we can continue when you're ready." Hibiki told her mother. The two stood there for a good minute as Aria just let the tears out, Hibiki making sure to give her mother a lot of tissues so she wouldn't get her clothes dirty.

"Sorry, I just need to get it all out." Aria told Hibiki, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's fine, I told you that I understand that feeling." Hibiki responded, a smile on her face.

"Man, here I am wanting to console my daughter and now I'm the one getting consoled." Aria said with a sad smile.

"Hey, a first time for anything right?" Hibiki commented with a smile. Aria giggled a bit as she and Hibiki continued to walk forward towards Noise Town, the two of them now talking about brighter topics. After another fifteen minutes of walking, the two arrived at the edge of Noise Town, taking shelter on a hill that overlooked the town. Noise Town, compared to most of the other towns in the region, was in a lot of disrepair with most of the houses having broken windows and the gym having seen better days. "Remind me again, why haven't you asked the IPP to touch up this place?" Hibiki questioned curiously in a low voice.

"I mean, I have done that several times, but honestly there is some charm to the destroyed look. There is a reason why all the houses basically have an underground room that everyone sleeps in." Aria explained in a happy tone of voice.

"...You join in on the destruction, don't you?" Hibiki Asked, a coy smile on her face.

"Better I get the anger out here than at home with you two." Aria answered in a calm tone. Hibiki nodded as she looked over the town again, taking note of all the Noise Grunts that were patrolling the area.

"Well, it does look like going in the front won't be easy for me. Do you know of any other way I could get into the gym?" Hibiki asked. Aria paused as she tried to recall details about the town and specifically of ways into the gym.

"There is a back door, but that's probably going to be watched. Honestly, your best shot would be to search the houses for a uniform and use that to get into the gym that way." Aria told HIbiki.

"Sounds like as good of a plan as any for me, what about you? Are they expecting you or is it just usual gym business?" Hibiki questioned.

"For all they know, usual gym business. Now as to who is going to confront Nel, we can decide that on the fly if you want." Aria suggested. Hibiki paused for a moment as she thought about that proposal before nodding no.

"As much as I would like to be the one to fight her, I think I'll leave that to you. That being said, if you need any help at all, just call out or signal me." Hibiki responded, a knowing smile on her face.

"Got it, be careful out there." Aria said as she stood up. Hibiki nodded as she headed into the surrounding forest and waited for a good moment to move. As she walked off, Aria looked in her direction as she gave a quick smile before taking on a more serious face and heading down to Noise Town.

Hibiki's perspective…

Hibiki had, following her mother's advice, stuck to the shadows as she headed towards one of the houses. As she did, she passed by houses with people casually living in them, the interior fairly clean compared to the destroyed exteriors. "You know, I weirdly kind of get how people can live like this. Sometimes you just want to be around destroyed stuff and people with familiar mindset. Explains why my mom is usually never that angry back home at least." Hibiki thought to herself as she looked for a good house to sneak into.

"Ah, Leader Aria, we've been expecting you." A voice called out. Hibiki, a tad curious as to the owner of the voice, peaked around a corner and saw her mom talking to a grunt.

"How many times have I told you all not to call me that?" Aria questioned in an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, you came at the perfect time, a lot more people than usual have been deciding to take on the gym and Nel is only able to keep them occupied for so long. Hell, some are refusing to fight unless it's with you." the grunt said.

"Of course they are, why wouldn't they? All right I'll get them in order, but I need to speak with Nel about something first." Aria responded in a tired tone. The grunt nodded before walking off, Aria giving a quick glance at Hibiki before she started walking off towards the gym.

"At least she knows how to make a distraction." Hibiki said quietly as she dashed forward. Making sure no one had seen her, she slipped into the house and made sure no one was in there before rummaging around. After about a minute of rummaging through the various drawers and closet, she managed to find a uniform that was her size. As she was about to put it on when she heard the door open.

"Hello, is anyone here?" A voice called out.

"Shit." HIbiki thought as she quietly, but quickly hid in a closet. As she hid, she heard the footsteps of someone walking into the room and saw a grunt slowly walking around as they looked around.

"I swear I heard someone in here." the grunt said, continuing to look around the room. Hibiki kept completely still as she waited for the grunt to leave, which unfortunately they didn't do as they continued to look around the room. Eventually, the grunt started to slowly walk towards the closet and was about to open it when another set of footsteps walked into the room and a familiar voice spoke.

"What are you doing here?" the voice asked in an annoyed tone.

"Commander Break! Sorry, I just thought I heard someone in this house." The grunt said, nervousness in their voice.

"Why would anyone bother looking in the houses whether they're part of Team Noise or not?" Break questioned, putting a hand to her head. The grunt flinched a bit before looking down, causing Brake to put on their shoulder. "Look, I get that you're nervous given how Nel has been acting recently, but try to calm down for us." Break told the grunt.

"Got it, sorry for worrying you commander." the grunt said, a tad more pep in their voice. Break nodded as the grunt walked out of the building, Break taking a moment to make sure that grunt had left before taking a long sigh as she closed her eyes.

"Ok, you there in the closet. I know you're in there, it's literally the oldest trick in the book, come on out and I can lead you out." Break said in a strict tone of voice. Hibiki opened the door and took a deep breath of fresh air as Break looked over and took a large sigh of relief. "Oh thank god it's you Hibiki." Break said in a relieved tone.

"You have a very good sense of the area around you." Hibiki told Break in a hushed tone with a small smile.

"It comes with the territory, now I do want to know why you're here. I think it has to do something with Nel?" Break inquired

"Yes, actually at the request of my mother." Hibiki explained.

"All I need to know for now. I take it that you have a uniform?" Break questioned. HIbiki nodded, making Break nod as well before walking towards the entryway to the room they were in. "All right, get dressed so we can head on over to the gym. Something tells me that this is all related to the way Nel has been acting recently." Break explained.

"Got it." Hibiki said. Break walked out of the building, leaving Hibiki alone to get changed, which she managed to do in relative silence. As she finished getting into the uniform, Hibiki pulled up a scarf that covered the lower part of her face over her mouth and headed outside. When she got outside, she saw Break who quickly looked over her up and down before nodding with an approving smile.

"You don't look half bad in that, maybe you should consider joining Team Noise in the future." BReak teased in a playful tone.

"Funny, now let's get going." Hibiki said. Break simply nodded as the two walked towards the back of the gym. "So, you mentioned something about Nel acting weird?" Hibiki questioned, curious what she meant by that.

"We'll talk inside, it's oddly safer to talk in there than it is out here." Break told Hibiki. Hibiki simply nodded as the two continued to walk, eventually reaching the back door to the gym that had two grunts by it.

"Sorry commander, the leader had explicit orders not to let anyone in." the left grunt said. The right grunt said nothing and simply stepped away from the door as Break rolled up the sleeves of her outfit and cracked her knuckles, flexing her muscles a bit. "... On second thought, we never saw you two." the grunt said nervously as he moved out of the way.

"That's what I thought." Break said as she led Hibiki through the doors. As they entered the gym, Hibiki saw they were in a fairly bare room, only having a few couches and chairs along with a TV, with a lot of open space and two doorways that lead further into the gym.

"You seem to be known for causing pain around here." Hibiki commented, a small smile on her face as they moved towards the further entry way.

"Eh, sometime I do have to teach the grunts a lesson sometimes." Break said casually. The two walked down a hallway, passing a few grunts on the way who gave Break a somewhat wide berth, before they came to a room with a symbol of a mask on it.

"Wait, is this…?" Hibiki began.

"Yeah it's who you think it is." BReak said as she knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before the door opened slightly and Discord's helmet peered through the crack.

"Ah Break, why are you here?" Discord asked curiously.

"Nothing much Discord, just this grunt insisted on coming to talk with you. She says it's something really important." Break responded, giving Discord a wink. Discord didn't move and simply looked over at Hibiki, who took a moment to see if anyone was coming before lowering her scarf enough to show her full face.

"I see, well come on in. If it's something you needed to tell me, then it must be rather important." Discord said casually. Hibiki smiled as she put the scarf back over her mouth, the door unlocking when she and Break entered the room. Discord's room was very clean and high-tech, with some speakers lining one wall, insulating foam covering the rest of the walls, a large computer set up with four monitors, a bed, a couch, and a TV. "Thank god you're here." Discord told Hibiki with a relieved sigh.

"Ok, Nel must have really fucked up if both of her commanders are telling me that they are grateful that I am here." Hibiki commented as she took off the scarf and hat, letting herself breath.

"It's more very questionable, but we're honestly just glad to see you alive." Break said with a sigh as she finally relaxed, throwing herself on Discord's bed. As she heard that, Hibiki let that sink in, before just freezing and looking over at Break.

"Why would you think that I was dead?" Hibiki questioned.

"That's what Nel told us about an hour or two ago." Break answered casually. Hibiki looked very concerned at what Break had said, which Discord had noticed as his facemask changed to a confused look before turning towards Hibiki.

"Is she not supposed to know that?" Discord questioned.

"Unless she's a part of Neo Cypher, no." Hibiki responded. Break immediately shot up as Discord gave a gasp, his mask changing to a shocked look.

"A part of Neo-? Ok, what exactly happened to you?" Break questioned curiously. Hibiki gave a quick rundown at the events that led to her being here, leaving Break and Discord both leaning in as they absorbed the knowledge.

"And when you found me in the house, I was going to head in to look for evidence that Nel might be a part of Neo Cypher." Hibiki finished as she was looking at Break.

"That… somehow explains a lot." Break said.

"Could you please elaborate on that?" Hibiki questioned curiously.

"Ok, so that will require a bit of explanation. As you know, Team Noise has been recently doing a lot more serious crimes around Alaria, even catching tons of wild Pokemon to sell to Neo Cypher. This wasn't exactly something that sat well with a few of the grunts and even the two of us, but we kept quiet because we believed in what Team Noise stood for." Discord began to explain. Hibiki was going to make a snide remark, but quickly held her tongue as she thought about something that never felt right to her.

"... Mind saying what that is? I don't want to say anything that I would regret around you two in the middle of an enemy base." Hibiki asked nervously.

"At least you admit it and don't worry about it too much. We get a lot of the 'anti-technology' shit thrown our way and just deal with it. No, what Team Noise stands for, at least to us, is just those who don't vibe with the current direction Alaria is going right now… and before you ask, yes there is a difference between the two." Break explained.

"It's not that we all hate technology and don't understand why we need it here, that field is more than reason enough. It's more that something about the way the region is developing, the Terra Domes and the floating League doesn't feel right to us. Again, we totally get why they exist and why they were developed, but something about them just feels off to us." Discord elaborated, pausing as he thought about how to explain further.

"Ah, the people who appreciate nature yet understand the need for technology. Do I have that generally right?" Hibiki said in a calm tone.

"Yeah, that's about right. Though when you put it like that, it really does scream anti-technology, doesn't it?" Break responded, a small smile on her face.

"It does and I will have to put that assumption out of my mind now. That being said, how does that relate to Nel's behavior as of late and why you took orders from Neo Cypher?" Hibiki asked curiously, intrigued at this new perspective.

"Well, to start to explain that, I need to ask you something. Did you know that your mother was the former leader of Team Noise?" Discord questioned. Hibiki simply sat there as she let that information attempt to process in her brain, making it look like she was spacing out and causing the two commanders to giggle. "Given that reaction, I'm going to assume no." Discord said, a smirk appearing on his mask.

"Yeah that is about right. What do you mean she was the former leader of Team Noise?!" HIbiki questioned in a slightly higher tone of voice.

"Pipe down and we'll explain." Break told Hibiki. Hibiki was about to say something, but sighed and gumbled to herself as she nodded. "Ok then, this was actually a thing until about five years ago. See, the leader of the Noise Town Gym is actually also supposed to be the leader of Team Noise, though that and the commanders are more just titles to make sure grunts stay in line and don't do anything too crazy. As you can imagine, that kind of position does lead to a lot of stress sometimes, so Aria decided to make Nel, her right hand at the time, the leader of Team Noise to decrease her stress a tad." Break explained.

"Unfortunately for us, we had just been made commanders at the time, that was a decision she would come to regret. Soon after she was made leader, Nel had ordered us and some grunts to cause some trouble around the region. While we didn't exactly like being ordered around like that, at the time, we felt like just causing mischief around the region because that's all it was. Little things like grafting some buildings, some low level theft, stuff that most thieves and hooligans would do. Of course, we didn't exactly like that we were doing it, but at the time we just saw it as playful vandalism, that's all." Discord continued.

"But then that eventually came to an end when she started to ask for more serious things." Hibiki summarized.

"Right on the money, music girl. Of course we couldn't exactly say no because we had to keep up appearances, but it was heartbreaking seeing the grunts just go along with it. That started about a year and a half ago, which also when Nel started to act a bit… strange. Not exactly psychotic or out of her mind, but she always made some weird requests and actions from time to time." Discord said.

"Weird in what way?" Hibiki asked, already seeing where this was going.

"Stuff like asking to meet with grunts, giving some of us on Team Noise 'Pokemon from her personal collection', and occasionally asking to be left alone for some personal calls." Break listed.

"I take it that you two eventually realized that something fishy was going on?" Hibiki questioned.

"Of course we did, even if it was only like a month or two ago, but you try talking to Nel. That woman is hard to talk to at the best of times, so we really couldn't get a word in edgewise. With that in mind though, the two of us decided to hatch a bit of a plan to maybe get back control over the situation." Break responded.

"Would that plan happen to involve overthrowing Nel or reporting her to the IPP in some way?" Hibiki asked.

"That it was and still is to be honest. It has taken a lot of convincing of some grunts, but we managed to form a small resistance to hopefully take down Nel or at least gather some evidence." Discord said.

"Ok, that makes more sense." Hibiki commented.

"Unfortunately, things hit a bit of a snag recently. See, our efforts didn't go entirely unnoticed, she was aware of them and made note to send at least one grunt we would recruit on more dangerous missions. Thankfully they did manage to return every time, but it has been very touch and go. Hell, the missions that we went on recently, the ones where we met you and your friends, were probably made to get rid of us, at least for sure." Break explained.

"Yeah that one always did sit weirdly with me when you explained your reasoning at IPP HQ." Hibiki said.

"After I got back from that, I basically kept to myself… at least to Nel's knowledge. Really, I was meeting with Discord this past week to coordinate our final plan against Nel. I was actually heading to speak with Discord when I found you." Break said.

"Got it, what was the plan out of curiosity?" Hibiki questioned. The two immediately looked away from what Hibiki initially thought was secrecy before she noticed a slight blush appearing on Break's face. "...Was it just going to be to call my mom and beg for her to do something?" Hibiki questioned.

"Yeah… we were going to show her what we had in terms of evidence, but yeah that's basically it." Discord said, in an embarrassed tone.

"It was honestly probably something we should have done sooner, we were just too stubborn and wanted to fix this ourselves." BReak finished.

"At least you two are honest, I can say that much. Now, what exactly do you have evidence wise?" Hibiki inquired, flashing her IPP badge at them as a reminder to them who they were talking to. Discord nodded before walking over to a small safe that he had under his desk, which he opened and got out a few items. The items included a USB stick, a manilla folder with files labeled 'Project Eternal Dream', and several photos showing Nel talking with what looked like Neo Cypher grunts.

"This is what we all have managed to collect. A folder that I managed to get from her personal belongings, a few photos of her talking with people in armor, and a copy of a voice recording that I managed to get from a bug in her office." Discord explained, pointing to each one.

"Huh, impressive for what little you had." Hibiki said, walking over to the items. As she looked at them and examined them, something drew her attention to the USB stick before looking at Discord.

"Would you happen to have the original recording so I could listen to it?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"I do, just give me a second to pull it up so I can send it to you." Discord said. Hibiki nodded and let Discord do his thing as she walked over to Break, who had a smile on her face.

"Thank you for this, this little group of ours means a lot to the both of us." Break told Hibiki happily.

"No problem, anything to help my mom's friends." Hibiki said. Before Break could say anything in response, the three heard the sound of people running past in the hallway. Hibiki decided to get back in disguise as Break got up to open the door. When she did, she saw several grunts running further into the gym.

"Hey, what's the hurry?" Break asked a passing grunt, her voice taking on that familiar annoyed tone.

"Apparently Aria and Nel are about to have a battle to determine who is going to be the permanent leader of Team Noise. Everyone is excited and heading there right now." the grunt explained before dashing away. As soon as she heard that, Break looked back into the room at Hibiki and Discord, who were quickly transferring the file.

"You two heard that?" Break called out.

"Yeah, we're moving." Discord said, helping Hibiki put the stuff away in her backpack. As they got all that sorted, the three dashed out of the room to head to where that battle was going on. As the three moved, Hibiki booted up the audio file and put on her headphones so she could listen to it on the way, though she already had a good idea of what it was.