Tommy had initially hoped that riding out to find Addison and Cole's location where they were last seen would have allowed them to find out immediately what had befallen them. But all they found near their last known location was a strange black crystal that had seemingly sprung out of the ground. No sign of either of his friends. He then expected Bridgette or Billy to have a plan of what to do next, but to his shock, everyone decided now was the time to encamp on a ridge just below the black crystal and wait. He inquired to Billy as to why, but his chaperone only gave him a response saying "we need to wait and see". He felt that he was the only one worried about Addison's wellbeing and walked off in frustration, ignoring how Lizzie and Calem began cooking up some lunch for everyone.

He stood just out of view of the crystal, pacing nervously at the fear of him being incapable of helping either Addison or Cole in a dangerous situation. He and Morgan should have stayed with them instead of going off on their own, because now the two of them had vanished off the face of the earth and Morgan had disappeared, apparently due to the involvement of Lily and Lena.

To his surprise, while he was off on his own thinking of what to do without his friends, Felice came up to his side and stood with him. He'd almost forgotten how strangely she'd acted around him all morning. Teasing him about his worries and confusion with girls, having him ride with her on the back of her Cyclizar, holding his hand and now standing by him instead of waiting by the others.

"Anything yet?" she asked him.

"No" he said sadly. "I'm getting worried."

"I don't think you need to be" she answered kindly. "Addy seems perfectly capable of looking after herself. And Cole as well. We'll see them soon enough and hopefully get answers to what's been going on."

"I hope you're right. I'm just tired of feeling so helpless." He had expected Felice to go back down the slope to have some of the lunch her sister's boyfriend was cooking, but she didn't. She remained by his side. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

She eyed him curiously. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"What was with that before? You know with the cheeky looks and stuff?"

Felice giggled at this. "You really don't know much about girls, do you?"

Tommy shrugged. "More than I thought, but less than you'd expect."

She shuffled right next to him, looking down and twiddling her fingers nervously. "Well, when my sister and I were in Arcana to root for Calem in the Master Cup Tournament, she and your sister thought it would be nice if you and I got together. You know, as a couple?"

Tommy's jaw dropped. "Holly was in on this too?!" His own sister was trying to set him up with a girl? "But...but you and I didn't even speak once while you were there. How could I have known anything about that?!"

"Well, when they tried to introduce me to you, apparently you were throwing a fit about learning you were going to some 'fancy prep school', which oddly enough ended up being here. Serena and I weren't exactly enthused, but Holly promised there was more to you than that. So when Diantha offered me the chance to go to Paldea to learn, my sister said it would be a good idea. A chance to get to know you." She folded her arms despite a wry smile appearing on her face. "But by the time I met you again, you were already head over heels for Nemona, so I figured I'd at least get to learn and grow on my own."

"What were our sisters planning?" Tommy grumbled.

"I think they also want to be sisters. That's why they're touring Kalos together on their Contest path, with that Jasmine girl too. I wanted to go, but since I don't think I'm cut out for contests, I decided to go here." She eyed him with a surprising sincerity Tommy wasn't expecting. "But as I got to see you, even if it was mostly from afar, I got to see that Holly was right. There is more to you. You're brave, you're loyal, you're a very skilled Pokémon Trainer despite having to pretend you're not..." Her cheeks became slightly red. "And I always thought you were kinda cute."

"Re-really?"

"Yeah" she admitted. "Calem told us how you had fought alongside all of your friends at the Crag Hill." Her hand went up to the side of his face where the scar was and she touched it, catching Tommy off guard. "You were hurt fighting for Addison and the others. That was so brave of you. And from what I've seen and heard from you here, you're also helping others. You're rivalling Nemona and stopping those bullies in Team Star, while I'm sure also helping Addison with whatever she's doing."

Tommy nodded nervously. "Yeah, well, I had a lot of good mentors to teach me how to do good. My sister, Ryan, Jeremy...a bunch of 'em."

Felice's hand then moved to his cheek, which prompted Tommy to blush. "I know I could never compare to Addison or Nemona for that matter. And it's probably coming out of nowhere to you, but I...well...I think I'm willing to give it a try if you are."

Tommy was too stunned to speak. Before he could even think of an answer, he opted instead to take a good look at Felice for the first time. She looked very much like a younger Serena, bright blue eyes and a lovely shade of honey blonde hair, with bright pink cheeks and a pair of dimples on her cheeks. Maybe it was how caught off guard he was by her confession or maybe it was how he was finally looking at her, but he was not exactly turned off by the idea. She was pretty, very pretty in fact. While he still knew he had a long way to go to get either Penny or Nemona out of their shells and even farther to go to get Addison to think of him as matured, maybe this was his opportunity for him to become a better person.

Felice smiled, though there was a twinge of nervousness in her voice as she spoke. "Well?"

Tommy gulped. "Well, I don't really know what to do here. I mean, I've only ever had one other girl actually like me and she was like 6 or 7."

Felice's face matched his. "Then...then I guess we're both inexperienced at this type of thing."

Tommy took her hand off of his cheek. "Well, I guess if we can piece together any and all advice we've been given about this sort of thing, we might be able to make this work."

"You think so?"

"It's worth a try, right?"

She smiled. "I suppose. Well, my sister always says that a girl needs to be as gentle as a breeze, yet as fierce as a hurricane." She giggled at those words. "But I don't think I've ever been either at once, let alone the same time."

Tommy thought back to all of the etiquette lessons his parents had made him take to show him off to their many high business friends. How he had to dress appropriately, eat with the proper utensils and always bow in respect to your elders. With ladies, he was to bow with his hand over his heart. With girls his age, he was instructed to take their hand and kiss it. The more he thought of those awful lessons, the more he thought of running away. Instead of those, he then let himself recall how Jeremy had landed his sister and Addison and Ryan got together.

"Well, the best guys I had to teach me said the best thing to do was for both people to be themselves" he suggested. "If we try too hard to be something we're not, we're not being honest with ourselves. I remember this one time Jeremy almost sold a family heirloom to try and get my sister a piece of jewelry. He almost gave up something important to him just to pretend to be rich. And Holly chewed him out for it."

"I suppose that makes sense" Felice replied. "Why do you get practical advice and all I get is rigid stuff?"

Tommy laughed. "That's not exactly accurate, you know. My sister has been trying to turn me into the distinguished gentleman for all my life. She'd be all 'no kissing on the first date' or 'you'd wear that shirt? I won't let you embarrass our family and my potential sister in-law'" His over the top mocking of his sister's voice prompted Felice to laugh loudly. Realizing he'd gotten the kind of reaction he wanted, Tommy returned a smile to her. "So, we're in agreement, then? We just be ourselves and we get to know each other."

She nodded eagerly. "Great!"

Tommy would have said more, if he didn't hear a peculiar growl suddenly appear above them. Tommy and Felice looked up and saw a large reptilian Pokémon with scaly red skin and what looked like a wheel on its chest take off and start gliding down the mountain side with someone on its back. He initially thought it was Lizzie taking her weird purple dragon out for a drive, but when he saw the scarlet hide this one had, he knew it couldn't be her. Felice noticed the creature and its rider as well.

"What the hell was that?!" she shrieked.

"No idea" Tommy admitted.

"Calem!" Felice called to her sister's boyfriend.

The Kalos League Champion rushed forward at her words and glanced out towards the horizon where Felice pointed. "What is that?"

"She just sort of flew over us" Felice insisted.

"More like gliding" Tommy pointed out. "That thing isn't exactly flying anywhere, right?"

Calem looked to the ledge above. "But how did they-what the hell?!" He raced the cliff to investigate on his own.

Tommy glanced to his newest 'kinda sorta girlfriend'. "Should we follow him?"

Felice nodded. "This could have something to do with Addison and Cole." She reached for and took his hand. "Come on." The two raced up the hillside after Calem, spying him staring at the Obsidian Crystal. She pulled Tommy along to his side. "What is it?"

Calem frowned. "There was no one up here before. So where the hell did they come from? And what was that Pokémon with whoever that was?" He tried to figure things out on his own, but seemed to be coming up short. "I need to tell the others what's up. Wait up here to see if anything else strange comes out of the-" He turned to head down the hill again but stopped himself when he saw the two young teens in front of him holding hands. "Did I miss something?"

Tommy and Felice looked to one another and then back to Calem. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you two holding hands?"

Felice smiled. "We agreed we're going to try going out."

Calem looked completely exhausted just by looking at them. "Has this been going on for a while?"

Tommy shook his head. "We...sorta just decided on it." He looked to Felice and felt a grin coming out on his face. She echoed it and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Like within the last few minutes."

Felice's chaperone let out a beleaguered sigh. "Well, at least I have something to tell your sister." He scratched the back of his head. "Boy is she gonna give me an earful. Her sister started dating without her." He did his best to show happiness for the two. "But hey, from what I know, Tommy's a pretty good kid. I think he'll take care of you." He then went down the side of the hill, leaving Tommy and Felice alone.

"How do you think your sister will react?" Tommy asked nervously.

Felice giggled. "You kidding? This is everything both our sisters have been hoping for." With their newfound relationship slowly starting to build up and an objective to look forward to, both sat down and waited for something to happen. "I guess since we have time, we should take the time to properly get to know each other. Do you want to go first or me?"

"You pick" he answered, recalling some advice Jeremy had given him long ago. She may say she wants you to make the decision, but she'll definitely prefer if you tell her what she should do.

"Okay, I'll start. Well, you know who my sister is, so I won't talk much about her. But I was born in Vaniville Town thirteen years ago..."

{}

At their encampment just below where the strange Black Crystal was, while Lizzie now tended to the curry they were all going to have for a late lunch, Billy paced nervously back and forth. Things were going as bad as they could be. Something was certainly off in Paldea, with all that they'd all endured in the last 24 hours. People were acting off, Tommy had almost been abducted by Lily and Lena, who'd resurfaced out of nowhere. Amanda was almost taken as well and he wasn't sure there was anyone in Paldea they could trust aside from their group, Calem and Felice. And apparently things were going horribly back home, with his cousin Kayleigh being kidnapped by a group of masked men, with no trace of the poor toddler around. This was supposed to have been a simple operation: help reopen Paldea to the world and help Addison find out where this mysterious White Island was supposed to be located. But now, he was starting to think he was in way over his head. And when Addison and Cole were found, he suspected things were only going to get harder for him.

While Justin attempted to film some of the local Pokémon playing with one another, he was comforted to see Bridgette take a few moments away from ogling the young man to check on a boy she'd helped grow. The surfer came up to his side to check in on him while Amanda was in contact with his sister to learn about anything else going on back home. "You look tired."

He nodded. "I am."

"If you need, Bill, you can take it easy for a bit and let me handle some leadership roles" she offered.

He smiled, but shook his head. "No thanks. This is my job, Bridge."

She sighed. "You boys, always taking on so much responsibility without also taking a helping hand."

"Bridge, I just don't want to-"

She rolled her eyes. "You think you're the only one who doesn't want to disappoint him? I've let him down far more than you have in your life."

"No offense, but I'd like to keep it that way. But with all that's going on-"

"You can't say I didn't offer."

He chuckled at this. "No, I can't. But I do appreciate it. If I do start to get overwhelmed, I know you've always got my back."

She nodded. "Of course." The two looked over to Amanda as she ended her call with Jenna. The look on her face indicated how the conversation went, but Bridgette seemed curious to at least question how things had went. "Any news?"

"Not a thing" Amanda responded sadly. "They only got two of the six masked men, but one of them is mute and the other doesn't know anything. Three took their own lives and the last one was the one who escaped with Kayleigh." She lowered her head. "Poor Matt is losing it."

"I don't blame him" Billy added. "The kid's been through a lot and now his sister gets kidnapped."

"Michael will be looking after him, though, right?" Bridgette inquired.

Amanda's head shot up, but her tone remained the same. "Michael's got a kingdom to run. He can't get more involved in this, no matter how much he might want to be. This is gonna fall on Chris and Giselle to keep his spirits up. Annette is trying too, but since she was targeted as well, she's got to be protected too."

"There's always Jeremy."

"He can't help very much while he's in Kalos. No, Chris and Giselle have to step up. Just like Billy has to step up here." She turned to her boyfriend and winked. "Which you've been doing a good job of."

"A good job would mean none of the bad things that have happened would have" Billy lamented. "Has anyone heard from Morgan yet?" When neither Bridgette or Amanda answered, he frowned. "Then we really need to hear from Addison and Cole when they get back." His Poké Gear began to buzz in his pocket, prompting him to pull it out, initially hopeful that Morgan was calling, but his stomach almost flipped when he saw who it was. "Geeta."

Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "What does she want?"

Amanda folded her arms in frustration. "Lemme guess. She wants a date?"

Billy recalled how strangely La Primera had acted the previous evening, when she postponed her battle with Amanda and apprehended Lily and Lena after he thwarted their plot to kidnap Tommy. Would this be the Geeta he saw last night? Or the Geeta that he'd gotten to know over the last few weeks that only served as a bulwark for his relationship with Amanda? "Guess there's only one way to find out."

"You could just ignore her" Bridgette advised. "We don't trust her, right?"

"It would be disrespectful to do that to our host" Billy acknowledged before picking up the call. "Is everything alright, La Primera?"

"William? Is everything alright? Rika and Hassel informed me of a strange man that attacked you and Amanda last night."

Billy was caught off guard. She's...she's acting normal? She was calling him 'William' again, which meant she was likely being more genuine than she'd been either of the last times they'd spoken. "Ye-yes. We were attacked. But we're alright now. We need to steer clear of our hotel for the time being, though. Which is why we've taken refuge elsewhere."

"We've launched an investigation into this matter" she informed him, "but we need to know more about this man. I would like to extend an invitation to dinner to you and Amanda so we can learn more. Rika will be joining us as well, in case the young professor suspects me of something." The cheeky comment regarding Amanda made Billy know that regardless of how she'd acted the previous night, Geeta was back to normal. "If anyone else was involved, we'd like to meet with them as well at separate times."

Billy looked to Amanda. "Excuse me, La Primera." He then lowered the Poké Gear. "She wants to meet us about the man who attacked you last night."

Amanda looked intrigued. "Both of us? At the same time."

"She's being a good host" Bridgette insisted. "She probably fears that we'll say something to Michael so he gets involved."

Billy picked back up the call. "We'll meet you tonight. Which restaurant?"

"Kofu's own restaurant in Cascarrafa" Geeta replied. "Six o'clock."

"Will do. But I should ask, are you alright?"

Geeta was silent on the other end for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"You cancelled your match with Amanda yesterday and walked off with those two who tried to kidnap Tommy. You were acting...off."

"I wasn't feeling well last night. But I am feeling much better today. As if I'm almost refreshed." She giggled on the other line. "But I do appreciate you looking out for me. Such a caring and studious gentleman. I should thank you for thinking of me."

Billy's face went red, prompting Amanda to stare at him suspiciously. "Well, I'm glad you're not feeling bad." Amanda turned around in a huff, prompting Billy to sigh. Why does she think I'm flirting with someone else?

"I will see you both tonight." With that, Geeta ended the call.

Billy put his Poké Gear back into his pocket and looked to Amanda, who had her back to him and pretended to not see him. He would have reached out to remind her of his love and even hint at the surprise he had waiting for them back in their hotel room, but a yell from Tommy above them got their attention. "Billy!"

"What's up?"

"The Crystal is glowing" Felice called out. "You guys should come up here."

"What do you think that means?" Bridgette asked Billy.

Billy took a deep breath. "If this doesn't mean Addison and Cole are coming back, then I hope it means it's gonna explode so I don't have to see Amanda explode on me. Go get the others." He then raced to Amanda's side, grabbed her hand and raced up the hillside with her to see just what Tommy and Felice were seeing.

{}

The last thing Addison was expecting when she and Cole returned from their journey in the Scarlet Dimension was to be flung from the dimension and land right on top of Cole. The two crashed hard into the ground, with Addison trying to recover until she realized she was on top of him with him face down in the dirt. She quickly got off of him and let him push himself up to his knees.

"That hurt" he admitted.

"Sorry, Cole" she apologized, helping him get back to his feet and dusting him off. "Wasn't expecting that."

"Neither were we for that matter" a voice called out to them.

Addison looked up and let a true sense of relief flow through her. Everyone in their group, sans Morgan, had assembled where they'd last been by the lake that Professor Sexton had asked Cole to meet him and Natalya had tried to stop them. Bridgette, Justin, Billy, Lizzie, Amanda, Calem, Tommy and Felice had all come to see them return. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with them, save for one thing: Tommy and Felice were standing together and holding hands. She figured she'd learn more about what she'd missed out eventually. As she and Cole looked at all of their friends standing there and they stared back, a long moment of awkward silence followed. She was about to break the ice, when Amanda took the initiative.

"Were you two inside of that crystal?"

"Ye-yeah" Addison answered. "Kinda. I mean-"

"How could you be inside of a crystal like that?" Lizzie asked in confusion. "I mean, I know you're the White Mage and all, but-"

"Can we stick to the reason we came after her like this?" Billy insisted angrily. Once everyone settled down, he looked to Addison. "Addy, I need you to be upfront and honest with us. Tell us what the hell is going on here."

Addison winced. "I don't know if we-"

To her surprise, Cole gently brushed past her and took the initiative. "It's my fault all this is happening, sir."

"Cole?" Justin asked.

Billy eyed him curiously. "Well, I appreciate you accepting responsibility, kid, but Addison and Morgan are the ones who agreed to get involved."

Bridgette stepped up next. "Addy, you need to tell us."

"It's a really long story" Addison admitted. "But I swear to you that all of it is true." She looked to Cole. "Do you want me to explain it?"

Cole shook his head. "It's probably better if I do." Cole took a deep breath, Addison sensing he was nervous to reveal so much to people he didn't know as well as he had her and Morgan. She tried to give him some confidence through her telepathy, but Cole pushed himself forward and went into the explanation. And he explained almost as much as he had to her initially, from how he came from the future, to Natalya's schemes, Professor Sexton's involvement, Fateen's attempt to kidnap him and even leading up towards how they were sent to the Scarlet Dimension.

While Cole explained, Addison used her enhanced telepathic gift to sense the thoughts of their audience. Tommy was enthralled, likely due to hearing enough of it from Morgan the day earlier, while Felice was not only intrigued, but also frightened for him. Amanda was listening carefully, seeming to jot down mental notes of things she wanted to learn from him or about Time Travel and the alternate dimension in general. Bridgette was trying to keep up with how frantic Cole's explanations were, but appeared to believe it when Cole would explain something that happened and Addison would nod if she'd been a part of it. Lizzie seemed at the very least curious, especially when he mentioned Koraidon, which she seemed to think was a prehistoric version of her own purple dragon. Justin was overwhelmed by all of the things being told to him and had to lean against a rock in confusion. Calem was almost as confused as Justin, but upon mentioning what had happened with Fateen, got angry for him. Billy's face remained unchanged, only listening and staring at Cole as he told his tale.

"...tried to stop her, but she escaped into the Crystal before we did" Cole continued. "You might have seen her. She'd be riding Koraidon most likely."

"Wait" Felice interjected. "Was that Pokémon reddish and had wings?"

Addison nodded. "Yes. The Queen has another one in that dimension, but that one was good."

Calem folded his arms. "Then we saw her. She took off into the distance about twenty minutes ago." He pointed in the direction where she'd fled, but Natalya and her prize were long gone. "If we'd known it was her, I would have tried to stop her."

"She's too powerful to fight on your own. The only chance anyone would have of stopping her is with help." She walked forward and stood by Cole's side. "And I'm helping Cole. You may not be happy hearing that, but he needs my help." Cole's eyes found her, but he looked away with a strange smile on his face.

Tommy and Felice stepped forward next. "Well, I have no idea how we're going to stop this crazy lady, but count me in. If we work together, we'll stop the bad guys from winning." He pulled his 'girlfriend' along with him and stood by their side. "Besides, Addy owes me since she went to take on Mewtwo without me. This is her chance to make a few things up to me." He gave her the cheeky smile the boy had always given her and their friends, prompting Addison to chuckle playfully. Even if he was growing up in spades, he was still the same little boy she'd always known.

Felice nodded. "Well, if Tommy's in, then so am I."

Calem sighed. "Then I guess I'll be helping, too. Can't let anything happen to my girlfriend's little sister." He gave Addison and Cole a respectful smile.

The remaining Arcanan adults seemed as if they would be a lot harder to convince. Amanda seemed as if she'd been spun around and looked more confused than any of the others, even Justin. "Well, I can't say I'm an expert on anything you kids just went through, and time travel and dimension jumping is supposed to be a major taboo that goes against the very laws of nature, but all that I've learned here in Paldea has completely altered everything I knew about science before we came. I think we have to support you guys."

"Amanda" Billy began.

"Billy, all of these things have to be connected. Why that vile harpy acted so weird, the guy who tried to kidnap me, Lily and Lena returning, and now all of this stuff Cole and Addy went through. Even the stuff going on back home. What if this is all leading up to something big? Besides, our only other choice is to simply stand by and do nothing, which means we probably fall into their plans anyway."

"This is all too much to handle" Justin admitted. "Time travel, dimension jumping, hypnotism and now red version of the Pokémon that Lizzie has."

Bridgette did her best to try and play mediator. "I know everyone is a little frazzled given what we know now. But we need to come to an agreement. We either all need to be involved or none of us."

"Well, you're all going to have to just get on with us" Addison declared, "because I made a promise to stand by Cole in all of this." Cole seemed surprised by her absolute declaration of loyalty but returned a smile to her all the same.

"Me too" Tommy insisted.

"Same" Felice added.

Lizzie wore a surprisingly angry look on her face and the tone she spoke with initially spooked Addison, until she listened to what the former Elite Four member had to say. "So you mean to tell me that this woman has the power to control Pokémon like this Koraidon and she's using them to attack others?! Nobody like that deserves to have Pokémon in their lives. When she shows her face again, let me know, so I can personally teach her a lesson." She looked to Addison and smiled. "I'm in."

Billy folded his arms. "Guys, this is the exact kind of thing Michael told us not to do while we're here." He looked shamefully towards Cole. "I'm sorry, kid, but this is something beyond our pay grade. We can't get involved."

"We're already involved" Amanda reminded her boyfriend sternly. "Tommy, Morgan, me and now we know this whackjob Natalya is after Addison too? Billy, we have to step up. Otherwise, why would we even be here chaperoning?"

Justin nodded. "Then I'm in as well. Don't know what help I can be, but I'll give it all the same."

Bridgette sighed. "I will differ to Billy's decision. He is in charge, after all."

Upon realizing everyone was awaiting his decision, the lone Kingston present let out a beleaguered sigh. "Look, I get how much this woman can do and may be capable of doing soon. And if she has a hand in what happened back home and the attempts to kidnap Tommy and Amanda, then she definitely needs to be stopped. I'm just not sure this has to be us."

"Are we really going to trust a woman who you claim acted 'off' yesterday to solve this?" Amanda snapped.

"And if we do resort to getting our own regions involved" Calem warned, "we know that will lead to an international incident or worse: war."

Addison felt bad for Billy. She knew he was coming from a good place, worrying about the fallout that could come from their actions. She still felt a twinge of guilt for doing everything she promised Michael and her father she wouldn't do after leaving home. But this was an extenuating circumstance, one that she knew Michael would come to understand. Cole needed her and she knew she needed his help as well. And the biggest obstacle they had faced yet appeared to be convincing Billy to assist them, even if it was from the sidelines. Of course, a trainer of his caliber on their side would be incredibly beneficial, but even his indirect support would be welcomed.

Billy seemed swayed by Calem's words, however. "Ugh, no matter what I say, I doubt you kids will listen to me anyway. Especially Addison given her fierce loyalty to her friends. Fine. I'll help, but I don't want anyone to get in over their heads, alright?"

"I doubt anyone is going to go overboard" Amanda assured him. "But we do need a plan."

Cole looked to Addison. "You're the smart one, Addy. Can you come up with one?"

Addison pondered their situation for a moment. "Let me see. Natalya's probably not going to be too pleased with how we stopped her in the Scarlet Dimension. So she's probably going to come down hard on us here. What's the situation here? You guys said La Primera was acting weird?"

Amanda nodded. "Almost like she was in a trance."

Cole and Addison eyed one another. "Then it's possible Fateen got to her."

"And Fateen and Natalya are in league?" Bridgette asked. "Then we ought to report that to Director Clavell."

"No no no" Billy countered. "That's probably what she expects us to do. Besides, we don't know how much control over the school this psycho freak has. The director could already be compromised as far as we know. We need to play dumb, act like we're not onto them, while gathering as much intel as possible." He glanced back down the pathway they'd taken to get up there. "We've got a base of operations, a small seaside house outside of Porto Marinada. We're not setting foot near the Academy until we know it's safe."

"But what about Morgan?" Cole reminded the group. "We can't just leave her alone."

"What if she was already taken by that Fateen lady?" Tommy suggested.

Billy frowned. "Alright, here's the plan. Amanda and I are going to meet with Geeta and Rika in Cascarrafa to discuss what happened with that guy who attacked us. Everyone else needs to head back to the cottage and stay there until we get back. No going back to Mesagoza, no bringing any of this up to anyone outside of our group. Tommy, I trust you realize that means-" He had to take a double take when he saw Tommy and Felice together. "Um, never mind. I don't think I have to worry about you doing this on second thought."

"What does that even mean?" Tommy grumbled.

"He means at least we know you won't spill out secrets to Nemona" Felice teased.

Billy sighed. "I don't know when Tommy ended up becoming a player, but whatever works I guess. I imagine Lizzie will be off doing her own thing, so Bridgette, Justin and Calem are in charge while we're gone."

"Hey" Lizzie snapped before relenting. "Yeah, you're probably right. Who knows when Arven's going to contact me about our quest again."

"What are you and Arven up to?" Cole inquired. "Something about Miraidon?"

"You could say that" Lizzie answered dryly.

"You two" Billy interjected, pointing at Cole and Addison, "when you get to the cottage, get in contact with Morgan if you can. After that, Addy, see if you can reach out to my cousin."

"I thought we weren't going to talk to Michael about this" Addison asked.

"I meant Matt. I think he needs your support right now, even if you're thousands of miles away."

Addison gulped. Then whatever I saw Matty going through in my dream last night was true? Her friend truly was enduring a nightmare of a time without her. But she would try to be there for him. She nodded. "Okay. I'll reach out to him after we talk to Morgan."

Billy grinned. "Okay, we all have our assignments. Everyone besides Amanda and I, head back to Porto Marinada. Lizzie, go do whatever you want. I'm not arguing at this point."

"I'm not a child you know" Lizzie snapped.

Billy called out his Skarmory and climbed aboard, pulling Amanda up alongside him. Without another word, the duo took off into the skies, flying at top speed for Porto Marinada to see where they stood with Geeta and Rika. Once they had gone, Calem and Bridgette rallied everyone together to get back to the house by the sea. Lizzie pulled Justin aside and the two quickly talked about something while Tommy and Felice followed as they were told, still holding hands until Felice called out a Cyclizar she had to ride on. Once she mounted her ride, she pulled her new boyfriend up and the duo took off down the road.

Calem called out his Pidgeot before turning to Addison and Cole. "Do you two have a ride?"

Addison waved him off. "We'll manage. Thanks, though." He nodded and took off on his Pidgeot, while Justin and Bridgette began to talk about their next move after Lizzie took off on the back of Miraidon. This allowed Addison to look to Cole. "Well, we've got our support now. We should probably get a move on to Porto Marinada before we get yelled at." She took a deep breath to clear her mind. "We'll probably teleport there, if you've been there before."

Cole nodded. "I have, but first-"

"I know she was a bit winded from the last time, but I'm sure she can-"

"Addy?"

She turned to him. "What's up?"

"Before I forget" he said quickly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded up paper and handed it to her.

Addison looked at the parchment paper, puzzled. "What is this?"

"Open it" he insisted. "Professor Sandra and I found this for you."

She unfolded the paper and looked at what was written on it:

Ocean Waters near Porto Marinada

April 11th, 1024 at 5:51 PM (+1)

"What is it supposed to mean?"

Cole smiled at her. "The +1 means that we have to add a day onto it, since this was found in the Scarlet Dimension and Professor Sandra said that their dimension is one day ahead of ours. But this is exactly what you think it means."

Addison looked from Cole to the paper, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief. "You mean..."

"White Island should appear in ten days at that location" he answered.

Addison found tears flowing out of her eyes. She'd been fearing that she would not be in Paldea the moment it came, should it ever come. But her dream of reuniting with Ryan was coming sooner than anyone thought it would. Her hand found her heart as she felt true joy for the first time in a very long time. The paper was shaking in her hand as she finally found the ability to release a true exhale. "Cole...I don't know what to say..."

Cole shook his head. "You don't have to say anything. You asked for my help. And for once I did something right by someone I care about."

She eyed him in shock. "But you could have looked up anything with their technology. Why do it for me?"

This seemed to be a question Cole wasn't expecting. He tried to think of the right answer before coming out with it. "Addy...I...I just want you to be happy. That's all that matters to me."

Addison's heart jumped at those words. All of it for her happiness. "Cole, you are the sweetest boy I've ever met. Thank you." She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. Cole was caught off guard by this and she noticed his face begin to redden. As Cole seemed to find it hard to find an answer after her action, she took the initiative. "We should get going. You're with me, Galatea?"

I'm still here.

"We'll be trying to teleport to Porto Marinada" she told her Pokemon telepathically. "The others will be waiting for us." She reached for Cole's hand and held it gently. The boy seemed so lost in his own thoughts that Addison knew she would have to take the lead. "Cole kept his promise to me, so now it's my turn to keep my promise to him." She pulled Cole closer to her and linked their minds. "Porto Marinada, here we come!" And with that, they were gone.

{}

Paige, having failed in her attempts to escape from her restraints, figured she would have some time to get some rest and regain more of her strength, expecting to be left alone at least for the time being. No one seemed to preoccupied with her and she'd not spoken to anyone besides herself in some time.

But she was wrong. Very wrong.

The door to the lab she was being kept prisoner in burst open and Natalya entered with two other women who appeared to be identical twins save for one having light hair and the other dark. Paige didn't even have time to ask what was going on as she was hauled out of her bed, the shackles around her wrists and ankles unlocked and she was forced forward. She couldn't even get a single response before the twins under Natlaya's employ set on her again. A chair was brought forward and Paige forced to sit down into it.

"What the hell is going on?!" she demanded, trying to push herself off the chair as both twins held her down.

"I have need of a punching bag" Natalya hissed at her. "And unfortunately, Paige, it seems you're the only one who's available for me to do it to."

Before Paige could respond, her hands were yanked behind her back and tied tightly together with rope by one of the twins while the other set for restraining her feet, tying her ankles each to one chair leg. She tried to test the strength of the ropes, but then found another cord of ropes being wrapped around her chest, tying her down to the chair. Yet another was then wound around her thighs, pinning her to the chair and making escape all but impossible.

"You see, your little boyfriend is making my life all the more miserable now" her captor snarled. "He was supposed to be a malleable little worm I could have fun with. But he seems to be finding his footing again, all thanks to that little tramp Addison Tenton."

Paige blinked in astonishment, almost not believing what she had just heard. "Cole...Cole found The White Mage?!"

Natalya growled at this. "Don't rub it in, Princess! Thanks to her, I had to take heavy losses in the Scarlet Dimension. Now I'm stuck here trying to repair the damage my idiot lackeys left me with!" Once the twins had completely restrained Paige, she dismissed them and neither seemed keen to stick around, rushing out of the chamber to leave them alone. Natalya glared at her. "So, I need to work out some aggression before I make those two pay for ruining my fun!"

Paige couldn't help but laugh despite the tight ropes keeping her trapped to the chair. "You actually think you have a chance now? If Cole found Addison, Natalya, you might as well surrender now. The two of them will be unstoppable for you."

Natalya seemed eager to slap her but restrained herself. "You seem quite calm in the face of knowing Cole's in the process of replacing you with someone smarter, better and more beautiful than your miserable self."

"You can't fool me, Natalya. You're afraid. You know Addison and Cole will be more than enough of a match for someone like you. And you can stop trying to drive separation between us. Because I have nothing to worry about with regards to them. If Cole learns to love Addison, that helps me even more than you could know. Why don't you untie me and we go up and let you surrender to them yourself?!"

This time, Natalya did slap her. Paige's face spun around, but the ropes kept her in place mostly "Oh, I'm going to enjoy what I'm about to do to you." Natalya pulled out her Tera Crystal and held it close to her captive's face. It went from a simple white color to a pinkish color, indicating the untapped power of a Psychic Type Pokémon.

"What are you doing?"

"Just look into the crystal, my sweet little urchin" Natalya spoke softly. "Look into the crystal and let all your pain go away."

Paige tried not to, but the light in the crystal was so...alluring...so...enticing...maybe if she just looked at it for a second...she could...maybe...she quickly blinked and shook her head violently. "What?! What did you do?!"

Natalya laughed menacingly at her. "Thanks to you, Paige, I think I just won a key battle in this conflict."

"What did you do to me?!" she demanded.

Natalya casually spun the Tera Crystal in her hand. "I put you in a trance. But I'll give you credit, peachy, your will is stronger than most I've had in my grasp. You only were out of it for a few minutes. But it was all worth it, because now I have the insurance policy I so desperately needed if Cole gets too close." She then shrugged. "You stupid kids make it too easy sometimes. Alas, I'm needed on the surface, so you'll have to sit here like a good little girl for a while longer before I come back."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she repeated.

"Are you stupid or something? I told you. You gave me what I needed to break Cole." She placed the Crystal back into her pocket and she walked over towards the desks nearby where Turo and Sada had likely once worked many years ago before the Time Machine was built. She began to rummage through the desk before finding what she was looking for: a roll of duct tape. "But I don't need you asking stupid questions of me for a while. So I think I'll keep you quiet for now." She ripped off several pieces of tape and came towards Paige.

"You really should have surrend-mmmph!" Paige tried to interject, before Natalya firmly placed the tape over her mouth. She smoothed the piece over and then applied a second, then a third and finally a fourth, smoothing each over to prevent Paige from thinking she'd get the opportunity to counter with something quippy. "Mmmph mmmph mmmph!"

"That's much better" Natalya mocked. "You're so much less obnoxious when you've got tape over your mouth. I should have thought of this back in our time." She then tossed the duct tape back onto the desk. "And by the way, just to rub your situation in a bit more clearly for you, I am going to make sure you watch both Addison and Cole suffer fates worse than death before I come back and deal with you for good!" She then gave her a teasing wave before exiting, slamming the door and locking it behind her.

Paige tried to fight against the ropes keeping her on the chair, but her energy was still drained from the hours she'd spent trying to get free from her chains. With no energy, she simply resigned to sit in her chair and wait for her next meal...assuming they opted to remove her gag in the process of making sure she was fed.