"Heart?"

"Sorry, I think there's something off around here. I'm going to check out the area," the brown haired girl smiled at Kate and Keith.

"Heart, we're on a time restraint, we need to get this information to the Dexholders!" Rhythimi scolded.

Heart sighed, frowning. "I know, but..." the chestnut eyed girl turned to the little Eevee on her shoulders for help. Hanako, the Eevee whimpered, not knowing what to do. "Alright...."

Together, the group trudged toward Evergrande, much to Heart's disappointment.

Then, the was a loud blast off in the distance.

"What was that?" Keith growled.

Heart didn't even hesitate this time, running toward the direction of the sound. She reached a clearing, coughing at the smoke and trying to see what had happened. She saw an exhausted Shaymin, bruised and cut up.

She ran toward the Shaymin, scooping the fragile Gratitude Pokemon into her arms to protect it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT SHAYMIN?"

Heart snuck a glance up, seeing trainers. She stepped back, afraid as her gaze flickered back and forth.

"Heart!"

Heart looked at the two rangers and one operator that had accompanied her on the trip and then back at the trainers, registering some as Dexholders. "Sorry, this Shaymin's hurt, I can't let you guys-"

"Heart, they're doing nothing wrong!" Rhythimi protested.

Heart shielded Shaymin even more. "She doesn't want to go with any of these trainers, so she's not going anywhere."

"Here!"

Heart looked into the eyes of a pink haired beauty, looking effortlessly stunning. The girl continued toward Heart, sighing in relief.

"She's safe," she murmured. "I'm Winter, a Guardian. I sensed a distress signal from a Legendary Pokemon nearby. Glad she's safe."

Heart blushed, looking away and nodding.

"That's the most energetic I've seen you in a while," a tall blond with sun like eyes, standing next to a lady with black hair and moon like eyes joked.

"Heart, Top Ranger," Heart introduced herself. "And this is Hanako, one of my Partner Pokemon," Hanako yipped excitedly.

"Well, that saves us the issue of finding you guys," Keith joked. Kate simply slapped him.

"Hand Shaymin over, now!"

"Not now, Lyra," Winter rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I need to check something about you," Winter smiled before grabbed Heart's hands suddenly. She closed her eyes, looking at the colour of Heart's aura and nodding before backing off. "I'm basically part Aura Guardian, so I'm sorry if that was weird!"

"Weird, Winter's acting nice."

Winter chose to ignore that before nodding at the two sun and moon like people. "No one's catching anything. Let's just head back."

Heart was confused but nodded, following the pink haired girl that she felt so compelled to blindly trust. She looked down at her sweet little Eevee and decided that she needed her other Partner Pokemon's judgement in this one.

~~~~~

Winter smiled, seeing Heart yawn again as Whitley quickly patched Shaymin up.

"All done," Whitley smiled. As much as they liked Heart, they decided to help Shaymin in Winter and Lunar's shared room, dragging a reluctant Whitley out of Adrian and Solar's room. But once Whitley heard that it was a Legendary Pokemon, she grew pliant, doing whatever Winter said.

Heart still had no idea about Winter though.

"Thank you!" Heart smiled gratefully, holding Shaymin close. Whitley's pet her own Eevee as her Foongus, Swablu and Zorua slept beside Hanako, Heart's partner Pokemon. Around all of them was Lunar's Umbreon and Espeon, curled up protectively around the younger and weaker Pokemon.

"Some of the boys might be a little pushy, just warning you," Winter shrugged. "Stick with the Rangers or us and you'll be completely fine."

Heart nodded, looking a little flustered. "Not to be rude, but why are you two... here?"

"Oh, I'm only known as Whitley within Winter's group," Whitley smiled mareepishly (sheepishly). "And my hair's down right now so... well, anyway, I'm more commonly known as Whi-Two, Unova Dexholder! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm a Skaria Dexholder and Champion," Winter explained. "The girl with black hair and the guy with blond hair are always together, they're here with me as Skarian Gym Leader Head and Gym Leader, the girl's Lunar and the dude's Solar."

Heart nodded, absorbing all the information eagerly.

"Hey, is Winter here?" Red asked, walking into the room without knocking. He locked eyes with Heart and no pun intended, but his heart stopped.

"Yeah, what do you need?" Winter asked. "Red?"

"Oh, they weren't lying. You're back to normal!" Red choked out a response. Yeah, real smooth Red, real smooth in front of such a pretty girl.

"Yeah, I had to snap out of it at some point," Winter murmured. "Adrian's done so much for me, I can't mope around while we wait for him to recover, I need to step up to the task given to me."

Heart looked at Winter in confusion, wondering what they were talking about.

"Winter, stop thinking that you're on your own, all of us are here for you," Red muttered before gasping, looking over to Heart in distress.

"Heart, there's lots to tell you," Winter murmured. "Anyone mind giving her the talk?"

"That's her Guardian, right?" Red nodded at Shaymin. "Just tell them to bond and Shaymin can do it."

"I'm so lost..." Heart frowned in confusion.

"I'm gonna go check on Adrian," Whitley smiled, excusing herself.

"Yeah, I'll be off too!" Red chirped nervously before leaving.

"You seem tired, so rest here," Winter smiled. "You're going to have a dream and everything in that dream is true. Whatever Shaymin won't explain, come ask me when I'm alone or alone with the usual group. If anything happens, scream and we'll come."

"I'm confused..." Heart stepped back. "What are you saying?"

"Shaymin's not going to wake up until you're asleep and it's part of the reason you're so tired right now. Just sleep and it'll be explained," Winter told Heart gently. "I know it doesn't make sense, but just trust me."

Heart nodded, still not fully understanding but naively trusting Winter anyway.

Winter shot the taller girl one last smile before shutting the door behind her and turning away. She walked down the hallways and headed out into the kitchen, grabbing a cold water bottle from the fridge before walking over to the couch and crashing down.

"You okay?" Lunar asked.

Winter nodded. "Heart is Hikari."

They tried their hardest to not react.

"Mind repeating that in a language we understand?" Blake pretended to tease.

"Heart's a sweetheart," Winter grinned. "She's protective of Shaymin."

"That's cute," Lunar muttered.

"I like her," Winter admitted easily. "I get really good vibes from her, like Whitley without my influence."

"Oh," Solar grinned suggestively. "Don't corrupt her too then."

"Might have to do a little bit of that," Winter poked her tongue out playfully.

~~~~~

Winter took one look at Heart and Shaymin sleeping on her bed and Lunar, cuddled around a bunch of Pokemon on the other bed. She smiled fondly before grabbing Adrian's jacket and unhooked her Skysmitter from her ear to stop herself from being tracked. She left the icy blue and white Skysmitter on the beside table so that Lunar would spot it easily in case the girl woke up from another nightmare.

Winter slipped out of the room and slipped the jacket on, bringing her covered hands to catch a comforting whiff of Adrian's citrusy and woodsy scent.

"Still wearing that jacket?"

"What, jealous?" Winter smirked, teasing the red headed male.

"Didn't realise you were such a whore for him," Silver shrugged nonchalantly.

Winter tried not to let those words get to her. "Didn't realise that you liked sluts hanging off your arm like Lyra," she grinned, haughtily. "Then again, you do know what class is."

Silver almost growled, watching Winter lick her lips seductively, looking absolutely stunning in the oversized jacket that hung off of her figure, reaching her mid thighs and her white crop top and black high waisted jean shorts. Silver knew that Winter knew exactly what she was doing, how could she not?

"You're so infuriating," Silver rumbled, looking at Winter as she smirked.

"Great," Winter smirked slyly. "Wanna know something?"

Silver purposely looked away, Winter looked too alluring under the moonlight.

Winter stepped forward, looking up at Silver. They were close, too close. "You think you know who I am, don't you?"

"You're Pink," to get those two words out without stuttering was a challenge for Silver.

Winter laughed, a clear and melodic sound that make Silver feel weak.

"That's cute," Winter teased before turning around and strolling off toward the door. She gave one teasing glance back at Silver before opening the door and slipping out into the darkness of the night.

Silver didn't know why, but he followed her like a lovestruck idiot. He looked at her, standing under the moonlight with her eyes closed gently, hair and clothes swaying ethereally from side to side.

Winter turned around, smirking. "Following me now? That's kinda bold, Crimson," she teased.

Silver furrowed his eyebrows before realising what Winter was doing. He was calling her Pink, her hair colour, so she did the same, calling him Crimson after his recognisable crimson hair.

"You know," Silver responded casually. "I wonder why you behave like a bitch when you clearly don't have to be."

"Instincts," Winter explained. "It takes me several sentences in a conversation for me to judge a person and I use it to choose the people I am around."

"You seem to be wrong most of the time then."

"Aww, so you do care," Winter grinned. "I'm not wrong, you're just blind."

Silver frowned in disapproval. "Lyra's not that bad."

Winter laughed again, the clear and melodic sound now taunting him. "You're whipped for her, aren't you?"

"No," Silver answered honestly.

Winter smiled again, staring at the moon. "Do you know what happened between Blue and her Legendary birds?"

"They left each other on bad terms," Silver admitted. "Sometime after the entire Jirachi thing and being paralysed, during a big battle with Guile Hideout actually, none of them were obeying her. They had an argument and Blue eventually released them because none of them were happy. You want to know for Red and yourself, don't you?"

Winter giggled, shaking her head. "Red already gave Moltres back to Blue, although with the condition of Moltres' happiness I admit. And the Articuno," Winter smirked at Silver. "It wasn't the same Articuno according to Red. Either way, she flew off."

"Good girls shouldn't lie," Silver growled.

"Oh?" Winter smirked, turning away from the moon and into silvery blue eyes. "Didn't realise that you're surprisingly kinky. Too bad," she pouted.

Silver flushed, looking away, eyeing Winter out of the corner of his eye. Winter turned back, gazing up at the moon. "What do you think about Lunar?"

"Nothing," Silver answered honestly. "What is there to think of her? Unless I get to meet her properly, I try not to judge people based on second hand information. I'm an asshole, but I'm not completely despicable."

"Oh, that's kinda cute, Crimson," Winter responded. "But I feel like you're lying too," she turned her head back to look at him.

"I never said that I would, I said I'd try," Silver countered with a smirk.

"I'm curious, tell me," Winter turned to fully face Silver again. "What do you think of Lunar and... how about we throw Solar and Adrian into the mix too?"

"Lunar's okay, quiet I guess. Not sure what happened, but you wouldn't risk your pride for someone as low as the person Summer and Fall describe her as. Solar's an ass and Adrian," Silver paused there, scowling. "Adrian's got guts, I admit but I hate him."

"I think you're jealous," Winter teased, her voice in a husky whisper.

"Now that I've done that, I want to know what you think of Lyra," Silver demanded.

"Simple, she's just a bitch. I'm not saying bitch in a friendly way, I mean it as an insult," Winter turned back toward the moon again, staring at it and taking small steps toward it. "She's a slut, trying too hard in the things that she's not good at. She's not good at the things she does and she's not happy where she is and yet does nothing but complain about it. That pisses me off a lot. Not to mention her spoilt nature, bribery techniques and her lack of empathy."

Silver didn't even respond, too entranced by the view of Winter, who looked majestic, staring at the moon. Perhaps it was some sort of Guardian thing or whatever, he didn't care. She was gorgeous.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Silver finally spoke up.

"You never chose your parents, right?"

Silver stiffened, wondering where Winter was going to go with the seemingly random question. "No," he answered anyway.

"I never chose to be a Guardian," Winter sighed. "But I will do whatever I need to do," she turned back to Silver, walking up to him. "So, don't miss me too much, kay?"

Winter stood on her tiptoes, pecking Silver's lips before turning around and walking into the forest.

Silver watched as she left, staring after her in shock. Her lips were cold, deliciously cold.

And Silver was addicted to the taste of them.

~~~~~

Winter stretched her sore limbs before walking back into the mansion, noticing the chaos. She shrugged and headed toward her friends, waving in greeting.

Lunar silently passed Winter her Skysmitter as she sat down, stealing a raspberry off of Red's plate. She hooked the Skysmitter back into her ear, watching as the screen asked for DNA recognition as it restarted. Winter silently held her finger up in the requested area before it was scanned and recognised.

"How's Heart?"

"Sleeping," Lunar answered. "Shaymin wants time with her, dream world passes slower than real world."

Winter nodded in agreement with a small hum. "And the chaos?"

"They realised you were missing," Solar answered after swallowing a large bite of Kalosian toast (french toast).

Winter took a glimpse at the time on her Skysmitter, surprised to find that it was the late afternoon. "Didn't realise I was gone for so long. I was watching the moon last night."

Solar hummed, nodding. "You do that a lot these days."

"Can't sleep," Winter shrugged.

"They actually don't see you," Blake chuckled.

"Fine by me," Winter turned away. "We'll let Heart and Shaymin sleep and make excuses for them. Whitley's with Adrian?"

"Yeah," Blake answered. "She returned Adrian's Guardian to her Pokeball for the time being so that she's forced to rest."

"She must be angry," Winter noted.

"She seems quite fond of Whitley actually," Blake admitted. "She hates me though."

Winter laughed, shaking her head. "Well, she only likes Whitley because Whitley's healing Adrian. Anyways, I'm going to go check on them, if Heart wakes up, tell me."

"Got it!"

Winter glanced back as she turned into the hall where all the rooms were and frowned. Adrian's room was on the second floor, but she didn't even bother climbing the stairs, looking at the window and opened it quickly, climbing out the window and shutting the window behind her.

Shouldn't have come back. Winter frowned, looking back at the house. None of her Pokemon were on her, but Winter didn't really care. She puffed her cheeks out and headed back toward the waterfall that marked the edge of the island.

~~~~~

"Moltres!" Blue cried, brows furrowed in confusion as Moltres screeched angrily. She cried out as Moltres swooped down on her, dropping to the floor and covering her head in fear, screaming.

"Moltres!" Red yelled, crouching down next to Blue, arms wrapped loosely around her shoulder. "Get down!"

Moltres did as he was told immediately, landing nearby and looking guilty as he twittered his apology. He bowed his head, eyes looking apologetic as the big Flame Pokemon tried to make himself smaller.

"Blue, it's alright," Red murmured. "Shh, stop crying. Moltres isn't going to hurt you, birds won't hurt you anymore, okay?"

Blue clung onto Red, crying openly. "You're right... Moltres isn't happy with me," she said through her tears.

Red pet Blue comfortingly. "It's alright, hey stop crying. I know, Moltres won't hurt you. Birds won't harm you, okay?"

"Take Moltres, Red," Blue muttered. "Take him, take Winter, take Adrian and all the Guardians and go, I know you're a Guardian."

"Blue..."

"Hurry Red, I won't say a word, just go. You guys can't stay!"

"Blue, what are you saying?"

"Red, there's a traitor."

~~~~~

Winter watched the moon in the sky again, sighing.

"Meoww?"

"Oh, Necro," Winter smiled looking over at the male Meowstic. Necro meowed, and Winter nodded, standing up. It was probably time for her to go back. She picked Necro up and gave him a soft kiss before finally walking back into the city, making sure to keep her head low.

She walked back into the mansion and into the main room.

"Winter! You're back!"

Noticing Necro shy away, Winter shielded the Meowstic, glaring at Summer and Fall. "So?"

"Where have you been?"

"We were worried!"

Winter rolled her eyes and shrugged past them, walking to Solar and handing Necro back to his trainer.

"You're back," Blake noted.

"H-hey," Heart murmured.

"Oh, I disappear quite often, don't worry about me. Any questions?" Winter smiled gently.

Heart shook her head. "Umm... no, not really, Shaymin and these people explained most of it."

Winter nodded. "Well, I'm pretty sure that you already know to keep it a secret and Solar, Lunar, Whitley, Blake and Cynthia are all Guardians here," she said quietly. "Try to stay away from Cynthia though, she's keeping it down low."

"O-okay!"

"You never saw Adrian, did you?" Red asked quietly.

Winter shrugged and swiped her screen up and going through the messages she ignored. But one, in particular, caught her interest. She tapped on the video and viewed it.

"We're heading back to Skaria," Winter decided with a grin. "I've got business there."

"What's happening?" Solar asked worriedly.

"Oh, Crescent just let it slip that she had interest in battling me," Winter grinned. "I'm taking this and running with it and fucking up the terms and conditions."

"What about Adrian?"

"It's about time we get a move on, isn't it?"

"You're not joking, right?" Whitley cried in excitement.

Winter shook her head. "Any objections?"

No one said anything.

"We'll have a discussion later," Winter told everyone.

"How many days?" Red asked.

Winter frowned. "One week at most, if I can pull it off, 3 days."

Red nodded, relieved. "I have Moltres."

Winter lit up in excitement. "That's perfect! Thank Arceus! Say Heart, can you take some time off?"

"Not sure, I'll need to ask," Heart murmured.

"Well, looks like you're going to be a missing person then," Winter shrugged casually.

~~~~~

"Winter! Winter, have you heard about Crescent's challenge?"

"What do you think of it?"

"Will you accept?"

Winter chuckled, nodding. "I was busy in Hoenn at the time, but I heard. So I'll say this to Crescent, I accept your challenge. It will take place in Skaria's Waterfall Kiita in 3 days. I apologise but that's the only day I'm free for quite some time! Looking forward to our battle!"

Click! The video stopped there and Lunar sighed. She tore her eyes away from the big screen and back to Winter, who was talking to the lady behind the counter of the Waterfall Kiita Battle Arena. Soon enough, she turned back and grinned, holding up a pair of keys.

"Got the keys to the dressing room, separate from Crescent of course and the VIP viewing platform. Only I have access to it today, so no confrontations at all, alright?" Winter grinned.

"I get to do your hair and everything, right?" Solar pouted. Winter laughed, nodding in agreement.

"I was just planning on going out like this but since you're offering..." Winter giggled, unlocking the dressing room. They all stepped inside taking care to lock the door behind themselves.

"I'm going to dash back to the gym, so be right back!" Solar grinned, sending out Gardevoir before briskly disappearing.

"Woah, this is so cool!" Heart gasped. "Are you in these like, all the time?"

"No, only for official battles," Winter shrugged. "And Contests. They're more waiting rooms than anything else."

"Oh, I get it," Heart murmured. "What's happening with the others?"

"They've probably got front row seats in the audience somewhere," Winter shrugged casually. "By the way, there aren't any cameras or microphones in here because people need to get changed and sometimes people want to discuss strategy, so it's not allowed."

"So that's why we're so early..." Lunar noted.

Winter giggled, nodding. "Cynthia is staying to take care of Adrian, all we need to do is add her to a call and then we can start discussing. There's nine of us, only one more to wait on."

"Hang on," Heart frowned. "There's 8 of us, right? Lunar, Solar, Whitley, Blake, Red, Winter, Cynthia and me, right?"

"There's one more," Whitley spoke softly. "His name is Adrian and he's... badly injured right now."

Heart sensed the tension in the room and nodded shakily, deciding to not talk anymore. Winter turned away, clutching Adrian's jacket closer. She knew that by wearing it, she had already spawned rumours, but she couldn't care less.

"Back!" Solar grinned, holding up a giant back. "I have two outfits I want you to try, but that can wait. We can get you ready in 30 minutes easily."

Winter nodded in agreement, reaching into her bag and grabbing out a second Skysmitter. She looked at it in disdain before sighing. "The information from Mount. Chimney is in here," she murmured. Still, she hooked it into her other ear and unlocked it with practised ease, calling Cynthia.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Nee-chan," Winter mumbled, adjusting the settings of the call.

"Hello, Winter," Cynthia smiled gently. "Is everyone there?"

"Safe as well!' Whitley chirped.

Meanwhile, everyone else was looking between the polychromatic hologram of Cynthia and Winter strangely.

Nee-chan.

Sister.

"How's Adrian?"

"Nothing's happened," Cynthia said carefully, speaking in low to avoid being heard. Winter made sure to turn up the volume.

"So, we're planning on leaving right after this battle, so we'll say that we'll be out around, let's say 5pm Skarian time," Winter frowned.

"Lunar has a lead in Sinnoh," Solar spoke up.

"Cynthia, any places in Sinnoh where we can hide safely?"

Cynthia thought for a second. "Two locations I can think off of the top of my head," she replied. "Flower Paradise which is home to Shaymin and perfect for Heart. It's connected to Seabreak Path and in turn, Route 224 so normal travellers do have access to Flower Paradise if they're looking for rare Pokemon. There's almost nowhere to hide since the island's basically flowers and hills. There's New Moon Island, known to be the home of Darkrai, so no one dares to go near."

"Just in case of Nightmares, we should head to Flower Paradise anyway," Red noted. "We can go to New Moon Island to check it out and then decide whether to move or not."

"Cynthia, when it's good for you, take Adrian and go to Flower Paradise," Winter decided. "The mark on the nape of your neck, it's coloured."

"Yes it is," Cynthia confirmed. "Giratina."

Winter lit up, almost bouncing off the walls. "That's perfect! You can transport Adrian without harming him! But don't move until the battle's over! You must watch this!"

"Winter, you're planning something," Red's voice had a slight lilt of amusement to it.

"It's time to finish a war," Winter stated simply. "Anyway, if anyone has any questions, now would be the best time to ask. Even if you think it's sensitive, don't hesitate."

"Heart is Adrian's partner, right?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, because the last person is male and Cynthia's partner, Yuuki."

"Partners?" Heart chatotted (parroted) in confusion.

"Everyone here is partnered with someone. Solar and Lunar, Blake and Whitley, me and Red," Winter shrugged. "They don't always click together though, but they will eventually. They're usually the person who... I wouldn't say understands you best or be your best friend, but you'll just always have a special place for them in your heart."

"Your partner is Adrian. We're... not sure when you'll meet him," Whitley told her softly.

Heart knew better than to ask. It could come later.

* * * * *

I HAVE ACTUALLY FORGOTTEN LIKE HALF THE STUFF I NEEDED THE GUARDIANS TO SAY TO EACH OTHER, SO THE SHITTY ENDING HAPPENED. KILL ME PLS.

All bs aside, I'm sorry for this really bad chapter. It needed to happen if I'm to be honest.

Look forward to the next chapter or two, not sure how long it's gonna be. If you guys are interested, I actually have the original of the next chapter, so if you want to see it, I can probably post a comparison. I'm probably not going to bother going through it, so there might be some details I haven't talked about and the names are a little confusing because Crescent's name used to be Luna because of reasons that shall be explained.

By the way, just to be sure, Red did not tell Winter about what Blue told him.

I'm upset about this chapter... really couldn't think of anything really important for them to discuss, but honestly, it can all be discussed later.

And I'm wondering to myself, exactly when do I want to bring Adrian back.

Oh, and if Winter should keep Adrian's jacket (which lost it's enchantment that kept it cool).