"You're late."

I sighed even as I continued sprinting towards the meeting place where the jet was waiting for Pikachu and me. It hadn't been my intention to be late, but I also didn't regret spending the day with Serena. Watching her contest had been awesome and I was really glad I could help her get her confidence back after being trounced by Keira and her pokemon.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," I called, running up to the pilot and leaping into the side of the jet with ease. He followed me, placing a hand on the lip of the entrance to boost himself up and giving me an annoyed look.

"You'd better have gotten a name for Neptune," he said with a huff, walking past me towards the cockpit of the high-tech machine.

"Pika pika," Pikachu grumbled, his electric cheek sacks sparking with annoyance as the pilot left us and started up the jet.

"We are late, buddy," I said soothingly before sitting down and leaning my head back against the headrest.

I thought back to Serena and the time we had spent together that day. One of the things I really liked about myself was my ability to get along with pretty much anyone. I had made several friends throughout my travels and it was always great to get to know someone new, but something about Serena and the fact that she was actually a childhood friend made me feel a strange attachment to her. It made me sad to think that I might not be able to see her again and I once again made a promise to myself that I would find a chance to see her and teach her Shinx the move I had promised.

I blinked groggily a while later as I felt the jet touchdown with a jerk. Pikachu had curled up on my lap and was still sleeping peacefully and I couldn't help but smile as I gently stroked my partner. His short fur was soft and he let out a content sigh in his sleep as I stroked him. The door next to me opened though and I scooped him into my arms, causing him to wake up from his nap and look around him while blinking his small black eyes slowly.

As I jumped down from the jet I flinched back slightly when I saw a familiar figure standing confidently at the edge of the landing pad the jet had touched down on. Neptune's silky lilac hair fluttered as she shifted her weight to the side and held up a hand, crooking one finger toward me in a silent summons.

Feeling strangely nervous I rested Pikachu on his familiar spot on my shoulder and began walking over to the small woman. It made no sense how someone half a foot shorter than me could be so intimidating... But as I got closer and saw the firmness in her purple eyes that seemed to exude an inner strength that could bowl over a charging rhyhorn it took a lot of willpower to not turn and run away from her.

"Did you enjoy your day off, Satoshi?" Neptune asked with a small quirk of her left eyebrow. 

I cleared my throat lightly and bowed slightly in respect. "It was enjoyable, thank you very much for letting me see the contest," I said politely, glancing back at her face to see that one corner of her lips had quirked up slightly.

"Did you have any luck finding out who interrupted our extraction mission?" she asked bluntly, ignoring my thanks and leaning a hand against her hip as she looked up at me with a look one part amusement and the other part dangerously expectant.

"I did," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck and doing my best to look intimidated by her but not guilty for giving her the name. Please don't let this be the same person as Serena's friend, I thought quietly to myself. "His name is Aryan, apparently he is a member of the International Police Force."

Neptune's eyes widened and a look of disbelief broke her normally calm mask for a moment as she stared up at me. The look was gone as soon as it appeared though and she narrowed her eyes at me and folded her arms seriously.

"You're sure? How did you find that out?" Neptune asked with an unusual bite to her tone. I was confused at this reaction but I tried not to seem like I had noticed her reaction.

"I just went into the Poketch Company and pretended to be a journalist. One of the security guards was happy to talk to me when he thought his name would be mentioned in the newspaper," I said with a shrug, glad that Director Falon had given me this excuse a while ago so I could practice and the lie came out naturally. Neptune nodded slowly and then looked to the side, her eyebrows furrowing as she seemed to consider what I had just told her.

"Walk with me," Neptune suddenly ordered, turning on her heels and walking swiftly out of the jet hanger built into the side of the mountain. I blinked in surprise but I didn't dare disobey, so I quickly followed after her and fell in step with her purposeful pace.

As we walked through the halls I could feel the stares of the grunts that we passed. I wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing to be seen following after Team Galactic's leader like this, especially since I couldn't remember a time when I had seen Neptune without one of her captains surrounding her. Neptune paid her followers no mind though and led me confidently through more hallways that I had never been in before.

Soon we were traveling through hallways that seemed completely empty and I was beginning to wonder if she was planning on kicking me out of the team for some reason. I frantically tried to come up with something I could say to convince her to let me stay, I didn't want my mission to end before I could give the IIA any real intel. Before I had worked out what to say though, she stopped abruptly in the middle of the hall.

I very nearly ran straight into her but managed to stop my momentum at the last second. She flicked her eyes over to me with another quirk of her eyebrow before reaching out and grabbing a metal rung that was poking out of the rock wall next to us. I watched in confusion as she began to climb the makeshift ladder and, after a moment's hesitation, I followed after her.

This hallway's ceiling was quite a bit higher than where the grunt barracks were located and we had to climb for a while before I saw Neptune reach an alcove where cool air was blowing from the top of the metal ladder rungs. She disappeared over the edge and I picked up my pace. When I reached the top I cautiously poked my head over the edge and was surprised to see a small ledge that opened up to a view of the night sky. I boosted myself up into the small crawl space and, after a moment of silence, awkwardly sat down next to Neptune. She had her feet dangling over the ledge of our small alcove and was looking at the night forest below with an unreadable expression.

"I come here when I need to clear my head," Neptune spoke suddenly, causing me to flinch at her unexpected admission. She turned and leveled an unreadable gaze at me that made me feel slightly tingly. "You're very brave to follow me up to such a suspicious place without questioning me. It would be easy for me to just push you off this ledge and no one would ever know where you had gone."

Pikachu tensed on my shoulder, his tail going erect and electricity began to build in his cheek sacs as he glared at Neptune. Something about Neptune didn't seem like she was exactly threatening me though and I quietly placed a hand on Pikachu's paw, silently telling him to calm down.

"When I became a member of Team Galactic I promised I would follow you to our new world. If pushing me off the edge of this cliff will help with that goal then I have no right to argue," I said, staring directly into her emotionless expression.

I could feel Pikachu's fur stand up on end in silent anger at my words but something about Neptune reminded me of my martial arts sensei back at the IIA. He had been focused and determined and demanded absolute obedience from his students. If Neptune was anything like him, then I was pretty sure that this was a test of loyalty; a test I NEEDED to pass, or else I might just end up tumbling down the side of the cliff after all.

After several tense seconds where I forced myself to meet this strange woman's gaze without showing any of the inner anxiety that was causing my stomach to churn, her lips suddenly split apart in a radiant smile. I blinked rapidly in shock as she laughed, placing her hands behind her to support herself as she laughed happily into the silent night air.

"I was right about you, Satoshi. You really are the perfect soldier!" Neptune said with a wide grin as she looked over at me.

I could feel confusion contorting my face but I didn't bother hiding it and she didn't seem offended. Neptune turned back to look at the night view of Mt. Coronet and the forest stretching out below us and sighed contentedly, seeming to shuck off her intimidating persona like a second skin in front of me.

"Don't tell anyone about this place. If you do I will never trust you again," Neptune said, a spark of deadly seriousness making her lilac eyes flash and I quickly shook my head.

"I would never," I stated vehemently and Neptune laughed again.

"I know you won't, you're simple and easy to read, Satoshi. It's nice to know that there are still people out there who understand the concepts of loyalty," Neptune said with a smile, still looking out at the picturesque landscape and not at me. "I'm going to talk for a little while and I want you to quietly listen and not repeat anything I say to a living soul, can you do that, Satoshi?" Neptune asked, turning her gaze on me and holding my eyes with her own. 

I quickly nodded, trying to keep a blank astonishment filling my face and not show any of the incredulity I was feeling at this turn of events. Am I about to become the leader of Team Galactic's confidant? How in the world did this happen? I wondered in complete bewilderment.

"Why did you join Team Galactic, Satoshi?" Neptune asked, turning slightly and bumping her knee against mine as she seemed to turn her entire focus on me.

I quickly inched to the side to give her room and looked between her and Pikachu in confusion for a few seconds, wondering if I was supposed to answer or if this was a test to see if I would follow her order to not speak. After a few seconds, Neptune chuckled and reached out. Her hand gently patted my knee and goosebumps began to crawl up my flesh as she looked at me like I was a pet pokemon that had just completed a trick successfully.

"Very good, Satoshi. But I would like you to answer the questions, and then go back to being silent, okay?" Neptune said with an amused grin. I nodded uncertainly, feeling my confusion deepen but I cleared my throat and opened my mouth, allowing the lies to fall naturally past my lips.

"My dream was to become a pokemon champion, but after years of chasing my dream and never even beating a league, I thought I would never make my dream happen. When I heard about Team Galactic and how they were planning to create a new world, it sounded like the perfect opportunity for me to reinvent myself and find a new purpose," I said, glancing between Neptune's focused expression and the night scenery. Neptune nodded slowly after a moment and slowly pulled one of her legs up from where it had been dangling over the ledge. She rested her foot on the edge and leaned against her bent knee for a moment.

"A new start, huh? Most of Team Galactic seems to have a similar viewpoint," Neptune said. I furrowed my brow but remained silent as she stared off into the distance. "I'm sure you knew already, but Charon, one of the previous founders of Team Galactic was my grandfather. My parents died when I was little and Grandpa Charon raised me."

I looked over at Neptune as her expression took on a faraway aspect as if she were revisiting her memories as she spoke out loud. A small breeze blew past us, lifting a few strands of her hair and blowing them over her shoulder as she continued looking out past the mountain.

"He was a brilliant scientist and he took it upon himself to be my teacher. Basic math, science, and logic classes soon turned into Calculus, quantum physics, and behavioral psychology lectures. By the time most girls were worrying about how to wear makeup or how to catch a boys attention, I had helped my grandpa model and create a manmade chain that conducted the same energy of the mythical pokemon of Sinnoh that could be used to bring other pokemon, even legendary pokemon, under our complete control."

My eyes widened in shock as Neptune casually explained her upbringing. I couldn't even imagine what it would have been like to have been brought up without friends and having to work on such complicated topics when I was younger. It didn't sound like she had ever really had the chance to just be a kid.

"Grandpa Charon helped Cyrus, the old Team Galactic leader, in his plans to destroy this world and create a new one. Grandpa always liked a challenge and when Cyrus asked him to design something to put the legendary pokemon under his control he leaped at the chance, not caring about the consequences of his actions. Even though I was there helping him every step of the way, he was never satisfied with my contributions. He was always telling me to double and triple check my calculation even when he was the one who made mistakes more often than me."

Neptune's hands clenched into fists and I was surprised at the bitterness that was creeping into her tone. Glancing over, I was surprised to see a hardness in her face that I hadn't seen before, but I remained silently sitting next to her as she continued to speak into the open air.

"I told him multiple times that Cyrus was no good; that if we helped him create his new world there was no way to know if he would actually uphold his end of the bargain to bring us along with him," Neptune spat bitterly, beginning to bob her leg that was still dangling over the ledge irritably. "He was too wrapped up in his project though and wouldn't listen to me. When Cyrus actually did manage to get Dialga and Palkia under his control he showed his true colors. He was planning to wipe out every single thing in the universe and start over with just himself in his new world."

A memory of the awful night when Cyrus had nearly destroyed the world entered my mind and I wondered if I had actually seen Neptune at that fateful time. With the help of the mythical pokemon Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf we had managed to stop Cyrus's plans and calm Dialga and Palkia so that the world had been spared. But everything had been so chaotic I couldn't remember ever seeing a girl with purple hair there.

"Luckily some random kids came in and were able to stop Cyrus. Grandpa Charon's creation was destroyed by the mythical pokemon and Cyrus jumped into a black hole that the legendary pokemon created, good riddance to him. After everything had settled my grandpa became obsessed with reorganizing Team Galactic and rebuilding his creation to bend the legendary pokemon's will to his own. I didn't want anything to do with Cyrus or his old team, but I couldn't leave my Grandpa so I stayed and helped him. And you know," Neptune said, her tone changing from bitter to slightly nostalgic, "With Cyrus gone my Grandpa started being a little kinder to me. Without his crazy pressure and deadlines, we were able to experiment and work together naturally. I thought that maybe creating a new world where Grandpa and I could live together with the Team Galactic people that still followed Grandpa wouldn't be so bad."

Neptune stopped speaking for a moment as her bent knee stretched out and her foot lowered to dangle next to her other one as she shifted on the ledge slightly. I shifted too, making sure not to brush up against her on the small ledge. I didn't really understand why she was telling me all of this, but I hoped that some of this information would be helpful to Director Falon.

"Everything fell apart though," Neptune said, her voice turning icy, "Because of Detective Looker."

My blood turned cold. It took all of my training to keep my face set in a slightly confused expression instead of the inner panic that had erupted at the mention of the man that had been instrumental in taking down Team Galactic so many years ago... and just so happened to be the senior partner of the man who I had just sold out to Neptune.

"He couldn't just leave well enough alone. Looker somehow found our secret base and he and an elite squad of officers destroyed everything my Grandpa and I had been working on. I was only fifteen at the time, but I watched as my life's work was destroyed by those brutes and my Grandpa was wrenched out of my life and stuck in prison. Grandpa convinced them that I had nothing to do with Team Galactic and I was set free to live my life 'free of evil influences'," Neptune said, holding her hands up and making air quotes with a disgusted expression. "Grandpa got sick almost immediately after being incarcerated and after almost a year he died in his cell. When he died, a lawyer showed up on my doorstep and explained that when Cyrus had 'disappeared' all of his assets, companies, bank accounts, hidden vaults with precious metals, and even patents for advanced technological experiments, had all been left to my Grandpa. And, now that he was gone, they were left to me."

I was shocked to hear that the government would have allowed all of Cyrus's belongings, which had been substantial as one of the most successful business moguls of Sinnoh before it was discovered that he was actually the leader of Team Galactic, had been given to a criminal like Charon in the first place. Honestly, I didn't understand anything about inheritances or how government worked though, so I refocused on Neptune's story.

"So, there I was. An undiscovered genius whose only family had been taken from her and suddenly the owner of the largest revenue stream in all of Sinnoh. I kept up my persona of the young girl that had escaped the clutches of evil for a year or so while I ran all of Cyrus's business from the background. But after a while, I realized that even if I had more money than I could ever spend there was nothing in this world that could bring my grandpa back to me and no one who would look at me without thinking of Cyrus's stupidity."

I felt a strange twinge as I looked down at Neptune, who hadn't paused once in recounting her story. It was overwhelming to think of what she must have thought and gone through with everything that happened to her. But before I could really grasp everything she had said she continued.

"So, I decided that I would create a new world. Not just for me though. I would be what Cyrus and my Grandpa should have been. I would let anyone who was looking for an escape join me in the world I created, and I wouldn't just create a copy of this world and wipe out the people who lived here. I would create a completely new world with new, better pokemon. New ways to grow food. New materials to build our cities with. Something radically different from this idiotic world we live in where people who don't even think to listen will destroy everything you've worked for in your life without a second thought because THEY believe it is evil."

Pikachu twitched slightly on my shoulder when Neptune mentioned "better pokemon" and I couldn't help but think of Serena and Roisel. Where did Roisel actually come from? She couldn't have been...

"I've been planning everything down to the last detail since I was sixteen, Satoshi," Neptune stated, turning her eyes to me and I was shocked at the depth of passion and excitement that seemed to be radiating from them. "Soon, everything will fall into place. You'll get your second chance in our new world and this flawed world and all of the idiots who won't accept change will be wiped out."

I couldn't keep myself from swallowing as a lump formed in my throat and Neptune smiled gently. Once again she reached out and patted my knee. I blinked in confusion when she left it on top of my knee and looked up at me with a strange expression in her eyes.

"It feels great to get that out in the open. Celeste and the other captains are always so focused on the plan and their experiments and preparations that they won't take a second to just talk like this. But I knew I could count on you to just listen, Satoshi."

I sat very still, ignoring her hand on my knee and shifting my gaze slightly to the side. She hadn't given me permission to talk yet so I remained silent, but I couldn't get the memory out of my head of Neptune with her eyes filled with excitement saying that she would wipe out anyone who didn't agree with her.

"Thank you for finding out about Aryan, Satoshi. I am familiar with him and will come up with an appropriate way to deal with his meddling. Just like that idiot Looker," Neptune said, finally moving her hand away. I felt a zap of worry rush down my spine as I glanced over at her serene smile which seemed more dangerous than any glare I had seen her pull off.

Suddenly she scooted back, pulling her legs from the ledge, and turned to look at me. She sat down in a cross-legged position and I felt Pikachu back up, pushing his body firmly against my neck in both a show of support and his own uncertainty.

"I enjoyed our talk Satoshi. You've proven your worth as a member of Team Galactic, and I plan to utilize your skills more in the future. Stay here for another five minutes and then make your way back to your room, just so people don't think we were together this whole time. We don't want anyone getting jealous," she remarked with a quick wink that made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

"I'll send for you when I need your help with the next mission," Neptune said before turning and crawling back towards the inner labyrinth of Mt. Coronet. 

She swung herself down onto the rungs pounded into the side of the wall and began to go down, but before her head disappeared from view she turned back to look at me and I felt our eyes lock onto each other. She smiled once more, one of her cold smiles that made my skin crawl, and I felt myself freeze.

"I look forward to talking to you more in the future, Satoshi. Make sure to not betray my trust in you, alright?" I nodded silently and her lips quirked up in amusement before she continued down the ladder and disappeared from my view.

I waited silently on the ledge, listening as she descended down the ladder and then as her footsteps traveled down the hallway and out of my hearing range. A huge, pent-up sigh burst out of me and I flopped onto my back as all of the tension, anxiety, and guilt that I had been holding back rushed through me. Pikachu jumped off before I squashed him underneath my head like a pillow and he came over and stood next to my shoulder, looking at me with obvious worry.

"Pikapi?"

"This got way more complicated than I was expecting, Pikachu," I whispered quietly, looking up at the rocky ceiling of the small outcropping Neptune and I had been sitting in for the past while. "And I think Neptune is more dangerous than I had given her credit for," I whispered, recalling the anger that had roiled off of her small body as she had described how Looker had destroyed the life she and her Grandpa had built together. And then her serene smile when she alluded to the punishment she had given Looker.

My eyes closed slowly as I pictured the man that I had fought against on the roof of the Poketch Company and his determination to save the poor researcher. I'm so sorry, Aryan, I thought as my guilt caused me to feel nauseous.

A/N Well, what do you think? Honestly I just got back from vacation, I am super sleep-deprived, and my husband is sick so my brain isn't really working so great. If you are confused or anything then please excuse me this once. I wanted to make sure I updated on Tuesday no matter what, but I promise my next update will be better!