Both Pikachu and I were panting heavily after the insane 12 on 1 battle. Through a combination of area moves like Discharge, Volt Tackle which was powerful enough to hit several targets with one hit, and Electro Web to keep the feisty pokemon down, I had managed to capture all of the attacking pokemon since they apparently didn't believe in retreating. I caught Pikachu in my arms just before he crumpled into the snow from exhaustion, but then found myself knocked into the snow in a dog pile of blubberingly grateful grunts.

"Geroff me!" I wheezed as I tried to protect Pikachu from the heavy pile of grunts. They eventually listened and got off, they even helped me get up and brushed the snow off of my jacket.

"We thought you were dead, Killian!" one of the grunts said with worry in his expression. Somehow or another, Neptune had chosen five of the grunts that had come to idolize me through our training classes and I felt bad that I ever thought they would have left me behind.

"Sorry about that. The blizzard came in too quickly and I couldn't make it back to the jet," I explained apologetically, cradling Pikachu in my arms since he didn't have the energy to even sit on my shoulder.

"How did you survive?" Marcus, one of the more competent grunts that I had been training, asked with his eyes wide.

"I'll explain on our way back. How did you guys get into such a mess while I was gone anyways?" I asked, moving through the thick snow toward the clearing we had landed the jet in.

The grunts talked over themselves excitedly, but I was able to piece together that they had waited for me to come back all night. When the blizzard had let up though, they decided to go searching for me themselves. Apparently, they had found ANOTHER nest of eggs and had been on their way back to put them in the jet while they waited for me when they were surrounded by that huge group of pokemon. I wished I could whap them all on the heads and tell them they were idiots for going after defenseless eggs, but I just listened to them as we made the short trek back.

Once we were on the jet, I excused myself to the storage room where I deposited the pokemon I had caught, scarfed down several rations of travel food, and then collapsed in a blanket to sleep the whole way back to headquarters. My nap barely scratched the surface of my mental and physical exhaustion, but I forced myself to get up when Marcus came to wake me.

"Do you think your Pikachu could teach my Spinarak that cool electric web thing?" Marcus asked me excitedly

"Sure thing," I agreed with a tired grin, clapping a hand onto his shoulder. 

It surprised me how many grunts were actually decent people inside, but no one had taken the time of day to try and help them improve themselves. I hoped that after Team Galactic was crushed that the IIA would help some of the grunts to find a better use for their growing talents.

"Almost there!" The pilot called from his seat in the cockpit. I followed Marcus over to the rest of the grunts and buckled up for the landing. Surprisingly, all the grunts reached their hands out to Pikachu and as the jet was landing he was passed from one guy to the other so they could thank him for saving them. Pikachu took the attention gracefully, but I could tell by his droopy ears that he didn't feel like what he had done was such a great thing.

I was honestly relieved when I jumped from the jet and Neptune wasn't there waiting for me. In fact, it took until we had unloaded the last of the pokemon eggs before she breezed into the hangar, instantly causing the grunts that saw her coming to bow in respect. I could see Marcus's admiring gaze at me from his bow as I remained upright and watched Neptune come straight to me.

"Major Satoshi, you're late," Neptune accused with a heavy frown on her delicate lips.

I bowed slightly in apology, but before I could get out a word the grunts I had been with leaped to my rescue. They practically tripped over themselves to explain how a blizzard had kicked up and I had gotten stuck in the forest for the night, but even though I was the one who got lost I had come at the perfect moment to save them all from rampaging pokemon. It was actually a little embarrassing to hear them gushing like I was some kind of superhuman and I knocked them all lightly on the head to get them to shut up.

Glancing over to see how Neptune had reacted to their defensiveness, I wasn't surprised to see that her face looked completely devoid of emotion as usual. She regarded all of us silently for a few minutes and I knew that my grunts were squirming as much as I wanted to at the intense stare. She eventually flicked her gaze up to meet mine though and I blinked when I saw the barest hint of sadness in her expression.

"Ever the perfect soldier, Major Satoshi. You've even inspired loyalty in your troops," Neptune commented as she looked at the five men surrounding me. They all turned bright red as she let out a rare smile and dismissed them to finish transporting the eggs to the collection area where researchers with higher clearance would bring them down into the labs.

"Walk with me, Satoshi," Neptune ordered in a cool tone, turning and heading away from the hangar without looking back. I followed after her quickly, waving apologetically at the men who had defended me. All the grunts waved happily after me, seeming pleased that they had been praised, even if it was indirectly, by Neptune.

It wasn't long before I realized that Neptune was taking me to her special lookout cave. I was grateful that she wasn't trying to hold a conversation with me as I followed after her since it gave me time to mentally prepare myself to be the dutiful 'soldier' she was expecting.

After the long climb up to her cramped lookout ledge, she motioned for me to take a seat next to her and I complied immediately. Although I made sure to sit so that I wasn't touching her. Neptune looked out over the forest lit with the early afternoon sun and I realized that I was beginning to feel warm since I hadn't taken off my winter jacket yet. Not wanting to hit her accidentally though, I settled on pulling off my beanie. I could feel my hair sticking to my scalp from being under the cap for more than 24 hours and I rubbed my hand through it fussily, not used to the slick feeling after spiking it up every day as the IIA stylist had ordered.

"I bet you would like nothing more than to take a shower." Neptune's words were so unexpected I looked over at her while mid-stroke through my hair. She smirked with amusement at me and I quickly removed my hand from my hair and shrugged.

"That and a nap would be great," I admitted, trying desperately not to yawn. Neptune's gaze turned back out to the forest below us and I waited for her to say what she had brought me here for.

"We took the weekly inventory of our evolution stones while you were gone, Satoshi," Neptune said, turning slowly so she could level a serious look at me. Ever since I decided to swipe those evolution stones I'd been preparing myself for if Neptune were to ever figure it out, and thanks to the silent walk I was able to prepare myself and stay in character. Glancing to the side awkwardly I cleared my throat and allowed myself to look guilty.

"Oh?" I asked, wondering how Neptune would handle this.

"Two of them were missing, Satoshi. And the other researcher swears he didn't misplace any." Neptune's voice was hard and accusing, but I was surprised that she didn't actually look upset. She was looking at me as if she was waiting for me to tell her it wasn't me...

Why do I feel like she's giving me the benefit of the doubt? I thought Neptune was completely dead to emotions like sympathy. Deciding to file that thought away for later, I heaved a sigh and hung my head in mock shame.

"He's telling the truth. I took the two missing stones." 

Neptune's eyes narrowed at my confession and she folded her arms, looking more curious than angry. "Why? Where are they?"

I grimaced slightly, recalling my late-night practice of how I would respond to this question, although in my mind's eye Neptune had been raging mad and ready to throw me into a fire pit, so this was going much better than I anticipated.

"They were cracked," I said with a sigh, glancing over at Neptune and quickly looking away. From the corner of my eye, I saw Neptune frown and cock her head to the side.

"Cracked?" she prompted and I nodded sadly.

"I saw how frantic the researcher was and I didn't want him to get in trouble for me being in his way. When I found the cracked stones I decided to take them and toss them out so he wouldn't get in trouble. I guess I was dumb to think you wouldn't keep track of how many stones you made, huh?" I said with a self-deprecating chuckle, hoping that she really believed I was ashamed of myself for being so dumb.

Neptune sighed heavily and shook her head, finally giving me the glare I had been waiting for. "That idiot doesn't deserve your sympathy, Satoshi. Why would you try to cover up his mistake like that? You should have told me immediately."

"I'm sorry," I said, turning awkwardly and bowing to her. "But it really was my fault. If I hadn't been standing in the door he wouldn't have dropped that crate."

I could hear Neptune let out a huff of annoyance but I was surprised when she patted my head. I peeked up at her and saw she was still glaring at me, but there was more exasperation in her expression than anger.

"Lift your head, Satoshi," she ordered, and I immediately straightened. "I have said this before, but your loyalty should first and foremost be to me. I don't ever want you to go behind my back again like this or there will be consequences, do you understand?"

I let out a sigh that I hoped sounded filled with relief and nodded briskly. "I understand. I should have just told you about the cracked stones. I'm sorry, Neptune."

She let out another huff but then waved her hand dismissively. As her hand came down though, she rested it gently on my knee. I could feel Pikachu stiffen unhappily on my shoulder, but we had decided that he needed to stop growling at Neptune for now. I didn't want Neptune to get annoyed with Pikachu and tell me to stop having him with me at all times. That would be more than I could handle.

Neptune didn't look over at me though, she just went back to gazing out at the forest. Deciding that I probably shouldn't interrupt her train of thought, I carefully leaned against the side of the outcropping, forcing myself to keep my knee where it was, and looked out at the forest.

In the silence, my mind almost immediately went to Serena and I didn't bother changing my train of thought. As I recalled her innate kindness and her desire to protect that had led her to Absol and the injured Eevee from last night, I couldn't help but admire her. I wondered if it was because her mother was so strict with her as a kid that she felt so drawn to help the people around her.

"If I asked you to choose between your Pikachu and me, Satoshi... who would you choose?"

I couldn't even react for a moment as Neptune's question ripped me from my thoughts of a girl who was her exact opposite, and when I looked over at Neptune I was surprised at how emotionless she looked. It wasn't her normal mask that hid her emotions though, it was almost like she was resigned to the answer she expected would come. I could feel Pikachu kneading my shoulder nervously and I had to swallow a couple of times before I could even speak.

"There wouldn't be a time where I would have to pick, Neptune. Pikachu is practically a part of me. If we were in a life or death situation it's more likely that Pikachu would be saving us than me having to choose between one of you." 

Neptune's expression didn't change as I gave my answer but she patted my knee and nodded. "Tell me about yourself, Satoshi," Neptune ordered suddenly.

"Huh?" The surprised noise left my mouth before I could stop it and I winced when Neptune cocked an eyebrow up at me with displeasure. "Uh, I mean. I don't mind... but don't you have lots of things you need to do?" I asked, trying to backpedal without sticking my foot further into my mouth. Neptune shook her head and gave me her complete attention.

"I want to learn more about you. Now." 

I actually flinched at the strength within her demand and I glanced over at Pikachu, sure that the surprise and confusion in his expression were reflected in my own.

"Oooookay? What do you want to know, Neptune?"

"Tell me how you got your Pikachu. You said you came from a fighting type dojo, and yet your partner is a Pikachu... how did that happen?" I shrugged and looked towards the view to give myself a second. Honestly, I had nearly forgotten about "Satoshi" growing up in a fighting type dojo, so I was glad she mentioned it. I couldn't help but think of how different this conversation was compared to how Serena and I had been sharing stories of our childhood just hours before.

I don't know how long Neptune kept me up in her secret spot, but I answered all of her questions as naturally as I could manage. Neptune's sudden interest in my background was kind of terrifying in a way, but I did my best to stay casual and Neptune seemed to relax a bit the more I told her. After her interrogation, I was fighting to keep awake and tried my best to hide my yawns from Neptune. There was one yawn that lasted so long though I couldn't hide it no matter what I did, and Neptune actually looked like she felt bad for a moment.

"Thank you, Satoshi. I think you should go take that nap you mentioned though."

"I'm sorry, Neptune. We were talking about me so much, I should have asked you about your childhood," I mumbled through a yawn. Neptune frowned at me and slowly took her hand away from my knee for the first time since the interrogation started.

"You already know everything worth knowing. Cyrus made my Grandfather become cruel. Then when he was gone and Grandpa finally treated me kindly and included me in his plans, Detective Looker came and tore everything apart." 

I couldn't help but frown at how bitter Neptune sounded at her brief summary of her life and I thought back to Serena's childhood stories. Even though there had been a lot of frustration with her mother forcing her down the path of a Rhyhorn racer, she still had fond memories of them together.

"What about before you lived with your Grandpa? What was your childhood with your parents like?" 

Neptune looked over at me with a guarded expression making her lilac eyes appear hard. "It doesn't matter, Satoshi. I'm not that little girl anymore. You should go sleep."

Recognizing a dismissal when I heard one, I bowed my head slightly in farewell and crawled awkwardly to the metal rungs pounded into the wall.

"Satoshi." I paused mid-step and peeked over the floor of the ledge to see Neptune had turned around and was looking at me with one of her rare, genuine smiles. "I am glad you survived the blizzard."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that so I just nodded to her before climbing down. As I made my way back to my room, I went over the conversation we just had. No matter how I looked at it, Neptune's behavior had been strange. Not only had she not really gotten mad at me for my made-up reason for taking the stones, but she hadn't even asked me how the hunt went. It was like her focus had turned onto something else entirely and for whatever reason, I was at the center of it.

"I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, Pikachu," I muttered softly to my ever-present partner.

"Pi," he responded shortly, also seeming confused and a little worried. 

Shaking my head, I opened my door and made sure it was locked securely before peeling off my clothes and hopping into the shower. As I soaked in the warm water I turned my mind to Director Falon and how I was going to explain myself and what had happened. I had no doubt that Isla would have given a scathing report about my use of the evolution stone, but I knew one thing for sure. Even if Director Falon ordered me, I was not going to tell her about Serena. She was too good and pure to have anything to do with this crazy situation I found myself in.

I just hope she never crosses paths with Neptune, I thought to myself grimly.

A/N Sorry this is kind of a boring chapter. And it's super short :P I wanted to close out this mini-arc properly though. Hopefully it wasn't too bad :P