Word Count: 1719

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Lyra~

"Where is the guy from before, Lyra?" Blue called out from the direction near the Gym. Green and Ethan followed behind him, as well as Exchanger and Khoury.

"One of the Commanders arrived and departed with him," I replied.

"So you let them escape?" Green pointed curtly.

I would've flinched if I hadn't gotten used to her attitude, but I nodded my head. "They told me their intentions. I felt there was no other reason for me to keep them here."

Green tilted her head to the side a bit, raising her eyebrow before taking a breath. "Alright, I will trust your decision. Please don't make me regret it."

"How did your recon go?" I asked her and Ethan.

"We couldn't do much in Saffron City. They had tight security, and apparently, the building became restricted to visitors. However, we did find out that Team Rocket broke into a building in the Sinnoh Region to obtain data on... Veilstone City? There are meteorites there, and the data was related to those meteorites," Ethan explained.

"It was also something related to a 'Spear Key'. I heard they stole that 'Spear Key' along with the data. It's not something Silver would know on the top of his head, especially with his amnesia," Green added.

"So we're confirming that Evolver's the mastermind behind every action Team Rocket is making. Silver's slacking off, but that could be good in our case," Blue noted.

I noticed Khoury turning his attention rapidly as one person spoke. He seemed very baffled by the topic. "How are you all calm about this!?"

Khoury gripped onto his hair locks as if he wanted to tear them off his head. Everyone turned to him after he spoke. I noticed Green quickly rolling her eyes.

"We are calm because panicking gets us nowhere. No one's dying so what's there to panic about?"

Khoury opened his mouth, to which Blue raised his hand before Khoury could say a word.

"Hang onto that thought, kid. Lyra, do you know who was the man you spoke about?" Blue questioned.

I explained to him who Saturn is and what he told me, from telling me Team Galactic's purpose to the proposal he offered. In my opinion, he wasn't wrong about the advantage if we worked together. They were an organization, so the number of members they had would help a lot against Team Rocket.

However, Team Galactic's purpose was the same as Team Rocket's, and for that, if we do stop Team Rocket, wouldn't Team Galactic's plan already be set? I want to stop Silver, but I also love this Pokémon world. There's a chance we can stop Team Galactic while stopping Silver, but how...

I looked at the group for answers. Green kept a steady gaze at me as I explained who Saturn was. After I was finished, she cleared her throat.

"Did they only ask for you? I assume they want fewer casualties as possible."

Why did Green think that? I didn't see anything wrong with their offer, besides the fact they knew my existence and not vice versa. Team Galactic just wanted me as a helping hand to stop team Rocket, right?

"Lyra, this is just our assumptions about Team Galactic's offer: it's suspicious that they only requested you. A whole organization couldn't complete a goal but one person can change the odds? There has to be an ulterior motive or something we don't know about them," Blue added.

"I was thinking about how Team Galactic and Team Rocket had the same goal. If we stop Team Rocket before they summon Arceus, everything would've been laid out for Team Galactic to finish the rest of the plan," I mentioned.

Ethan crossed his arms and nodded. "You have a point. We can deal with Team Galactic later. But I don't want you joining them. They don't sound like people we should be associating ourselves with."

"The numbers that an organization has are tempting. Next time, allow me or Blue to negotiate things instead. Don't express any sort of interest in something you're not familiar with. Anyways, Valley Windworks? Where is that place? We should pay them a visit," Green suggested.

"Oh! The Valley Windworks is in Sinnoh," Khoury spoke up, which drew all of our attention to him. "I've been to Sinnoh before and I know an extensive knowledge of the region. I can help you guys get to the Valley Windworks."

Green hummed shortly. "Looks like you're not useless after all."

I averted my attention to her. That comment was very uncalled for. Green could've been a bit nicer...

"What she meant is that we're happy to have your help," I corrected her to Khoury.

Green shrugged and grabbed Blue's arm, pulling him away from the group. I turned to Ethan if he had anything else to say, and Exchanger as well. Ethan's gaze seemed unfocused, and I realized that Exchanger had not said a word the whole conversation. He bent his head down, which allowed the hood to cover his face easily.

"Lyra, what do you want to do? I trust your decisions, after all, and I will support those decisions until the end. But I don't like this idea. I don't care if Green says it's better to have more people to gain the upper hand against Team Rocket. We already have so many strong Trainers on our side—Morty, Lance, Karen, Will—so we can defeat Team Rocket with all of us, right?"

Ethan sounded desperate. It's just his worries, but I acknowledged them and I understand why he was worried. After Blue explained the idea of Team Galactic having ulterior motives, I began to regret my thought on accepting them without doubts. I thought about Saturn's words, but I felt he had more to tell me than what he told me.

Was this his intention? Did he want me to question his motives and go to Team Galactic with questions? If that's the case, he could trap me in a deal too easily. But if they were planning on using me, then I could at least make some use out of them—it seems I've been rubbing off from Silver.

"Team Rocket is everywhere, Ethan. It's not going to be that easy as you're making it out to be. I agree with Green's decision," Exchanger admitted.

"I don't think Team Galactic is a regular organization that we're seeing. As Lyra said, they have the same motives as Team Rocket. Don't blame me for thinking they're a criminal organization like Team Rocket..." Ethan commented.

Exchanger took off his hood and turned towards me. "The thing is, I don't remember who Team Galactic was or if the building Evolver broke into was a Team Galactic faculty Actually, I don't remember Team Galactic being involved in stopping me."

Khoury whipped his head to Exchanger as if we hadn't told him Exchanger and Silver were the same people from different timelines. Exchanger didn't glance back at him. Ethan cleared his throat before Khoury could say anything.

"So you're saying the future will be different compared to your time? The last thing I want is another time-traveller," Ethan directed his question to Exchanger.

"I don't know. Maybe they did intervene and I didn't notice. However, I don't believe my timeline's Lyra had allied herself with Team Galactic."

I recalled how I died in Exchanger's time, and S's time as well... a fire caused by Ho-oh in Ecruteak City. If I cooperate with Team Galactic, it will definitely change the outcome, but would it change the outcome of my future death? It would make things easier if it ever came down to me confronting Silver.

"Hey, we're back~" Green sung as she continued to pull Blue towards us.

We caught Green up to the current conversation, which involved Exchanger's comment. She glanced at Khoury for a moment, raising her eyebrow before approaching me. I guess she realized we would need Khoury's help after all.

"And you're fine with these arrangements?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"Alright, it looks like the four of us are heading to the Sinnoh Region then."

"Four?" Ethan questioned.

"Blue needs to stay here for me, and I need Exchanger here as well. Don't wanna risk anything. That leaves the four of us: you, me, Lyra, and the kid," Green answered.

Khoury looked like he wanted to say something again, but Green went ahead and brought out her Pidgeot. Ethan tossed his Pokéball in the air, bringing, out his Dragonite. Blue brought out his Charizard, which he told me he would lend Charizard so I can go to Sinnoh. I would've had Togekiss fly me to Sinnoh if she was with me right now.

However, I had no clue where she could be.

"Khoury, you can fly with me," I offered.

He nodded. "Thank you, Lyra!"

"Alright, we'll follow the kid's lead. Take us to whatever city is closest to this Valley Windworks." Green called out, hopping onto Pidgeot's back. The bird Pokémon proceeded to flap its wings and hover over the ground.

"Actually, you guys should head to Sandgem Town and see Professor Rowan. Gramps believes that Professor Rowan might have some useful information for us about Sinnoh and Team Rocket activities there," Blue suggested, placing his hand on Charizard's body to instruct it to fly me and Khoury to Sinnoh. After doing so, Blue handed me a Pokéball, likely Charizard's Pokéball.

I hopped onto Charizard's back, followed by Khoury who sat behind me. When I turned back to Khoury's direction, I noticed he was holding onto Charizard's sides. Is he afraid of falling off?

"You're going to lead us to Sinnoh, right? It's not time to be afraid just yet?" I told him.

Khoury looked up to me and nodded. "Yeah... well, Sinnoh should be in that direction."

Charizard flapped its wings as Khoury pointed with his finger. We were raised higher from the ground, further away from Blue who had his hands in his pocket. Exchanger also looked up at us. I turned to notice Ethan and Dragonite at our level in the sky.

"Alright Charizard, that way."

◼️𝐏 𝐎 𝐊 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎 𝐍◼️

Be sure to vote and comment on the story. Also, please correct me on any mistakes that might have appeared in this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter~

~Lisa~