(Note: My apologizes, this is the shortest chapter I've made since the first book, I had serious writer's block and got inspiration for literally everything BUT this chapter)

"So, as much as I love hanging with you people, why am I here again?" Hope asked loudly as he pushed between Mira and Amos in order to speak to the two older trainers. At the same time, his Mareep clinging to his back gave a loud, "MEEP!"

"The feeling isn't exactly mutual, but you said you met the Kalos Queen, right?" Danny added seriously, trying to contain his own frustration.

"Yeah, so?"

"You said you also met her traveling companions."

"Ya, and?"

"Hope, Danny has a Gardevoir that was apart of Team Flare, and we think that one of the Kalos Queen's companions was her previous trainer," Mira continued on, looking as if she wanted to pull his hair. "We're hoping that you can identify the trainer we found online and tell us if its him, and explain more about him before we contact them."

Hope twirled with one of the strings on his jacket before saying, "Well you're going all out on this person, ain't ya? Fine, you know how much I love talking about my clients. I don't exactly follow the rules of privacy."

Everyone but Margaret now looked ticked. It had just been yesterday that they found the leads on Deborah's past. The four trainers had taken the information on recent Team Flare attacks and the Kalos Queen's Team Flare incident to the Pokemon Center where they each began their own research. Mira and Amos worked on leads on finding Team Flare, while Danny and Margaret began using the Pokemon Center computer system to locate the Kalos Queen's three anonymous traveling companions. After finding some more leads, they called in none other than the annoying Hope to help identify the trainer.

"So, Hope, this is the one picture I could find of the Kalos Queen and her traveling companions, but I want to be absolutely sure," Margaret finally spoke up, turning around her swivel chair to face away from the computer and moved aside. "Are these the people you met?"

Hope stepped forward and leaned in to observe the picture Margaret had pulled up. The other three also came closer to see it. It was a picture of the Kalos Queen's coronation. In the middle was the Kalos Queen herself, Stella Knight. She looked absolutely radiant, the crown placed on her head while holding her trophy in her arms. Next to her were three others. There was a slightly younger young woman with blonde hair and an appearance that looked exactly like Mira's, while wearing a performer's dress. There was another woman slightly older and dressed in tomboyish outfit of a Marowak tank top and shorts that wold be seen as inappropriate for such an occasion. The last person was a young man around the same age as the Kalos Queen and punk woman. He was dressed in a little more formal attire than the punk woman, but he had a long galaxy patterned coat draped over his left arm while leaning on a cane he was grasping with his right hand. All four of them, however, looked as if they were having the time of their lives. Under the picture was a caption in small typing.

The newly crowned Kalos Queen, Stella Knight, with younger sister and fellow performer Raven Knight (left), older cousin Caramia Knight (right), and family friend as well as former coordinator rival Astro Gomez (far right).

"Yeah, that's them," Hope answered, pulling away from the screen and shrugging his shoulders. "All four of them visited me."

"And the guy is the one who lost the Gardevoir?" Danny asked quickly, his heart beginning to beat faster.

"Pretty sure, I mean the guy took a real pounding for that Pokemon, can't imagine anyone but the trainer doing that. They came to me and asked if anyone had heard or found a Gardevoir that had some connection to Team Flare. They gave me their story and information, and then left."

"All this time and it was all right in front of us!" Mira said with astonishment. "So you were right, Raven did know the truth! Wish she had come out and said so sooner!"

"She probably wanted to avoid touching the subject until getting support from her companions," Amos replied. "For all she knew, it would've become one big misunderstanding. Did you learn anything new?"

"Well, the story did check out," answered the maroon haired trainer. "Everything Hope had was online but it was somewhat difficult. It looked like the whole situation was hushed up, and it didn't receive as much media coverage since Stella Knight was still just a regular performer when it happened. From what I can tell, Team Flare narrowly missed homicide charges being added to their crimes. Deborah's trainer almost died from injuries, but miraculously survived. After that, he recovered, and faded into abyss apart from rare appearances with Stella Knight."

When Margaret paused, Mira added slowly, "So...what now? Do we tell Deborah or what? Do we just call these people? Where are they?"

"We could call the Kalos Queen," Danny brought up, unfolding the poster of Deborah and reading the notes. "The numbers are on here, but I guess there's always the chance they won't work. It's been a few years, after all."

"Y'all can't contact the Kalos Queen," Hope interrupted in a bored voice while his Mareep shook its head. "Believe me, I've tried. I wanted to talk to her, y'know, just a casual call, but I was put on hold. Never got back to me. And you're right, the numbers for Caramia and Astro are no longer in use. The last girl didn't leave a number."

"I think before anything else, we need to tell Deborah what we've found," Amos cut across them all. "After all, Astro is her trainer, and it should be up to her what she wants to do next. Does she even know about the lead?"

"As a matter of fact, no," the scarred trainer admitted. "I didn't want to get her hopes up until we figured out if it was all true. I guess now would be the best time to-"

"Danny, don't tell her just yet."

Everyone was surprised to hear Margaret say this. She was staring sternly at Danny's hand, which was an inch away from the Pokeball on his belt.

"What are you talking about?" He said blankly, unnerved by the look on his friend's face. "They're right, she deserves to know!"

"Yes, you're right, she does need to know, but...I think you need to tell her privately. Danny, you know what makes Gardevoirs so unique to other Pokemon, right? They're increasingly loyal to their trainers, going as far as laying down their own lives or are even rumored to have ripped the very fabric of space and time! A Gardevoir ripped out Sky's eye out, so they're not to be messed with!"

"Which is why we need to tell her!"

"Yes and no. I'm trying to say that Gardevoirs take their duties seriously, and basically pledge their lives to a person until death! But for Deborah, it's no longer as straightforward, because she owes her life to two trainers instead of just one!"

A silence cell upon them, almost everyone confused at the subject. But then Mira spoke up and echoed, "Oooh, I think I get it! You're saying that because she knows the truth about her first trainer, she might be conflicted between her old trainer and Danny! Each one sacrificed a great deal for her and she owes them both so much but has to choose one or the other!"

Margaret nodded and continued on to Danny, "Danny, I think you should wait on telling her, at least not for long. I think you need to discuss this with Deborah alone, just the two of you. This needs to be handled delicately."

"And how would you suggest I do that, you're much better at this stuff than me!" Danny added defensively.

"Well you can't just say out of the blue, 'right, Deborah, we found your trainer and I think you need to go be with him'!"

"She's just saying this needs to be handled with tact," Amos intervened hurriedly. "She's right, Deborah doesn't see the situation the same as we do. She has loyalty to not only you but her previous trainer, and I think Margaret means that you need to make sure Deborah knows your position in this ordeal. She needs to know that she doesn't owe you anything, or that she shouldn't be holding back for you."

Danny was about to respond to this somewhat unwanted advice but was cut off by the buzzing of his Pokegear. To avoid replying, he looked at the caller which to his surprise was not any registered number. It was an unknown number.

"Look, I should take this, just give me a minute," he told the four others in a low voice before separating himself from the trainers. Once out of ear shot, he took the call and start hesitantly, "Hello...?"

"Oh Danny it's so good to hear your voice!" immediately came Emmaline's voice, which sounded unusually high and strained. "I-I didn't know who to call!"

"Emmaline?" Danny said with surprise. "Where are you? What happened to your phone? You sound terrible!"

He could hear her taking deep breathes to calm herself before answering, "I-I don't think I can say it all in one phone call! I heard about your friends and... and I think I have some of the answers you're looking for. About Team Flare, and what they're after."

"Wait, what? You have information on Team Flare? How did you-"

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry, Danny! I at least can't tell you on the phone! I'm in Laverre City, where are you and your group now?"

"We're in Dendemille Town near Ice Cavern. Look, Emmaline-"

"What type of phone do you have?! Is it a Holo Caster?!"

"No, a Pokegear, why?"

The trainer on the other end gave a sign of relief before continuing, "Alright, whatever you do, do NOT use a Holo Caster to call! I had to ditch mine and get a new phone, which is hard since Kalos only seems to offer Holo Casters! Have your group meet me on the route between Laverne City and Dendemille Town, Thursday night near the abandoned hotel! Again, never use a Holo Caster! You never know who's listening in!"

The call suddenly ended before Danny could say anything else. He felt troubled as he closed the lid on his Pokegear. He was very concerned by her cryptic warning. They had not seen her in such a long time. Was Team Flare behind her disappearance? What could she have possibly found out about them?

"Danny, are you ok?"

Danny jumped slightly as someone grasped his shoulder. He looked around swiftly to see Margaret standing behind. Behind her, Mira for some good reason had started pulling Hope's hair while Amos backed off from the crazy couple.

"That was Emmaline," Danny began shortly while her put his Pokegear back in his pocket. "She wants to see us. She says she has information about Team Flare and what they want."

Margaret gave a surprised look and repeated, "Emmaline wants to see us? About Team Flare? Do you think she knows where the others are?"

"She might, she just said we need to meet her at that abandoned hotel Thursday.  She also said to stop using Holo Casters, like they can be used to listen in on our conversations."

"If that's all true, that's rather frightening! So many people here in Kalos use them! Well, at least I don't think any of us use them, so that's good. Most of us use the Xtransceivers and Pokegears."

Margaret paused, biting her bottom lip all the while to show she was thinking hard. After a minute she said, "Did she want just you to go?"

"She didn't care who came or not."

"Well... don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you should stay behind on this one."

Danny felt irritation rise up inside him and snap, "Whatever for? I'm fine, Margaret, my face-"

"Danny, we're all worried about you, it's not just about your injuries! You've been so stressed and sad lately, and you're taking this whole thing so personally! You can't carry all of this on your shoulders alone! You need a break, and there is the chance that call could be a trap! We should have at least one person behind to be safe! We knew when the others went missing that there would be risks and dangers! Why don't you spend that day with Deborah? You can tell her what we found out. Just this once, put something else first. Start with Deborah, she needs you too, same for your other Pokémon."

Danny made a growl of annoyance, but he felt a stab of guilt. He hated to admit it, but he knew she was right. He took the search too personally. He felt responsible for everyone, and he wanted everything to be back to the way it was. He hadn't really thought of his health or how it was effecting him.

"Fine, but I don't feel right about it," Danny huffed at last. "Just stay safe, alright? I don't know how I would function if I lost all of you."

The corners of Margaret's mouth twitched and she said thoughtfully while trying to hide a smile, "Well, I guess it will all depend on Deborah. I think she would be the only one there for you if something happened. That's the one good thing about Gardevoirs. With Deborah, you're never truly alone."

~~~

Merry Christmas, welcome to the new SWS3, and I suck at this chapter! :D As I said, I did not have much inspiration for this chapter, so it's barely over 2,000 words excluding this author's note.

I'm gonna make this quick, next chapter is more than half way done, but I'm not sure when it will be out. Any announcements I need to make will probably not be added here until the time is right, and to readers of "The Definition of Being Human", I want to apologize right now. The rewriting is going awful, mainly because I've been working on SWS3 and I'm currently waiting for long overdue results on a little contest I entered and the entire course of TDoBH depends on it. I'll explain when the book gets out.

Until then, merry Christmas! :)