If there was one thing I hated more than passing out due to some unknown reason, it would be waking up from it. It wasn't the pain that bothered me when I woke up, though I could feel my whole body ache from the aftermath of what happened before. What bothered me was that I would pass out and find myself far away from where I had passed out at. The first time was when I first became Swanna Girl; Taipan had Gengar use Hypnosis on me. I woke up in a room in the underground hideout Rudi had. Last time it happened to me, I wasn't as fortunate as I woke up in Team Oblivion's lair.

No matter how much I could've hoped that Braviary could've gotten me out of a messy situation, I kept my eyes closed to try and figure out what was going on. If I was still with Team Miasma, I would be safeish. I just had to let them know where Lantana was so that I could get Plusle back. If that didn't happen, and I was with that imposter, I would need to find a way to get out of here.

I shuddered at the thought of that happening. Apparently, it must've been visible too.

"Oh my Arceus!" a voice gasped. "Sylvia, she's waking up! Hilbert, get Nurse Joy and Lethe! They're going to want to see this!"

"Hilda, keep your voice down, will you?" a deeper voice responded. "She's going to be confused and probably sick. The last thing she's going to need is you screaming at the top of your lungs."

"Well I'm sorry that I'm excited she's back," the first voice huffed. "One of us has to, considering you worked the poor girl half to death when we asked them to help us defeat Team Oblivion."

"You're right. I'm sure she's going to be thrilled to see me," the second voice sarcastically remarked. "In fact, I bet she's going to be so excited that she'll forget everything that happened."

"Oh Hil, don't be so pessimistic," the voice became clearer, causing me to put a name to the woman. Part of me didn't want to believe it, no matter how many times they said each other's names. "Just go."

The sound of footsteps grew softer and softer while a hand gently pressed on my arm. I was about ready to open my eyes, but despite how gentle Hilda's touch was, it still hurt. It felt as though someone was pressing a nail into a burn.

Unfortunately, the hand didn't move. I turned my head and peeled my eyes open, finding everything to be blurrier than usual. I squeezed my eyes for a moment, hoping that would work, but when I opened my eyes again, all I could see was a blur.

"Here, this might help," Hilda's voice claimed, much softer than before.

I didn't move as I felt a pair of glasses slid past my temples. Once I felt them on my face, I opened my eyes, looking right into a pair of dark blue eyes. They weren't the navy ones I had longed to see, but they were still welcoming. Clumps of brown hair fell all around her face, almost as though the woman didn't brush her hair in days. She didn't wear her usual white ball cap with the red Poké Ball logo on it, but I still recognized her.

As I did, I lowered my gaze, staring down at the bed I laid on. I was still wearing the black jumpsuit I wore as a member of Team Miasma. The fabric was worn down, and the purple "S" seemed to have lost its luster.

"Hey, aren't you happy to see me?" Hilda sounded a bit disappointed.

"It's not that," I muttered. "I'm just surprised you're being so nice after all I've done."

"Hey! You haven't done anything wrong. If it wasn't for you, Hilbert and I would still be battling Team Oblivion, and that's to assume they wouldn't have succeeded at this point."

I looked up at her, ignoring the shooting aching pains scatter across my body. "So you're willing to dismiss that I was a member of Team Miasma?"

"We all make mistakes," Hilda said. "Besides, that wasn't your doing. That was you just trying to survive Team Miasma. Trust me, I understand better than anyone."

"Well, I made a huge mistake," I muttered. "It's because of me Team Miasma has gotten away with everything, not to mention, your friend is in jail."

Hilda frowned. "You were delirious from Stunky's Confuse Ray. Besides, it was bound to happen sooner or later. N warned Hilbert and me that long ago, but he's doing okay. I mean, he's going to be going to a trial, but he could've died alongside Hilbert's Emboar if he wasn't arrested. I don't think Hilbert and I could've handled another loss. We are just lucky all of our other Pokémon were okay."

Her words struck guilt inside me. It was all my fault. If it wasn't for some rash decisions I made, Hilda, Hilbert, and N wouldn't have been in the situation that they were. It was no wonder why Hilbert made sure he escaped the room before I woke up. He probably blamed me for everything.

At the same time, her words made me realize something important. "My Pokémon," I said as I struggled to sit up straight, "are they alright?"

Hilda nodded her head. Her lips twitched into a small smile. "We got 'em. Rena's working on a way to break through their barrier as we speak. Braviary is getting healed by Nurse Joy. All three—well, four—of your Pokémon are safe."

Four.

I had five Pokémon. I bit my lip as I laid back down and stared up at the light hanging above my head. My Pokémon shouldn't have been forced into this mess, especially Plusle. She didn't know how to defend herself as she was too young. Gila could throw her out into the wild, and Plusle would be eaten in a day. No, she could force her into battle, harming the little Pokémon.

To think I promised to protect Plusle. I told her I would keep her safe, and never force her into a situation like that.

"What's wrong," Hilda asked. "Wait! Sit back up. I forgot I was supposed to make you eat something."

"I'm not hungry," I mumbled as my mind only went to one thing: Plusle.

Hilda didn't listen to me, like any good nurse would do, she knew what was best. Not that she was a nurse. Hilda's track record of being reckless would've made her a hazard working in the medical field. I use to wonder why I never trained alongside her when Hilbert trained me to fight hand to hand combat. That thought didn't last long as no matter what the situation was, Hilda managed to get herself hurt way too often.

I sat up and had a tray of food laying on my lap. On it was a glass with a dark purple liquid in it and a bowl of soup. I recognized it as the Nacrene City's Nurse Joy's homemade vegetable soup. While I wasn't hungry, I could feel my stomach grumble in response. There wasn't any kind of food I missed more than her homemade cooking.

Still, I wasn't going to eat. I ignored the pounding in my head, and the aches that scattered across my body. I looked down at my arm. Gauze covered the injury, but there was no trace of what was underneath it.

"Welcome back," a lower voice greeted.

I turned my head and as I did, a spoon was shoved into my mouth. I glared at Hilda, who stood in front of me, blocking the view of whomever was making their way in. She smiled as she took the spoon out and scooped another spoonful of soup.

My mouth was full of warm, delicious vegetable soup. Flavor burst into my mouth as I tasted the soft carrots almost melting inside my mouth and the sweet tomato broth that surrounded it. As I swallowed, I could feel the freshly cut vegetables go down. It was a nice change from the endless packaged meals I forced myself to eat as a member of Team Miasma.

"The good news is that we healed all the injuries you seemed to have gotten two nights ago," Nurse Joy's voice came. I watched as Hilda looked back, dropping the spoon back into the bowl. Part of the broth flung into the air, landing on my stomach. If it would've been any hotter, I would've flinched, but the soup must've cooled a bit before I had the chance to get it.

Hilda took a step back while a pink haired nurse stepped beside the bed and laid her hand on my forehead. Her blue eyes looked down into mine. Feeling guilty with everything I've done, I looked down at that tray.

"Your temperature seems to have gone down, so there's some good news," Nurse Joy stated, "but that mark on your arm isn't going to leave without a scar."

"So?" I mumbled. "I've dealt with far worse before. You don't need to baby it."

Nurse Joy froze, shocked at what I had just said. Out of everyone in the room, she was the one who knew me best. She took care of me when my parents disappeared, raising me as her own. During that time, I never snapped at her. The worst I've ever done was not telling her the truth of me being Swanna Girl. Even then, she understood and knew what was going on.

Guilt rushed over me. True, I didn't really say much to upset her, but it was enough for me to instantly regret my words. She has been nothing but kind to me, and here I was, cutting her short before she could really say much more.

"Nurse Joy, mind if I caught Sylvia up to speed," I heard the masculine voice from earlier.

Nurse Joy looked back and nodded. She jerked her head to give a silent gesture to whomever was here to do the same. I didn't care. I just looked down at the smoothie, realizing what was inside. While I didn't have much of an appetite, I realized it was best to drink it.

My hands wrapped around the glass as footsteps slowly made their way out of the room. Once the door shut, I picked up the glass and slowly drank the thick liquid inside. It was one thing Nurse Joy was never really good at. She could cook, bake, but when it came to using a blender, the nurse was hopeless.

It wasn't the best tasting smoothie in the world. I could tell she tried adding peanut butter inside to try and even out the Oran and Pecha Berries that were inside. She added way too much as the drink could barely make its way down my throat. I still gulped every last bit of it until the pain slowly faded away.

Well, not every bit of my pain went away. There was a tightening in my stomach as I realized I had failed. I found the location of Lantana like I was supposed to. With that, I was free, but they had Plusle. For all I know, they could've killed the poor Pokémon already.

If only I kept her inside her Poké Ball when Gila came to visit me that night. Things would've ended differently. She would've been trapped in one of those back coiled traps like the others. At least then, she would've had a chance to get out.

Unless Rena couldn't figure a way out.

"I never liked smoothies," the voice from before commented. "If I'm going to eat my fruit, I'd rather it be in solid form."

"No one asked you for your opinion, Lethe," I stated as I placed the glass on the tray and looked over at him.

The boy ignored my comment as he pulled a chair up a chair next to the bed. His legs swung on either side of the back of the chair while he used the top of it to rest his hands and head on it. He no longer wore his badge of the International Police or that brown trench coat. It was all replaced with a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a dark colored beanie on his head.

By the looks of things, some of his old habits didn't die.

"Look, we don't have to talk if you don't want to," Lethe said, "but I think it's best you at least know what's been going on these past few months, and why we've been trying to get you here before anyone else could."

My brother stopped for a moment, waiting for a response. I wasn't in the mood to talk. Every moment that was wasted, Plusle was getting hurt.

Unless that Braviary Man imposter got to Team Miasma already. It was at that moment I remembered what happened just before I blacked out. I had received emails on what happened to Lantana. Moments after, the man made an appearance, declaring that what he did to Lantana, he would do to every member of Team Miasma. That included me.

He could have Plusle dead for that very reason. Being that he's already killed someone before, I wouldn't put it past him.

"After you left, we tried cleaning up the mess in Castelia City," Lethe began to tell me. I could tell he was wanting to hold back on something, but he kept going "Some of the bodies couldn't be found, so we can only assume they didn't make it."

"A month later, Unova started getting these attacks. It wasn't like the attacks Team Miasma planned where they made a big deal out of them, or the ones Team Oblivion did, which was hidden from the media. People just started disappearing or being killed in prisons."

"Unova doesn't have the death penalty," I recalled as I looked up at my brother.

Lethe nodded. "That's why I was recruited by the International Police. They were wary about my past, but my mentor, Looker, he knew the only way they'd solve this mystery was if I would help. I was the one who found out that everyone who had died were ex-members of Team Miasma, Team Plasma, Team Oblivion, murderers, members of the black market, and the likes."

"Members of Team Oblivion?" I questioned, before biting my lip.

"Yeah," Lethe confirmed. "It was one of my terms of joining the International Police. If I was going to stay, I would have to be kept on the down-low. They even gave me a name change and erased that part from my files, but that's not what's important. These people, they just went missing or...anyways, I was part of an investigating team, which lead me to Sinnoh for the past few weeks.

"While there, I ran into someone. He looked familiar, but I didn't want to believe it until later that day, another murder came up. Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic, was found dead in his own home, and someone caught the picture of the person who did it," my brother told me. "Everyone believes that Rudi came back to finish his job as a superhero."

"Rudi," I whispered, shaking my head. "That man wasn't Rudi."

"I know that," Lethe told me, "but people see him running around in that suit, and that's the first thing they're going to think."

"But Rudi wouldn't do that!" I argued. "He would never kill. For Arceus's sake, that man tried to kill me, not caring who he hurt in the process! Rudi would never do that."

"Which is why you need to stay hidden for a while," Lethe told me as he reached over and placed his hand on my shoulder. "That man isn't Rudi, but he is out to kill you and everyone who has committed a crime."

"How did I get out of Sinnoh?" I asked, realizing the last thing I remembered was his Braviary using Toxic on me. "I—I should've died back there. He should've finished me off right then and there."

Lethe frowned as he took his hand off my shoulder and folded his hands together on his lap. "I wish I could say I used my power willingly, saw you in trouble, and brought you to safety, but it wasn't me," Lethe voice suddenly went cold. "Not this time at least. I mean, what's the point of seeing the future if I can't save you and everyone else?"

"Lethe—"

"Braviary grabbed you and flew you out of there, alongside your Poké Balls and the bag you had. Had it not been for Hilda taking a break from N's trial to visit some distant relatives, you wouldn't have made it," Lethe cut me off as he shook his head. His head hung low as he did. "I should've seen it all happen, but by the time I did, it was too late. I should've been the one protecting you!" Lethe screamed at the end.

There was a moment of silence as I noticed a faint sound coming from Lethe's mouth. Lethe must've realized this and grabbed the beanie off his head, causing his long brown hair to fall in front of his face. It was all too late as I noticed a tear drop onto his leg.

As much as I wanted to yell at him that I didn't need protecting, I knew that wasn't what my brother needed. He saved my life more than I probably even could imagine. All thanks to his power to see into the future. Albeit, it was by chance, but being the only family he had, I realized the pressure it had to have cost him.

I grabbed the tray of food off of me and slowly positioned myself so that I was sitting across from him. My head started to spin, but I pushed through it as this was more important. We haven't known each other long. To be honest, Lethe didn't really feel like family as he had his twisted ways of "keeping me safe." Still, that didn't matter when I watched him cry in front of me.

He was beating himself over it. While this wasn't the first time my life was being threatened, this was the first that I actually felt insecure of what could happen. Last time, I had Rudi to fall back on. He there to pick me back up and feel safe again. He claimed he wouldn't let anyone hurt me. Rudi first promised me that a long time ago.

Somehow, he was the one who wanted to kill me. Maybe it wasn't him, but that imposter sure looked like Rudi. Being that this was a Rudi look-a-like, and he nearly got me, it scared Lethe half to death that I was going to leave him for good.

Taking a deep breath, I gently placed my hands over his and gave them a squeeze.

"Hey, I'm fine," I assured. "Everything is going to be fine in the end, I promise. Don't blame yourself because your visions didn't warn you what was going to happen. What happened to me wasn't your fault. You can only keep in account your own actions, so don't blame yourself for something I did."

Lethe looked up to me. His face was red as he tried to hold back his tears. It wasn't working. Seeing him looking so heartbroken broke me. I didn't think as I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. His head laid into my shoulder.

"I'm fine, now," I told him. "I'm fine."

Author's Note:

That sibling scene is such a heartwarming one, yet heartbreaking cuz, you know, he blames himself, but heartwarming because at least for the very first time, the Gray siblings have finally reunited for what seems like to be for a long time.

Speaking of siblings, there are a lot of sibling characters in Pokemon. Green and Daisy, Misty and her three sisters, Clement and Bonnie, and my personal favorite, Max and May. I want to know, who is your favorite Pokémon siblings? Is it one I listed, or is it one I forgot to list.

So, until next week, take care!