After I was fully healed and when Lethe had finally calmed, we decided to pay someone a visit that was long overdue. We waited at the front desk of the workshop for an eternity. I'm sure it wasn't long, but the way the pink haired woman was glaring at us through her glasses, I felt as if we were standing there forever. Normally, when I dealt with women with pink hair, they were Pokémon nurses, or Pokémon nurses in training. This pink haired woman looked nothing like them. To add to it, her name wasn't Joy, but Blair.

No one said a word for a while. Instead, I just stood there worried about what was happening elsewhere in this workshop. Somewhere deep inside this place, three Pokémon were being looked after, seeing if there was a possibility of them being saved. A knot tightened in my stomach as I felt my hands growing clammy. I had faith in the person looking after them, but a part of me worried that Audino, Mienshao and Swanna weren't going to be so lucky.

My right hand grabbed the necklace while my fingers rubbed against the charm. As my fingers glided on the smooth silver metal, my thoughts shifted to a different thought, and that was the inventor seeing me for the first time in a long time. Either things would go very well, or...no, that was thinking to positive right there. There was no doubt in my mind that the moment Rena saw me, she would make sure I'd regret joining Team Miasma, even if it was only for a short while. I'd be lucky if I didn't black-out in there.

Blair didn't make things easy on me as her pink eyes hardened. "H-how do you know Ms. Rhea again?"

"Look," Lethe said as he leaned over her desk and inched closer to Blair. The woman, who looked no older than me, leaned back in her chair. Whatever brave act she was pulling, it quickly faded away the moment Lethe decided to talk. His patience was thinning a lot faster than mine. "I've been here before, giving Rena a couple of Poké Balls to work on. As a client, I need to see how she's doing."

"M-M-Ms. Rhea is b-b-busy sir," the woman's voice trembled. "I-I'm sorry, b-b-but she m-m-made it clear tha-at she wasn't go-going to see anyone."

Lethe didn't move, making me feel sorry for the young woman. He had dressed in his brown trench coat and fedora, leaving his usual outfit of black clothes at the underground hideout. The only thing missing was his International Police badge, but Lethe claimed that he couldn't really use it to show his authority unless he wanted the International Police to find out that I was back in the region.

If they found out Lethe was helping me stay under the radar, I would be thrown into jail for a life sentence. As much as I knew that was where I'd probably end up at, I couldn't afford going there at the moment. I needed to know that my Pokémon were going to be safe. I wasn't going to rest until they were all fine. The International Police wouldn't care about that, not when I have no intel on Team Miasma to help me out of my situation.

I lowered my head and stared at the silver Swanna locket around my neck. As I did, I started to wonder what was happening with Team Miasma. I wasn't worried about what that imposter could've done to them, but rather, I was worried what could've happened to Plusle.

At least Rena could help my other three Pokémon, right?

"Rena will understand. If we don't get clearance, my colleague and I will march down to the basement and bug her ourselves," Lethe warned.

"Sir! You can't do that!" Blair the secretary argued. "Ms. Rhea will fire me! I need this job. I-I-I-"

"Then I suggest you give your boss a call," Lethe suggested as he straightened his back and folded his arms.

"I can't do that," Blair stated, as she sank lower into her chair.

"Lethe," I finally said, grabbing his arm to pull him back. "Don't scare the poor girl."

My brother turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow, then looked at Blair for a moment. "How many secretaries has Rena had in the past?"

"J-just me," Blair squeaked before adjusting her glasses and slumped further into her chair, "bu-but I haven't been-been working here long, and I k-know she's not exactly, well, she's not exactly new to f-firing people."

That explained everything. I took a look around the place, realizing how different things looked from the last time I was here. Normally, I'd come in after hours when Rena would be alone in the basement, inventing things. Now, there were workers everywhere, moving things up and down a stairway, sharing blueprints, or grabbing an extra cup of coffee from the back. This was normal, but there was never a large front desk with a secretary sitting there to make sure unwanted people stayed out.

It made me wonder what had happened that Rena made that change. Then again, with all that had happened within the last year, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

"Blair, what's going on over here?" a familiar voice asked.

Lethe, Blair, and I snapped our heads to see a woman with blue hair tied up in a bun standing there. She wore a coal colored blazer over a red blouse, matched with a pencil skirt that was the exact shade as her blazer, but with two red stripes going down the side. In her hands was a cup of coffee and a large blueprint was tucked under her arm.

A smile crossed my lips as I lowered my sunglasses. As I did, I realized no one here would have recognized me until this moment. Lethe made sure that I wore a brown wig and contacts so that I could hide my eyes with sunglasses. To help, I wore a green sundress with a pair of flats.

Somehow, dresses were the last thing people expected to see me in. This was something I knew, but it was proven true when Rena caught a glimpse of my eyes. Her cup of coffee fell from her hands, splattering all across the floor. As that happened, Blair gasped. Fearing that she caught a glimpse of my eyes, I shoved my sunglasses back over my face.

"Ms. Rhea," Blair gasped as she ran over towards Rena and picked up the foam cup. Now that she out from hiding from behind the desk, I caught a glimpse of her long orange romper, that had spaghetti straps.

"Blair," Rena said as the pink haired woman stood up. "Get someone to clean this up. Don't tell anyone about this appointment. I'll explain everything later, understood."

"Yes, Ms. Rhea, I'll do that right now," Blair explained as she scurried back behind her desk.

Rena nodded before she looked at Lethe and me. "You two couldn't have come at a worse time, but it's better now than never."

There was a tightening in my stomach as she said that. "Is everything alright?"

The inventor shook her head. "Best we discussed things in private."

(-o-)

The moment we all got to the basement of Rena's Widgets, Lethe's Xtransciever rung. I knew things weren't good when his face paled. Once off, he quickly had to excuse himself, explaining that it was his boss, Looker, who had called for an urgent mission. My brother left without giving Rena or me a chance to say a word.

Being alone with Rena scared me a bit. She had the temper of a Bewear, and the strength of a Machoke, all packed into a tiny frame of a person. Just by the few words she said earlier, I knew things were going to be shaky. It's been five months since I've left Unova...since Rudi died.

None of that could've been told from her workroom. While most of Rena's employees worked on the ground level up of her workplace, Rena had the entire basement to herself. She would invent and create prototypes down here while her workers would mass produce them. Well, they would after she could find someone to invest in it, making it easier for her.

Until that happened, no one knew what Rena was working on. There were only a handful of people that could see what projects she had in mind. I was one of them. Back before Team Oblivion came, Rena would ask for ideas to help the Pokémon Center. These inventions were always a hit with the Pokémon Nurses as our jobs became easier. Since I was one of them, Rena could ask about the details of certain mechanics to me.

Her workshop was always clean, filled with blueprints, tools, and equipment, all ready to be used. I watched as Rena walked towards her main work table (as she had more than one for the sole purpose of the amount of ideas) and sat down in the chair behind it.

Even from a distant, I could tell what project was her main focus, which should've made me feel relieved. I'll admit, I was happy to see the three Poké Balls sitting on that table. Getting my Pokémon out of their Poké Balls wasn't some side project she was working on. That should've made me feel at ease, but it didn't. The black coil still spun around their Poké Balls, acting as a prison.

"I've tried nearly everything," Rena confesses as she grabbed Swanna's Poké Ball and tossed it towards me. I grabbed it with both hands, careful not to drop it. "There's some sort of dark material keeping them contained, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to counteract it. You wouldn't happen to know how Team Miasma was able to trap them inside that thing, would you?"

I shook my head as I turned Swanna's Poké Ball in my hands. "No."

"Did you see how they put those black—"

"No," I interrupted as I remembered the Krait twins ripping my Poké Balls away from me, and tying me down to that chair. I never got to see what was going on with my Pokémon. All I did was see the end result. "All I know is that my Pokémon are trapped in there. That's not healthy."

Rena shook her head in agreement. "I only ask because there's one thing I haven't tried. If I'm right, it's not going to be good."

I looked away from Swanna's Poké Ball and looked towards Rena. Without hesitating, I asked, "what would that be?"

"I have a feeling these wires are made out of a dark material, one that is so rare no one really knows about it," Rena explained. "If I'm right, then the only thing that could work on it would be a Cresselia Feather, or as it's better known as a Lunar Wing."

"Great," I said, "Braviary and I can fly back to Sinnoh, we'll find a Cresselia, get a feather, and get my Pokémon back."

The inventor frowned at my answer. She didn't even have to say a word to make me realize everything that was wrong with that plan. After all, a Cresselia was a Legendary Pokémon in the Sinnoh region. Legendaries were hard to find, even when they wanted to be found. If that wasn't hard enough, I would have to travel to Sinnoh, a region I just escaped since Team Miasma was there.

But that wouldn't matter because I would do anything for my Pokémon. If it meant that I had to risk going back to Sinnoh to do it, I would. My Pokémon, or any Pokémon for that matter, did not deserve to be crammed inside a Poké Ball for life.

To think that was the only bad news, it got worse when Rena opened her mouth to say more. "It's not that. You'd need a Lunar Wing for every Pokémon trapped. The amount of power that would be used from the feather would drain it from all of it's good energy."

My eyes squeezed shut after she said that. Rena was right. To get a legendary to listen to you would be hard. Now, try to ask it for three feathers, something that the Pokémon probably doesn't give away to anyone...it was impossible.

But my Pokémon were trapped inside of their Poké Balls, they were only trapped inside of their Poké Balls because of me. I should've returned Audino the moment Gila walked into my room. More importantly, I should've left while I still had the chance.

They were in danger because of me.

"That's not the worst of it," Rena spoke up once again. "I did some reading on their vitals from inside their Poké Balls. Whoever invented it, their purpose was to trap and drain the Pokémon's power. How long have they been stuck inside like this?"

I shrugged as I looked up at Rena. She was jotting down some notes as we spoke, hoping to find something else to help out with the situation. Just hearing the scenarios were bad enough, but for some odd reason, seeing her focused on her writing made my stomach tighten.

"The day Braviary took me back here," I explained, giving her a clearer answer. "That's been, what, five—six days now?"

Rena nodded. "That's what I was afraid of. This wiring, if it's made out of that dark material I was talking about, it zaps a Pokémon's power within a week or so. They'll be fainted within that time. After that, I'm not sure what kind of energy they can suck from."

"I know," I grimly said as I pulled a chair from another table and pulled it to the edge of the one she was working on. I could feel everything starting to rock back and forth as I placed Swanna's Poké Ball with the other two. "It's why Trainers aren't allowed to attack a Pokémon once it's fainted. After that, it takes from a Pokémon's life, slowly..."

While I nearly choked on the last word, I luckily didn't have to finish it. Rena interrupted by standing up from her desk and letting out a frustrated yell. I snapped my head towards her as she walked away from her desk and threaded her hands through her hair. "So we have a week. A week for you to find three Lunar Wings, come back, and for my invention to work."

My arms laid on the table as I laid my head down on them. Things couldn't be worse. Three of my Pokémon were on a death sentence. Things couldn't get worse.

Only, they did. As I closed my eyes, one image came to mind. Plusle. Earlier, I wished she was in one of these Poké Balls as I thought Rena would've figured this out by now. While she technically did figure out the problem, we were now on a time crunch. This had to happen while Team Miasma still had my defenseless little Pokémon.

I was alone.

There was a ding, causing Rena and I to snap our heads towards the far end of the basement, where the elevator was. The doors opened, showing the bottom half of a person with orange pants. Dainty arms wrapped around many boxes of different shapes and sizes, all of which was blocking the top portion of her.

"Ms. Rhea," Blair's voice sounded strained. "Your packages came in."

"Drop them off right there, and go," Rena curtly told her.

Blair dropped the boxes in front of her and smoothed her light colored hair. She looked a bit afraid as she looked at me, but it didn't last long as her gaze slowly turned towards Rena. As she looked at her boss, I knew things weren't going to end well.

"That's not all," Blair explained. "There have been reports that Swanna Girl has returned to Unova, and you see, more reporters have come demanding to know your relations to the woman."

Something slapped beside me, causing me to jump. My head snapped towards Rena, who's fists were on the table as she snarled. Her face was red in anger.

"Tell them Ms. Rhea is not here right now, and that they should keep their nose in their own damn business," Rena growled.

Blair nodded her head before she looked towards me. "And her?"

Rena and I exchanged looks for a second before glancing back at Blair. Right when I thought things couldn't get worse, Rena's secretary continued talking.

"I know you're her," Blair explained. "Swanna Girl, that is. I-I know I should keep out of it, but-but if people find out Ms. Rhea is harboring a fugitive, well," Blair turned to look at her boss. "We may all end up jobless soon."

Talk about luck. Not only was I on a time clock for my Pokémon's safety, but my disguises weren't holding up. I know I took my sunglasses off when coming down here, but my wig and outfit should've been enough to fool people.

Guess I shouldn't underestimate people. Maybe I should stay in hiding, but if I did that, I risked my Pokémon's lives. I wasn't going to do that, no matter how risky it was for me. Somehow, I would just have to get better at my disguises.

"Blair Collins, how much do you value your job here?" Rena threatened.

The pink haired girl looked shocked at her answer. Her eyes widened as her face turned as white as snow. "I-I won't tell a soul of this if need be, I just—I just don't want you to end up like No—you-know-who."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Everyone in this building knew how much of a rivalry Rena had with Isaac Nox. Even before the man betrayed everyone a few months ago by inventing things that caused harm, he was always getting on Rena's nerve. I never understood why, that is, until I met the man. Nox had a way of making anyone feel angry or upset.

Because of that, no one was allowed to say his name around Rena, not even her employees. I could tell this was a rule Blair was struggling with by the way she nearly said his name. At least she had time to cover up her mistake.

Her mistake didn't go unnoticed by Rena. As I turned my head to look at her, Rena's face turned red, clearly angry that this was going on.

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I'm making you feel uncomfortable, and I'm sure Rena understands what's at risk," I told Blair as I turned to look at her. "You have my word that I will keep Rena's company out of this entire thing."

Blair didn't look at me as she looked at her boss. "I just don't want you to be blindsided again, Ms. Rhea."

Her words dove into my stomach like a knife. Blindsided? I glanced over at Rena, wondering if that was what she thought about me. This entire time, she's only talked about my Pokémon, not once bringing up her brother or anything that had happened these past couple of months.

Was that all because I hurt her that much and the second she thought about it, her temper would be unleashed?

But Rena gave an answer I wasn't expecting.

"Blair, you have two choices. Either you can disagree and walk out of this company, or you can keep your mouth shut and forget all of this ever happened," Rena warned, "because Sylvia is family. And what she did was for something far greater than you can ever imagine."

My eyes widened at Rena's mini speech. She meant every word of it, I could tell as there was determination written all over her face. The blue-haired woman crossed her arms over her chest. Rena wasn't going to be pushed over. If anything, she had the authority, and she wasn't going to let anyone take that away from her.

I was just shocked Rena didn't yell and scream at her secretary for challenging her authority. That was something I would've expected from Rena, but she kept her cool for once. It was a change since the last time I've seen her as I thought she was going to be angry with me at this point.

What other things have changed since I've last been in Unova?

"Fine," Blair gave in. "I won't tell anyone, but under one condition."

Rena's determined face melted into a horrified one. I turned to look at Blair, trying to figure what has happened since. While I didn't know the girl, I knew things weren't going to go well, especially since she was timid just a few moments ago.

I watched as Blair grabbed something out of her pocket and pointed it in my direction. She clicked the center of it, enlarging the small sphere to show a blue and white capsule with two red stripes on the top. My hand brushed over the Premier Ball I kept Braviary in, realizing what she was asking before the words came out of her mouth.

"I challenge Sylvia Gray to a Pokémon Battle," Blair announced. "If I win, I don't want her on the premises again. As much as I agree Swanna Girl is good, we can't have your company at risk. If I lose, I'll take a pay cut for my actions and pretend none of this happened."

"Blair—" Rena started to say until something cut her off.

Or more like someone.

"I accept your challenge."

Author's Note:

Don't you just hate it when you think you're fooling everyone, but your not? Oof! Sylvia may be in some big trouble if Blair was able to find out. Who else will be able to see through Sylvia's disguise?

More important question, what kind of Pokémon do you think Blair will battle with?

That aside, as many of you may know, this book was on hiatus, but I don't think that's fair to you guys as I have many chapters prewritten. Updates will just be sporadic at this point. Regular and more frequent updates won't happen until I finish the book. Until then, maybe ever other to ever other-other week, a chapter will be posted.

That's all I have for now, so take care!