Avoiding Rudi was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but after seeing that picture, I wasn't sure what to believe anymore. The more I looked at that picture, the more real I realized it was, even if the person in the picture had disappeared.

This had to have been in the past.

At least, that was the only explanation I could give for Gila, the missing member of Team Miasma. Unlike the Krait Twins or a few grunts that were caught, Gila didn't go to jail like I had hoped. I told Zekrom to put her there, but she never showed up. True, I could ask Hilda if her Zekrom listened to me, but being that she was going to be released from the hospital today, now wouldn't be a good time.

Not that it would matter. As I looked at that picture, Rudi looked to be be a few years younger. He had to be sixteen, maybe even seventeen years old in it. I guessed that would explain why he froze whenever Gila showed up.

The real question was why her?

I stared at the picture a bit, feeling sick as I did so. It didn't surprise me that Rudi had dated someone before me. I mean—not that it mattered—Rudi was the kind of person girls would usually swoon for. I wasn't oblivious to it. Surely, with his looks and special kind of attitude, I was sure he'd dated plenty of girls before me. As the saying went, you had to date a lot Froakies to find your Prince Charming.

Besides that fact, this was Gila we were talking about. How could he have dated her? A part of me wanted to believe that he didn't know, but, I mean, if that happened, couldn't they have stopped him from continuing on with being Braviary Man? Rudi had to have known, and it made me sick knowing that he was with her.

Someone knocked on my door, causing me to shove the picture under my pillow. Before I could answer, Rena opened the door, looking around at the room.

"You ready?" she asked.

I nodded my head as I stood up. Unlike most days, where I wore yoga pants and a tank, I had returned to my work uniform, which consisted of a short-sleeved pink nurse shirt and a pair of white jeans.

Rena, on the other hand, had finally returned to her signature black pencil skirt, colored top, black blazer, and high heels to finish the look. After seeing her in sweats and a button-down the other day, I wasn't sure what to expect for her. Seeing her back in her business casual wear, it just felt weird. The blue haired girl seemed a bit more comfortable in the sweats and button down, despite how odd was seeing her in it.

I nodded my head as I grabbed my coat and followed her out the door. Rudi's past should just be forgotten for now. Right now, there were other things I needed to think about.

Like meeting the man who started this whole thing.

After I came back, Rena told her brother and me that she couldn't get ahold of her old rival, Nox. He's been quiet, so quiet that even the media seemed to have caught up with this. Rumors claimed that the thirty-one year old mysteriously died without a trace, but that couldn't be true.

It proved not to be true when Rena finally was able to get ahold of him last night, arranging a meeting between the two of them. Of course, Rena didn't want to go alone. The last time she was alone on her part of a mission, things didn't end up well.

We walked into the hallway, nearly running into Rudi in the process. Despite all that was going on, he should've been working at his Castelia Cone stand in Castelia City. Unfortunately, today, he didn't seem to want to go as he stood there, wrapped up in a red coat, scarf, and jeans, as if he was joining us.

Wait, he wasn't seriously thinking about coming was he?

Rudi looked at me, as if he was going to ask me a question, but I quickly lowered my gaze to look at my gloved hands, and started to mess with them instead.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rena asked.

"Joining you guys," Rudi stated. "If something happens, I want to be there."

"No," Rena said, "that's why Sylvia's coming. Besides, it would make more sense seeing as she was the nurse of the Pokémon Center his device seemed to have ruined."

He also ruined my chances of being in a Pokémon Center for a while, I thought, he didn't really damage the Pokémon Center. I kept my mouth shut knowing that my comment would just make things worse.

"I just don't want you two getting hurt," Rudi explained. "Please, let me help."

Rena didn't say a word, making me realize if I didn't say a word, Rudi would bound to find a way to follow us. These past couple of days, I've been avoiding him by helping Rena with her inventions or visiting Hilda in the hospital or even training with Hilbert.

Looked like it was now or never.

"Rudi," I said, still not looking up at him, "you need to stay here in case another attack happens. It's like Hilbert said the other day. Team Oblivion attacks when people least expect it. That's why they have a hard time defeating them. You need to help out if that happens."

Everyone was speechless, but it was true. I'd talked to Hilbert a bit during our training. He was quiet, but his mind was focused on one thing: defeating Team Oblivion. Everything we talked about during training seemed to be about that, or about the nightmares we'd been having. N was right about that. It helped talking to someone about it. Some nights I didn't even have to ask for Musharna's help as the nightmares were becoming a bit more bearable.

Rudi grabbed my hands, causing me to look up at his navy blue eyes. I wished I could tear my gaze away from his for a moment, but I never could.

"Just be careful," Rudi said. "I feel like we haven't talked in a while, but I know it's because of everything going on. Just come back safely, okay."

I took a deep breath. Holy Miltank, I felt guilty. I'd kept away from him too much recently, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him. If I did, I was afraid on what I'd say or even do. I just nodded my head instead.

Rudi smiled before he lowered his head and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Heat rose to my cheeks at the gesture as my heart fluttered a bit.

No! I was supposed to be mad at him.

But how could I be mad at him?

Rena grabbed my arm and yanked me out of Rudi's grasp, yelling, "No PDA in my sight please!" as we left.

(-o-)

I was a bit confused as to why Rena had flown us over to the Nacrene City Hospital. This was where Hilda was at, but it still didn't make any sense.

That was until Hilda was cleared and decided to join us to go visit Isaac Nox. Apparently, the more people Rena had with her, the safer she felt. The three of us flew over to where the man lived.

When the flight was over, I felt Hilda staring at me. I didn't know why, I mean, this girl was riding on a Zekrom for crying out loud. It couldn't get any cooler than that.

"So, you defeated Team Miasma all by yourself?" Hilda finally broke the silence.

Before I could answer, Rena, who rode on her Hydreigon, answered. "Yes she did."

"Did not," I countered. "Your brother did most of the fighting. I mean, I only helped out for the last three months or so. Besides, had it not been for Rena's inventions, none of us would've made it out alive."

The brunette looked at me in total awe. "But you defeated my Zekrom and Hilbert's Reshiram, right?"

I sighed. "I helped snap Zekrom out of his daze. As for Reshiram, well, Taipan had merged it with Kyurem, so I mean, the Pokémon was a bit too powerful for me to defeat. Someone else came to finish the job for me," I explained before I realized something. "I'm sorry I had to hurt your Pokémon."

Hilda didn't seem fazed by the fact as she looked at me. "Don't worry about it. That's just amazing!"

I blushed as I looked into Swanna's feathers. It would've been awesome if I didn't lose a friend that day. It wasn't Zekrom's fault. Swanna didn't die because of that Pokémon; however, I could've been a bit quicker.

"No, it's not," I said, shoving the hard memory out of my mind."Besides, weren't you the one who defeated Team Plasma the first time?"

"With Zekrom's help and a full team," Hilda said, "not with a single Pokémon."

Instead of contradicting her, I just looked up at her, who smiled at me.

"I just can't believe I'm actually working with the Swanna Girl. I mean, don't get me wrong, your boyfriend is pretty cool too. It's thanks to him I have my Zekrom back, but I mean, you're like a living legend. I would've never guessed that Swanna Girl was a Pokémon Nurse, no offense or anything," Hilda said before she started to hiss in pain. She grabbed her lower stomach, which was where she had been hit earlier and started to hunch over a bit. Rena and I started to slow down on our Pokémon, so we could see if we could help her at all.

Before I could ask if anything was alright, Hilda looked up at me, giving me a weak smile. "Sorry, I'm just sore, that's all. We're almost there, right?"

We looked over towards Rena who nodded her head. "Yeah, we just have to land now."

Hilda nodded her head as the three of us swooped down on our Pokémon and landed right in front of a huge factory-like building in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, Nox built his headquarters, so no one could easily find it. As we landed in front of the building, I couldn't help but to feel my stomach tighten a bit.

Smoke rose into the air while the factory building loomed in front of us. Huge black letters stood on the top of the building that read Clogs and Nox. Maybe it was because the sun wasn't out, as the clouds decided to loom over us, but whatever it was, this place had an ominous feel to it. It didn't help that the paint on the building was starting to chip off as well.

I returned Swanna to his Poké Ball, just like Hilda did with her Zekrom and Rena did with her Hydreigon. Once everyone was inside their Poké Balls, I grabbed Audino's and threw him out. If anything, I needed to be prepared. I even had the pen with my Key Stone on it tucked away in my pocket.

I've never had to use that Key Stone other than for medical purposes and that one battle with Rena, but I just needed to be prepared.

"You ready?"I asked Rena, who looked a bit intimidated by the area we were in.

She didn't say a word as she simply nodded her head. The three of us walked in through the front door without ringing the doorbell or knocking. Apparently, that was what Nox advised her to do.

Inside looked pretty similar to what a warehouse should've looked like. Odd-looking machines pitter-pattered all over the place as shelves of sheets of material cluttered the place. In the back of the room, I saw the man we were looking for as he wore a white lab coat with stains all over it with a black t-shirt underneath. With it the man wore a pair of khakis and a pair of black tennis shoes with goggles slapped on his face as he was working with an array of chemicals.

Despite his scientist-esque look, I knew this was the man we were looking for. Despite his eyes being hidden behind the goggles, I could still see his green eyes squinting at what he was doing to make sure everything was perfect. The man had black hair that was thrown into every direction and matching stubble on his face.

Rena didn't even hesitate as she marched up straight to the man. Hilda leaned in towards me, as we stayed back.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Hilda whispered.

"Because it's Rena," I muttered.

Hilda didn't have a chance to ask what I meant by that as Rena proved my point immediately. Rena slapped the man on the arm, causing Nox to spill whatever content he had in the beaker all over the table. From a distant, I watched as the liquid melted a part of it off before it steamed up.

"Oh," was all that came out of Hilda's mouth.

Meanwhile, Nox turned to look at Rena, crossing his arms. "Now that wasn't very nice! Don't you know not to bother someone when they are in the middle of something."

Rena rolled her eyes. "I came here because you invited me here, Nox."

Nox took a few steps back holding up a single hand in protest. "You're right, Ms. Blue, but if I remember correctly, I asked for you to come alone."He looked over towards Hilda, Audino, and me as if demanding to know who we were. The three of us quickly walked over towards him as I stuck out my hand.

"I'm Sylvia Gray, sir," I politely introduced. "I was the Castelia City nurse until a group of people broke in and kidnapped my assistant."

Nox's eyebrows raised a bit as he quickly shook my hand. "Oh my! I am terribly sorry to hear about that, Ms. Gray."

"Don't call me that," I muttered, feeling weird whenever someone called me by Ms. "Point of the matter is, your device was the same one that those people used to kidnap my assistant."

Okay, in all reality, we didn't know if that was true, but from what happened, it was the only logical explanation.

Before he could answer, Hilda quickly leaned over Nox's work and stuck out her hand. "I'm Hilda White. I'm a huge fan of your work. It's truly an honor to meet the man who's won—"

"Hilda," Rena growled, "that's enough."

Ignoring Rena's comment, Nox smiled and gladly shook Hilda's hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Ms. White. It's not every day someone has the opportunity of meeting one of the heroes of Unova, especially the one who took down Team Plasma single-handedly."

Hilda blushed. "Awe, it was nothing!"

"Now," Nox said as he released his grasp, "rumor has it that you have caught yourself a Zekrom. It would be an honor if I could—"

"Enough chit-chat!" Rena screamed causing everyone to jump and look at her. "You know why I came here, Nox, answer my question, are you or are you not working for Team Oblivion?"

"Team who?" Nox asked.

"Team Oblivion," I quickly explained, grabbing the small hammer on the side of the work table before Rena could think about grabbing it and hitting Nox upside the head with it. I wouldn't put it past her to do it. "They're the ones who attacked my Pokémon Center on Christmas, along with the Nacrene City a week ago. We think—"

"We know," Rena argued under her breath.

"That they used your IB to break into both places," I finished.

Nox's eyebrows raised in shock. "The IB? You think I would hand out my invention to someone who's going to use it for some sort of crime? I'd never!"

"I wouldn't put it past you, Nox," Rena muttered.

I sighed. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. It's just hard to believe that there was a point where Nox and Rena were partners, that they actually got along. Guess that was why he blindsided her so easily.

"We aren't accusing you of anything," I quickly countered.

"We just need to know who has access to the Intangible Box," explained Hilda

Rena and I looked at Hilda in surprise. This entire time, we had been referring to it as the IB, and here, Hilda called it by its full name. I didn't think anyone's ever mentioned what IB was short for.

Seeing that we were all staring at her, Hilda's expression dropped as she looked puzzled as to what was going on. Before we could say anything about her actions, the brunette shrugged her shoulders, not sure on what she did.

That caused Nox to chuckle.

"I assure you the only person to have obtained the IB is—" Nox started.

He would've continued if it wasn't for the sudden, gigantic explosion.

The four of us turned to see a group of men in black standing there with a pile of fainted Pokémon on the ground. My stomach tightened. Why was it that Trainers thought using the move Explosion was such a good idea? I mean, the front door was opened. Why couldn't Team Oblivion just walk through the front door instead of blasting a hole in the wall, causing some of their Pokémon to faint on-site?

One of members didn't look like the rest. She had ebony hair pulled back in braided pigtails while she wore a skin-tight leather suit with a white coat that dropped to the floor. Unlike her lower-member counterparts, she didn't wear any sort of accessories besides her high-heeled boots. By not wearing any sunglasses, this woman— who appeared to be in her late thirties, early forties —showed off her unnatural purple-colored eyes.

I took a deep breath.

"Lookie what we have here boys," the woman said as she grabbed a white Poké Ball from her coat pocket. "Looks like we've hit the jackpot."

A grunt who stood behind her looked at me, staring me in the eyes for a moment. His mouth frowned a bit upon seeing me, making me realize who this guy was.

Lethe.

"What do you want?" Hilda demanded as she took a step forward.

I almost grabbed Swanna's Poké Ball when Audino tugged on my coat. I froze, forgetting that I had him out this entire time. Audino was right. I wasn't Swanna Girl right now. I was simply a plain Pokémon Nurse who had lost the rights to her Pokémon Center. Whatever technique I knew how to use before, I had to forget about it.

"You know how childish it is when people state their plans so the whole world will know?" the woman asked.

For a moment I thought she was asking a rhetorical question, so I didn't answer. I looked around, seeing Rena glaring back and forth from Nox to the woman in the leather suit. As for Nox, the man grabbed the nearest wrench he could in order to defend himself along with unclamping a dusty Poké Ball with his other hand. It looked like everyone knew what was going on.

"Just hand over the inventor, and we'll be off," the woman declared.

My head snapped just in time for Nox to lift his wrench and hit Rena in the back of the head, causing her to collapse. My eyes widened as I heard the woman laugh. Oh no, this couldn't be good.

Author's Note:

It's question time! We are about to meet the first "Admin" of Team Oblivion (wow...that's weird, we've encountered Team Oblivion how many times, and this is the first time we're meeting one of the higher ups, weird). Anywho, which admin (game wise, or Poké-fic wise) is your favorite?

Hope you're having a fantastic day! Take care!