Like Rosa had said we would, we reached Driftveil City just as the sun was setting. Driftveil was a surprisingly unlit city at night with only a few sparsely placed streetlights. It was a perfect place to run around at night without being noticed, let alone seen. No wonder Neo Plasma had first been sighted here, as long as they moved at night, they wouldn't be given a second glance.

   We entered the Pokémon Center and asked for a room, only to be told that every room had been booked. We had to spend the night outside. The nurse apologized and said that the rooms were being taken early because of the increasing cold as the nights passed. Rosa had to practically drag me back outside after I flat-out refused to leave the Center. As soon as we left the heated building, the icy wind assaulted us, and I knew we were screwed.

   "So... where should we camp?" Rosa asked.

   "I-I dunno, the next route?" I asked back, shivering. Rosa put her arm around me and pulled me close to her. My pride usually would have made me pull away, but the bit of extra warmth my sister gave off was a relief.

"Good idea," she said, giving me a comforting smile. "We'll find a good spot in the woods there and start up a nice fire, okay?"

   We wandered around Driftveil for several minutes, not exactly sure what to do. Neither of us wanted to leave the safety of the city, but we had no choice if we wanted to sleep that night. Except for the occasional late night wanderer, there was no one but us on the streets. We were approaching the Route 6 entrance when a man's voice called out to us.

   "Hey you kids! Stop right there!"

   We turned to look behind us and I saw dark figures quickly approaching us through the darkness. One partially passed under a streetlight and I saw what one of them looked like. They were wearing Neo Plasma uniforms.

   "Nate, run!" Rosa cried. She grabbed my hand so we wouldn't get separated, and we booked it down the street. Trying to battle was useless because I had no idea how many of them there were, not to mention it was very dark by then. There was only the sound of pounding footsteps and our heavy breathing. Rosa eventually pulled me down an alley and we were enveloped in complete blackness. Several people ran past the alley a second later and they continued running farther down the street they thought we were on. As soon as we thought they were far enough away, Rosa and I left the alley and ran back the way we came, Rosa still clenching my hand tightly.

   "I... I can't... believe... that just... happened," I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

   "Same here..." Rosa replied. We ran on, trying to put as much distance as we could between us and the Neo Plasma members. Soon we found ourselves on a street near the Pokemon Center.

   "What do we do now?" I asked fearfully.

   "Well... we know Route 6 is off-limits for camping," Rosa said.

   "Do you children need any help?"

   I instantly froze up again and I felt another adrenaline rush. Were there more of them? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another figure coming towards us. He stopped under the streetlight closest to us, about a yard away. He was an old man with mostly white hair and he wore heavy beige robes. The thing that caught my eye almost right away was the emblem sewn under the robe's collar.

   "You're a member of Neo Plasma..." I said faintly, my heart dropping. Rosa pushed me behind her and took a few steps back, pushing me with her.

   The man shook his head. "You are correct, yet you're not. When you say 'Neo Plasma' I assume you're talking about the traitors who have abandoned us." 

   "Traitors?" Rosa questioned in a hostile tone.

   "Yes, traitors. Since you two young ones know of... 'Neo' Plasma, I will also assume you're interested in them?"

   "You could say that," Rosa said. I was more than wary of this guy's intentions. My hand moved to Saber's Poké Ball, ready to let him out if the guy attacked us.

   "I am not looking for a fight," the man said, noticing my move. "If you are looking for information I'll be willing to give it to you."

   "How are we supposed to trust you?" Rosa asked.

   "You can trust me, or you cannot. Defeating the traitors is just a miniscule thing we can do to atone for our actions," the man said.

   He... doesn't have any bad intentions, Bow said.

   I think he's telling the truth, Soul added.

Rosa looked pensive, glancing at the man from the corner of her eye to me, still shivering from the cold. "Do you have a place we can stay for the night?" she asked the man.

   "Yes. Does that mean you trust me?" he questioned back.

   "I do," Rosa said, Soul and Bow agreeing as well.

   "Very well. And my name is Rood." Rosa and I introduced ourselves afterwards. "It's good to meet you. Follow me, please." He turned and began walking away. Rosa followed him as did I, although reluctantly. I still wasn't convinced, but the biting wind and decreasing temperature told me otherwise. I did not want to spend a single night out here. How other Trainers did it was beyond me.

   Rood led us down an unpaved street along the city outskirts and up an old set of stairs built into the side of a steep hill. At the top of the hill was a large one-story house with what looked like fresh tan paint slathered across half of the building.

   "Driftveil's Gym Leader allowed us to set up in this home, as long as we were the ones in charge of upkeep," Rood said, gesturing to the paint. "It is amazing how the people of Driftveil have accepted us as citizens so quickly..." He knocked on the large front door and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened and a man wearing a strange knight-like outfit.

   "Sage Rood, you're back so late!" the man said in surprise. He saw Rosa and me standing behind Rood, and surprisingly he didn't look concerned in the slightest. In fact, he smiled at us. "You've brought guests," he said, waving at us to come inside. "Hurry in now, it's horribly cold out there."

   Rosa and I exchanged glances, hers was pleasantly surprised while mine was confused. We entered the heated sanctuary, and the man in the strange outfit closed the door behind us.

   The home's interior was sparsely furnished with nothing but the basic essentials. Both the walls and floors were made of polished wood and many doorways were missing their doors, leaving behind tiny holes in the doorframes where the hinges were supposed to be. We continued to follow Rood as he led us into what must have been the living room. Besides two old couches, a coffee table, an armchair and a brick fireplace, the room had no other furniture.

   "Please sit," Rood said as he took a seat in the armchair. Rosa and I sat next to each other on one of the couches.

   "Excuse me, Sage Rood." A woman poked her head through a doorway leading to the kitchen. She was also wearing the same outfit the first man wore. "Do you need anything?

   "Ah yes, could you make some tea for our guests?" Rood asked.

   Tea? Kinda cliché, don't ya think? I thought. I didn't know why, but I thought that was amusing. The woman talking to Rood nodded and vanished back into the other room.

   Ten minutes later, I was carefully holding a chipped cup of hot tea. Rosa and Rood were taking small sips and seemed to be enjoying it. I tried to drink some and nearly spit it out as the scalding bitter beverage hit my tongue. However, I forced myself to swallow and shuddered as the burning liquid slid its way down my throat and into my stomach. Yeah, no, screw that. I was definitely not a tea guy. I placed the cup on the table and waited for my sister and Rood to finish theirs.

   "I am sorry for making you wait. Now I shall give you the information you seek. I should start at the beginning," Rood said. "After Team Plasma had been disbanded by our Lord N, also known as the Hero of Truth, the remnants of the team were in disarray. As one of Team Plasma's Seven Sages, I knew it was my job to try to put Team Plasma together again. Out of all the sages, I was the only one who hadn't fled. Ghetsis, the leader of the sages and Lord N's surrogate father was arrested, but he managed to escape before he was put away for life."

   Rood paused and sighed heavily. "They all left... and it was clear that my poor sense of leadership may have led to what happened next. Over half of the remaining team members left in less than a week. The ones who stayed vowed with me to do anything we could to help the people of Unova, including taking care of the Pokemon we had 'liberated' until their Trainers came for them."

   "What does Neo Plasma have to do with any of this? I mean, paying people back for what you did is a great thing and all..." I started.

   "Let him finish!" Rosa hissed. I folded my arms and slumped down on the couch, feeling slightly embarrassed.

   "Thank you, young lady," Rood said before continuing his story. "Two years later, several people in Driftveil had seen suspicious individuals moving around the city at night. We were the ones suspected of this of course. But we were excused after it had been confirmed that no one had left our building during the nights the people were seen. Rumors of people in black spread like wildfire and it went on until several of the Ex-Team Plasma members were attacked by the strangers. When they returned, they revealed to me that the strange people were recognized as the members who had left. And now, it seems that Team Plasma is regressing into its sinister origins."

   "My sister and I are trying to stop Neo Plasma," I said. "So is our friend. His sister's Purrloin was stolen and he's trying to rescue her."

   "Your friend?" Rood seemed to recall something. "This might sound like a random question but... does he have an Emboar by any chance?"

   "The last time we saw him, he had a Pignite," Rosa said. "He went to chase after the team alone a couple weeks ago."

   "Another one of our members was attacked by Neo Plasma a few days ago. Your friend intervened with his Emboar and defeated them. The members fled into the Driftveil cargo yard, and your friend was pursuing them."

   "Hugh's in Driftveil?" Rosa gasped. "Why... why didn't he tell us?"

   "Forget that! Rood, what happened to our friend?" I interrupted.

   Rood slowly shook his head and looked at us sadly. "I sorry to say this... but your friend was last seen entering the cargo yard," he said hesitantly. "Nobody saw him come out. It's been two days, and no trace of him has been found."