The grove was as quiet as it had been ever since Sophie had gained the XYZ gang as her guests. The little Eevee knew that it was because the Pokémon of the forest were cautious of the human visitors. Many of the Pokémon in the forest had been hiding from humans for a long time. Sophie had done her best to try and help them out a little so they could work on their fears, but that didn't mean they were all eager to meet any humans any time soon.

Sophie picked a few berries for Greninja, knowing the best ones for Water types and Dark types; Pecha berries, Oran berries and Lum berries typically worked well. She hummed a little tune to herself as she worked her way around the bushes in the grove, selecting the plumpest, ripest berries she could find.

She gathered up the berries, smiling to herself at them all. "There! He'll just love these!" She said proudly. "I know he will! I just know it!"

She then heard a rustling in the bushes nearby and looked over curiously. Did one of the other forest Pokémon decide that it was safe to come over since Sophie was alone?

A Meowth walked out of the bushes, causing Sophie to cock her head. She didn't know of any Meowth around here. Maybe they ran, too?

Then two humans followed the Meowth out of the bushes. Sophie froze. Humans? So close to her home? Aside from the XYZ gang, all of whom she trusted except for the blonde-haired boy when he was creating strange contraptions that always seemed to know the move Self-Destruct, she was wary of this.

She decided to just mind her own business and went back to her berries, hoping everything would be alright. Why should she have to cause a fuss? If there wasn't any problem, they might just leave.

Sophie knew she wasn't going to be able to ignore them forever when the Meowth noticed her and started mewling like a lovesick kitten.

"Aw, isn't she just the cutest thing?" the female Trainer cooed. Sophie decided to pretend she'd only just noticed them and looked over. The three strangers were looking back at her, admiring the little Eevee.

"Isn't this the Eevee that's been hanging around the twerps?" The male Trainer asked. Wait, they knew the others? Sophie calmed down a little. If they were friends of the others, she felt like they could be her friends, too.

"Hi!" She smiled at the Meowth. He seemed surprised, but smiled back. "Hi there! Whatcha doing here, Eevee?"

"I'm Sophie," she giggled. "I just wanted to grab some berries for a friend. He's not had the best time lately so I wanted to do something nice for him."

"Meowth, translation," the female Trainer said. "She says her name's Sophie and that she's grabbing berries for her friend, that's all I've got so far," the Meowth replied.

"Wait, they can understand you?" Sophie asked, amazed. "That's so cool!" "Heh, I guess it is!" Meowth smirked pridefully. "How can you do it?" She asked.

"Well, its a long story," Meowth began, though he didn't expect her to care in this case. However, Sophie was sat and listening attentively, always happy for a good story.

"Oh, uh..." he scrambled to start, a little flustered. "Is something wrong?" Sophie asked, cocking her head. "No, of course not!" Meowth shook his head quickly. "It's just that nobody usually cares."

"Well that's just rude," Sophie shrugged. "Did you have it coming?" "Well... sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't," Meowth admitted sheepishly. "You'll have to expect it if you have it coming, then," Sophie stated. "But if you've done nothing then that's just mean."

"Yeah..." Meowth turned to the two Trainers. "Hear that? You guys are mean!" "What did we ever do to you?" The female Trainer huffed. "Can't we just get out of here already without a lecture?"

"Ugh, whatever." Meowth then held up a small cube. "Is that gonna explode?" Sophie asked warily, too used to Clemont's contraptions. "Looks like you've been hanging out with that science twerp," Meowth laughed. "Na, you're safe. Hope you ain't claustrophobic, though."

Before Sophie could ask what he meant, he threw the cube on the ground by her feet. The next thing she knew, she was tapped in a cage. Meowth, much to her surprise, was also in the cage.

"Hey! Why am I in here?! Get me out!" The small, cat-like Pokémon shouted angrily. "You must've been standing too close," the male Trainer shrugged. "If we let you out, she'll get out, too. We'll let you out in the balloon so she can't escape."

"Meowth? What's going on?" Sophie asked nervously, looking around. "Don't worry, kid, you're with Team Rocket now," Meowth stated bluntly, sitting down and folding his arms in annoyance at being caged.

The two Trainers started wheeling the cage away. "Where are we going?" Sophie asked, looking for a way out of the cage. "Our balloon. You get to see all the pretty sights." Meowth meant it somewhat sarcastically, but Sophie seemed a little calmer now, though she was still nervous. "Oh... okay..."

They left the area. Little did they know, a certain little Grass type had been following Sophie all the way from the field where the XYZ gang had set up camp. And now? That certain little Grass type was rushing off to find help to rescue Sophie.

~•~

"They've got Sophie! They've got Sophie!"

Chespin ran faster than he ever had before, deeply worried about the poor little Eevee that had gotten herself trapped in a cage. Everyone looked over at Chespin, confused. "Who's got who now?" Greninja asked, unaware of who Sophie was.

Poipole, however, was straight over. "Who's got Sophie?! Where is she?!" "Team Rocket have Sophie!" Chespin yelled, making everyone gasp.

"They were going that way!" Chespin said, pointing. "Quick, we all have to go! They were saying about taking their balloon!"

With that, all the Pokémon took off. Even Greninja attempted it, but didn't get too far. Instead, Greninja walked slowly over to Ash, pointed in the direction everyone was running in, then tapped his Pokéball, going inside.

Confused and worried, the Trainers all ran after their Pokémon.