Chapter 16

The two words of 'Red Velvet' rang through the forest. Bird pokemon flew out of the trees out of fright of the loud noise.

Margaret turned her back on N and began to cry. Her Unowns all moved in front of her. Mu, Alpha, Rho, Epsilon, and Tau all looked at her in concern.

"Margaret?" Rho asked nervously, floating toward her.

But she shook her head and covered her face with her hands. At least they didn't call her Red Velvet anymore. She told them her true name after getting home.

N didn't say anything. He just stared at her.

"So," he started, sitting on the ground across from Margaret. "You're Project Red Velvet?"

Margaret sniffed and nodded. She flinched at the name Red Velvet. She had not been called that in almost seven years.

She jumped as N got up and began brushing the feathers on her injured wing.

"W-What are you doing?" The rookie demanded as she tried shaking her wing away from him.

"I can't let you leave with your wing in such a sorry shape," he replied calmly, pulling a roll of bandages out of his bag.

"Why should I trust you?"

N paused and raised an eyebrow. Margaret admired how calm and unconcerned he was with her snapping at him. She actually felt ashamed of her behavior.

"Well who else can help you with this?" N asked. "If my suspicions are correct, I'm the only one who knows about your wings. Besides, I haven't tried to hurt you, have I?"

She shook her head, and let him tend to her wing. Her Unowns all broke the circle and floated over to Rapi. She was reminded of the time that they tried to chat up the blue stag pokemon.

"I'd understand if you don't want to talk about this, but from what I remember, you escaped from Team Rocket seven years ago." N started again, sounding a little tense.

Margaret nodded and said in a muffled voice, "Yeah, I did."

"But the reports said that you had no special powers or abilities when you ran away. So how did you grow wings?"

"It's...it's a long story." She mumbled, hugging her knees tightly.

"Well we have time," N pointed out. "Mending your wing will take awhile."

Margaret hesitated at this. Nobody besides her family and a few trustworthy outsiders knew about her past. Not even Danny nor Red knew about her wings. But N seemed trustworthy. There was something about him that made him seem less frightening and deceitful than the reports said he was. Besides, he just saved her life.

"I will if you promise not to tell anyone else about any of this," she finally said after a moment.

"Of course, I'll keep it secret." N promised her.

She wasn't entirely reassured, but she sighed anyway and began to tell her story.

"First, do you know one reason why Team Rocket is so famous?" Margaret asked him.

N frowned and didn't speak for a moment. A sad look crossed his face before answering, "I remember being told about the cruelty and abuse they did to pokemon. I was told to stay away from anyone from Team Rocket."

"You're right, but they were, and are, well known for their experiments. I'm sure you've heard of at least one of them."

Margaret watched N as he became lost in thought again. He then said softly, "The creation of Mewtwo."

"Exactly! But they actually had a few other experiments involving living beings. Some failed, some succeed, and some succeed without them even knowing it."

The rookie gave a small sigh as she remembered the life she had lived before and after Team Rocket. It was easier to continue talking if she remembered that her life was better now and that Team Rocket was in the past.

"It all started when I was little. My parents went on a business trip in another region, but the passenger ship they were on somehow sank, and they both drowned. Me and my little brother, John, were separated after that. John was given to my dad's mom and his grandmother while I went to live with my mom's brother and his son."

"So...your mother was a Rocket?" N asked.

Margaret nodded and replied, "Yes, she was. When she was a teen, she decided that she didn't want to be part of Team Rocket anymore and left, so she was disowned by my other grandmother. She then met my dad and began traveling with him.

"Anyway, after I started living with my uncle, I became very close to my cousin, Silver. He played with me and protected me. He was more like an older brother than a cousin. But after awhile, he disappeared after leaving one day. No one bothered to look for him, so he was forgotten by most people. But with him gone, no one else was there to protect me.

"My uncle took me to the headquarters of Team Rocket and told me that I would be of great use to them. Apart from the experiments and watching them do stuff 'for the greater good', I wasn't treated too terribly. They took me on missions and taught me different subjects like science, ancient ruins, old languages, and chemistry. But they made me watch them do evil things to pokemon and humans. Team Rocket is like a gang of poachers. They will severely hurt, or even kill pokemon just to sell their pelts or tails.

"Well one time, a group of grunts took me to the Ruins of Alph in the Johto region. They were trying to find rare pokemon like Unowns, which can only be found in Mirage Islands in Hoenn, Ruins of Alph in Johto, and the Solaceon Cave in Sinnoh. They even told me that there was a legend about the passage that led to a place beyond Johto called the Sinjoh Ruins, where it was rumored that Arceus itself lived, and that there were portals that led to the homes of Giratina, Dialga, and Palkia.

"The group of grunts left me alone in one part of the temple while looking for Unowns or the passage to the Sinjoh Ruins. We had not seen any Unowns since we entered, which was odd since Unowns were pretty easy to find. It wasn't until I was left alone that Unowns started swarming the tunnel I was in. There were tons of them! Unowns come in twenty six forms, and each one had a different type of Hidden Power! But I only got to befriend six of them."

Margaret looked over her shoulder and watched Mu, Alpha, Rho, Gamma, Epsilon, and Tau. N, who had started wrapping the bandages around her injured wing, also looked over at the six Unowns.

"Of all the Unowns, you befriended those six?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," she answered with a smile. "They are weird for such unique and complex Psychic pokemon, I will admit."

N snorted, and she heard him mutter, "You obviously never got to know the Gallade and Alakazam."

"What?"

"Nothing, just talking to myself, just go on!" he added hurriedly.

Margaret gave him a confused look and started, "Alright, if you say so. Well at the time, none of the Unowns had names, and it was hard to tell them apart. So I gave the six Unowns names of letters from an old alphabet that was found in old ruins. Mu, Alpha, Rho, Gamma, Epsilon, and Tau showed me around the ruins and told me everything they knew about the Alpha and Sinjoh Ruins. And..."

The rookie lowered her voice and continued in a whisper, "They even showed me the chamber that led to Sinjoh Ruins. But all the Unowns asked me to keep the passage a secret and not tell anyone from Team Rocket."

N stared at her in disbelief when she said this. She knew what she was saying sounded far fetched, but she was being honest.

"You seriously know where to find the Sinjoh Ruins?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you," N said flatly with a smirk.

"Just ask my Unowns, they'll tell you!" she insisted and looked back over at the Unowns, who were all chatting happily to Rapi. "Hey, boys!"

Mu, Alpha, Rho, Gamma, Epsilon, and Tau turned to look at her, and Margaret asked them, "Did you guys show me how to reach the Sinjoh Ruins?"

The tiny Unowns all squeaked, "Yup!" and began spinning circles. Margaret saw Rapi roll her eyes and look away from the circling pokemon.

"Alright, alright, I believe you," N told her over the Unowns' squeaking. "The secret is safe with me."

"Ok, thank you. Well after I told the Unowns that I had to go back and find the rest of the grunts, they were disappointed and tried persuading me to stay with them. I told them what would happen if I stayed any longer, so they led me back to where they found me. But a few weeks after that, I found the six Unowns in the air vent in my room. They said that they found the Ruins of Alph boring without me, and they requested that they stayed with me.

"I accepted their offer and stayed with me as my guardians. They were like brothers. They cheered me up when I was sad, and they pranked those who were mean to me. Mu, Alpha, Rho, Gamma, Epsilon, and Tau made my life there so much better."

She smiled for a moment as she remembered the times she had with her Unowns. But the smile then faded away after thinking about what happened afterwards. Margaret bit her lip before continuing on.

"But a few weeks after they came to stay with me, my uncle came and told me that I was chosen for a special experiment. He said that if it was successful, Team Rocket would be one step closer from their goals. I...I was scared... no one told me what the experiment was or what the odds were of me dying. I know I wouldn't have my chance to get out of the experiment, but I could still run away before they could do anything else.

"So after they injected me with their concoction, me and the Unowns were able to escape the headquarters quite easily. No one had known that Mu, Alpha, Rho, Gamma, Epsilon, and Tau were living in the vents of the headquarters. We were able to get to the forest, but we got separated when the grunts came after us. I broke my leg when Team Rocket almost caught me again, but Rho and Epsilon saved me. The three of us got away and found a clearing with a pond in it. We stayed there until we were reunited with Mu, Alpha, Gamma, Tau, and...Xerneas..."

"Xerneas?" N repeated skeptically. "The Pokemon of Life? The pokemon that looks like a blue stag?"

Margaret nodded and answered, "That's right. I never found out why she was in Kanto, but she found the four Unowns and asked them to take her to me. She took care of me and told me she would take me home to my brother. The next day we made our way to the town she said my brother was.

"But two days after I met Xerneas, the effects of the final experiment was beginning to take effect. I woke up to a sharp pain in my back. It was like someone was slowly shoving two knifes through my back. It was so bad that Xerneas had to carry me on her back. When she and the Unowns finally stopped to check my back, they had found that a pair of tiny red wings had grown there. They were only two inches long, but Xerneas said they would possibly grow at a rapid rate. Aside from the wings, the experiment had given me another side effect.

"Before the wings or the experiment happened, my Unowns communicated through telepathy. When Xerneas came, she also used telepathy to speak to me. But after the wings appeared, I could hear pokemon speak freely without the use of telepathy."

She felt N stop wrapping her wing. Margaret turned to look it at him, and saw that his face was suddenly pale.

"You...can hear the voices of pokemon?" He stuttered. "I mean, you can speak with them artificially? Without the virus from the experiment, you can't hear them?"

"Um, I guess you can say that," Margaret said uncertainly. "Why do you ask?"

N didn't answer right away. He was now messing with the roll of bandages nervously.

"I have never heard of anyone who has been able to hear pokemon through a virus," he admitted, still looking troubled. "It is rare enough for a person to hear pokemon at all. I only know of two other people besides myself who were born with the ability-"

"You can hear them too?!" Margaret gasped, completely taken aback by this.

The man hesitated, but said quietly, "Yes, I can. I actually thought you knew."

"No, I thought I was the only one!"

"Well you're not. It's extremely rare, but there are some humans who can speak the pokemon language. I have heard of some people who have self taught themselves how to speak to certain types of pokemon. But most of the time the gift of understanding pokemon is a skill a human is born with."

"How often is someone born with it?"

"My guess is that someone is born hearing pokemon once every few years. That's why the ability is so uncommon."

Margaret thought about this information before asking, "You said you knew of only two other people who could speak to pokemon. Who are they?"

N said nothing, but narrowed his gaze a little. The rookie had the feeling that she was asking too much.

"You ask a lot of questions," he told her slowly.

"Well, I-I've never met another person like myself."

"That's not entirely true." Margaret heard N mutter as he continued to wrap her wing up again.

"I-I have?" She stammered, surprised. "W-Who?"

But the fugitive shook his head and said sternly, "It's not important, just continue with your story."

"There's not much to tell, I'd rather hear more about you."

N watched her for a moment as Margaret smirked slightly. He then sighed and told her, "Alright, if you tell me about yourself, I'll tell you about myself. Deal?"

"Deal," Margaret agreed with a smile. "Now, where was I...well, after a week or two, we finally made it to Route 1 in Kanto, you know, the route between Pallet Town and Viridian City. I was well enough to walk by myself again, so I went looking around the forest by myself. I accidentally got caught in a battle between a Miltank and a Raticate. It turned out the Miltank belonged to two boys, who were using it to battle wild pokemon. They stopped the battle, and the Raticate fled while the boys made sure I was ok.

"The boys apologized, and they told me that Miltank was actually their father's, but was now under the ownership of their uncle. They had borrowed it and decided to battle with it even though they were too young. One of the boys was really mischievous and talked a lot, while the other was shy and wasn't very talkative. They told me their names were Red and Danny Ketchum.

Margaret couldn't help but smile as she remembered how her friendship with Danny and Red started. She wished that Red was still as rambunctious as he was when he was little. Even more, she wished she, Danny, and Red were all friends again.

"They told me how to get to Viridian City as they left, and I went to find Xerneas and the Unowns." She continued after a minute. "We were able to get to Viridian City, and Xerneas stayed long enough for me to meet my grandmothers after finding their house. At first, my grandmothers were shocked that I had traveled all over just to find them, but they immediately took me in. I got to see my brother again, who was probably around three years old. My parents died a little less than a year after he was born, you see. But then, Xerneas left after that, saying that she needed to return to Kalos, but she promised that we would meet again.

"I told my grandmothers everything that happened, and I showed them my wings. They ended up calling the few people they could trust with the matter. They called Professor Oak and Danny's uncle, Pastor Jonathon, since he had been a doctor. Pastor Jonathon made sure my injuries were healing properly, and Professor Oak looked over my wings. The professor told me and my grandmothers that the only way to remove them was by surgery, but my grandmothers couldn't afford to do surgery. He also said that my wings would grow almost three times faster than the rest of my body. Other than that, I was perfectly fine and healthy, and that's...that's how I started my new life."

Neither of them spoke after she finished. Margaret felt N finish wrapping her wing. She didn't know what N would say next.

"Your wing will have to be wrapped up for awhile," N informed her as he stood up and held out his hand to her. "That's the best I can do, I'm not a doctor."

"T-Thank you," stammered the rookie, blushing as she took his hand and stood up. "Thanks for everything."

N gave her a small smile and said, "It was no trouble. Now, I'll escort you back. Team Flare might still be looking for us. You can ride on Rapi again."

At the sound of her name, Rapi looked up at N and got on her hooves. She trotted over to the two humans and nuzzled against her trainer. The Rapidash seemed to be a very friendly pokemon.

Margaret pulled out the six pokeballs of the Unowns and returned them. As her secret pokemon, no one besides her family knew about them, not even Danny. Her friendship with Danny meant everything to her, and she would never do anything to endanger it.

She put her maroon jacket and cloak back on properly and climbed shakely on the Rapidash's back with some help from N. He did not get on Rapi, but put his hand on the Rapidash's side and walked besides her as they began to make their way back.

"So," Margaret started awkwardly as she turned to look at N. "Aren't you going to tell me about you?"

N glanced at Rapi when Margaret asked this before sighing and telling her, "Yes, but I also must ask you not to tell anyone about this. My sister specifically would not like to know that I told you."

"Of course, but who's your sister?" She asked, now dying of curiosity. "Do I know her?"

The man didn't speak. Rapi had turned her head to gaze at her trainer, speaking to him without words. Then the fugitive said quickly, "White."

"Copperstone?"

"That's not her real name," N explained, shaking his head. "Her name is Whitney Joy Gropius. I'm Natural Harmonia Gropius, her older brother."

Margaret looked at the ground in shock. White? White knew where N was all along, and she was his sister? But when the rookie thought about, she didn't know much about the older trainer. All she really knew was that she was a former champion of Unova and fugitive, and she had to come to Kanto in order to avoid her past crimes in Unova. She knew nothing else about her. But then...

"Is...is White part of Team Plasma?" Margaret stuttered in a voice barely audible

"No, she was never part of Team Plasma, I am the only one." N answered dismissively.

"But-"

"If you mean the lies and reports a year before about how White had been part of Team Plasma, you are mistaken. Team Plasma told the police that White and two of her friends had been involved in criminal activity in order to get rid of them."

"Then why are you part of Team Plasma and White isn't?"

"I was part of Team Plasma. I left Team Plasma three years ago. It's not like I had much of a choice. I was pretty much disowned. White was a criminal too, but she wasn't a member of Team Plasma. She had her own little trio."

"But you're her brother," Margaret pointed out. "She's your little sister! Where was she if she wasn't with you?"

N looked away from Margaret to look at the ground. Rapi gave her trainer a concerned look. Margaret had seen these reactions before. Was it...shame?

"Until a year before," N started, his voice cracking a bit. "Me and my sister had not been on very good terms for eight years. You see, we didn't have a very good childhood. Our father left us a few days after White's birth. Our own mother left us in a forest a few years later. White was around three years old, and I was around seven. We were both on the verge of dying from either starvation or attacks from wild pokemon. But a group of pokemon took us in a raised us like we were their own children. Actually, Rapi here was like a mother to us."

The Rapidash made a small neigh as N rubbed her neck. Margaret couldn't help but smile. She could tell that N and his pokemon were close. She could almost feel Rapi's love and care for him.

"White and I were happy with them, but I wanted more. I wanted to leave the forest, to see more of the world. I didn't want to spend my life in the forest taking care of my sister. Then when a man gave me the opportunity to live with him, I accepted and...and I left White behind..."

"You left your sister behind?!" Margaret repeated in disbelief. "Why would you do such a thing?!"

"I...I will not give an excuse for what I did. I around nine years old when I left, and White had just turned five. Me and some of the pokemon that lived with us left with me to live with Ghetsis at the castle of Team Plasma. Ghetsis had two foster daughters who became my new foster sisters. But I began to miss White, and I wanted to bring her back with me. I was unhappy without her. However, Ghetsis refused to let me leave the castle or let me find and bring back White. When I finally found a way to go back to the forest...it was burnt down...and White was no longer there..."

"Where was she?!" The rookie gasped. She felt like a child being told an intense bedtime story. Her only comfort was that White was alive and was reunited with her older brother.

"She had escaped the forest fire and traveled half way across Unova to Route 7, which is the route north of Mistralton City. She made a new friend there, a friend who filled that hole in her heart that was once filled by me. But I think he made her more happy than I ever could..."

Margaret thought for a moment before asking, "Do...do you mean Sky Blue? The trainer with one eye?"

To her surprise, N frowned in dislike at Sky's name. The rookie had a feeling that the fugitive didn't like the one eyed trainer very much.

"Yes..." N finally grunted after a minute.

"But White never seemed to like him very much-"

"Well she's lived with him for ten years, she's undoubtedly annoyed with him, but she still cares about him."

The female trainer tilted her head thoughtful for a minute. A small smile of understanding came across her lips as she understood everything.

"Ah, I get it," she said to N with a nod. "You're jealous of Sky. He's been with White more than you have and even understands her better. He's had over twelve years of being with White while you only have had five or six years with her. You've missed out on most of her life while Sky Blue got to experience everything with her. I'm sure I would feel the same if my brother spent more time with a girl he had a close sibling relationship with."

N didn't reply to this, but Margaret knew she was right. Rapi was also watching her trainer carefully.

"Are you planning on being a counselor or a therapist when you're older?" He asked after a minute.

"No," Margaret answered, blushing a little. "I don't really know what to do with my life, but I don't think being a counselor or a therapist is what I want to do."

"Well you'd be a good one with some training. You have a whole life ahead of you while mine...well let's just say my life seems like it's come to a complete halt until I'm arrested..."

The man turned at looked at Margaret straight in the eyes.

"Don't throw away your life like I did, Margaret." He told her sadly. "Leaving my sister and being a part of Team Plasma was the worst decision I ever made. So many people besides myself suffered because of me. The few friends I had that were human...their futures all destroyed because of me..."

The rookie just watched him, a frown on her face. She couldn't imagine what N had gone through. She was a little ashamed to admit it, but she believed that N didn't deserve this. Then again, N was probably thinking the same thing. He was probably pitting Margaret and thinking that she didn't deserve the life she led.

"It's...weird..." Margaret started again as she began to rub the Rapidash's neck absentmindedly. "I use to think no one could understand what Team Rocket put me through. The pain and suffering they caused me, it's unbearable to think about. But...you seem to understand what I've gone through."

The fugitive smiled and chuckled a little as she finished speaking.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking the same thing," he admitted, looking at Margaret with a kind expression. "For the past few years, I've thought I was alone. You know, the feeling that you're so different from everyone that you feel like you're isolated, almost like being stuck on the outside of a giant bubble where the rest of the world is, and every single person is completely unaware. I've felt so outside the bubble that there couldn't possibly be another person to understand what it's like. But there's always another misfit, Margaret, there's always another. And even when there's nobody on this world that understands, there is always somebody who is ready to listen and walk with you."

Margaret let his words sink in. What N was saying was exactly how she felt. She always felt like an outsider. A misfit exiled outside of a protective area where the rest of world was. N was right. There's always another misfit, and if there isn't, there was always the big guy upstairs was always there by her side.

"So...how did you and White make up?" She asked N after awhile.

"I met with White more than a year before, and, well, she wasn't very happy to see me," he replied. "I needed her help training three promising trainers that could take down Team Plasma. She agreed reluctantly, and she helped train them with the assistance of two of her traveling companions, who you know as Sky Blue and Mira. For some reason, the closer we came to facing Ghetsis, the closer me and White got. I don't really know why, but she seemed to be more...kinder after awhile. She says she began appreciate having me more by watching how the three rookies treated each other."

"When you say rookies, do you by any chance mean Leia and Amos?" Margaret interrupted.

N nodded and added, "Yes, and the third is Leia's brother, Hugh, and as you know, Amos is Leia and Hugh's cousin, but they treated him like a brother. They were typical siblings, they fought, they played pranks on each other, and man were they immature back then!"

Margaret giggled a little at this. She couldn't help but think back to when she and John got to meet their cousin again.

"I can relate to that, but I wouldn't say my cousin is immature," she told N. "A couple of years ago, John and I were walking home from Pallet Town at night. We ran into someone, and, well, I kinda freaked. The boy snapped at me when I recognized his voice, and I couldn't believe it was actually him until I saw his face. Silver had grown so much since I last saw him, and he had never met John. I told Silver everything that had happened since he left, and he was shocked by everything, especially about my wings. I introduced him to my grandmothers, and, err...he and my great grandmother didn't like each other very much. They argued about everything, especially when Silver wanted to help me catch a pokemon for my own. He was able to persuade her to let me have a pokemon.

"He took me and my brother to Johto's Mount Silver near Victory Road and he helped me look for a pokemon. He wasn't satisfied with any of the pokemon there. Whenever he battled one, they all ended of fleeing. Then he found a Sewaddle. You see, Johto will occasionally have outbreaks of Unova pokemon. He challenged the Sewaddle and used his Sneasel, and what the Bug Type did surprised all of us. It stayed and fought Sneasel, and it almost won too. Since the Sewaddle stayed and fought, Silver caught it and gave it to me. And...and that's how I got Sowny."

As Margaret remembered her first encounter with Sowny, she unclipped the Leavanny's pokeball and stared at it. The pokeball shuddered a little in her hand, but then stayed silent.

"I can tell that you're very close with your pokemon, especially with your Leavanny," N informed her quietly. "He cares for you, and he is ready to protect you at all costs. Swadloons only evolve into Leavanny when feeling a great amount of friendship, mainly friendship with humans. At the level he has evolved at and how recently he had evolved into Swadloon makes his change into Leavanny even more impressive. It usually takes time for a Swadloon to evolve into Leavanny, and that goes for all pokemon who evolve with high friendship."

Margaret blushed a little at this and stuttered, "T-Thank you..."

They didn't say much else the rest of the way. There was no sign of Team Flare either, but when they got to edge of the forest, N advised the rookie to persuade Danny to keep moving on for at least another hour.

"Team Flare could find you and your group if you continue to stay in the same spot," N told her as he helped Margaret off Rapi's back. "If they find out that you're Project Red Velvet, they'll never stop hunting you down, and you and everyone else will be in danger."

"O-Ok," Margaret stammered, picking up her bag and keyboard case. "Will I see you again?"

N didn't answer as he got on Rapi's back and put his cloak hood over his head.

"I'm traveling with White and Amos, so you can contact me through White. I'll tell her everything, but I'll leave out the wings if you want me to."

Margaret thought about this for a moment before saying, "I...I guess you can tell her, but she can't tell anyone else unless I say so."

The fugitive nodded and looked back at Margaret.

"We could meet...tomorrow," N said hesitantly. "We could meet at the stream again, but we don't-"

"I don't mind!" Margaret interrupted hurriedly. "Really! I'm sure I can meet you tomorrow!"

"Well then," N started awkwardly, blushing a deep red. "I'll...I'll see you tomorrow."

Margaret continued to watch N as he rode back into the forest on Rapi. She then turned and began walking out of the forest.

The cold sea breeze messed with Margaret's glasses as she walked down the cliff path. She knew her way back to camp, but she was still nervous. It was getting dark, and she still feared that Team Flare might find her again. Sowny, Fletcher, and Petunia were in no condition to fight again.

She soon heard the sounds of a pokemon battle up ahead. As she took a turn, she saw Danny and his pokemon training with the help of Fiona's pokemon on the side of the path. Spirit the Honedge was battling against Abram, who is the only pokemon besides Jeremiah who is capable of battling without Fiona.

"Spirit, use Fury Cutter!" Danny commanded his Steel Type as Abram prepared to use Night Slash.

Spirit made a clanging noise and floated swiftly toward the Disaster Pokemon. Margaret had come to the conclusion that Spirit was mute, and that he could only speak through his sash, which only Danny has been able to experience.

The Honedge dodged Abram's Night Slash and slashed at the Absol. Fiona, who was sitting on the side lines with Mister Poofy, Green Ivy, Jeremiah, and the rest of Danny's team, clapped her hands while the pokemon all cheered.

Margaret smiled a little and approached her group. She noticed that Danny had not set up camp at all, which was probably good.

"I see you haven't set up much," Margaret commented as she ran next to Danny.

Her friend blushed a little and mumbled, "Sorry, I got distracted..."

She giggled a little as Fiona came over and lifted her arms up to Margaret. She picked the little girl up and winced as her shoulder throbbed with pain from her broken wing.

"You ok?" Danny asked after seeing her wince.

"Yes, I'm fine," Margaret said dismissively. "I think we should keep going. When I was in the forest, a group of people called Team Flare tried taking Sowny and Petunia. I got away, but they still could be around."

"What?!"

"Please, Danny! We must leave!"

Danny seemed to still be understanding everything. All the pokemon were looking from one trainer to the other.

After a moment, Danny sighed and told her heavily, "Alright, but we should hurry. It's getting dark out. You can tell me everything on the way."

Margaret nodded and set Fiona down as Danny went to go and get the equipment that was set against a tree. Samson, Loopy, and Spirit all went assist their trainer while Abram, Mister Poofy, Jeremiah, and Green Ivy gathered around Fiona. The young girl had taken out her notepad and began writing on it. After a minute, she stopped writing and handed the notepad to Margaret.

Why are we moving?

"There's some people want to...avoid meeting," Margaret told Fiona, choosing her words carefully as she handed the notepad back. "Now, why don't we help Danny, ok?"

Fiona nodded and beckoned her pokemon to follow her. When Margaret went to help Danny, a piercing pain shot through her head. She winced and held her head, thankfully nobody noticed. A second later, the same two words kept drumming into her brain.

Hide, spy, hide, spy, hide, spy...

Margaret forced her head up and looked around the area. She had felt this way once before, and that was when she and Danny ran into the cloaked pokemon in the Parfum Palace maze. But it couldn't be here, could it? The others would have noticed.

Then the words spy and hide stopped chanting abruptly. Margaret continued to look around the road. Why was the pokemon here if it was? What were the chanting noises coming from? Why was she the only one who could hear them? Was this somehow connected to Team Flare?

You can't worry about that now, Margaret thought to herself as she began walking over to the others again, You can worry about that later. Let's just move onto another spot before you're caught again.