When I woke up that morning, I felt as if I was being watched. I bolted up, looking around, seeing Musharna sleeping on the end of the bed while Swanna and Audino must've popped out of their Poké Balls and started sleeping elsewhere. Swanna found himself a spot on the floor while Audino fell asleep in a chair.

Still, despite the amount of Pokémon that were around, I still felt like something was off. I looked around, closely examining my surroundings. This wasn't the first time I'd slept over at Rena's. In case she was working on a project that took a bit longer than usual, she always offered one of the guest bedrooms, and this one just seemed to be the one I was always in as it was personalized to my liking. The walls were blue while the sheets were grey. There wasn't much furniture in the bedroom, just a small desk (which was where Audino was sleeping) a side table, and a closet space, which had some spare clothes that were my size.

It was then I realized that the closet door was slid open. Last I checked, I made sure it was closed. A cool breeze found its way to the back of my neck, sending a chill down my back. I looked behind me, noticing the single window was cracked open, causing the grey curtains to fly a bit.

Something was off.

Before I could investigate, I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Sylvia, are you up? There's something you need to see," Rudi's voice called from behind the door.

The last time I heard those words, it wasn't good. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, just give me a moment."

Rudi didn't listen as he barged into the room. He was already dressed and ready to go as he wore a red long-sleeved shirt and jeans. His signature cap was gone, showing off his messy blond hair. I noticed Braviary walking close behind him with a not-so-welcoming expression.

Oh Deerling, this couldn't be good. I quickly sat up, knowing he wouldn't barge in like that unless something major happened.

"We need to see Rena," he explained. "She's already fixed our suits."

Out of everything that was going on, I wasn't expecting that. After all, we were dealing with this secretive group, had Nurse Joy kidnapped, the last thing I was expecting was for these suits to be done.

I looked at the time. It was only seven in the morning. We got here about six hours ago, meaning Rena must not have gotten any sleep last night.

Hopefully she wasn't dealing with nightmares as well.

"It's seven in the morning," I yawned, "and you came in just to tell me Rena has our suits done?"

Rudi smiled and nodded his head, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of bed. He proceeded to drag me out of the guest room. I looked back, realizing the sudden movements should've woke up Musharna, but she was fast asleep. Meanwhile, Swanna seemed to have noticed something was up and quickly flew beside us.

I felt cold as I didn't have time to grab my blanket, but I looked back at the room as we walked down the hallway, noticing that no one was there.

Maybe I was just being paranoid.

By the time we got downstairs, I saw Rena sitting at her work table. She was in the same clothing as earlier, and her forehead rested on her arms. On the table, like Rudi had promised, lay two suits. The Braviary suit looked pretty similar as it still had the same colors, only this time, the whole suit was navy blue with a red and white emblem with the letter "B" on it.

Rudi picked it up and lifted up against his chest for sizing purposes. Everything appeared like it was going to fit as the pant part stopped right below the ankle.

"This is the coolest!" Rudi said excitedly.

I smiled as I looked over towards Rena. Even though Rudi wasn't the quietest about it, Rena didn't seem to have noticed. She must've overworked herself on these suits if she didn't move a muscle at the sound of her brother's appraisal.

Slowly, I turned to look at what she did to touch up my Swanna suit. I froze in the process. The cloak I wore as Swanna Girl disappeared, making me think Rena started from scratch. I held the form fitting suit up, feeling the stretchy material in my fingers. From the waist down, the suit was black, with a blue belt that separated the white top from the black pants part. There weren't many feathers this time, just an "S" in blue lettering with some blue feathers on either side of it. Like Rudi's, the suit had long sleeves, but mine had a high neckline.

"Neat huh?" Rudi asked.

"Mm." My head turned to see Rena slowly lifting her head up to see Rudi and me. When she realized we were there, she sat up so quickly that she ended up falling backwards in her chair.

"Arceus! Rena, are you alright?" Rudi asked as we dropped our suits and ran over to her.

The blue haired girl looked up at us and slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't even notice I fell asleep," Rena laughed.

Rudi and I quickly looked at each other for a moment before we heard a loud ringing. As Rena stood up, I could feel both the Rhea siblings looking at me as I grabbed my phone out of the back pocket.

Yes, it was a bit obsessive to carry a phone wherever one went, but my phone was a bit special in the sense that any Trainer—whether they had a phone or Xtransciever—could call me on it. Every set of pajamas I had owned had a pocket either in the shirt or the pants, just in case an emergency would come up.

Seeing as there was no number on it, I just assumed it was another Trainer who didn't know I wasn't running the Pokémon Center at the moment.

"Hello, Nurse Sylvia of the Castelia City Pokémon Center. How may I help you?" I answered out of habit.

There was a pause, one that made the conversation so awkward that I almost repeated myself.

"Swanna Girl," a low voice answered, causing me to hold my breath. "This is Lethe. We met the other day when—"

"What do you want?" I growled, cutting him off, causing both of the Rhea siblings to exchange looks.

Once again, there was another pause, as if this Lethe wasn't expecting me to be so up front, but then, "I just wanted you to know your assistant, Joy, is alright for now."

My heart staggered as Joy was mentioned. "If you hurt her," I threatened, as I turned my back towards the Rhea siblings, "I will make sure each and every one of you pay."

"Don't worry," Lethe quickly said, "I'm doing my best right now to make sure the organization doesn't harm her, but..."

"But what? Look Lethe, I'm not one to make threats, but trust me when I say I won't hold back if you lay a finger on her."

"I know," Lethe sighed. "Which is why I want to strike a deal."

"A deal?" I asked, looking back at Rudi and Rena.

The last deal we had wasn't good. We ended up being tricked by Team Miasma. A deal wasn't something we could trust, especially with an evil organization.

"Don't worry, no one in Team Oblivion knows about this. Just you and me," Explained Lethe. "Meet me on the outskirts of Virbank City."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?" I questioned.

Lethe took a deep breath. As he did, I noticed Rudi and Rena starting to look a bit concerned. I didn't even need to ask them what they were thinking. I already knew they didn't like where this conversation was heading, despite listening to just my side.

"You don't, but if you don't trust me, you don't have to come," Lethe said. "I just wanted to warn you of a few things before it's too late. Just know that I'm on your side."

Like that, Lethe hung up. I lowered the phone, not entirely sure what to do.

Judging by the looks on Rudi and Rena's face, I could tell they were totally against it. There was just one thing that bothered me. It wasn't him saying I had a choice, and it wasn't because he claimed he was on our side. Lethe claimed I had a choice, so I didn't have to go. As for Lethe being on our side, I remember Hilbert and N telling me last night how he seemed to be questionable when it comes to his alliance.

It was the beginning of the conversation when he mentioned Joy that got me. It had been three weeks since they'd gotten their hands on her. Her parents were worried. The night I made that phone call to them, well, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Officer Jenny had to do it.

Since the whole Castelia City Pokémon Center incident, the officials had another Nurse Joy take care of it so that I could process what was going on. The Officer Jenny of Nacrene City knew my secret, and she had to pull some strings so that could happen. Meanwhile, I was working my hardest on trying to get Joy back.

Just how safe was Joy?

(-o-)

The outskirts of Virbank City weren't really the outskirts as buildings still loomed over us. There was a faint smell of pollution, but it wasn't as bad the worst thing I'd smelled. Then again, I was on the outskirts of this place. Just by looking at the outskirts of Virbank, I realized I never wanted to return. Not because of the smell and how dirty this place was, but because of how dark it was.

It was the middle of the day, and it was somehow dark.

This was only so Lethe and I could meet in private. But to get here, I still had to fly and wear my new Swanna Girl to disguise my identity. Luckily for me, there were two other pieces of the outfit that Rena had added. The first was a cape that was white on the backside and blue on the front side. My hands pulled on it as I walked around, using it as a comfort mechanism if anything.

The other new addition was my mask. Being that my last costume covered my hair, Rena had to think of something to do that with this. However, due to the limited time she worked on it, there was no way to do that. The mask, on the other hand, could hide my true eye color, changing it into any color of my choosing. Since Swanna's colors were blue and white, I had it on a blue setting.

Other than that, the suit was completely normal.

While I waited, I paced back and forth in the alley way, trying to pass the time.

"Nice suit," I heard someone say from behind.

I turned around, seeing a young man dressed in all black, except this time, he took off his beanie, revealing his long brown hair. The beanie wasn't far though as I could see his fingers messing with it in his hands.

"What's going on here," I said.

Lethe's smile dropped. "Cutting to the chase...I should've known."

I looked around, noticing the single streetlight starting to flicker out. "Look, I want to make this clear. I don't trust you, so the sooner we get this done, the better."

"Still afraid of the dark, huh?" Lethe observed.

I turned my head towards him, seeing the young man leaning against one of the buildings as his head looked up. His fingers were still messing with his beanie.

"H-how did you know that?" I questioned.

The man shrugged. "You're a threat to Team Oblivion. We know everyone's weakness. Your list just seems a bit too long."

My hands clenched into fists. Just how much did they know about all of us?

"What concerns me is your relation with Rudi," Lethe said as he looked at me. His face wasn't smiling anymore, instead, he looked somewhat concerned. "I mean, not my place to say, but he's not the guy you think he is."

"Leave him out of this," I growled. "If you came to just gloat, I don't want to hear it."

Lethe chuckled a little. "Just thought I'd warn you. But that's not why I came. There's something else I want you to know about."

I watched as the man slipped something from his beanie, and out with his two fingers. It was a small photograph, one that he just held at towards me. He didn't say a word about it, so I cautiously made my way towards him and snatched it from his fingers.

My eyes widened as I saw what the picture was.

"Team Oblivion doesn't want you meddling in anything," Lethe explained. "I saw how you fought at the Pokémon Center. You're not really a good fighter, especially when Team Oblivion doesn't play by the rules."

"You're a part of their organization," I pointed out as my eyes were still glued on the picture.

"Ah, yes, it appears that way, but you'll soon find out that there's a lot of double agents in everything, even in your little group," Lethe explained. "Don't take it the wrong way when someone you trust betrays you."

"You're lying," I claimed as I crunched up the photo and looked him in the eyes, or rather, his sunglasses.

"Maybe. Anyone could be telling a very convincing lie. Just depends on whether you believe it or not," Lethe said.

"No," I denied, showing him the picture, "I thought you said Joy was alright. This is not okay."

Lethe lowered his head to catch a second glimpse of the picture. The picture was of sixteen year-old Joy. She had to be terrified, especially since she was tied to a chair, looking completely terrified.

Team Oblivion was a group of monsters.

"She's alive, for now," Lethe said, as he took the picture from me. "Like I said, I'll try and keep her alive as much as I can. It's hard to see someone my age get hurt."

"Your age?" I asked, not believing it. The man did look young amongst all those who worked in Team Oblivion, but still.

Lethe nodded his head. "Technically, I'm seventeen, but the thing is, I'm like you. I don't want to see people get hurt. So I came with a warning. Team Oblivion isn't going to stop hurting her until you either stop fighting or—"

He ended his sentence right there, not continuing on as something started to beep. Lethe cursed under his breath, holding up a single finger as if warning me to stay quiet. I took a deep breath as he took out a Xtransciever.

That must be how he contacted me earlier, though, I have to say I'm a bit shocked. If he had a Xtransciever, he should've worn it on his wrist rather than keeping it in his pocket.

"Sorry, I have to go," Lethe apologized, as he shoved the Xtransciever in his pocket and pulled something else from it. "Think of this as an early birthday present or something."

Lethe dropped a small envelope in my hand before he started running out of the alley way as fast as he could. I watched as he did.

Birthday present? My birthday was still a couple of months away. I shook my head. This had to be some sort of trick, no this had to be a trick. I mean, why else would a member of Team Oblivion be giving me something?

I stared at the envelope for a moment, seeing the envelope in my hand. There was no way they could fit a bomb or some sort of dangerous item inside, could they?

Then I remembered the single photo Lethe showed me, claiming he was doing everything he could to stop them from hurting her. A part of me didn't want to believe him, but I just couldn't shake the feeling. I mean, he could've easily hurt me or kidnapped me.

Was he really on our side?

That was when curiosity got the better of me. I opened the envelope pulling out a letter and a photo. Before I looked at what the photo said, I read the note.

~Swanna Girl,

I know you still don't trust me, and that's okay. I won't persuade you otherwise, but I will say this. Not everyone on your team is good either. Good and evil lies on both fronts, so there is no "good" anymore. I don't want you pulled into this mess if you don't have to. You're one of the few "good" people in this world, and this fight against Oblivion will change you if you continue.

Take this photo as a warning.

~Lethe

P.S. I will do my best to keep Joy safe.

I slid the note behind the photo and froze seeing the two people in the picture. A girl with long blonde hair had her arms wrapped around a blond haired boy I knew too well. Seeing it made my heart shatter, seeing as this wasn't just a simple embrace.

It was a picture Rudi kissing another girl, and it wasn't just any girl. The closer I looked at the picture, I slowly started to realize who she was, despite the countless times her appearance had changed.

Why would Rudi be with her?

Why would Rudi be with Gila?

Author's Note:

Uh-oh, looks like we've got trouble coming up, seeing as Sylvia never knew this. How do you think she will respond to this information? Will she be angry, upset, confused? Will she confront him about it or will she keep it a secret?

Only time will tell. Until then, I hope you're all enjoying the book so far.