November 25th (Lilycove City, Hoenn)

(Dawn's POV)

I stretched as I began to wake up from sleeping in. I looked over to my clock to see that it was 10:00.

"Dang I slept in late," I muttered as a blue-feathered lump began to move before sitting up and yawned.

"Morning Piplup," I said pleasantly as I ran my hand through my hair and noticed it was rumpled like bed head much to my disgust.

"Pip Piplup?" Piplup asked preparing to use Bubble Beam on my hair.

"It's not necessary Piplup, I'll just stick it in a messy bun," I said as I grabbed a ponytail before exiting my room.

As I made my way to the kitchen, I noticed a pleasant aroma of breakfast foods. I went into the kitchen and saw that the guys were making breakfast as I gathered up my hair to put it in a messy bun to get it out of my face.

"Wow, I never expected you guys to be making food. Normally it's May that does all the cooking," I said surprised as I took a seat next to May and across from Misty.

"I know, but I'm not complaining," May said as Paul appeared and gave me a mug that contained coffee.

"Thanks," I said with a small smile as I was surprised.

I took a sip and was surprised that there was hazelnut coffee creamer added making my eyes widen.

"Where the hell did you get this hazelnut coffee creamer? This stuff is rare to get!" I said as I looked at Paul in surprise.

Paul smirked while Misty looked at me strangely, "It's coffee creamer, it's common everywhere," she said slightly confused.

I gave her a look of horror, "Bite your tongue woman! This is not any ordinary hazelnut coffee creamer. It is the best hazelnut coffee creamer that is unique in taste and can only be found in Emeragrove Town."

"Whatever you say," Misty said with a small smile and raised eyebrow at my antics.

"Here," I said as I reached out my mug. "Try it and become a believer in the heavenly goodness that is rare hazelnut coffee creamer."

"You are official insane this morning," May chuckled as Misty took a sip.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "I stand corrected," she admitted as she handed my mug back.

"Ha!" I said in triumph. "I have gained a follower without the use of Chirper."

Everyone looked at me with either amusement or rolled their eyes, "You really have lost it especially since you're mentioning social media like this this early in the morning," Misty agreed. "But that creamer is really good. Can I have some more?"

She reached out to grab my mug, but I quickly snatched it away, "My precious," I hissed.

"Wow," May mouthed as she took a sip of her drink.

"Shush, you have no right to comment you non-believer of coffee," I snapped.

"That's because it tastes like Camelrupt piss," May retorted. "Congratulations Paul, you've made your girlfriend crazy," May called.

"She was crazy to begin with," he commented in reply.

I glared at the both, "Shut up and let me enjoy my coffee."

"Besides May, how would you know what Camelrupt piss tastes like," Drew teased.

May gave him a 'ha-ha-funny' sarcastic face, "Anyway, do you think Leaf is awake? Food should be ready in a few minutes."

"Is it safe to eat?" Misty asked teasingly.

"Ha ha, very funny Mist," Ash retorted.

"I'll go get Leaf when the food's ready. Might as well let her sleep since she doesn't feel good," I said before looking at May." Yesterday you said that you didn't believe Leaf's story, why?"

May sighed, "I just have a gut feeling. Plus her aura showed anxiety when giving her explanation, which gives way to her lying."

"But why would she lie?" Ash asked.

"For the most common reason for lying, she's hiding something," Misty guessed.

"What makes you say that?" Drew asked.

"Women's intuition," Misty, May and I said at the same time before sipping our drinks.

"Really, you're going with women's intuition?" Ash asked.

"Babe, women are complex, emotional beings who can read and sense things that men don't understand," Misty explained.

"In other words, we just know," May summarized.

The guys rolled their eyes and started putting food on the table, "I better go get Leaf," I said as I stood up and trekked upstairs.

"Leaf," I called as I knocked on the door, "you up?"

I didn't hear anything, "I'm coming in," I called as I opened up her door and peeked in.

I looked around to see Leaf still passed out on her bed, "Hey, Leaf," I said as I gently shook her awake.

She grumbled a bit as she blinked her eyes a few times to wake up, "What?" she asked sleepily.

"It's 10:30 and the guys made us breakfast," I explained.

"I'm good," she said tiredly.

I frowned, "I know that it's questionable as to what Ash and Gary made, but you need to eat something."

Leaf grumbled and turned over to go back to sleep, "Too bad Leafy, you don't have a choice," I said as I yanked the covers off and pulled her arm that wasn't bandaged.

"Dawn," Leaf whined.

"Come on," I commanded as I got on her feet.

She quickly grabbed her compowder as I began to drag her to the stairs.

"You can let go," Leaf called.

I let go as we reached the stairs and we both made our way to the table.

"Finally!" May shouted in relief. "You're lucky I snagged some of everything to put on your plate before Ash took it all."

"Thanks," I said as I took my seat missing the brief look of relief on Leaf's face.

I turned to May to see that she was frowning slightly as she shared a look with Drew.

I began to eat and grinned from the taste of everything, "This tastes amazing you guys, thanks for the food," I said thankfully as the girls added their thanks as well.

"You're welcome. We figured we owed you guys for our crappy behavior for the past couple of weeks," Ash explained.

"Are we doing any more training today?" Misty asked.

The guys looked at each other before looking at us, "What training?" Drew asked.

"May's been training us further in hand-to-hand combat," I explained.

"I figured we'd take a break and enjoy the weekend," May decided.

"But we've already slacked off for three days," Misty reminded.

"I know and you're welcome to do training on your own. There just won't be any lessons from me," she answered as she finished her milk.

"Besides, since when was the last time we did anything fun?" I asked.

"What do you propose we do then?" Ash asked.

"Actually, and I can't believe this is coming out of my mouth, I was thinking that us girls could go on a shopping spree," Misty said causing Ash to drop his silverware while we all looked at her in shock.

"You okay Misty? Sure you aren't sick?" Ash asked as he put his hand on her forehead to check to see if she had a fever.

"I'm fine Ashy-boy," Misty said as she gently swatted away Ash's hand. "I'm perfectly sane this morning."

"Some might say otherwise," May pointed out. "Not that I have a problem with that. Dawn?"

Everyone looked at me, but Leaf, "Oddly enough, I'm not really in the mood to go shopping," I said causing more looks of shock.

"Okay, you girls are really out of it. Especially if Misty suggests shopping and Dawn says she's not in the mood," Gary commented.

I rolled my eyes before looking at Leaf, "What do you suggest we do today?" I asked since I wanted to include her in the conversation.

Leaf shrugged her shoulders as her compowder rang. She opened it up and held it like a phone, "Hello?"

"Oh, hey professor. What's up?" she asked.

A few seconds of silence, "No I don't have anything going on. Whatcha need?"

More silence, "I can be there in a few minutes. See ya in a few," she said before she hung up.

"Who was that?" Drew asked.

"Professor Oak, he wants me to help him with something," she said as she finished her juice and got up.

Gary looked like he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth as Leaf went upstairs.

"I suggest you go with her," I said as I finished my pancake.

He looked at me, "If you want her back, you can't let her avoid you. Besides, maybe you'll figure out why she's lying to us."

Gary sighed, "I guess you're right."

"Good ahead Gary, we'll clean up," May said with a smile.

"Nope, we're cleaning," Drew argued as the rest of the guys got up and started to clear the table.

"Are you going to let us do anything?" May asked exasperated.

Drew smirked, "Nope."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Leaf's POV)

I went upstairs to change out of my sleepwear into a t-shirt of some kind, jeans, and converse. As I was putting my hair into a braid, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened up and I heard someone walk in. After a few seconds, the person who walked in said nothing.

"Yes?" I asked hoping for the person to speak so I could identify them.

They still said nothing causing me to sigh because I knew who it was, "What do you want Gary?"

"I'm tagging along with you to see Gramps. Is that okay?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders as I finished my braid, "Doesn't matter to me, he's your relative."

I heard Gary sigh, "Are you going to even talk to me?" he asked.

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" I retorted.

I got up to go to May's room before he could respond, "Hey May, you in there?"

May opened up her door, "Do you mind if Gardevoir teleports us?" I asked as I sensed Gary walk up behind me.

"Sure," she said as I heard her walk away and release Gardevoir.

"Can you teleport Leaf and Gary to the place I'm thinking of?" she asked.

I heard nothing and felt myself being teleported. I then felt a slight change in temperature as we arrived at our destination.

I then let out Espeon so she could help me see, "Oh good, you're here. Glad to see you too Gary, I wasn't expecting you," Professor Oak said surprised.

"I decided to tag along," Gary explained.

"Great, that means we'll get this done a lot faster," Professor Oak said with a grin.

"What exactly do you need help with Gramps?" Gary asked.

"Well, I called Leaf to ask if she could help me feed the pokemon cause Tracy is sick today with a nasty cold," Professor Oak explained. "But since you're here, you can help me conduct checkups on the pokemon."

I heard Gary sigh, "I just had to ask," he said with a slight laugh.

"But it'll get done twice as fast since the both of you are here," Professor Oak said again.

"You can keep saying that all you want Gramps, but you do remember how many pokemon you care for?" Gary retorted.

"True, but Tracy and I covered most of them before he got sick," Professor Oak explained.

"Is the pokemon food where it's usually at?" I interjected.

"Yes, there's a cart in the back with water pokemon food on it all ready for you to distribute."

I was guessing Professor Oak nodded since there was a slight moment of silence before he gave his answer. Dang, how did May put up with being blind for so long?

Espeon then helped guide me to where the cart was and I got to work. After a while with some difficulty, I finished feeding everyone and decided to hide under a tree near the pond while I let my pokemon out to enjoy the ranch.

I then heard something walk towards me with Espeon quickly escaping from my lap to go towards it.

"Espe..." I said but then heard her mew in content meaning she meant up with Umbreon. "Never mind."

I then heard movement as someone sat down near me. After a few minutes, I heard them sighing constantly and it was driving me nuts.

"You can leave if this is bothering you," I said as I was tired of hearing him sighing.

"We have to talk about what happened Leaf. We can't keep doing this," Gary said tiredly.

"Doing what? Last time I checked, I was just sitting here," I retorted.

I heard Gary groan, "You aren't reacting the way I thought you would. I figured you would be cussing me out and try to avoid me, but you're not. Are we still together then?"

"No, I was dead serious when I said I broke up with you," I said flatly. "I guess I just don't have a reason to cuss you outright. I said my piece and I don't have anything thing else to say. Might as well move on."

"Too bad, I don't accept that," Gary said angrily.

"You're gonna have to," I retorted while still not looking at him. "You made your thoughts pretty clear that you cared about the game more than me."

"Leaf, look at me," Gary snapped as I felt him turn my face towards him. "I never said anything of the sort so quit putting words in my mouth. I love you more than a fucking game."

"You sure had a funny way of showing it," I said sarcastically as I ripped myself away from him and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Gary asked angrily.

"Don't know, don't care. I'm done talking about this," I shouted angrily as I continued to stomp away.

I then heard Gary race up behind me before he grabbed my arm to swing me around to face him.

"Let go," I said angrily as I tried to break free.

"The hell I am. I'm not gonna let you walk away from me again," Gary snapped. "You haven't given me a chance to make up for neglecting you."

"A chance? A CHANCE!" I screamed. "You had a fucking month to correct this problem, but you were obsessed and I sure wasn't going to bitch on you and complain because you would have told me to fuck off."

I could feel tears running down my face as I was angry, "You had many chances to fix this, but you were just too blind to notice."

How ironic, to accuse him of being blind while I was literally just that.

I then ripped my arm from his grasp and turned to walk away, but again he grabbed my arm and swung me into his chest before trapping me in his arms.

"Gary, let go," I said coldly.

I felt his embrace tighten, "Forget it," he said bitterly. "I've seen you walk away from me too many times and I refuse to let you go. I need you to understand how sorry I am in my shitty treatment of you. You of all people should deserve to be treated better than the way I did."

I tried to escape his hug, but the more I tried, the harder I began to cry. I just sobbed and felt my knees go weak causing Gary to bring both us to ground.

"You fucking asshole, do you understand how miserable you made me when all you and guys talked about was that stupid game? I figured in the beginning that you would be into it for a week or two and gave you space, but you never got out of it. That's why the girls and I decided to play the game in an attempt to get revenge by kicking your asses, but it backfired because you never stopped. I gave subtle hints that I was pissed, but again, you were blind to everything so I figured you didn't give a fuck about me anymore."

Gary ran a hand through my hair as he kissed my temple, "I would never not care for you Leaf. I love you too much to do that. It was my mistake in being so wound up with that game and thinking that you didn't mind."

"Normally I wouldn't because you would at least acknowledge me when you were hard core gaming, but you didn't this time. You flat out ignored me," I said quietly.

Gary sighed as he shifted us so that I was sitting sideways on his lap before he continued to run his fingers through my hair, "Never again," he murmured into my hair. "I can't bear the thought of losing you, especially to something as stupid as a game. If I ever get this way again, destroy my laptop."

I gave a small chuckle, "Can I get that in writing?"

I heard Gary's chest rumble with laughter, "I'm tattoo it on my chest if you want."

I laughed a little louder, "I don't think you need to go that extreme," I said before sighing. "You hurt me Gary. More than I can say and it's gonna take a hell of a lot from you to patch things up between us."

I heard Gary sigh in relief, "That's all I need sweetheart," he said before he tilted my head up and kissed me.

Mew I missed him more than anything.

"The names are not necessary," I said once we broke apart with him leaning his forehead on mine.

"Too bad gorgeous, you're gonna have to deal with it," Gary teased as I could sense a smirk on his face before he kissed me again.

Suddenly I felt myself being picked up bridal style causing me to wrap my arms around Gary's neck as he began walking.

"What the hell Gary? I'm perfectly capable of walking," I retorted.

"To bad love, you're getting the royal treatment," he teased again as he kissed me.

I felt my face heat up. In this one instance, I was glad I couldn't see because I probably looked disgusting right now.

I then felt him sitting down again with me in his lap sideways while still holding me.

"Mind telling me why you lied to us yesterday?" he asked after we sat in silence for a while.

I tensed slightly, but quickly relaxed, "What are you talking about?" I asked playing the dumb card.

Gary groaned, "Don't play the dumb card babe, you know what I'm talking about. Why did you lie about what happened a few days ago?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I got out of his lap to sit cross-legged next to him, "What gives you the reason to say that what I said was a lie?" I asked.

Gary sighed, "Leaf, you just tensed a minute ago. Second, you keep answering my question with a question meaning you are stalling. And third, what you said doesn't explain why Dr. Larkin ranting about people using pokemon powers?"

I raised an eyebrow, "You want to take the word of a raving lunatic over me?"

I felt Gary shift his position in where he was across from me and grabbed my upper arms.

"Leaf, he said the way she used Psycho Cut was glorious. She. What did you do? What are trying so desperately to hide from me," Gary said sounding upset as he gently ran his hands over my arms.

I said nothing as I tried to move my eyes to look normal causing Gary to move in closer, "Your eyes?" he murmured.

I sighed, "Nothing is given without a price. I paid my dues and I took that asshole down. End of story," I muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Gary asked exasperated as I heard him gasp making me slump slightly knowing that he figured it out.

"Leafy, you didn't......," he pleaded.

I raised my arms and took out my contacts to show him the damage to my eyes making him gasp.

"Leafy, why?" he mumbled sadly as I felt him place his hands on my face and gently used his thumbs to touch near my eyes.

"I had no choice," I sighed. "When I got to Dr. Larkin's hideout, he had you unconscious. I tried to heal you guys, but I couldn't raise your health much. I tried to attack him, but he kept deflecting my attacks and started to throw some of his own while bringing down the pain resistor some."

I hugged my arms remembering the pain, "I was going into a panic attack of where I thought I was going to die. I begged for Arceus to help me and he did. He gave me back my psychic powers like he gave Dawn's and I was able to use my abilities to break out of the game. In a rage, I destroyed everything. The game.....it hurt my friends and it ruined my relationship. I just wanted it all gone and I knocked everyone out so no one could escape. I erased everything so that no one could repeat Dr. Larkin's research and I logged everyone out," I explained.

I started to tear up, "Arceus then stabbed my eyes," I said as I started to cry remembering the pain as Gary pulled me into his arms.

"I couldn't face you guys so I stopped the bleeding to my eyes and cut my arm to give an explanation for the blood on the floor from my eyes. Then I called Clair to help you guys and teleported out to pick up my pokemon before teleporting to the middle of nowhere," I sobbed giving a slight laugh. "It was raining where I got my cold and I passed out near Route 17. A healer living in the woods helped heal me til I returned to the house."

Gary hugged me closer, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so caught up in that stupid game, you would still have your sight."

I sighed as I snuggled closer, "What's done is done, we can't change it. Besides, this is only temporary like Dawn's exchange."

"That still doesn't make it okay," Gary murmured into my hair.

I said nothing as I let him hold me for a while.

"Leaf! Gary!" I heard Professor Oak shout.

"Come on," I said as I got out of Gary's embrace and lent a hand as I stood up. "We better see what he needs."

Gary took my hand and I helped him up. I carefully pocketed my contacts as Gary still held my hand and we walked to the house.

After calming down Professor Oak and explaining my eyes after he freaked, Gary and I finished helping him. Once we finished that, we were given the all-clear to leave for school.

I sighed as we were teleported into my room and I rubbed my temples, "This is going to be a headache," I complained.

"It'll be okay Leaf," Gary said as he pulled me into a side hug and kissed my temple.

"Oh I know, it's just that I'm not looking forward to the screams of panic coming from Dawn," I explained.

"You do have a point," Gary agreed tiredly.

I nodded as we made our way downstairs where Dawn was in the living room with Paul.

"Hey, did everything go okay?" Dawn asked before I heard her slightly scream. "Leaf! What happened?!"

I cringed, "Enough with the screaming, I'm fine," I said as I heard the thunder of people rushing downstairs.

"What's with the screa.....? Leaf, what happened?!" Misty repeated.

"Will you all please shut up so I can explain?" I asked annoyed.

After hearing a shuffle of movements, I told everyone what I told Gary.

"That explains the look of relief Drew and I saw this morning," May murmured.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"Leaf was worried about coming down to eat because she wouldn't have been able to see what she could eat or grab it for that matter," May explained. "So it helped that I put the food on her plate to begin with."

"You okay Dawn?" Misty asked causing me to wonder what was up with Dawn.

"No, I'm not. What the hell were you thinking?" she said angrily.

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you getting at? It's no different than your situation."

"Yes it is, I didn't give something so important as my sight for getting something with powers," she retorted.

I frowned, "Quit being hypocritical. You put your health on the line when you asked for powers, not just your voice or your hair."

Dawn said nothing, but I assumed that she was still pissed off. I don't get why she's so mad.

"Still though, it's not the best choice you did," May said tiredly.

"Will you all quit bitching," I said angrily. "It was either I lost my sight or my life and the exchange is only for a month."

"Not that all of that is out in the open, I'll leave you alone," I said stiffly as I got up.

I sensed Gary quickly get up after me and helped me upstairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Dawn's POV)

I watched as Gary helped guide Leaf upstairs. What the hell was that girl thinking?!

"Dawn, you aren't in a place to judge her on her choices," Misty pointed out.

"The hell I'm not! We all should have stopped her!" I said angrily as I got up and started to pace.

"We weren't in a position to do that Troublesome, we were unconscious," Paul reminded me.

"I know that, but....ugh!" I said as I collapsed back into my spot.

"We have to accept what she did. You of all people should know how she must have been in making that decision with a panic attack in the wings," Paul added.

"I know. It's just....when May lost her sight, she could rely on her aura and training to see. Leaf doesn't have any of that. All she sees is complete darkness," I said sadly as I bought up my knees to hug them.

"We'll help her get by in the meantime. As for the special training I had, it might be a good idea to teach it to all of you. It'll help in any instant of when you can't see," May explained.

May's compowder went off and she went to answer it, "Hello."

A minute of garbled speech occurred before May answered, "Yea, I can do that. I'll stop by tomorrow. Goodbye."

May then hung up and sighed, "Please tell me that wasn't In-Tech Labs," I whined.

May gave a small grin, "It's not. Clair just wanted me to come in to PHPA to talk to her tomorrow about something."

"About what?" Misty asked.

May shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not really sure. She said she wanted my opinion on something."

She yawned and looked at her poketch, "I'm gonna call it a night guys."

"Night May," we called out as she went upstairs.

Just as she left, the guys' wallets went off. They pulled them out and groaned.

"I take it that was a mission assignment?" I guessed.

"Yup, but it looks like we're supposed to do a B & E during a fancy party at Lawrence Dobbins' Manor tomorrow late afternoon," Ash explained.

"Sounds interesting," I commented.

"You think it's fun. Ugh, I hate these fancy parties," Paul muttered.

"For one thing, you're gonna have to get used to it if you become the champion. Second, it said B & E meaning you'll probably won't even have to attend the party," I explained. "Besides, be thankful you aren't on security duty for the party instead."

"Well it least it doesn't take up our whole weekend, at least we get to see you guys," Ash said with a grin.

I gave a sad grin, "Probably not, for one, you guys are probably gonna have to leave for PHPA in the morning to be briefed on what they want you to take. Second, May will be gone because Clair wants to talk to her. Third, I'm visiting Maylene tomorrow so I won't be here and Misty is gonna have to keep an eye on Leaf."

Ash sighed as his head drooped, "Well, so much as for that."

"It can't be helped Ash, this is the life we chose," Misty said sympathetically as she kissed his cheek. "Night you guys."

"Night Misty," we called.

Drew and Ash soon followed Misty up leaving just Paul and I.

"You sure you're okay?" Paul asked.

I sighed, "I'll get over it. I guess I'm upset with some of the drastic decisions we have to make."

Paul said nothing as he pulled me into a hug. I pulled myself away slightly so I could kiss him.

"Thanks for that," I murmured.

"You know you're not the only one who's upset," he reminded me.

"I know, I'm just more vocal about it," I said causing Paul to chuckle before he kissed me again.

I then yawned, "We better go to bed, we've got a busy day tomorrow."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

November 26th (PHPA Headquarters)

(Drew's POV)

The guys and I reached the hidden entrance of PHPA, "Dang, it's been awhile since we've been here?" Ash commented as Gary did the security check to let us in.

"It has Ashy-boy," Gary said flatly.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Ash said as we walked in toward Lance's office for the debriefing.

"You can't blame him Ash. He'd rather be with Leaf than doing this right now," I pointed out.

"True, being with the girls would be a lot better than this," Ash agreed.

"You do know it could be worse," Paul pointed out.

"SSHHH!!!" Ash said loudly. "Do you want to jinx us?"

Paul rolled his eyes as we got into one of the elevators nearby. After a few minutes, we finally reached Lance's office.

"Glad to see you're finally back," Lance commented as he turned his chair to face us.

"Can we get to the point," Gary said gruffly.

Lance raised his eyebrow, but said nothing, "As you read in your message, you'll be infiltrating Lawrence Dobbins' Manor during a party being held. You're to sneak in and steal "The Star of Sinnoh"."

"Uh...since when are we jewel thieves?" I asked.

Lance frowned, "The gem was stolen years ago from the Sherrington Royal Family and our rumor network says that it is in the hands of Lawrence Dobbins."

"Why not ask for it back?" Ash asked causing all of us to groan.

"Ash, Lawrance Dobbins supposedly has connections to the Sinnoh Mafia. I doubt a supposedly gangster would give back a $750,000 dollar gem if we asked," Paul said harshly.

"It's now worth $1.1 million dollars," Lance corrected.

"Oh Rapidash, that's expensive!" Ash gasped.

"Which is why I want you to do a B & E to get it," Lance clarified.

"But why, we don't steal gems?" I reminded again.

"Because Princess Salvia has asked for us to recover it," Lance answered.

"Why, what does she have to do with the Sherrington family?" Ash asked causing all of us to groan again.

"It's her last name, you moron," Gary snapped.

Lance sighed as he rubbed his temple, "Anyway, I have a guest who will help you plan this."

Lance then walked to his desk and pressed a button on his desk phone, "Send him in."

The door opened, "Hey you guys, long time no see."

"Hey!" I said as Max came in. "We haven't heard from you in a while. Whatcha doin' here?"

"Lance wanted me to come in and do some hacking," Max explained.

For the next couple hours, Max hacked into the mansion to download the security layout making it a whole easier to plan.

"In addition to the party, another agent will be standing by to create a distraction," Clair explained as she entered Lance's office.

"Who's the agent?" Paul asked.

"Her codename is Angel, she's new," Clair answered.

"Wait, you're sending us a newbie as back-up?" Gary asked in slight shock and annoyance.

Clair frowned, "Don't underestimate them, I think you'll find 'em quite the agent."

"But who are they?" I asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," Clair stated ending the discussion. "Max, do you have everything ready for them?"

"Yea, their stuff in the lab," Max answered as he shut his laptop.

"Good, good luck gentlemen," she said cuing us to leave.

"How's it goin' in Johto?" I asked as we followed Max.

"Pretty good, I've got two gym badges so far and Lizzy was able to get another ribbon," Max answered.

After a few more minutes, we took an elevator and walked a few corridors before we stood in front steel double doors. Max entered the security information and we went inside.

"About time you got back, we need to leave now if I want to get to the next contest," I familiar voice complained.

"Will you relax, we can have Kirlia teleport us to Catallia City," Max said slightly annoyed.

"Lizzy, what are you doing here?" I asked surprised.

"Working, I'm with Max in tech division," she explained.

"Why?" I asked exasperated.

"Why not? It's fun and I get to hack all I want," she said with a smirk.

"She's actually helpful in creating designs for gadgets too," Max added.

"What do you mean actually? I am," she said slightly annoyed.

"Anyway, in addition to the basics of what you have, you get the laser pen, contact lenses that can see through metal and detect heat, and the heat seeking sleep dart," Max inserted.

"Heat seeking sleep darts?" Ash asked.

"It's self-explanatory Ash," Gary said with a slight snap as he grabbed his stuff and changed into his body suit.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow, "What's with the 'tude?"

"Girlfriend Withdrawal Syndrome," I explained causing Lizzy to open her mouth in understanding.

Gary glared at me, but I challenged him by raising an eyebrow making him mutter under his breath as we finished suiting up.

We then made our way to the hanger to board a stealth jet, "Have fun with Angel," Lizzy hollered with a smirk.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Leaf's POV)

"I think I can official say that I've never been this bored in my entire life," I groaned as I sprawled myself on one of the coaches in the common area.

"Well, it's kinda hard to come up with something to do since you can't see," Misty pointed out as I heard her turn a page in a book.

"At least you could do something with me instead of reading your book," I moaned.

I heard Misty groan as she closed her book, "Okay," I heard her say with slight annoyance as she shifted on her chair, "What do you want to do?"

"Hmm.....," I hummed aloud.

I heard Misty groan again as the door opened, "Hey you two," Dawn chirped. "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing," Misty grumbled as I heard Dawn collapse on the other overstuffed chair. "Leaf's bored and we're having a hard time coming up with something to do."

"TV?" Dawn suggested.

"Can't see," Misty and I muttered.

"Video games?"

"Can't see."

"Training?"

"Can't see."

"You know you can still hear things even if you can't see," Dawn muttered with slight annoyance.

"Anyway, how was Maylene?" Misty asked.

"She's still having some morning sickness and a few cravings, but she's able to keep up with the gym though she can't train as hard as she would like," Dawn reported.

"I can imagine, the strain would hurt the baby," I agreed.

"Other than that, she's doin' good," Dawn added.

"You've been visiting her quite a bit for the past few weeks," Misty noted.

"Such a sister-in-law thing to do," I teased.

I had the strong suspicion that Dawn rolled her eyes at my comment, "She's not my sister-in-law," Dawn said bluntly.

"Yet," Misty added cheekily.

"Ha ha," Dawn said sarcastically.

"You know it's only a matter of time," I teased.

"I doubt that. The only couple that it's a matter of time for is May and Drew. I swear they act like they are married," Dawn decided.

"I second that. My guess is he'll propose to her when we graduate in the spring," Misty bet.

"I don't know. May keeps pointing out the fact that she's too young," Dawn pointed out.

"Nah, feminine intuition says that she's more towards the point of where it's okay to be engaged," I stated. "Besides, some people have long engagements."

"Point taken," Misty agreed.

"Hey Misty, do you mind if we battle? I have a contest idea that I want to try out," Dawn asked.

"Yeah, but why?" Misty asked.

"I think I found a way to win against Paul," Dawn said excitedly.

"Pfft, that'll be the day," I scoffed. "No offense, but Paul is above you when it comes to battling."

"I know, but at least I'll give him a run for him money," Dawn retorted.

"Speaking of the guys, do you think they're having fun?" I asked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Gary's POV)

"I am so not having fun right now," I muttered as we fell from our hiding positions on the ceiling. "That was uncomfortable."

"Better to be uncomfortable than caught," Paul hissed.

"Are we to the vault yet?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, it's down the hall and passed the open area," Drew said as he glanced at the map.

We made our way there to find no one around, "Looks like everyone went to the party," Ash commented.

"Wait a minute," Drew said as his contacts glowed red. "There are two guards in the open area in front of the vault.

"How are we going to get rid of them?" Ash asked.

"Really Ashy-boy," I muttered as I pulled out the sleep-dart gun.

"Ohhh....right," Ash remembered.

I rolled my eyes as I took aim and shot the first guy.

"What the....?" the second guy said before I shot him and he fell.

We then made our way in and hacked the computer to get in the vault.

"There it is!" Ash said excitedly.

"Wait...!" I shouted before Ash grabbed the necklace. "It could be booby-trapped you moron!"

"Why would someone booby-trap their own vault?" Ash asked.

"Because he's cautious, he is rumored to have connections to the mafia," Paul reminded.

"Well, the contacts aren't picking up anything," Drew reported.

"Better switch necklaces," I said.

Paul pulled out the fake and quickly switched it with the real one.

We then exited the vault and closed it.

"Hey!" someone shouted as we closed the vault.

I pulled out the sleep dart gun and tried to shoot, but it jammed.

"Crap," I said as I shook it trying to shoot the guy.

The guy then pulled out a walky-talky, "We have a situ...."Drew clobbered the guy and he fell unconscious, "So much as for being incognito," Drew muttered.

"Blame the freakin' gun," I hissed as an alarm started to blare.

"Greg, where are you? We need all persons investigating who pulled the fire alarm," someone shouted over the guy's walky-talky.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," Paul shouted over the noise.

We started running through the corridors in making our escape.

"Does anyone find it strange that no one has tried to stop us?" Ash shouted as we continued to run into an open area with access to the higher floors since we were underground.

"Hold it right there!"

"Thanks a lot!" I snapped at Ash.

We turned around to see guys holding guns, "Great," Paul muttered.

"Where's Angel? I thought she was the distraction to avoid this?" I wondered aloud in annoyance.

"Hey, you do know it's rude to ignore a lady?" a familiar voice said as the guy's started to fall forward.

"What the.....May?!" we shouted in surprise.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(May's POV)

Honestly, you'd think guys would have better manners.

"May, what are you doing here and where is Angel?" Ash asked.

"You're lookin' at her," I smirked as I kicked a guy in the gut to push him back, which is impressive considering I'm wearing heels.

I turned to see them slightly dazed, "Hey, phase out on your own time," I said as I continued to stop henchmen that kept pouring in.

"But what are you doing here?" Drew asked.

"Questions later please," I said getting slightly snappy.

I turned around to see that we were being surrounded, "Okey, now you're pissing me off," I said as I pulled the rose sitting in my updo to change it from completely up to half up-half down. "If I kicked your ass then stay down.

I swung the rose out next to me to change it into a staff to fight, similar to the one Domino had. I then started to fight with some of my elemental powers through in.

"Got any ideas?" Ash asked as the henchmen pushed us together in being surrounded.

"Hang on!" I shouted as I tapped the bottom of my staff to the ground. "Frenzy plant!"

We were then lifted to the higher levels by big, thick vines. We jumped to the floor and began to ran down a corridor.

"This way," I shouted as I took the lead.

We avoided running into anybody as we made our way outside to the edge of the island near a cliff.

I heard bullets being shot at us and saw the henchmen from earlier bearing down on us.

"What do we do now? We're screwed," Gary shouted in concern as I let my rose shrink and put it back in my hair.

I looked over the edge and out to the horizon, "Jump!" I shouted.

The guys looked at me like I was crazy, "I'd like to live, thank you," Gary retorted.

"Trust me!" I shouted.

The guys looked at each other nervously, but followed my lead as we jumped.

"Give me flight!" I shouted as I sprouted aura wings and felt myself being controlled to produce Psychic to levitate the guys from falling to their deaths.

"What the...? You can fly?" Gary and Ash shouted in astonishment.

I barely heard them as I flew us to a cloaked jet a hundred yards away. By the time we got inside, I was ready to pass out as I felt power leave me and I felt myself begin to sway.

"Whoa there," Drew said in concern as he picked me up and placed me on one of the couches on the jet.

I mentally sighed. This is getting ridiculous, I can't use any of my powers anymore without feeling faint and weak. This is not normal.

"You okay?" Drew asked in concern.

I looked at him and gave a small smile, "I'll be okay, just need to get my energy back."

Drew nodded and kissed my forehead before taking a seat near me as I felt the jet begin to move.

"Okay, so first off, how long have you been able to fly?" Ash asked.

"A few months, but I can't do it for very long, it uses up a lot of my aura," I explained.

"Second, what's with being called Angel and why were you here?" Gary asked.

"I was your back-up for this mission via Clair's orders and Angel is my codename, Clair's decision, not mine," I explained.

"Wait....Clair said a new agent was our back-up," Ash said aloud in thought. "Does that mean you...."

I gave a small smile, "Yup. Since Max and I have disbanded, Clair recruited me as an independent agent so I work for PHPA now if you can believe that."

"Is that why you had to come in? Why did you join?" Drew asked.

"Slow down grasshead, one question at a time," I said as I sat up. "In a since yes, Clair asked me to come in to explain the mission, but she asked me to join the day we stopped by PHPA and shut down that robot. As for why I joined, I couldn't stop doing what I do so I thought the next best thing would be to join PHPA."

"What about Lance?" Ash asked.

"For one thing, he's not my boss, Clair is. That was one condition I had before I joined. As for his reaction to me joining, I don't really know. I didn't see him at all when I went to headquarters."

"So are you joining the girl's team?" Gary asked.

I shook my head, "They already have a good thing goin', but I might be assigned to work with them from time to time though."

I then heard a beep coming from my earbud communicator, "Angel, you read me?"

"Angel here," I responded.

"Did the mission go okay?" Clair asked.

"It went as good as it could. We were chased off the island, but the guy's achieved their objective," I reported.

"Good, the guys can come back to headquarter with the necklace. As for you, I have another mission."

I sat and listened to the instructions Clair gave me before I stood up and changed my outfit with my compowder to a red catsuit similar to the one the girls have.

"Where are you going?" Drew asked.

"Another mission," I said as I grabbed a heart-shaped backpack sitting nearby. "Meanwhile, Clair's calling you back to headquarters."

Drew frowned, "Are you sure you're well enough to go? You still look pale."

I turned around and gave a small smile before kissing him, "I'm fine, no need to worry," I said using Dawn's quip.

I then walked to the side of the plane, "I'll see you guys later," I said before opening the door. "Angel, out!"