Memories Of Yesterday and Today

There were times people underestimated Irene's intelligence greatly, many of the people back at the lab did as they thought her naive. To an extent, Irene was naive but that was simply not to having a context in which to properly express herself. This way to say Irene at least had a feeling Azumi wasn't entirely being truthful but she had nothing concrete.

Even if she was, it wasn't in Irene's nature to press unless there was something important at stake. It wasn't like she was being entirely honest to Azumi either, but it was to protect her and keep her out of trouble.

"I see.." Irene said. "We..come from very far away too. Mainly to improve. I had no intention of becoming a trainer of any kind or thought about it. Umrba has been my friend since I was a little girl so the thought of him fighting or getting hurt in battles didn't appeal to me. But..seeing a bit of things..I might..I might reconsider. I'll have to ask Umbra and my new partner what they want to do."

Azumi smiled at that. "Good! It's always best to see what your team wants to do before you make any decisions like that. You're the team leader, not a dictator, after all. Heh... maybe we'll meet again one day as opponents. If that happens, we look forward to seeing how you've improved! After all, a trainer battle isn't a fight, not really." She impulsively hugged Irene then. "It was great to meet you, Irene, but I should be going now. You have my number, so don't hesitate to call if you need any advice or just want to talk, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will. I should be going too, but it was very nice meeting you." The hug was nice; it was one of the few things she could remember fondly back at the place she was born. Many of the people in her large family had developed a taste for them.

She said her goodbye's before heading back into the room with the others, Lulu was knocked out asleep along with Karman and Ruffle, the later curled into Lulu while she used the sleeping Karman as make shift pillow of sorts.

"How did it go?"

Irene turned to see Moses, he was still up and about which wasn't surprising.

"It went well. It..made me think of something's. I'm not sure though, I'll have to think a bit more on what I decide to do and how things turn out."

Moses looked as if he was going to add something more, paused, then nodded. "That's probably the best idea. Just know whatever you decide to do, we'll support you. Unfortunately, we have to get our own house in order before we can truly fully live."

*  *

Around the times it approached the 'anniversary' of Casey's death everyone got a bit more on the somber side but Moses a bit more in particular. They couldn't really visit her grave since they were on the run which added insult to injury but they cooped and remembered in their own ways. Moses, by nature while he loved his friends like family was a solitary person; he needed time and space to himself at times. Where Moses could go long stretches by himself alone, Irene and Lulu were not quite the same as they needed to be around people.

Karman went to find Moses in a shrine of sorts since it was time for them to get a move on. He didn't turn to face him even when he approached but he was pretty sure Moses already aware of his presence.

"It's time to go."

Moses stood there for a moment before turning around. "It's always the same.."

This confused Karman. "What's always the same?"

"Nothing. Never mind." Moses shook his head going silent for a moment. "Karman, what do you want to do? After all this is over?"

Karman frowned a bit, he honestly wasn't sure of the question. "Honestly? I don't know. It doesn't even make sense why they're after us; they could easily make 'better' clones. And if evidence on what they're doing is the problem its not like anyone would believe us."


"But why take that chance? That might be how they look at it.." Moses trailed off looking towards the sky. "I don't know either. All my life has been around in that place and now that I'm out I don't know what to do with it."

Karman could relate totally to that, but it was something most of them had in common. "You know, I have to admit I was being a bit of a coward." Before Moses interrupted he went on. "I put on the front of being a lot stronger then what I am and trying to be cynical because I thought it was pointless to try. But Lulu never thought that way despite all the stuff we went through, Luria, Irene and others. Then we met Casey and my perception changed more. Anytime, any day, we could just be gone without anything out of the ordinary out of place."

"So I decided I'm going to try to live, really live. As much as I can. That means I'm going have to try coming out of my shell a bit more."

Karman then turned to walk away. "We'll be waiting for you. Don't stay too long."

Without a word the other Sif began walking away. "Hm.." Moses took one last glance at the shrine and then followed.

An hour or so passed, before there was an insistent knocking at the door to the groups room. Umbra, Keiko and the others all immediately transformed to their Pokemon forms at this.

Moses was curious, it could be a danger but if it was the people after them they would have simply sneaked in while they slept instead of waking them up. Shrugging, he moved to the door to open it and peak out.

There was a man in a trench coat standing there, and smiled a bit. "Hello sir. I'm going door to door asking if anyone has seen someone I'm looking for." He held up a picture; it was from a surveillance camera, of a young woman walking down a street among a crowd. It was also Azumi. "Have you, or anyone with you, seen this young woman?" 

Moses shook his head. "No I haven't."

 Irene was silent as she watched the picture, she wasn't sure what to think. "I talked to them earlier, why are you looking for them?"

The man blinked, clearly not expecting the answer. "You... talked to her earlier? How much earlier, and do you know which direction she went?" He was clearly excited now.

"I'm not sure how long." Irene was only half truthful, she normally was bad at lying due to feeling bad except for when it came for what she percieved a threat potentially to a friend. "Who are you and why are you looking for them? She's a friend, I'm not just going to tell you where she is even if I actually knew without knowing anything about you."

The man frowned a bit. "Your 'friend', ma'am, is a fugitive. A criminal. I'm tracking her and her old allies so I can arrest them. If you know anything and are withholding it, that's obstruction of justice, which is also a crime."

"She's..a fugitive?" This actually drew Irene in a loop. What happened to her friend? She seemed like a good person so why was she in trouble? "I'm sorry. I really don't know where she is or even the direction she went. I just met her today, and me and my family have only been here less then a week. What did she do?"

Karman was silent but he honestly didn't much care for the cop, but they hadn't really done anything yet. It didn't mean he liked them, or trusted them.

The man didn't seem convinced, but didn't press the issue at the moment. "She's a former member of a group known as 'Team Plasma'. Have you heard of them?"

Irene paused, she had heard of them but at the same time not too much. "I have heard that name and they come from the Unova region, I think. I don't know what they did or anything about them besides."

The man sighed. "Team Plasma was... is, a group of people who claimed to be seeking to 'liberate' all pokemon from their trainers. Either by convincing them the pokemon wanted it, or by assaulting them and taking their pokemon away from them by force. They claimed that people were 'enslaving' pokemon and forcing them to fight. Except not only is that not the case, but their supposed cause was revealed to be a lie. Team Plasma's leader was a man named Ghettis, who actually was doing this so that he would be the only person with pokemon, so he could impose his rule upon others without a fight. It culminated in him taking control of the legendary pokemon, Kyurem. He was defeated, however, and most of Team Plasma scattered."

Irene was conflicted and troubled. Azumi was part of the group but what had she done during it? Had she known before hand about the true intentions. "Was it proven that the people below knew about the true intentions of Ghettis? And..if it is proven would the punishment be lighter? Also who defeated them?"

The man sighed. "Usually when a suspect runs for the hills, they aren't innocent. But no, no proof yet. I'm out to arrest her, not convict. Not until we know the story. Maybe she really did believe the cover story. Maybe she didn't. As for who defeated Ghettis... funnily enough, it was some kid who'd recently started sweeping through the Unova league, and managed to capture the legendary pokemon Zekrom. They took off looking for N, the son of Ghettis that had been used as his puppet, who had Reshiram."

Irene closed her eyes for a moment before opening them. "I honestly don't know where she is. I'm sorry I can't help you right now." It was a lot to take in. Did Azumi join knowing ahead of time? Had she been tricked? There were so many questions..

The man watched her for a minute, then nodded. "Alright.... alright." He held out a card. "If you find out anything, call this number. And do NOT do anything to help her evade authorities, understand? Maybe she's innocent, maybe she isn't, but if you get caught helping a wanted criminal, innocent or not, you'll be the one in trouble. Just be careful of that. I wish all of you a good night." He tipped his hat, and left them alone after that.

Once they left, Moses crossed his arms. "What do you intend to do Irene?"

The other Sif frowned a bit, looking the other way and out the window. "I don't know. I've only met Azumi one time today but..I just..don't think she's a bad person. I don't know her story or what she did exactly but I want to talk to her but.."

"But what?" Karman asked.

"..I'm not sure its a good idea.." Irene turned back tot hem. "If I try to find her to contact her, then it actually might put her at more risk. We're already being chased and if the people after us find out, she'll be a target. And if it turns out like I think with it being so black and white then I may lead her being caught I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I'm at a loss of what to do."

Karman nodded a bit. "We'll, whatever you decide we'll help you. You know that right?"

"Yes I do. Thank you."

Umbra and the others couldn't comment, they hadn't been there to meet Azumi; but they trusted Irene's judgement here.

Irene had a lot on her mind understandbaly at the moment. She was very tempted to call Azumi and check on her but decided against it for now. If it ever came the other way around though, she wouldn't ignore it. This was one of those situations she wasn't entirely sure of what to do. Typically Irene followed her heart but in times like these it was conflicted without knowing what was entirely correct.

If Luria was here she'd talk to her like she always had in situations like these but she wasn't and there no telling when she'd see her friend again.

So much in her thinking that Irene passed out on the couch going to sleep.

When Irene woke the next morning, she would find that Umbra had apparently taken his jacket off at some point and draped it over her to keep her warm. Umbra himself seemed to be asleep sitting against the wall, while the rest of the Pokemorphs seemed to have found their own places. Though Keiko had rather cutely cuddled up to Moses in her sleep, Minako close by. Kazumi and Rika were curled up in their Pokemon forms together nearby; Rika having spent most of her time last night acclimating Kazumi to things and trying to get her to trust Moses and the others more.

Irene woke a bit later, still feeling slightly groggy but out of habit she forced herself to wake. She noticed the jacket around her and quickly deduced it was from Umbra which made the young Sif rise from her spot. Everyone else, as far as she could tell was still asleep and Umbra who was normally up about now was as well.

Her eyes took in the others before after a long bit of hestiation, briefly kissed Umbra's cheek. "Thank you.." She whispered, though her cheeks were red as wine at the moment but at least everyone else was still knocked out.

Maybe she'd cook for everyone? Surely that would take her mind off things and help everyone else.

..On second thought, thinking about it, that probably wouldn't be a good idea.