Claude sat against the base of the tree, notebook in hand. He had let Prism and Zen out of their Pokeballs a few moments ago, the three of them taking a rest just before entering Santalune Forest. The trip to Aquacorde had been fun, though he hadn't expected it to take as long as it had. Now he had a full trip back to Ambrette ahead of him, though he was tempted to spend a little leisure time in Lumiose. He watched Prism hesitantly approach a tree full of nesting Spewpa. One of them, startled by her approach, began to spray powder, prompting the others to do likewise. Prism quickly backed away, careful to not get caught in the powder as it drifted to the ground.

Claude gave a small smile as the Tundra Pokemon came back to join him and Zen. He heard something vibrating in his pack, and noticed it was his Holo Caster. It was a message from Donavon back at the Lab. The smile leaving his face, he sighed. [I]What is it now?[/I] he thought. He clicked pressed a few buttons, and the blue light came on projecting the image of a man a few years older than Claude. He had a thin angular face and always seemed to look nervous. Topping his head was thick curly brown hair, though in the hologram it was hard to notice and just looked like a mass of messy hair. The recorded message he had sent began to play.

"We got word that you delivered the egg safely, Claude. Mr. Furse was glad to see something come out of leaving his Shieldon with us. Maybe this will help us convince him to let us hold on to them another year instead of taking them back at the end of the month." Claude snorted. That greedy paranoid old man was more likely to come in and take them back that very day to make sure they weren't keeping any eggs from him. "That said, some things have changed here while you were gone." Here the man's voice wavered, his already nervous demeanor growing noticeably less controlled. "We've been bought out," the Donavon said with a sigh. Claude's eyes widened in surprise. "You know we've been in debt for a while. The Blackbody Corporation came in and just bought us up. They're transferring a couple of us and shipping in a few new scientists, 'taking us a different direction'. Unfortunately, all unpaid staff will have to be let go... You've been a good help, put more effort into this than many. I uh... think they won't notice if one Pokemon disappears from the records."The man's eyes shifted quickly to the side, his face growing even more nervous. The speed and pitch of his voice picked, "Anyway, I hope you had a good trip. You're always welcome to drop by and visit though since you no longer work here we won't be able to bring you into the back. Itwasapleasureworkingwithyou!" The message stopped there. 

Claude stared confused at the now empty blue projection in front of him. Bought out? Just like that? He couldn't quite understand. He'd heard about the rapidly expanding Blackbody Corporation. They'd recently bought out the the Pewter City Museum over in Kanto. He supposed it made sense, but why would it make a difference to them who controlled the research? And why had Donavon seemed so nervous... or more nervous than usual? He supposed it was just the stress of transition. The Pewter Museum had belonged to the the Blackbody Corporation for a few months now and they hadn't seen any change, just a change in ownership. Still, what Donavon had said about a Pokemon disappearing from the records. Why? He looked up at Prism, who regarded him curiously. "Looks like you're gonna be sticking with us a little while longer," he said with a grim smile. 

About half an hour later, he stood up to start making his way through the forest when noticed a group of trainers approach. [i]Oh great,[/i] he thought as he returned Prism and Zen to their Pokeballs. The group seemed to be upset about something, as he'd heard a few of them yelling as they approached. He was tempted to ignore them but the sight of their Pokemon made his curiosity get the better of him. "Hey!" he called out as they approached. He realized the awkward pause this might create so he added, "Uh... where are you headed?"