155 EPISODE 45: He has Returned!*

Grooming my Pokemons calmly, forgetting the anger and pain for a moment while I think of positive thoughts to soothe the resentment both Ebony and Professor Violet have brought upon me. Although, being calm and tranquil currently, the urge to battle them again has not left my mind.

My Pokemons' grooming session is my mental session for me. A time where I remain silent, thinking about my thoughts, and even sometimes I talk to myself, recalling all those memories of either happiness, sadness, and sometimes I cringe after recalling embarrassing moments.

Sometimes, I imagine knights battling one another as I groom my Pokemon, or queens and kings, gods, and goddesses fighting over something such as jewelry crowns or magical spheres and balls. I love to play with my imagination from time to time as I silently groom them.

This time, however, the thing that struck my imagination the most is how to defeat Ebony and Violet. I must defeat them, I promised to avenge Xavier. I thought of strategies, and most of them, believe me, were completely... Oh, what's the word to describe it? Ah, completely idiotic.

I need to enhance me and my Pokemon's battling skills even if I don't like battling. I am a combat agent, but without Cliff's teachings and lectures, my knowledge when it comes to Pokemon battling wouldn't sharpen.

My skills are as those of an average trainer, not quite good and not quite bad either. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I've learned from my experiences in missions and operations back in my early days as a plain agent of Team Rocket. I also remember some of Cliff's teachings, and of course, listed them down in my handy dandy Pokemon notes app in my Rotom-phone.

As Virgo reads her books, cuddling her Pokemons tightly as they read with her, while in the meantime, my Pokemons' grooming session continues, we hear someone, knocking on the doors rapidly. I stand up from my bed, opening the doors to see who would be knocking.

"Please knock more gently next time." I bid, sighing afterward. Who could it be? It's no other than Charlotte who seems jolly and rambunctious today.

"Guess who has arrived!"

"You."

"No, not here, on the island. You know what? I'll just keep it a surprise, come on!" Charlotte clenches the palms of my hands as she drags me once more through the halls of the tower. It somewhat reminds me of the time she did the same thing every morning back in Giovanni Industries, when both of us were still roommates.

"Virgo, I'll be back in a jiffy!" I utter with the loudest voice I could possibly emit as Charlotte drags me further from the room. I was not even given the slightest chance to close the door of our room, and hopefully, Virgo has heard my words.

"This better be good! My Pokemons need to be groomed."

"Of course it is! Hurry!" Charlotte looks to me, flashing her toothy smile.

The chase continues until finally me and Charlotte reaches the penthouse, wherein the helicopter pad is located there. There, I see the executives talking to a man with a height more than theirs. His complexion is fair, and his beard is brown and familiar.

His black hat seems familiar to me. My mind tries to process his looks, and that's when I've noticed it was Cliff all along. A pillar has been rescued, my only favorite pillar since Arlo was a traitor and Sierra's strict nature is too much to bear. Seeing him brings a smile to my face as I jolt to interrupt their conversation.

"Pillar Cliff!" I call from the distance, smiling at him with relief.

"Oh my, Luna. You are here as well." Cliff smiles back, rubbing my messy bun hair.

"Cliff is known to be the last pillar of Team Rocket," Ariana says.

"What happened to Sierra?" I query.

"Well, we couldn't find her location no matter how much we tried. As luck would have it, Cliff's location was found by one of our radars." Archer of the executives reply.

"Sigh, she was probably detained in another region far from Kanto and Johto. Sad to say, our radars only circle the two said regions." Proton adds.

"So Luna, I've heard you've been promoted into an elite operative? I expect your battling skills to be profound and genuine, better than mine I presume." Cliff assumes, continuing to wiggle my hair.

"Not quite, sir. I've failed two missions recently, and I am in need of your assistance." I respond back with honesty yet with an embarrassed look on my face.

"Don't worry, we'll battle when I have the time. For now, I want to rest from all this stress back in the tower. I remember fighting Bruno, and it was quite harsh. As for Charlotte, I am glad to see you again."

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad to see you too." Charlotte smiles widely.

Virgo comes afterward from behind, curious about Cliff since this is her first time to meet a pillar personally. According to her, she was curious about me and Charlotte so she decided to follow us a minute after Charlotte dragged me rambunctiously through the corridors.

"This is Cliff, he's the combat pillar of Team Rocket. He's extremely amazing when it comes to Pokemon Battling!" Charlotte introduces.

"Hi... Hi there. My name is Virgo" Virgo greets with timidity, shaking Cliff's large hands.

"So, Virgo, that's your name. I assume you're an agent?"

"Technically she is. We have decided to promote her as an agent in order to work with Charlotte and Luna. Luna is a combat agent, Charlotte falls under the Neuro category and as for Virgo, she is a stealth agent." Petrel replies to Cliff's question.

Could this day get any better? Cliff has restored my hope that one day I'll be able to defeat Ebony. As long as I train with him, my skills when it comes to Pokemon Battling will develop and enhance furthermore. So far, he is one of the very few people I trust in this organization aside from the executives, the professor, and my friends.