The Pokéball I held in my hand was brand new. There were no scratches, there was no wear from age, and its red and white coloring was as bright as it could get. Inside was the unknown Pokémon granted to me as a prize for placing first in the Lily of the Valley Conference. The only way to see what it was was to go ahead and send it out.
“Come on out.”
Thick hands gripped something metal as the Pokémon coalesced from the Pokéball’s released light. A flap of hair bobbed as it turned up to look at me, a pair of eyes permanently stuck in a worried expression locking with my own.
Its lower lip had a square, tooth-like growth, exposed when it opened its mouth ever so slightly.
“Tink,” it said.
A small metal plate protecting its chest wiggled slightly when it moved.
“Hi there. I’m—”
“Tink,” it repeated.
My friendly attempt to lower myself to speak to it at eye level was completely ignored as it started to walk off towards the Pokémon League building. We were meeting for the first time in the gardens outside, the space purposefully chosen to ensure it didn’t feel trapped and afraid. However, it barely glanced my way before digging through the bushes. The item it was holding when it was sent out, a tiny metal hammer with a stone grip, was placed on the ground next to it as it hastily searched through.
An excited cry of “Tinka!” told me it managed to find something. Humming to itself, the Pokémon held up a metal screw. It grabbed its hammer before plopping into a seat on the ground, and it then proceeded to try to push the metal object into the face of its weapon.
Since the Pokémon was already so preoccupied, I sat as well and pulled out the small packet of papers I had been given about it and started to page through. I might not have known anything about whatever species it was, but I was still going to make sure I did my research now that it was here. There was a difference between training an unfamiliar Pokémon and being completely neglectful when giving care. I wanted to make sure it would be a happy member of the team.
A Tinkatink, hm?
Seems like the species has some kind of symbiotic relationship with its hammer, slowly building it up to use as a weapon. Once the hammer reaches a certain size, it’ll evolve, and the same will happen for Tinkatink’s final evolution, too.
As I read, Tinkatink finished attaching the screw and held up her weapon proudly. It now had a protruding nub on one end. She gave it a few practice swings before, satisfied, she started to run around to see if she could find more pieces of scrap metal in these gardens.
Since she seemed to be enjoying herself, I continued to skim through. However, one line made me gasp.
“Your final evolution is why Paldea doesn’t use Corviknight to travel?” I asked, surprised.
Tinkatink glanced my way, snorted, and went back to her digging.
As far as I could tell, Tinkatink’s evolutionary line was much like Onix and its evolution, strangely enough. She would attack primarily with the weight of metal rather than her physical strength. Tinkatink’s hammer would be her primary form of offense, upgrading that would be how she upgraded her attack. Honestly, I could see why this species was chosen for me after my open request. Tinkatink would require an entirely different way to train than I was used to.
But a Steel Type, hm? That gives me an idea.
“So Tinkatink,” I said. The Pokémon finally turned her head my way and cocked it to the side. “You’re interested in being on my team, right?”
Tinkatink stopped her digging to pick up her hammer once more. Her eyebrows pushed down slightly, making her now seem both worried and serious at the same time, and she gave me a determined nod.
“Tinkatink!” she declared.
I nodded in agreement.
“I’m Alex, I’m going to be your trainer to help you reach the peak of who you can be. I wanted you to demonstrate what moves you knew before we began, but what if I introduce another member of the team first? She’s part Steel Type, just like you.”
As I said that, Tinkatink’s mouth dropped open. She nodded her head happily, and I smiled. After pushing back up to my feet, I tossed forward a Heavy Ball, and Mawile appeared on the grassy field not too far away.
Tinkatink was already running forward before Mawile had been fully sent out. Mawile already knew she would be meeting Tinkatink today, as I had informed my team we would be meeting a new friend when I was getting changed, but it seemed that Mawile was still caught off guard. She didn’t want to hurt Tinkatink, but the action Tinkatink went through surprised both me and her.
The second Tinkatink saw Mawile, she eyed her jaws and leapt into her mouth.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
I ran forward to reach Tinkatink, firmly grabbing the small Pokémon by her exposed legs. They were short and stubby—she easily fit in a single hand—and I did my best to try to pull her out.
I was met with resistance. Mawile’s eyes were wide and uncomfortable. Tinkatink was grabbing onto a tooth that then snapped off with a pop.
Mawile winced. Tinkatink held her newly acquired tooth up in the air. She cheered as Mawile let out a low groan, not really out of pain (her species frequently lost and regrew teeth) but out of annoyance.
“Tinkatink,” I said. I placed Tinkatink on the ground and put a hand on my hip. Her cheering stopped when I held up a finger to scold her. “You can’t go after a Pokémon like that, especially if the Pokémon is on the same team. How would you feel if someone did that, and they took something like a hammer? That was both dangerous and irresponsible, and, not to mention, rude. If we’re going to work together, you need to apologize.”
I felt like I was talking to a child. Tinkatink’s appearance made her look young, almost like a toddler’s stuff toy. When I finished scolding her, she dipped her head, and the two objects she held in her hands now hung at her side.
She walked over to Mawile, dragging them along the floor.
“Tink tinka...” she said softly.
Tinkatink held up the tooth as if she was offering it back. Mawile gained a thin smile, and after another uncomfortable glance my way, held up a hand to decline Tinkatink’s offer but still accepted her apology.
That made Tinkatink perk up. She then started to run away with a smile. The sight made me sigh, as it now became clear she didn’t mean her apology at all.
“You know what? Let’s have a battle.” Tinkatink stopped to turn her head back my way. “I need to learn how you fight and use your moves, so instead of just showing them to me out here, let’s see how you use them in an actual fight. I’ll send out the weakest member of the team, and you’ll try to beat them. How does that sound? Are you willing to give it a shot?”
Tinkatink didn’t even need to think, immediately nodding her head. The sight made me smile, as it signaled a willingness to train.
She swung around her hammer as I stepped next to Mawile. Tinkatink hardly noticed when I bent down to whisper.
“I’m sorry. I should have seen that coming.”
Mawile shrugged, but I could tell she was a little hurt. Emotionally, that is. Her jaws didn’t experience much pain from something as simple as losing a single tooth.
“But, I’m thinking of sending out Togepi. What do you think? Will Tinkatink win?”
Mawile took one look at the distracted Pokémon before snickering to herself softly. Tinkatink hadn't been trained yet, but Togepi had. When compared to Togepi, well, Togepi might have been young, but she’d been training with a team that ended up winning the Lily of the Valley Conference.
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Tinkatink modified her hammer to use Mawile’s tooth as a handle instead of a chunk of stone. She had a chunk of steel on one end with the head of the screw sticking out like a nub. It definitely was a weapon, but I wasn’t sure why she wanted Mawile’s tooth of all things.
Mawile’s jaws were actually a set of metal horns that formed a usable mouth. They had to be shaved down sometimes to ensure proper growth, so I would have assumed Tinkatink would have tried to obtain something like that. After all, Mawile’s teeth weren’t even metal. Was it just because the tooth came from a Steel Type?
When Tinkatink finished making sure her hammer wouldn’t break, we moved out away from the building to get a little more space for ourselves. A flat patch of grass would serve as our battlefield, and the Pokémon with me on my team would serve as an audience.
Mawile, Ninetales, Florges, and Rapidash stood off to the side. Togepi stood on the field, facing Tinkatink.
I wouldn’t be giving Togepi any commands, serving as a referee instead. Since I was now the trainer for both of them, it didn’t make any sense to give one side an advantage. Because of that, this served as both a way for Tinkatink to get introduced to the team while also giving Togepi a chance to test her own battling skills.
“The fight will be to the first knockdown, and Tinkatink, we’ll begin when you decide to move. Both of you, get ready.”
The tiny Pokémon’s mouth pressed together in a curved line, and she quickly started towards Togepi. She was clearly running, but her stumpy legs made it almost seem like a controlled stumble rather than a run. Her hammer bobbed up and down in one hand as she slowly made her way towards Togepi, where her grip tightened on the hammer and she gave it a swing.
Togepi had a friendly smile on her face, but it was clear she was ready to go. She didn’t have her King’s Rock since it was a bit too large to fit on her head. So, when Tinkatink swung, Togepi didn’t react to defend herself, merely hunkering down and letting the hammer hit her shell.
The attack hit Togepi and bounced off her body. Tinkatink blinked, surprised, then glanced over to her hammer in confusion. Togepi had lowered herself slightly to brace for the impact, but she now stood back up and stared Tinkatink in the eye.
“That was Rock Smash. Fairy resists Fighting. It was a decent choice if you were going for the move’s defense drop, but it wasn’t if you were trying to deal damage. We’ll work on Type matchups later,” I said.
Tinkatink nodded and turned back to the fight. The second she did, Togepi punched her in the face.
It was brutal. I winced, but Ninetales cheered with surprising bloodlust from the edge. Togepi followed up her Pound attack with another swing, but Tinkatink was able to hurriedly bring up her weapon to block.
If Azumarill was here, she’d be so proud.
Tinkatink was a Fairy and Steel Type, so Togepi’s attacks weren’t actually that effective. The Pound had caught Tinkatink off guard, but it didn’t actually deal that much damage. Still, the difference in experience made itself clear as Togepi repeatedly swung her stubby arms right at Tinkatink. Pound after Pound hit her hammer, then it was finally knocked aside and a punch was aimed right at her shoulder.
Then, Togepi hesitated. Tinkatink looked at her with wide, pleading eyes.
Good use of Baby-Doll eyes. I’d compliment her, but that’d unfairly reveal the trick to Togepi.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The corner of Tinkatink’s mouth quirked up into a smirk as she used the delay to swing down with her weapon. It glowed with Steel Type energy, a move that would be super effective if it landed.
Metal Claw? Weird that it can work on a hammer like that. I would have thought it was limited to claws, I guess.
Just like the punch, the Metal Claw didn’t land. Togepi sent Tinkatink her own pleading expression, except this one was much more pleading and cuter.
“That was Charm,” I identified.
Tinkatink’s eyes widened just in time to finally suffer another punch to the face.
With Togepi landing her move, Tinkatink stumbled back and rubbed her mouth. She looked annoyed, especially since she was effectively losing a match to a baby Pokémon only using a Normal Type move. She brought up her hammer as her hand glowed light blue. Ice formed over the weapon, causing it to grow and grow until it was twice its usual size.
I heard Ninetales cheer again from the side. Florges let out a gasp and looked away.
Personally, I only knew the move since it was mentioned as a potential attack in Tinkatink’s pamphlet. She was a member of one of the few species that could learn it, and it was an incredibly powerful attack.
The full force of the Ice Hammer swung down at Togepi, the wind almost whistling as the ice made its descent. Togepi looked scared, and her eyes briefly glanced over to Rapidash. There was no physical or audible signal, but he had sent Togepi something. Out of nowhere, she crashed into Tinkatink.
The Ice Hammer never landed since Togepi managed to hit first. Tinkatink was knocked to the ground, and her hammer was sent careening off to land a foot away.
“When did you learn Double-Edge?!”
Rapidash whinied. My question was answered. As a Pokémon who knew the move since he hatched, it made sense he would try to teach it to her.
Still, that’s a risky move to teach a baby Pokémon. I’m surprised Togepi handled the recoil so well.
As I said that, Togepi winced and rubbed her shoulder.
I called the match in Togepi’s favor, as Tinkatink was now on the ground. Tinkatink let her head fall back to the ground as she let out a pained and annoyed groan.
Tinkatink looked... unhappy. She gazed up at the wide, blue sky with her mouth curved down into a frown. She stayed there for a few moments until suddenly her eyes widened with fear, and she moved to scramble up to recover her hammer.
Togepi was waiting for her, Tinkatink’s mallet in hand. She had a smile on her face and easily held it forward. Tinkatink stared, as if shocked Togepi would so willingly give it back, before she reached out and carefully retrieved the weapon from Togepi’s outstretched hands.
“Tink,” she said as thanks.
Togepi smiled and chirped happily.
With the battle over, both Florges and Rapidash rushed forward to ensure both Pokémon were healed up. Ninetales moved in as well, most likely wanting to know more about Ice Hammer.
The sight of my team talking filled me with joy, and Tinkatink stood with her hammer gripped tightly and looked around, surprised that so many Pokémon were willing to talk to her. She needed this battle to see that we were serious about training, and she needed to learn she couldn’t just do what she wanted. We were a team, and this was the start of what I hoped would be a drive to improve her own strength.
The only thing missing was Mawile, who was still standing at the side of the field.
“You know, Tinkatink’s here to stay,” I said to Mawile. “I know she started off on the wrong foot, but she’ll learn what she did was wrong. Are you willing to give her a second chance?”
Mawile hesitated, but she still nodded and walked forward. Tinkatink saw her coming and apologized again, this time actually looking like she meant it.
The rest of the day was spent getting to know Tinkatink and her known moves, and that night we went to bed early before packing up for our trip tomorrow. It was time to return to Hoenn.
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Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh were all located in roughly the same part of the world, the group of them essentially being the equivalent of Japan. Sinnoh and Hoenn were on opposite lateral sides, so I ended up taking a plane to ensure I’d make good time.
Unlike my last few flights, it was actually a short trip. It took only a few hours to arrive, which was the perfect length of time for a quick nap.
My Pokémon's Pokéballs were loaded up into a case, and all of my possessions were stuffed into my backpack. It would have been nice to have a place to properly store them, but I was still borrowing a room from Sycamore to store the larger stuff.
When it was time to land, the rumble of the plane woke me up, and I began to stretch to work out all of the kinks from sitting down for so long. My backpack was brought back up into my lap, and I prepared to stand up to disembark.
That's when I noticed a note flutter down from my lap. When I picked it up and read it, I realized it was meant for me.
"Take off any identifying clothes and leave the plane with a disguise. Your personal tutor will be waiting for you to arrive. Find them."
Mysterious.
Looking around, no one was paying me any mind. I had been asleep for a while, and my Pokémon were put away, so there was no way to tell where or when this note had been placed on me. I would have been inclined to think it fake, as it did seem rather suspicious, but the fact that it specifically mentioned a personal tutor spoke of its validity.
Only the Pokémon League really knew I was going to receive one. It was either related, or there was a major leak in the Pokémon League’s security and there were more pressing things to worry about.
The plane landed, and people began to file down the aisle. I used this moment to switch around my outfit. I couldn't take off my pants or shirt in public, but I could at least remove my jacket and throw on one of the more touristy shirts I'd obtained in Sinnoh. I'd get a little hot wearing two shirts at once, especially with Hoenn being much warmer than the northern Sinnoh, but it’d work well enough as a disguise.
I was one of the last passengers off the plane due to my hastily changed outfit. I had a pair of sunglasses over my eyes, which actually let me blend in quite well with how many people here were dressed to go to a beach. My Pokémon’s Pokéballs were taken out of the case and slipped into my pocket, purposefully being kept hidden to help disguise who I was. Not being an obvious Pokémon trainer would make it harder to recognize me.
The note changed how I thought I’d feel when I left the plane. Initially, I had been excited to go to Hoenn and visit with friends. Now it seemed as though whoever was going to train me next month had other plans. This wasn't just a walk through an airport. This was a mission.
I kept my eyes scanning the crowds as I moved towards the exit. My backpack hung off my shoulder in a careless way I wouldn't normally do. A long escalator brought me and the rest of the new arrivals to the exit, and there, I could see signs written in a large font to catch the attention of specific people.
One sign was simple and written in a Fairy Type pink. "ALEX," it said.
I took a step towards it, paused momentarily, then decided to walk past.
Why have me wear a disguise if they were just going to pick me up so obviously? If I was wrong, I was wrong. If I was right...
This was a test.
The airport in Ever Grande was attached to a short road that led to the city proper. Most people walked, but a few taxis and other cars idled on the side of the road. Flying Type Pokémon weren't allowed so close to the airport without proper permits, but Pokémon that moved quickly along the ground, like Rapidash and Arcanine, were sent out and mounted up to serve as a ride.
I kept my eyes peeled as I moved behind a pillar. I greeted Gardevoir when I sent him out.
"Feeling fine after the flight?"
"Garde."
Gardevoir nodded and stretched his arms much in the same way I had done earlier. His eyes were wide with interest as he looked around. Hoenn was a completely new region for him, and I had purposefully brought him with me to let him memorize areas to Teleport to in the future. Right now though, I had a more pressing concern.
"I got a note," I said. Gardevoir hummed softly, listening along. "It didn't state my name, but it implied I'd get a personal tutor, which made me think it was actually real. It said I have to find whoever is going to teach me. See anyone suspicious?"
Gardevoir closed his eyes, and the red horn on his chest glowed. We lingered behind the pillar for several minutes before he opened his eyes and pointed something out.
Cars were rare. They still existed, but in the Pokémon world, cities were either walkable or had better options. The few taxis that had shown up had already left, except for one that seemed to be purposefully staying on the side of the curb.
"You think it's them?" I asked.
Gardevoir pressed his lips together, but he still nodded. I took that to mean a "probably" rather than a guarantee.
"I'll check it out. Thank you."
He smiled as I returned him, and I walked back out from the pillar. Casually, I approached the taxi to open the side door, hesitating a moment to see if the driver would talk.
"You Robin?"
Close enough.
"Yeah."
"Get in. I'm bringing you to your hotel."
I closed the door behind me, buckled my seatbelt, and the car drove off. It was surprisingly quiet for what I was used to.
"So. First time in Hoenn?"
"What? Oh, uh, no. I've been here before."
"Business or pleasure?"
"Both, I guess," I said. "Still figuring out the business part."
The driver hummed, and I tried to see if I could recognize him. He just seemed to be a random guy, as far as I could tell.
"For me, I've lived in Hoenn my whole life,” he said. “Done odd jobs here and there. Decided to buy this car recently, in the end. It's nice to be able to ferry around so many different people. Never know who you're gonna meet!"
He laughed, and I awkwardly nodded along. I couldn't think of anything to add as he drove along.
The rest of the ride felt awkward and uncomfortable. The driver would ask me a question, and I would give a half-answer laced with truth to not give anything away. He always hummed each time, as if he was thinking about the specific words that I said.
He ended up pulling up to the front of an average-looking hotel. It was fancy in the way every other hotel tried to look fancy, and I stepped out onto a carved stone path.
"That'll be twenty-two seven," he said.
I grumbled slightly as I paid him the cash before starting to walk away.
"Hold up! You forgot something."
"Huh?"
I still had my backpack, and my Pokémon's Pokéballs were still in my pocket. That was everything I brought with me, which made me question why he handed me a card. More specifically, he handed me a room card.
"It'd be pretty bad if you lost this. Be more careful next time, huh?"
I silently took the card, digesting his words. That last sentence almost seemed to be a warning, rather than a casual quip.
He drove off after, and I moved into the hotel. The room card listed a room that I then followed the signs to locate.
The door clicked when I swiped the card. A dark room lay before me, its lights off and furniture completely untouched.
“Hello?” I called out.
There was no response, so I walked further in.
"That was decent, but it could have been improved,” a woman’s voice said.
The door slammed behind me, the lights turned on, and I yelped. Ninetales released herself from her Premier Ball.
Standing behind me was a completely inconspicuous woman. She wore gray sweats and a jacket as if she were on a casual walk, and she looked so average my eyes seemed to want to slip off of her.
"It was obvious you initially intended to meet up with the sign with your name, and standing behind the pillar for so long was pretty suspicious. What you should have done was released Rapidash—I know you have him on you—and got on his back like you were about to leave. No one would have thought someone getting ready to leave was suspicious, and he would have easily identified me through the crowd."
The woman moved forward to sit on the bed. Ninetales had her head lowered ready to attack, but the woman hadn’t made any hostile moves. She smirked lightly when she sat down.
"Not going to question why Rapidash would have identified me and not Gardevoir? Well, the answer is simple. The difference between Rapidash and Gardevoir is that he's sensed me before."
“Oh,” I said, “I know you.”
Her comment finally let me put her face to a name even though her nondescript outfit was almost the exact opposite of what she usually would wear. She didn’t have on her classic Alolan dress, nor did she have any flowers in her hair, but it was pretty easy to see that this was Phoebe, a Ghost Type specialist and member of Hoenn's Elite Four.
"Wait, you're going to be my tutor?"
"Yup!" Her voice was cheery and amused. "Anyone could have taught you how Ace Trainers are supposed to act, but it takes someone special to teach you what you actually need to know."
"And what is that?" I asked suspiciously.
"Infiltration. Information security.”
My mouth opened to respond, but it stopped when a chill entered the air. Ninetales's fur stood on end as the room's temperature noticeably plummeted. Around Phoebe, shadows shot out to move around the room. Spots of darkness covered the walls and ran across the ceiling. She held up a finger to signal me to wait until she gave the all clear.
They all coalesced underneath her own feet.
"No one is listening. Let's continue,” she said. “My role here is to train you as an Ace Trainer, but more specifically, to train you to not let that potential fall to the wayside. Fairy Types are tricksters, Alex, and I want you to be able to make the full use of that trait.”
“How? Wait, no. Why? I don’t infiltrate, and I don’t think having meta-knowledge helps me with information security. I’m a Fairy Type specialist, not some kind of special super spy.”
Phoebe snorted and stood back up from the bed. From where the edges of its sheets hung off the side, a pair of red eyes appeared before quickly fading away.
“I think you could be,” Phoebe said. “And before you try to counter me, let’s actually go through your achievements—your actual achievements, not the ones someone with a strong team in the right place could have done.”
Phoebe held up a hand and started to count on her fingers.
“One: You pretended to be a Team Magma grunt to rescue a news station from terrorists. Two: You managed to mislead Lysandre into not thinking of you as a threat for months. Three: You managed to leak information about Mega Evolution and convince the right people to make sure no one else would track you down. Four: You spent an entire Contest season pretending to be someone else until a dramatic reveal in the grand finale. And five: You kept your source of information about this world a secret without anyone putting the clues together. So yeah, I think I have the right person.”
Phoebe lowered her hand and patted the bed. I was a little wary of how many ghosts she now had hidden around the room, but I still moved to do as she said. Ninetales hopped up as well.
“For an expert planner that took down a team of Legendary Pokémon, you can be really dumb sometimes,” Phoebe said. “You have a skillset that would let you become one of the very best. Put that Fairy Type mindset to proper use.”
Ninetales sniffed then nudged me, as if to make me recognize the validity of Phoebe’s words. I sighed out of frustrated acceptance.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll believe what you’re saying. But if this is to have me infiltrate a criminal group, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in the job description. Does the League really want me to do that stuff?”
“What? No, of course not,” Phoebe said. “The League doesn’t know I plan on doing this.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Cynthia’s proposal was accepted,” Phoebe replied. “Details are still being hashed out, but you and a few others will carry the authority of a high-ranking League official while you go through your journeys. It’s not expected for you to actually keep the role up for a long time—this will be a job where trainers are constantly rotated in and out—but you should have the abilities to back up whatever you end up doing.
“I volunteered to train you like this since Ghost Types aren’t too dissimilar to Fairy Types. They’re tricksters, at least, most of them, and I’m an expert at manipulating people into acting the way I want. For this, I want to make sure you can do the same. I can imagine it could be useful for everything you get up to.”
“I didn’t plan on encountering so many criminals!”
Phoebe gave me a blank look. I crossed my arms and refused to mention my wish to go to Alola despite its problems not being solved.
“Fine. How do we begin?”
Phoebe smiled, and she began to pace back and forth between the walls of the room. My and Ninetales’s heads followed her.
“Personally, I think people learn the best when they’re thrown right into it. By day, you’ll work on that, and by night, I’ll train you in the stuff Ace Trainers are expected to know. You’ll have Sundays off, and I have a task I want you to complete that won't start until next week. I’ll note that your training will last a bit longer than normal if we want to get proper results.”
“I guess that’s fine,” I said.
Alola’s season wouldn’t begin until November, anyway. It was currently mid April.
“Great! Then your task is this: find the person who’s infiltrated the Devon corporation, and capture them before they leak anything more about you.”
Phoebe said that so sunny and cheerfully that it took me several seconds to actually process her words.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you remember when the reporter from Pokémon Worldwide asked you about your background? Of course you do. There’s someone she mentioned that made me suspicious: the anonymous source that confirmed you weren’t part of the Draconid Tribe. Normally the League doesn’t chase down whistleblowers, since they serve as a vanguard against corruption, but this one represents a threat against you as a person, and a rather malicious one at that. I’m still trying to piece together who it is, myself, but I know for a fact that they’re currently working for Devon.”
“Does Steven know?” I asked. My head was spinning from her rant.
“Ehh.” Phoebe wobbled a hand back and forth. “He has an inkling of what I’m doing, but we operate on a strictly need-to-know basis. If he ever found out the person I’m looking for is in Devon?”
Phoebe shuddered, and then she chuckled slightly. I didn’t enjoy the tension that entered the room after that.
“I guess I’m infiltrating a company, then,” I said. “How is this going to work?”
I was pointed to this hotel room’s bathroom, where a few clothes were laid out. Several plastic strips that matched the color of my skin sat next to them on the counter. Phoebe walked up next to me, looked in, and nodded to herself as she did.
“First, we’ll get your makeup skills up to par. Then we’ll do acting, and by then, internship applications will have started. You’ll pretend to be someone else, land a role in the company, and you’ll have the position to find out more information from there.”
Phoebe patted me on the back as I looked into the mirror. Her mouth was locked into a cheshire grin.
“It’ll be fun, Alex! We’ll have a blast. After all, what could go wrong?”