A man in a dark trench coat labored in a dark room, working on a piece of machinery. The only light came from the occasional spark of wires, Illuminating his visored face.
He only paused when a ringing was heard.
He reached into his pocket, and withdrew a PokeNav.
The voice on the other end wasted no time on pleasantries.
"Is it done?"
"Wrapping it up now."
"And the Pokemon?"
"Snagged, bagged, and tagged. Just need the guys at home base to process them."
"Excellent. We have a new job for you."
"No rest for the wicked, huh?"
"You are the closest agent, barring your partner."
"Fair enough. What's the job?"
"Alola has a Champion."
"I see. Terms of engagement?"
"That is at your discretion… or lack thereof."
"That's what I like to hear. Retriever out."
The man snapped the Pokenav shut, made a few more adjustments to the machine, and walked out. As he did so, a hovering motorcycle, sans wheels, swerved to a stop. Between the riding leathers and the enclosed biker's helmet, the identity of the rider was impossible to determine, apart that it was female.
"New job, Spotter. Hope you packed your swimsuit...and not just because I like seeing you in it." The man said by way of greeting.
The rider shook her head in exasperation.
"Get on. By the way, aren't you forgetting something?" She replied.
"Nope." The man said, as he pushed a button on his Pokenav.
The building behind him was consumed by a fireball. Not bothering to observe his handiwork, the man mounted the bike, behind the rider, and they took off.
Solomon, or Sol to his friends (and just about everyone else), was, for once, in his own bed. After winning the championship, not to mention running around after Ultra Beasts, he felt he deserved to sleep in.
His Pokedex rang.
Apparently, some cosmic power disagreed.
"Message from the International Police!" His Pokedex announced.
Or just Looker.
"Ugh, Five more minutes…" Sol complained, rolling over.
"Sorry Sol, but it sounded urgent." His Rotom-possessed pokedex apologized.
"Fine."
Sol got up, grabbed his bag, and headed out the door, the need to get dressed eliminated by the fact he didn't bother getting changed before bed, he was run so ragged by the Ultra Beasts.
A mere few feet away from his doorstep, he stopped.
A short way down the road, there was a man in a dark trench coat and a visor covering the top portion of his face.
No one dressed like that in Alola, it was far too humid. But the man seemed perfectly comfortable. And the man was looking straight at him.
Wordlessly, the man approached, withdrawing two pokeballs.
Sol got the hint, and withdrew his own pokeballs, and begun what his friend Hau called "The Victory Juggle". Sol had a strange stratagem, that many... more conventional trainers would call completely counter-productive.
Sol had a tendency to hold all six pokeballs in his arms at once, and continually roll and 'juggle' them. Many argued this made it more difficult to keep track of which pokemon was which, and couldn't keep a good grip on the balls. But then again, Many weren't Champion. Sol was. And he would show this stranger why.
The stranger threw the two balls at once. A momentary grimace was the only indication Sol gave that he was confused. He'd fought in double battles, but never against one person.
But he could improvise.
The stranger's pokeballs opened, revealing a Heracross and a Feraligatr.
Sol quickly tossed out his two pokemon, without one pause or hitch in his 'juggle'.
The first, to deal with the Heracross, was his Noivern, Drac.
The second, to deal with the Feraligatr, his Vikavolt, Buggzappa.
"Drac, Hurricane, Heracross. Buggzappa, Thunderbolt, Feraligatr." Sol ordered.
The Pokemon obeyed, The Heracross going down when faced with it's double weakness, but the more sturdy Crocodile pokemon endured the Thunderbolt.
In response, the Feraligatr hit Drac with an Ice Beam, causing the dragon to shriek, and Sol to wince in sympathy. Drac was a tough Pokemon, but he couldn't take much more of that. Thankfully, he had a plan, which was helped by the opponent sending out another pokemon, this time a Mamoswine.
"Drac, U-turn, Mamoswine. Buggzappa, Volt Switch, Feraligatr."
The pokemon complied, the second electric attack finally downing the Water pokemon.
This is where the 'Juggle' came into play. By keeping the balls constantly moving, he could swap pokemon much faster than normal.
As such, he got his pokemon out of a bad matchup, and the reinforcements into play before his opponent could react.
And Tyberos, his Golisopod, loved making a good First Impression. Especially in his opponent's face, using his fist.
As such, the Mamoswine was struck twice before it could act. Surprised, it used the Ice Fang technique it intended to use on Drac on Tyberos instead, who shrugged it off.
Despite being sent out at the same time, Yuki, Sol's Alolan-variant Ninetales, was much slower to react, not having an 'entrance move' like Tyberos did.
The stranger smiled, before sending out his next pokemon, a Metagross.
Sol winced. That was not a good matchup for Yuki.
But, he had a trick up his sleeve.
"Tyberos, Liquidation, Mamoswine. Yuki, Dark Pulse."
The combined assault was too much for the wounded Mamoswine to handle, and it fainted.
Tyberos was hit by the Dark Pulse as well, causing his 'Emergency Exit'...ability to make itself known, and he fled into his pokeball.
In exchange, Sol sent out his Salazzle, Komoda.
While hurt by the Dark Pulse, the Metagross didn't go down. In revenge, it punched the fox with a giant metal fist.
Meteor Mash, A high powered Steel move. Sol realized. The Ninetales was instantly rendered unconscious.
Both Sol and the newcomer sent in reinforcements, The newcomer sent in a Tropius, and Sol sent in Awei, a Dhelmise.
I wish I had Yuki to deal with that Tropius, but it looks like Komoda will have to do. Sol thought.
"Awei, Shadow Ball, Metagross. Komoda, Flamethrower, Tropius." Please let Awei be faster than the Metagross…
The Salazzle went first, injuring the long-necked grass-type. In retaliation, it stomped the ground, causing the earth to shake uncontrollably. By the time Sol regained his balance, Komoda was down.
The Grass/Flying type knew EARTHQUAKE!?
That was something Sol would do himself… but few others did.
Fortunately, Awei, was not only mostly unharmed, but it successfully launched a Shadow Ball at the Metagross, downing it.
Both trainers sent in new pokemon to replace their casualties.
The opponent sent in a Tyranitar, while Sol sent in Buggzappa again.
"Buggzappa, X-Scissor, Tropius. Awei, Anchor Shot, Tyranitar."
The pokemon did as ordered, bringing the Tropius down.
Awei's anchor shot out, and pierced the Tyranitar's Rock-hard hide. It roared in fury, and bit down hard on Awei in retaliation.
Sol could hear the crunch from where he stood, and winced.
He returned the now-unconscious ghost, and sent out Tyberos in its place. It promptly punched the Tyranitar upon exiting the Pokeball, but it wasn't very effective.
"Buggzappa, Energy Ball. Tyberos, Liquidation."
The Tyranitar went down under the combined assault, before it had a chance to retaliate.
After returning the downed Pokemon to it's ball, the opponent gave the first unironic use of the 'slow clap' that Sol had ever heard.
"Congratulations on the win. I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to wipe my team. Put up a good fight, yes. TPK me, no."
"Sorry about that." Sol said sarcastically.
The stranger shook his head.
"Are you kidding? This is even better."
That made Sol suspicious.
"What do you want from me?"
"To offer you a job. That was the… entrance exam, to see if you were qualified."
"What sort of...job?" Sol asked, even more cautious. This sounded anything but legit.
"Well, to do what you did yesterday with the Ultra Beasts, basically. Bail Interpol out of the fire when they bite off more than they can chew. Which is...all the time, really."
"And they're okay with this." Sol said, not believing it for a second.
"Of course. Looker even called you to arrange a formal meeting. But I decided this was quicker, and every second I have to listen to the cops shill you propaganda is a second I'm not ogling my partner, who is presently in a bikini."
There was no way he could have known about Looker's message, except if he was telling the truth. Or, if he was the one causing the problems Looker needed help with. That still left how he knew about the Ultra Beasts, though...
Sol decided to keep the guy talking.
"You openly admit to ogling your partner?"
"Well, yeah. We've been dating for the past couple years, it'd be weird if I didn't check her out."
"What's your name?" Sol asked, disappointed that line of questioning didn't go anywhere.
"When I'm working, it's Retriever, since I specialize in… re-acquiring stolen Pokemon. When it's just us, it's Wes."
"Mine is Solomon, or Sol if that's too much of a mouthful."
"I know. I did my homework on the trip here."
"Is that how you knew about the Ultra Beasts?"
"That and the evacuations were all over the news."
That response actually made Sol feel as if this was legit. After all, a liar would have latched on to the excuse and not let go.
"Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, if Looker corroborates your story."
"Great! The hotel's right next to the beach I left Rui at, so I'll see if I can't talk her into letting me rub lotion on her back while you talk with Looker."
"...Couldn't you at least pretend to be professional?"
"Kid, if I wasn't a professional, I would be on the beach right now."
AN: LOOKING FOR BETA! PM ME IF INTERESTED!
Basically, A lot of my problems with getting content out in a timely manner is a combination of two things: I tend to second-guess myself a lot, and as a result I sometimes leave a mostly completed chapter unposted for a good long while, because it's "not good enough" to post, but I can't figure out how to 'fix' it. The second is when a chapter goes unwritten because while I know how the chapter after it is supposed to go, fleshing out the one that goes before that I get writer's block on. Simply put, I need someone to bounce ideas off of, or at the very least tell me when I'm being paranoid. Sadly, no one I know IRL is a member of the Fanfiction Community, and as a result, I can't go to them with these problems and get a educated response. So, if you don't mind helping me with this, please don't hesitate to PM.
AN2:AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITY!
While Sol's main team is already named, Wes' and other recurring trainers' (Who haven't been introduced yet) pokemon all could use some names. While I could do this myself, I figured I'd do things a bit differently, and give you reviewers the opportunity to give them names you like. Nothing too...tactless, please.
For those of you who don't want to pick through the chapter for the pokemon he has, here's a list.
Wes' Pokemon
Metagross
Tropius
Mamoswine
Heracross
Tyranitar
Feraligatr
And for Reference…
Solomon's Pokemon
Golisopod (Tyberos)
Salazzle (Komoda)
Vikavolt (Buggzappa)
Alolan Ninetales (Yuki)
Dhelmise (Awei)
Noivern (Drac)
Bonus Points if anyone gets the meaning/joke behind the Pokemon names I've already given. (Buggzappa doesn't count.)
AN3: SOL'S 'JUGGLING'
It's not juggling per say, it means Sol's doing his best to keep the pokeballs moving. The reason he does so is, as you could see from his battle with Wes, he has a 'bait-and-switch" fighting style, reliant in swapping pokemon quickly. By 'juggling', Sol can have the ball containing the pokemon's replacement in the air by the time the previous one has retreated. This helped in obtaining his victory against Wes, as Wes' pokemon couldn't keep up, they were trying to fight the previous opponent when the next opponent was on the field.
AN4: FIRST IMPRESSION
Yes, I'm aware First Impression doesn't allow you to attack immediately upon swapping in. No, I don't care.
AN5: WES' DEFEAT
I apologize for fans of Colosseum, but Wes lost. Not because he was incompetent, but because his Pokemon were powerful, yet slower than Sol's. Yes, that's my fault. Still, he managed to take out half of a post-game team.