Jethro stood outside the surgery door.

He had heard the net trap go off and kept a sharp eye out for anything out of sorts. Torterra had moved to the other side of the door, ensuring that no one could slip by.
Blaziken, Garchomp, and the all-too-familiar Lucario came bounding up the hallway. As soon as Jethro saw the Lucario, his shoulders sank.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. You? Of all the–" he started saying, then stopped abruptly. "Alright, alright," he said, and opened the door. He looked towards the now-awake Tailow. Just as he thought. "As much as I admire your smarts, skill, and technique, you really should start making more subtle appearances," he said.

A young woman a bit shorter than Jethro and a little younger with brown hair and sharp green eyes was standing right beside the Tailow, stroking its chin. She looked up at Jethro and smiled.

"It's good to see you, too, Jethro," she said. Jethro smiled back, and the two embraced. Blaziken signaled to Torterra a thumbs-up, indicating everything was alright.

"How've you been, Eloquence?" Jethro asked. "I haven't seen you for about a month!"

"Well, I've been busy running around as usual. Lucario and myself have been keeping tabs on you for a while. When we heard you beat Cynthia, we just had to find you and congratulate you!" Eloquence, or 'Elly' as she sometimes preferred, replied. She was a notorious tracker, and could hunt down a Pokémon at least a mile away. She wasn't too bad at tracking people, either.

She looked at the smartly-colored Tailow. "Your handiwork?" she asked.

"Yep. Poor thing developed a bit of hypothermia, so I decided to put my feather transplanting skills to the test after so long."

"You haven't lost so much as a glimmer of talent since I saw you last, Jethro," Eloquence reassured him. Jethro smiled proudly. "May have gained a bit of weight, though," she added. Jethro's smile vanished.

"Ouch," was all he could say. Elly laughed. Jethro shook his head and then directed his attention to the colorful Tailow. "How are you feeling, little guy?"

"Tail, Tail, Tailow!" it squawked. It spread its wings and fluttered around the room. It landed on his shoulder and nudged his chin in affection.

"Don't mention it, buddy," Jethro said. "You should really catch up to your flock, ya know. They're probably getting worried sick!" Tailow hung its head. Jethro scratched it behind its head, then put his finger under its chin and brought its head up. "Now, don't you worry, little one. We will see each other sometime in the future, I promise." The Tailow looked at Jethro with a happier expression. It gave him one last nudge, called to its friends, and they all flew off.

"C'mon, let's go say good-bye!" Eloquence said as she ran outside after them. Jethro shrugged to Nurse Joy.

"Might as well, being that we helped them and everything," he said. They ran out after them, where Torterra was waiting. The Tailow were flying off into the day to meet with the rest of their migrating flock. Jethro's Tailow pulled off a few aerial stunts in farewell. Jethro and the others waved, while Torterra launched an Energy Ball into the air. It exploded in brilliant colors of greens, yellows, and a mixture of violets and whites. They stood watching the Tailow fly away until they disappeared into the afternoon sky.

"You think we'll see them again, Jethro? Soon, maybe?" Eloquence asked. Jethro looked at her, smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Elly, we will see them again," he said. "Most likely the one with the new feather-do," he added. He looked back towards the direction the Tailow disappeared for a moment, and then let out a long breath.

"Well… I guess…" he started to say.

"What? Guess what?" Nurse Joy asked.

Elly rolled her eyes. "You're going to leave now, aren't you?" she asked, as if she already knew the answer.

"Well, I'm not really called the Camping Hero, now am I? I mean, someone's gotta tell my parents of my recent achievements, right?" Jethro replied.

Eloquence glared at him. "You couldn't just stay here for the day, just for once? I mean, you just healed a Tailow here. I'm sure Nurse Joy and a few other Trainers could use your own special healing skills!" Eloquence argued. "Besides, you can at least call your parents from here, compared to me, who… can't even…" she trailed off.

That was enough to convince Jethro. "You prove a valid point. I'll stay," he said. "I'll call my parents later on. I'm sure they'll want to talk to you, too, if you want. In the meantime, I'll be handling the heavily hit Pokémon… and possibly handling a pen, as I'm sure to get requests for autographs," he muttered. Eloquence smiled.

"Thanks, Jethro," she said.

"On two conditions; one, I'll only handle fifteen feather transplants and about thirty autographs; two, you let me teach you how to do the transplants," he added. Eloquence smiled.

"Deal," she chuckled.

What they didn't see as they walked back to the Pokémon Center, was the little flying camera drone atop the building, watching their every move and recording everything they said. Its purpose may have been recon, but its affiliation was ultimate destruction…

And total domination.

As they went back in, Jethro went into the kitchen, followed by Nurse Joy. Eloquence stayed out in the lobby to mingle with a group of Trainers

"So, Jethro," Nurse Joy asked, "why can't Eloquence call her parents?" Jethro stood silent for a moment before answering.

"Her family… was taken from her," he said quietly. He leaned against the center counter. Nurse Joy had heard about how Jethro gave speeches. She wasn't about to make any interruptions.

"They were on a picnic. Eloquence had just gotten her Pokémon license; she had just… turned… ten years old. Although she is from the Kanto Region, her first Pokémon was not a Squirtle, nor Bulbasaur, nor a Charmander. Her very first Pokémon was a Riolu, a friend she had made as a child. They were celebrating the event with a very nice picnic.

'That's when they were attacked.

'A pack of Houndoom had attacked them out of nowhere. They were helpless, as her father's Gallade and her mother's Gardevoir were struck down. The Gallade fought fiercely after Gardevoir was taken down. It managed to knock out one Houndoom and severely injure another. It took a Flamethrower, then a Shadow Ball. That was all it could muster. The Flamethrower had started a fire around the family, trapping them.

'Riolu, however, was not out of the game.

'To ensure that its Trainer could escape, it charged the Houndoom, dodging every attack. It countered with several Quick Attacks and Force Palms. It managed to take out three Houndoom… until they rallied." Jethro paused for a moment. "There's something I want to come back to at this point, I'll get to it later on," he said, then continued. "They were ruthless… attacking left, right, behind, and in front. Riolu endured a large amount of damage…

'That's when it began to use Reversal. It kept them at bay for a while, and Eloquence's mother took the chance. Her mother wrapped themselves up in the picnic blanket, dashed through the fire, hid in some nearby bushes and watched, waiting for her Riolu to escape. Her father stayed behind to assist Riolu, throwing a few punches himself.

'Reversal only worked so many times, until neither Riolu nor Elly's father could withstand the brutal attacks any longer. As soon as it saw an opening, it ran. It stumbled to one knee, but got back up and started running again. It was nearly to the bushes… when it was hit by a Shadow Ball. It was sent through the bushes, flying right into Elly. She and her mother didn't waste time; she picked up her Riolu and ran for her life. Her mother had tried to follow, but was knocked back by one of the Houndoom, which sprinted after Elly.

'She had gone quite a ways before the Houndoom tracked her down. She was tackled to the ground." Jethro looked to Eloquence through the glass window. "I cannot imagine the horror, the terror, which she felt as she looked into that Houndoom's eyes. It reeled back to launch a Shadow Ball…

'And that was when it came.

'The Houndoom was hit broadside with a massive Fire Fang from one of the most powerful Fire-Types you could ever meet.

'Entei.

'The Houndoom was sent rolling, and hardly got back up when Entei sent it flying. 'Over a tall hill it sailed, and when it finally passed out of sight, Entei turned to Elly. She had fainted from exhaustion, so Entei picked her up and carried her to the nearest town."

Jethro paused for another while.

"Now, what I want to get back to is this; Pokémon are never evil-natured, as far as we know. And usually, when more than one Houndoom in a pack is downed, they usually regroup and flee… but why did these ones instead rally and attack all at once?"

A few hours went by, and not much actually happened. Jethro had whipped up a meal for everyone, including some of the Trainers that were staying the night. A few Trainers had come by and asked for Nurse Joy's help… within the first three hours. Awhile after a young boy came in with a severely poisoned Monferno, which Jethro healed, people started coming in more frequently. At first, he thought that the young boy had contacted quite the number of people and told him of his whereabouts for autograph opportunities. But things started to add up incorrectly. At first, it was the amount of Pokémon coming in with the poisoned status and the severity. But then there were severe burns, freezes, paralysis cases, and some severely injured Pokémon who had fainted so badly that even Jethro's Max Revives weren't working as efficiently as they should've been. Jethro had asked a few Trainers on how their Pokémon had gotten their wounds. They had all said similar things:

"Some real strong Trainer got the better of me."

"The guy was uber strong."

"I just need more training, that's all…"

Jethro wasn't going to let this go on for much longer.

A teenager and her Aggron and Metang had been teleported in the building by her Xatu, and it looked as if they had been through a small war. Metang had an intense burn, whereas Aggron's entire back was encased in a thick sheet of ice. Jethro, under normal circumstances, would've taken care of the situation, but he had other plans.

"Eloquence, Nurse Joy, take care of this gal's Pokémon, please," he said. The two Steel-Types were rushed to the back. The Trainer started to follow them, but Jethro put a firm hand on her shoulder to stop her. "We need to talk."

They went behind the main counter and sat down.

"What's your name, may I ask?" Jethro started.

"I'm Sierra," the Trainer replied, "and I am a huge fan of yours!"

"Thank you, I can give you an autograph later on, but right now, I need you to tell me who or what did this, how, and why," Jethro said. "Your Pokémon are clearly very well trained, that I could see by how you brought them in and how strong they looked. How were they beaten so easily?"

Sierra hung her head. "I really don't know. I was walking down the road, when all of a sudden, a Weavile and Dusknoir jumped out in front of us. As odd as it seemed for two Pokémon like that to be teaming up, I thought they were wild and so I wanted to catch them. Suddenly this guy walks out from behind the Weavile saying they were his Pokémon and wanted to battle, so I sent my Aggron and Metang out. He let me have the first move, so Aggron used Flamethrower on Weavile and Metang used Metal Claw on Dusknoir.

'To my surprise, Weavile slashed right through the Flamethrower, and Dusknoir caught the Metal Claw and stopped it cold! Metang was thrown right into Aggron, and the Weavile used Ice Beam. Luckily, my Pokémon dodged it just in time. However, when the Ice Beam hit the ground, it made a creepy hunk of ice. It was sharp all over, and had a dark gray hue to it."

Jethro's right eyebrow went up. He had noticed the same kind of ice on Aggron's back when it was brought in. "Go on," he said.

"Aggron then used Iron Head on the Weavile, and Metang used Shadow Ball. Weavile went flying into a tree, but Dusknoir blocked the Shadow Ball. Weavile jumped back up and launched a Dark Pulse at Aggron, sending it back at Metang. Dusknoir used Will-O-Wisp, and my Aggron dodged it. Metang, however, caught it full-force. The blast from it looked as bad as that burn you saw."

Jethro was now very concerned. Metang's burn covered its entire body, the worst of it completely blackening its entire right side. Even high-level Pokémon that used that move didn't leave that bad of a burn!

Sierra continued. "Seeing that Metang had fainted, Aggron nearly went berserk! It launched Flamethrower at both of them, then rushed at them with Iron Tail. Dusknoir deflected it, then Shadow Punched Aggron right in the face, sending it back again.

'Weavile launched another Ice Beam, but aimed it at Metang. Aggron darted right in front of it, using its back to absorb the attack.

'That was all it could take. The poor thing went down to one knee, gasping for air. The Trainer laughed at me, calling me and my Pokémon weak. He then told Dusknoir and Weavile to use Shadow Ball. Thinking fast, I sent out my Xatu, and we Teleported here."

The two sat silently for a moment, Jethro in deep thought.

"This Trainer… what did he look like?" he asked.

Sierra thought for a moment. "He was wearing some kind of weird metal mask that covered his mouth. His eyes were behind some kind of visor thing, and he had some armor covering his arms and legs… he had on a black hat, a black cloak, and grey pants and a shirt. There was this 'S' on the shirt; looked like this:" she drew the shape with her finger in the dust on the counter. Jethro looked at it, remembering it for later.

"Did you see what kind of Poké Ball he used?"

"They were a dark grey and black, and looked really weird. They had some wavy grooves on it that spiraled around them… I've never seen them before," Sierra said. Jethro pondered at her description.

"I wonder…" he muttered. An idea came to him. "Does your Xatu know the move Mind Reader, by chance?" Sierra thought about it.

"As a matter of fact, it does," she said.

"Bring it out, if you would please, I want to try something."

"Sure." Sierra brought out a Premier Ball, a white Poké Ball with a red line as the seal. Xatu was released from within.

"Xatu, if you would please, use Mind Reader to show me what Sierra saw. I hope I'm wrong, but I want to confirm what Sierra described," Jethro said. Xatu looked at its Trainer with a questioning look. Sierra nodded, and Xatu touched its wings to both their heads.

It used Mind Reader, and Jethro began to see what Sierra saw.

The Weavile and Dusknoir appearing… the mysterious Trainer, just as described… Aggron's Flamethrower being sliced in half… Metang being thrown into its partner… the eerie hunk of ice… Aggron going half berserk… Aggron absorbing the Ice Beam… the dual Shadow Ball attack… Xatu using Teleport…

The Trainer's Poké Ball…

The Mind Read came to an end. Jethro sat back, panting, the look of fear unmistakable.

"Mr. Striker? Are you alright? What's wrong?" Sierra asked.

"The Poké Balls he used… when I saw it, my heart stopped for a moment." Though he managed to calm down, his mind was racing at what seemed Mach 2. "Those were no ordinary Poké Balls… nor were they any type of Poké Ball that should ever be used," he said. He looked Sierra right in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"That Trainer…" Jethro said in a low voice. Eloquence came back into lobby.

"Good news! Your Pokémon are fully… healed…" she said, and stopped when she saw Jethro's face. "You look like you've seen a ghost, Jethro, what's wrong?"

"You know all these Trainers that've been coming in with severe cases? They've all met the same Trainer on the road…" he said.

"And?" Eloquence asked. Jethro looked at her with fear and seriousness in his eyes.

"He catches Pokémon… with Dark Balls."