Starting The Ultimate Journey Together

Over the course of the last two days on the SS Anne, Ace, Cammie, Chris, and Annie were basically inseparable. The four of them all hung out together as much as they could during their time on the ship, battling against each other, sharing stories from their journeys in the past, and just relaxing and hanging out in general. It seemed that, as the four of them all got to know each other better, the closer friends they became, even though they each knew that they would be splitting up after they docked in Insmou.

It was their last day aboard the SS Anne, and the four trainers were enjoying lunch in the buffet area of the ship. "So, where do you guys think you'll go first when we get there?" Annie asked.

"I don't know." Ace replied. "Guess I never really thought about it. I'll probably be heading to wherever the closest Gym is."

"That would be Bluemount City." Cammie said after checking her Pokenav. "Mimey and I are going to Harborstone City to compete in the Contest being held there."

"I'll probably be going the same way Ace is." Chris said. "You know, since we're both going for Gym Badges and everything. What about you, Annie?"

Annie honestly wasn't sure where she would be going first. She had been hoping to have at least one travelling companion to help keep her safe, but since the only friends she had made aboard the ship were going to be leaving her when it docked… "I guess I'll just stay in the town we dock at." She replied, hoping she didn't sound as sad as she really was. "You know, maybe get a job helping the region's Professor."

Before any of the others could respond, they noticed that several other people were all flocking excitedly to the bow of the ship. The four trainers all got up to go see what everyone was so excited about. "Whoa…" Ace said, in awe of what they saw.

The SS Anne was approaching a town that looked like a picture straight out of a tourist brochure. The town's harbor was beautiful and had several large boats and yachts docked in it, the buildings were all so small and quaint, and, from where they were all standing, they could see a path leading up to a large, futuristic-looking building that couldn't be anything else but the region's Pokemon Lab. "Ladies and gentlemen," the captain's voice said over the loudspeaker, "welcome to Insmou."

…

"Ugh! I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of this smell!"

"Will you relax? It isn't that bad."

That comment earned Charles a slap upside the head from Lucy. "Not that bad?" She retorted. "We had to spend the last two days on a fishing barge because you got us blown off the SS Anne! Ugh. I hate the smell of stupid fish."

As the two Team Rocket members walked down the dock in the port of Tarantine Town, Lucy kept seething about how Charles had gotten them into this mess. After blasting off back aboard the SS Anne, the two of them had drifted in the ocean until a passing fishing barge picked them up. They had to pay the captain of the barge a rather large sum (Which was pretty much all the money they had been given by Team Rocket for their trip), but he eventually agreed to drop them off at Insmou. Lucy looked in her wallet and found that they barely had enough cash left over for a small meal. "Now what are we supposed to do?" She wondered aloud.

"Simple." Charles replied. "We find the nearest hotspot of priceless Pokemon, steal them, and then sell them to earn back the money we lost."

"Right. Because your last plan worked out soooo well." Lucy said sarcastically. "And just where do you think we'll be able to find a 'hotspot' of Pokemon?"

Charles grinned. "Why do you think I had the barge captain drop us off here?" He pointed up a rather large hill towards the Pokemon Laboratory building. "That lab's bound to be filled to the brim with rare Pokemon." Charles explained. "We just need to break in and take what we need."

Lucy hated to admit it, but that did actually sound pretty smart. "Fine." She said. "But, if we get caught, I swear to Arceus…"

"We won't get caught." Charles reassured her. "Now, come on! Let's get over there while the Pokemon are ripe for the picking!"

Little did Charles and Lucy know that, as they were heading up to the Pokemon Lab, the four trainers who had defeated them aboard the SS Anne were already there. "Wow!" Annie breathed as she looked up at the futuristic-looking building. "It's amazing!"

The four trainers all went inside, only to be greeted by massive amounts of chaos. Somewhere, in the back of the lab, a man was fighting something. Something that sounded like it was causing a lot of trouble. "Hey! Get back here!" Someone was shouting deeper inside the lab. "No! Don't touch that! Just get back in the ball!" The four trainers all rushed towards the sound of the commotion and found that it was being caused by a man in a lab coat with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and glasses trying to chase down a floating, little, purple Pokemon that had three needles on the top of its head. The little Pokemon kept floating just out of reach of the man, giggling and shooting some sort of sticky goo out of the needles on its head. "Return!" The man said desperately, holding up a strange-looking Pokeball. "Return, dang it!"

The purple Pokemon giggled and fired a blast of goo at the man, hitting him in the face and sending him falling to the ground. The Pokemon then started floating over towards the lab exit, which was just behind the four trainers.

"Mimey, come out and use Confusion!" Cammie said, throwing out her Pokeball. Mimey popped out of it and sent out a wave of psychic energy that hit the purple Pokemon and sent it crashing into a stack of research documents.

Fortunately, the damage it had sustained seemed to weaken it enough to allow the man in the lab coat to return it to its ball. The man readjusted his glasses and turned to thank Cammie. "Wow. That was pretty impressive." He said. "Thanks a-"

Before he could finish, Cammie ran up to him and took his hand. "I know what you're going to say," she said, clearly in love again, "and yes! I will run away together with you!"

"E-excuse me?" The man said, suddenly very flustered.

"You don't have to say anything." Cammie went on. "Just know that the love we have together will- Oop! Mimey, quit it!" Mimey was once again using Confusion to drag Cammie away from another one of her love interests.

"Mime Mime Mime." Mimey said, sounding exasperated.

Annie walked over to the man. "Sorry about that." She said. "We're actually here looking for the Professor."

"Oh, well I can help you with that." The man said. "I'm her assistant. Please, call me Milton."

"Nice to meet you." Annie replied. "I'm Annie, and this is Ace, Chris, and Cammie."

"What was that Pokemon you were trying to chase?" Ace asked. "I've never seen one like it before."

"It's an incredibly rare Pokemon called Poipole." Milton answered. "It's all a part of Prof. Hazel's research here. Come on. I'll show you."

Milton led the four trainers to a steel door at the back of the lab. He pressed his face up against what appeared to be a retinal scanner that unlocked the door. The door opened, revealing a large, enclosed, grassy area that was filled with all kinds of Pokemon like none the four trainers had ever seen before. There were several Nihilego floating above everything else, a few Buzzwole working to impress a couple of Pheromosas, a rather large group of Kartanas and Xurkitrees sparring against a Celesteela, and, in the middle of it all, there was a black woman in a lab coat with curly hair tied back in a poofy ponytail watching a rather large Guzzlord devour a huge pile of food as she took notes on it.

"Interesting." She said aloud to herself. "It appears that, no matter how much Guzzlord eats, it's still always hungry."

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Ace exclaimed excitedly as he looked around. Ace's burst of excitement caused the woman studying the Guzzlord to turn around.

"Ah, Milton." She said. "Good. Did you manage to wrangle our escaped Poipole?"

Milton walked over and handed the woman the strange-looking Pokeball he had used to capture the Poipole. "Yes, ma'am." He replied. "We may need to keep a closer eye on that one. He's pretty mischievous."

The woman looked behind Milton and noticed the four trainers. "Oh. And who might these young people be?" She asked, walking up to them.

"My name's Ace." Ace replied. "These are my friends, Cammie, Chris, and Annie. We were hoping to visit the Professor here."

The woman smiled. "Well, you found her." She replied happily. "My name is Prof. Hazel. Welcome."

Chris looked around nervously at all the large and scary-looking Pokemon inside the complex. "So, uh, what exactly are you researching here?" He asked with a rather shaky voice.

Prof. Hazel giggled. "There's no need to be nervous." She said. "Here at this lab, we study Ultra Beasts."

"Ultra Beasts?!" Annie exclaimed. She had heard stories about the Ultra Beasts back during her time living in Alola. She didn't know much about them except for two things: they came from another world and they were very dangerous. "Are you sure it's safe to be studying those?" She asked. Suddenly, a Nihilego swooped down towards Annie from above. "Eep!" Annie ducked down and cowered, as she knew the Beast was coming to attack her, but she was shocked to find that all the Beast did was give her a small hug with its tentacles and float away.

Prof. Hazel giggled. "Yes, it's perfectly safe." She reassured them. "We use special technology inside this building to create an aura similar to that of Ultra Space where these creatures are from. That way, they all stay relatively calm so we can learn more about them."

"So cool!" Ace exclaimed.

"So, why exactly did you four want to meet with me?" Prof. Hazel asked. "Are you looking to get your first Pokemon?"

"Actually, we already have Pokemon with us." Ace explained. He tossed up his Pokeball. "Eevee, come on out!"

"You too, Aerodactyl!"

"Come out too, Mimikyu!"

Ace, Chris, and Annie's Pokemon all popped out of their balls. Mimey hopped down out of Cammie's arms to join them. "Wow. These are some impressive-looking Pokemon you've got there." Prof. Hazel said. "But, if you want, I can still allow you all to choose another new Pokemon to help you all on your journeys."

"That would be great!" Cammie said. "Thank you so much!"

Prof. Hazel led the four trainers out of the nature complex and back into the main lab for them to receive a new starter Pokemon. Meanwhile, outside the lab, Charles and Lucy were trying to figure out how to break into it. They both stood in front of a door that lead into the nature complex that was guarded by a special number code electronic lock. "You realize we could have just walked in there pretending to be new trainers, right?" Lucy said to her partner.

"Relax. This'll be much easier." Charles said. He got up close to the number lock and carefully studied it. "Now, what could the code be to unlock this thing?" He wondered aloud. "The Professor's birthday?" He tried that code and was met with a buzzing sound, indicating that the code was wrong. "Okay… Her favorite Pokemon's dex number?" Another buzz. "Her measurements?"

As Charles was met with another buzz, Lucy couldn't help but ask a question. "How do you know what the Professor's measurements are?" She asked incredulously.

"Oh, I don't." Charles replied. "I'm just guessing."

"You're guessing?!" Lucy said angrily. "That's it! Let me do this!" She shoved Charles aside and focused on the number lock herself.

"Pfft. Good luck." Charles said sarcastically. "If I can't crack the code, there's no way you could."

"Oh, really?" Lucy pulled out a Pokeball. "Rotom, come out now!"

From the Pokeball appeared the orange, little, Electric Pokemon that Lucy had caught aboard the SS Anne. "Rotom!" It squeaked excitedly. Rotom floated over to Charles and gave him another shock with Discharge, causing his hair to get all poofy again.

"Dang it! I hate that stupid thing!" Charles yelled as he tried to readjust his hair.

Lucy giggled. "You won't for long." She said. "Rotom, hack into the lab's security system!"

Rotom used its special power to interface with machines to go inside the security lock and deactivate it from the inside. Inside the lab's nature complex, Milton noticed that the lights were flickering. Not only that, but all of the Ultra Beasts inside the lab were starting to get angry. "Uh-oh…" He whimpered.

Meanwhile, out in the research area of the lab, Prof. Hazel was showing Ace, Chris, Cammie, and Annie the three starter Pokemon of the Insmou region. "Everyone, come out!" Prof. Hazel said as she threw up three Pokeballs. From them, came three Pokemon. The first one looked like a green woodchuck with extra large front teeth, the second was another Sparkoon like the one the trainers had all seen on the SS Anne, and the third was a blue weasel-looking Pokemon with a long, white stripe down its back. "These are the starter Pokemon offered here in the Insmou region." Prof. Hazel went on to explain. "First, there's the Grass type Woodcheek…."

"Woodcheek Wood!" The little woodchuck-looking Pokemon squeaked.

"Then there's the Fire type Sparkoon…"

"Spar-ar-ar-ar!" The Sparkoon chittered.

"And finally, we have the Water type Weasea."

"Weasea!" The weasel-looking Pokemon said rather proudly.

"Go ahead and pick whichever one you want." Prof. Hazel said.

The four trainers all looked at the three Pokemon sitting in front of them. Annie got down to say hello up close to them. "Hi there." She said sweetly. "I'm Annie. How are-"

"Woodcheeeeek!"

"Sparkooooon!"

"Weaseeeeaaaa!"

Annie was suddenly hit by three separate attacks from each of the Pokemon. She got bombarded by a Leafage from Woodcheek, hit in the face with an Ember from Sparkoon, and then dowsed by a Water Gun from the Weasea. "Oh, my Arceus! Are you okay?" Prof. Hazel asked, helping Annie to her feet.

"Don't worry." Annie said, trying not to sound sad. "I'm used to it. I think… I think I'll just stick with my Mimikyu for now."

Ace couldn't help but feel sorry for Annie, but he still wanted to pick his own new Pokemon. "I'll take this one." He said, picking up the Weasea and holding him up. "He looks like he'll be pretty useful in battles."

"Weeeaaa!" The Weasea squealed excitedly, happy to have been chosen. Ace pulled out his Pokedex to check Weasea's entry.

"Weasea," the Pokedex said, "The Water Weasel Pokemon. Weasea enjoys spending time on the shore, hunting for Binacles and Crustles to eat. It uses its amazing sense of smell to find them."

Cammie looked between the other two Pokemon and knew immediately which one she wanted. "I'll take this cute, little guy." She said, picking up the Sparkoon and stroking its fur. It felt warm to the touch, and the little raccoon Pokemon started nuzzling up to her affectionately. Cammie had known she was going to choose Sparkoon ever since she saw that cute boy who had one on the SS Anne. She wondered if she would ever see him again.

"Guess that leaves me with this fella." Chris said, patting the Woodcheek affectionately on the head.

"Woodcheek Wood!" The little Grass Pokemon said. It leapt up on to Chris' shoulder and started nuzzling him with its soft cheeks. Chris pulled out his Pokedex to get its entry.

"Woodcheek," the Pokedex said, "the Tree-Eating Pokemon. On average, Woodcheek can eat as many as 100 logs of wood in a day. It never tires from eating so much, and is actually the cause of much deforestation in the region."

As the trainers all celebrated having brand new Pokemon, they heard a commotion coming from inside the nature complex. "Help! Stay back! Get away!"

"Someone get us out of here!"

"Aaaaah! It's got me! It's got me! Heeeelp!"

The four trainers and Prof. Hazel all rushed back to the nature complex, only to discover that the Ultra Beasts inside it were all going wild. Milton was getting chased around by a Buzzwole that kept trying to hit him with Hammer Arm, but only wound up destroying most of the complex with its incredible strength, and Team Rocket was there too. Lucy was fighting off a hoard of Xurkitree with her Nidorina and Rotom, and Charles was being lifted up into the sky by a Nihilego while his Magnemite tried fruitlessly to attack it.

"How did those two even get in here?" Cammie asked incredulously.

"It doesn't matter how." Prof. Hazel said urgently. "What matters it that they've apparently tampered with the aura regulator that keeps the Ultra Beasts calm! You four save everyone! I'll go and fix the regulator!"

The four trainers all rushed forward to help. "Aerodactyl, go and use Flamethrower on that Nihilego!" Chris commanded. His Aerodactyl flew up and shot a burst of flames at the Nihilego that was holding Charles, burning it and causing it to drop its captive. Charles landed roughly on the ground.

"Ouch! Thanks, I guess." He muttered as he got up, rubbing his aching behind from that fall.

"Don't thank me yet!" Chris said worriedly. He pointed up to show that the Nihilego was coming back down for another attack.

"Magnemite, use Mirror Shot!" Charles commanded. His Magnemite charged up a shiny beam of energy, then fired it at the Nihilego, hitting it in the back and causing it to plummet to the ground and get knocked out. "Yes! Good job, Magne- What the…?"

Charles' Magnemite suddenly started glowing. It continued glowing as it grew two more heads and increased in size. Finally, the glowing stopped, leaving Charles with a brand new Pokemon. "Magneton!" The Pokemon said in three deep, machine-like voices at once.

Charles was so happy he was practically moved to tears. "Yes! Magnemite, you evolved!" He cheered. "Now, let's go and capture us some Ultra Beasts!"

"Seriously?" Ace said as his Eevee blasted away the Buzzwole that was chasing Milton. "You nearly got killed by one of those things and you still want to capture it?"

"Of course!" Charles said. "After all, these Pokemon are-"

"HEEEEELP!"

Charles' speech was interrupted by Lucy's cry for help. Her Nidorina had just been knocked out by the Xurkitree that were encircling her. All that was left was her Rotom, who had already sustained a ton of damage. "Oh, no! Lucy!" Charles yelled worriedly.

Annie ran forward with her Mimikyu and blocked the Xurkitree from reaching Lucy. "Don't hurt her!" She told them forcefully, trying not to sound scared. "I… I'm warning you!" Annie braced herself for the Xurkitree to attack, but nothing happened. They all just stood there, looking down at her for some reason. "What the…?"

Annie's thoughts were jarred by the Xurkitrees getting blasted apart by Mimey, who used Confusion to break up their group. "Good job, Mimey!" Cammie said. "Keep it up!"

"Thank you." Lucy said to Annie and Cammie. "But, just because you saved me, doesn't mean we're friends now."

"Yeah." Cammie said. "I figured as much."

Meanwhile, Ace and his Eevee were blasting Ultra Beast after Ultra Beast. It wasn't even about saving anyone anymore. Ace was filled with a white hot ball of fury for some reason. He didn't know why. All he knew was that he needed to destroy these Ultra Beasts. "Eevee, attack!" He yelled furiously. "Use Take Down!"

"Eeeeevee!" Eevee yelled defiantly as it rammed into a pair of Kartanas. The two Ultra Beasts were sent sprawling, but Ace wasn't finished with them yet.

"Now hit them with Shadow Ball!" He commanded.

"Ace! Dude, they're down!" Chris called from across the complex as his Aerodactyl fought with a Celesteela. "Leave them alone, man!" But Ace didn't hear him. All that mattered now was the destruction of these Ultra Beasts.

Before Eevee could attack again, however, a noise came from the far side of the complex, signaling the reactivation of the aura regulator. All of the Ultra Beasts calmed down, and Ace fell out of the trance he was in. "What the…?" He muttered. "What just happened?"

Prof. Hazel stepped out with a victorious grin. "Thanks for your help, kids." She said.

"Yeah. Seriously, thanks." Milton said, walking back over to everyone. "You guys saved my life."

Speaking of people whose lives had just been saved, Cammie looked behind Milton to see that Team Rocket was trying to get away with the Beast Ball that Milton had used to recapture the Poipole he had been chasing earlier. Some people just never learn. "Hey!" Cammie yelled. Lucy and Charles immediately stopped in their tracks. "You can't take that Pokeball!"

"Oh, really?" Charles said. "Well what are you going to do about it?"

Lucy groaned internally. Here it comes, she thought. "Eevee, attack them with everything you've got!" Ace commanded.

"You too, Mimey!"

"Take them down, Aerodactyl!"

"Mimikyu, attack!"

All four attacks came hurtling towards Lucy and Charles, creating an explosion that sent them flying out through the complex's roof and through the skies. "We're blasting off again!" The two of them screamed as they disappeared into the sky. The Poipole's Beast Ball came falling down and landed safely on the ground. Prof. Hazel went it go pick it back up. "Thank you, kids." She said. "You would think that those two would be grateful that you all saved their lives."

"Well, I guess that's just the kind of people they are." Cammie said.

"How did they manage to break the aura regulator in the first place?" Annie asked.

"I guess they must have used that Rotom they had to hack the security system. It must have accidentally short-circuited the aura regulator in the process. Prof. Hazel said. "Anyways, you kids had better get going if you want to make it to the next town by sundown. I assume you're all travelling together?"

The four trainers looked at each other. Despite the fact that they were all on different journeys, they had each accomplished the same goals. Defeating Team Rocket twice, sailing to a new region, receiving brand new Pokemon... It made sense to travel together.

"Yeah." Ace said. "Yeah, we are."

After thanking the Professor for their new Pokemon, Ace, Cammie, Chris, and Annie set off on the path to the next town. "According to my Pokenav, the next town is Brooksville Town." Cammie said. "We should make it there by nightfall if we hurry."

"Maybe when we get there we can get started training our new Pokemon!" Ace suggested excitedly. He couldn't wait to use his new Weasea in battle.

"So, Ace, what happened back there in the lab?" Chris asked. "Why'd you go all crazy attacking those Ultra Beasts?"

"I was going crazy?" Ace asked, having no idea what Chris was talking about.

"Yeah. You were… Uh, never mind." Chris figured that, if Ace didn't even know he was going berserk, he probably didn't know why he was going berserk. So, he just didn't ask, figuring he would figure it out in time.

As the four trainers continued walking down the path to Brooksville Town, a shadowy group of people were meeting in a secret sanctum. Each person there was dressed in a black cloak and a mask that hid their faces. They all stood around a circle with magical symbols carved into it, chanting in an ancient, arcane language as their leader stood in the center of the circle. "For the resurrection of the Great Old One!" The leader said. "For the destruction of the old world order!"

"For the glory of Team Horror!" Everyone in the sanctum exclaimed. The circle began to glow. Everyone reacted excitedly as a beam of energy shot up out of the sanctum into the sky, creating a large tear in it: an Ultra Wormhole.

"Let the new reign of the Great Old One begin!"