[6]

-Orre, Pyrite Town-

"You know the rules, kid. Nobody's allowed to have Pokémon except those who are authorized. And you're not authorized."

"What are you talking about? Nobody said anything to us!" the trainer objected.

"I don't buy that and you know it. Come on, kid. Time to fork over your Pokémon."

"No way! You'll have to pry it away from me, stupid Power Ranger lookalike," the trainer spat.

The man across from him flashed an evil smile. "Whatever you say, kid," he said. He extended his arm slightly, and the device he wore began to activate. A Poké Ball dropped into a slot in his palm and he threw it, striking the trainer's Pokémon.

The trainer's eyes widened in disbelief as the ball opened, spilling a dark red light onto his Pokémon. The light retreated to the ball, the Pokémon captured within it. "What the hell? You're not supposed to be able to catch a Pokémon that's already registered to a Poké Ball!" the trainer yelled.

"Then clearly you're not from here," the man said. "Otherwise you'd know who we are. For now, just know this. Your Pokémon is a lot better off with us than it could ever be with you."

The man left, taking his colleagues with him and leaving the trainer devastated in the middle of the square. All around him, people started whispering.

"Wow… did you see that?"

"Stole the kid's Pokémon, just like back then."

"Do you really think it's them?"

"I hope not. I don't want to deal with Cipher again…"

-Sinnoh; Sunyshore City-

"You manage to get away alright, I guess?"

"Yeah. Cynthia sent us a warning and we all made a break for it. What about you, Volkner? Any trouble getting away?"

"Nah. They're used to me walking out of the Gym for no reason. Hey, Flint?"

"Yeah, buddy," Flint answered.

""What the hell's going on? This whole thing is a drag," Volkner said, sighing heavily.

Flint snorted in amusement. "I got no idea, man. I'm as lost as you are. Cynthia gave us a call and we split. I figure it's something big, though, or else we wouldn't have been told to lay low. Only thing I know is we were supposed to meet a boat here or something."

"Good thing the lighthouse is working, then," Volkner said, smirking slightly.

The two friends started laughing as they walked along the shoreline.

-Hoenn, Lilycove City-

She stood next to a grizzled old man, watching the contest screens, but not paying attention to the results. The contests were the one thing they still allowed in Hoenn, as far as Pokémon were concerned. Supposedly, the reasoning was that since there weren't battles being conducted, the contests were not harmful to the welfare of Pokémon. Because dressing them up like that is sooo much better, she thought, resisting the urge to gag at the Pokémon presently on screen.

"So you realize this is quite a long journey we'd be undertaking," the old man said in a low voice.

"I understand. If I thought I could find another way to get there, I'd do so," she answered.

"That's not necessary, Miss Flannery. I'm always happy to help out," the man said.

"Please, Mr. Briney, don't call me that," she said. "I'm trying not to draw attention to myself. Either call me by my last name, or call me Asuna."

"Right, right. My apologies, Asuna," Mr. Briney answered. "As I was saying, I don't mind making the journey. It'd be nice to get somewhere away from here for awhile. If you'd like, we can leave right away."

"Thanks, Mr. Briney. I'd like that," Flannery said. "You haven't heard from anyone else, have you?"

"Only Norman, but even then he was on the run," the old man replied. "Drake tried fighting back, staged a right nasty scene, but even he wasn't a match for them. S'pose he's gotten older than he'd like to admit, not that I have room to talk."

"Oh, don't start that, now. You've got to remember, I only got my job three years ago. I seem to remember hearing about you trying to take off after Team Aqua when they stole your Wingull," Flannery said, cracking a faint smile.

"Yes, yes, well… Alright, you win. Let's hurry up and get to the boat, though. We can take off while the contest crowd is disbanding," Briney said.

Flannery nodded, walking casually away from the assembled crowd, acting as though she were simply trying to beat the foot traffic back to the docks. I just hope there's someone in Johto who can help me. Otherwise, this trip will be for nothing…