ML54: Hey guys, another short chapter for you guys!

Tyson: *Rolls eyes* Lazy...

ML54: You're going on a big mission next chapter, which'll probably take a couple of chapters. I'm allowed one small chapter.

Gracie: U-um...ML54 d-doesn't own pokémon...


Joint Operation

Early the next morning, Gracie woke up and found Tyson waiting for her, his arms folded, lost in his own thoughts. "Morning, Tyson."

"Morning, Bushy-Foot," He replied, deciding to start looking over his battle brace. "Go ahead and get ready, I just need to check on a couple of things here."

Gracie nodded and bounced over to the water basin, getting ready to wash, before Tyson snapped his fingers.

"Oh right," He said, holding the bag out to her. "Since you did pretty good with it yesterday, I figured you should hold our wonder bag. That way, if we're facing something a little strong for you, you'll have access to the blast seeds. You'd also be able to grab an oran berry if you feel run away start to take effect."

The buneary blinked, before smiling and, timidly, taking the bag. "Thank you, I'll be careful with it. I promise."

"I know you will, Fuzzy," He replied, grinning and winking at her. "Now don't take too long, the boss said she's got a special mission for us today."


After Gracie had freshened up, they stood in the crowd, ready for the morning briefing.

"Good morning everyone!" Tapu Lele announced, receiving a group of good mornings back. "Okay, today we have a dangerous mission to Thunderstone Peak-"

The group gasped, interrupting her, and Nate decided to voice the group's concern. "But that's a level thirty-five dungeon, boss! None of us are prepared for something like that!"

"Which is why two teams are going there in a joint op!" She replied, spinning in excitement. "Because this mission is so tough, I decided that our strongest member of the clan, Tyson should go on this mission-"

"Hold on, boss," Tyson interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "I still have to train Gracie, remember? I mean, she's alright, but she isn't taking on level thirty-fives anytime soon."

"I-I second th-that!" Gracie agreed, shaking slightly at the thought. "Th-they're more than d-double my level! I wouldn't l-last very l-long in there! Isn't there a, I-I don't know, l-level twenty-four d-dungeon or s-something?"

"But if you do last a couple of battles, you'd level up a few times, no?" She answered, not even waiting for an answer before continuing. "Joining them on this mission will be: Buizel and Pachirisu!"

A gasp of excitement came from the crowd, before Gracie was tackled into a hug from the left. "Yay! Our first mission together!" Pachirisu exclaimed, nuzzling the side of Gracie's face. Gracie blushed madly, but still decided to hug back, awkwardly.

"U-um…I-I guess…"

Tyson rolled his eyes as Buizel came to stand next to him. "Still as excitable as ever, I see?" Tyson said.

"…At least she's optimistic?" He offered, grinning weakly. Tyson just rolled his eyes again.

"…Anyway!" Tapu Lele announced, garnering the attention of the group. "I'd like Felicity and Rockruff to help Gustave. Nate and Ziggy to help Chansey at the day-care. Petunia to keep up the upkeep and for Tommy and Cody to help Detective Wottson! I'd like our joint op team to wait here for a minute so that I can explain the mission in detail. So, go out there, do your best and have fun!"

"Hooray!" The group announced, before going off to do their jobs, leaving just Tyson, Gracie, Buizel and Pachirisu.

"Okay team, here's the situation-" Tapu Lele started, before the pikachu held up his paw to stop her.

"Hold on!" Tyson interrupted, folding his arms. "Are you only sending me and Gracie on this mission, to power level Gracie?"

"Of course not, Tyson," Tapu Lele replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sending you two because you're the strongest pokémon in the clan and you've given Gracie two pretty high scores. Detective Wottson also gave the two of you a glowing report, so you two are going because you can handle it."

Gracie shuffled a foot on the ground, blushing a little. And I asked her for a tough mission…Just not this tough.

"Aw, c'mon Tyson! You've always wanted to come on one of these!" Pachirisu encouraged, smiling happily. "If you're worried about Gracie, I'll protect her! Don't you worry about that!"

Tyson sighed and deflated a little, not entirely happy, but did concede that Pachirisu had a point. "Fine, but only if you're okay with it, Long-Ears?"

Gracie nodded, putting on a determined expression, despite being slightly shaky. "I'm good! Let's do this!"

"Well it's settled then!" Tapu Lele cheered, happily. "I received word from my brother, Tapu Koko, that a snivy from his home town got lost there. She wanted to prove herself and join the Fighters' Clan, but she hasn't been seen since yesterday."

"Fighters' Clan?" Gracie asked, tilting her head in confusion. "There are other clans?"

"Yup, four in total!" Buizel explained, looking concerned. "We're the Serene Clan, the Fighters' Clan is run by Tapu Koko, the Elegant Clan is run by Tapu Fini and the Nature Clan is run by Tapu Bulu."

"Each clan do slightly different things," Pachirisu continued from Buizel's explanation, climbing up him to rest on his head, like usual. "Here at the Serene Slan, we tend to do odd jobs around the town and help pokémon in need. The Fighters' Clan is a place for the strongest battlers to gather and test their strength against each other and chase down dangerous outlaws. The Nature Clan help to keep the order of the mystery dungeons intact, and prevent them from spreading and becoming more dangerous. And the Elegant Clan… Actually, I don't know what they do," She stumbled, scratching her head in confusion.

"They like to try and keep the world beautiful, so try to help nature and such stay on course…At least that's what they claim," Tyson said, rolling his eyes. "I think it's just an excuse for pretty pokémon to gather and gossip and act all girly with each-other."

"…Well anyway," Tapu Lele spoke up after the short awkward silence caused by the pikachu. "He wasn't sure which floor she was on, so you'll have to explore each one to try and find her. Then, once you do, you're to bring her here so that I can offer her a place in the Serene Clan. At least, until she's strong enough to join the Fighters' Clan."

"Got it," Tyson nodded, turning to the group. "Before we head out, Gracie found a tutor token so we should see if she can get a good move to help against electric types!"

"I'm cool with that," Buizel shrugged, Pachirisu chirping her confirmation from on top of his head.

"Okay," Gracie nodded, still a little put off that she was going to lose baby-doll eyes before she could even try it.

"Good luck you three!" Tapu Lele called out to them as they left. "I have the utmost faith in you!"


"Hawlucha!" Tyson called out to him, causing the red and white humanoid pokémon, wearing a green and red mask to turn to the group of four as they approached him.

"Ah, my little lucha maniac! What can I do for you, today?" Hawlucha replied, smiling to the rodent, who smiled back, much to Gracie's amazement.

Buizel noticed and explained in a quiet voice. "Tyson is a huge lucha maniac. And he absolutely adores Hawlucha. Don't worry, you're not the only one who got confused."

D'aww, Tyson does like people, She thought, smiling at Tyson, who was happily talking to the humanoid bird pokémon.

"So, your partner found a tutor token, eh?" Hawlucha asked, to which Gracie jumped and nodded, having not really paid attention.

"U-um…Yes, in V-Verdant Cavern…first floor?" She explained, taking the coin out of the wonder bag and presenting it to him.

He looked it over for a second and, once he was satisfied, jumped and threw a punch in the air. "Kaw! Excellent!"

Gracie jumped and pulled her waist fur up and over her face, startled by the sudden exclamation.

Hawlucha noticed after a few seconds and sweat-dropped at the sight. "Oh uh…Sorry."

Tyson rolled his eyes, nudging her in the shoulder. "It's fine, Hawlucha, Fuzzy's just a little timid is all."

She peeked over her fluff at Tyson's words, causing him to grin at her. "He's not gonna eat you, Gracie."

She blushed in embarrassment and dropped her fluff, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "U-um…Sorry, Hawlucha."

"It's fine, little lucha maniac!" He smiled, puffing out his chest proudly. "Now, since you got me my tutor token, I can teach you a move you won't find in a TM. Now, what kind of move would you like?"

Gracie paused, before turning to Tyson, who shook his head. "Not this time, Fluff-Butt, this is all you."

"Oh…okay," She replied, smiling slightly at his confidence.

"Oh, do you have a STAB move yet?!" Pachirisu declared, jumping down from Buizel's head to look up at Gracie, imploringly.

Gracie jumped back a little. "Why would I-I w-want t-to stab s-someone?"

"No, no. Not stab as in 'I'm gonna shank you with this silver spike'," Tyson quickly explained, shooting a glare at the oblivious squirrel. "STAB is an acronym we use for 'same type attack bonus'. It means that if you use a move that matches your type, it gets a slight buff in power."

"…Oh, yeah that makes m-more sense," The buneary muttered, facing Hawlucha again. "Do y-you have a n-normal-type, special attack?"

"I have just the one!" Hawlucha declared, proudly, flexing his right arm, throwing his other one up. "The loud, proud and powerful…Hyper voice!" He exclaimed, before inhaling sharply.

Tyson's eyes started sparkling, waiting for the move to be used, while Buizel and Pachirisu panicked and took cover behind some rocks. Gracie was confused, wondering what was going on…

…Before Hawlucha suddenly gave a shrill shriek, stinging and deafening the buneary, as her brain screamed at her to try and put that racket out.

Gracie cried out in pain, rolling both her ears up and slapping her paws over them. Unfortunately, because of her ultra-sensitive hearing, she could still hear the attack.

Once Hawlucha finished, he bowed as Tyson clapped. "That was awesome! What did you think-"

He cut himself off when he noticed Gracie had huddled over, tears streaming down her face as she held her ears closed. "Gracie!"

"Ow!" Gracie screamed back, pulling her waist fur up and covering her ears. Hawlucha put a finger up to his chin, then clicked them and picked up a seed to his side.

"Oh right, I completely forgot about a buneary's sensitive ears. Not to worry though, my lucha maniac, I got just the thing," He explained, handing Tyson the seed. "It's not quite a status condition, but a heal seed should work."

"Right, thanks Hawlucha!" Tyson replied, lowering Gracie's fluff to shove the seed into her mouth as she cried. "Here, eat this."

Gracie's hearing slowly stopped ringing, before she unrolled her bow adorned ear again, the pain subsiding. "Ah! What was that?!"

"That's hyper voice!" Hawlucha declared, presenting them a few more seeds. "It's a very powerful move. You scream at the top of your lungs and you produce a funnel in which the attack directs itself to your target."

He then rubbed the back of his head as she gave him the stink eye. "And uh…sorry about not warning you. We don't get many bunearies around here, so details about what each species are like kinda slips away from me. Still, take these as compensation."

They heard a ding and looked down at Gracie's battle brace. "Don't worry, my little lucha maniac, if you use the attack, it'll just sound like a regular yell…but I'd suggest rolling up both ears before using it. Just in case."

"I don't know, Long-Ears," Tyson mentioned, causing her to look towards him. "If you're not happy with the move, we can always try another one, right?"

"Of course, brother," Hawlucha smiled, all friendly like. "I wouldn't want my little buddy here to regret her purchase."

Gracie looked over the move and saw how powerful the move was, as compared to her others. And the move would get the STAB bonus on top of it…

…It was too valuable not to take, especially when they're going to Thunderstone Peak.

So, she smiled back and deleted baby-doll eyes for it. "Thank you, Mister Hawlucha, I'll take it."

"Excellent!" Hawlucha declared, jumping back and posing by flexing both his arms. "Another satisfied customer. Now use that move and make all the bad guys pay, my little lucha maniacs! I'm also available to learn old, forgotten moves and, if you bring me a lucha token, I can change your ability!"

"I doubt she's gonna want klutz any time soon," Tyson said, rolling his eyes, but smiled all the same. "Are you still battling Machoke the Magnificent tomorrow?"

"Of course! And I'm going to take him down, for all my lucha maniacs!" He declared, placing his hands on his hips, proudly.

Gracie smiled at how…happy Tyson was, talking with his idol, before she heard Pachirisu and Buizel come out from their own hiding place, rubbing the side of their heads.

"Ah…Hyper voice is really painful…" Pachirisu complained, before shaking out of it and grabbing Gracie's paw. "Now c'mon, that snivy isn't going to rescue herself!"

Tyson noticed and flinched, grinning back at Hawlucha. "Sorry Hawlucha, we have a mission today. I'll see you tomorrow, don't forget to train!"

"You can count on me, brother!" He called out to them as the four left to Thunderstone Peak.


ML54: Why yes, Hawlucha does sound a bit like a pro-wrestler. I can't believe I just noticed that he sounds like Hulk Hogan! I've played through Super Mystery Dungeon twice!

Tyson: Who cares, do your promotion and beg for reviews.

ML54: I don't...Okay, today I'mma advertise some salt, Shallow Waters by ravengal. A story where Pikachu rejects Buneary's feelings, and Buneary has to get over him. An interesting story about dealing with rejection. I enjoy it, so I hope you guys check it out.

Anyway, please review guys! See you next time! :D