Suddenly, Lucario got to his feet, laughing heartily, with the kindness Luke and Pikachu had come to know and love. They turned to face him.

"And the pupils surpass the teacher!" Lucario cried out. "Your strategy was commendable, your power incredible, and your teamwork…it's unlike anything I've seen before and surely was how you two triumphed this day! Congratulations, boys! You are true explorers!" Before the boys could celebrate, Lucario yelled, "Hey, everyone, come on out!"

From the sky, from the bushes, from the trees, the Pokémon Luke and Pikachu had encountered on their adventures emerged: Munchlax, Togetic, Psyduck, Hippopotas, Porygon2, Heracross, and even Thundurus! The boys grinned ear to ear and greeted all of them; they reciprocated their greetings.

Still heartily laughing, Lucario said, "I suppose I owe you boys a more thorough explanation. I knew you boys needed to make your way in the world; the moment I saw the scarves 'round your necks, I knew what you boys wanted to be: explorers, like your old man! So I brought together my pals here and we carefully set up a training/testing program of sorts.

"Munchlax got lost in a place I directly told you not to go. Would your desire to do what you believed what was right overcome your fear of the rules? It did; your moral center won that day.

"Then came your first test of power; you boys took on Heracross deep within Honey Haven and earned that delicious honey!

"The test of power continued when you boys went deeper into the Dark Woods than before; I had Munchlax supervise and assist you to gauge your teamwork. Once again, a superb performance!

"Then you boys sought Psyduck in the Tidal Beach; could you help a Pokémon who would have trouble helping themselves out, truly? When Psyduck's headaches intensified, I executed this one. It was sheer misfortune that Psyduck ended up in a Monster House, but it was quite fortunate that Psyduck's hidden power came through.

"Hippopotas went for a cooling bath in the desert; I had to see how you boys would handle harsh weather, but, thinking on it more, that wasn't necessary! You're wearing Weather Bands! Either way, you boys earned your reward of the cooling sand bath."

Lucario's mood shifted, then he sighed. "Then came the Sacred Electric Lands; I wanted to test your mettle in a harsh environment like that, and figured it would be a good challenge to take on a legendary Pokémon, but I realized you boys might not be ready, so I tried to stop that. Unfortunately, I couldn't do so in time, because once combat begins, Thundurus can't control himself until he's defeated. Porygon2 fought Thundurus alone to prepare for your arrival and lost, and soon, you boys took on Thundurus with Porygon2 when they recovered.

"I was angry that I lost control of the situation. I went off on Porygon2 and had to punish you two for going against my warnings. That situation, I thought, was a mistake on my part. Yet, you boys, along with Porygon2, defeated Thundurus, quite the accomplishment!

"So I brought you through this dungeon, with everyone watching in the shadows, to test everything; strategy, power, and teamwork, and you passed with flying colors!"

Everyone yelled their agreement.

Looking around and beaming, Luke asked, Dad, how did you get all of these Pokémon involved in this?

"Excellent question, Luke!" Lucario replied. "Boys, we are the Secret Investigative Rescue Squad, SIRS for short!"

"WHAT?!" the boys cried out in shock.

Unfazed, Lucario continued, "Everyone, introduce yourselves!"

The Pokémon each stepped out, spoke, and stepped back thusly:

"I am Munchlax, the latest recruit to the group! I maintain getting food and supplies for SIRS when they cannot!"

"I'm Togetic! I'm in charge of aerial operations, leading any expedition in the sky! I also carry out deliveries between distant agents!"

"Psyduck is my name! I'm head of aquatic operations! I also have odd powers I don't quite understand, so I'm always ruminating on various topics! If you have any questions about anything, I'm your guy! Psy-yi-yi-yi…"

"ALTERNATIVELY, I CAN ANALYZE MY DATABASE IF NEED BE. NAME: PORYGON2. ROLE IN SIRS: HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DATA ANALYSIS. FOR ANY CONTACT NECESSITIES AND INFORMATION ON DUNGEONS AND POKÉMON, MY DATABASE IS READY FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL."

"I am Hippopotas. I maintain ground operations, that is to say, underground. I am the seismological and archaeological expert of the group. Anything old or dirty? Let me take a look at it!"

"Ha-hah! I am Thundurus, legendary representative and an at-large agent. I mainly tend to roam the land like lightning, so I can carry out distant expeditions quickly and independently with my power! I'm also our ace in the hole when it comes to combat, because of my power and fighting spirit!"

"I'm our second-in-command, Heracross! When anyone else is struggling, I step in, oversee, and lend the power of my magnificent horn. That leaves our boss…"

"Lucario! Boys, I'm the founder and head of SIRS! I brought together the finest this land has to offer and I manage them in order to carry out rescues and investigative missions! Our goal is to keep peace in the Pokémon world, from the shadows! And now, Luke and Pikachu, you are the newest members of SIRS! That is, if everyone is in agreement…"

They spoke in the same order:

"Yep!"

"I think they've earned it!"

"That's nothing to get a headache over! Yeah!"

"ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT LUKE AND PIKACHU WOULD MAKE EXCELLENT MEMBERS OF SIRS."

"I agree entirely."

"Hey, if they can take ME on, they can take anything!"

"I promised that we could be allies. I don't regret that promise one bit. I say yes!"

"And I say yes, as well! Since we are all agreed, Luke, Pikachu…"

Simultaneously, they all yelled, "Welcome to SIRS!"

The boys' eyes welled up with tears at the immense support displayed in front of them.

"Thank you all so much for this," Pikachu said.

We promise not to disappoint you, Luke added.

Their tears vanished and the boys jumped around excitedly, cheering and celebrating. The agents of SIRS chuckled at the boys' enthusiasm.

"All right, boys," Lucario cut in. "Now you know I don't actually work as a lumberjack. While I can do the work of a lumberjack, as you've seen, I actually maintain my position as leader of SIRS. I assign missions for the agents and go on missions myself, then we gather together our information for further investigations and determine new necessary missions from there. Starting tomorrow, you boys will accompany me to my…I mean, our job." He took on a stern expression. "But we must be covert. The first S in SIRS stands for 'Secret' for a reason. We work undercover to avoid villainous eyes. Tomorrow, when we go to the base of operations for SIRS, you boys must take an oath of secrecy. After that, we will run down your duties as members of SIRS, and then you boys will take up a mission." He smiled that warm smile again. "But for now, let's go home. We've had a long day, and tomorrow's gonna be another big day." He turned to the other agents of SIRS. "Finish your daily duties, then you're dismissed."

"Yes sir!" they cried in unison, then left.

Luke, Pikachu, and Lucario headed home, had a hearty dinner and a calm evening around the fire, then went to bed early to prepare for the big day.

Lucario went to sleep fairly quickly, but Luke and Pikachu couldn't sleep; they were too excited.

Pikachu, we did it!

"Luke, I never could have done it without you!"

I feel the same!

"Let's at least try to get some sleep! Tomorrow's the big day!"

Yeah! Good night, Pikachu!

"Good night, Luke!"

They went to sleep.

The next morning, Luke and Pikachu woke bright and early, right at the same time as Lucario.

"Good morning, boys," Lucario said. "It's off to the base of operations!"

The boys gathered their supplies and accompanied Lucario to Felicity Town's lumberjack facility, where, according to Lucario, the SIRS base of operations was hidden, an efficient disguise lining up with his cover, as well as that of the agents. The boys, too, would cover as lumberjacks.

When they got there, they were greeted by lumberjack Pokémon.

"Mornin', Lucario!"

"Morning, Machoke!" Lucario replied.

"Those your boys?" Machoke asked.

"Yep," Lucario replied. "They'll be working here from now on." He gave a wink.

"Ah, I see," Machoke said. "In that case, stick close to your dad, boys."

The boys followed Lucario through long, turning hallways in the facility.

"They're in on the secret, since it's here," Lucario whispered, referring to Machoke and the other lumberjacks. "They're friendlies, so we can trust them not to blab."

They reached a small, out-of-the-way supply closet.

Moving items out of the way, Lucario pulled the back shelf out a fair distance and walked behind it.

"Come on back here, boys," he said. A sliding sound accompanied his speech fading away.

Pikachu ventured behind the shelf. "Dad…" Pikachu said. "I don't see you. Whoa!" Pikachu's voice faded at that.

Pikachu! yelled Luke. He went back there and felt the ground disappear under his feet; the shelf covered a hole in the ground.

The hole was the start of a long slide; Luke slid for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, the slide came to an end, and Luke emerged onto a metal floor.