A/N: Hello all, it's ya boy. The big bad boss made it to double figures for the chapters, yo.

Before I begin, I'd like to apologise for the lack of recent uploads from this account- getting home for Easter has taken more time than I thought. I'd also like to apologise if the uploads continue to be slow, as I'm going to be mid-exam season from now until June. I've written a bunch in advance though, so we should still be on track with this fic!

I'd also like to take this chance to thank everybody who has reviewed/favourited this story, along with all those who follow it, and everyone who's read. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and I hope you will continue to read!

Anyway, I digress, we have a fic to get on with. So yeah, with that said, I think it's time we see how Looker intends to take on Gorm, don't you?

Enjoy!

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Fighting Sage Gorm was the last thing Looker wanted at this time. Only the night before his team had been involved in a mass brawl with two of Gorm's fellow Sages, and while the Pokemon Centre in Castelia had done a fantastic job fully healing all involved, there was still slight fatigue, slight weariness in the eyes of the Pokemon. They were a little tired of the pace of this investigation, totally different to anything a lot of them had dealt with before, and the reluctance was clear, as every Pokemon the Police had stood beside Croagunk to face down Gorm. Looker himself needed a rest badly, but Gorm wasn't about to go down without a fight. And Looker wasn't going to let him get away when they'd cornered him at last.

From Aurelius' files on the Sages, Looker had learnt a fair bit about Gorm. With ties to Clan McCullen Inc, the world's largest weapons manufacturer, Gorm was every bit as powerful in the financial world as the other businessmen Sages. Physically too he himself was powerful- one of the younger Sages, he relished the cold, and had trained himself physically. And as for his Pokemon...

Aurelius and Tash had said that Gorm was a master of three types- Water, Ice and Flying. But from the Pokemon that emerged from his Pokeballs, the bias towards the Water type was clear; a Cloyster, Walrein, Carracosta, Beartic and a Swanna were the Pokemon who emerged. What was clear though was that these Pokemon were fierce, no matter what type bias Gorm had. And then he released his last Pokemon...

A pink, foggy mist sprayed down from the ceiling, blanketing the floor of the Dreamyard as Gorm's Pokeball revealed a Magikarp, slapping its tail lazily on the floor. "Magi..."

"What the…" Hilda murmured to herself, confused as she peered into the mist.

"Hah! Call that a Pokemon worthy of Team Plasma?" Reece said, striding forward to kick the feebly flopping Magikarp. "My nan could beat that one!"

Looker suddenly focused, the situation clarifying itself in his mind, the pink mist disappearing from his vision as realisation dawned sickeningly. "Reece, it's Dream Mist! It's not a Magikarp!"

"Huh?" Reece turned, confused, and the quick change in position unintentionally saved his life. A shape swirled in the Dream Mist as the Magikarp disappeared, and an enormous Aqua Tail buried itself in the wall where Reece's head would have been if he hadn't rolled, sparing himself by inches.

As Reece rolled backwards across the Dreamyard and hit the wall with a thump, Gorm's Gyarados emerged roaring from the remnants of the Mist. "GYARA!"

"Tisnae gonna be easy, Looker!" Gorm called. "Cut through the Dream Mist tae find what's true and what's nae a lie. Ai know how- ai've hidden here for weeks now. But can ye do it?"

"Oh I can do it," Looker snapped, as a fresh covering of the Mist blew in and surrounded Gorm in a veil of pink fog, darkening a little as it covered the Sage. "And you won't beat us, Gorm!"

Looker stalked angrily to the back of the Police to stand beside Bastian and Tash, as Croagunk led the Police Pokemon on a charge against Gorm's Pokemon. "Anyone got a plan they want to share with me? Any idea how a bunch of exhausted Policemen can beat this Dream Mist and capture a Sage?"

Tash nodded. "We need to eliminate the Dream Mist. Gorm appears to know how to use the Mist to his advantage, whereas we end up attacking each other and making costly mistakes."

"Right!" Bastian said. "We gotta focus here, and think everything through. Work as hard as possible and fight as hard as we can, and never take it for granted what's in front of us."

Looker clapped his hands. "Okay. What's causing this Dream Mist?"

Hilda ducked quickly as a wayward Scald sizzled over her head and impacted against a pillar in a cloud of steam. "It's the Musharna! The one that the experiment used before this place was abandoned. It's hiding somewhere in here and causing chaos."

A plan formed in Looker's head. "I'll go and look for the Musharna, see if I can stop it."

"I'd hate to sound like Cheren, but do you know what a Musharna looks like, Looker?"

"I've been revising my Unovan Pokemon, thank you Hilda, I'm getting there. Bastian, go and block the exit; for all we know, we may be dreaming that Gorm is still here fighting us." As the towering man ran off purposefully Looker squinted into the shadows. "Reece?"

"Here!" the young Officer coughed, appearing at his side and wincing from the pain of his shoulder where he'd hit the wall. "What's the plan, Looker?"

"I need you," Looker said, pulling the staggering Reece fully to his feet and dusting off his uniform, "to come with me. Croagunk seems to be leading the charge, so I need you to back me up- we're going on a Musharna hunt. Tash, Hilda, good luck."

Reece turned to Looker, coughing, as Tash and Hilda disappeared into battle. "Z, Metagross?" His two Pokemon flanked him all of a sudden; it impressed and slightly disturbed Looker how quickly and how silently they could move. "Back us up. If we find Musharna attack on Looker's command, OK?"

As the two Pokemon nodded, Looker looked at Reece properly, registering his state for the first time, and a concerned look appeared on his face. "Reece are you alright? You look hurt... are you sure you want to come with me? Do you just want a little rest?"

"I'm fine!" Reece snapped, pulling himself forward with willpower that would have made Azelf proud. "I'm sure! I want to stop Gorm sir, and that's what matters. I can soldier on!"

Looker shook his head at Reece's determination, amazed by his grit and bravery. "Fine. Come on then."

Looker headed into the thickest part of the fog, where shadows coiled and twisted as the ferocious battle that had erupted between Gorm's Pokemon and the Sages surrounded him. Water dripped from the roof where poorly-aimed attacks had struck, and a large puddle was forming, seeping its way into every crack- Reece stumbled at one point on the wetness, and Looker had to help him back up, bearing the weight of his struggling team member and cursing Reece's stubborn attitude to continue.

A loud, pained roar reverberated through the Dreamyard, and Looker rolled to one side just in the nick of time. Descending through the Mist, Gorm's Gyarados fell slowly, toppling with a heavy might to shake the very ground as it impacted hard; electricity from an Electroweb attack from Hilda's Galvantula, rippled through its body as it was knocked out. Looker had to push Reece to one side as Gyarados' gaping jaws closed instantly when it became unconscious, otherwise Reece would have been crunched by some serious fangs; mentally, Looker made a note that he'd had to save Reece from the Gyarados twice now.

Hilda wasn't having it all her way though, and the next casualty surprised Looker. Reshiram had fallen: as Gorm's Pokemon considered it the Police's main threat, all of them had targeted the Legendary with blasts of water that threatened to put out the blazing fire in its turbine tail. Reshiram may have been part-Dragon, and therefore less weak to the effects of Water, but under pressure from so much water it could rehydrate the Unovan Desert, the Dragon of Truth nearly drowned, and collapsed to the floor elegantly, its white mane billowing gracefully and piling up in a heap behind the Dragon.

"Shit..." Reece said, pausing for breath as he watched Reshiram fall, Hilda scurrying with a panicked look on her face to return her beaten stalwart before Gorm's Pokemon went for the jugular. "Gorm is POWERFUL! None of the other Sages managed that..."

"Are you sure that's not Gorm manipulating the Dream Mist to demoralise us.?"

"No chance. You saw him, he knows this Mist inside out, what's a lie and what's not. He really has knocked out Reshiram." Reece turned to face Looker. "We need to take this son of a bitch out."

"Language accepted and agreed with," Looker nodded. "And we can do it at last! We can stop the Dream Mist! Unless I'm learning the Pokedex wrong, that's a Musharna!"

Looker had managed to get through the thickest fog to the centre of it all, to the cause of the Dream Mist spreading through the Dreamyard. Rolled up into a ball like a foetus, a slightly chubby, pink and purple, pig-like Pokemon snored adorably, its long pink snout rippling as it breathed out. On its forehead, there was something almost like a blowhole on a Wailord, where Dream Mist trickled and poured out in great quantities, pink smoke rising and covering the area in a pink hue. This was the creator of Dream Mist, the inhabitant of the Dreamyard: Musharna.

"How do we get it to wake up?" Reece hissed, before he swallowed a mouthful of dust and coughed, a hacking, loud cough, clearing his throat. The sudden noise awoke the Drowsing Pokemon from its slumber, blinking sleep out of red eyes at the two Policemen.

Looker smiled. "That seemed to do the trick." He started slowly walking forward towards Musharna. "Musharna we need your help..."

BAM! The Mist suddenly coiled and sprung up around Looker and Musharna, as Reece realised it wasn't coming from the Musharna in front of them. "Looker!"

Through the fog a fist sailed once more to punch Looker with the force of a Machop, sending him reeling into a pillar. Sage Gorm chuckled as he stepped forward over the Detective. "Mistake me for something else Looker? Dearie me, this Dream Mist, 'tis a nightmare tae deal with."

"Musha?" From around the corner, where the Dream Mist was really coming from, the real Musharna tottered, blinking its red eyes at the scene in front of it. Then it growled in recognition of humans; it had a real problem with them, ever since they'd tried to experiment on it in the Dreamyard.

"Oh, you shouldnae mind me, Musharna," Gorm said cheerily, picking Looker up by the collar and hitting him again, the fog around him darkening, tainted by negativity. "Just dealing with some intruders for ye."

"Intruders?" Reece yelled. "We're looking for you, old man!"

"Yeah!" came a voice from behind Musharna, and the Drowsing Pokemon span to see Hilda standing behind it, eyes blazing furiously, her starter Serperior at her side. "Remember me, Musharna? Well, this old man is a criminal, and is trespassing here!"

Looker nodded through the pain, noting how the Mist around Musharna was darkening, and grabbed onto Gorm to prevent him escaping. "Musharna, he's been hiding in here without permission for weeks now, and he's committed terrible crimes. He tried to take over Unova!"

"Get off me!" Gorm cried, as his Pokemon started grouping around the struggling Sage and Detective, Musharna's growl growing in volume. "'Tis all a lie, Musharna!"

"Musharna?" Hilda called, and Musharna looked up at her. "Do you know what the worst thing he did was?" Musharna shook its head. "He ordered those Grunts to come here to collect Dream Mist. Remember? The ones who kicked and abused your child Munna? The ones I fought to defeat?"

Looker grinned in admiration; he didn't know whether what she said was true or not, but it had worked, and now Musharna was VERY angry at Gorm. As the Dream Mist billowed, becoming inky and shadowy as the Drowsing Pokemon snapped, he threw Gorm away from him. "It's Nightmare Mist now! Corrupt, evil tainted! Get down!"

Musharna rose, uncurling from its ball to scream in fury at the Sage, fearsomely glaring at him, and Gorm realised what was going to happen. "Oh shite..."

The shadowy fog coiled and whipped up into a frenzy, before a wave of pure negative energy blasted forward, intent on demolishing Gorm and his Pokemon. Turned by the anger at Gorm into something truly terrifying, the Mist slammed into his Pokemon with horrible force, a hellish force beyond any understanding. Gorm's Beartic tried to claw at the attacking fog, but it whipped around the Ice-type, throwing it off its feet and driving it into a concrete wall with bone-cracking force. It wasn't just Beartic who was taken out by the powerful blast of energy- Gorm's Carracosta's shell was obliterated, fragments driving into the flesh of the Prototurtle, making it scream. His Swanna's wings snapped with a horrible noise. And then it stopped...

Somehow unharmed in his position on the floor, Looker stopped shielding his eyes with his forearm to glance up, checking what had stopped the negative energy. He rose slowly, unsteadily, taking in the damage, before watching Gorm kick Musharna across the Dreamyard into a pillar, knocking it out. "Hey!"

"Take that, ye bastard," the Scotsman muttered, kicking Musharna again. "That'll teach ye. We shouldnae have been merciful tae ye the last time we came here..."

"It's over Gorm," Hilda said, approaching slowly as the pink fog completely disappeared, revealing the cold hard light of day streaming in from a hole in the ceiling above. "You've lost."

Gorm grinned. "Oh, have ai? Take a look around ye! Where are yer Pokemon?"

"Oh come on, he's right as well," moaned Tash as she looked around. While Gorm's Pokemon had been caught up in the blast of Nightmare Mist, so had the Police Pokemon. They all lay unconscious on the floor, and now, with their Pokemon down (albeit in a far better condition than Gorm's), there was no way they could force him to go quietly.

Gorm grinned to confirm this, as he drew two Pokeballs from his belt, releasing his Cloyster and Walrein. "Ai returned these fellas earlier, just in case. Now how are ye gonna arrest me? Ai've won, Looker!"

Looker opened his mouth to make a witty retort, while his fingers inched towards the Colt pistol given to him by Reece; he hated gun persuasion, always seeing it as a last resort in his line of duty, but he had to get Gorm. He was interrupted though when a blur dropped from the rafters to land defiantly in front of Cloyster and Walrein. "Croa GUNK!"

"Ha!" Gorm barked, as Croagunk, having survived the Nightmare Mist by hiding in the roof above everything, stared down his Pokemon. "One wee little Croagunk against my best Pokemon. Nice try, Looker! Walrein, annihilate him!"

Before the Walrein could move though Croagunk started to glow in a bright white light, his shape fading from view to become a shadow which started to change in form...

"What?" Gorm cried, confused. "What?"

"Evolution," Reece said, grinning. "We might have a chance now. Go Croagunk!"

Looker shook his head as the shape started to grow in size, the arms lengthening, the head of his partner in crime (investigation) morphing slowly. This wasn't right...

Ever since Team Galactic, ever since taking on Commander Saturn and his Toxicroak, ever since being beaten the first time, Croagunk had developed a hatred of his evolutionary superiors, considering them all evil, conniving bastards. He'd finally beaten Toxicroak, ending the vendetta, but his hatred still burned, and he always insisted that Looker carried an Everstone around for him. Why would he sacrifice his form to help Looker beat one Sage? He wouldn't do that in a million years... "Croagunk... no..."

The shape glowed brighter, the intensity of the evolutionary light growing, a miniature sun in the gloom of the Dreamyard, as it flashed one more time, the form of the Toxicroak inside starting to solidify...

A fist slammed down on the floor, and the shape managed to shrink in the blink of an eye back to the original form, the light glowing around it. "CROA... GUNKKKKK!"

Croagunk had managed to stop his own evolution at the last possible moment, reverting back to his favoured form, but now the raw evolutionary energy, left over and with no outlet to pour itself into, was set loose. With a colossal boom, it shot forward away from Croagunk, rippling, white light surging forward, boiling through the air towards Gorm's Pokemon. Croagunk had improvised the most powerful attack he could use- evolution- and now Gorm's Pokemon would feel the full force of the energy...

Looker closed his eyes as light danced across his eyelids from the explosion that followed, somehow burning his eyes despite them being closed. With a ringing in his ears, the light subsided, the shadowy gloom of the Dreamyard returning, and Looker opened his eyes at last. "What the hell..."

Croagunk, sizzling slightly, turned to face his master, and saluted properly for the first time in several years, before toppling over backwards, knocked out from the sheer recoil of the attack he'd just launched. Gorm's Pokemon faired worse though- the attack had burned black marks into the concrete behind them, and Gorm's Walrein's skin had been seared, crisped to a black by the ferocious energy wave, the pain overwhelming the Pokemon and knocking it out instantly. His Cloyster's normally impenetrable shell had been burned through, a beam of energy piercing through, lancing through, skewering the creature's body inside with light; it was breathing, but very heavily, and in no condition to fight.

Gorm rose, hacking and coughing, from the floor he'd thrown himself onto, his moustache and hair singed, loose ends sticking out underneath the skeleton of his hat. He dusted some soot off his shoulders and beat out a few small fires in his suit. "Hoots mon that was terrifying..."

Looker hauled the Sage up to his feet, pressing the Colt to his face, grinning triumphantly at finally beating the Sage. "Tash, Hilda, someone, please go and pick Croagunk up. Be careful, he might be a bit hot."

Gorm groaned, trying to wipe away some of the soot that had blackened his pale skin. "I lost... How did... I lost..."

"No," Looker said, "I won, and you're under arrest." He pressed the barrel of the Colt harder into the Sage's stomach, making him gasp. "Now are you going to come quietly?"

A/N: And there we have it. Croagunk's evolution attack sparked from a little thought process of mine that wondered what happened to all the energy when a Trainer cancels their Pokemon's evolution. But yeah, I hope you enjoyed the battle! And I hope it didn't come too soon for y'all- given that it doesn't take that long in game to round up all the Sages, and given that I want to write as dynamic a fic as possible, this pace is better for me!

Next chapter- I wonder what Gorm has to say? And I wonder who has a dirty little secret? All will be revealed…

As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read- it always makes me so happy. Any reviews are always appreciated (just don't flame) and favourites/follows make my day, yo.

Until next time, ya boy, out.