Axew breathed lightly as he slept in his bed of moss and leaves. A bowl shaped leaf filled with ice laid on his head. The group worried it would have all melted overnight, but the cold temperatures of night and day kept that from happening. It reduced his fever, thankfully. He stopped sweating quite some time ago, so they knew he was feeling a bit better. There was still the concern of him grunting uncomfortably. They tried to make his bed as comfortable as possible, but that didn't stop the poison from hurting him on the inside.

Emolga hugged herself as she watched over him. She had dark circles under her eyes. She couldn't get any sleep last night, constantly worried about Axew becoming worse.

She wasn't the only one, though. Scraggy, fearing for his friend's life, hasn't the best of luck getting some much needed shuteye himself. Krookodile was in the same boat, but he had other reasons for his lack of sleep.

He was still thinking about yesterday. They have become the targets of a trained hunter. Avoiding their doppelgangers and other horrifying monstrosities was bad enough. Now they had someone who probably won't rest until he captures them. And, considering this guy sounded like he was in a position of authority, this guy wasn't going to be easy to take on in a one-on-one fight. Heck, even three-on-one doesn't sound reassuring.

All they could do was hide out and form a strategy needed to counter the hunter. And they needed to locate this supposed antidote for Axew. All while working off 2 hours of sleep.

…yeah, should be fun.

Scraggy picked up one of the berries they had roasted and munch on it. "I'm so tired…"

Emolga yawned. "Tell us something we don't know…"

"Okay…how about the fact we might die out here?"

"…really?"

He groaned and fell on his back, the comfort of laying down nearly drawing him into a deep slumber. "I'm sorry, but I'm just so irritated! We're being chased! Axew is sick! And we still have no flippin' idea where the others are!" He shook and flailed his body violently.

Krookodile flicked his forehead, shocking him into stopping. "Knock it off. We're all tired. Exhausting yourself isn't going to help." He yawned and polished his sunglasses, an accessory he hasn't worn over his eyes ever since they got here. He just let them lay on his forehead. "We need to stay strong. For Axew."

Scraggy sat up and sneered. "Thanks for the positive reinforcement," he muttered sarcastically. "Because we're CLEARLY in the right mind to be calm and under control!"

"You're just cranky."

"I AM NOT CRANKY!" Krookodile slapped his hand over the Shedding Pokémon's mouth and shushed him harshly.

"Do you want us to get caught?"

Scraggy shoved his hand away and grunted. "I'm sorry, but…argh!" He fell on his back and pounded his head. "I…I just want to find that antidote for Axew…"

The sand croc sighed and looked out into the darkness outside. "Me too, buddy. Me too…" But with no lead on how to find the plant was the bigger issue.

They've considered many options in locating it. The more obvious plan was to capture a Darkmon and have Emolga charm him into giving up the location. Problem? Actually restraining one long enough to get the job done. Then there's the fact Emolga is just as tired as them and won't be able to use her moves at peak efficiency. Another option was to hunt for it, but that plan would immediately go south with the hunter still looking for them. Then there was the horrible possibility Dark was lying to them and that there was no special healing plant to begin with. That it was all a hoax.

But their obvious concern was their lack of sleep. Between worrying about their lives and Axew's, things were not looking well for the group. They needed help, but from who? They were lost in the middle of nowhere. Who could help them?

Krookodile thought back to yesterday. There was a Darkmon with Pansage and the others, if he remembered correctly. One that, according to its supposed allies, was good. Perhaps there was another like it. Then again, from the way they spoke about it, it sounded like he was unique. Meaning no other Darkmon willing to help their cause. Well, so much for that plan.

He really wished they had someone like Pansage or Snivy with them. Their plant expertise would come in real handy.

Scraggy stood up and walked back and forth. "Ugh, we can't just stay here forever! We need to move now!"

"We will once we're fully rest and sure that the hunter isn't in our general location."

The Shedding Pokémon rolled his eyes in annoyance. "On and on about being cautious and prepared…please, I can take that stupid hunter on myself!" He pulled his pants up and cracked his knuckles. "Just lead me to him and I'll have him crying for his master in seconds."

Krookodile glared. "Don't be stupid. You'd be killed in seconds."

"I don't see any of you coming up with any ideas," he retorted. "Either way, he'll find us. Our best hope is just to keep moving."

The sand croc stared coldly at him for a moment, to which the Dual-Type glared back at him as well. A chilling silence bounced off between them. Emolga merely glanced over at their arguing, focusing most of her attention on Axew. Their arguing was irritating her greatly, though usually she would just fly off somewhere to get some peace and quiet. She didn't have much choice in staying, so she had to deal with it until it got out of hand. And knowing how aggressive these two could get…

Scraggy felt himself get slapped across the face and fell to the ground. He stood up and rubbed his cheek, glaring at the croc that slapped him. "What was that for?!"

Krookodile glared. "I'm tired…I'm weak…I'm cranky…and so are you. You're planning to charge into battle, in your current state, and expect to win. If you can't take a light slap from me, what chance do you have surviving out there?" The response he got was the Scraggy looking down with uncertainty. "Yeah…that's what I thought."

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Well, what choice do we have? Either way, we're sitting ducks. I'm at least trying to be proactive here."

"You think I don't WANT to help Axew? I'm just as concerned about the little guy as you are. But our top priority is to survive, no matter what. What can we do against those monsters?"

Emolga continued looking down at Axew as he breathed softly. She clenched her fist a bit. That Dark Oshawott was responsible for this whole mess. Payback was going to be swift and merciless. But they were at a physical disadvantage. They knew every possible way to incapacitate them. Their natural weaknesses, their personal weaknesses, their intelligence…there was no way to beat them.

…physically, at least.

"What if we play by their rules?"

Krookodile and Scraggy stopped their bickering and looked at the flying squirrel. She didn't looked up from Axew, but she clearly directed the question at them.

They looked at each other in confusion and shrugged. Krookodile asked, "What do you mean, Emolga?"

She sighed. "You want to stay. Scraggy wants to fight. Why not do both?" They still weren't following. She groaned. "Look, I'm just as tired as the rest of you. We're all worried about one of them poking their heads around here and finding us, I get it. But I'm tired of hiding like a scared child. I'm not going to sit here and let those monsters push us around."

Krookodile leaned against the wall. "That's all well and good, but what do you mean by 'play by their rules'?"

She smiled a bit. It was an innocent smile, but the way the light from the fire bounced off her face gave it an unnerving feeling. "They're the hunters and we're the hunted. I think it's time we even the playing field. They want to deceive and trick us?" She fully looked at them, making their eyes widen as her smile turned into a full on smirk. "Let's return the favor."

Ryder checked his tablet. It was about noon. Pikachu and the other have been working hard, trying to boost their physical strength. They were improving quite a bit. While they couldn't move around casually, they were slowly becoming comfortable with the heavy weights attached to them. It was taking less time for them to sit up. And they could move their arms almost normally.

He jumped down and clapped his hands. "Alright gang, time for a break." He sweatdropped as the trainees collapsed almost instantly. They were exhausted.

"Oh thank goodness!" Piplup exclaimed in relief. "My heart is pounding like a drum!"

He crossed his arms. "Piplup…volume." He opened up the hideout door and jumped down before coming back out with a supply of berries. "Eat up. We'll begin again in two hours."

"Thanks Ryder…" Pikachu panted. He looked up a bit. Ryder wasn't handing out the food. "Uh, Ryde…you gonna…give us food, buddy?"

He smirked. "Oh, you want me to hand it out?"

Snivy glared. "And you all thought I was cold."

Ryder sat back against a tree and placed his arms behind his head. "This'll be your last exercise before lunch. Actually getting your food."

Buneary whimpered. "Aww…"

Oshawott groaned and sat up. It was becoming easier, but his stomach was sore. "You're one cruel, heartless teacher."

"I wouldn't sat heartless," he said with his eyes closed.

The sea otter slowly stood up and walked over to the food. He could feel the weights weighing him down, forcing him to drag his feet. "Arg…this is a nightmare."

"I told you I wasn't going to go easy on any of you."

"Still, this is overkill, in my opinion." He made it to the pile and picked some berries up. "I may be willing to get up, but the others are exhausted, too." He walked over to Snivy first and placed her share next to her. He went back and got another armful, heading over to Pikachu.

Ryder smiled a bit. Oshawott has a good heart. And a strong mind. He fought through the exercises better than the others. He's the only one who can walk around without falling over.

"Did you get my food last on purpose?!" Piplup shouted at the otter, who laughed and placed it just out of his reach. "Oh, that is cold, man!"

He's still a goof, though. But I do see potential in him. He narrowed his eyes on the otter and looked at his aura. It was blue and shifted like running water. His aura is strong. He might have the needed potential to learn the basics of aura. He looked at Buneary, Snivy, and Piplup. Those three still have a long way to go. Snivy may learn sooner than them, though. His eyes finally settled on Pikachu. And then there's you.

Pikachu sat up and slowly scooted over to Buneary. He helped her sit up and handed her a berry. "For you, my sweet."

She giggled. "Oh you…" She took it and took a bite out of it.

Ryder narrowed his eyes seriously at Pikachu. His aura is far more potent than the others. What he lacks in physical strength, he makes up for in power. His electric attacks are stronger than anything I've ever seen. And I managed to feel a sample of that power back in Sinnoh. It was probably that strong years back.

There's something…unnatural about it. I can't put my claw on it, though. What secrets does he hold? More importantly, where did you come from?

A mystery the Charmeleon tried to solve for quite some time. When he found Pikachu, he was greatly injured. Then there was that…thing, whatever it was, trying to capture him. He couldn't remember a majority of what happened, apart from fighting off the creature and taking Pikachu back to Oak's lab, but he did remember waking up with a splitting headache. He gathered he lost consciousness during some time.

He shook his head. It always annoyed him how he could never figure out what happened that day, but now that he was getting a good look at Pikachu, he could see why someone would be after him. Still, he needed to keep a close eye on his progress and training. Perhaps teaching him the ways of aura might give him some answers.

Dark wanted his energy specifically, as far as he could tell. That meant it was something worth looking into.

"Hey Ryder, why don't you join us?" He looked up from his thoughts and saw the others waving him over. He smiled a bit and walked over to them.

"You all are improving marvelously. A few more days with those weights on and you won't even remember you're wearing them." He pulled put a berry from his cloak and took a bite. "How do you all feel?"

"Like I'm being crushed by a boulder," Piplup muttered. He grabbed a berry and struggled to lift it up to his mouth. He may not have weights on his flippers, but they were sore from the push-ups they had to do.

"Yeah…you get use to that after a while." He took another bite of his berry. "However, training your physique isn't the only thing you need to improve on."

Buneary tilted her head. "What?" She flinched in surprise when Ryder lightly nailed her with a seed.

"Your reaction time. Your reflexes. You can have all the strength and speed in the world, but it would be useless if you can't dodge."

"Hey, we've dodged pretty dangerous attacks in the past," Oshawott said.

"Perhaps, but the Darkmon are far faster than what you normally go up against. You saw how fast Dark Pikachu was. He managed to out speed me before I removed my weights. Being able to heighten your senses and reaction time would be a valuable asset for our victory."

Snivy, too tired to lift her arms, ate a berry with her vines holding it up. "And how are you going to improve our reaction time?"

"Unlike the weights, we'll be starting off slow. We'll find your current reaction speed and work from there, progressively getting harder." He closed his eyes and scratched his chin. "It won't be easy, of course, but I'm sure you all can tough it out. We will have to get you use to those weights first."

Piplup puffed his chest out and pounded it. "Ha, don't you worry! We can handle anything!"

"Great, your next training exercise is to run up that tree I was sitting on."

They gave blank stares in response. "Run up…a tree?"

"What? You think I'm going to give you climbing gear? Use what you have."

"So," Buneary started, "you want us to RUN up a tree, with no climbing gear, while wearing these weights?"

"Like I said, use what you naturally have. For example, Oshawott is allowed to use his scalchop."

Pikachu scratched his head and looked up the tree. "Uh…do we get prep time?"

"You have two hours to think of a way up there. Once the times up, you're running up the tree." They gulped. "Hey, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's basically climbing…just no stopping to get a good grip."

"Oh boy…" Oshawott muttered.

Cilan walked into the main lobby and presented delicious meals to Ash, Iris, and Dawn, along with Pokémon food being carried by Crustle. "Lunch is served!"

"Thanks Cilan…" they muttered as they took the dishes. The green haired chef sighed. Three days have passed since their Pokémon went to rescue Pikachu. Hank told them they will be fine, but it was practically instinct to worry about their friends. Cilan has been trying to lighten the mood, despite also worrying about his partner Pokémon.

Hank walked out from the back. "Still can't get the communications up." He sighed and wiped his hands. A plate of food was presented in front of his face. "Oh, thank you, Cilan."

"You're welcome. I hope you enjoy." He walked over to the couch and sat down next to his friends.

The old man sat down in a chair and calmly ate his food. The others noticed the black goop stained on his rag. They thought it was oil, as they figured he worked with a lot of machinery that used it. However…oil didn't normally have dried vines with it. Burned vines.

Ash looked at the others, who were curious like him. He asked, "So Hank…what was wrong with the communications?"

"Hmm?" He looked up from his meal. He was lost in his thoughts for a moment. "Oh, it's nothing to worry about." He tried to eat, but he could feel their stares burning down on him, demanding an answer. These kids are stubborn.

"Sir, we really want to know if our Pokémon are okay," Dawn said. "Can we speak with them?"

He sighed and placed his plate to the side. "Look kids…that would be going off the assumption your Pokémon found Ryder. There's a good chance he did, but Darkmon can be very tricky. For all we know, they've been separated from each other."

They gasped. "What?!" Iris shouted.

He held his hands up. "Like I said, I'm confident they're alright. They've been through a lot from what I've heard.

"Still…" Ash mumbled.

The old man shook his head. "Ash, I'm aware this is hard for you. All of you. But your Pokémon are strong. Ryder will not let anything bad happen to them. I promise."

"I know, but…"

Before he could go on, they heard the sliding doors open. A man and a woman entered. The woman had red hair and green glasses. She wore a sunhat, pink top, white pants, and a pair of flip-flops. The man had blue hair and wore red glasses. He wore a straw fedora, blue Hawaiian shirt with pineapples, khaki shorts, and flip flops as well. He carried a luggage case with him.

The woman gave a cheery greeting. "Hello! We wish to check into the Pokémon Center! My husband and I lost our room at one of the resorts and we needed a place to stay."

The man nodded. "You wouldn't happen to have any extra room available, do you?"

Nurse Joy checked the computer and smiled. "Yes, we have a room available."

"Oh, thank you!" the woman thanked.

"Just sign in and I'll show you to your room." They nodded and sighed their names on the digital pad provided for them.

Hank walked up behind them. "So, I take it you two are on vacation?"

The blue haired man turned around and nodded. "Oh yes, we-" His eyes wandered to the trainers and he shrieked lightly, drawing their attention. He regained his composure and laughed. "Y-Yes, we've been working hard lately and we desperately needed a vacation." He hooked his arm around his wife and dragged her.

She glared at him. "What are you…?" He whispered something in her ear and her eyes widened. She looked at the others and giggled. "Forgive him, we just want to rest after such a long travel." She took their room key and they gave a final wave before dashing down the back hall.

The gang blinked, surprised by their jumpy behavior. "Well…" Cilan started, "they seemed…interesting."

"Kind of jumpy, if you ask me," Iris muttered.

Hank rubbed his chin with a suspicious glare. "Yes…very jumpy…"

The man shut the door behind them, before being grabbed from behind and shook wildly by his 'wife'. "Why didn't you tell me the twerps were here too?!"

He pushed her off and glared. "How was I supposed to know?!"

She groaned and threw off her hat and glasses. "Doesn't matter. We need to focus on the task at hand."

James nodded and threw off his hat and glasses. He crouched down and unzipped the bag. Inside was, not clothes and other necessities for a vacation, a radar device. He lifted it out of the bag and set it on the desk off to the side. He plugged it in and switched it on.

He turned the knobs to adjust the frequency. "Okay, now we just need to find Laura's signal and we can work from there."

Jessie sat down on the bed and looked off to the side with a sad expression. Ever since they landed in the Undella Bay after their blast off, they've been trying to search for Meowth and Laura. They knew they were somewhere in the forest. Problem is, they weren't allow anywhere near it the general area, due to a 'mysterious criminals attacking a bunch of innocent kids' incident. Fortunately, they managed to convince Giovanni to send over a radar they could use to pick up Laura's signal. They haven't had much luck, so they figured doing it from the center would help somehow. Plus…they really didn't have anywhere else to sleep.

She heard James growl and slam his fists on the desk. "Come on! Work you stupid thing!" He turned the knob violently as he tried to pick up Laura's signal. All he was getting was radio signals. "Does this thing even work?!"

Jessie stood up and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "James…" He looked at her, then got slapped in the face. "Snap out of it! We're going to find them! Even if we have to bleed ourselves dry of our money to do it!"

He rubbed his cheek and sighed. "I know, but we've been trying for days. Either the signal isn't strong enough or…" He didn't dare finish the sentence. His partner didn't force him to. She knew what he was thinking and she didn't even WANT to consider it.

She leaned against the desk and looked at the ceiling. "I still say we should just enter the forest and find them ourselves."

James shook his head. "Bad idea. It's off limits."

"Since when did you care about obeying the law?"

He sighed and sat back in his seat. "If it meant getting them back, I would do it. However, I've been hearing rumors about that forest."

"Rumors?"

"Haunting cackles echoing through the night, flashes from the sound of an intense fight…people are truly terrified of it."

Jessie scoffed. "Rumors are rumors. Whatever they heard was probably a Pokémon battle."

"Jess, as much as I want to believe that, we can't dismiss how terrified everyone is." He went back to trying to find the right signal. "There's something about that forest we don't know. If we want to have any luck with finding Meowth and Laura, we need to do the necessary research."

Jessie grumbled, annoyed. "Alright, fine. So what's your brilliant plan, genius?"

"I still haven't thought of anything yet. We're not even allowed near the forest, so getting a sample wouldn't work." He glared at the radar and hit the top of it. "Work, you stupid contraption!"

Jessie walked over to the bag and pulled out a cube. She clicked the side and displayed a holographic image of the building. She check the schematics of the inside. "Hang on, James. I have an idea. There's a back to this place with communication equipment. Maybe we can sneak back there and use it to boost the signal."

The blue haired Rocket member scratched his chin. "Well, it's worth a shot. At this point, I'll try anything to find those two."

The female Rocket member poked her head out the door and looked up and down the hallway. No one in sight. She gestured James to follow. They walked down, with James carrying the radar. They had to dodge a few cameras here and there, but they made it through easy enough.

They snuck pass the emergency room and found the back door. There was a tool box off to the side. James bent down and looked at them. "These are pretty worn down. Whoever was working back here was hard at work."

His partner smacked him behind the head. "Does it look like I care about some mechanic's tools? We need to get inside."

James rubbed his head and rolled his eyes. He reached for the door handle and turned, but, as he figured, it was lock. "Great…" He looked at Jessie for a solution.

She pulled out a Pokeball. "Woobat, use Air Slash," she commanded quietly as she released the puffball bat. Woobat screeched its cry, but was immediately silenced by Jessie who placed a hand over his mouth. "Quietly…" He nodded and gave a quieter cry. His wings glowed and he fired light blue energy at the door handle, blasting it off. "Thank you, Woobat." She recalled her Pokémon and kicked the door open.

The Rocket agents went inside. Through the darkness of the hallway, however, two pairs of eyes gleamed through it with glares.

James pulled out a flashlight and shined a light in the room. All sorts of equipment was lying around in here, along with the equipment used to power the center's communication. They nodded at each other and ran over to it. The blue haired agent set the radar down and attached it to the communication station.

"Okay, if my hunch is right, this should boost our signal dramatically." He sat down and started twisting the knobs. Jessie kneeled down and watched nervously.

Two minutes of signal checking, one signal caught their attention. It blinked about a mile away from their current location. In the general location of the forest. They smiled and threw their arms around each other, jumping up and down. "They're alive! They're alive!" Granted, they had confirmation Laura was still alive, but they knew she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Meowth, so they were confident he was alive as well.

They stopped their cheering and merriment and got serious. "Okay, so now we just need to pinpoint where they are and we can use our jetpacks to fly over her location."

"Good," Jessie stated. "Let's hurry up and-" She felt a drop hit the top of her head. "What the…" She felt around her hair. "Ugh, someone needs to take better care of this place. There's water dripping from the ceiling."

James looked up, generally confused by the remark. "Wait, why would they have a water system running through a room full of electronics?"

"How should I know? I didn't design this place." She felt the drop that hit her. However, something was off about it. It felt…goopy. It was cold and slimy, making her shiver. "What the heck is in my hair?" She scooped it out and held it to eye level. She paled. "Uh…James?"

He stood up and looked at it. Black goop. He felt a drop of it hit his head too. They looked up and turned as white as ghosts. Spreading across the ceiling was black sludge, spread out across the wall like veins. They shined the light down the path of goop and landed on another set of equipment. It looked far more advance than the center's equipment. The goop was stretched around it and constricting it. It stabbed through the equipment and seemed to inflate and deflate in rhythmic patterns.

"What…is that?" James muttered. He shined the light down and saw it was coming from the ground. Judging by the movements it made from its pulsing, it appeared to be feeding off it. Another guess would assume it was spreading, but it stopped halfway across the ceiling.

Jessie went over to it and poked at it. "Gross…"

"Jessie, don't touch that! We don't know what it is!" he whispered loudly. "It could be poisonous!"

She sighed and stopped her poking. "Fine." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Though, something about this stuff is definitely…strange."

James pulled out some tweezers from his bag and walked over to it. "Let's take a sample and have it sent to HQ. Perhaps the boss might find some interest in it."

He was close to pinching a bit off, but he felt himself freeze up. His hand forced itself open and dropped the tweezers before having his arms and legs pinned to his sides.

"What's wrong?!" his partner shouted. She, too, felt the same psychic force wash take her over and pin her limbs together.

They lifted up in the air and spun around, coming face to face with a Lucario and an Azumarill. The Lucario had graying fur and a few wrinkles in the face. His eyes glowed blue with his arms crossed, giving a look that said 'Seriously'?

They glanced at the Azumarill and flinched. Normally, Azumarill were very kind and fun loving to be around. But, she was anything but happy. In fact, she looked furious. They haven't done anything remotely criminal worthy yet. Why was she so mad at them?

They struggled to break free of the psychic bind. "Let us go! We didn't do anything!" Jessie demanded.

"Yeah! We're only trying to look for our friends!" James shouted desperately.

"Oh, is that so?" They paled as Hank made his way in. He glared at them. "Well, I'm sure you have plenty of time to explain why you're here…Team Rocket."