After that rather eventful night, CT, Reggie, and Alyssa headed home, albeit late at night. June was passed out in bed, getting his much needed rest until there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Ugh... ack... who is it...?" muttered June half-asleep. "June? Are you awake?" asked Needles with a bit of concern in her voice. "Agh! I am now! What happened?!" asked June, suddenly wide awake. Needles slowly came in and let out a big sigh. "It's Mire... he's outside..." she said. "WHAT," growled June. "Where is he!?" he added. "Outside... he's throwing Stealth Rocks at my window and now they're floating around my room..." replied Needles. "Arceus damn it! Where's Reggie and Alyssa?" asked June as he stormed downstairs. "I think they're still asleep. Why?" asked Needles. "Get 'em up! We're taking care of this fucker once and for all!" replied June. Needles nodded and went to go get the aforementioned Pokemon while June ran outside to confront the Swampert. "Hey asshole! Didn't last night leave any sort of reminder in your thick skull?" said June with a furious look on his face. "As a matter of fact, yes. You should recall that night as well due to the injuries you succumbed to," replied Mire with a grin. "Quit trying to sound smart with me and fucking listen!" cried June. "Needles is done with you. WE'RE all done with you," he added. "Oh, it is anything but done. Because of that skank, I lost my position in the exploration team! Me! Removed from the great Team Rivet because of her!" cried Mire. "You don't deserve that job anyway, with the shit you tried to pull! And you definitely don't deserve her!" growled June. "Oh, but that's up to her to decide. Not you," replied Mire, folding his arms and smirking. "She told me last night that she's done with you! Now get out of my sight or else!" cried June. "Or else what?" said Mire with his shit-eating grin. "Or else we'll MAKE you get out of our sight," said CT as he and the rest of the team headed out and stood beside June, with Needles right next to him. "I heard from your ex-leader and my teammates about what happened last night. You disgust me," said CT. "Please. The fat dragon and the edgy fox would lie to your face," said Mire. "They might, and I didn't believe 'em til my smart and honest team member told me about it," replied CT, looking at Needles, who gave him a soft smile. "A lot of Pokemon close to me have been hurt all this time..." said Sparky. "But I'm not letting you hurt another! Not if I can help it!" he cried with an angry look on his face, static emitting from his tail. "Easy there, kid," said Reggie in an uncaring, sarcastic tone. "So are you gonna get your ass out of here or do we have to kick it out?" he said to Mire. Mire was about to speak, but growled as he realized that he was outnumbered. "This isn't over... you have yet to see the last of me... especially you, skank," said Mire, directing the last part to Needles. The buzzword irritated June, which caused him to walk up to Mire while charging a Scald. Mire responded by immediately turning around and hastily running away, tripping once he was barely visible. The group then shared a laugh. "Holy crap, June. You actually scared him away. Maybe it's because of your ugliness but whatever," said Reggie. "Oh hush!" said Needles who lightly smacked him in the shoulder. "Well, if he's gone now, can we go back to bed? I'm tired," said Alyssa, who stretched her arms and wrapped one around CT. "It's not a good idea to annoy someone that can beat your ass into the ground," said CT. "You wouldn't hit a girl now, would you?" asked Alyssa. "Hit, no. Beat the shit out of, yes. Off. Now," said CT. "You're no fun..." said Alyssa as she released CT and headed inside with her arms crossed. The rest of the group followed suit, with Needles and June hanging out a bit longer before going in.
A short while after June returned to his room, Needles once again knocked on his door. At least he wasn't as tired this time around so he got up and answered it. "Oh, hey," said June. "Hello," said Needles in an awfully happy tone. "I just wanted to say, thank you for helping me with that jerk Mire. Both last night and a few hours ago," she said. "Oh, it's nothing, really! Just helping a friend and all," replied June as he scratched the back of his head. "I know... uhm, mind if I talk to you? I need some advice..." said Needles. June raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering why she would need advice. She's usually the one who gives it. Not wanting to start a conflict, as well as using it as an excuse to talk to his crush, he agreed. "Um, sure. What is it?" asked June. "Well, mind if I come in?" she asked. June began to sweat a little. "Um... no, no. Not at all!" replied June, a little nervous in his words. "Alrighty," said Needles, who came in and closed the door behind her. "Well..." said Needles. She casually headed over to June's bed and sat on it, with June looking over in confusion and nervousness. "While you were sleeping, I found out something, rather interesting..." said Needles, smiling slightly. "W... What? What is it?" asked June curiously. "I found out... that my crush... has a crush on me back!" said Needles. Those words hit June like a bullet. Who could this guy be? And why would she move on that quickly after what happened last night? All these questions spun in June's head the moment she uttered those words. "Well, um... what's he like?" asked June. "Well... he's really nice," said Needles. "He's also cute. And sweet. And he's rather funny, too!" said Needles. June decided to have a seat next to Needles and struggle to place his elbows on his knees. "Ergh... well... are you sure he's the right mon for you...? I mean, is he really what he seems?" asked June. "Oh, I'm certain he's the one," said Needles in a playful tone. "The question I'm asking isn't IF I'll ask him out... but when..." said Needles, followed by a sweet smile. "Uh, who is this guy anyway!?" cried June. Needles giggled a little then turned her head to June, with a brief moment of silence filling the room.
"You," said Needles.
June felt as if an even bigger bullet had hit him this time around. He had no idea how to respond so he just got up off his bed babbling, stumbled backwards and fell down, hitting his head against the wall. Needles got up and looked at him in worry. "Are you alright!?" cried Needles. She went over to June and helped him up. "Ugh... never better..." replied June. He rubbed his head a little and looked at Needles after he got up. "Are you sure...? You hit your head on the wall..." said Needles. "Oh I don't care about that... heh," said June. "But... you have a mark on your head..." replied Needles. "Eh it'll go away. But this moment won't," said June. He slowly grabbed Needles' hands and looked into her eyes with a cheesy little smile. His vision was still a bit blurry but he didn't care. "I... I've been waiting for this moment for so long... you have no idea how much this has made my day..." said June. Needles blushed and giggled, then looked up into his eyes. "Well... I'm not going to take the opportunity away from you, so..." said Needles. "So...?" replied June. Needles gently pulled her hands out of June's and stood on her toes, whispering into his ear. "OH!" said June, the response causing Needles to giggle. June then took a deep breath and took Needles' hands again. "Needles... will you..." June sweat a little and almost choked, but pulled through. "Will you be my sweet, beautiful girlfriend?" he asked. Needles gave June a reassuring smile. "I'd love to," she said. June tried to contain his excitement but couldn't. He literally jumped so high in excitement that he bored a hole through the roof. Puzzled, Needles looked up through it. "I'm okay!" cried June, right before he arced down and landed in front of the base, where a seemingly worried Sparky was sitting. Of course, he was startled by June falling from the sky and landing in front of him. "Wh-Wha!?" cried Sparky as he got up and stumbled backwards. "I'm okay..." said June as he tried to get up. "H-How did you do that!?" cried Sparky. "uhhh... magic?" replied June, getting up and rubbing his head. "What are you doing out here, kid?" asked June to Sparky, both curious and in an attempt to change the subject. "It's my parents..." replied Sparky, sitting back down. "It's been a while since I've talked to them... I think they're worried about me..." he added. He then looked up at June while retaining his worried look. "Can we go visit them? I want them to know I'm okay..." asked Sparky. "Oh, sure! I don't think CT minds," responded June. Suddenly, as if on cue, CT headed out of the base. "Oh, hey CT! Can I ask ya something?" asked June. "Depends. I'm kinda in a rush right now," responded CT with a straight face. "Uhh... can Sparky and the group go visit Sparky's parents? He really wants to," said June. "Sure. I won't be able to join you guys, though. Goin' out to lunch with some fellow team leaders," responded CT. "Alrighty, then. It might just be me and my sweetie going with him, anyway," replied June. "Sweetie?... holy shit you're dating Needles now!? After like, 20 or somethin' years!? Congratulations, man!" cried CT, pulling June into a bro-hug. "Heh... thanks... anyways, go to your lunch thing. I don't wanna keep ya," said June. "Yeah yeah, me neither. Have fun on your first date," said CT jokingly as he walked away. "Uhh... yeah... date..." replied June. "Sparky, could you wait for me while I get Needles and the others?" said June. "Okay," replied Sparky, followed by a deep sigh.
June headed back in and saw Alyssa lounging around on the couch. "Hey Aly," said June. Alyssa perked her ears up and turned herself over to June. "'ey," replied Alyssa. "Me and Needles are gonna go with Sparky to visit his parents. You uh, wanna come with us?" asked June. "Nah," replied Alyssa. "Those Agro pricks tore down the fancy restaurant lookin' for me last night. I think I'll be laying low for a while," said Alyssa. "And uh, what if we have to do a mission...?" asked June. "Oh, I can go out for those. I got a bunch of cute, strong men to protect me," said Alyssa in a flirtatious voice with her tongue hanging out. "Uhh... can you stop with the flirting? Needles might not like it..." said June. "Pff, why would she care? It's not like you two are dating or anything," replied Alyssa. "Uhh... about that..." replied June, turning away a little. Alyssa blinked in confusion and sat up on her knees. "You're joking..." said Alyssa. "Um... no I'm not... we literally just got together..." replied June hastily. Alyssa remained quiet and lied back down on the couch, facing away from June. "...are you okay?" asked June with a concerned tone. "I'm fine. Just go," replied Alyssa in a shockingly serious tone. "Are you sure...? You don't sou-" June was interrupted by Alyssa shouting angrily. "I SAID GO," cried Alyssa. June's jaw hung low at Alyssa's mood, never seeing her like this before. He let out a deep sigh and headed upstairs to Reggie's room. He knocked on the door and came in to find Reggie with a headset on. "Oh fuck you, asshole! You fucking suck more than you suck your mom's titties!" cried Reggie through the headset. June blinked in confusion and looked at Reggie. "...what?" asked June. Reggie realized June was in the room and hung his headset over his neck. "It's nothin'. I'm just playing a good game of Call of Goomy OH FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!" said Reggie, screaming the latter into his mic. "Uhh, okay. Needles and me are gonna go with Sparky to his parent's house. You uh, wanna come with us?" asked June. "Nah. Can't ya see I'm busy? Dammit asshole, why the fuck are you fucking quickscoping! Go back into the damp cave in your asshole!" said Reggie. "Uhh... okay..." said June, slowly turning around and heading out. "Oh, by the way. You're welcome," said Reggie to June right as he left. June, curious, peeked his head back into the room. "For what?" asked June. "You'll see," replied Reggie. "Uhh, okay then...?" said June, leaving the room and returning to Needles.
Needles was sitting on her bed patiently while humming to herself when June came in. "For a minute I thought you were in space..." said Needles. "Sorry... I found Sparky outside and he wanted to go see his parents again... and I... offered to take him," said June. "Aww, that's so sweet of you!" said Needles, getting up and hugging June, who returned the hug. "He was also uh... wondering if you'd like to come with me... us..." said June, blushing. "I'd love to! I haven't talked much to Sparky's parents about something other than death... besides, the change of scenery will be nice," said Needles. "I agree. It could be our... uhh... first date too!" said June. Needles blushed a little at the thought. "Date? With Sparky as our chaperone?" said Needles, followed by a cute giggle. "Uhh... yeah! Chapped prune..." replied June. The little joke caused Needles to giggle some more. "Alright, alright. Let's go. We don't want to keep Sparky waiting, now do we?" asked Needles, rubbing June's chin. "Hehe... y-yeah..." replied June. "Come on, let's go milady," he said, taking Needles' hand and walking out of the base with her, where Sparky waited. Sparky turned his head to the couple and got up. "Is... is that everyone that's going?" asked Sparky worriedly. "Mhm... unfortunately..." said Needles. "Everyone is rather busy," she added. "Oh... well, can we get going already? I'm starting to miss them too..." said Sparky. "Alright, alright," said Needles in a reassuring tone, patting Sparky's head with one hand and holding June's with the other. She then took Sparky's hand and the pseudo-family merrily made their way through town.
After some time, the trio was nearly at Sparky's house, conversing with one another as they walked. "Um... how do you think they'll feel about me coming back?" asked Sparky worriedly to Needles. "What do you mean?" asked Needles curiously. "Like... um... wh-what if they don't want me back? Or what if they won't let me go back with you guys...?" asked Sparky nervously. "Oh, don't be silly! Why wouldn't they want you back? You're their son! Their sweet, adorable son," said Needles. "I guess..." replied Sparky. "Hey, uh, guys?" asked June, cutting the conversation short. "Are you sure this is the place...?" he added. "It should be. Why are y-" Needles was interrupted when she and Sparky saw the horrible sight before them. What used to be a house was now a burned ruin, still emitting embers along the sides. There was also the sight of blood in some areas around the front yard, most notably blood shaped as if someone was being dragged. "MOM! DAD!" cried Sparky, sprinting over to the wreckage. Needles turned to June with a worried look on her face and just shook her head. June sighed and rubbed his temples, and the two Pokemon regrouped with Sparky, who was frantically banging on the destroyed door. "MOM! DAD!" cried Sparky, knocking the door down with one final pummel. "Sparky... I'm here..." said a weak feminine voice. The three Pokemon turned their heads to another, even worse sight. A badly bruised Ampharos was dangling from a noose tied to a damaged lamp post, her left leg bent and broken. "MOM!" cried Sparky, tears welling in his eyes as he ran over to the Ampharos, with June and Needles right behind. He grabbed her leg to try and pull her off the noose but this only hurt her more. "Sparky, let me take care of this," said June. He backed up a little then charged at the noose, using Rapid Spin. He successfully cut the rope, along with the lamp post, causing her to fall, with Needles catching her. "Miss... what happened to you?!" cried Needles. The Ampharos coughed up blood and looked up at Needles. "Some... Dracologists... attacked us... burned our house down... they said... to tell our son not to mess with their plans again..." said the Ampharos, weakly turning her head to Sparky, who was already filled with enough guilt as is. "M-M-Mom... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have left you guys..." he said. "It's not your fault, sweetie..." said Sparky's mom weakly. "Your father escaped... barely... but he's well... COUGH. We've heard about the things you and your wonderful team have done... we... we're proud of you... Jamie would have been proud of you too... th... this is what she would have wanted for you..." she said. "B-But... m-mommy! You're hurt! Bad! I-I've already lost Jamie, and I don't want to lose you! Please don't die, mommy! Please!" cried Sparky as he cried a waterfall. "I... I'm sorry, sweetie... but it's my time... you know I've always wanted you to be happy... but please... stay strong... f-f-for me... for Jamie... for your team..." said Sparky's mom. Needles sniffled and gently laid Sparky's mother on the floor, starting to tear up herself. "I'm sorry... but I just can't deal with this right now..." said Needles as she turned away. She headed over to June, giving him a big hug and sobbing into his chest, saddened by Sparky's inevitable loss. June returned the hug and watched as Sparky knelt down to his dying mother. "M-M-Mommy..." whimpered Sparky. "Please! Please don't do this mommy! I love you and I promise I'll come back to you guys! Just please don't leave me!" he pleaded. But there was no response. Needles and June solemnly looked at the two and quickly looked away, knowing that it was too late. "...mommy?" said Sparky. "Should we tell him...?" asked June.
And then Sparky finally came to the horrifying truth. His mother passed away before his very eyes. "N... no! Mommy! MOMMY!" cried Sparky as he tried to shake his dead mother back to life. After a minute or so of futile shaking, he buried his face into her chest and sobbed loudly and grossly. "June... could we go somewhere...?" asked Needles weakly. "Uh, where?" replied June. "Anywhere... I just... I don't want to see this... these past few weeks have been hard enough as it is and I'm just..." Needles paused to try and keep herself from crying. "Sorry if this sounds selfish of me..." said Needles. "Hey, hey. It's not selfish at all. I don't blame you for feeling as bad as Sparky does... that's just how you are, nothing can change it..." said June. Having no idea what to say, he pulled Needles into a tight hug and let her sob into his chest. "Uh, Sparky? We'll be right back..." said June to the still-sobbing Sparky, who was drowned out by his own crying anyway. The two Pokemon decided to head out back to check the damage out on the rest of the house. It wasn't much better than what they had just seen. In fact it may have been worse. Jamie's grave had not only been dug up, but the corpse had been decapitated, with some chunks of ice laid around it in an attempt to cause freezer burn on the body. "Oh Arceus..." said June as he looked down into the grave. Needles quickly shoved her face into June's chest to avoid seeing yet another horrible sight. "Whatever you do, don't describe it to me..." said Needles. "I won't," replied June, patting his girlfriend's back. "I honestly think we should go... if Sparky's mom lived long enough to tell us what happened, then the attack might have been recent. So those fuckers could still be around," said June. Needles pulled away from June and dried her tears, realizing he was right. "You're right..." said Needles. "Should we tell Sparky we're leaving?" she asked. June turned his head to find that Sparky had fallen asleep while crying, arms wrapped tight around his mother with his face stained with tears. "I, uh... I'm not sure... I think it's for the best though," replied June. He then pulled away from Needles and walked over to Sparky, lightly shaking his head. "Hey, uh... Sparky?" he asked. Sparky slowly woke up and looked up at June. "Are you ready to leave? We might not be able to stay as long as we thought, kid. Sorry," said June. "I feel icky..." replied Sparky. "Well... you did just touch a dead bod- I mean... I can understand why... do you wanna go get some ice cream? Maybe that'll make you feel a little better?" asked June. Sparky shook his head. "I just wanna go home now..." replied Sparky. "That's fine too," replied June. He helped Sparky get up and walked him over to Needles, whom he gave a big hug to. June then went back to the corpse and closed its eyes, letting out a heavy sigh as he did. "Poor kid... he shouldn't have to go through this kind of stuff..." said June. June's grieving was interrupted by a loud shriek coming from Needles.
Two Noiverns and a familiar Flygon surrounded Needles and Sparky, all grinning menacingly. "How does it feel to lose something close to you, pesky little Ampharos? It hurts, doesn't it?" said Louis with a shit-eating grin as he rubbed his claws together. "W-What are you talking about?!" cried Needles as she held Sparky close to her chest. "The Magma Stones, of course! They were very important to our cause, and your team wrongfully took them from us. So now, we have taken something very important from you. Isn't that right, Sparky?" said Louis. Sparky went from sad to pissed. He was emitting static from his tail trying to attack but Louis interrupted this by clawing him in the nose. "Ah ah ah! Attempt to retaliate, and you both will be joining your mother in hell!" said Louis. June was a fair distance away from them but couldn't just let them die, especially not Needles. "Oh hell no... you get away from them!" cried June as he ran over. One of the Noiverns snapped his neck to June and then charged at him at a dangerously fast speed. June tucked his head in and narrowly avoided the Noivern's attack. Then, while still running, he leapt into the air and used Rapid Spin on Louis, who, failing to avoid the attack, was knocked down to the ground. The remaining Noivern attempted to behead Needles and Sparky with Air Slash but thanks to Needles quickly falling to the ground, she avoided it. She then rolled off of Sparky and tried to hit the Noivern with a Fire Blast to the face, but it dodged the attack with relative ease. Meanwhile, June had pinned Louis down, aiming his cannons straight into his face. "I can see why Needles hates your cult so much..." growled June. "Cult? That is not a very nice thing to call us," said Louis. "We are more of a group. A group that is about to tear your friends to shreds," he added, grinning. June choked Louis and looked up, seeing Needles and Sparky do battle with one of the Noiverns, with the other sweeping in to join the fray. "I'll deal with you later, but in the meantime..." June blasted Louis with a Scald to the eyes and sprinted over to Needles and Sparky, leaving Louis to scream and writhe in pain. He then swept Needles and Sparky off their feet and ran off. Louis got up and saw the three Pokemon escape with what remained of his vision. "After them!" cried Louis, who flopped back down as the two Noiverns took off. With that, the two Dragons were in hot pursuit of the tower of Pokemon that headed for town.