Disclaimer: Didn't I get the point across already? I don't own Pokémon.

First off, I would like to apologize for a few things, Mainly, for this chapter taking so bloody long to upload. Secondly, as many readers have informed me, for putting in too many characters. However, though I am still an aspiring writer, I will make sure to put more effort into making sure everything goes smoothly. So for those worried about infinite more characters popping out of nowhere, you may put your pen and paper down. Anyway, please keep in mind that I did not forget about this story at all. I merely need to rework my ideas for this fiction, optimizing it for greatness, one of the main reasons for it being updated so slowly.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But anyhow, please enjoy.

"Hmm…I see. So that's where Sukaku resides." Kabushi nodded, listening to Raijin and Shizuka's story. It was nighttime, and the ocean moon was in full effect. Currently, he sat along the coast of the beach, talking with his two Pokémon. Raijin proceeded to talk about his findings on the nearby island which happened to be Sukaku's base. The red haired samurai was reasonably concerned with the matter.

"We should be careful. They will probably attack us soon." Shizuka warned, standing next to Raijin.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for scouting." Kabushi recalled the two Pokémon back into their respective balls, placing them back into his pockets. Not a moment later, he sighed tiredly. "Just great, more problems for this so called 'vacation'." It was evident he was frustrated by previous events, and the fact he would have to 'go to work' only added more fuel to the fire. So far, nothing had been going right for him. Whether it was the fact he was forced to spend time with his enemies or how his trust in his teammates was severed by deceit, he was having a very bad week.

"Kabu-kun?" A voice called out to him.

Speak of the devil. "What do you want?" He snapped.

'I saw that one coming.' Ayane sighed mentally. She didn't want their friendship to end over something so ridiculous, even if she was the one at fault. But, it was difficult to come up with the right words to apologize, given she wasn't the type to just throw her pride away for a simple apology. "About before…"

"What, you going to make fun of me now?"

At this, the white haired ninja was confused. "Wait…what?"

"It's obvious you all have been dying to take a shot at me. Go ahead, laugh, ridicule me, do whatever you want. I don't even care." Kabushi didn't dare to look, knowing his face was no longer able to hold back the pained look on his face.

Ayane had to take a minute to think over Kabushi's reaction. It was almost as if… "Wait a minute, no, no, no. It's nothing like that. I would never make fun of someone that would make art as fantastic as yours, and neither would Anji-kun or Ryu-kun!"

Kabushi slowly peeked at Ayane at the corner of his eye, filled with surprised curiosity. "Fantastic…?"

"Of course. Don't be silly, Kabu-kun. Who wouldn't think so?"

"…There had been times before," Kabushi could remember clearly the times he would proudly show one of his works of art in the past, only to have it thrown back in his face. Until recently, the only person who showed a liking for the things Kabushi loved was… "But that's irrelevant; this doesn't mean I forgive you for going through my belongings."

"I didn't think so. I'm not going to beg for your forgiveness, nor do I expect it anyway, but I do want to make up for it. So here." Ayane handed Kabushi a small book.

"Hm?" Kabushi accepted the book and glanced over the title. "The Silver Gemini. Interesting title." It was a hard cover, silver colored book. The texts were expertly carved into the front of the leather book. Kabushi tossed Ayane a questionable look.

"Go ahead, take a look."

"Sure." Kabushi flipped open the book and started skimming through the pages, making sure to take small glimpses of each page. His eyebrow rose slightly, showing interest. "This is rather impressive. Whoever the author is has done a very good job with this one. Hm?" He stopped at a blank page, which was halfway through the book. "Why is this incomplete?"

"That's because the book is unfinished. Time isn't on everyone's side."

"I see, but what does this book have to do with anything?" Kabushi wondered, not getting the point.

"It's right in front of you. Didn't you notice from the front cover?"

"On the front cover, what are you…!" The red headed samurai's green eyes widened slightly with great surprise. "This book…you wrote it?"

"As you can see, we aren't all that different." Ayane took the book back into her hands and turned around. "That's all I wanted to do. After all, there's nothing I can really do to apologize for putting you in great discomfort. But, it's better to do something than nothing at all, right?" She began walking away, waving haphazardly at Kabushi. "Enjoy your vaca—"

"Wait a second." Kabushi called out. Ayane stopped, giving him a halfway glance. Though he tried not to show it, he felt a little embarrassed with his next comment. "Could…you tell me more about your story? It…intrigues me."

Ayane couldn't help but smile. "Only if you can talk to us about your artwork."

"Fair enough."

'I suppose that means I'm forgiven.' Ayane figured, taking a seat next to Kabushi. With that, the wall between the two finally dissolved, renewing their team spirit.

Elsewhere along the coast, Satoshi was standing with his sword held in front of him. His eyes held deep focus and concentration. Wearing only his lower hakama, a combination of sea water and sweat could be seen pouring down his body. He was practicing his latest technique, taught by his brother. It was a powerful technique, but he was not yet able to control it properly. "I'll give it one more try." Sliding his foot back, he held his blade in a sheathed position and lowered his body slightly. After preparing himself, he stepped forward—

"Satoshi?"

--And fell flat on his face. "Ow…" Satoshi groaned irritably, his face full of sand. Pushing himself up, he started spitting sand out of his mouth. "Geez, Kasumi. Can't you give a warning or something?"

Kasumi stifled a giggle, noticing his face and hair covered in sand. "I couldn't help it. You looked so serious."

"Yeah, I can SO see the humor in that." Satoshi fumed, sitting up and crossing his legs. "So what brings you here?"

Kasumi started shifting uncomfortably, suddenly nervous. "May I sit next to you?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

Kasumi took a seat, sitting next to the Team Tatsujin leader. Ever since her conversation with Sakura, she had a lot to think about. For the longest time, she had been avoiding the subject at all cost. Whether it would be a blessing or a curse, she was too afraid of uncertainty to push for an answer. Unfortunately, she soon realized that holding back was only going to cause her more pain in the future. It was time to face the music and tackle the subject at hand. Taking a deep breath, Kasumi began. "Um…Satoshi. First off…I would like to say, thanks."

"Hm? What for?"

Kasumi didn't answer immediately, but started to wring her hands nervously. Her heart was beating erratically for reasons she didn't know, her only clue being it involved Satoshi in some way. Waiting for her nerves to settle down, she started off slowly. "Before I joined the group, Furuura-chan was my only friend, but she was more of a security guard who would have. Though I had Furuura-chan and my sisters, I was still pretty lonely. Back then…I was actually a pretty quiet person and kept things to myself."

"Wait a sec, YOU a quiet person? When I met you, you almost took my head off!"

"Yeah, that's the thing. For some reason, at that moment, you just seemed to…well, spark a fire within me. Made me feel alive again. I passed the feeling off as just anger, but I think…I was just a little happy. Happy that someone noticed me rather than feared me. I've began to change a lot since I've met you, so different from the bitter person I used to be. You've done so much for me lately, and I'm starting to feel like I haven't been contributing enough."

"That's not true! You've done plenty of things!" Satoshi debated strongly. "You are a vital member of our team, Kasumi. You've always been able to cover my weaknesses and watch my back."

"That's not what I meant." Kasumi shook her head. Though Satoshi was perplexed, he waited for Kasumi to continue. "You know so much about me. You know my past, my strengths, and…just about everything there is to know. But, in a sense, I don't know nearly as much about you. I…what I want is…" There was a pause as Kasumi carefully picked out her words. "I want to get to know you more. I want to do the same for you as you've been doing for me this whole time." She carefully moved her hand over Satoshi's, gently grasping it. Her emerald eyes focused on Satoshi's brown ones, shimmering into the moonlight. It was full of honesty and fortitude. "What I'm trying to say is that I…I want to be there for you. I want to return the kindness and friendship you've shown me for the last few months. If there's anything you need or want to talk about, anything at all, don't hesitate to call out to me."

"Kasumi…" Satoshi felt touched by Kasumi's declaration, and it showed with his warm smile. "Don't be so worried about stuff like that. I get what you mean, but don't push yourself so hard." He fell back to stare at the small patches of clouds hovering by. "Just having you by my side is more than enough to make me happy. I don't need much more than that."

"Just stay by your side, huh?" Kasumi dropped back onto the sand as well, but rested her shoulder against Satoshi's. "I'm sure I can manage that." At that moment, there was nothing else she wanted to do but stay by Satoshi's side. If she was to be stuck with him for years to come, or even forever, she wouldn't have minded at all. Right now, she felt at peace, something she'd longed for since early childhood. If Satoshi could perform miracles like that for her, then he was worth every second of that sweet idea of forever.

Maybe she did have a chance at true happiness after all…

For what felt like hours, the two rested comfortably on the sandy beach, not a sound to be heard. But Satoshi noticed something peculiar. "That's weird." He said, narrowing his eyes at the night sky. "Those are really odd looking clouds."

"Hey, come to think of it, it's supposed to be clear tonight. Why would there be clouds?" Kasumi focused her eyes on the sight as well. Unlike the clouds she was used to, they were perfectly shaped ovals, similar shape to pills, floating in the sky. The sides were dark blue and the bottom was white. Either they were the strangest group of clouds they ever laid eyes on, or… "Wait a minute…those aren't clouds…they're…Wailords!"

"Wailords? You mean those giant blue whale things? What are they doing all the way out here!?" Something seemed terribly wrong about the situation, but he couldn't guess as to what it was. Three Wailords floated high in the sky, as daunting as dreadnoughts. Looking closer, Satoshi could see other Pokémon flying next to it, namely Mantines, Wingulls and Pelippers.

"Satoshi! Look!" Kasumi pointed at the sea. From it, several Pokémon started making appearances. Wartortles, Squirtles, Tentacools, and Octillerys emerged from the waters. The two turtle-type Pokémon were armed with swords, shields, and tridents. The Tentacools and Octillerys had steel nails equipped on their slender tentacles. It was obvious that this wouldn't be a warm greeting of Pokémon, but rather…

Both Satoshi and Kasumi stood up immediately, slowly taking steps back. Satoshi couldn't believe his eyes. "This is…an invasion! I can't even count how many water Pokémon there are."

"Over 200 coming up on shore and 100 from the sky." Kasumi answered.

"Err…yeah, thanks for the count…" As much as Satoshi wanted to say something insulting, it wasn't the time or place for it. "Kasumi, we have to run and warn the others!"

"It doesn't look like we're going to get the chance so easily. Look!" Kasumi pointed at the Wailords floating high in the sky. There, tiny objects could be seen falling down in the dozens. Her eyes widened in surprise at the identity of the objects.

Turtle shells.

CRASH!

12 Wartortle shells dropped down like cannonballs, crashing into the sandy beach. Light blue arms, legs, and a blue head with popped out of their respective exit points. The Wartortles quickly formed a circle around Satoshi and Kasumi, brandishing the various weapons strapped to their backs. "This beach will be your grave, human! ATTACK!" One of the Wartortles commanded, pointing his trident at the two targets. The small turtle Pokémon, along with the other units, charged furiously after the two Arcadian students.

With quick precision, Satoshi struck at the sand towards a small group of Wartortles running at them, blinding them temporarily. He made a swift dash at them, sheathing his sword while doing so. Once he was close enough, he quickly drew his sword and slashed at the turtles, causing a group of them to be sent flying. Glancing to his side, he noticed two Wartortles charging at him with tridents. Satoshi was prepared to counter attack when a voice yelled out an attack.

"Thundershock!"

BZZT!

"Arg!" The two Pokémon were quickly knocked out, zapped by the electric shock.

Satoshi whipped around, flashing his savoir a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save, Raigeki!"

"Don't count me out of the action!" Raigeki boasted.

"Will you two quit trying to act cool? This isn't the time or place for it! HIYA!" With a thrust of her palm, Kasumi cracked the shell of a Wartortle and sent it crashing into two other Wartortles.

"Ah phooey, you're no fun!" Raigeki huffed.

"She's right though. Let's keep going!" Satoshi, along with Raigeki and Kasumi, started dashing ahead towards the beach house.

Along the way, they encountered several more groups of rampaging Pokémon, from Wartortles to Octillerys, though with their combined might, the opposing forces were quickly wiped out. The Arcadian students didn't know what made them so angry, but it was apparent they were out for their blood. "What is up with this invasion? We didn't do anything to them!" Kasumi yelled, sprinting.

"Beats me! All we can do is check with Ibuki-sensei! She'll know what to do!" Satoshi advised.

"We're almost there! Let's hurry!" Raigeki let loose a wave of Thundershocks to shake off their pursuers while escaping.

POOF!

"Charge!" Out of the sand appeared 3 Wartortles, ambushing the fleeting teens and Pikachu. They were about to swing at them with their respective weapons when suddenly—

"Thunderbolt!"

ZAP!

A powerful Thunderbolt fried the three attackers, the force knocking them several feet away. The members of Team Tatsujin turned to the source of the attack. "You fools! Stop playing around and hurry up!" Kabushi yelled, running towards the beach house with Ayane and Raijin, the Raichu.

"Show off…" Satoshi mumbled, continuing his pace. Glancing behind, he noticed over 20 Octillerys shooting thick balls of ink at them, the attacks. The attacks were barely halfway from hitting their targets when a giant wall of sand was erected from the ground, taking the full brunt of the attacks. That could only mean one thing.

"Glad you can join the party." Leo's alter ego, Kaisuke, quipped, kneeling on the sand with his hands pressed down. Haruka had mimicked his actions, adding her strength into creating a sand wall.

"Thanks for the save. Now let's hurry up the beach house. That wall won't hold them forever." Satoshi suggested. Haruka and Kaisuke agreed, following them to the beach house.

It didn't take long for them to arrive, but when they did, they found their beach house being raided by an army of water Pokémon. Everyone with the ability to fight was defending the house, fending off the invasion.

Ibuki, along with her Dragonair, were knocking turtle and octopus type Pokémon left and right, relentless in their attacks. The blue haired martial artist spotted Team Tatsujin and was glad for their arrival. "About time you showed up! We could use some help!"

"It should be easy with us here!" Kasumi slapped her hands together, ready to deliver some pain to the invading Pokémon.

"Alright! Let's show these guys who we're dealing with!"

"YEAH!" Everyone shouted. Haruka, the only one unable to give a shout out, couldn't help but feel left out.

Satoshi noticed this and sweat-dropped. "Oh right…almost forgot about that. Sorry Haruka." Haruka merely waved it off, releasing a small sigh. Though months passed and Haruka had gotten used to being a mute, it was still very annoying.

Almost missing it, something caught Haruka's eye. A shadowed figure dashed into the house, hiding under the chaos and attacks flying about. She considered warning her friends, but they were too busy fighting all of the Pokémon. Never before did she curse her muteness so much.

The best option was to investigate it alone.

Making sure to avoid getting hit, Haruka darted across the battlefield until she was inside the house. To her surprise, some of the water Pokémon breached the interior. The hinata girls were cornered by a few Wartortles carrying swords. Narusegawa, Su, Mitsune and Shinobu huddled together, frightened for their lives. Naru and Mitsune were in front of the two younger girls, though scared, were willing to take a stand against the Wartortles. Haruka had to act quickly, or else the girls would get hurt. If only she had her voice back, she could chant a spell or at least distract the turtles. But for now, she had to resort to alchemy.

Speaking of which, she had an idea.

Clapping her hands together, the sound caught the Wartortle's attention. One of the Wartortle's pointed at Haruka. "It's one of the humans we were warned about! Attack before she has a chance to strike!" At the call, the five turtles charged at the young mage.

Haruka glanced left and right, trying to find the right item to transform. The enemy was running towards her in a single line, the benches making it impossible to swarm. At that moment, she spotted her target. 'I hope this works…' Places her palms onto the wooden floor, electric sparks shot from under her hands, trailing towards the benches the Wartortles were trying to pass. The wooden seats started deforming and shot across the turtle's path, encircled them, and wrapped them into wooden bindings. Normally, it would've been easy to just burn them into a crisp, but it probably would've set the beach house on fire. That would do more harm than good.

"Thank you, Haruka-san. Motoko-chan is upstairs, fighting some more of those…turtle things." Narusegawa informed, pointing at the stairs. Without a moment to waste, Haruka took off, climbing the stairs.

The stairway led to the second floor, which was a hallway holding six doors, three on each side. It wasn't a big hallway, but it was sizable enough for two people to maneuver comfortably. Immediately, the alchemic mage noticed six unconscious Wartortles and an injured Motoko. Worried, she ran over and knelt next to the hinata samurai. Motoko was sitting up against the wall, holding onto her katana incase an enemy tired to ambush her. Besides are few cuts and bruises, her wounds weren't very seirous. "Haruka-san. Be careful of that…person. Whoever it was ran into Ibuki-san's room at the end of the hall." She weakly pointed to the open door down the hall. "He was very strong, whoever he was. Don't let your guard down, not even for a moment."

Haruka nodded and stood up, walking towards the said door. She didn't know what to expect, but jumped when she heard a slash, followed by a cry of pain. Alarmed, she sprang into action, preparing her fingers for flame action. Who she saw was something she least expected.

"So this is it…" The cloaked assailant said to himself, admiring the 3 crystal swords that were locked inside the treasure chest. "With this weapon, I will no doubt be able to crush anyone who gets in my way. Ack!" The perpetrator started coughing, using one of the swords as a crutch. "Damn these side effects…they shouldn't last too much longer though…hm?" The man veiled in a black ninja suit glanced behind him, his eyes widening in shock.

His red eyes.

'Those eyes…it's…him…!' Haruka was startled as well. Both she and the intruder stood still in silence, surprised with their meeting.

"Dammit, this isn't good at all!" Clutching the swords to his chest, the man ran towards the window and jumped through it, shattering the glass in the process.

A second barely went by before Haruka sprinted into hot pursuit, jumping out of the same window. 'I've finally found you…Yuuki…' With a flip, she landed gracefully on the sand, charging after the ninja. 'And there's no way I'm going to let you go…not again…!' Fueled by determination, Haruka ran at a frighteningly quick pace, not allowing anything to slow her down.

Yuuki took a small gander at Haruka, who was running at him like her life depended on it. 'This is seriously bad. I have to get away, but she's too damn fast. The blasted curse seal's side effects don't exactly help either.' He thought to himself, digging into his side pouch. He pulled out a bunch of caltrops and dropped them, hoping to slow her down.

Unfortunately for him, no such luck.

BOOM!

Using her alchemic gloves, Haruka set off an explosion at the caltrop covered sand, clearing the path of foot-threatening traps. Yuuki's jaw opened dropped at the sight. 'When the hell did she learn THAT!?' While he was impressed with the girl's newfound skill, he was also troubled. If she could do that just by snapping her fingers…

BOOM! BOOM!

"YEOW!" Yuuki dodged the explosions swiftly, dangerously close to getting blown away. He could tell that wasn't her plan, but also realized her tactics to capture him were drastic. Knowing her, the cursed ninja had to find a hiding place, and quick. Somewhere her explosions would bring more harm than good. But not a moment later, he found his target.

The city.

With their high speed chase, they were quickly at the stairway leading back into the city. Yuuki jumped over the stairs and darted between two tall buildings, rushing to get away. Haruka cursed mentally at Yuuki's underhanded tactic. In such a public setting, she couldn't use too much of her alchemic abilities without destroying public property or hurting someone. But nonetheless, wasn't going to let him get away. She ran inside the crack were Yuuki ran inside of, not realizing the maze she was about to enter.

The area was a network and twist and turns, making it very easy to get lost. Regrettably, Haruka lost track of Yuuki around the ninth corridor. This was where she would need the help of her Pokémon, quickly summoning her Ninetails, Gardevoir, and Misdreavus. Using Fiona's help, she was able to relay the details of their current situation. While everyone was troubled by the raid of the water Pokémon, Fiona and Kiza were shocked with the most recent news of Yuuki's appearance. They weren't going to take his constant retreating sitting down, resolved to settling things right now.

Fiona, being a Psychic-type, closed her eyes and extended her hands, attempting to detect their fleeting teammate with psywaves filtering through the matrix of buildings. It didn't take very long for the Gardevoir to find him. "He's towards the eastside. If we hurry, we can catch up!" Everyone nodded and followed Fiona, great haste in their steps. After three minutes of straight running, everyone was getting worried that they lost him for good when they stumbled upon a large opening, a path leading to the city on each side. On the middle of the floor laid Yuuki, who was struggling to stand up. Worried, the group went over to Yuuki to check on his condition.

But that's when they made their mistake.

SPLASH!

A powerful thrust of water struck Haruka and Kiza, slamming them roughly against the wall. It was crushingly powerful, knocking them unconscious within moments. "Damn! It's a trap!" Fiona turned to where the attack came from, but was struck by a powerful blow to the back of her neck, knocking her out immediately.

"Hahaha! That was an easy fight!" The giant lobster chortled.

"Hmph, they didn't even notice us thanks to my abilities. How foolish of them to rush to their defeat so quickly." A Slowking snorted.

Behind them towered a very large Blastoise, the evolved form of Wartortle. Draped in thick, spiked gold armor, the huge tortoise narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at the humans and Pokémon before him. "Good work Yamaga and Kurosaki. How nice of this little brat to bring us some souvenirs." Walking over to Yuuki, who was too weak to fight, the gold armored beast picked up the three swords. "These weapons are marvelous! It's a wonder how such lowly life forms as humans could've invented such weapons…"

"Sukaku-sama, what shall we do with these four? Perhaps grind them into dust, or leave their heads on pikes as a reminder to their remaining comrades?" Yamaga, the Slowking, asked.

Sukaku considered it for a moment, the options very appealing to him. "No. Saito said he wanted the boy alive. We'll take him with us."

"And the others, boss?" Kurosaki questioned, snapping his thick pincers with anticipation.

"…Kill them."

"Alright! It be killin' time!" The powerful Crawdaunt lifted his pincer over Haruka's head, preparing to smash it in.

CHING!

"Guh!" Kurosaki stopped in mid swing, a katana held to his throat.

"Lay a claw on her, and it'll be the last thing you ever do…" Yuuki threatened, his eyes wild with rage.

Yamaga was surprised. "Impossible! He shouldn't be able to move with that sickness of his!"

Sukaku wasn't nearly as impressed. He had a feeling why. "Are you trying to act tough, tiny brat? What makes you think we're going to just let them live and listen to you?"

Yuuki pulled off his mask to breathe, grinned wickedly. "Because you need me alive. If Saito were to find out I died, he wouldn't be happy. And if Saito isn't happy, your leader, Raokei, won't be happy. You know what that would mean…"

"Grr…!" Sukaku grew furious with Yuuki's slyness. He would rather not suffer the wrath of lord Raokei just because he killed some little girl. Nothing was worth facing Lord Raokei's anger. "Tch, fine, but you will have to come along quietly."

Yuuki slowly released his sword, his grin dropping. His eyes fell on Haruka, a combination of anger and confusion hitting him hard. 'Why…why can't I just…?'

THWACK!

With a quick slam from Kurosaki, Yuuki was down for the count. "That be fo' messin' wit me, puny runt!" The Crawdaunt spat.

Sukaku snapped his thick fingers, calling upon a squad of Squirtles. "Take them with us. We're leaving."

"As you wish, Sukaku-sama." As commanded, the Squirtle squad forced the two unconscious Pokémon into their Pokéballs and carried Yuuki and Haruka with them towards their headquarters.

Little did they know, a friendly ghost managed to evade detection…

Back at the beach house, everyone was struggling to hold back the horde when they began retreating. Safe to say, everyone was exhausted, but relieved. They regrouped inside the beach house, sitting on the stools and benches, which Kaisuke repaired after Haruka used it to trap the Wartortles. "Okay…now that those Pokémon are gone, does anyone have any idea what the HELL just happened?" Kabushi yelled, recalling his Pokémon inside the Pokéballs. He was bruised and injured, though no serious injuries were taken.

"Your guess is as good as mine. What did we do to make those Pokémon so upset?" Satoshi wondered as well, stilling on a stool. He noticed Raigeki having a nervous look in his eyes, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The young samurai's eyes narrowed at this. "Raigeki…?"

The young Pikachu visibly jumped, flashing an innocent grin. "Err…y-yes?"

There was a eerie pause between the Pokémon and his trainer. Satoshi ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm his nerves. "…Raigeki…please, oh please, tell me you didn't cause this mess!"

"I-I didn't, I swear! …Well, ok, maybe I did beat up a few dozen Wartortles, but seriously, they couldn't have been that mad!"

"Raigeki…!" Satoshi exasperated.

"That's half true." Anji, the other member of Team Rocket, interjected. The inhabitants faced the lean, dark haired fighter. "My Pokémon had run-ins with them as well. It would seem as though this might've been planned from the beginning."

Keitaro, who knew very little about what was going on, couldn't sit still about the situation. "What if they attack again? We've got to do something!"

"I doubt it." Climbing down the stairs, Ibuki was very troubled with her discovery. "Looks like they got what they came for."

"What do you mean? Didn't they come to kill us?" Kasumi asked.

Ibuki shook her head. "It wasn't to kill us. They came to get the treasure we picked up yesterday, and succeeded."

"That isn't our only problem," Kaisuke spoke with grimace. "Haruka-san has also disappeared. I've looked around for her, but to no avail."

"This is a disaster," Shigeru, leaning against a wall, didn't like this at all. In one night, chaos struck, wrecking what used to be a well established beach house. He felt terrible about having innocent victims being dragged into such an unnecessary mess. "Keitaro-san, I apologize for you being drawn into this mess."

"Well, we've had worse situations in the past. We're used to dilemmas and surprises, though today was very…troubling." Keitaro reassured. Just as he finished his statement, a mass of blue hair appeared in front of him, followed by a pair of panicked red eyes. He paled at the sight of the ghost for several tense moments before…"AIYEEE!" The young adult fell off his stool, backing up to a wall. Pointing to the Misdreavus, he started spurting incoherent sentences, too shocked to make a complete one.

"Megumi-chan!" The members of Team Tatsujin called out.

'Attacking turtles…flying ghost…do we constantly attract freaky things!?' Narusegawa pondered, wondering where their luck would take them next.

"Big problems! Very big problems! We need to help them, fast!" Megumi babbled quickly.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down! Please, calmly tell us what happened." Kasumi ushered.

"Okay…" Megumi nodded. She retold the previous events, everything from Haruka's chase to Sukaku taking Haruka and Yuuki captive. "…And then I flew here as fast as I could! We have to help them!"

"No doubt about that! If we hurry, we can save them!" After hearing the news, Satoshi was most certainly going to go save them. Both Yuuki and Haruka were captured. If something wasn't done, they could end up dead.

Kasumi shot up from her bench, clenching her fist angrily. "I agree! We can't just sit here and let them have their way!"

"It's the only option. We must make them pay." Kaisuke said coolly, flexing his hands.

Ibuki took a moment to determine what should be done. It was nightfall, a dangerous time to try and hunt for their comrades. However, unlike the time at the cavern, Yuuki and Haruka were captured. They were in need of rescuing ASAP. But they would need help for the mission. They couldn't strain their forces too much incase the water Pokémon attacked again, so she could afford to at least let one team keep Team Tatsujin company. "Satoshi-san, take Team Rocket with you."

"What's that!?" Kabushi yelled, furious at the idea.

Not in the mood for teen rivalries, Ibuki shot the red haired samurai a dark look. "Are you questioning me, Kabushi-san?"

"Urk…" Kabushi looked taken back. Obviously, his protests were only going to cause him more trouble. "Ugh, no…" He sighed.

"I'll come along too." Motoko stepped down the stairs, brushing off her clothes.

"Are you sure about that? You look like you've taken quite a beating…" Keitaro questioned worriedly.

"Your worries are groundless, Urashima-san," Motoko tightened her grip on her katana, a dangerous look on her face. "Because no one messes with me and gets away unscathed. Rest assured that vengeance will be mine."

"That…is so cool…!" Anji praised, flames of passion burning in his brown eyes.

Ryuga rolled his eyes, mumbling to himself. "I still say cuteness is better…"

"One of these days…" Kabushi promised, itching to attack his teammates. Ayane said nothing, but silently wondered how it was she was stuck with such a strange group of friends.

"That's fine. We could probably use the extra firepower." Satoshi nodded at Motoko.

"Don't worry about finding those guys. I remember where the cave was where I fought some of their guys. That's probably their HQ." Raigeki mentioned.

"That'll work. Thanks Raigeki." Resolved, Satoshi was prepared to face whatever challenges he was going to face. "With all of us going, those guys won't stand a chance! Let's do it!" At the battle cry, Team Tatsujin, Team Rocket, and the star warrior of the hinata set forth towards Sukaku's headquarters.

The time to fight back has begun.

I sincerely apologize for the extreme tardiness. Hopefully, I won't practice this too often. Please drop a review, as I will continue to work hard on this fic. It's the least I can do for something as great as this, and to you guys for taking the time to read it. Thank you.

Ah, and before I forget again, I would like to thank Mikazuchi and sykilik101 for their assistance thus far. I feel ashamed for not mentioning their efforts sooner.