Lunick buried his head further in his pillow. He really didn't feel like getting out of bed right now. He was just too tired.

He didn't expect that mission with the out-of-control Golem to wear him out so much. But it was clear this Golem had something more going on besides a fit of rage and territorial issues. When he and Solana found it, it had the same red eyes that the Gyarados had a couple months earlier. There didn't appear to be any apparent linkage between the two pokémon – the Gyarados was terrorizing the Lyra Forest while the Golem was wreaking havoc in the park; and the Gyarados had a sharp needle impaled through two of its scale blades but the Golem didn't appear to have any outstanding injury. But those eyes were definitely connected somehow.

Solana and Lunick had a mighty difficult time making a capture. In fact, they didn't make a capture at all. They couldn't. And it wasn't because the Golem was unruly. That did make capturing it difficult, but it was more like it could not be captured. When Lunick tried to capture it, the bright rings that usually trailed behind the capture disc to transmit feelings of friendship did not illuminate at all. That was way weird. His styler was working fine before. He didn't understand why the capture disc wasn't producing a line and wasn't working. But it wasn't just his styler. When Solana tried to make the capture herself, the capture line beam didn't emit as well. She may have had a Trainee styler, but that doesn't explain why the transmitter function of their stylers weren't working. Finally, they had to resort to using Poké Assists to incapacitate the Golem, relying on the help of several water and grass-type pokémon to weaken it. And even then, they couldn't make a capture. By the time they were finished, it was already nighttime.

After tiring the Golem out and calling the pokémon hospital to pick it up, they were left with their fair share of injuries. Lunick had had several scrapes and bruises but it was Solana who had the more severe injury. While trying to make her capture earlier, the Golem used Rock Tomb and giant rocks shot out from under Solana and surrounded her. Solana tried to make her escape but the rocks caught her left foot and left her trapped. Had Lunick not been able to distract the Golem, she would have had more than an overstrain of the ligaments of her ankle. He knew it would heal that night but it still pained Lunick to see Solana in so much pain. Thankfully he still had his medical supplies in his pack and he was able to wrap it tightly for Solana.

The Ringtown Park despite its name was actually closer to Fall City than it was to Ringtown. They were too far away from home to walk back so late in the night, and the Fall City base was closed and Lind was the only one who had the spare key. Rather than call him so late in the night as he was most likely already asleep, Solana and Lunick decided it was best to hitch a ride in the ambulance to the Pokémon Hospital and stay in a hotel near the Fall City Mall. Normally, Solana would opt to stay at the Pokémon Center, but considering the extensive damage the Golem caused, both the Pokémon Hospital and Pokémon Center would most likely need those rooms for all the injured and/or critical pokémon and trainers that were hurt during the rampage. Staying in the hotel seemed best for everybody. Unfortunately, Fall City was a hotspot for many traveling trainers. When Solana and Lunick got there, there was only one room available, but seeing as they didn't have many options, Solana decided it would have to do.

At first, Lunick was nervous and even embarrassed at staying in the same room as Solana. They may have been best friends but that doesn't mean he was comfortable sleeping with her – literally. One room, one bed, and one bathroom. Lunick only agreed for Solana's sake, but he would have much rather slept on the floor out of respect for them both. Solana didn't seem to mind. She must've felt she could trust Lunick, which she obviously could, as she dipped out of her clothes rather quickly and put on her nightwear. That alone made Lunick nervous and he had to excuse himself to the bathroom just to try and regain control over his body. But after calming himself down and taking several deep breaths (and drinking a cold glass of water), Lunick was able to reenter the room without worrying that a certain body part of his would make itself known and reveal itself to Solana again (not like she showed if she noticed the first time!).

And after Lunick calmed down, they were able to spend the latter half of the night talking and laughing about their many escapades and adventures over the years they worked together. At times, Solana seemed to drone on until she fell asleep, which was okay with Lunick. He loved hearing her talk. He felt like he could listen to her for hours upon hours, just enjoying her company. He didn't fall asleep himself until about an hour after Solana, where her light snoring and the nature sounds outside seemed to lull him to sleep.

Light was starting to pool in from behind the curtains in the room, making Lunick uncomfortable. He tried moving his head to try and get more comfortable but the light and heat from the sun just would not allow him to.

Realizing that going back to sleep was futile now, Lunick opened his eyes. He wiped his face and pinched the spot between his eyes with his right hand. He really didn't feel like getting out of bed but then again, he never did. If Lunick had his way, he'd spend all morning in bed, sleeping in until about one or two in the afternoon. But that would just have to wait for another time. He may have been on leave but he still had a job to do.

Opening his eyes, Lunick started surveying the room, observing the pale purple mauve walls and burnt umber color of the fabrics. He didn't see Plusle or Minun but he knew they were in the room somewhere. Solana appeared to still be sleeping but he couldn't be completely sure.

Sighing, Lunick tried to get out of bed but he found he couldn't. His left hand appeared to be stuck. When Lunick looked to see why he could see that it was underneath Solana.

When had he put his arm around Solana?!

But that wasn't the real shocker. Rather, it was where his hand had rested. If he wasn't so shocked Lunick would have punched himself in the face. Here he was thinking that he had done a good job maintaining boundaries and being respectful to Solana and he was clearly cupping her with his left hand!

Lunick was flustered. How the hell did that happen? How could he do that?!

It was then Lunick was reminded of the heated dreams he had been having a lot recently. He couldn't remember if he had dreamed something steamy last night but that wouldn't make him caress Solana in such an…intimate manner…would it?

Lunick shook his head. Was it possible that it happened when they were both sleeping? They were both tuckered out, and the last thing he remembered was hearing Solana reminisce about the time they saved Fiore from the Go-Rock Squad. There was certainly no hanky-panky between the two of them. He'd most certainly know it! And there was no way anything could have went down while they were sleeping…So how in the world…

Again, Lunick shook his head. The more he thought about it and tried to reason, the more embarrassed and nervous he got. He had to remove his hand before Solana woke up.

He tried to pull his arm from underneath her, but her laying on his arm made that nearly impossible to do without waking her up.

Stay cool.

He tried to see if maybe he could move his arm up to her neck and maybe slip his hand through, but again, no success.

Stay cool.

Lunick felt a certain part of his body swelling up. If he didn't get his hand out soon, he knew Solana would wake up for sure!

Stay cool!

Taking a deep breath, Lunick carefully put his right hand under Solana's left side, trying to gently roll her over so he could pull his arm out.

Solana stirred and moved in her sleep, causing Lunick to freeze. Instead of rolling further away from him, she rolled closer towards him, even nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck.

Oh man! Stay cool!

There was no way Lunick would be able to calm himself now. Memories of his lustful dreams came flooding back, which made him all the more nervous.

Luckily for him, even though his arm was still trapped under her, Solana's movement did free him up a bit.

Cocking his head to the opposite side of where Solana's head was resting, he slowly and carefully pulled his left hand from underneath her. Again Solana stirred, but she didn't wake up.

Lunick sighed in relief as he was able to finally get his arm free from underneath her. He slowly rolled away from her so her head could fall on the pillow beneath him and quickly sat up. He held his left hand as if he had severely injured it. First, he kissed Solana when she was unconscious, and now he was fondling her in her sleep? What in the world was going on with him! His body seemed to be betraying him in almost every kind of way.

"Mai Mai?"

Lunick looked down to his side of the bed, where Minun was looking up at him with a questionable look on his face. He still didn't see Plusle.

"Mai?"

Stay cool!

Again, Lunick sighed.

He had to clear his head.

Deciding that a shower would help chase those unwanted thoughts away, Lunick got up out of the bed, careful not to wake Solana. He held his mouth with his left hand before shaking his head to clear his thoughts once more and walking over to his pack, which was near the room's television set. He began rummaging through it for some clothes but he couldn't find anything.

He put his right hand on his hip.

'I guess I'll have to buy some from the shop downstairs.' He thought.

Assuming that Solana would be out for about another hour, Lunick thought it was okay to take his shower anyway and just put back on the clothes he wore the previous day before going downstairs and buying something else to wear.

Standing up, Lunick made his way over to the room's bathroom.

He put the water on and began disrobing.

'Ah! No washcloths!'

Grabbing a towel, Lunick wrapped it around his waist and came out of the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Hey Minun, you remember where the guest services station is? I think housekeeping forgot to restock on a few of the bathroom toiletries."

"Mai Mai!"

Minun ran ahead of his ranger. Opening the door, Lunick let Minun out and followed behind him.

After what must have been ten minutes, Plusle appeared from under the bed. She yawned and then stretched her tiny paws before jumping on the bed. The bed was too full for Plusle to sleep comfortably on it, so she opted to sleep under it instead. That and the apparent snoring. She didn't see Minun or Lunick anywhere.

"Plah Pla?"

Solana opened her eyes to behold the dazzling sunlight streaming through the window in their suite. Even though the sash was left down, there was a section of the window that wasn't covered, allowing a pleasant breeze to flutter the sheer curtains as it filled the room.

Inhaling deeply, Solana closed her eyes and sat up in the bed. She started rubbing her eyes momentarily.

"Pla Pla!"

"Good morning, Plusle," she said with a slight yawn. She stretched her arms and then petted her partner on the head, causing her to coo in delight.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Plah!" she said cheerily.

Solana smiled. She began surveying the room.

"Where's Lunick and Minun?"

"Pla Plah." Plusle shrugged.

Hearing the water running in the bathroom, Solana swung her legs out of bed and started for the door. She noticed the door was partly open, which was why she could hear the water so loudly.

"Lunick?" she called from the other side.

After getting no answer, she knocked on the door. "Lunick?"

Still no answer.

"Plusle?" Solana called.

Hopping off the bed, Plusle ran over towards the bathroom. She cautiously entered inside. Solana didn't want to chance he was in there and walk in on him and get a show she wasn't expecting.

Plusle came back out, shaking her head.

Confused, Solana opened the door further.

"Lunick?"

The shower curtains were pulled and the water was running, but there was no one inside.

Looking back out to the suite, Solana noticed that Lunick's pack was opened.

"He must've already gone down for breakfast or something," Solana pondered, "But why would he leave the water running like that? He knows better."

Solana waited another minute or so before scowling and stepping in the bathroom herself.

"He is so irresponsible," she muttered. She put her hand in the shower to feel the water.

"Least he didn't use up all the hot water. No need for all this going to waste." She went back in the room, picked up some clean underwear out of her pack and started back in the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Plusle ran back over to the bed and began fixing the sheets. She didn't hear Lunick and Minun come back in the room.

He began humming to himself as he opened the bathroom door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

It was then that Minun noticed Plusle on the bed. He ran to greet her.

"Mai Mai Mai!" Morning Plusle, darling!

"Plah Pla!" she greeted back cheerily. Good morning, Minun!

Minun started helping her straighten up the bed.

"Mai, Mai Mai Ma?" Where's Solana? He didn't see Solana in the room but he still thought it best to ask Plusle where she was.

"Plah Plah Pla. Pla Pla?" In the bathroom showering. Where's Lunick?

"Mai?" Minun was shocked to hear she was in the bathroom. Lunick just stepped in there!

"Mai, Mai Mai." He just went in the bathroom to shower himself!

Plusle was equally shocked to hear that Lunick entered the bathroom with Solana in there.

"Pla Plah Pla?!" Solana's in there!

"Mai Mai!" Oh no!

"Pla!" This is so not good!

Two loud shrill screams could be heard coming from the bathroom. Moments later, Lunick could be seen busting out of the bathroom and heading out of the suite, wearing absolutely nothing.

"Mai Mai!" Minun shouted as he chased after his ranger.

Plusle watched them in fear as she ran in the bathroom to check on her ranger.


"I can't believe they only had a loofa," Lunick complained as he left the guest service station.

"Mai Mai."

"I suppose it's better than nothing, but I don't think I've ever used one of these. Yeah, it can lather, but how is it supposed to scrub? You can't scrub with a loofa." He asked as he eyed the orange-colored vegetable sponge.

Minun shrugged.

"Mai Mai Mai?"

"Guess I'll find out."

He opened the door to the room. After letting Minun in, he closed the door to the suite and made his way back in the bathroom.

'Funny. I could have sworn I left this opened.' He thought.

Shrugging it off, Lunick opened the bathroom door and closed it behind him.

He started humming I Wanna Be A Hero to himself as he took his towel off and hung it back on the rack. He drew the shower curtains and was about to step in the shower when he noticed…Someone was already inside!

The person's back was to him and was lathered all over with soap, foam and froth from the body wash being stirred and rubbed with water.

Lunick was completely stunned. He couldn't say anything as the person turned around slowly to face him.

It was Solana!

Lunick couldn't believe his own eyes! He assumed Solana was still sleeping. He didn't even notice that she wasn't even in the room! She was here bathing right in front of him!

"Solana?!" he squeaked and shrieked.

Solana had a look of utter and complete surprise on her face.

The two of them screamed in unison.

Lunick quickly ran out of the bathroom and out of the suite, heading down the corridor passing several other guests, not even noticing or caring about the strange looks he got or that he wasn't clothed.

He just had to get as far away from Solana as possible!


Even though Solana was disgusted by the fact that Lunick left the water running in the bathroom, she didn't stay angry at him for very long. Lunick may be getting older and maturing, but he was still Lunick, which meant he was still utterly clueless about certain things.

But Lunick wasn't a fool. He knew the importance of conserving water. He was a ranger, after all. So he must've been completely distracted or out of it to leave the water running like that. Solana couldn't fathom how else the he could leave the water in the shower on.

She decided she was going to talk to him sternly about the matter when she saw him again.

…But she wasn't expecting to see him in the bathroom!…

Solana was finished washing her hair, which was now down to the middle of her back, and had began lathering her skin when the shower curtain pulled opened and cool air suddenly hit her back.

She froze in place.

As she slowly turned around she heard someone cry out her name….Someone who's voice she immediately recognized as Lunick's!…

Solana was mortified. She didn't know what to do but scream.

It didn't matter that Lunick ran out of the room seconds later.

He still saw her in her…natural…state…


"Hurry up, Harry!" Joe shouted from behind, "My kid's gotta thing this afternoon. Let's hurry this up."

"You know you could help me out here, Joe." Harry replied sharply, thoroughly annoyed that he was the one doing all the work.

"Look I'm the chief builder here, so less yammering and more digging."

Harry grumbled.

Joe was tired. This was why he didn't like working with younger workers. They always complained so much.

The area that used to be known as the Dusk Factory was now a construction site for a new gala, per the mayor's order. Stuff like that sounds real good on paper in writing, but it actually took a lot of work and labor to get the job done. That was something these young folks apparently didn't understand. They want all the spoils and rewards of the job without putting in all the effort and work. If Joe had complained about the workload back in his day he would have gotten knocked upside his head and fired to boot. All the calluses on his hands and feet already told the story of his years of hard work and struggle. He wasn't going to let these young fellas overrun him. If they wanted to get paid, they were gonna do the laborious work if Joe had something to say about it. He didn't get to his current position by being a pushover.

"Come on, Harry! The general contractor will be here in a week. Move your caboose!"

Harry's shovel rang as it hit something beneath the ground's surface.

"Eh, there's something here," Harry said as he tried digging around the object.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of…Boy, I don't have time for this nonsense. If you're gonna let every strange piece of matter you come across get to you then you might as well not do the job."

"I'm serious, Joe. Come on and give me a hand, will yah? There's something here that's clogging the digging site."

Grabbing his shovel and scowling, Joe helped Harry dig around the matter that was blocking them from doing any more work. After about thirty five minutes, Joe and Harry were able to get the object out. Several clumps of dirt were stuck to it, but it appeared to be a relic of some kind or even an ancient tablet of some sort.

"What in the name of pokémon?" Joe questioned.

"We better get this over to the Pokémon Rangers pronto," Harry determined.


Leilani scratched her chin as she watched every stand in the food court of Fall City's Mall, comparing the different outlets up against each other. She couldn't decide what she wanted.

She saw Lunick across the room just outside of the food court's entrance.

She smiled and ran over to greet him.

"Lunick!" she called.

Lunick looked up from the floor to see Leilani running towards him.

"Oh…H-Hi, Leilani," Lunick said, barely audibly. He shuffled his feet. He was still embarrassed about what had happened earlier that morning.

She put one hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side.

"I went by your base yesterday afternoon and you weren't there. Murph said he saw your Leader going in the back room with you and Sole's stuff. What's going on?"

Lunick cleared his throat. "Well, 'Lana was put on suspension and I took some days off."

Leilani raised her eyebrows.

"What? Really? Oh man, Sole must feel terrible."

"Yeah, she was pretty down about it. That's why I went on leave. Wanted to keep her occupied and stuff so she wouldn't dwell on it too much, you know?"

Leilani nodded her head. "Well, that's so great of you to do, Lunick."

Lunick started cracking his knuckles.

"So what happened with Aria?"

Leilani shook her head. "Girl got a 4-month suspension and has to sit down with a moderator to sort out this thing she has going on with Sole."

Lunick also nodded. "Yeah, Solana has to do the same thing."

"I suppose that's best for everyone. It's about time they hatched this out without having to worry about killing each other."

She pointed behind her. "You want something from the food court? My treat?"

Lunick shook his head.

Leilani shrugged and went over to Frank's Fantastic Fowls for some chicken.

Despite his rejection to Leilani, Lunick still entered the food court and sat at an empty table. Ordinarily, Lunick would have dove right in to the various fast food outlets, but after the experience he had that morning, he didn't have much of an appetite.

Minun hopped from Lunick's shoulder and onto the beige dining table.

"Mai Mai?"

Lunick started twiddling his fingers. He just couldn't shake himself out of his funk.

After about ten minutes of thinking Lunick saw Leilani approach him with a tray of barbecue chicken. Solana was standing right next to her.

They both looked away from each other and a faint blush started to appear on their cheeks.

Leilani sat down across from Lunick.

"You sure you don't want anything, Lunick? I know you're a big breast man."

Lunick's eyes went wide at her comment. He again quickly averted his eyes and continued playing with his fingers. Solana hugged her body as she also turned away.

"Or I have a nice juicy thigh?"

Solana covered her mouth and turned further away. Lunick covered his eyes. They seemed to get even redder.

"Leilani…please stop…" Lunick squeaked.

Leilani looked from Lunick to Solana back to Lunick again.

"What is with you two? You seem ashamed or embarrassed or something?"

"Can we just stop talking about body parts…please…" Lunick asked softly.

Leilani's brow crinkled.

"Who's talking about body parts? I'm talking about food."

Lunick shook his head.

Leilani blinked. She looked up to Solana.

"What about you, Sole? You want a leg? It's really succulent, lemme tell you."

Solana squealed. She turned her entire body away from Leilani and Lunick.

Again, Leilani exchanged glances between the two of them.

"What's wrong with you guys? Why are you acting so weird? You see each other naked or something?"

Lunick appeared to be getting into a coughing fit. He turned around in his chair and hid his face while Solana continued to hug her body with one hand, cover her mouth with the other, and face away from Lunick.

Leilani was visibly confused. But then her eyes grew wide as she started to realize what was going on.

"Oh my God! You did! You guys saw each other…"

Solana and Lunick still refused to face each other.

Leilani put her hand to her mouth as what had happened between her two friends started sink in. She rubbed the nape of her neck as she was starting to get uncomfortable. She wanted Solana and Lunick to get together, but she surely wasn't expecting something like this to have happened, even if it seemed like that the time she walked in on them at Solana's house a few months back.

"Oh…um…wow…You guys…I…um…Man, this is so awkward…You know, this is really none of my business what's going on here. I think I'll just get this to go."

And with that, Leilani got up from her seat and took her tray with her, leaving the two rangers by themselves.

Several moments passed between the two friends. They still refused to look at each other as their skin continued to redden in color.

Finally, Lunick heard Solana's footfalls. They started off loud but they soon became softer and softer until Lunick could no longer hear them. He knew Plusle had left with her.

He felt a tug on his leg.

"Mai Mai?"

Lunick slowly opened his eyes. He saw Minun looking up at him with concern.

Lunick covered his face and sighed. This was all getting to be too much for him.


Solana sat quietly on a hill not too far from the hotel she and Lunick stayed at the previous night. The wind gently brushed against her hair. She didn't know what to do. She already felt completely horrified from seeing Lunick in the raw earlier that morning. But Leilani, although unintentionally, totally exacerbated the situation. She didn't know if she could feel more embarrassed than she already did.

Solana felt the presence of someone near her. She didn't turn around to see who it was but she felt she already knew. She got her confirmation when that person sat down next to her. There was several minutes of silence between the two of them.

Lunick started playing with his fingers again.

"Solana…you know…we can't keep avoiding each other…We're gonna have to talk about what happened…"

Several more minutes passed before anything was said between them.

Lunick gave a heavy sigh.

"Solana…" he began.

"I'm sorry," they said in unison, much to the other's surprise, "You're sorry?"

"Solana," Lunick continued, "I should have known better than to walk in on you like that. I didn't even notice that you had woken up and were no longer in bed. I mean, I know I can be clueless sometimes but that just took my absentmindedness to another level. I can't apologize enough for what I did."

Solana shook her head and held her heart.

"No, Lunick. I should not have gone in the bathroom in the first place. I heard the water running. I thought you were just being forgetful and inconsiderate but evenso, I should have checked with you before I went in there because you did get up before me."

"I don't know how you would have done that considering I wasn't in the room," Lunick answered as he lowered his head with closed eyes. "Not to mention the fact that I should have looked away a lot sooner…I'm real sorry, Solana."

"I'm sorry too. I didn't exactly look away myself."

A few more moments of silent passed between them.

Solana chuckled nervously. "Leilani didn't exactly help the matter that much either."

Lunick chuckled nervously as well with a sweatdrop.

"Yeah…On some level she may have been just as embarrassed as we were were…At least she was more subtle this time compared to before."

Solana nodded in agreement.

Again silence.

Lunick cleared his throat. "You know, Solana. Even though we were more pretty petrified by what had happened, I wanna thank you for not bursting out into laughter when you did…you know…see me.."

"What do you mean? Why would I laugh?"

Again, Lunick began playing with his fingers.

"I mean…Like, I know we were both…shocked, to say the least…but you know…Even though I appear fit, I'm not the most athletic guy…and…I am kinda self-conscious about how I look."

Solana's brow wrinkled. "Believe me, Lunick. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. There was absolutely nothing to laugh at."

Lunick eyes went very slightly wider. He turned away from her and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh my…heehee…" he chuckled in embarrassment.

Realizing what she had just said, Solana started to turn red. She also quickly turned away and started playing with her hair.

"But, uh…Thank you for turning away once you saw me…you know, after you got over your initial shock."

Lunick stopped rubbing his neck and turned back to face her.

"Of course, Solana. I would never just oogle at you like that. My parents brought me up right. I should give you nothing below total and complete respect."

Solana's blush deepened. She continued to play with her hair. Plusle and Minun continued to sit on either side of them.

As he usually did when he was nervous, Lunick began twiddling his fingers.

"Well, at least we can move on without things being awkward between us…right?"

Solana nodded. "I'd give it a couple days."

"Or weeks, haha…" Lunick continued.

The two of them seemed to chuckle lightly, much to the relief of their pokémon.

Lunick looked back down towards the ground.

"By the way, how are things coming along with Tara? You're still mentoring her, aren't you?"

Again, Solana nodded.

"Yeah. Things are going great. Tara's really coming into her own. She even met her Partner Pokémon."

"You don't say? What kind of pokémon is it?"

"A Bidoof. I swear, Lunick, it was love at first sight. They're practically inseparable."

Lunick smiled and closed his eyes.

"Aww, that's real nice."

"What about that Austin kid from Summerland?"

Lunick reopened his eyes.

"Well, Percy has taken over as his mentor but I was able to work with him until he caught his Partner Pokémon a few weeks ago. It's a Sandile, and I tell yah, those two were meant for each other. The bond they share reminded me an awful lot of how Minun and I were when we first met. I can still remember the joy I felt in my heart when Spenser told me Minun could stay with me and become my Partner Pokémon."

Solana smiled knowingly. She remembered Lunick's tale of his first encounter with Minun and those territorial Fearow. She still thought it was the sweetest story she had ever heard from Lunick.

Lunick's styler started to ring. He took it out of his pants pocket and answered it.

"Lunick…Oh hi, Murph. What's going on?…uh huh…Yeah, she's right here with me, why?…what?…really?…Do you know why or possibly what for?…Okay…Okay, we're on way…yeah…Thanks, Murph…"

Lunick disconnected the call.

"What did Murph want?" Solana asked.

Lunick put the styler back in his pants pocket.

"He says our Leader wants us to come down to the Fall City Base immediately. He said he doesn't know what for, but Spenser and the other Area Leaders said that it's of great importance and imperative that we come. He sounded real worried."

He stood up.

"Yeah, but Murph is always worried," Solana said as Lunick helped her to her feet.

"Yeah, but he seemed moreso than usual. Whatever it is, it must be big enough that Spenser wants you to come in after just recently suspending you."

"I wonder what it could mean."

I don't know but I got a feeling we're gonna be in for an earful," he started walking back towards the hotel. "We better get our stuff, check out, and head over right away. No telling what's gonna be in store for us."


Gordor drummed his fingers on the table as he continued on with his business meeting. There were three men sitting across from him. The man right in the middle was his business partner. He was an old man, presumably in his mid to late eighties. He wore a royal purple cloak patterned with many golden curvy lines. His earlobes were rather large and his glasses were high on his face. He had a brown cane which he rested his hands on and he seemed to always talk with his eyes closed shut.

The man to his right was tall and had short fiery red hair. He had on a large red robe with many designs that were foreign and even a little too flashy for Gordor. He also had on thick gray shades and heavy black boots. The man to his left looked very similar to the one on the right both in height and build. He had long flowing blue hair and a large blue robe that was the same as the other man's red robe. He also wore thick gray shades and black heavy boots.

"Thank you again for meeting with me Grand Master Greevil. Team Iniquitous owes much to you for your alliance."

The old man addressed as Greevil bowed his head.

"Well, you should be, Gordor. We are after all providing you the means for which to accomplish your latest feat. I just hope you do not make me regret our recent partnership."

"Oh? And why would you do that?"

"Don't play around with me, Gordor. I've been out of the game for five years. Never did I think I would return to the art of villainy. Not since my son here talked me out of it," he pointed to the man to his right. He appeared to be uncomfortable being there and shuffled around in his seat with crossed arms.

"After the failure with XD001 and our ultimate downfall at the hands of that wretched boy, I thought all was lost. But evil is as evil does. I cannot break myself away from it. But I am particular to who I trust."

Gordor raised his eyebrow.

"And you do not think you can trust me?"

"Look, shutting the door to the hearts of pokémon and turning them into soulless fighting machines is a delicate, intricate, and undisclosed process that only my original admin Ein discovered how to do. That fool Evice wasn't strong enough to wield the power of the darkness young Ein created. This is no joke. I need to know that you can handle the might that we have at our disposal. Not only that, I have to know that you will not betray me like my younger son, Eldes."

The young man shuffled in his seat again. It was obvious that he did not want to be there.

Gordor closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"I assure you my team and I appreciate your cooperation wholeheartedly. Of course we would never betray the partnership that has made us so successful thus far. But I must question your decision to have your traitorous son here. If he indeed betrayed you before I have no choice but to wonder why you've decided to include him on such revealing meetings. I have no problem obliterating those who refuse to conform to my demands."

"My son knows the consequences of breaking my trust again. And to ensure that he will not interfere will our plans I have tasked my elder son Ardos with the task of ridding him of his beloved pokémon should he decide to cross me and become a weak-minded vigilante."

Ardos nodded his head in confirmation.

Signing heavily, Eldes got up from the table. He exited the room in high dudgeon.

"Don't mind him. He cannot go anywhere."

"Perhaps it is a good thing that he has gone. Now we can get to the meat of this meeting," Gordor concluded, "Now, maybe you can explain how these, 'Shadow Pokémon' as you call them, are the ultimate pokémon army."

Greevil drummed his fingers together.

"Yes…Well…As I said earlier, Shadow Pokémon are insanely powerful pokémon that are practically unbeatable. Through the contamination and depurification process, pokémon's emotions are removed and the doors to their hearts are closed shut, enabling us to fill them with dark aura. Our science division has worked to stabilize the process that increases resistance to Purification and the ability to open a pokémon's heart back up. In the past we have been unsuccessful, but I believe we have finally been able to perfect the shadow process so that purifying a pokémon is impossible. At least once we've collected enough information about the purification process."

Gordor's stare hardened.

"And just what is the purification process?"

"Apparently, since pokémon are unfortunately generally friendly and trusting creatures, it remains possible for one to reopen and purify their hearts through friendship and kindness…at least, that has been my experience with those pesky kids Wes, Rui, and Michael. But I believe it is possible to completely shut a pokémon's heart and make it impossible for feelings of friendship to reach a pokémon. And in order to do that, we need to completely remove its spirit."

Again, Gordor raised his eyebrow and smiled.

"I'm intrigued. And how do you plan to accomplish that?"

"After a certain amount of time under the dark aura, the pokémon's internal organs will begin to kick into overdrive as their enter Hyper Mode. Eventually, their organs will get so overworked that they start to shut and break down. Those strong enough to withstand the harshness of the dark aura will be drained of their willpower. But those pokémon who are weak will be killed by the astringency of the dark aura. Brilliant, no? This way we can weed out the worthless weak pokémon from the desirable strong ones."

Gordor nodded.

"I'm impressed. Very impressed."

"As you should be. Now then…I need to know…"

The doors to the private and secluded room opened as a young man entered the room. He carried a briefcase in his right hand.

"I have returned."

Gordor broke out into a smile.

"Ah, yes! Bring it here, son!"

The man walked over and put the large briefcase case onto the desk in front of Gordor.

"Are these the latest developments of those annoying rangers?"

"That it is," he answered, "The old man Hastings was carrying it. It was easy to apprehend."

"Excellent! Excellent! Well done, my boy!" Gordor declared excitedly.

He opened the briefcase and pulled out the Ringtown Ranger Base's black super suit.

"I shall leave to go capture the ultimate pokémon for our plan," and with that, the young man left the room.

"Well, Greevil, here is the latest advancement of those meddling do-goody rangers."

Greevil again drummed his hands together.

"And why is this of any use to me?"

Gordor placed the super suit back down in the briefcase.

"Because it is the key to your purification problem. I have just provided you the means to perfect your Shadow Pokémon plan. As with you, I have struggled with pesky interlopers. The Pokémon Rangers have foiled my plans one too many. They, like those young trainers who defeated you, won by connecting with pokémon and transferring feelings of friendship and love to them. These suits are supposed to be the most advanced means by which to do that. Your science team can study the advancements and make accommodations to reverse the process to ensure that a pokémon's heart will remain closed. Then, combined with Team Iniquitous' Gigaremo units, controlling pokémon and defeating our nemeses will be a cinch. World domination will be in our grasps and we will be victorious!"

Greevil smiled as well. He opened his eyes, revealing his demented golden yellow eyes.

"Yes…the evil syndicate Cipher will rise again. Muwhahahaha!"

The two old men continued with their maniacal laughs. Ardos just continued to sit quietly in his chair. He was really only there to serve as a body guard to his father.

Gordor slammed his fists on the table. "Let those wet-behind-the-ears rangers just try to stop me now!"

"Don't you mean stop us now?"

"Yes, yes, my friend. Let them try and stop us now! Hahahahahaha!"


A/N: And the plot thickens! Hope you've all enjoyed the story so far because now we're getting into the root of this story!

Hope you all have a great day and please don't forget to review!

Everything done with love as always!

XyKPfan