Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon (or Andre. He and his Pokémon are creations of Siris the Guardian of Aura. That is understood for however long the story goes so all I have to put is the Pokémon disclaimer).

I swore again, looking at my odds, which were kinda crappy. I looked at Raven, then at Escra, and finally at Black Fury. He seemed to be happy with this new development, and he said, "Three very powerful enemies of yours. You might be the tiniest bit screwed."

I didn't know what I hated more, my odds or his sarcasm. I looked around, looking for something to improve my odds, when-

"Well, well. Am I late?"

I turned to the stairs, and I saw a guy standing there. He was about 17, had pale skin-unusually pale-and was wearing a black leather jacket, with a blue undershirt, black pants, and black shoes. His eyes struck me the most, though. One was blue and slanted, and the other was red and had a scar over it. He also had two Pokémon with him, a Riolu and a Zorua. He looked at me. "You White Fury?"

I nodded, and he said, "You need help?" I looked at the bosses and Black Fury, then turned back to him and nodded. He kept his face neutral, but I thought I saw satisfaction in his eyes. "Fine. Zoe, start things off."

The Zorua nodded, then surrounded itself with a purple aura. When the aura faded, Allan was standing there. My eyes widened, and 'Allan' pulled out his pistols and started shooting at them. They rolled out of the way, and Black Fury threw a pair of Water Shuriken and knocked the pistols out of his hands. 'Allan' changed back into the Zorua, and it charged at Escra.

The guy turned to his other Pokémon. "Luke, go for Raven." The Riolu nodded and charged at Raven. He laughed, but his laughter quickly stopped when the Riolu hit him with a Force Palm. Raven got pissed and started to chase him, but the Riolu ran away, almost playfully.

I looked at the guy. "Who the hell are you?"

The guy looked at me, and without a word charged at Black Fury. He pulled out a pair of Leaf Blades and swung them, but the guy dodged and hit him with an Aura Sphere. I blinked, wondering if I had just seen what I had seen, and the guy hit Black Fury with a Dark Pulse. I snapped out of it, and shouted, "Whoever you are, duck!"

He hit the deck, and I sent a Flamethrower towards Black Fury. He countered with his own, and after a minute, we stopped. Black Fury sighed and said, "This is boring…when you're alone, maybe we can do something exciting." He ran out, followed by Escra and Raven, who still looked pissed.

I looked after them and went over to the table which they had been sitting at, gesturing the guy to come over as well. He did, and he sat. "So, who are you?"

He waited for his Pokémon to come over, and he said, "I'm Andre. That's Luke," pointing to the Riolu, "and that's Zoe," pointing to the Zorua. Nice to meet you, sorta." He put his hand out, and I shook it. I looked at the Riolu, and it-he-said, "Hey." I looked at the Zorua, and it was too busy sniffing me to say anything.

I looked at Andre. "Why are you here?"

He held up some device. "To help you. This device hacks pretty much anything. I had a friend of mine make it."

I took the device and looked it over, then handed it back to him. "Who's the friend?"

"A guy named Marvo."

Instantly a Leaf Blade was at his neck. He looked at it, then at me. "Sorry, did I say something?"

"You're with the Free Ring."

He gently took the blade and moved it away from his throat. "Was. A few months ago, I got wise to what was really going on and left. I had heard about you, and I figured I could help you out. Of course, I found these two first." He jerked a thumb at Luke and Zoe. "Zoe was sneaking food from my supplies because she was starving, so I took her in. Luke here was being beaten by some Nevermore goons, so I sent them packing and we became best of friends. I suppose it helps when both of us can read auras."

"Wait, do what now?"

"I can read auras. Had it for as long as I know. I can also use any sort of aura or pulse move."

That last part sounded familiar, and I pulled out my Ability Card Deck. I pulled out a card titled 'Mega Launcher' and gave it to him. "You might need this more than me."

He took the card, looked at it, and put it in his pocket. "Yeah, maybe. So see ya around."

He got up to leave, and I did, too. "Hold on a sec." He turned towards me, and I gave him a spare communicator. "In case you need anything."

He took it. "I've met your allies, Redoni. Nice people, and friendly. You need help, just call. I'll pick up…probably." He left, taking Luke and Zoe with him. I looked after him, thinking about this strange man with an even stranger backstory. I shook my head and left the Institute, human again.

I went back to the Sky Pillar and told Rayquaza what had happened. He grew concerned and said, "Black Fury…an evil you? I'll put a bolo out to the other regions."

I nodded. A bolo-be on the lookout-would definitely help. "What should we do now, do you think?"

"You should go back to your HQ and wait for developments."

I sighed inwardly, and I started to fly back to Mauville. Just when it was getting exciting, too…something exploded in the air close to me. I glided away and looked down. There was a lone figure on the ground, and I dove towards it. The figure started to run, but I picked it up and started to carry it.

"Put me down! Dammit, I'm just trying to get your attention, Red!"

I looked at who I was carrying, and sure enough, it was Eoniai, looking utterly pissed. I landed near a lake, and he brushed himself off. "You seriously that paranoid?"

I explained to him what had happened at the Institute, and he said, "Andre, huh? Yeah, the guy visited me a while back. Not really social, but he said he'd help if he could."

"So what the hell are you doing in Hoenn?"

He grimaced. "Something's happened in Sinnoh, but reports are so garbled I can't tell what. All I can tell is that whatever it is is headed east across the region, and it started in Canalave."

"Hm…why not one of the others?"

"They don't do stealth quite as well. I can take care of it, I just need someone to scout it. I'm sorry, I wouldn't ask if this weren't urgent-"

"Dude, it's fine. Let's go!"

Between the two of us, the Psychic power was powerful enough to teleport us to Hearthome City, Eoniai's base of operation. He went straight to a building on the east side and went in, me following. He looked around for something, then called, "Hey, Jimmy!"

A guy across the room turned and came over to us. He shook my hand, saying, "Good to meetcha, Mr. White Fury, sir!"

I looked at the kid, then at Eoniai, who said, "Intern."

Ah. The kid handed a paper to Eoniai, saying, "New report from the field. Whatever this thing is, it's headed straight this way. Should be at the city limits in a few hours."

Eoniai looked at me. "Do it."

I nodded and ran out of the city. Nothing was happening outside the city, so I went to cross Mt. Coronet, but I saw something coming out of the tunnel. My eyes widened, and I ran back towards the city.

I burst into the base, and Eoniai and Jimmy looked at me. "That was fast," Eoniai said.

I took a minute to catch my breath and said, "Evacuate or board up the city! This thing's getting incredibly close!"

"What is it?"

"Stampede!"