Delta- Keep going with the investigation! But it may take some time.

May- It looks like Duke has become a bit of a meme with the whole "spoilers" thing. I have no idea why but I thought, hey, why not make him a pirate.

TheFool0- Thank you for the review. I didn't draw any similarities with Assassin's Creed until the second chapter, to be honest. I agree the writing is a bit bland and I plan on working on that, it's a bit hard to give people personality when, overall, they're just normal people, ya know? I try to compensate with a cool and mysterious plot!

-000-

"I am ready to fight!" Charles exclaimed as he burst out of the inn he and Duke were staying at. It had been a few days but the two had gotten word that Vince had finally returned from his mission.

"Charles, you don't even know where to go," Duke said as he followed his companion, their Pokemon at their sides.

"Oh… Right," Charles replied as he let out a sheepish chuckle. Duke started walking in the opposite direction and the group eventually found themselves in front of an impressive building. Max was surprised how well the building was standing as it was mostly made out of webs and string. It was obvious that the Territory Lord was a bug-type user, and Max wondered if Vince was the ancestor of Viola, the current gym leader of Santalune City.

Duke knocked on the webbed door and was greeted by a taller man who wore what Max assumed was a kimono. The man had black hair and had it tied back as a ponytail, using the same material his kimono was made out of. However, Charles and Max skipped over those features and focused on his arms. It was as if both of his arms were torn off at the elbow and now all the connects the two pieces is some web string.

"What happened to your arms?" Charles blurted out, causing everyone to stare at him.

"Charles!" Duke admonished before turning towards Vince. "My apologies for my friend here."

Vince replied by holding a hand up, a soft smile on his face. "It is alright, Duke. Many share the same reaction. The explanation is simple, yes. You see, my arms were torn off during a fight with a dreadful Tyranitar. But something as minor as that cannot stop me and merely made me more powerful."

"Whoa…" Charles and Genji chorused, stars in their eyes as they admired the Territory Lord.

"What brings you out here, Duke?" Vince continued on, turning his attention to the experience Rancher. "Finally becoming a Territory Lord yourself, after all of these years?"

"No, but I am here to defeat you, along with Charles here," Duke replied as Charles turned his attention to Duke.

"What do you mean by Duke becoming a Territory Lord?" Charles asked, not turning his head away from Duke.

"Young Duke here is very skilled and was offered an opportunity only the strongest can take," Vince replied softly. "After one defeats all of the other Territory Lords, then they can become one themselves. Duke here was offered the opportunity years ago, but alas, he refused."

"That's amazing!" Charles exclaimed as he grabbed Duke by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth. "I had no idea you were so strong! I knew you were strong but not that strong!"

"That does present us with a slight issue, I'm afraid," Vince told them as Duke pried Charles' hands off of his shoulders. "Duke would easily complete the task and that just won't do, not at all. I wonder…" Vince put his hand on his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "I got it! You two must take the challenge together. If young Charles here loses, so does Duke. And you both have two Pokemon each, perfect!"

"Wait, I don't think that is fair to Duke," Teresa spoke up from Duke's shoulder.

"It's alright Teresa, Charles and I can handle this," Duke said before Vince could reply. "I believe we are ready for the challenge."

"You bet your sweet arse we are!" Charles exploded.

"Follow me inside then," Vince said with a small chuckle. He turned around with a flourish and led the two Pokemon Ranchers inside.

-000-

Max was amazed as he looked through Duke's eyes. Everything inside the building was made out of webbing and the entire middle was just a giant spider web. Vince nimbly walked over the spider web and once he reached the middle, he turned back around.

"Your challenge starts now," Vince announced as two lines of string launched towards the group. Before anyone, except Duke, of course, could react, Genji and Aron were hit and pulled towards the ceiling. A few seconds later, the two Pokemon were completely tied up in two large balls of silky web, their heads the only thing visible. "You two must save your Pokemon before my little insects eat them from the inside out."

"W-What kind of challenge is this?" Charles shouted in surprise.

"It's probably because I'm here," Duke said with a sigh. A moment later, the two heard a symphony of buzzing as various bug-types flew towards the two trapped Pokemon. Once they reached one of the giant balls, they started to tear at the webbing.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Charles asked as he drew his sword and shield. "Let's go, Cullen! We have to save Aron!"

"Aye Cap'n," Cullen replied as the two ran forward. Vince gave them a soft smile before raising one of his arms. The building around them reacted to this command and a vine made out of webbing rose from the floor behind Charles and Cullen. It reared back and whipped the two in the back, sending them flying forward and into the spider web.

"That hurt…" Cullen groaned as he tried to get on his feet. However, he found that his body was stuck to the spider web and he began to squirm. "What the hell? What is this black magic?!"

"You might not want to struggle too much," Vince softly warned the younger warrior. "You might wake up my partner."

"Partner?" Charles repeated before he heard a loud growl. Looking down, he saw a large Ariados sleeping under them, all of the webbing attached to its legs. With every movement, the large spider stirred in its sleep, causing Charles to go painfully still.

"Duke, some help might be appreciated right now!" Charles called back, refusing to turn his head in fear of waking the large spider snoring somewhat peacefully under him.

"Maybe you shouldn't run too far ahead of me before I'm ready," Duke called back with a sigh. He shared a look with Teresa before she flew off, aiming right at the bugs eating away at the webbing holding their friends. Duke carefully approached the spider web in the middle, swiftly dodging each vine whip sent in his direction.

Before Duke could reach the spider web, a Heracross flew down from the ceiling, brandishing its horn, ready to fight. Duke nodded and without any warning, the bug-type used Horn Attack. Duke was able to easily dodge the attack and fired a burst of electricity from his hand. The attack didn't do much but annoy the Heracross, who turned back around and fired a Pin Missile. Duke easily dodged this attack as well but the Pin Missile snapped parts of the spider web.

"Careful!" Charles screamed out as the web started to shake from the impact and loss of some of its support. The large Ariados stirred some more in its sleep but eventually settled down, causing Charles to exhale a sigh of relief.

"Aye, we best be gettin' our fightn' on. We ain't no cowards!" Cullen exclaimed as he aimed a pincher down and fired an ice sword directly at the Ariados.

"Wha- Cullen no!" Charles exclaimed but it was already too late. Cullen's ice sword hit one of the major support webs and shattered it once it froze over. Portions of the web started falling into the hole and before Charles could fall in, his Pokemon cut him free. Charles was able to jump and hold on to the edge of the hole, Cullen helping him up as he had reached safety.

Duke drove an electric-powered fist into the Heracross' stomach, knocking the Pokemon into the hole, just as the building shook from a roar. Vince let out a laugh as his partner Pokemon climbed out of the hole that was his home. Venom dripped from the spider's fangs, which burned holes into the floor from where the venom had hit.

"That Ariados is huge!" Charles exclaimed as he raised his shield. He looked around, a smile beginning to form. "Cullen! Let's squash this bug! Duke, you work on trying to free our Pokemon!"

"Roger roger," Duke said as he jumped away from a web whip. As Duke ran towards the giant web balls to help Teresa, Vince walked over to stand next to his partner.

"That fire…" Vince said as he looked over Charles. "That fire in your eyes. It's rare to see one so determined as you. This… Will be fun! Remus, let's go!"

With a shout, Cullen and Charles ran forward to meet the Ariados head-on. Charles brought up his shield to smash it into the bug's face, which worked but some of the venom ate away at the shield. Cullen followed up by firing a sword made out of water at the spider's feet, freezing it once it had hit. These attacks, however, did not faze the spider as it let out a roar. Ghostly energy surrounded the spider and it disappeared before their very eyes.

"What the-" Charles was interrupted as the spider reappeared and smashed into the human. Vince let out a laugh as he raised his arms, commanding the webs to attack his opponents. Charles let out a battle cry, slashing away at the webs and string as Cullen captured the attention of Remus.

Meanwhile, Duke was firing out bolts of lightning, taking out groups of bugs at a time but more swarmed in faster than he can knock them out. Teresa was trying her best but she found that she wasn't strong enough to take out more than one or two bugs at a time. The bugs were so close to Genji and Aron that Duke was worried for a second that they wouldn't be able to save them.

Suddenly, a large Beedrill appeared and knocked Teresa out of the air. The bird flew towards the hole and landed in the middle of the spider web. Duke reacted by throwing an electric dagger, not fully formed, at the Beedrill, knocking it out instantly. He continued to blast at the bugs, trying to keep them away from Genji and Aron.

Teresa struggled to get out of the web but had no luck. She sighed before letting out a groan as a few Spinirak started to crawl towards her on the web. In the position that she was in, Teresa knew that she was no match for the small spiders. She looked over and saw that Charles and Cullen were losing to Remus and Vince.

Charles had lost his shield to Remus' venom and his sword was yanked out of his grasp by Vince's webs. Cullen continued to try to protect Charles but he was starting to wear out. Cullen fired a Bubblebeam, countering Remus' Poison Sting, but then found himself flung through the air by Vince's vine. Cullen groaned as he wearily stood back up and watched in horror as the Ariados reared back to attack Charles.

"Charles!" Cullen shouted as he fired an ice sword at the bug. Charles looked away and saw the sword flying towards them and tried to grab it. Due to the speed, the sword cut Charles' hand a bit but he was able to hold it in his hands. The sword reacted by covering Charles in ice… protecting him from a fatal bite from Remus.

"Woah…" Charles muttered as he looked over himself. The ice did cover Charles but it acted as armor. He even found that it had created a shield made out of ice and the sword took on a form similar to his original sword, but sharper and lighter.

"Amazing!" Vince exclaimed as he held his arms out. "The perfect bond between human and Pokemon! An absolutely magnificent batting style! Show me more!"

Web vines appeared all around Charles but they froze and shattered thanks to Cullen's ice swords. Charles grinned and let out a war cry as he attacked Remus. The spider was able to protect itself but the cold was starting to slow its movements.

"This is art!" Vince shouted as more web vines started to appear around Charles. Despite the armor and Cullen's ranged support, Charles quickly found himself on the defensive. Parts of the ice armor broke off but he continued to swing the sword, cutting through many of the web vines.

Before Remus could attack once again, a bright light from the center of the building caught everyone's attention. Covered in Spinarak, Teresa was glowing a bright white before being overtaken by flames. Teresa flew out of the web, leaving a flaming trail behind her before flying directly towards the giant web balls. She used Ember and burned away the webbing holding onto her friends, freeing them from the webs. Finally, the glow died down and revealed that Teresa was no longer a Fletchling but rather a Fletchinder. Duke caught the two small Pokemon who were otherwise safe and sound.

"Well done, well done," Vince applauded as Remus pulled away from Charles. "Spectacular fighting, Charles. And it looks like Duke and his Pokemon won you the challenge."

"It wasn't me, it was all Teresa," Duke replied as he patted the top of the bird's head.

"I'm tired," Charles complained as he fell onto his back.

"Let's get some celebratory food before I give you your reward," Vince told the two as he turned around and started to walk away. After a few moments, the group situated themselves before following after Vince. However, before they could get far enough, time seemed to stop.

"Not again…" Max mumbled as he noticed that, once again, he was standing next to Duke. Some movement caught his attention and Max turned around, just in time to see a web vine whip towards in. The vine wrapped around Max's torso before pulling him towards the hole, darkness enveloping his vision seconds later.

-000-

This project is part of an extended universe with Plegian Gengar's "The Rose That Was Always Red," maycontestdrew's "The Iron Knight," and Fuzzboy's "The Courtship of the Heavenly Plates." I recommend checking out the rest of these guys out, they are amazing writers!