Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Pokémon or any of its parent companies. I am merely a humble storyteller. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this journey with me.

Note: I am English, so some of the wordings, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.

Chapter Nine: Just Breathe

Baron Phobos stared out the window. No, that's not accurate. What would be accurate would be to say 'Baron Phobos scowled out the window', even if that sentence would not make that much sense. A scowl usually means someone is not happy, and not happy is what Baron Phobos was.

General Avery knelt in the centre of the room, sullen, his eyes unable to leave the floor. Lunatone floated next to his Trainer, red eyes fixed on the sky.

Two. Two Generals had been thwarted by SOL. And what made it more embarrassing was that it was the same agent who got one over General Buzz, a conclusion they arrived at thanks to the two Generals connecting the dots from each of their stories. One time was not too big of a problem. A second time was slightly more worrying. She was proving to be quite a nuisance. Honestly, how on earth was she even rescuing the Pokémon? It was unfathomable.

Baron Phobos tapped his teeth. What could they do? There were only six members in the Phobos Battalion, their little organisation not gifted with mounds of minions like the overseas syndicates he had heard about. Oh, why did he not recruit more? Why was he so stubborn? They had no assassins they could send after the agent, no extra forces to raze the SOL Base to the ground. Yes, Buzz had previously offered to go after her himself, but if he ended up captured, SOL would jump ahead a few steps on their path of foiling the Phobos Battalion.

No, they would just have to keep on doing what they were already doing. They were so close to the end; they could afford a slip here or there. Although, that was not to say he appreciated the losses they were accumulating. His fingernails dug into the soft arms of his hover-chair. A few of their Secret Storages had already been infiltrated, but no one could say exactly how many had been. Still, there were so many around, and they even had their Huge Storages. Surely no one was getting into those!

No, they would keep going the course they had set out. And if push came to shove, he would personally deal with that scurrying vermin of an agent. All they had to do was just… breathe and stay their course.

Baron Phobos and Lunatone caught each other's eye. Yes, success was still theirs for the taking. Trozei would be the Phobos Battalion's.

"Er… sir?"

Baron Phobos turned back to his General. "Yes."

"May I please get up? I've been kneeling for an hour and a half."

Baron Phobos considered it for a second. "No."

o~o~o~o~o

"Okay, I'm getting even better at this."

The last few Pokémon were Trozei'd away, and Lucy twirled the Trozei Beamer between her fingers and inserted it in the holster she had attached to her belt.

The lights flashed on and a robotic voice proclaimed: 'Training complete'.

Training complete indeed. Maybe Professor P was right about her returning to base to rest and learn to use the Trozei Beamer even more efficiently than she was already doing. It was a tiny detour, yes, but it would prove to be beneficial in the long run, and it allowed her to just… breathe.

The hiss of the sliding doors opening emanated throughout the room and in came Professor P, Amelia and Solrock, the former nodding approvingly.

"You are absolutely remarkable, Miss Fleetfoot," he said, tapping his cane enthusiastically on the floor. "I don't regret for a single second having you be the agent I sent on this mission."

Lucy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, we haven't won yet. You may want to save your praise for when we do."

"Wise words," Professor P said, nodding sombrely.

"So," Lucy said, turning her attention to Amelia. "How's that Tyranitar doing?"

"He's been doing very well," Amelia replied. "We were going to release him back into the wild, but… um…" She tented her fingers together.

"Yes…" Lucy said, encouraging her to go on.

"I ended up catching him."

"Really?"

"Yep. I ended up spending a lot of time with him and feeding him a lot of Razz Berries while trying to help him recover. Then I ended up capturing him in a Luxury Ball, so now he's my best friend in the whole world."

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting that," Lucy said. "But I suppose he'll be a good ally for SOL and… wait a minute. I thought I was your best friend in the whole world?"

"You're my best human friend in the whole world," Amelia corrected her. "Do you honestly think I'm going to overtake Aipom and Manectric in your friendship list if we didn't make the distinction between species?"

As she said that, Aipom and Manectric bounded into the room and tackled their Trainer. Aipom climbed onto Lucy's shoulder and ruffled her hair; Manectric stood up on his hindlegs, front paws on Lucy's chest, and gave her face a good licking.

"Okay, okay, I love you both too," Lucy laughed, wiping her face free of positively charged slobber. "Are Ditto and Flygon still resting?"

Aipom's chittering into her ear seemed to confirm that fact.

"Well, you all deserve a good rest," Lucy said. "You've done so well. Six Secret Storages, a Huge Storage, and we took down two Generals. But we've still got far to go."

"Indeed," Professor P said. "But if we keep this pace then our chances of success will continually go up." He leaned forward on his staff. "You know, Miss Fleetfoot, I have been considering sending a couple more agents on this mission too. What would you say to that?"

Lucy pondered over Professor P's words. "But there's only one Trozei Beamer."

"Yes, there is. However, it'll not be for infiltration, merely scouting, since you are the best of the best and they would not be as efficient as you anyway. These agents should help us discover more of the Phobos Battalion's Storages faster. We won't send any of the agents who are currently keeping tabs on the Storages that we have already relieved of Poké Balls. And considering the Phobos Battalion are obviously enlightened to the fact we are throwing a spanner into their machine, they may want to rush their plans, so swift countermeasures must be put into place. Now, I ask again: what would you say to that?"

What could Lucy say to that apart from…

"As long as they're not put in harm's way, then I'm all for it. In that case, yes, this will help a lot."

"Excellent," Professor P said. "Now, that does mean to say I won't be searching for these Storages and those blasted Phobos Mobiles from here. As a matter of fact, we have located two more Storages, one near Marron Trail and the other somewhere in the vicinity of the river, southwards. We believe they are Secret Storages as their energy readings aren't as high as the Huge Storage you infiltrated."

"Right," Lucy said. "My team and I will head out straight away."

"Excellent, Miss Fleetfoot," Professor P said. "That is what I like to see."

"Just continue what you're doing," Amelia piped up. "And don't put yourself or your Pokémon in any unnecessary risk."

"Don't worry, Amelia," Lucy said. "We're going to stop the Phobos Battalion's plan, no doubt about that. For now, let's just… breathe."