I'm alive. Well, at least for now. I know it's been… a long time since I've written anything, but I've been working or playing really hard this past year, and you would think that Corona would make it easier to work on writing… you would be right. You over-commit because you overestimate the amount of free time you have, but anyway, here I am, writing again. I've only done academic writing for a while, so obviously, there will be a stark dip in writing quality, but hopefully, y'all will have some feedback on that issue.

Into Enemy Lines

It'd been over ten minutes since Lucas walked into the bike store, and the poor boy didn't stop sobbing, no matter how much Dawn and Alyssa tried to console him. "I-I don't know what to do," he managed to say between sobs, "He took me in when I was all alone, and he was like a father… and I don't know if I have the strength to save him now." Dawn and Alyssa kept reassuring him as he buried his face in his already wet hands.

"Does mean they're working together, or they're the same?" Lucas said, pulling up images of the newly built Galactic Corp. building in Eterna City on Barry's phone in the other corner of the store, out of earshot of the poor boy. He didn't think that coming to the bicycle shop with Barry and Alyssa would mean that they'd run into another crime-scene, but here he was: helpless but to help.

"We don't really know anything," Barry countered, "That building might not even belong to Team Galactic or Galactic Corp. I don't see a logo," he pointed out.

"It doesn't matter, this kid said that he saw the owner get taken in there, so we have to get inside, and he also said that he knows Galactic Corp scientists frequently go inside there." Besides, this building is suspiciously brand new."

"How do you know?"

"The GPS won't give you directions to its address. It can't be more than a month old maybe, and it was built quickly. Something isn't right about a corporate building being built so quickly in a city as old as this. A steel behemoth in a city of brick and mortar?"

"Do you think there's something going on inside there?"

"Definitely, but we need more info," he said, before pausing and looking over at Alyssa and Dawn, "Do we have any floor plans or pictures of the inside of the building, any way to know where we're going inside?"

"Uh…" Barry trailed, confused, "Why would we need that?"

"Last time when we got inside Valley Windworks to save that girl, we took a few wrong turns and ran into a few more grunts. Knowing where to go makes a big difference."

"Well, they don't even exist on maps, what makes you think that they're going to reveal their floor plans and interior layout?" Barry questioned.

"Fair point," Lucas nodded, "Then we need to make a plan with what we have," he sighed.

On the other side of the room, Alyssa and Dawn began to talk to the boy some more, now that he'd had a drink of water and cleaned up his tears. "I know it might be hard for you to think right now, but I promise, everything will be alright," Dawn gently said, "We'll do our best to help you, but we need your help."

"Can you tell us what happened exactly?" Alyssa asked, kneeling down next to him.

The boy took a moment of somber silence before speaking. "We closed for lunch and then we were stocking the bikes after our lunch break," he began, pointing to a corner of the store not fully filled with new bikes, "And I heard a knock on the door." He paused as he shivered, "Mr. Shaw saw who was at the door from inside. And then he… he just grabbed me and locked me in the storage room and told me to stay in there and not to call the police," he added in a nervous tone.

Both Dawn and Alyssa raised their eyebrows in shock. "Why did he… do that?" Alyssa gently probed.

"I didn't know. I-it's not like him to hurt anyone or to throw them in a room and then lock them, and I was just so terrified that something bad was gonna happen to me. But then I heard glass shatter and looked at the camera TVs in the storage room," he said, pointing in the storage room's direction. The man's Pokemon broke our door, and then he and a few more people dressed like him stormed in with their Pokemon. Then… they took him away," he finished, his voice becoming shaky again.

"You were brave for going through all of this," Dawn said sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No I wasn't," he disappointedly said back, "I was so terrified," he paused before speaking, "that I just slammed my hand over my mouth so that they couldn't hear my scream. I-I almost suffocated myself. That's all I was. Terrified. I didn't do anything to stop them, and even now, I still can't do—"

"There's nothing you'll get by blaming yourself," Alyssa interrupted, "You really did your best and did what Mr. Shaw told you to so that you would be safe. He wanted to protect you, but if you lost your cool you might have let them know you were there. But you didn't. You did the right thing," she smiled.

"Thank you," the boy weakly nodded, regaining some firmness in his voice.

"Why would these men try to take Mr. Shaw? Did you recognize their men or something?"

"No, I don't why they would ever take him. He was the nicest man, and he always did his best to be kind to everyone, even mean and stupid customers," he chuckled slightly as he reminisced, "But…" he trailed, reaching into his pocket, "He gave me these just before he locked the door on me," he said, revealing a small rolled up bunch of papers, "And told me to throw them away when I could."

A few minutes later, all four met up inside the storage room after watched the camera footage of the break-in. The footage wasn't clear, but it was certain who made the attack. "I have a—" he began before Barry stared daggers at him for a split second, "Uh, we," he corrected, "have a plan."

"What is it?" Dawn and Alyssa asked at the same time.

"We know they're hiding out in that building that the boy said he saw them run too."

"First, that ain't a plan," Alyssa said, her eyebrow raised, "Second, there's something more suspicious than a bunch a' kidnappers running into the building with their victim about that place?"

"Hold on, I'll finish," Lucas explained, "The more information we collect on that building, who built it, and what kind of deals and deeds are behind its construction, the more clearer a picture we'll get about Galactic. So we need to split up."

"What? Why? How would that help us?" Dawn asked, completely surprised while Alyssa's expression said the same.

"Me and Barry storm the building and hopefully break our way far enough to Mr. Shaw and get him out. I'm almost sure they won't keep him around on the first or top floors, since there are so many windows. You and Alyssa need to get to Gardenia as soon as you can, and ask exactly how, when, and who built that building. We might have a money trail or a motive," he strongly said.

"Are you crazy?!" Dawn shot back, "You need us. O-or you're going to get—"

"No," Barry stepped in this time, shivering a bit as Dawn gave him a death-stare, "We can't put all our eggs in one basket. We can't just keep relying on our strength to beat these guys because they have way bigger numbers. Eventually, we have to hit them where it hurts ourselves, but first, we need to know where it hurts for them."

"What if Gardenia says it's something she can't tell us? What if nothing happens?" Alyssa asked, frustrated at the seeming stupidity of the plan.

There was an awkward silence as nobody spoke until Dawn decided to convey her point to Lucas again. "Lucas," she began much more softly, her frustration having left her voice, "You tell me: are you strong enough to do this alone?"

"I… no," he sighed in defeat.

"Then why—"

"You keep forgetting, but I gave a word to Professor Rowan that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. More than that, I can't let anything happen to you. Even if we made it out fine, if something were to—"

"What about yourself? What would your mother say if something happened to you? What would do you think that I would feel?"

"It's not that simple, Dawn. You—"

"We don't have any time for this!" Barry interjected, the adrenaline rush for what was to come already flowing through him. "Are you guys coming, or not?" he asked, looking at Dawn and Alyssa.

"We are," they both responded. "We have the best chance of beating them if we stick together, and if something happens, it happens to all of us," Alyssa added. "So what's the plan?"

"I need to know if you have a PC, first," Lucas asked the boy, who was sitting by the counter.

"A PC?" the boy asked. "Yeah, sure. It's in the back in the storage room."

"Can it run this?" he asked, holding up the USB drive that Cynthia's HM was on, "I have a feeling it'll be good to have on one of my Pokemon."

"Commander," one of the grunts said as Jupiter wiped her hands clean of the crimson, "They're coming… as you expected. What would you like us to do?"

"As much as I hate him for what he did to poor Mars, I must say, this boy is very prompt," she muttered to herself lightly. "Hold on a minute," she said to the grunt before turning away, "Mr. Shaw, I will show to you what happens to people who do not cooperate with me," she glared as she knelt down to his level.

"Do your worst. You couldn't get a word out of me till now," the weakened man on the floor spat back.

"I will do my worst, but not to you," she coolly said, grabbing him by his chin and lifting it so he was forced to make eye contact, "but to some unfortunate visitors. I understand that you are ready to die to keep your secrets. Admirable. But I am sure you wouldn't want someone else dying for them, would you?" she asked with a soft, cunning smile spreading across her face as she saw the horror spreading across his.

"You're like that cunt Cyrus," he managed to growl, though he could barely take in a full breath.

"You will not insult Master Cyrus like that in front of me!" Jupiter roared, losing her otherwise calm demeanor as she sank a kick into Mr. Shaw's chest. "We are neither inhumane nor monsters. So much human suffering comes because of our emotions, the grief and pain of suffering are emotions themselves. But we leading team Galactic have grand visions. We suffer from no such flaws of softness and misguided pangs of feeling." She stood up again, gesturing some grunts to pick him up and move him to another part of the building as she saw four figures appear at the entrance to the facility on one of the CCTV screens. "In mere moments, you shall be convinced of that yourself." She then turned to the grunt who approached her earlier, "I want you to set our defenses to a scale 2."

"O-only scale two? Based on what happened at Valley Windworks I thought it would be more—"

"Don't question me," she interrupted, her expression flaring with heat as the grunt immediately backed down. "Prepare the facility for evacuation only of Team-related material. Corporate and company data and info stay but our stuff must be wiped clean."

Notification of the Commander's orders began to play on the PA system inside the building as the marching of shoes and the rapid movement of many hands to accomplish a task suddenly filled the walls of the massive building. Many of the grunts began to shuffle paperwork and burn them outside as fast as they could while others began to unplug USBs, hard drives, and any trace of data of their presence. But even this heavy movement and work throughout the building halted for a moment when the men on the lower floor heard a swift screech of splitting metal by their door.

Prometheus stared at the cut-down trees and barbed wire fencing that lined an entrance outside the massive building. Soon after, he and Hazel burned away at the fallen debris in a few seconds using Ember, creating a path that Dawn, Alyssa, Barry, and Lucas easily crossed through before reaching the main gate.

Lucas quickly ran forward, looking for a handle but the heavily tinted blue door was an automatic one that only opened when a handprint scanner next to it granted access. "We can't get in yet," he growled.

"And those cameras up there mean they know we're here. They've got time to prepare," Barry added.

"I think we should just blast right through," Dawn said, preparing to give orders to Hazel.

"Hold it there!" A shout came from the side of a building. A Galactic Grunt came hurtling at them from behind the corner, though he didn't have a Pokeball in hand. Dawn, Barry, and Alyssa all drew out their first Pokemon, but Lucas hesitated. He thought he could recognize the face from somewhere.

Barry almost screamed when the Grunt suddenly pulled off his blue wig and some facial cosmetics added to conceal his true identity, revealing the face of a man that Lucas and Dawn were somewhat glad to see. "Looker," Lucas said, remembering the face of the peculiar Interpol agent. "It's good to see you."

"And it's good to see you, too. What in the bloody hell are you doing out here? Are you part of Galactic?" he asked almost angrily with suspicion.

"I'm not the one wearing their clothes," Lucas quickly responded, "We're here to rescue a man who's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? That would explain why this place is suddenly on lockdown. I've been blending in with them for about a week now, monitoring their patterns activities. I don't have clearance to get inside the building, but these Grunts are mighty stupid. They'll answer anything you ask if you have their uniform on."

"Wait, you know what goes on in there?" Barry asked, suddenly interested. "You know who runs stuff in there?"

"Well, yes and no. And I can't tell you what you want: you don't have clearance. But if there's a kidnapping going on here, Interpol can conduct an evidence raid on the building. Did you see who got kidnapped?"

"No," all four responded, "But we met a boy who saw the whole thing from a safe place. A kid who works at the bike shop," Alyssa added, "He should be on his way to Gardenia's Gym now because we thought he'd be a bit safer there than in the shop where they kidnapped the owner."

"Then that's where I'll be headed. I need eyewitness testimony to get a warrant for a raid," the Looker nodded. "Are you sure you want to be going in there? It's not safe. Especially for you kids."

Prometheus and Hazel huffed flames in disagreement, making the point for their trainers. "We need to go in there before it's too late. Nobody else can help us."

"If you've made up your mind, fine. You can go. But remember this: there are trap stairways that are meant to throw you off and allow time for Grunts to block your advance, I heard, so be very wary of how you move about the building," he warned, "I'll be off, so good luck," he wished as he released a majestic, regal Arcanine, sparks zipping from its mouth. All four instantly stepped back from the massive dog Pokemon before the Looker rode it at blazing speed through the city to the gym.

"All that and he didn't tell us how to get in," Barry shrugged after the Looker left. "They definitely know we're here, too," he added, pointing to the cameras on the building's entrance that were pointed at them.

"It doesn't matter," Lucas smiled, looking at his reflection in the door. "We can break in. Prometheus, use Ember!" he ordered. The Charmeleon quickly discharged an orange ball of flame that smashed harmlessly into the glass door, shattering and dissipating away. "Again!" he ordered. A more intense ball of flame hit the door this time, but again, it left no marks or scratches at all. He balled his fist up in frustration before releasing all of his Pokemon. The other three quickly followed, and soon, 12 angry Pokemon stood, claws and talons bearing, outside the entrance to the building.

Four grunts were thrown back into the counter by the destructive power of the explosion. Speeding shards cut down three more grunts who knew better than to stay right next to the door as more poured almost immediately from one of the two stairways on either side of the building. "Th-they broke through the door," one panicked, crawling on his back to move away from the entrance before accidentally landing his palm on a sharp glass shard that once formed the door. Lucas, Dawn, Barry, and Alyssa all charged in quickly behind their Pokemon. Nearly twice as many grunts met them in the expensive lobby of the building. A beautiful mahogany reception desk, ornately designed red columns supporting the building, and a rich velvet-like flooring. Everything was sterile, everything was functional, everything was perfectly designed. Lucas almost felt bad knowing what was going to happen to the décor in the coming minutes.

All four were breathing heavily as nearly a couple dozen grunts suddenly surrounded them, Pokeballs in hand. "Now what?" Dawn asked Lucas, both sizing up the environment around them.

"We beat em all," he bluntly answered, as each Grunt released either a Skuntank, Purugly, or a Golbat.

"There are four times as many of their Pokemon as ours," Dawn added, still somewhat worried.

"The girl's right. Give up now, and we won't kill you," one of the grunts threatened. "You might not even have a chance to experience Commander Jupiter's special treatment by the time we're done with you," one sniggered.

Lucas could feel his heart rate hit 180 as all of his and the other three's Pokemon seemed equally tense in the short moment of silence before all hell broke loose.

There was no coordination. It wasn't a battle. Every Pokemon on every side restlessly pelted any target it could find. Prometheus tackled a Skuntank with Scratch, burning it with a Fire Fang before it had the chance to hit him with Toxic. A Purugly sent out with the Skuntank managed to discharge a Poison Gas on Prometheus while he was engrossed in dealing with the Skuntank. "Prometheus, get out of there!" Lucas yelled, turning away before he even had a chance to see what happened to Prometheus to tend to his other Pokemon.

Barry made an almost uninterpretable hand signal to Gawain: the raptor understood immediately jetting across the room and using Gust to flush the Poison Gas out of Prometheus' way and back onto the Purugly that released it, sickening and dizzying the feline. Prometheus didn't have time to breathe as he jumped right from the Skuntank he downed onto the Purugly that tried to attack him with Gawain providing air support and deterring any other Pokemon from getting close, although some Puruglys from across the room were able to get a few Flamethrowers onto Gawain.

All four trainers and even the grunts had to do their best to keep moving: there was no chance of surviving all of the missed and misdirected attacks flying of the room if you stayed put. Lucas ordered Caesar to stay next to the trainers, commandeering Richard and Margaret to do the same to do their best to neutralize and intercept attacks sent by Pokemon cleverly aiming for the trainers.

Dawn was struggling to see through the steam created by Piplup blocking an incoming Flamethrower with Bubblebeam, but Hazel to successfully delivered a super-effective Mach Punch into the gut of a Purugly anyway, sending the fat Pokemon unconsciously flying back into the Grunt that sent it out. She was momentarily blinded yet again when Julia's Thundershock zipped into an approaching Skuntank, paralyzing it.

Seeing the electric type had made its move on the more durable Skuntank, a few Grunts ordered their Golbats to do rapid hit and run attacks with Wing Attack on Hazel, almost knocking her out as she fell to her knees. She quickly ordered Hazel to switch places with the more durable Verna, allowing the Shellos to wreak havoc on any Pokemon close to it as another idea crept into Dawn's mind. "Margaret, I need you to use Calm Mind. But not on yourself, on Julia and Alexander," she said, pointing to Alyssa's Jolteon and Barry's Luxio.

"Kill that Jolteon and the Luxio!" one of the grunts yelled, realizing the threat the two Electric-Types posed to their Golbats. The Skuntanks and Puruglys that were near Julia all suddenly opened fire on her. Alyssa had Julia try to retaliate with a Thundershock, but a Purugly used Fake Out, stunning her in a lightning-quick collision that left her too dazed to get her attack off.

Lucas and Barry sent in their raptors to cover the retreating Jolteon and Luxio while Hazel snuck in behind them, following up with super-effective Mach Punches and Flame Wheels, increasing her already blazing pace of her attack as her speed rose with her assault. Puruglys and Skuntanks were falling left and right near the speedy Monferno while Gawain and Galahad overhead took turns diving and weakening the Pokemon in front of her as they blazed a violent path through the lobby, all the while avoiding the ornate red ceiling above them and while mercilessly devastating the carpet and furniture.

Lucas was almost unaware of what was going on, keeping his attention on the other side of the room where a team of grunts had decided to focus their efforts solely on him, leaving only Caesar, Prometheus, and Barry's Grotle to hold off nearly a half dozen Golbats who'd fled the fight with Julia and Alexander. "They need your help," he told Richard, pointing to Julia and Alexander being tailed by a plethora of attacks and enemy Pokemon, "It's not safe for you here with these Golbats."

One of the Bat Pokemon decided to make a lunge at Richard, wings glowing white for a devastating Wing Attack, but was cut off by an Ember from Prometheus and evaded directly into the ground, giving Richard time to move the other side of the battlefield. "Not very good pilots, huh?" Lucas taunted, seeing the shaken Golbat on the floor.

"When the boss is done with you, we're gonna have a whole lot of fun with you, aren't we?" one of the grunts cruelly sniggered before all six of the Golbats dove for Prometheus and Caesar.

Lucas's eyes widened as the wave of purple, black, and white descended onto his two Pokemon. "Split up!" he ordered, trying to raise their chances of surviving the combined attacks, "Give 'em everything you got! Caesar, use Bubblebeam, Prometheus use—"

"Get down!" Alyssa screamed.

"CRACK!" a deafening noise interrupted him as he covered his eyes to protect himself from the intense light. He removed his hands from his eyes, only to see nearly all of the Golbats out cold on the floor, singed and somewhat smoking. "Was that… you?" he said, looking at the rising smoke and then at Prometheus. Lucas followed both Prometheus and Lucas' gaze to see Julia and Alexander now glowing in a terrifyingly strong purple aura, sparking and flickering with ferocious intensity.

"Again!" Barry and Alyssa ordered. Margaret focused yet another Calm Mind into the two Electric-Types, charging them with more aura and as she began levitating. Both Gawain and Galahad took a dive onto the floor as Alexander and Julia yet again discharged a massive wave of electricity by combining both their Thunder Shock attacks. The lights in the ceilings blew out as tendrils of yellow current leaped to them and anything else in the air, filling the air with glass and singed material.

There was only a moment to appreciate the stunning display of power before all four had to fight off their opponents again, though this time, the odds seemed far more in their favor than before.

Lucas quickly dispatched a few Skuntanks by burning them repeatedly using Prometheus' ember before Alyssa sent her Ponyta to barrel through them with a devastating Flame Wheel. The effect of numbers that the Grunts had was rapidly decreasing. The four trainers were able to move out from their defensive circle, using their Pokemon to corner and encircle small pockets of Grunts. Prometheus laid the pain into the last standing Golbat with an Ember.

A few grunts tried to move to hand-to-hand combat out of desperation, but the four trainers knew better, especially after what Lucas went through at Valley Windworks. A few close warning shots from their Pokemon seemed to convince the Grunts to stand down for the time being. "Stay put. Or get out of here," Lucas began, "I don't care. But if you try to follow us upstairs Galahad will gut you like a Magikarp."

The Grunts didn't respond at all, but he took their silence as a yes. "Do we know which way to go?" Dawn asked the rest of the group, looking at the multiple paths of stairways that seemingly went up to the second floor, "One of these paths is probably a dead end."

"One of these guys can tell us how to get out of here," Barry chimed in, pointing to a random grunt in the room. "Talk: which way do we go?" he ordered, motioning for his Pokemon to train on the terrified but still silent Grunt. "I won't hurt you if you just speak. I'm not like your Commanders," he said in an earnest but unsympathetic tone. "Where do we go from here?"

"I've had enough of this shit," Lucas said walking to the grunt and grabbing him by his collar, his fist inches away from the Grunt's skull. "I will cave your hollow skull in if I don't get an answer from you," he barked as the Grunt continued to sweat and tremble his lips in terror, but not a syllable escaped his lips, though his gaze wandered to a poster next to one of the staircases with the gold Galactic logo. Dawn was about to interrupt Lucas when Barry stuck his hand in front of her. The Grunt looked at him with terror in his eyes, fear creeping into his trembling lips though no words came out. Lucas slowly relaxed his grip, pushing the Grunt back as he nearly tripped. "Leave," he sternly said as Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, "All of you." Several of the Grunts scrambled to their feet to bold out of the door.

"Th-thank you," one of them managed to stammer as Lucas turned his back, heading back towards Barry and Dawn.

"If I see any of you still here, I won't give you a second chance," Lucas said as he bolted up one of the flights of stairs, the other three frantically tailing him.

"How do you know this is the way?" Barry asked as he caught up to Lucas in a fraction of a second, cutting him off in the stairwell before he could go any further.

"The correct stairways have a poster on them. They can't be unlabeled, because the even Galactic's own staff needs to know how to get around."

"He could have been lying," Dawn countered. "They might just be regular-ass posters."

"Got any other bright ideas to go with then?" Lucas rapidly shot back, glancing quickly at each of the other three, who stood hesitantly, taken aback by his sudden outburst. "Well, great then, let's go, because every second we spend fucking around here is a second they spend gearing up for us," Lucas finished as they took off up the stairs again.

"What do you mean? We beat everyone we had to downstairs. There can't actually be anyone left," Alyssa said.

"I doubt it," Dawn said as Lucas and Barry sent out Galahad and Gawain to scout the route ahead floor ahead of them, "those guys were buying time. They weren't as good as Galactic usually is."

"Buying time for what, then?"

"I don't know. And I kind of don't want to," Dawn muttered, remembering the horrifying run-ins she and Lucas already had with Galactic.

Barry soon spotted a poster on one of the three staircases, bolting towards it as the other three realized a second after. They cleared the opening into the third staircase soon after, finding another three staircases and only one of them with a poster label. "That one," Barry yelped again as they ran down the corridor to continue advancing up the building with Galahad and Gawain cutting out cameras on each floor as they scouted ahead of the group, screeching and flapping heavily as they saw someone near the stairwell in front of them.

All four trainers grabbed a Pokeball, ready for what was ahead as they turned the corner to the final stairwell, only to see Galahad and Gawain staring down in front of a single man—a young man a lab coat, a scientist—waiting with a terrified expression on his sweating face and a Pokeball in his right hand. "D-don't go any further," he hesitantly ordered, backing up bit by bit as the four advanced forward.

"Look," Dawn said somewhat calmly before Lucas had a chance to speak, "we don't want any trouble with you, and we certainly don't want to hurt you. I know you know this isn't a fair fight for you, so just let us through," she pleaded.
"Yeah, you don't have to do this to yourself or the Pokemon," Barry agreed, stepping forward next to Dawn.

"I do. Y-you, don't know what you're doing. Galactic will provide a future for Sinnoh. For the world. We have the power to save the world," he said with a fanatic glint in his eyes.

"How? By killing people who disagree with you? By raiding power-plants and holding hostages?" Dawn asked.

"What you're doing isn't any d-different. You broke in here. All of the Grunts downstairs are staff members of the Galactic corporation being held hostage. You don't understand our vision. But I do." The scientist began panting in increased tension and fear as he loosened his tie before reaching for the inside of one of the sides of his lab coat. Lucas's eyes widened in an instant.

Before anyone else took another breath in, Galahad dove in, talons open, gliding across the scientist with a Cut attack, leaving him screaming and badly bleeding as he dropped his Pokeball to the floor. Dawn's hands covered her mouth as she saw the scientist slump over onto the floor before Lucas quickly ran to his side knocking him unconscious with a swift punch as Dawn and Alyssa winced behind him.

He quickly frisked through the pockets of his lab coat the scientist reached into, throwing everything he found out onto the corridor floor: a wallet, keys, and a bloodstained photo of him and his family that fluttered in the air until it landed in front of Dawn's feet. "Got it," Lucas said, quickly standing up aside the limp scientist, pulling something small and round from a pocket. "He was gonna try to kill us," he smugly said, holding the object out for everyone to see.

"Lucas that's a… that's a fucking Pokeball," Dawn said with growing frustration. "That's just a fucking Pokeball!" she repeated. "You… you maniac. I was trying to—" Lucas interrupted her as he clicked the central button on the ball, setting off an audible ticking noise as he threw it down the corridor behind them before a rattling explosion was heard followed by a wafting cloud of debris and smoke.

"That's a grenade, Dawn. I don't think you can peacefully reason with it."

"How did you—"

"The guy already had a Pokeball in his hand. He didn't use it. He never planned to," he replied matter-of-factly before looking at the final staircase. We're almost there: whatever or whoever is at the top of this staircase knows what happened at the bicycle shop, or where the owner is," he confidently stated, marching up the stairs with Barry and Alyssa. Dawn knelt down and picked up the scientist's photo before running after them, her nerves prepared for what was waiting for them upstairs.

Okay! I'll be honest, this isn't my best chapter, and it's shorter than most, but I'm not quite sure how to improve, and I'm not confident hammering out 10k words of poor quality. But, any reviews you guys have will help to make sure the next chapter won't suck when they finally battle Commander Jupiter and Co.