[Nate]

It is surreal how quiet Samantha keeps as we walk to the Pokémon Center. Or how uncomfortable she looks just having me around.

That said, nothing really noteworthy happens during our walk. Aspertia only has one Pokémon Center in its middle, and I don't spot any particular place of interest on the way there.

After we arrive and book a room, Samantha accompanies me upstairs. And then she frowns at me when it's just the two of us.

"Alright, we're here," she huffs out. "But if you want me to spill the beans, first I wanna know why you care so much about my past."

Uhm…"Simple curiosity?"

"Don't give me that," she scoffs. "No one wants to know things just for curiosity's sake."

I'm tempted to argue that's not true, but I get the feeling she won't have any of that. So...what else can I say?

"Let's just say Mister Wes hasn't really proven himself so trustworthy," I decide to tell her. "I would like some more assurance than just his word."

Once hearing that, Samantha rolls her eyes and shakes her head. I also vaguely hear her mutter something along the lines of 'damned idiot'.

"At least you're wisening up," she then tells me. "Trusting a policeman blindly will only get you in trouble. Even if it's not a proper one."

Uh...okay?

"First of all," she lets out a huff. "First of all, what do you know of the Galar League?"

"Isn't it the same as any other League?" I ask confusedly. "You win the badges from the Gyms, you challenge the Elite Four and then the Champion?"

"The Gyms and the Champion, yes. But we don't have Elite Four." What? "We have the Champion Cup tournament."

Champion Cup tournament? "What's that?"

"A tournament of elimination held among trainers who have won all eight badges in a set amount of time. The winner is the one chosen to face off against the Champion."

Ooooooh, I see.

"And that is where I was 'hampered', as you put it."

Uh? "What do you mean? Did you lose during that tournament?"

I realize that might have been a bad question when Samantha tightens her jaw and lets out an irritated scoff. "If only. That would have meant it was all on me."

Uh?

"No, here's what really happened: I fought my way to the semifinals, winning fair and square against anyone I ended up against," she fumes. "Be they suckers with poorly trained Pokémon or Type-specialists with an advantage against me. And that is where I got screwed over."

"What happened?" I ask when she doesn't continue.

I see her hands tighten into fists. "My opponent - a Psychic-types specialist - cheated. Framed me. Ruined my chances as a trainer."

What?!

"When our match began, it was clear something was not right with his Pokémon. They could barely stand on their legs and they all looked sickly. Despite that, our match proceeded like normal. Only when his Gallade had to kneel over and puke, was the match called off."

That's...I have no idea what a Gallade is, but that sounds pretty gross. But even so, how is that cheat-?

"A check-up revealed that they were all suffering from food poisoning. And when that came up, their trainer accused me of being responsible for it." She places a hand on her chest. "Me. A Dark-types specialist that had every advantage against Psychic-types already. Not to mention that I didn't even know how to get to the guy's damned food!"

Holy…"B-but surely the police didn't just take his word for it, right? I mean, they had to look further into the matter, right?"

Right?

Her next scoff is a mixture of amusement and anger. "You'd think so. But no, the tournament had to go on and so a guilty party had to be found quickly. No one could dig up anything in the time they were given, and so it was the word of a rich brat from a well-to-do family against that of a girl from Spikemuth of all places." She arches an eyebrow. "Who do you think they listened to?"

With the way she spoke about her hometown, I guess not her.

"So, uhm…" I dully say. "I take it you were disqualified?"

"'Disqualified' he says," she mutters. And I get the feeling I have yet to hear the worst of it.

"I was, yes," she hisses. "But that was just the beginning. Before long, all the major news networks were on top of the accident and reporting its every detail for all of Galar to read. My badges got revoked, my sponsor cut ties with me, I couldn't go anywhere without someone recognizing and booing me, I almost had to surrender my Pokémon to the authorities." She shakes her head. "In short, my days as a trainer were as good as over."

Before I can say anything to that, she shakes her head and seems to relax somewhat. "Anyway, that's all in the past. I met Professor Kouki, he introduced me to your father and here we are. Anything else?"

"...Samantha," I manage to say shortly after she's finished. "I'm sorry."

To my bewilderment, she scoffs at my words. "I don't need pity. That didn't get me anything back home."

"But Professor Kouki-"

"What, you think he came for me specifically?" She lets out an amused snort. "No, I saw an announcement that he was looking for trainers with local regional variants and sought him out. My Obstagoon won over all the other candidates and so I got your dad's sponsorship."

Normally I'd be asking what an Obstagoon is, but right now I'm too busy listening to her.

"Pure, simple business," she states matter-of-factly. "If there is one favor the professor did for me, it's not looking into all the drama surrounding me."

I...would like to say something to comfort her, but I can't come up with anything. Hers is the kind of bad situation there is no easy way out of. I don't know enough about Professor Kouki to tell what was on his mind at the time. And on top of that, if she doesn't even want to be comforted, what am I supposed to do?

"Now," she crosses her arms and frowns at me. "You know who 'Samantha the trainer' is and my qualifications. Feeling better?"

I...guess so? That answers why she's here and-

Wait, no it doesn't!

"How did you come across Mister Wes?" I ask her. "How long have you been working for him?"

"He approached me after our last encounter in Virbank." I shiver at thinking how that went. "I don't know how, but he already knew all about me. He briefed me on the situation and said he needed me to watch over Rosa while he got the three of you out of trouble with the International Police."

Ah...yeah, that.

"Although seriously," she arches an eyebrow. "Videogames?"

All I can offer in response to that is a shrug. "I was as confused as you."

She shrugs herself. "Well, whatever. Did Wes at least tell you what he sent you here for?"

I'm about to answer affirmatively, but then remember he glossed over the details. "He only said there was a problem. It seemed pretty grave. What happened? Did you run into Team Plasma?"

Rather than answering, Samantha stares at me blankly.

"What? What did I say?"

[Eugenio]

Okay, okay. We've got a giant whale staring down at us on the front and an electric tarantula hanging on the ceiling. Both of which are dangerous Pokémon on their own. No biggie. No biggie at all.

Holy fucking shit!

Alright no, focus! The bigger threat is the Wishiwashi. If I remember correctly, the School form falls apart if enough damage is dealt. But how do we go about that? And what about the Galvantula?

Unfortunately, the Wishiwashi has tired of waiting, as he opens his maw, revealing its empty interior where balls of steaming water are forming.

Oh fuck, what-?!

"Gatr!"

The Feraligatr gets right in front of the whale's maw and spits out a jet of water larger than it is. The Hydro Pump and the Scald meet one another and keep the two Pokémon's moves at bay, neither gaining the advantage over the other.

Okay, it's bought us time, think!

"Hubert," the Salandit looks up at me. "Use Poison Gas!" Poisoning it is imperative if we want to weaken it quickly.

"Sal!" Hubert responds and then rushes to the side of the dock and spits out a purple gas at the Wishiwashi.

I turn to my Sigilyph. "Seteth, use Tailwind to keep yourself flying around this Pokémon. Don't stop, don't get hit and go wild with Air Cutter." No way that move will miss a target this big.

Seteth answers with an affirmative "Sig" and then takes off. After he does that, I turn to my last Pokémon. "Leonie, you…"

Well, shit. What do I have her do?

"Hera." She points to the web above us. And, surprisingly enough, not the Galvantula but Annette. "Hera cros!"

"Good call," I tell her. "Focus on cutting off the web's strings first. That should keep the arachnid occupied."

"Hera!" Leonie responds before taking off.

My attention after that goes back to the two Water-types and I find they've both stopped their attacks. The Feraligatr is panting on its knees while the Wishiwashi glares down at it.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Seteth is blasting Air Cutters all around, but the Wishiwashi doesn't seem to even feel them. As for Hubert's Poison Gas, I…don't even know what happened. The Water-type is oozing out purple bubbles, but only out of a small patch of its body rather than all of it. As if-

Wait, do we have to poison all the Wishiwashis making up this monstrosity?

The Wishiwashi lets out a baritone roar at the Feraligatr. The crocodile responds by smirking and showing its claws as they…let out smoke? Wait what?

Whatever that thing is, the Wishiwashi widens its eyes (I think?) and comes forth with its jaws wide open.

"Hey big guy, get the hell out of the way!"

The crocodile ignores me. But just as the larger Water Pokémon is about to come down biting, the Feraligatr swings its claws at the lower jaw.

"Waaaaaash!" the whale moans as it retracts its head. And shows four scratch marks from which knocked out Wishiwashis in Solo form rain down.

I'm surprised again when the big one recovers from the shock, glows and shrinks down into a smaller version of itself. It's not a Solo form, but it's got to be a solid meter smaller.

Realization hits me there and then. Unova is not a natural habitat for Wishiwashis. It can't call upon an infinite number of its kind. It has to make do with the ones nearby.

I dunno what move the Feraligatr used, but it's a fucking genius.

"Hubert, you keep using Poison Gas for as long as you can!" The sooner the single Wishiwashis get poisoned, the quicker it'll keep shrinking down.

Right as I say that, the Wishiwashi submerges its head and lets its tail come crashing down toward the Feraligatr as water envelops it. The crocodile barely manages to get out of the way, but unfortunately the whale retracts its tail before it can land another claw attack.

The good thing of the whole battle is that the Feraligatr manages to keep the Wishiwashi's attention off of Hubert and Seteth. Both of which keep throwing their attacks. I'm not sure how much damage the Air Cutters do, but the purple bubbles come out of more and more places.

Now let's see how Leonie-

"Vantula!"

I turn just in time to see the whole net come crashing down, with Annette and the Galvantula still tangled in it. Leonie flies down and barely manages to grab Annette while the Galvantula falls down ruinously.

Leonie lands in front of me and puts Annette down. And then I hastily crouch down and remove the string covering her mouth.

"Are you alright Annie?"

"Ra!" she responds as she hugs my leg. And once more I'm glad my pants are padded.

"Good job, Leonie," I tell the Heracross while that happens.

"Hera," she replies while closing her eyes.

"Van…tula…"

And of course, the fall wasn't enough to knock out the big spider, who weakly crawls toward the three of us. Hopefully that means it won't put up much of a fight.

"Leonie, think you can take care of it with a few Aerial Aces?"

The Heracross bumps her arm. "Hera!"

As she takes off to engage the Galvantula, I turn back to the Wishiwashi as it keeps trying to hit the Feraligatr with Aqua Tail. It keeps being unsuccessful, but I notice the crocodile pants more and more.

"Annette," I tell the Maractus, who lets go and looks up to me. "I need you to Leech Seed that guy," I point at the whale, "and heal up the Feraligatr with that. Can you do it?"

The Maractus glances at the Water-type in question, responds with an affirmative "Ra" and then starts hopping to the edge of the dock.

While she does that, I steal a glance at Leonie, who narrowly misses a ball of electricity from the Galvantula and manages to hit the spider with her horn.

I hope the others are having an easier time than me.

[Dawn]

In all my life I've seen plenty of Pokémon with unique abilities. I've seen Water-types of various sizes and raw powers. But this one, watching it keep both Eugenio's team and the Feraligatr on the back foot on its own is just…

"You've heard me," Purple Eyes intervenes. "Stand down. The sooner we're finished, the sooner I'll be able to call Archon off. And I doubt you want to see what happens when he tires of waiting."

...who's Archon? That Pokémon? Is she saying it's not fighting seriously right now?!

"Alright, alright!" Tabitha hastily replies as he recalls his Mightyena and raises his hands. "You win! Just stop!"

"You don't speak for her." Purple Eyes points at me. "Well, lady?"

I bite my lip. I would like to go and help Eugenio. Pory would have little trouble taking this 'Archon' down while his body is in the water. But if I did that, I doubt she'd let Wes go. And as annoying as he is, his death is not worth having on my conscience.

"Fine," I grumble as I recall Shin. And at the side of my vision, I notice the Meganium and Plusle are still tense but don't make any move.

She answers with a snort. "Good." She then raises her gauntlet to her face and presses a button. "Samuel, how is the evacuation going?"

I recognize the voice that answers her as the sunglasses Pincher from the refinery. "Not too well, boss. The rangers brought that poison chick with them and she's tearing through our ranks like nothing."

I can't stop my mouth from forming a smirk. If Purple Eyes notices, she doesn't say it.

"I've got our guests from Team Plasma with us right now. We're trying to get them out of here."

"That's all I need to hear," Purple Eyes says. "You and your team get them to my position. The intruders are no longer a concern."

"Sure thing boss. We taking the submarine or the Plasma boat?"

"Neither. Those have both been destroyed, but the hovercrafts are still intact. We will use those to escape."

"Gotcha, boss. We'll be there in a few moments."

"Double-time it! I don't want any more surprises," she concludes as she presses her gauntlet's button again.

With that said and done, I turn around again and see Eugenio giving instructions to his Pokémon while the Feraligatr and Archon are locked in a duel as their respective Hydro Pump and Scald meet one another.

"You know, you kind of run your people too hard."

Wha-? What is Tabitha doing?!

"I should know, I used to be something of a leader myself. And being a leader-"

"This isn't the death cult of washed-up scientists and failed trainers you led, fat guy," Purple Eyes cuts him off. "This is business. An actual serious business."

I think I see steam come out of Tabitha's ears. "Excuse me?! I'll have you know, we-!"

"Yes, yes, you were trying to improve the world by having Groudon scorch it and create more landmasses," she says dismissively. "I've heard it all from your old colleague. And as I told her, I think even a child could find the dozens of holes in that plan."

To that, Tabitha shuts his mouth and eyes and lowers his head shamefully.

Meanwhile, I try to think of a way to get us out of this situation. If I call out any of my Pokémon, that Froslass will kill Wes. I could try to distract Purple Eyes, but how? And more importantly, then what? What do we have to take care of the Ice-type?

As I go over the possibilities, one idea strikes me. One that I'm not so fond of, but could be just what we need right now. The peculiar skills I came out of the Distortion World with. The ones both Cynthia and I came out with. The same ones we had decided not to divulge to others unless necessary.

The problem, though, is that I need everyone in here to not pay attention to me. And that's exactly what Purple Eyes and her Nidoking are doing. And unless I can think of something to distract them, there's nothing I can do.

"Now," Purple Eyes says. "This attack of yours has cost me a lot of money. And Team Plasma's fee isn't going to cut it." She turns to the Meganium and Plusle and smirks as she adjusts her gauntlet. "Fortunately, I know just a few people who would be interested in specimens such as these."

What?! Oh no, no, no!

Despite the silver-haired woman's words, Wes still manages to find the energy to snicker. "Yeah, good luck with that, lady. I've looked up this gig's history. Your gauntlets don't work on already caught Pokémon."

Whatever effect Wes was hoping that would have on Purple Eyes doesn't come to pass. The lead Pincher just keeps smirking. And Wes' own smirk falters.

"That was true of the original Pinchers. But our clients had something more to offer than just money."

After saying that, she produces a cable out of her gauntlet and plugs it into her shoulder pad. Wes widens his eyes as she does that.

"Impossible," Wes mutters. "Where did Team Plasma get that?"

Uh?

"Don't know, don't care."

After saying that, Purple Eyes steps closer to the Meganium and Plusle, gauntleted hand raised at them. The two Pokémon start shivering as their eyes go from the woman to their trainer. Who himself is trying to struggle out of the Froslass' grip, with little success.

As much as I want to step in and stop whatever Purple Eyes is about to do, I know full well that would only be the reason that Froslass needs to kill Wes. However, as the Pincher leader gets closer and closer, I notice that the Nidoking has turned to smirk at his trainer and her actions.

Just the opening I needed.

I take a deep breath, inhale as much air as I can and then hold it in. I then take a tentative step forward and make it as loud as it can possibly be. When no one reacts to it, I know it's worked.

As I slowly but steadily make my way beneath the Froslass holding Wes, Purple Eyes is now in front of the Meganium and points her cabled Control Gauntlet to her head. The device then starts making a weird sound and the Grass-type's eyes become more and more blank as it goes on, all while the Plusle tries to shake her neck.

Seeing that prompts me to hasten my approach, and soon enough, I'm right beneath the Ice-type, the Nidoking none the wiser.

I grab Spir's Poké Ball. Normally I would consider whether it would be best to call them out right now or wait until I've knocked out Purple Eyes, but it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice.

I raise their Poké Ball to my mouth level. I then release my breath and, as I notice the Nidoking's nostrils sniffing the air, whisper "Shadow Balls."

A low growl from the Nidoking draws the room's attention away from the Meganium and to where I am standing. But before the Froslass can turn as well, Spir comes out of their Poké Ball and summons a salvo of their peculiar tiny Shadow Balls, which are then fired against the Ice-type.

"Fros-!"

As the entire salvo makes contact, the Froslass is forced to let Wes go before she closes her eyes and falls unconscious. Wes manages to land with more grace that I would have expected given his position. I also don't miss the baffled expression he looks at me with.

I really wish it hadn't come to this.

"How the…?" Purple Eyes lets out, her mouth agape in disbelief. One matched by Tabitha's widened eyes behind her.

To the silver-haired woman's credit, she manages to recover from her surprise fairly quickly. "No matter. King, take care of them both!"

The Nidoking lets out an enraged growl as he raises both of his glowing arms and then slams them both at Spir and me. My Pokémon conjures a Protect that saves them from the worst of the attack. As for me, I make to move out of the way, but Wes grabs and pulls me out of the way before I can. Spir hops to us right after.

Before any of us can say anything or the Nidoking can swing in with another move, our attention is drawn to...an annoying-sounding laughter that turns out to come from Tabitha.

"Well, it seems the tables have turned, lady," he tells Purple Eyes, smirking as he pulls out a Poké Ball. "Ready to surrender?"

Purple Eyes presses her lips together, snarling lines forming around her mouth as she glowers at Tabitha. Then she pulls out a Poké Ball and points it at Tabitha.

"Chief, get rid of this moron."

Her Poké Ball opens up and the Pokémon that comes out of it turns out to be a Salamence. One that cranes its neck at Tabitha and roars to his face.

The former Magma lieutenant scoffs at the display. "Oh please, I went against former Champion Steven's Metagross once. I'm not scared of some dumb winged reptile."

...well, I'll give him points for being brave in front of a pseudo-legendary.

The Salamence snarls furiously at that remark, raises one of its paws, conjures a Dragon Claw and then charges at Tabitha, who just barely manages to call out his Camerupt to defend him.

While that happens, I turn to Wes' two Pokémon. The Meganium is still free, thankfully, but she looks dazed as her neck wobbles around, the Plusle's attempts to shake her out of it yield no result.

Before I can pay the two any more attention than that, the sound of another Poké Ball opening draws my attention to Purple Eyes again. And to the growling Houndoom by her side.

The Nidoking lets out a roar of his own. And after that, Wes and I are back to back, taking turns looking at the two Pokémon. All while Spir stands by our side.

"You know you can't win, right?" Wes challenges Purple Eyes. "There is no way you can beat all three of us on your own."

"I don't need to win. I only need to stall until my men arrive."

We'll see about that.

The Nidoking and Houndoom start circling us after their trainers' words, fangs bared at us.

"Ex-Cop, as grateful for rescuing me as I am, I'm gonna have lots of questions for you later," Wes whispers to me. "But right now, we've gotta focus on these two. You wanna take the fire hound or the bruiser?"

...I probably should fight the Houndoom. I haven't seen what Wes' sixth Pokémon is - if he has one - but what else I know he has are an Espeon and an Umbreon. Neither of which is the best choice to take on a Dark/Fire-type. Not when I have a Water-type with me. And his Espeon would be a much better match for a Poison-type.

Still, this is the Nidoking that hurt Nate so much that day. And Wes wouldn't be offering me this chance if he thought he couldn't handle a Houndoom.

A part of me thinks that's just an excuse to justify picking the Nidoking. A part of me I decide to ignore.

"The bruiser."

"Suit yourself," Wes says as he calls out his Umbreon. "Sun and I will handle the hound, then."

Wait, why did he give his Umbreon a nickname when-?

The Nidoking's next snarl as he conjures a Dragon Pulse turns my attention back to him and I have Spir use a Protect again. Once more, it resists the attack, but I know I can't rely on that only.

I recall Spir after that, as none of the moves they know are particularly effective against a Nidoking. In their place, I call out Bib, who materializes on all fours, ready for battle, thankfully.

At the sight of the Bibarel, the Nidoking widens his eye. And then he retracts his head to let out a laugh.

"We'll give you something to laugh about soon enough," I tell the Poison-type. "Bib, how do you feel about a good old Super Jet to his belly?"

"Bib!" the Bibarel responds.

That seems to get the Nidoking to pay attention to us again, as he narrows his eye at Bib and keeps a Brick Break at the ready.

"Now!"

Wasting no time, Bib breaks into a sprint toward the much larger Pokémon as the water of the Aqua Jet envelops him. Despite the Nidoking coming down with the Fighting-move, Bib is still able to slip past him and connect with his Water-move. And while he's still got the momentum, he manages to sink his teeth into the Poison-type's belly as his Super Fang lands.

The Nidoking is forced to stumble back after that combined attack. But even with half of his strength drained, he still tries to attack with another Brick Break.

"Aqua Jet out of the way!"

Bib follows my instructions and uses the enhanced speed from Aqua Jet to fall back and get away from the Nidoking. The Poison-type glares as he does that.

Now that the Nidoking is weakened so much, all I have to do is have Bib chip away at him. Ranged attacks would be a safer option against a Pokémon with Poison Point, but between Bib not having any particularly strong ones and this Nidoking knowing Dragon Pulse and who knows what else, I'd rather not risk it.

"Hit and run with Aqua Jet!"

Bib does as he's told and starts running circles around the Nidoking while water envelops his body. To the Nidoking's credit, he takes every hit Bib dishes out and still manages to stand up, even if he's too slow to protect his belly.

But just as Bib is about to hit him again, the Nidoking stomps his foot and sends a Shockwave through the floor, shaking it so hard it sends Bib flying mid Aqua Jet.

Seeing the opportunity, the Nidoking leaps at him with a pair of Brick Breaks at the ready.

"Aqua Tail!" I hastily command when I see that.

Bib's tail gets enveloped by water as it connects with one of the Nidoking's arms. Unfortunately, at that very moment, purple bubbles start coming off of his body. And the other Brick Break manages to connect, sending the Bibarel tumbling violently back on the floor.

The Nidoking lands right next to Bib, who struggles to get back up. But just as the Nidoking raises a foot and prepares to stomp it on his head, I decide that's enough and recall Bib.

The Nidoking glares at me when I do that. But before he tries anything, I call out Pory.

The Nidoking widens his eye as he sees the Porygon-Z and instantly tries to conjure a Dragon Pulse.

"Psychic!"

The Dragon move dissipates as the Nidoking clutches his head when the wave of Psychic energy hits him. And while he's still stunned by it, I have Pory blast him with a Hyper Beam.

Even now, with a beam of pure energy striking him straight, the Nidoking manages to not be moved past a few steps back. But this time, he's not able to stay up and falls unconscious.

Normally I wouldn't take joy in seeing a Pokémon knocked out. At most, I would take pride in seeing their trainer defeated. But this is the exception to that rule.

While Pory recovers from blasting the Hyper Beam, I turn around and look at how Wes and Tabitha are doing.

The former's Umbreon and the Houndoom are circling each other right now, with some burnt fur on the Eeveelution and bite marks on the Fire-type. The latter's Camerupt is nowhere to be seen and his Mightyena and a Crobat have replaced him, even though the Salamence doesn't look in good shape either with how it keeps its wings lowered.

"Pory," I tell my Pokémon. "Help Tabitha with that Salamence."

The Porygon-Z responds affirmatively and hovers in the Dragon-type's direction.

With that done, I turn to the Houndoom Wes is facing and grab Crane's Poké Ball. I wait for just the right moment when the Houndoom spits out a Flamethrower and then toss the Poké Ball.

"Head Smash!"

The Cranidos bursts out of the Poké Ball with the Blue aura of the Rock move already surrounding him and charges at the Fire-type. The Houndoom has just enough time to notice him and widen his eyes in panic before Crane crashes into him. And after the fire dog is knocked over and sent rolling, he doesn't get up again.

"Thanks," Wes says as he turns to me. "Would have been able to handle him myself, but thanks all the same."

I roll my eyes at the off-handed thank you.

As that happens, the Salamence also falls unconscious while Pory, the Mightyena and the Crobat stand over it. And then they turn to a snarling Purple Eyes. As do Tabitha and we.

"End of the line, Lady!" Wes tells her as he pulls out a pair of handcuffs. "Hands where I can see them!"

The angles of Purple Eyes' mouth twitch. But then they relax when we are greeted by the sound of the elevator arriving at our floor.

We all turn to said elevator, ready to deal with whatever reinforcements have come up.

But then we're surprised by the sight of top ranger Summer coming out of it with her Staraptor.

"You?" Wes exclaims at seeing her. "What are you doing here?"

"We've managed to seize the base, so I came to check here." Her eyes scan the whole room after she says that and furrow when they land on Purple Eyes. "And you must be the leader of this operation."

Purple Eyes goes back to snarling.

"Well?" Wes cheekily says as he twirls the handcuffs around his finger. "Still waiting for a couple of words from you."

Purple Eyes glares at him. Then she unstraps her gauntlet and shoulder pad and lets them fall on the floor. And then she raises her arms.

"I surrender."

[Eugenio]

After a few more hits, the Galvantula finally goes down, allowing Leonie to come back to my side.

And in the meantime, the fourway offensive against the Wishiwashi has proceeded well enough. The whale has shrunk down some more, various parts of it release the poisoned bubbles, others are covered by vines, Seteth continues his barrage and the Feraligatr keeps the attention on itself as Leech Seed keeps healing it.

I'm honestly surprised how much of an idiot this Wishiwashi is to keep attacking the crocodile instead of one of the others.

"Wash," it says out of the blue as it submerges, taking us all by surprise as we step closer to the edge and watch where it went down.

Okay, maybe it's just slow on the uptake. Now what the heck is it going to do?

The answer to my question doesn't wait long to come up, as suddenly something slams against the dock. We barely manage to keep enough balance not to fall in the water. But when it happens again, the Feraligatr, Leonie and I are less fortunate and fall into the water.

Now, I may not be the best swimmer in existence, but I did learn how to swim. As such, it's not such a hard task to stay afloat for me. And for a Water-type it's even less so.

Leonie is a different matter.

"Hera!" she shouts out panickedly as she tries to stay afloat. "Hera! Hera! He-!"

The Feraligatr and I get to her and help her stay afloat long enough for Seteth to swing in, lift her up with his psychic powers and get her out of the water. And with that done, we try to grab onto the dock's edge.

Keyword 'try'.

All of a sudden, a strong current forms within the water. So strong that it pushes me and the crocodile away from the dock.

"The hell…?"

"Gatr!"

I follow the Feraligatr's gaze and see a whirlpool at the other end of the room, growing more and more as it keeps spinning. And within said whirlpool, I can faintly see the glow of the Wishiwashi's eyes.

"Shit!"

The Feraligatr and I try to swim harder against the water's pool, but with little success. Before we can actually be swallowed by the whirlpool, though, Seteth flies over to us. With his powers, he's able to lift me out of the water.

"Thanks," I tell him. "Quickly, do the same with Feraligatr!"

"Gatr."

I turn to see the Feraligatr shake his head. And before I can muster a protest, he stops swimming altogether and lets itself be dragged by the whirlpool.

"What the hell are you doing, moron?!"

My words are for naught. Just as the Feraligatr ends up in the whirlpool, the Wishiwashi emerges and swallows it whole.

My mind freezes when I see that. But after the initial moment of panic, I remember when I looked inside the Wishiwashi's mouth at the start of the battle. It was hollow inside. No actual organs with which it could do anything past trapping the Feraligatr inside itself.

Just as I think that, two sets of shadowy claws emerge from inside the Wishiwashi's head. Shadowy claws that wrap around the patch of skin between them and then start pushing it.

"Wash!" the whale moans as that happens.

After a bit of that, the shadowy claws manage to tear that part out of the whale's body. Like a castle of cards, the whole construct instantly starts falling apart, the various Wishiwashis falling in the water and swimming away. And at the center of where the whale was a moment ago, there is now only the Feraligatr holding one of them within its hands.

I, uh...what?

[Nate]

I don't think I've ever felt as angry as I do when Samantha is finished explaining things to me.

"Are you kidding me?!" I shout at her. "Eugenio and Dawn were about to hit the Pinchers' base! I came here because I thought it was urgent! Now you're telling me you just wanted a sparring partner for Rosa and Hugh?! How could you two do this to me?!"

Samantha frowns. "Don't drag me into this. I told him it wasn't urgent if you had other stuff to do."

Her words barely register for me. I've left them on their own against the Pinchers, Tabitha and Team Plasma. And I'm here in a comfy room while I should be there helping out. This...this can't be true. It can't!

"Oi, you still with me?"

Samantha's fingers snapping in front of my face draw me out of my thoughts, only to wince as I find her frowning face right in front of mine.

"S-sorry," I tell her. "I just… I wanted to be there."

"From what I've been told, that wasn't really necessary," she scoffs. "You had a trap at the ready, the rangers were involved and Wes had contingencies for the fatty." I widen my eyes at that last part. "Yes, I know about that Magma guy. But either way, it doesn't sound like you had anything to worry about."

My next words somehow don't feel right. "It's not that I'm worried. I just...just wanted to be there."

She arches an eyebrow. "Why?"

I...I…"I had to. After the Pinchers almost killed one of my Pokémon-"

"Ah, I see," Samantha cuts me off. "So you wanted vengeance? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but unfortunately we don't always get what we want." Her lips purse. "Or what we deserve."

...vengeance? Was that really what I wanted?

Samantha's following sigh breaks me out of my thoughts. "Look, I won't argue, Wes did you dirty. But since you're here, how about we make the best out of this situation?"

That question confuses me. "What do you mean?"

"First of all, is your Rufflet any good at being sneaky?" Uh? "And if not, do you have any other Pokémon who is better at it and can still fly?"

Wh-what?

"Uhm...no, Ruffles isn't particularly good at...that. Mister Jaw has," I gulp down, "has evolved recently and is less hot-blooded, but-"

"Okay, then I need your Vibrava to tail a guy."

Uh?

My God, I had to rewrite this chapter so many times I think I've started to hate it. Hope that doesn't affect the general content.

Anyway, that's the end of the assault on the Pinchers' base. Just one more chapter to wrap things up and then we'll proceed to the next part. Hope you guys enjoyed this one in the meantime.

Thank you to Softandhappy and Krosrodes (author of An Adventurous Path) for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you all next time!