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 wording, spellings, and expressions will be those commonly used in England.

Chapter Sixteen: SOLace Soon?

Baron Phobos tapped his fingernails against his teeth, his forehead creased more than an un-ironed school uniform. With his other hand, he patted his Lunatone unconsciously.

Even Aquarella had been done over by that SOL agent, the one he had hoped would be able to go the distance, the one who would be unhindered by SOL sticking their noses in everywhere. But he did not blame her when she turned up, head bowed, heart heavy, because she had done much better than the others, had forced SOL to dig deep to be able to conquer her and her Sub.

But they had still lost another battle against SOL. It was just Boolum left, the only one whose Phobos Mobile had not yet been detected, which, if you asked Baron Phobos, was a shock in itself; if you asked him when this whole SOL lark began, he would have said Boolum's would have been discovered first, perhaps even before the Secret Storages with how conspicuous it was.

Now, he could order his Generals to take their Mobiles back out, but what good would that do with SOL knowing what the vehicles' attributes were and their likely locations? No, they had to bide their time.

And that time was near.

Or so he hoped.

They needed only a tiny bit more.

A smidgen.

That should be enough.

Baron Phobos grinned at his reflection as he looked out over his region, his kingdom, his Trozei.

It would soon all be his.

Then the world. Maybe. If they could overpower organisations such as Team Rocket and Cipher.

Maybe just Trozei for now, yes?

o~o~o~o~o

Lucy poured warm water over Manectric, rinsing away the shampoo off the unhappy canine.

"Don't squirm," Lucy told him. "Everyone else has had a nice, refreshing wash already, even Seismitoad. Come on, a good SOL agent knows when to get dirty, but an even better one cleans themselves when they get the chance."

Manectric whined yet no longer attempted to jump out from the tub, begrudgingly allowing his Trainer to wash away the last of the shampoo. Aipom chittered and giggled at her friend, watching on in mirth from the sidelines.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Lucy cooed. She reached for a towel, saying, "I'm going to dry you now, so don't –"

Don't jump out? Don't shake? Which one do you think Lucy was going to say? Or was your answer both? If it was, great work because those two sentences were exactly what she was going to say. Unfortunately for her, Manectric was off like a shot, slipping and sliding as he escaped one of SOL's bathing units, leaving water and wet pawprints all over the floor. Lucy flinched as she heard someone fall and exclaim, "Not again!"

"Not again indeed." Lucy looked up, finding Amelia with a smile on her face and a Pikachu with a heart-shaped tail on her shoulder.

"He's such a mature Pokémon," Lucy said, wincing as more people yelled in pain and surprise. "Except when it comes to baths, then he becomes that manic little Electrike again."

"It's adorable though, isn't it?"

"Not when you're the one who has to clean up after him." Lucy gestured at the Pikachu, who Aipom went to inspect, jumping on Amelia's other shoulder and sniffing the electric mouse. "New friend?"

"Yeah."

"What's that on her head?"

"The mortarboard hat?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, she graduated from the University of Trozei with a degree in Psychology."

"What?"

"Well, it's an honorary degree."

"That explains it." Lucy jumped to her feet, careful not to slip on the soaking floor. "So, why are you here? Not just to see my pretty face, is it?"

"I suffice with a mirror if I ever want to see a pretty face," Amelia said with mock hubris, flicking back her hair as if she was a model. Her face then went serious, becoming the stern SOL scientist Lucy knew she could be. "The Professor needs you. He's found one."

"Another Storage?" Lucy said, her eyes hardening. "Secret or Huge?" It should not be a hassle, should it? In the days since stopping the Phobos Sub, Lucy had infiltrated her fourth Huge Storage and a handful of Secret ones, taking the latter's count up to twenty, the strides she and SOL had made to defeating Phobos Battalion growing exponentially.

Amelia shook her head. "Neither of them."

"I see," Lucy said solemnly as it dawned on her. "I'll be right there."

In the distance, there were more shouts, barking, and even some crashing. Lucy flinched. "After I sort out Manectric."

o~o~o~o~o

Professor P's face, which had been grim over the course of this arduous task of scuppering Phobos Battalion at every point, seemed to be lit up, like the sun. It probably helped that his Solrock was floating next to him.

"Happy to see you got here so quickly, Miss Fleetfoot," Professor P said, beaming. "I hope Manectric didn't cause too many problems after his little post-bath run?"

"He's safely in his Poké Ball now," she said, grimacing at Aipom as she recalled the tonnes of apologies she had to issue, like always. "But you seem to be in a good mood, professor. How come? I thought you located another Mobile?"

"Oh, I did, I did," the professor said. "And that is what has made me feel rather giddy. You see, Miss Fleetfoot, I have reason to believe this may be the final Phobos Mobile!"

Lucy's jaw hit the floor. "Are you being serious, professor? What makes you think that?"

"Well, truth be told, it is by mostly process of elimination," Professor P explained. "We have searched almost the entirety of Trozei, picking apart everything that has the Phobos Battalion logo, and there is hardly any place else to search. As a matter of fact, if you want to know how many remains, I will honestly tell you that it is very possibly only this Mobile and a Huge Storage."

"You're joking."

"I'm not. But I did hear one quite recently. It goes like this: a Simisage, Simisear, and Simipour walk into a bar –"

"Maybe not the time, professor," Lucy said, cutting him off. "But good to see you're in a good enough mood to be telling jokes. I guess we really are close to ending the Phobos Battalion."

"Indeed," Professor P said, twirling his cane. "We've worked long and hard, but no one has done so more than you, Miss Fleetfoot." His cane came to a stop, and he leaned forward on it, running a hand through his white beard. "And I believe I know where Baron Phobos is."

Lucy's eyes became as wide as an Espurr's. "You're joking," she said again.

"No, I do believe I know where he is," Professor P said, his stare momentarily as hard as an Aggron using Iron Defence before softening. "I wouldn't have expected it, but it makes sense. It's quite foolish if you ask me, but Baron Phobos has never been known to be fully logical." His moustache twitched. "That sort of thing is why Solrock here came through with a victory against his Lunatone the last time we came face to face."

Lucy jumped up, almost throwing Aipom off her shoulder. "Well, if you know where he is, then we can go straight there! We can end it all right now! Round up as many SOL agents as possible and we can raid them!"

"I would agree with you, Miss Fleetfoot," Professor P said, turning to stare at a computer screen with the map of Trozei on it, "but I feel we should fully ensure that no Storage or Phobos Mobile remains before heading there. What if even one of those blasted things could do something to swing everything in their favour when we try to stop Baron Phobos? We can't take that risk, even if it might be a small one. So, the plan is to save the Pokémon from the Huge Storage and defeat what should be the final General. I hope you will agree to that."

Lucy frowned, oblivious to the cries of indignation from Aipom. She had been on this mission for a while now, freeing Pokémon from those horrid Battalion machines, and would very much like for it to be over, but if what the professor theorised was true, then it would not do them well to confront Baron Phobos immediately. Besides, if the stars truly were aligned, then it was only two more to go, two more Phobos Battalion creations that needed to be ended.

Only two.

She had already stopped a tonne of them.

Lucy Fleetfoot would press on and on and on, right to the very end.

No shortcuts.

"Okay, professor," she said, absentmindedly soothing a still miffed Aipom with a light caress. "I'll sort them out, don't you worry."

"Excellent!" Professor P said, clapping his hands together, his cane dropping with a clatter onto the floor. "In that case, I would recommend taking down the fifth Huge Storage first. The Phobos Mobile can come after."

Lucy folded her arms across her chest and chewed her lip. "And after that?"

Professor P's eyes twinkled. "We catch Baron Phobos unawares."