"Go fish."

"Ugh, not again."

The waiter was bored, extremely so, so he and his fellow employee were playing Go Fish with a stacks of cards they found left behind by a customer. With business slow that rainy evening and nothing else to do, they begun a game. If only a cust-

The bell situated above the door jingled and both the waiter and waitress jerked up from where they rested their elbows on the red counter. Someone wearing a soaked trench coat and trilby hat. He tipped his hat at them and spoke in a accented voice. "Coffee, please," he took a seat close to the counter, heaving a sigh. "Extra sugar, black."

The waiter nodded and started a brew. The brown-haired waitress, not wanting to seem like she was being lazy on the job, pretended to make herself busy by going behind the counter and bending low to move stuff around in the cupboards. The customer glanced around him, getting up and moving over to the cabinet housing antique glassware. He appeared to admire them, which the waiter took notice of when he turned his head.

"Oh," he looked surprised, his eyes narrowing for a second. "You have an interest in our old teapots? We're quite proud of them here." He delivered a soft kick to his fellow employee and her hand drifted to beneath her apron.

"Yeah, actually," the customer traced a finger over one, noting the dust and plastic.

"Now," the waiter took a step to lean over the counter. "We don't allow customers to touch those. If you would please step-"

"Fakes," the customer removed his hat and sat it on a table, brushing his short bangs. "I mean, if you're going to use this as a secret door, you don't want to accidentally drop real antiques now would you?"

He heard twin sounds of Pokemon being released and he glanced back to see a Scrafty on the counter and a Liepard standing between him and the entrance. The waiter glared at him. "Who are you and how much do you know?"

The man grinned, putting his hand into an inside pocket and pulling out a wallet, flipping it open to reveal a badge. "I'm Agent Looker of the International Police. As members of Team Flare, you two and your Pokemon are under arrest. It's advised you come quietly."

The two Cafe employees, aka grunts of Team Flare, glanced at each other before both shaking their heads, the waitress speaking this time. "That isn't going to happen. In order for our new world to come to pass, we'll have to silence you."

Looker sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this." He glanced regretfully around the cafe. "Shame. Aside from the fake antiques, I would hate to ruin the decor. I do like the red."

In an instant, Scrafty was carried from the counter and slammed into the wall behind the waiter, knocking the brew of coffee on the ground. Both Flare grunts looked shocked when a Pokemon materialized into existence on a table, finger outstretched like a gun.

"Inteleon," Looker nodded and the Pokemon flipped into the air, hand covered in darkness. Liepard crouched, ready to pounce, but Inteleon slammed his fist into her side before she could react, sending her skidding along the floor, knocking over several chairs.

Looker raised his fists as both waiters leaped over the counter, evading both blows. He punched the waiter in the gut and kicked the waitress' feet off the ground. Liepard shook herself and lunged forwards, claws elongated. Inteleon went to one knee and shot out his finger, a concentrated bullet of water blasting into Liepard and sending her through the glass doors and outside into the rain. He leaped back as Scrafty's knee collided with the floor where the Water type had just been, flinching at the pain.

Looker had got the guy on the ground and had clipped a handcuff onto his wrist, connecting the other part to the table leg embedded in the ground as he looked back at his Pokemon. "You doing okay, Inteleon?"

Inteleon smirked as he wrapped his tail around Scrafty's middle and flung him into the ceiling. He swiped his finger through the air, sharp wind colliding with Scrafty as he fell and he crashed through one of the windows and onto the street as well. Once Looker clipped the woman to a different table, he stood and popped his back. "I think we're done in here."

...

After capturing Liepard and Scrafty into special "Handcuff Balls" as Looker called them, Alex, Robert, and I entered the cafe, seeing Looker examining the cabinet in the back.

"You really didn't need our help," Robert noted as he glanced at the glaring Flare grunts.

"Of course," Looker grinned. "I wouldn't be a proper agent of the IP if Inteleon and I couldn't." He grunted as he shoved his shoulder into the side of the cabinet, but it remained put.

"Here, let me," Robert pulled out a device that no longer looked like a Pokedex unless you studied it carefully and held it up to the cabinet. He then moved some of the glassware around until he located a panel disguised as wood. He flipped it open and revealed a digital keypad.

"Okay then," Robert grinned as he messed with his gadget. "This shouldn't take a minute. Seriously guys, you should get better security. After messing with it so many times, this. Is. A. Piece. Of. Cake." With each word, he hit a different button more forcefully than he needed to and the keypad beeped and a light lit green on the display. Looker stepped away as the cabinet slid to the right, revealing a doorway with stairs leading down.

"You should really consider a job in the IT department in the International Police," Looker grinned, then became serious, Inteleon holding his finger up like a gun as both stared into the doorway. "We'll have to be careful from here on out. They likely already know we're coming."

With Looker in front, we proceeded down the steps and soon we were in a room with a red elevator across from the stairs. The walls around us emitted orange glows and a view screen above the elevator flicked on, revealing Lysandre.

"Welcome, Looker of the International Police," he nodded at him. "And of course you three, Zeno, Alex, and Robert. You have been quite persistent in getting in my way. I congratulate you on making it this far."

"Can it," I stepped forwards. "We know about the Ultimate Weapon and how you plan to use it. We're going to put a stop to that tonight."

Lysandre smiled. "If you know of that, then you must know my reasons for wanting to do so."

"Doesn't matter," Alex shook her head. "We can't let you bring upon extinction level event and only have a few survive."

"I can actually," Lysandre's face grew solemn. "This world has been tainted by human hands for too long and look at all the destruction we have brought upon us and Pokemon alike. I will do what I must to ensure Pokemon can live a better, peaceful life with humans who will only care for them. I will remove the ugliness of this world forever."

"However," he straightened his suit. "I will give you all one chance to be this world's saviors. If you locate the key necessary for this elevator and manage to shut down the Ultimate Weapon below, then you have proved this world can continue existing as it is." He glanced at Robert. "Don't waste your time hacking. You won't be getting through." He disappeared and the screen went blank.

"We could try brute force," Robert suggested, putting away his device.

Looker tapped on the elevator door. "Doubtful. We need that key and we need it fast." He glanced to our left and walked over to a glowing tile on the ground. "Warp Tiles. This is going to be tricky."

Robert knelt by it and scanned it. "Not exactly. I think I can hack into this one. Give me just a sec... Got it." The tile flashed green, then orange. "I can manually connect this warp tile to anywhere else. There is one path that's restricted, but I'm willing to bet that's where the elevator leads."

"Perfect," Looker nodded. "Can you make it so every other warp pad leads back to this one?"

Robert nodded. "Of course."

"Splitting up then," I asked.

"Yes," Looker rubbed his chin. "Fastest course of action. I trust in all your capabilities."

Robert gave him a thumbs up and Looker took a step forwards and disappeared once his foot touched the tile, Inteleon heading in after him. Robert pressed a few more keys and the tile turned back to green.

"Your turn," he looked at Alex, who nodded as she let out Florges and rushed in.

A second later, Robert nodded at me. "You're up."

"Don't get beat," I patted him on the shoulder and was whisked away.

Robert changed the warp tile again and put his device away, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, let's do this." He then spoke in a whisper. "Do not go gentle into that good night." He felt a tingly sensation as he stepped onto the pad and not a second later he was standing outside a door. Seeing the hallway go to both sides, he decided to open the door.

He stepped into a large room with several rows of beds with red comforters and white pillows, all set up neatly. Lockers stood between each bed and Robert guess there were spare Flare uniforms inside. There was a table near the back where a couple male grunts in Flare uniforms sat, playing with cards, with no one bother to look in his direction. Robert smirked and made his way over to them. As he got closer, he realized they were playing Poker and one guy was losing terribly.

"Gentlemen," Robert spoke and all grunts practically jumped and their heads whipped around to face him. "Any of you have a spare suit? I'm afraid I didn't receive mine when I joined up."

They just sat there with dumb looks on their faces, mouths slightly agape, before one of them got ahold of himself. "You're... a new recruit?"

Robert nodded and pretended to look offended. "Of course. I'm not wearing my suit at the moment, which is another reason why I'm in here."

Another grunt eyed him suspiciously, or he probably was, Robert couldn't really tell with the red sunglasses. "How much did you pay to get in?"

"5 million," Robert joked, but they actually sighed in relief.

The guy who had spoke first stood and clasped Robert on the shoulder. "So you are a new recruit. Glad to have you. You're young, but it's nice to know younger people see the world as we do. What's your name?"

"Robert," Robert stated, playing along. "So, is that your actual hair or do we have to dye it. I'm afraid I missed that part on the application."

He laughed and steered him to a nearby locker. "This bed here can be yours, Rob. And this locker's combo is 21-3-18. There should be a spare suit inside. Hey, once you're outfitted, you should join us for a game."

He rejoined his buddies and Robert unlocked the locker and quickly put on the suit, placing his old clothes in his backpack. He saw a fake wig and grinned while putting it on, finishing the outfit with the sunglasses. He checked himself out in the mirror, wiggling his eyebrows.

"So I figured I would tour the base first," Robert said. "I can join a game later. By any chance, is that elevator near the entrance accessible?"

"Nah," one of the grunts shook his head. "Only Lysandre and the admins are allowed in. Oh, and the scientists. I think Mable has the key to it, but grunts like us aren't allowed in."

A different grunt walked over to the table from where he was digging around in his locker. He held up a case of beer. "We'll be sure to save you a couple, Robert. Be sure to hurry back and try not to get reprimanded by one of the scientists. They can be a little prickly sometimes."

"Duly noted," Robert attempted one of the signature Flare stances, getting a chorus of laughter from the grunts. Stepping out of the room, he closed it and stepped into the warp pad, returning to the elevator. Before he had a chance to even move, he was bodied to the ground, arm pressed behind his back.

"Woah woah woah," Robert winced. "It's me. Robert."

"Robert?" Alex's voice, then the weight lifted. "Oh, sorry."

She helped him up. "What are you doing wearing that?"

"Like it?" Robert grinned, straightening his tie and pulling his sunglasses down a little to reveal his eyes. "It helped with getting the info we need. Where's everyone else?"

"Not back yet," Alex shook her head. "And good to know. Warping to different places doesn't quite agree with me."

...

"Oh come on," I jerked my head to the side as a blast of energy soared past. "Iron Head! Water Shuriken! Heat Wave!"

Mawile's head collided with a Scrafty, sending him crashing into his trainer before returning back to me. Greninja leaped back next to me, sending two shurikens into Houndoom before Arcanine stepped forwards, a wave of heat blasting against the enemy Pokemon and their trainers.

Rushing forwards, I quickly checked them all, but came up with no key. "Great. Hopefully the others had better luck."

Upon returning through the warp tile, I was greeted by the sight of a Flare grunt standing over Alex. Not wasting a second, I kicked the grunt's legs out from beneath him and made to slam him into the floor, but Alex quickly stood and caught his chest and my arm before I could finish the move.

"Wait!" Alex shouted. "That's Robert!"

"What?" I blinked, then turned him over, recognizing my friend behind the glasses and wig. "Why the heck are you wearing that!?"

"I don't know," Robert groaned. "All it's doing is getting me nearly killed by everyone BUT Team Flare. I guess that makes it a good disguise, but the pain is very real."

"Sorry about that," I helped him stand. "But really, don't do this again without telling us first. Give me a warning next time."

"You see, kinda hard when you don't waste time hearing someone out," Robert pointed out, then Looker appeared behind me.

"You three find anything?" he asked.

"No," I said, but Robert held up a hand.

"Yes," he answered. "Also, you recognize me?"

"Of course," Looker laughed. "I daresay that's as good as some of my disguises. Now, your intel."

Robert nodded. "We need to find that blue-haired scientist, Mable. She has the key. And I've located her office. I was waiting for Alex to recover from the warp tile so we could go before you two got back, but now that you're here all the better."

On that note, Alex did still look a little green, but it was quickly fading. "I'm okay now. Let's go and get what we need."

"Or stay here," Robert changed the warp tile's color to orange. "Actually, I'll stay here as well. If anyone comes by, we could maybe pretend I caught you and not have to battle."

She nodded. "Fine by me."

"See you soon," I told them and followed Looker into the warp tile.

We arrived right outside of a door and upon opening, saw Mable between glass cabinets containing what looked like sound records. She turned to face us, adjusting her blue visor slightly.

"Why hello," she said brightly. "I've been expecting you. You're wanting this, correct?" She held up a plastic card with the Flare symbol on it. "Well, you'll have to beat me first. I want an honorable Pokemon battle or this breaks."

"You can take point," Looker nodded at me. "I may be an experienced officer, but you're the better trainer."

"Fine by me," I stepped forwards, unclipping a pokeball. "That time at the Power Plant I won."

"But you lost to us at the Frost Cavern," she smiled sweetly as she held up her Ultra Ball. "What makes you think you can stop Team Flare."

"Because last time you ran away," I narrowed my eyes and let out Lucario. "And this time you'll have nowhere to run."

"I won't need to," Mable released her Houndoom, a Mega Stone shining on its right horn. The blue-haired scientist tapped the side of her visor, a stone glittering with light as the rays connected with Houndoom. "Respond to the power of science! Mega Evolve!"

Houndoom howled as his body changed, his exterior bone structures growing longer, bigger, and sharper as his tail split into two points. A skull-like structure of bones appeared on his chest as his claws turned red hot and they melted the floor where he dug them in.

"Lucario," I swung out my knife, thumb brushing my Key Stone. "Control the power of your aura and unleash your full potential. Mega Evolve!"

Lucario howled, smashing a fist into the ground as the aura whipped his appendages about, merciless eyes staring straight into Houndoom's.

"Flamethrower!" Mable shouted and Houndoom's blast of fire was so intense it scorched the walls as it shot towards us.

"Aura," I said, not moving.

Lucario swung his paw to the right, a wind of aura sending the fire into the wall, melting the metal.

"Bone Rush," I said and Lucario rushed forwards, twirling a long glowing bone in one hand.

"Crunch!" Mable yelled and Houndoom leaped and caught the bone in his mouth, crunching down it. The bone snapped into pieces and disintegrated.

"Power-Up Punch!"

Lucario slammed a fist into Houndoom's stomach, smashing him against the ceiling.

"Solar Beam!"

Something glowed on Houndoom before disappearing. He opened his maw and before he hit the ground, blasted a green energy beam that ripped up the floor, blasting Lucario into the wall. He narrowed his eyes and leaped forwards, his aura growing, but he kept it in his control.

Blasting forwards with a burst of speed, Lucario pummeled Houndoom with insanely quick blows before getting blasted back by a jet of fire. Houndoom rushed for him, dark energy gathered around him as he slammed into the Fighting Steel type. He then opened his maw, ready to clamp down blazing fangs into Lucario, but he quickly brought up his paws, blasting Houndoom in the chin with an Aura Sphere. Leaping to his feet, Lucario howled and leaped at the enemy Pokemon, hitting him with a flurry of kicks and punches similar to Extreme Speed, but seemed to be doing a lot more damage.

Houndoom staggered back, dazed. Lucario drew both paws back, a ball of energy forming. Before Houndoom could dodge or protect himself, he was struck by the move and send crashing into the desk behind his trainer, reverting back to normal.

"We won," I said as Lucario reverted back normal as well. "Give us what we need."

"Fine fine," Mable waved her hand then tossed the Key Card, which Lucario snapped out of the air. "Just so you know, you have no chance of winning. We will fire that weapon and we will create a better world."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Looker nodded his head at me. "Come on."

We hurried back to Alex and Robert, who both stood from where they were sitting on either side of the elevator.

I held up the Key. "We got it."

I swiped it on the scanner and it beeped. The elevator doors opened without a sound and we all stepped in before returning Lucario.

"Going down," Robert pressed the down button and the doors closed, then said. "It would be really bad if they decided to cut power to the elevator huh."

Alex hit him and he shut up.

Once it stopped, the doors opened to reveal a short hallway with stairs leading up to the right. We went over to it and turned, seeing the stairs lead up to a lab with large glass panes on the floor with a soft orange glow emitting from them. A huge screen was situated on the wall with two large machines on either side of it, the one on the left having a square blue button, while the one on the right having an orange button. Standing in front of the blue screen was a slightly plump man in the Flare suit. His skin was pale white and only had three strips of red hair paired with a sharp goatee. One of his blue gloves sat in his pocket as he wore the other one on his left hand. He wore red goggles with an earpiece that extended to his mouth.

"Welcome," he held out his hands, smiling broadly. "To where the Ultimate Weapon will be activated!"

"Tell us how to deactivate it or step aside," Alex threatened. "We don't have time for your useless shenanigans."

"You young ones," the scientist sighed dramatically, shaking his head. "So impatient and respect little of greatness. But fine," he held his hands behind his back. "You have two options. One of these buttons will activate the Ultimate Weapon and the other will deactivate it. It is entirely your choice, as Lysandre ordered. You can be the ones to save the current world or you can be the ones who'll damn it." He stepped to the side, bowing slightly. "Pray you will make the correct choice."

Robert was furiously typing away at his device, but he looked up at me and shook his head. "No use, I can't hack the system. This is going to come down to chance."

"What if we don't press anything?" Looker asked the scientist.

"The Ultimate Weapon will activate in one minute," he smiled. "So you better choose fast now."

A clock appeared on the screen at 50 seconds.

Looker cursed and his grimace tightened. I looked at both buttons. I had a sinking feeling that regardless of what I chose it would be activated anyway. Knowing that, choosing wouldn't be that difficult, but even so, there was a chance.

"Big red button would be the obvious choice," I analyzed. "So it would make sense to choose that as the activation switch. But then that could mean he made the blue button the activation switch, making people believe the red button was the right choice."

I shook my head. That line of thinking would bring me nowhere. It was time to choose.

"Blue?" I asked, glancing at Alex and Robert. Alex tightened her lips, nodding hesitantly while Robert nodded.

"I have a bad feeling either way," Looker said, crossing his arms.

Stepping over to it as the clock reached 15 seconds and held up my hand to the big blue button. I hesitated for another second, then pressed it. A large machinery noise whirred up, then died quickly.

The scientist clapped his hands excitedly. "Ooo, yes. You pressed the correct one."

I didn't allow myself to feel relieved and turned to glare at him. "Yet you sound so happy."

"Well of course," he laughed. "No matter what you pressed, the Ultimate Weapon would have been activated. Lysandre may have been willing to give you all a fighting chance, but I will not allow this power to be wasted! Now," he held up a remote and pointed it at the screen. "Watch the show."

The screen filtered to an aerial view of Geosenge Town, above the three large rocks. They seemed to rise a few feet from the ground before falling into three holes. Then something broke through the ground in the middle, the tip caked in dirt, but the rest shiny and glowing. Chunks of earth flew in the air and crashed to the ground, people fleeing on screen. It rose into the air on a small platform with connecting wires, the bottom of the huge thing bulbous, like a closed flower. Then it began rotating, opening as it did so, emitting blue light and swirls of energy. The chunks of earth rose into the air, pulled by a gravitational force. It opened fully, a silver glowing flower, and it crashed to the ground, causing an earthquake that toppled houses and the chunks of earth crashed as well. A blue glowing orb sat in the middle of the flower, pulsing.

"The Ultimate Weapon has been reborn!" the scientist laughed as I ran to catch up with Looker, Alex, and Robert, leaving the view screen and the Flare scientist behind. "The poisonous flower has bloomed! All shall perish except for Team Flare! Stand witness as the old world burns and a new one rises from the ashes!"

Extra long chapter plus a point of the chapter concentrating on Robert, a little gift for taking so long to update. Multiple things happened. First I began noticing my laptop's charger making weird crackly, fuzzy noises, so I figured it would be much safer to keep it unplugged. That means its shut down and I can't turn it on less it die of no battery. Once I get a Hard Drive I'll have to get everything off of it, but in the meantime its powered off and I'm using the family laptop, which surprisingly really only I am using. The second thing that happened was the DLC for Shield, which I beat in two days. Let's be honest, the story is good, but short. Still working on finishing the new Pokedex, but I'll get there soon. The third thing is not so great and was potentially dangerous for my health. I had to go to the ER, but everything is fine. Minor thing and nothing life-threatening thank God. Anywho, cliffhanger. I do love my cliffhangers. Till next time! Toodles!