The Team Vortex Grunt strode casually through the fogged-up power plant, his surgical mask filtering out the toxins. His Mastox was beside him, the Poison-type's round eyes emotionless.

"You know, this poison gas isn't fatal to Pokémon," he said, his voice distorted by the mask, "but have you seen what it does to humans? It ain't pretty."

Scarlet was beginning to get light-headed as she tried to sneak between the various pieces of outdoor electrical equipment. She hoped she'd be able to sneak around the grunt and out the front entrance, but while the gas may have obstructed his view, it also clouded her own.

She counted herself incredibly lucky that the grunt had seen fit to walk into the gas after her instead of waiting by the front gate. Now she might have a shot at getting away.

"Mmmph…" Scarlet whined as she felt around her, hoping she didn't accidentally grab something that would electrocute her. She finally felt the concrete wall that surrounded the power plant and walked along it, trying to walk quietly, yet quickly so she could get out of this toxic gas so she could breathe. One hand felt along the wall, the other hand was covering her mouth and nose.

Note to self: Hiding will not work with this guy, she lamented as her lungs were burning, crying out for a breath of air.

Finally she stepped out of the deadly fog. She realized she was just to the left of the main gate. She looked around her, and, not seeing the Team Vortex grunt, figured he must be somewhere in the fog himself looking for her.

She took a deep breath, the spots in her vision dissipating as she once again booked it down the road, panting heavily.

All right, I think I managed to get away-

The shot of poison that grazed her thought otherwise. Scarlet's left arm immediately began to burn, and she immediately dropped to the ground. As she landed, the Pokeball containing Cassandra fell out of her pocket and rolled away. She looked up at the grunt and his Mastox, who were slowly approaching her.

"You tried. That's all that matters," the Vortex grunt said menacingly. "Mastox? Finish her."

The Mastox advanced towards her, readying its syringe claws once again.

Scarlet shut her eyes and braced herself for the blinding pain that was no doubt about to erupt in just a moment.

"CROAGUNK, USE BULLDOZE!"

Scarlet's eyes widened as all of a sudden, a Pokemon landed in front of her, between her and the Mastox. It was bipedal and amphibian in nature, and it had black markings around its body, which was a light brown color with its dry scales creating brown cracklike patterns around it.


CROAGUNK (Allanzan Form)

Dry-Skin Pokemon

Ground/Fighting

Croagunk has adapted its body to conserve water in times of drought. Though its body is not as venomous as its Sinnoh counterpart, it retains an immunity to most poisons. Its natural camouflage allows it to conceal itself in the desert, where it ambushes its prey.


Croagunk punched the ground with staggering force, causing the ground to shake and become unstable, the seismic forces causing Mastox to get flung back, along with the grunt.

Scarlet opened her eyes, then turned towards the voice of the trainer who had sent out Croagunk, and was met with a hand holding her Pokéball that had rolled away.

Looking up past the arm, her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

"Scarlet, right? I believe this is yours," Spencer said.


"Go, Nuzleaf!" Cole shouted as he threw his Pokéball out.

"Go, Krokorok!" The grunt shouted as she did the same.

Oliver glanced at Moira. "You have Sobble take Krokorok, I'll handle Nuzleaf."

"Right."

"Hoodlet, use Pluck!"

Hoodlet leapt in the air and began to take aim at Nuzleaf.

"Nuzleaf, use Sucker Punch!"

Now Dark-type attacks were not very strong against Fairy, but it did its job of throwing off Hoodlet's trajectory and launching her over into the nearby cavern, plowing into a group of observing Roggenrola like a bowling ball. Nuzleaf, grinning that Hoodlet was out of commission, turned its attention to Sobble.

Meanwhile, Moira pointed her finger at Krokorok. "Sobble, use Water Pulse!"

Sobble charged up a burst of water and let it loose, but the Team Vortex Grunt wasn't perturbed. "Use Dig!" Krokorok dove under the ground just as the water passed over it. The cavern wasn't pitch black, but it's position in the ground, where it might've been given away by cracks and dirt and whatnot, was masked by the darkness.

"Where'd ye go?" Moira shouted, frustrated, squinting her eyes.

"Heads up, Moira! Nuzleaf coming your way!" Oliver shouted before he heard a sound coming from his Hoodlet. Krokorok had emerged from the ground and struck Hoodlet directly.

"Use Disarming Voice!" Oliver said quickly, but the moment the sound left Hoodlet's mouth, Krokorok plunged back into the shadowed ground.

Moira turned to face Nuzleaf, now aware they'd switched opponents. "Sobble, use Tearful Look!" Sobble looked Nuzleaf in the eye and teared up, causing Nuzleaf to hesitate.

"Don't fall for it! Use Razor Leaf!" Nuzleaf shook off the hesitation, then formed two green, curved blades and threw them like boomerangs at Sobble.

"Quickly! Use Swift!"

Sobble held its little hands out, forming those familiar star-shaped projectiles in its hands, illuminating the caves in a soft white glow.

As it turns out, that glow illuminated the cave just enough that Oliver got a glimpse of a small mound that seemed to be moving.

He grinned. Bingo. "Hoodlet, use Disarming Voice right there!"

This time, she was uninterrupted. Hoodlet have a small shout that pulsed with pinkish energy, the yell impacting the ground with tangible force and knocking Krokorok out of its hiding place, leaving a hole where it used to be.

Sobble threw the stars at Nuzleaf, who threw its own Razor Leaves at the Water-type. The stars and leaves collided, the stars intercepting each blade that, on their own, could severely injure the little Pokémon.

Satisfied that his friend was doing okay, Oliver turned back to face his own Pokémon. "One more time, Hoodlet! Disarming Voice!"

By this time, the grunt saw what was going on. "Krokorok, use… uh… Crunch!" She cried, evidently not having a plan to deal with a Fairy-type.

It rushed forward but as it made contact with Hoodlet's second burst of supercharged sound, plummeted to the ground and slid to a stop.

Cole turned to his associate. "Dang it, Sally! How many times do I have to tell you to keep your eye on your Pokémon at all times?! You can't just Dig and forget!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, you don't have to keep yelling at me!" the grunt, evidently named Sally said, defensively, holding her arms up.

"This happens every. Single. Time with you! Do you see the boss just letting her Pokémon just do whatever in a battle? This is why you haven't made Admin!"

"But wait, shouldn't you be keeping an eye on your own Nuzleaf?"

Cole's eyes widened as he turned his eyes back to his own Pokémon, just in time to see Hoodlet crash into it using Pluck, striking the Grass-type dead-on and knocking it into the wall of the tunnel, knocking it out cold.

Sally smirked. "Uh, hello Kettle? This is Pot calling to tell you you're black."

"Oh shut up."


As the Vortex grunt took out a second Pokéball, Spencer helped Scarlet to her feet. "Are you all right? You know, aside from the arm."

"I'm fine," Scarlet said. "Let's just hurry up and get out of here."

He turned to face the grunt. "We won't be able to outrun that Mastox's range. We'll have to fight. And it looks like he's only got the two Pokémon there. You got that Absol, don't you?" He asked, turning back to the redhead.

Scarlet flinched. "She's not a fighter. I promised myself I'd never get her into a real Pokémon battle ever again."

Spencer gestured to the grunt, who was in the process of sending out a Palpitoad. "In case you haven't noticed, he's trying to kill you! I'd say you can make an exception."

The pain in her arm flared up. Scarlet bit her lip and nodded. With her good arm, she took Cassandra's Pokéball and threw it out.

The Dark-type emerged next to Croagunk. She blinked, then looked back at Cassandra with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, I know, I know. It won't be a regular thing, just… use Night Slash on Palpitoad."

Cassandra turned back to face the Water-type and dashed forward, her horn glowing with an eerie blackness that seemed to dampen the light around it.

"Palpitoad, Muddy Water! Mastox, his Absol with Gunk Shot!"

Palpitoad made an eerie croak as the ground beneath it seemed to erupt into a wall of brown, murky water that plunged towards Croagunk and Absol, who was charging towards it.

"Croagunk, use Feint Attack on Mastox!"

Croagunk seemed to disappear as it flash stepped around Mastox, safely out of reach of Palpitoad's wave of water, and prepared to strike.

"Wait, Mastox! Behind you! Use Poison Jab!"

Mastox halted its charging up Gunk Shot and swing around, trying to hit Croagunk with its syringe claw, but Croagunk slammed its fist into Mastox's beak first.

Cassandra leapt forward through the muddy wave, taking the watery assault head-on despite the dirtiness if it, getting some mud in her eyes as a result. Still, Palpitoad wasn't the most mobile of Pokémon so when Cassandra spun around, its horn sliced directly into Palpitoad who hadn't had time to move from its previous location.

Palpitoad staggered back, nursing its wound while Cassandra shook the muddy water out of her fur, blinking the mud out of her eyes.

"Hit her back with Echoed Voice! Mastox, use Peck!"

Mastox lunged its beak towards Croagunk, piercing its dry brown skin, the attack landing especially hard at such a close range. Croagunk croaked in pain, then glared at Mastox and instinctively hit back with Revenge, even though the Fighting-type move wouldn't do much good against its Poison-type adversary.

Palpitoad, meanwhile, held its ground and vibrated rapidly, the sound waves almost visible as they tore up the ground on their path to Cassandra.

"Cassie, dodge it and use Psycho Cut!"

Cassandra, whose horn was now glowing soft magenta, leapt out of the sound wave's path as it plowed into a nearby tree, splintering it. The Dark-type rushed towards her target at rapid speed. Palpitoad let loose another burst of sound, which Cassandra leapt into the air and arced herself down so her glowing horn struck Palpitoad again. Palpitoad struggled to stand, hoping to unleash another Echoed Voice, before collapsing.

"Come on, Croagunk, you can break out of it! Keep hitting it!"

Scarlet and Cassandra turned to Croagunk, which was being pinned to the ground by Mastox's beak, thrashing about trying to escape. Scarlet glared. "Scarlet, use Psycho Cut one more time!"

Cassandra became a blur of black, white, and magenta as it charged towards the Poison-type. The grunt took notice of this and his eyes narrowed. "Mastox, use Gunk Shot."

Still holding Croagunk in place, Mastox took aim with its left clawed wing.

Scarlet's eyes widened. "Dodge it!"

But the stream of liquid poison was just too fast and Cassandra was sniped, collapsing to the ground. She struggled to stand, but it was clear the poison was weakening her as she wobbled around, her balance starting to go.

Croagunk took advantage of Mastox's brief distraction to punch the ground and cause a small shockwave. Mastox also lost its balance as Bulldoze took effect, letting him go trying to steady itself.

Then Croagunk brought down its other fist.

At full power and close range, the tremor launched Mastox high into the air, before it crashed down to the ground 5 seconds later, knocked out cold.

The grunt began to take a hesitant step back, as Scarlet withdrew her injured Absol and Spencer took a threatening step forward. The grunt withdrew his two downed Pokémon and immediately booked it, but Spencer caught up to him quickly and tackled him to the ground.

"Scarlet, call the police!" He yelled, trying to restrain the criminal.

"But my phone's dead!"

"Here's mine," he shouted, tossing his own phone to her, which she caught.

"Oh wow, you still use a flip phone?! This thing's ancient!"

"Save the snark for later!"

"R-right," Scarlet said sheepishly, beginning to dial 911.


"All right, I guess I haven't been taking you as seriously as I should have," Cole said as he withdrew his fallen Nuzleaf. Oliver took the time to withdraw Hoodlet. "The kid gloves are coming off now." He threw a Pokéball towards Sally. "That was your only Pokémon, right? Here, you can borrow this."

Sally gaped. "Oh, uh… th-thank you! I won't disappoint you this time, sir!"

"You'd better not," Cole muttered. "Go, Golbat!"

"Go, Haunter!" Sally shouted as she threw her borrowed Pokémon out.

"Joltik, you're up!" Oliver said as he threw a Pokéball out (he thought it best to withdraw the Backpack Brigade when they entered the cave) and threw it, Joltik standing next to Sobble once he came out.

"I'll handle the ghost, you take the bat," Moira said. "Sobble, use Water Pulse!"

Oliver nodded as Sobble let loose another burst of water, and pointed to Golbat. "Use Electroweb!" he shouted. Joltik leapt into action and began sparking with electricity.

Okay, Joltik may be weaker, but he's got a type advantage. Electric beats Flying, and as a Bug-type he should be able to take any Poison moves-

"Golbat, use Flamethrower!"

Oliver blanched. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

A red glow began to form in Golbat's gaping maw, the bat's eyes beginning to water as its expression turned into one of pain. A jet of fire let loose from Golbat's mouth, billowing right towards the tiny Bug-type.

"H-hurry, dodge it!" Thankfully Joltik's small size and high speed let it jump out of the way and launch its electrified webbing, though it came out a bit half-baked. Still, it did electrify Golbat, though the flames quickly burned the silk away. Golbat's eyes glared down at Joltik.

Sobble, meanwhile, was firing Water Pulse after Water Pulse, but Haunter just would not get hit, disappearing and reappearing every time a shot seemed like it would hit.

Swift never misses, but it's a Normal-type move! It won't do anything to him! Still, she kept up the assault. "Keep him busy, Sobble!"

Sobble nodded and began to alternate between Water Gun and Water Pulse, keeping Haunter on the defensive. If she couldn't take it down then the best thing would be to at least keep it dodging.

If I can hold out, Oliver might be able to take care of Golbat first, then he can back me up. I sure hope Sobble can last, though...

Oliver didn't miss the amount of pain Golbat seemed to be in. The bat's throat was slightly charred, the fangs blackened. Oliver glared and pointed a finger at Cole.

"You're the ones who have been helping all those trainers cheat, aren't you? The dishonesty was bad enough, but you're hurting these Pokémon by forcing them to do things they weren't built to do! You make me sick!"

Cole merely chuckled. "They're gonna get hurt in battles anyway. What's one more injury?"

Oliver grunted in response. You heartless...

"If you're all soft on your Pokémon all the time, you'll never get anywhere as a trainer. Golbat! Light 'em up!"

Golbat took a breath and another jet of fire erupted from its mouth, faster this time. I guess that last one got him warmed up, Oliver thought, grimacing. This time Joltik didn't quite make it out of the way and got slightly singed by the flames right before he got clear. He fell to the ground, down but not out.

"One more time! Finish him off! Use Flamethrower!"

Wincing in pain yet again, Golbat began to take a breath, stoking the fires yet again.

Sobble looked over at what was happening on Oliver's end and his eyes widened, forgetting about Haunter and dashing over to help Joltik.

"Wait, Sobble! What the f*** are ye doing?!"

Sally grinned. "Now's your chance! Use Shadow Ball!" Haunter gave a sinister grin of his own and began to form a sphere of purplish, spectral energy between its disembodied hands.

Just as Golbat let loose its third Flamethrower, Sobble ran between them and fired off the biggest Water Pulse it could muster. It made a huge, steamy splash as it exploded against the burning flames.

A cloud of steam erupted from the impact, blinding everyone in the area. Haunter, its vision obstructed at the last second, fired Shadow Ball blindly into the steam.

A few seconds passed but nothing seemed to happen. It was silent.

Suddenly, a bright, blinding flash of blue light erupted from where Sobble had been standing. The pulsing light grew brighter and brighter before fading away, its source still obscured.

Suddenly, a jet of high pressure water shot out of the steamy smokescreen, directly in Haunter's direction. Before the ghost could react, the blinding fast jet of water struck Haunter dead-on.

The ghost was flung against the tunnel wall, slamming into it before it could make itself intangible.

The steam began to disperse, and everyone finally saw what had transpired.

Where Sobble once stood, a newly-evolved Drizzile stood, taller, angrier, and stronger.

Moira began grinning wildly. Turning towards Oliver, the two nodded at each other.

"Joltik, use Electroweb again!"

"Once it's tied up, use Water Gun!"

"Not of I can help it," Cole said. "Flamethrower! Again!"

"Hey Cole, you know Golbat, like, has other moves, right?" Sally said as she nudged Haunter to get it back on its metaphorical feet.

This time, the backlash from Flamethrower started to take its toll. Golbat let out a pitiful, low pitched screech as the fire slowly began to heat up again.

Joltik was quick on the draw this time, a web of electrified spider silk wrapping around Golbat's wings and shocking it. As it fell to the ground, its wings restrained, Drizzile let loose its new and improved Water Gun, which hit Golbat with enough force to send it crashing into the tunnel wall, finally knocking it out.

Cole stared at the two angrily. "That's enough! Haunter, show them what for!" Silence. "...Haunter?" He looked around "...Sally?"

Footsteps echoed through the tunnel as Sally ran the other direction, having withdrawn Haunter, and booking it as fast as possible, shouting "Nope! Nope nope nope!" as she disappeared into the tunnel.

Cole could only stare in sheer exasperation as his underling ran away. Turning back to Oliver, he glared. "I'll remember this," he spat as he turned to follow his comrade, but not before recalling his downed Golbat.

Oliver and Moira withdrew their active Pokémon and sat down on the floor of the tunnel, exhausted.

"That was close…" Oliver said between gasps.

"You're telling me…" Moira said, equally short on breath.

Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out Hoodlet's ball, calling her out.

"Hey Hoodlet, you still got that Pokéball you stole?" Hoodlet reached into her basket and pulled out the pink Pokéball. "Atta girl!" Oliver said, patting her furry little head as he praised her.

"...did she have that basket AND the Pokéball… while she was inside the Pokéball?" Moira asked hesitantly.

"Oh yeah. People put stuff other than Pokémon in Pokéballs all the time."

"That ball still had a Pokémon in it though. Can you even have a Pokémon within a Pokéball within a Pokémon within a-"

"Honestly, it's best not to think about it," Oliver said as he withdrew Hoodlet. Moira was about to reply when she was cut off by another voice.

"That was an impressive fight. You handled yourselves well for a couple of rookies." It was a woman's voice. She sounded mature, and impressed but not entirely blown away.

The two trainers turned. The voice came from the cavern where those wild Pokémon had been. The figure stepped out of the shadows and continued speaking.

"I was just in those caves training. Trying to keep my team sharp, you know? I heard the fight and I saw the tail end of it, but you took them down before I could get involved."

The figure was out of the total darkness and Oliver got a good look at her. He gasped, his eyes widening, his face going pale. He recognized the purple hair, the tall figure, the black beanie and the one-of-a-kind custom-made black hoodie.

"You- y-you- you're-"

" Raleigh, " Moira said in awe.

Raleigh, the former Pokémon League champion herself, was standing right there, her hands in her hoodie's pockets.

Oliver looked like he was about to start swooning. "Raleigh, I, oh my gosh, I…"

"Don't mind my friend here," Moira said. "He's just a wee bit startstruck is all."

"Don't worry," Raleigh said nonchalantly, her voice neutral. "He's far from the worst fan I've had."

"R-Raleigh," Oliver managed, finally able to properly talk. "It's an honor to meet you," he said, stars in his eyes. "I've looked up to you ever since I was a little kid! Oh my gosh," he took the Pokéballs containing Ralts and Joltik and sent them out.

"Guys, you'll never believe who it is! It's the champion!" The two small Pokémon looked up and gasped, recognizing her as well.

Raleigh crouched down to their level. "Well hello, little ones! You're just as excited to see me as your trainer is, aren't you?" she said sweetly, her voice almost an entire octave higher than it was when she was talking to the two trainers. She reached out and ruffled Ralts's hair, prompting a grin from the Psychic-type. "Well, I'm not really the champion, I don't really do that anymore. But still! You two both look like you're getting real strong."

Moira raised an eyebrow. It's like she's a whole different person when she's talking to Pokémon.

She turned back to the two trainers, her composure instantly returning, her face resuming its neutral expression. "Like I said, their performance impressed me. Your performance impressed me."

Oliver's eyes widened, the stars returning to them as he smiled broadly.

"But make no mistake," she added, "You didn't win that battle. Your Pokémon did. You would do well to remember that." She smiled again, though it was much more subtle than when she was talking to Ralts and Joltik. "I look forward to seeing what they can do." With that, she walked past them into the tunnel, towards Route 5 and Arryline City.

Moira watched her leave as Oliver began trembling with excitement.

"Raleigh said we impressed her… The champion said we impressed her…! "

Moira snapped her fingers a few times to get Oliver to return to reality. "Sorry tae interrupt yer fanboying, but we need tae return that Pokéball tae that woman and get our own Pokémon healed."

Oliver blinked. "R-right. Sorry. I just… I just got so excited." He let his Pokémon back into his backpack. "Let's be off then."


The police had handcuffed the Team Vortex grunt and were leading him away. Scarlet was in the process of answering some questions one of the officers had for her when another officer approached Spencer.

"Excuse me, but this," he held up a small glass vial filled with a dark green liquid, "was found in his belongings. Do you know what it is?"

Spencer's eyes widened as he took the vial and examined it. "No way… I should've known."

Scarlet, who was in the midst of having the wound on her arm checked out, looked at Spencer curiously. "You know what that is?" She asked.

Spencer turned to her with concern in his expression. "I think so. I just didn't realize Team Vortex was involved…"

Scarlet was about to ask what was going on when she became aware of a man approaching. He appeared to be on the younger end of middle-aged, with a gaunt face and wearing a weathered brown trenchcoat.

"So it would appear that there is indeed a connection between this Team Vortex, and the Breakthrough serum," the man said in a distinct Kalosian accent. "Good work, Spencer. And you too, Miss Scarlet. Without your assistance, we may have not obtained this sample."

"Um… you're welcome," Scarlet said hesitantly. "Who are you again?"

"Oh, how impolite of me!" The man replied. "I am an agent of the international police. My name, it is Looker. Spencer here is a trainer assisting me in the investigation. You would like an explanation, no? Well, let us get your Pokémon healed, then I shall explain it to you."

Scarlet hesitantly nodded, walking back into town and towards the Pokémon center, along with Spencer and Looker. She wasn't sure what to make of this guy, but all the same, between the illegal moves, the back-alley deals, and the attempt on her life, she was just happy to finally have some answers.