Merry very belated Christmas, happy Holidays and happy early New Year!
Wanted to publish this short-ish chapter before the new year went by.
I don't really have anything else meaningful.
Feel free to review, it helps me a lot!
Thanks for all the favorites and follows! I didn't expect to get any. (Lmao)
- Splak R.

The sun over Quilar had waned over the horizon, letting the street lamps glow once again on the tan bricks that covered the ground. The moon's light, faint as it was, was glowing in the otherwise pitch dark. Tammy and Sydney were just coming back from a merchant who sold berries, and they were thankful to finally be out of sight.

Tammy rubbed her eye-goggles, "That was probably the worst experience of grocery shopping I've seen yet."

Sydney put her claw behind her head, as she was holding a basket with the other. "Yeah. Not to mention the stares we got."

"We did manage to get some good food at least..."

Both the Flygon and Zoroark were heading back to Andrew's hotel; they didn't want to be out any longer than they'd have to.

A crash was heard in the distance. Tammy and Sydney whipped their heads toward the sound, and the mirror merchant dropped one of her esteemed tiny mirrors.

The merchant hurdled over the counter and started a shouting match with the Pikachu who broke the mirror.

Tammy stared at the scene with a deadpan expression, "I would not want to be on the receiving end of all that profanity."

Sydney winced a little, "Good thing we weren't the ones to break it. We would've attracted a lot more attention than necessary."

Tammy looked back at Sydney, "I agree. Let's make our way back, though. We've already been out here long enough."

Sydney gestured towards Tammy's head, "By the way, where'd you get the sunhat? It looks great!"

"Oh this? Andrew had bought it for his vacation. I uh... thought it'd be harmless if I 'borrowed' it for a while."

"Pfft... he seriously bought that for himself?"

"I know! Maybe my fashion sense is getting dated... Oh no! Am I getting old?!"

"Nah... I don't think? How old are you now?"

"Forty six. Oh lord Arceus, help me."

Upon entering the town square in the center of town, Sydney got a good look at the fountain stationed in the middle. The top splayed a Venusaur on it; probably signifying the mayor that was running the town. When she lived in Gron,there were statues of Mayor Samurott everywhere. Guess this mayor had something in common with them. Sydney shook her head to get out of her thoughts, then both Pokemon sprung around a corner and found Andrew's hotel building. They had an interesting way of getting into Andrew's room...

"Sydney, hop on my back."

Sydney hopped onto Tammy's back, allowing her to fly up to the third floor and land on the balcony that was stationed outside of his room.

They both scanned the room through the window and found a Clefairy dancing their heart out.

Sydney facepalmed, "Wrong room. Maybe it's the next one over...?"

Tammy voiced a grunt, and Sydney glanced at her for a bit. She tried to see her expression, but couldn't because the sunhat was in the way.

Tammy flew to the next balcony, and sure enough, there sat Andrew and Seb. It looked like they were in conversation with someone, but the white curtains censored the rest of the room.

Who could possibly be in there with them? Maybe it was just housekeeping, but both Tammy and Sydney got a strange feeling that it wasn't.

They had to know who was in there. For all they knew, it could be ambassadors from Jett Kingdom. Sydney creaked the door with her claw.

Andrew seemed like he was in the middle of conversation. "-and that's why I went to Machamp's Fist!"

Tammy peeled her head to the left, and her eyes went as wide as pecha pie plates.

Apparently Sydney noticed it too, "Andrew, who are those three Pokemon?!"

Andrew responded, "Oh, them? They're friends I made while vacationing."

Tammy chimed in, "I'll address them here in a second, Andrew; are you feeling better at all?"

"Yeah! I'm actually feeling a lot better because of them."

"Because of them? What do you mean?"

"They wanted me to know that not all civilians are scared of us."

Sydney rubbed her eyes, "...We got stares when we were out."

Andrew rubbed his neck, "I guess I got lucky?"

"When did you get them to trust you?!"

"Um... literally yesterday."

Naomi intervened, "It's surprising how much I've come to trust him in such a short amount of time."

Tammy shook her head, "Wait, I'm confused... How did you get them to trust you with our situation?"

Andrew gained a bead of sweat, "I-I may or may not have told them about it..."

Tammy scrunched her snout in surprise and leaned in, "You did what...?"

Andrew continued in a shaky voice, "They actually encouraged me to go through with the plan. I don't know where I'd be without them."

"The plan is the one thing we need to keep a secret! You can't just go around telling others about it!"

Seb interrupted her interrogation, "Don't worry. Andrew gave me the full story just a few hours ago. They're fully on our side."

Tammy tilted her head, "I'm going to want to hear this."

Under the thrashing sunset, Seb couldn't help but notice the glow on his ruby. The lens he held in his claws were getting a tiny flare, making it a little difficult to see the crimson gem. He studied its luster and its refraction off of the sunset, making it all the more enjoyable to him.

The overbearing sunlight was so beautiful and destructive to his eyes; he almost shed a tear.

Suddenly, a huge slam of the door caused him to drop his ruby and shriek out in fear.

Andrew had waltzed through the door, "Is anybody home?"

Seb answered through gritted teeth, "Yeah... but you scared the living Distortion World out of me!"

"Thought I would give you a little payback for all the times you scared me."

"Sigh... alright fine, I'll give you a pass. Next time, I won't be so lenient."

Seb perked up as he heard an unfamiliar voice, "Andrew, you sure that was a good idea...?"

"Yeah, Shawn. It's fine, I've known him for years."

Seb was halted by the voice. Did Andrew bring a friend? If so, how much did they know, and how did they become Andrew's friend in the first place? He was sure he would get answers to these questions soon, but it concerned him for now.

Seb furrowed his brows, "Wait... Andrew who did you bring with you?"

Andrew rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh yeah, I brought some friends of mine. You wanna meet them?"

Seb hid a slight irk. He brought multiple friends?! If Andrew brought too many, then their confidential plan would be screwed up!

"Sure? I honestly don't care."

Andrew turned toward his new friends, "Come on in, you three! You'll get to meet Seb!"

Just then, Elle burst through the door, with Shawn and Naomi trailing carefully behind. Elle slowly turned back and winced a little bit. The rest of the Pokemon glanced in her direction.

The door now needed a little repair, but nothing too major. The hotel's probably not going to be happy about that.

Elle held her head down, "Sorry for the door."

Seb waved it off, "It's fine. Andrew, why did you bring them along?"

Naomi chimed in, "I can answer that. We want to accompany him on his journey."

"...What?"

Why in the world did Andrew tell them about the plan?! This was meant to be a top secret operation for now, but getting too many on board will risk that... It'll be good to have more allies, sure, but it'll most likely jeopardize the actual mission, depending on their fighting capabilities.

Andrew waved a paw in front of Seb's beak, "Hey, what's wrong? You've been staring into space for a little bit. Do you not want them here?"

"Um... hang on. I need to talk with you a bit first. Follow me to the bathroom."

"Uh... ok. I guess you all hang tight for a bit."

Once they were in the bathroom, Seb silently closed the door. Andrew had an idea of what he was in for, but he knew he had to prepare to talk in some way. He imagined he was in one of those detective movies where he gets interrogated. Either way, he would have some explaining to do.

Seb crossed his arms, "Ok, what's the big idea, bringing those Pokemon here?!"

"...They seemed trusting enough."

"Ok, I get that. They seem to be very nice, but why tell them about the plan?! That's the one thing we need to keep confidential!"

Andrew splayed his head down a bit, "I feel like they would be good assets..."

Seb shook his head, "I don't buy it. Name one thing they can do."

Andrew paced his head around frantically, "Uhm... Maybe we can ask them directly?"

He flashed a nervous and toothy grin. Seb furrowed his brows a little more.

He inhaled, "Sigh... I guess we can ask them. It'd be better to hear from them rather than you right now."

"I honestly don't know what they're capable of either. It'd be good to hear this."

"Let's just get this over with..."

Seb faced Naomi, Elle and Shawn with a stern look. All three newcomers were sweating bullets onto the floor; his eyes pierced into their soul.

Shawn thought to himself while shutting his eyes, "This is my day of reckoning..."

Seb started, "What can you three do in terms of a fight?"

Elle started, "I can scout, I've always been fast."

Naomi went next, "I'm actually working to become a doctor."

Andrew turned around towards her, "Wait, you are?"

"Mhmm! It's kinda been my dream to heal others."

"Sounds great!"

Elle intervened, "Hey! What about me?"

"Heh. You're cool too, Elle."

Elle jumped in excitement, "Yes!"

As they were ending their banter, Shawn couldn't help but think of what Seb would do to him. He knew Andrew told him he was cheery and easy-going, but spotting him on the bounty board didn't help either.

Seb gazed at Shawn, "And what about you?"

Shawn was practically a waterfall at this point.

"Uh... F-Flash Fire?"

Seb scoffed, "Immune to fire. Okay. Can you at least fight a little bit?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"That didn't sound very confident."

Elle came to Shawn's aid, "He's been getting closer to beating me in the sparring matches we always have. He's just being shy."

Thank Arceus, he was saved! Shawn would have to thank her for that later. He swore, talking to strangers was his one weak point, especially when they were this intimidating.

Seb uncrossed his arms after an eternity and shook them out, "Eh, alright. Houndoom, as long as you can keep up, I think we'll be fine."

"My name's Shawn."

"Shawn... if I forget, feel free to slap me in the face or something."

Seb turned to the other newcomers, "Sorry, but remind me of your names again. I wanna make sure I got y'all in my mind correctly."

The Dragonite went first, "I'm Naomi."

The Lycanroc hopped into a stance, "Elle at your service!"

Seb nodded, "Ok... good to know. If you all can pull your weight, you'll be fine. Andrew, I think you put together a pretty good team."

Andrew did a little fist pump, "I'm so glad you came around!"

Naomi tilted her head a bit, "Wait, so Andrew, how much of a fighting team are we actually going to be? I know you told us about the plan, but how much are we going to be involved?"

Andrew had pondered this question for quite some time. He actually didn't know the answer, since anything could happen. He decided the point of highest standard would do for now. If it was more lenient in reality, they would have a better time, right?

"We may have to be constantly fighting. Just be prepared to keep your guard up, and I think you'll be fine."

Naomi exhaled, "Oh boy. Well, I guess it can be fun."

Both Andrew and Naomi gazed over to their right.

Shawn was weeping in a ball on the floor, "I'm gonna die! I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'm gonna die!"

Elle was trying to comfort him, "Hey, it's gonna be okay! We'll look out for each other! Promise!"

Seb sighed as he went back to studying his ruby. The desk he claimed was all in shambles.

Sydney patted Seb on the back, "Look at you go! Now we got allies!"

Tammy chimed in as well, "Seems they'll be good additions to us. Plus, we won't be as lonely!"

Seb nodded, "I was super skeptical at first, but I've come around a bit."

Andrew pointed towards Tammy's head, "Is that my sunhat?"

Tammy felt her claws on the brim of the sunhat, "Yes it is... Would you be at all willing to let me have it? I really like the way it feels."

Andrew shrugged, "Eh, what the heck. Go ahead. Looks good on you anyway."

Tammy closed her eyes in excitement, "Yay! Thanks, Andrew! Remind me to do you a favor sometime."

With a sudden change of topic, Tammy's mind got frantic as she remembered the plan, "Oh no! Andrew, I told you what you needed to do, but I have no idea how we're going to do it!"

Andrew stayed calm, "Oh! It's okay. I've already got that part down."

"But I thought you didn't want to go through with this?"

"I'll have no problem doing this, as long as you all promise me one thing."

Sydney asked, "What is it?"

"I just ask that you be there for me, and I'll try and be there for you all as well."

Naomi leaned in, "I'm in."

Tammy smiled, "We can totally do that for you, Andrew."

Sydney put a claw on Andrew's shoulder, "That'll be an easy promise to keep! Right, Seb?"

Seb flashed a grin, "Of course! Nobody'll get in the way of us."

Elle and Shawn joined the mix, and Elle stated, "Especially when we have each other's backs."

Shawn smiled and muttered to himself, "Maybe I'm not going to die."

Seb backed away a little bit from the group huddle, "Ok, now that that's out of the way, what's the plan, Andrew?"

Andrew reaches into his luggage, "Oh I'm so excited! I'll explain using this map I found!"

He suddenly pulls out an entire map of Subon Island and slams it on the desk, which was now in the center of the drab hotel room.

Sydney and Seb zipped over to where Andrew was, and started gleaming at the map.

Sydney slammed her claw on it, "Do you know how rare these maps are?!"

Seb gazed in awe, "I've been trying to find one for ages!"

Andrew started sweating a bit, "You do know it's just a map, right...?"

Sydney started pointing to all of the locations, "But it's the map! You got the central capitol, Quilar directly west and Cholet directly east of that! Rinj, northeast of the capitol, and Gron, shoutheast of the capitol! You have all the towns, and it's the most updated edition! Where did you get this kind of map?!"

Andrew stuttered, "U-um..."

Tammy finally intervened, "Okay, enough raving over the map. Andrew, what's your plan going to be?"

Naomi, Elle and Shawn leaned in to listen.

Andrew got back his driven self, "Ok, so you know how Jett Kingdom is north of the central capitol, right?"

Mayor Venusaur had been thinking about a certain Lucario a lot recently.

Ever since Wes's son had come into the office, he had made a real impression on him, even if he was ridiculously dressed that day. To be that well mannered coming out of Jett Kingdom... who was really taking care of him?

His two week protection promise for him was just starting, but he had an intuition that the Lucario was going to leave the town.

Mayor Venusaur put his reading glasses down in favor of the phone on his desk.

He needed to speak with a certain someone and quick.

He dialed the number that went to this Pokemon, and the phone rang. With every subsequent ring, the feeling in his gut grew more intense. Mayor Venusaur wasn't sure exactly what it was.

Finally, someone picked up, "Who is this, and why are you interrupting our important conversation?!"

Venusaur kept calm, "I need to speak with Mayor Samurott."

The other one on the line seemed to understand, "Oh, Venusaur, old friend. It's been far too long! You haven't called in a while!"

"Shut up. Let me speak to him."

"Ooh! Fiesty, today, are we? Alright fine, I won't push it any further. Here."

...

"Yeah?"

"Samurott."

"Venusaur?"

"How're you holdin' up over there?"

Mayor Samurott continued in a whisper, "I gotta keep this under wraps, but not great. My pride's been practically shattered. I've been had by Jett Kingdom. They're forcing me to comply with their every want."

"It's that bad, huh?"

"What's worse, is that the bonehead who's now running the city says "bing bong" at the end of every one of his sentences."

"So who I was talking to earlier, they weren't the leader?"

"No. That was the first lieutenant. I personally think they're more dangerous."

"Well, I have a gut feeling, and it concerns you, Samurott."

"What? How would that help?"

Venusaur continued on anyway, "I think you're going to have some visitors very soon. Ones that you're going to like."

"When exactly? Who? From where?"

"That's the thing: I don't know."

"Then why tell me?"

"I just know they ain't staying here. I just called you since you're the closest town."

"Well keep me po- WAHH!"

The original voice came back on, now known as the lieutenant. "Well, old friend, I believe your little chat time is up. Toodles!"

The phone was holding a sustained tone.

Venusaur lost contact with Samurott. It seemed like he had a lot going on over there. Lord Arceus help him.