[Nate]

"How are they doing today?" I ask the nurse as I go down to the Center's infirmary.

It's been two days since our battle with that Nidoking. We haven't heard anything new about the Salandits since the Terra Foundation made its announcement and none of us has really done any sort of training since then. Dawn and Eugenio insist that after that fight we need to take a break from it all.

I wish just sitting down would actually help me relax. But all it does is remind me the Pinchers are still out there. Doing Arceus-knows-what and we're just letting them. And that's when I don't consider we have no idea what Team Plasma is up to at the moment.

Only two things have managed to keep me from getting too antsy so far: spending time around my Pokémon, helping them process what they went through - or in Ruffles' case, preventing him from trying to go look for a rematch with that Nidoking - and checking on the Growlithes.

And speaking of which...

"They are doing much better," the nurse responds as she leads me to their beds. To my delight, they are all awake today, even though they're still not in condition to stand on their feet right now.

"Bark!"

Or at least, most of them. One surprises me by jumping off his bed, running to my feet and looking up to me as he wags its tail. And judging by the state his fur is in, I think it's the one that led us to his pack.

"Hey there," I say, smiling as I crouch down to pat his head. "Have you been a good boy?"

He barks happily and starts licking my hands.

"Good boy," I chuckle.

After that, the nurse updates me on how the rest are doing. They're recovering slowly from the beating they took, but unless something unexpected happens they should be back in good enough health two weeks from now. As for the Pokémon themselves, I pass next to them as well, but they are far less inclined on being touched by me. The most I get are respectful bows of their heads.

When all is said and done I turn to walk out, when I feel something holding by the neck of one of my shoes. And looking down at them, I'm confused at seeing the first Growlithe biting down on it.

"Uh…" I dully say. "What did I do?"

The Growlithe lets go of it. And then he lets out a series of barks. Not happy or angry or any particular type of barks. Just barks. Like he's trying to tell me something.

Unfortunately, without Seteth around I can't make heads or tails of what he's saying. But just as I'm about to go ask Eugenio for his help, I notice the other Fire-types looking at him with saddened expressions. He, on the other hand, doesn't look that saddened. If anything, there seems to be some kind of spark in his eyes.

A doubt strikes me. One that will make things awkward if I'm wrong.

"Are you...asking to come along?"

The Growlithe makes an affirmative bark. And I widen my eyes.

"Uh…" I look up to his family. "Are you okay with this?"

I'm not opposed to the idea per se. But I don't want to tear a family apart. Not after what they've been through.

The other Growlithes hold their heads high, their unflinching gaze fixed on me. But the Arcanine first lets her head down, a sorrowful look in her eyes. Then, she raises it again, eyes set in a frown, and lets out a series of growls and irritated barks. And this time, I think I know what she means.

"D-don't worry," I stammer, rubbing the back of my head. "I-I will!"

The Arcanine doesn't seem happy as she lets out a snort. But she doesn't add anything at all either.

"Sooooooo…" I turn to the nurse, who's looking uncomfortable as well, "can I take him with me?"

She shakes her head and sets her face back into a cheery smile as she turns back to me. "You can. But no fighting for the time being. Or excessively tiring exercises. In fact, I would prefer it if you kept him in a Poké Ball when you're walking around."

I nod. "Understood, Miss. I'll, uh…" I check my hoodie for Poké Ball. I don't find any. "I'll...go grab one right now."

She nods and I walk out of the infirmary with the intention of getting to my room. But an all too familiar voice stops me before I get too far.

"Well, well. Sounds like you've made a new friend."

I turn around and see Mister Wes leaning next to the infirmary's door with his arms crossed. And strangely, his face is set into a scowl.

As soon as I notice him, he gets up and walks over to me. "Heard of your little accident the other day. Some pretty nasty business."

I can't help but gulp at the reminder.

"How are you feeling?"

"I-I'm fine," I reply. "Really."

He quirks an eyebrow. Somehow that sends a shiver down my spine. "Then you wouldn't mind helping out with a little something? With the Whitley girl?"

I jump on my feet at hearing that name. "Wh-what happened? D-did Miss Rosa-?"

"She's fine, Bushead, don't worry," he cuts me off. "But that Dark-types specialist I mentioned before told me there's a problem brewing in Aspertia and she needs help." The angles of his mouth turn upward. "Feeling up to it?"

Uhm…"Why are you not taking care of this?" I wince as I realize how my question sounded. "I-I mean, I would be more than glad to help, but you've usually taken care of everything outside of Virbank and-"

"Because I can only be in one place at a time," he replies. "And I'm needed here as well right now."

A few moments of silence pass between us as I muster the courage to open my mouth again. "Why are you needed here?"

The angles of his mouth twitch up for a moment. "Simple. The trap has been sprung."

Uh?

[Eugenio]

"Okay, let me get this straight," I tell Wes as he, I, Nate and Dawn stand outside of the Pokémon Center. "The Pinchers have acted at the exact same time as something's started brewing in Aspertia?"

Wes shrugs. "What can I say? Some coincidences are just that kind of unfortunate."

Coincidences? Or something else?

"And why do you want only Nate to take care of this?" Dawn chimes in. "If it's that bad, I don't see why only one has to go."

Wes clicks his tongue. "Sorry, Ex-Cop. Kid's already being watched over by plenty of adults. Someone her age could do her some good."

Is that right?

Dawn seems to share that sentiment as she narrows her eyes at him.

"Don't worry guys," Nate intervenes. "I'll do my best to help Miss Rosa!" Some enthusiasm leaves his voice for the next words. "I'm just sorry I won't be there to help take down the Pinchers."

...that's right. He won't.

I place a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Don't worry. With Virbank's rangers at our back, those Pinchers are as good as finished. This is more urgent."

"And you won't be alone for long," Dawn adds, placing her own hand on his other shoulder. "We'll rejoin you as soon as we're finished here." A soft smile forms on her lips. "Just hold on until then, alright?"

A smile of his own forms on Nate's face. "Thank you, guys," he says as he lets out a sigh. And just after that, he takes both of us by surprise by grabbing us into a hug, each of his arms wrapped around one of us.

I try to return that hug, but it ends up being an awkward attempt, what with my arms trying to go under the same arpit and my other side hindered by Dawn being pressed against me. Although the bluenette doesn't seem to fare any better.

When he lets us go, his smile is still present. "I'll get to the bus station right away. I'll let you guys know what's going on as soon as I arrive."

I nod. "Sure thing."

"Glad to hear," Dawn adds.

We exchange some final recommendations on how to handle his new team member, exchange some last salutations and then Nate sprints off.

When he's out of earshot, though, we both turn to Wes, who's grinning widely.

"Was there actually an emergency in the first place?"

"Sure," Wes says with a chuckle. "That specialist has taken upon herself to get the Whitley girl and a friend of hers started as trainers. She had an exercise in mind for which she needed a trainer with little experience." He drops his smile before continuing. "And given what he went through, I'd say that's the kind of emergency he needs to deal with."

Well, well. It seems my opinion of you has slightly raised just now, Wes.

The beige-haired man clasps his hands together. "Now. Mister Faller. Ex-Cop. If we're done being touchy-feeling, are you two ready to get this party started?"

Slightly.

Once we arrive at the ranger base, the receptionist has us escorted to some kind of briefing room, with rows of chairs facing a large screen and a projector hanging from the ceiling, most of the seats are occupied by rangers or police officers.

"Ah, you've arrived," ranger Summer says, drawing our attention to the front of the room - and several of its occupants to us - where she stands alongside a Staraptor, a surprisingly guitar-less Roxie and-

"Tabitha," Dawn whispers as she eyes the man in front of the screen. And I grit my teeth at hearing who he is.

Curiously, despite talking about him constantly these past weeks, this is the first time I've actually laid eyes on him. I wasn't sure whether he would look as slim as he does in the original games or as fat as in the remakes, but something in-between the two was definitely not what I had in mind. He does have black hair like in the remakes, but I'd be lying if I said his eyes match that design. And also, I knew he would not be wearing his old Magma uniform, but it's still weird to think the man dressed in an elegant suit in front of me was once an ecoterrorist.

"Please, sit down, so that we can begin this briefing," Summer intervenes, gesturing at all the seats in front of her. As she does so, Tabitha looks at the three of us impassively.

"You heard the lady."

Thanks for stating the obvious, Wes.

After the three of us find where to sit, Summer folds her arms and addresses the whole room. "Everyone in here should have already been brought up to speed. So let's cut to the chase."

As soon as she says that, the projector lights up and the screen shows a photo of a grass field, with scorch marks covering part of it and what seems to be...yellow strings of silk? What?

"Six hours ago, two of the Salandits were attacked and taken away. The Electroweb used here," she points at the strings, "came from their attacker. Only the Joltik line can learn that move naturally. And they don't inhabit this peninsula."

"That leaves only one explanation," Roxie chimes in. "The Pokémon that attacked did so under orders from their trainers. In this case, the Pinchers."

Which is all according to plan. So why did she sound so grave about it?

"While this outcome was expected and the first stage of the plan to capture them, the timing has us concerned," Tabitha continues. "We believe that the reason they acted so fast is because they were just about to wrap up their operations here when we of the Terra Foundation made our announcement. Or perhaps their recent failed attack near the refinery scared them."

Concerned murmurs start spreading across the room. As they do so, I glance at the two people by my side. Wes looks utterly unconcerned. But Dawn is glaring at Tabitha. Something I join her in as I realize what really happened. The son of a bitch tipped his buddies off and compromised the whole operation.

Damn it, Wes! This wouldn't have happened if you'd-!

"Settle down, everyone!"

Summer's command manages to draw the room's attention back to her. Before she can continue, the projection on the screen switches to a map of the area around Virbank, with a couple of red dots south of the city.

"As of now, the trackers are still working. And last we checked, the Pokémon were being taken over the waters south-east of Virbank."

"What is there at the south-east?" I whisper to Dawn and Wes, though I don't expect either of them to actually be able to answer me.

I'm right about Dawn, as she just shrugs. Wes, however, proves me wrong. "Only two noteworthy things are Liberty Garden and Unity Island."

I don't remember what either of those two is.

In the meantime, Summer continues. "We are still waiting to see where they stop, but due to our worries, we are going to need to act swiftly. As such, this base's Jellicents will provide transportation to the Pinchers' base as soon as we have news."

"What are Jellicents?" Dawn asks.

"Water/Ghost-types," I reply. "Natives of this region, if I remember correctly." Though considering how dangerous they were said to be, I'm surprised the rangers use them as a means of transportation.

"As such, I must ask everyone to get ready for a raid and-"

Summer's speech is interrupted when the door to this room is opened and another ranger leans his head in. "Ma'am, we've found them!"

"Where?"

"An islet north of Liberty Garden."

The way Summer orders to get to the bottom floor and all of the rangers and cops instantly rushes out of the room, with Roxie's hot on their tails, has kind of an amusing angle to it.

As the three of us also get up and head for the door, we are intercepted by Summer, who tells us, "Before we proceed with the operation, I have something to talk with you about."

"First of all," she glances at me and Dawn, "where is your other companion?"

"He's sitting this one out," I answer. "He needed a break after what happened at the refinery."

Summer nods at my answer. And I think I hear her mutter a couple of 'good'. She then turns to gesture at Tabitha and he approaches her. "Secondly, for this mission I'm going to ask you to take Mister Ottavio with you."

As I hear her request, my brain stops working for a moment and then tries to process her exact words again.

"Excuse me, what?" Wes asks before anyone else can, looking truly and utterly taken by surprise for what feels like the first time since I've met him.

"You heard the lady, Mister Wes," a grinning Tabitha chirply replies, taking a Poké Ball out of his pockets and juggling it in his hand. "Considering I've also played a part in this plan, I thought it fitting to join you. And not to brag, but I was a pretty good trainer back in the day."

"Abso-fucking-lutely not!" I intervene, drawing a surprised look from Summer. Wes is too busy blinking. Tabitha's smirk wavers but doesn't drop. And Dawn merely narrows her eyes at the man. "It's too dangerous to have him around!"

"I believe the same can be said of you," Summer retorts, an annoyed note entering her voice. "Your mentor and Miss Roxie are both trainers certified with eight badges. You are not. It's only because of Wes' recommendation that I'm allowing you to join."

God-fucking-dammit, that's not the point!

"Precisely," Wes interjects, glaring at Summer. "He is here because he has my seal of approval for this mission. Ottavio doesn't."

Never been so glad to have this guy around before. It's not such a high standard, but compared to all the other times…

Unfortunately, Summer just glares back as she retorts, "But he has mine. I've been able to assess his skills as a trainer myself. He can join."

"Relax," Tabitha chimes in while the two keep glaring at each other. With a smug smile on his face that makes me want to punch his teeth out. "I'll follow your lead on this. I won't cause any trouble."

Sure you won't.

Wes glances between the two before he speaks again. "Will either of you budge on this?"

"Nope," Tabitha replies. Summer just folds her arms.

"Fine," Wes groans out.

With Wes caving, we don't have any more room for arguments. And as such, we are left with just taking Tabitha along with us. Right into whatever trap he's set up for us.

Normally I'd be cursing at our situation. But something else catches my attention as we get to the elevators.

All while we walk, Dawn keeps stealing brief glares at Tabitha, with a murderous look in her eyes. That makes me realize just how…oddly quiet she was during our debate with Summer.

That's not good. Not good at all.

When we are in the elevator, I whisper in her ear. "Are you alright?"

She fidgets in place at that. Then she turns to look at me, eyes filled with unease. Then she nudges toward Tabitha.

"I don't like this," she whispers. "Not one bit."

"Neither do I."

She responds by tipping her head forward. "If I try something reckless, can I count on you to keep me in check?"

Her request takes me aback. Mostly because of what I know she's implying. But even then, I know right away what my answer is.

"I will."

She nods. "Thank you."

I just hope she's overblowing it.

The lowest floor of the base turns out to be an underground ravine with a stream in which several Jellicents are waiting. After several instructions from her, one explanation for Dawn why some are blue and some are pink, one for me that their Ghost powers will allow us to hold onto them without getting drenched and not have to hold our breaths underwater, we finally move out. First through the peninsula's underground streams and then into the ocean.

And mother of God, I hope the rangers are paid well for this shit. The moment when the Jellicent activates his powers, my body suddenly becomes light as a feather. But not in a way that feels like I could float in the air at any moment. It's just the same as before, but my body just...feels like it ignores gravity.

And that is not all. As we go underwater, I can't feel the water on my skin. I don't even feel it enter my lungs when I open my mouth. And the pressure that I should be feeling so deep underwater is just not there. It's all so...surreal. Like everything around me is not real. Just some kind of illusion.

The fact that I'm holding onto a giant blue jellyfish is the only thing reminding me this situation is very real. And the fact that I would drown if I lost my grip on his squishy body, makes it frighteningly so.

At that thought, I can't help but hold the Jellicent tighter. He lets out a pained "Jel" at that, but doesn't protest it any further. Hopefully he can take it until we reach the Pinchers' base.

Calling the place 'an islet' might have been an overstatement. From what I can see from below, it's more of an overgrown conical rock reaching up to the surface, large enough that I can believe there is a base inside but not enough that I can't see the start and end of it.

Sticking to Summer's plan, the Jellicents head straight at various levels of the rock, and pass right through it. And watching them literally phaze and disappear out of sight is about as weird to see as it sounds.

As for me, the Jellicent I'm with heads upward toward the surface and, just as he's about to reach the surface, starts circling the top of the rock. Before long, he's joined by the Jellicent carrying Dawn, Wes and Tabitha.

Eventually, the Jellicents find what they were looking for and go through the rock's walls. What's most disturbing about the experience is not that we pass through a solid object like it was made out of nothing or how dark it is as we do so or how it's so disorientating I can't tell if we're even moving. It's how I feel nothing at all as we do so. At least, outside of my head.

That thankfully ends when we...emerge into a dock? Wait, when did we start moving vertically?

"Jel!" the pink Jellicent carrying Tabitha says once we're fully out of the ground. One moment later, I feel weight returning in my limbs and the Jellicent makes contact with the floor beneath him. Cautiously, I try to caress it with my feet as well. Only when I'm sure it's solid, do I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and let go of the Pokémon.

"Cent," the Jellicent that carried me scoffs as he turns his head over to me and narrows his eyes.

"Sorry, big guy," I sigh. "This was my first time."

The Ghost-type lets out a snort and looks away from me. Looks like I've made a friend. Not.

"There."

Hearing Wes' voice brings my attention back to the matter ahead. The dock we're in is small, just an opening that leads outside this place and one steel walkway before a flight of stairs leads to the floor we're on, an elevator right behind us. If there was any doubt whose base this is, the hovercrafts scattered all around the dock and identical to the ones used by the Pinchers the other day should dispel it.

The hovercrafts are not the only vehicles inside here, though. A pitch-black submarine and a white boat with a certain infamous P-shaped logo on its sides are docked.

"Alright," Wes says as he looks down at the two vehicles. "We all know what to do now."

Right, this is the part the four of us have to play in this mission: cut off the Pinchers' means of escape. Which means destroying whatever they keep in here.

Wes pulls out a Poké Ball and calls out an anthropomorphic blue crocodile with red crests on its tail, head and hunched back.

"Feraligatr, those two are on you."

"Gatr!" the crocodile responds before diving into the water below. And one by one, the Jellicents follow right after it.

Right after they do that, Wes lets out a huff. "Alright. Now that those are out, I think we've got a big-ass Donphan in this room to address."

Oh, you think?

Wes folds his arms as he turns to Tabitha, face set in a scowl. Dawn and I both turn to him as well. And the old magma lieutenant at least has the decency to drop his stupid smirk.

"What are you doing here, Tabitha?"

From what little I remember of him in the games, I expect him to start a mad cackle and go on a speech about how smart he was, how he duped everyone, how he's about to win and blah, blah, blah.

Instead, his first reaction is silence. With pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows. And when he breaks that silence, it is in a sedate tone.

"I told you. These are my men. And if I must sell them out, I owe it to them to at least try not to make their situation any worse."

Uh...what…?

"What," Dawn says, her voice full of disbelief, "exactly are you saying?"

Tabitha glances at us for a moment. And then back to Wes, "Do you want to drop your theatrics or shall I?"

The blue-coated man groans. Which only serves to confuse me further.

What theatrics is he talking about? And where did this familiarity come from?

Wait.

"Don't tell me," I place a hand on Leonie's Poké Ball. "You two have been in league this whole time?"

Please tell me I am being paranoid this time. If Wes really works for Team Plasma, we're in so much more trouble.

The tanned guy refuses to meet my gaze. Tabitha is of a different mind.

"Yes and no. Not long after your incident at Relic Castle, I was contacted by Courtney Marge, my fellow Admin of Team Magma. She said she and several former members of Teams Magma and Aqua had been recruited by Team Plasma. This was around the time the Pinchers first showed up, so I knew the two events were connected."

"Despite my constant rejections, she kept sending me messages where she asked me to join her. Eventually, he," he points at Wes, "intercepted them. That's how we first came in contact."

Wes lets out a huff before following up on that. "Yes. I confronted him about it and offered him a deal: help me catch his old associates and in return Catcher and I would keep quiet about his new identity and make sure the International Police would be lenient with them."

I have a hard time keeping my jaw from falling. "And this was before we came here?!"

He nods. "Way before."

Oh you mothefucker…

"Then why did you not tell us anything?!" Dawn shouts all of a sudden, making me jump in surprise. "You knew Tabitha was innocent, yet you kept quiet?!"

Wes has just the time to open his mouth before Dawn turns to Tabitha. "And you! Why did you go along with...this? You could have told me there and then instead of making fun of me!"

"If my words sounded like I was mocking you, I apologize, I didn't mean to," Tabitha nonchalantly responds. "But I was just trying to do what I was told, given how delicate my situation was."

"As for me," Wes chimes in, "I know from some past mistakes of mine that actions speak louder than words in circumstances like this."

Seriously? That is his excuse? "Care to elaborate on that?"

He shakes his head, to my irritation. "That is mine alone to know."

Ooooooh, spooky.

I'm just about to call him out for the idiot he is after making things so much more complicated than they needed to be.

Unfortunately, I don't get the time to do that, as all of a sudden, red spinning lights turn on on the room's walls and a siren starts ringing.

"Wh-what's going on?" I ask.

"An alarm."

Thanks for the obvious, Wes.

"But what triggered it?" Tabitha adds. "Did we-?"

"Ga-!"

That noise and a thud shortly after draw our attention to the submarine, where we see Wes' Feraligatr pinned against it as about a dozen of tiny beige barracudas with orange fins and spinning propeller-like tails bite down on him.

"What the-?"

Shortly after, the Jellicents come back to the surface, all passed out. They are then followed by more of those barracudas as they poke their brown heads out, some baring their crooked fangs at us.

"Barraskewdas," Wes says and I turn to see he's lowered his visor, its glass glowing blue. "Pure Water-types. Looks like the Pinchers found a way to guard their stuff."

"Ras!"

"Oh sh-!"

The four of us are forced to step back as some of the Pokémon jump out of the water and land in front of us, their eyes with no irises or eyelids glaring at us as they crunch the air between us and them.

"Looks like it's fighting time, people," Wes says as he grabs one of his Poké Ball. "It won't be long before the Pinchers send someone to check what's going on." He turns to Dawn and me. "Truce?"

Dawn turns to me. I nod to her. Even with the mess Wes caused here, our goal is still stopping these poachers, that hasn't changed.

"Fine," she huffs out. "But I'm not finished with you two."

"That's fair." He turns back to the Baras...the barracudas. "Ready?"

"Ready!" we say as we each grab a Poké Ball. And then we toss them.

The resulting four beams of light then reveal Annette, Dawn's Luxio, a Plusle of Wes' and a Mightyena of Tabitha's forming a wall between us and the Water-types.

The...Baraskewers or whatever don't look worried at all. More of them just jump onto the platform. And a moment later, they lunge at our Pokémon.

[Nate]

I must admit, despite how much we talked about this city, I never actually looked up what it was like. When I saw the vegetation that surrounds it, I was expecting some kind of country town with farms and ranches and the like all over. Instead it's more...well not modern as Castelia or Nimbasa are, but still more than I expected.

Though I probably should keep that to myself. The locals might think I'm some spoiled city boy if I said something like that. Or...what was it Samantha called me that day?

A rich kid, used to having others look after him, who never once had to stand up for himself.

Yeah…

"Hey, you!"

The new voice takes me aback. I turn in its direction and am met by the sight of a girl running in my direction.

Uhm...she is not going to run straight into me, right?

...right?

I'm just about to get out of her way, but before she actually crashes she stops and doubles down to catch her breath. I watch her do so and take in her appearance. Brown hair kept into two buns but still with dangling twintails, white hat with a pink band, white shirt with cyan sleeves, yellow miniskirt accompanied by black leggings-

Wait.

When the girl looks up at me, I'm met by a pair of azure eyes with the same white pupils as me.

"It's you, isn't it?" she asks, a broad smile on her face. "Nate Black!"

Uhm… "Are you...are you Rosa Whitley?"

She closes her eyes and somehow broadens her smile even more. "Yep! Nice to meet you! I've heard so much of you from Samantha!"

I can't believe this. I didn't think running into her would be this ea-

Wait, what was that last part?!

"Rosa!"

The two of us turn to the new voice and find two people running in our direction. One is a boy my age, with bush blue hair to rival mine, a red and white sweatshirt and blue pants. The other is her.

When they reach us, I tune out the conversation Rosa and the other guy start. I'm instead drawn to the other woman, as she looks at me with an expression I can't quite read.

"Hello Junior," Samantha greets me, the corners of her mouth twitching up for an instant.

Aaaaaand, cliffhanger ;D

Thanks to Softandhappy for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you all next time!