[Nate]

So, apparently the blue-haired guy is called Hugh Leo and is a childhood friend of Rosa's. He's just become of age to be a trainer, just like Rosa, and has decided to start his journey with a Tepig he and his family raised ever since he hatched.

I have a feeling I should have paid more attention to Eugenio. This sounds kind of familiar.

That said, while Rosa seemed eager to meet me, Hugh…

"So you're who Miss Samantha said would come?" he grumbles, arms crossed and brow furrowed as he looks me up and down. "I was expecting something more."

Well, it seems he doesn't like me.

"Hugh!" Rosa lightly elbows his arm. "Come on, don't be rude! He's here to help us!"

Hugh massages his arm. With the way he glowers, I half-expect him to just keep quiet and for Rosa to either insist he apologizes again or let it rest.

Instead, after a huff, he bows his head and says, "Apologies, Mister Black."

Being called a 'mister' by someone clearly my age feels so wrong on so many levels.

"I-it's fine, Hugh!" I hastily reply. "And no need to call me 'Mister Black'! Just Nate will do fine!"

At Hugh's side, Rosa chuckles. "See? I told you he would be okay with it."

Hugh responds with a snort.

"Alright, alright, settle down you three," Samantha thankfully - and I never thought I'd say this about her - intervenes before I make this any more awkward. "You two have got lunch with your families to get to and I've got a guest to show around. Get moving."

"Sure thing!" Rosa chirps up. "We'll see you later!"

"Yeah," Hugh adds a moment later. "See you."

Not long after, the two are walking away from us. Leaving me alone with Samantha. The woman that, ever since I've known her, has done nothing but ridicule me and my friends. Some of us in more ways than one.

I...don't like holding grudges against people. But being in her presence on my own while she just looks at me with that look of superiority of hers...I can't help but frown at her.

"So," she says, crossing her arms. "Finally found the courage to stick out for yourself, have you?"

With gritted teeth, I choose not to respond to that. Instead, I ask what has been on my mind ever since meeting her again.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing exactly what Wes told you," she answers matter-of-factly. "I'm watching over Rosa."

No, that...that can't be right.

"Mister Wes spoke of a Dark-types specialist," I retort. "And you...my father-"

"Your father is not my first sponsor."

Uh? "What do you mean?"

She smirks. Though something about that smirk feels...off. "Come on, you're the son of a journalist. You know how to find news and you know I'm from Galar. You can do your research."

There is an oddly melancholic note in her voice. Resigned, even. What's up with her?

"Could I ask to hear it from you instead?"

"Oho?" she replies, now back to her more usual cocky attitude. "And why should I tell you?"

I shrug. "Why not? I don't think it's such a big deal if I can find it on the news."

Samantha makes a faux-pensive pose. "Uhm, perhaps. Or perhaps it's just my business and I don't like to be the one doing the divulging. It's far easier to be told by third parties after all, no?"

Part of me says that talking with her is just a waste of time. That she is just a bad person that will only ever take pleasure in my misery. That I should just look for her name on the Porygonet.

Another can't help but feel there is more to her words than what she is saying. And is reminded of something Eugenio once said.

People are complicated. I doubt you'll ever be able to figure out everything about someone in just a few days.

I let out a deep breath.

"Samantha."

The cockyness melts away from her features, leaving just a confused expression on her face.

"I grew up idolizing Dawn Hikari. I always thought of her as this incredible woman that could do no wrong. Could always achieve everything she put her mind into. When I learned I would be travelling with her, I was beyond ecstatic. It was a dream come true for me."

"But that dream of being under the tutelage of the perfect Pokémon trainer could only last for so long. It did not take long before I learned that she had not always been this skilled trainer. One of her first lessons was telling me of the earliest mistakes of her Gym challenge. And how not to repeat them."

Samantha listens to my words attentively and impassively. At least, until my next words make her tighten her jaw.

"And then came Relic Castle."

"It was there that a blunder of mine caused her to give up her Pokémon to save me. Me. The naive moron who had heard stories of how easily Hilbert Hymerlay had defeated Team Plasma time and again and thought he could do the same. Some might argue she made a very poor choice there."

Using a softer tone than I'm used from here, Samantha says, "Junior, listen-"

"But!" I cut her off. "That's not what we're talking about now."

Samantha doesn't look happy about that, but she doesn't protest it either.

"Despite her admissions, I was still only seeing her as Dawn Hikari the trainer and former Champion. But only then, when she could no longer hold up her facade and her pain was for all to see, did I finally see what you also saw that day in Virbank."

I can't help but notice her hands clenching into fists.

"Dawn Hikari the person. The one who struggled all the way from her hometown to the Pokémon League. And whose struggles by the end left her drained and broken. And - from what I understood - with no friends besides a Faller and a rich kid she met as part of her job."

I decide to stop there and let my words sink in. Samantha spends the next minutes staring at me blankly, her mouth opening and closing several times in quick succession.

Eventually, she lets out a snort. "Yes, very touching," she dismissively says. "Now, was there a point to it all?"

I nod to her question. "I think you might be the same."

Samantha freezes in place as her face pales.

"I think you are also giving your all to become a Champion. I think you purposefully try to have people hate you just to make things as difficult for you as possible, as that is the only way you know of getting stronger. And I think something hampered you in Galar, so you had no choice but to move to Unova."

She offers no remark to my words. Not a confirmation, not an angry protest, not a sarcastic dismissal. She just stays locked in place. Her widened azure eyes just stay locked with mine.

"And as such, I would like to know the version of Samantha Taylor the person, not Samantha Taylor the trainer."

After some more of just staring at me, her lips purse. And when her voice comes out, it lacks her usual boistourness.

"If you want to hear that," she glances at our surroundings. "I'd rather you wait until we're in your room at the Pokémon Center. I…" she hesitates. "I don't like to speak of this in public."

I nod. "I can respect that."

[Eugenio]

"Plusle, Discharge!"

The small rodent is surrounded by a yellow aura that soon releases lightning bolts. It's a widely shot salvo with no real aim, but with a target like tens of sharp-toothed fishes trying to jump it at the same time, it manages to land.

The attack is not enough to knock them all out, of course, but it forces them to step back. Though it also pisses them off, if their expressions are anything to go by.

"How do we handle this?" I ask. No way we can brute force our way through these numbers.

"Plusle can provide cover fire, but someone needs to take them head-on first." Wes glances at Dawn and Tabitha. "Your Pokémon are melee fighters, right?"

"Yes," they both reply.

"Then we've got our plan of attack. Go!"

"Shin, use Thunder Fang!" Dawn orders her Luxio.

"You too, Nana!" Tabitha tells his Mightyena.

Both Pokémon spread out their fangs and sparks of electricity form around them. A moment later, they charge the mass of Water Pokémon and start biting down on them, electricity running through their targets.

"Alright Plusle, start shooting Electro Balls! Protect those two!"

"Plu!" the yellow and red Pokémon replies as he stretches his tiny arms upward and a ball of lightning forms. It then shoots it toward one of the barracuda as it tries to bite Shin's tail.

That leaves just me.

"Annette, start by shooting Leech Seeds at-"

"No," Wes cuts me off, taking me by surprise. "You go help Feraligatr before those Barraskewdas tear him to shreds."

Oh fuck, that's right.

"On it. You guys got this?"

"Don't worry. This is just another Thursday for me."

I don't think I want to know what a batshit one is like.

"We've got this," Dawn reassures me. "Go!"

I nod and then sprint down to the dock, Annette hopping right behind me. And when we are right in front of the submarine, I get a good look at the Feraligatr. It's trying to break free from its hold, but the barracudas have him tied into a hold against which its struggles are futile.

Although, maybe if I manage to free one of its arms…

"Alright, Annie," I say as I take Seteth's Poké Ball. "I think I know what to do."

"Ra?"

I call Seteth out. Once he's materialized, I give my instructions. "Use Confusion and Mega Drain on the two holding its right arm! Make sure they let go!"

"Ra!/Sig!"

One of the two Pokémon instantly lets go of the Feraligatr as Seteth unleashes his psychic powers on it. It takes some work, but eventually Annette is also able to get rid of the other one.

As soon as that happens, the Feraligatr makes the claws of its free arm glow purple and then tears its attackers off of the other arm. And with both of them free, it's able to use both of its Dragon Claw to free itself.

However, that's not enough to beat these barracudas, as they dive down into the water again. And annoyingly enough, so does the Feraligatr.

"Hey, big guy!" I shout out at the spot where the crocodile went down. "I can't help you from above here! I don't have Water-types!"

My words are answered in the form of two of the barracudas jumping out of the water and landing on either side of me, effectively surrounding me. And then they bare their fangs, which faintly glow as misty air surrounds them.

Of course they had to have Ice Fang.

"Seteth, use Tailwind. Annie, get ready with Spiky Shield."

The Sigilyph starts flapping his wings while the Maractus just raises her arms defensively. A moment later, the barracudas lunge at them.

Annette wraps her arms around herself and hops toward one of the two. As they are about to clash, she activates Spiky Shield and stops the big fish's attack, forcing it back on the ground. As for Seteth…

"Use Confusion and Gust simultaneously!"

The combination of the psychic assault and the sudden gust of wind manage to stop the barracuda mid-jump and push it far away from us. When it lands on the edge of the dock, the impact is so strong that it doesn't get back up.

Before I can acknowledge Seteth's victory, I have to turn back to Annette. The other barracuda is glaring at her with its fangs bared.

"Annie, do you think you can pull off a double Sucker Punch?"

"Ra!" she answers, even though she can't afford to turn to me.

"Good, get ready."

The two Pokémon keep staring at each other for a bit after that. And once more, it's the Water-type that attacks first, still trying to use Ice Fang. Not too bright, is it?

"Now!"

Without wasting a moment, Annette waves her arms forward with all the strength she can muster as Dark energy surrounds her spikes. Just as the overgrown piranha is about to bite her, she manages to connect them with the sides of its head, the momentum enough to squash it.

When Annette retracts her arms, some of her spikes are sticking out of the fish's head as it lands ruinously. It tries to get up again for a moment before passing out.

"Good job, Annie!" I congratulate her, to which she raises both arms. "Now we've gotta-"

"Sig!" Seteth interrupts as he points at the water with his tail. And as I turn in that direction, I find that several more of the barracudas are lying unconscious over the water's edge. No sign of the Feraligatr, but just as I notice that, I also notice that the submarine is tipping over its side.

Son of a scaly bitch, it's actually doing it on its own. And still taking out these shark wannabes in the process.

As I look at the ropes tying the submarine and the boat to the dock, I know what we need to do.

"Alright, all hands on deck," I say as I call out Leonie and Hubert as well. "Let's start with cutting them all."

All my Pokémon respond affirmatively.

[Dawn]

"Shin, you've got two coming from behind!"

The Luxio instantly reacts by turning around and meeting both Pokémon with his paws, the electricity in them knocking both out as he unleashes Spark on them.

One thing that becomes clearer and clearer with these...Barraskewdas is that they are many but they are not particularly strong, as most tend to go down with just one move. Something I'm having Shin capitalize on.

Tabitha's Mightyena is faring much the same, though what she lacks in raw electric power, she more than makes up for with jumping around, sometimes having the Pokémon run into each other. And the suppressive fire from Wes' Plusle prevents either of the two from getting surrounded.

Still, what the Water-types lack in strength they more than make up for in numbers. And having to fend them off constantly is clearly tiring Shin and the Mightyena off, as the more the fighting goes off, the slower they move and the more they pant.

"Alright, let's try this," Wes interjects as he gets another Poké Ball. "Meganium, go!"

"Ganium!" the long-necked Grass-type announces her entrance.

"You two," Wes then tells Tabitha and I. "Have your mons fall back."

"What?" I ask confused. What does he think he's doing?

"No time to explain," he insists. "Just do it!"

"Understood," Tabitha says. "Nana, fall back!"

When the Dark-type runs away from the mass of Water-types, I'm left with no option but to order Shin to retreat as well, before the Barraskewdas pile up on him. But just as I feared, the Water-types don't break into a chase and just get in formation together again. Ready to lunge at us at any moment. There are fewer now, but I doubt the end result will be any prettier

"Well, now what?"

"Leave this to me, Ex-Cop."

My irritation at that answer manages to last only a few moments before giving away to confusion, as I see the Plusle jumping on the Meganium's back while the Grass-type lowers her head. What are they doing?

The Barraskewdas widen their jaws and jump toward us before long.

"Leaf Discharge, now!"

Leaf what?

Right after Wes says that, the Plusle glows even more intensely than it did when it used Discharge while the Meganium's body glows green. My jaw drops as the two Pokémon then release a storm of lightning and ethereal leaves that strikes the horde of fish Pokémon coming our way.

The combined Discharge and Leaf Storm manages to intercept all of the enemy Pokémon and is strong enough to push them all back into the water. When they don't come back up, we all step closer to the water. What we are met by is the sight of several Barraskewdas hanging unconscious on the water's surface. Way more than what Wes' Pokémon knocked back.

"Well, looks like Mister Faller managed to free Feraligatr." Wes turns to his Pokémon. "Good job, girls."

The Plusle and Meganium respond with cheering noises.

"Maybe lead with that next time, yeah?" Tabitha protests, his Mightyena emphasizing with a snort.

"I don't think he could have," I intervene. "Leaf Storm is good only when used few times in the same fight. The more it's used, the weaker it gets and-"

Wait, why am I explaining battling strategies all of a sudden?

"Precisely," Wes intervenes with a grin. "Thanks for explaining it for me, Ex-Co-"

His verbal jab is interrupted when the floor we're standing on starts shaking so violently and so suddenly that all seven of us lose our balance and fall down on it. And that is followed by a snarl. A furious not human-like snarl that I've heard before.

As I turn in the snarl's direction, my worries are proven true. Standing tall with his one good eye glaring toward us is the Nidoking from the refinery.

"So, you are our intruders?"

That question draws my attention past the Poison-type. Standing behind him, there is a silver-haired woman looking down at us. She wears a purple cloak similar to Wes' that covers her red jumpsuit, a shoulder pad on her left shoulder and a Control Gauntlet over her left arm. A visor of her own covers her expression, but the way her lips press together is plain to see.

"I was expecting more of you," she sneers. "Do the rangers really think so little of us?"

As she asks that, I realize that I have absolutely no idea who she is. Her outfit is obviously neither that of a Pincher nor of Team Plasma. If anything, it looks like an imitation of Wes'.

"No way," the man in question chuckles, drawing the room's attention to him. What does he think is so funny about this situation?

"The oh-so-dreaded new Purple Eyes is just someone ripping off my style?"

...seriously? That's what got his attention?

The woman doesn't react to that question, but the Nidoking utters a furious roar in Wes' direction for her. Wes just looks even more amused by that.

While that happens, though, I turn to Tabitha. "Do you know who she is?"

He nods. "She calls herself 'Purple Eyes'. Courtney said she's the leader of the Pinchers."

Their leader? Oh dear…

Purple Eyes turns to him. "And you must be 'the old friend' she kept talking about, fat man," she sneers." I knew you were going to bring us trouble."

Tabitha frowns at her.

But while that happens, something comes to my mind. "How did you get here? We didn't hear the elevator."

Purple Eyes' answer consists of raising her right arm and snapping her fingers.

"HEY!"

Turning to Wes, we find him held in the air, struggling in vain as a Froslass holds her arms around his torso and takes him by Purple Eyes' side, where the Nidoking is cackling.

"That is how."

You witch!

I and Tabitha get back on our feet, followed by the various Pokémon.

"Not so fast," Purple Eyes warns before we can do anything, as an icy light forms in the Froslass' mouth. "Unless you want to witness death by hypothermia, I suggest you stand down."

Oh no…

As if the situation wasn't bad enough, I hear a roar behind me. Tabitha and I turn and are met by the sight of-

"What is that?!"

[Eugenio]

"Ready Leonie?"

"Hera!"

"Alright, pull!"

With all the strength I can muster, I drag the exhausted Feraligatr out of the water by his arm, Leonie pulling the other while Annette, Seteth and Hubert stand in a circle around us. While I like to think me and the others cutting off the ropes helped, the crocodile did most of the work with sinking the two vehicles, and that's without considering it was fighting the barracudas at the same time.

"Gatr," the Water-type huffs out once he's fully out of the water. It then looks up to us. "Fe ra gatr."

"No need to thank us," I reassure it.

While the blue crocodile keeps panting, I check it over. Its scales protected it from the worst those mons' teeth had to offer, but its belly has a few spots where they actually drew blood.

I grab an oran berry from my bag and offer it to the Feraligatr. It takes it without much preamble and swallows it whole. And shortly after, its wounds start healing, but just enough to stop the bleeding.

"Alright, let's get you back to Wes," I say as I pull one of its arms over my shoulder, Leonie mimicking me with the other. "Hopefully he'll-"

"Raaaaaaaa!"

When I turn where Annette was standing just a moment ago, she's gone. And looking around for her bears no fruit. What the absolute-?

"Sal," Hubert hisses as he looks up to the ceiling, his thin eyes even smaller than normal. We look up as well and…

"Motherfucker," I mutter as I widen my eyes.

Annette is stuck in a web of yellow silk dangling right above us, her arms, torso and mouth all tied up by that silk. And at the edge of the web, there is the overgrown tarantula responsible for it.

"Vantula," the Galvantula screeches as its blue arachnid-like eyes glare down at us.

I furrow my brow. "Don't think that'll be enough to stop us, arachnid," I warn the Galvantula. "Seteth, stay back. Leonie, prepare to get up there and cut the web. Hubert, keep it distracted with-"

"Wash."

I look back at the water as soon as I hear that. Poking its head out, there is a fish, much smaller than those barracudas, with a white body, a blue top and a gray bottom.

And I'm filled with terror the moment I realize what Pokémon it is.

"Forget what I said!" I shout out as I point at the fish. "Everyone take that down before-!"

As its body glows and enlarges as cyan lights come to it, it is already too late.

Before long, it grows into a gargantuan monster more akin to a whale of various shades of blue, pairs of cyan glows spread all over its body. It has no fangs, but it doesn't need them with its serrated maw.

"Wishi washi!" the whale roars, its breath hitting us like a strong wind.

I stare into its overgrown white eyes. And then up at the Galvantula holding my only Pokémon with a type advantage against a Wishiwashi hostage.

"We're done for," I gulp.

I swear I wasn't planning on ending this on another cliffhanger, but the chapter was starting to get too long for my liking. The next one should end on less of a cliffhanger. Hopefully.

With that said, we get some character development with Nate and Samantha and a new character joins the cast. Obviously this isn't the same Purple Eyes as the one from Guardian Signs. It's just a lady that took on the codename as the new leader of the Pinchers. Her design, on the other hand, is based off of Hunter J from the anime.

As usual, thanks to Softandhappy for betareading. You can find us at the Fanfiction Treehouse discord server at: 9XG3U7a

See you all next time!