Disclaimer: Pokémon is still owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

Content Warning: Mentions of (potential) significant physical/mental injury in some level of detail and no holds barred attacking. (Similar to Chapters 48/49.) Burning buildings also mentioned.

Chapter 55: The Seaside Escalation

Ash wasn't sure you could call what Misty was waiting on an island, or if it was more of a sand bank or whatever. There was grass on it, but around it, nothing but ocean as far as he could see, except for a ship somewhere in the distance. Sootopolis was past the horizon to the north, Juan having told him Misty had been on the island for three days for some reason.

"Careful where you land!" Misty shouted before tropius could descend. "There's a bunch of shellder here!"

Tropius decided to just land in the shallow water, keeping Ash dry as best she could, but he still got a bit of a splash onto his legs. "Shellder? That why you're here?" he asked, head forced down as pikachu used it as a springboard to jump to misty. "Juan said you've been here for three days."

"There's a small fishing island over there," Misty replied, gesturing south. "Went and got supplies there yesterday. They're newborn and pretty weak."

"Just making sure that they can get away from other Pokémon?"

"Yeah," Misty said, setting pikachu down onto the sandy grass, right next to a hole in the ground. "Nice hair. Lance put you up to it?"

Ash shook his head, smiling as he ran his hand through his bright red hair, making it stick up even more than it had after the flight. "Was the easiest, apparently. That, or the barber near Tohjo Falls was playing a prank on me."

"Tohjo Falls, huh. I see how it is," Misty quipped before turning serious. "It's pretty grim here. You probably caught Sidney taking the fall for something. Nobody's really heard from Phoebe in a while. Steven's all wound up in what happened in Rustboro. The attacks are increasing, too. They're less effective because people are starting to fight back, but that's the only bright spot."

"Brock still in Rustboro?"

"He is, or he's leaving for the Ground Gym in the north-west. From what I hear, Roxanne is extremely on our side now." The Cerulean Gym leader shrugged before sitting down. Ash sat down as well after checking if the hole was what he thought it was. "He's been helping out with the repairs and fallout."

"And Juan? You said he was..."

"Is looking to protect Sootopolis the best he can. If things go wrong there… Wallace also should know by now." Ash raised an eyebrow. "There was a Contest yesterday, and Wallace was judging. If those two aren't talking, I'm a surskit."

That was a good point, Ash had to admit. "Okay. Did Reginald get to Tate and Liza?"

Misty took a look at the group of shellder in the hole next to her before answering. "Probably? He's… Look, Ash. I know he's sort of your boss, but I don't think he's doing this the right way. Maybe hasn't been for ages." She struggled a moment, visibly, trying to find the words. "He thinks that… That people like us can make all the difference, have to make all the difference. Like it's only the influential who can do things, but within the law or something."

"And?"

"That's not going to work if that government's already got elected and all. They control the laws, Ash. And they're trying to do some massive propaganda thing that isn't working. People don't think they're right, but without something to latch onto, they'll trust the government just enough, Lily said. Yeah, I talked to her, without details. Problem?"

Ash remembered that look all too well. He had no intention of getting zapped if pikachu agreed, or whacked with… Something. Probably a shellder. Misty wasn't picky. "But normal Trainers can't stand up to six golems."

"Yeah, they can't," Misty said, not missing a beat. "But those six can't be everywhere at once. And alright, you need the powerful Trainers to step in for those, and to deal with some other stuff too. You know better than I do how fighting inside cities works after Unova. But they can help. However small, they can help. Water-types can put out fires, for one."

"Yeah, that's true. Thanks Misty."

"You're welcome. And how come it's six? I thought they had three?"

"Not according to a document Anabel received. Don't even start," Ash said, holding up a hand and instantly realising it was the wrong thing to say. "Or on that."

"You're no fun." Misty sighed and got up, Ash following suit. "Where are you going next?"

"Brawly in Dewford. Probably by boat. Overnight, so pikachu doesn't shock me for being locked in the bag all day." He shrugged the very mild jolt off. "If Brawly is scared, that…"

A splash interrupted them, and a quick bit of work from a rapidly sent-out starmie kept them from being soaked by a wailord surfacing a bit out in the ocean. "Yeah, I get that," Misty said after returning the purple Pokémon. "Be the same like Koga being frightened. It just shouldn't happen." She sighed. "I'll tell Lance about everything when I get back. I assume he knows?"

"About the six? Yeah, he should. And he was in the call after Rustboro happened."

"Probably knows more than I do, then," Misty said, shrugging. "That's his job, I guess. Still, it'll be a few days. The shellder need a bit more time until they're capable of moving fast enough in the water and I need to pick up a Dive Ball order too."

"One of them coming with you? And we have those in Kanto too, you know."

"They're half-price here. Well, like two-thirds, but the man had some problems with a bunch of rowdy taillow, so I taught his staryu how to use Thunderbolt safely and he gave me a bit of a discount."

Ash shook his head, amused, and pikachu snorted as well. "Useful. Hope they're not like my swellow."

"Ash, just because your Pokémon do the impossible doesn't mean every Pokémon does."

~~§~~§~~

First Minister Santi of Hoenn could not often kick back and relax. This night was no different. It was past eleven and he had just put down his pen for the night, with ideas of what he would say in a speech that he would be giving soon.

He didn't know when, yet, but things were moving and not in their favour. Sidney had escaped. Kanto was at least slightly aware of what was happening, if the presence of two particular Gym Leaders was any indication. Yet they played their hand well, selecting those who would not stand out. As ever, the Grand Champion of Kanto and Johto was an opponent not easily beaten.

Soon, he would be able to dictate the terms of engagement. The incursion into Rota had been more costly than anticipated, realising nothing except a capture swiftly and violently rescued and losing captured technology once again. There was no doubt that the purpose was close to being divined, though at least the diplomats and spies in Kanto had no reason yet to suspect that. Still, the last report had been in the aftermath of the Rustboro assault and no news had been forthcoming since, which was peculiar.

Santi did not trust that, and neither did the former spy in his circle of confidence.

It was time to escalate matters. People were starting to fight back in some cases. Attacks stymied, always without a trade of the perpetrator. Those damnable Elite Four members, perhaps, or rogue Trainers… It mattered not. Those who knew, knew. Those who didn't know were unlikely to realise until it was too late.

Three targets. Saturday afternoon; a day he knew Gym Leaders were busy due to the impending Ever Grande Conference. A better time could not be found while a bevvy of powerful Trainers were in the country, and that would last for most of December.

It was time for the endgame.

~~§~~§~~

Dewford was wet from fog, but nothing a jacket couldn't solve. Pikachu nestled himself in the hood, and Ash walked the short distance from Centre to Gym without being recognised once. A Gym Trainer interrupted her katas with a sawk and greeted him just outside a fence that hadn't been there the last time Ash was in Dewford. "If you want to challenge Brawly, someone else came here five minutes ago."

"It's fine," Ash replied. "Not here for a battle." He prodded the bottom of the hood, and pikachu appeared as he took a Balance Symbol out of his pocket. "Want to talk to Brawly about…"

The black-haired Trainer shushed him with a sudden hand on his mouth. Pikachu sparked, and the hand let off. "Best not say more. Not everyone is friendly." She stepped back, and pikachu also slunk back into his hiding place. "I'll keep him distracted, but you might have to battle to cover for yourself," she said, before moving out of the way.

"That's okay. Thanks."

Inside the Gym, a battle was indeed going on. The challenger's masquerain up against Brawly's toxicroak. Spat Toxic met a strong Silver Wind, diluting the poison and dropping it onto the arena floor, and the Bug dove low, then veered up sharply after baiting the Poison Jab, delivering a Bubblebeam to the back of the Poison-type and forcing it to hold one hand to the ground. Then, a Gust, but a bit more than one, and the frog-like Pokémon jumped away from the spore-infused attack.

Then the challenger saw him, and the face underneath the hat looked incredibly familiar. They studied each other as the battle raged for a bit; both Pokémon alternating Protects for a moment.

Protect. Masquerain. A battle style focused on defending, evading, and redirecting. It had to be Danny. Ash didn't know what he was doing here fighting Brawly, but he was going to find out.

"Time-out!" the teenager suddenly called, speaking up before Ash could. "Ash?"

Pikachu got out of his hiding place, ran over, jumped into open arms, and the fourteen year old smoothly swung the Electric-type onto his shoulder. "How did you recognise me?"

"I didn't," Danny said in response as they closed the distance, embracing each other for a moment. "But I thought it could be you and then I saw pikachu's tail-tip. A guess, I suppose. You?"

"Masquerain and the way you're dealing with toxicroak's attacks."

"Figures," Danny said, shaking his head, but smiling anyway. "Sorry for the lie, Brawly. I was going to tell you afterwards."

"No harm no foul," the easy-going Gym Leader said, returning toxicroak and pressing something on a remote. Ash looked up to see a screen fade, overlay telling everyone the match was on break. "We do what we must to stay safe. Not every day I have a wanted man in my Gym, though." Brawly extended his hand. "How've you been? Palace Maven, I heard. Had any challengers yet?"

"A few," Ash admitted. "Last one day before I left. Was a good battle."

A mild shock washed over him. "Chu-hu," pikachu said, still perched on Danny's shoulder. He didn't even look like he'd had a shock. "Pika."

"Yeah, yeah, you're still sour about that Alolan raichu burying you in mud from feraligatr's fight. And I'd like to have him fight with one of yours, Brawly. Evolution's pretty recent and we never focused a lot on physical shoving."

"Can do. Suppose we'll finish this first. Call this one a draw and let the last one decide?" the Gym Leader asked.

The hat-wearing teenager shrugged. "Fine by me."

Diggersby eventually defeated a hitmonchan by blinding it with sand from the arena before sweeping the legs. Then feraligatr faced off against a hariyama in a regular shoving match, which the happy-go-lucky Pokémon held his own in, but the machoke was a huge problem. "Does the height matter that much?"

"Pretty much," Brawly said as they both returned their Pokémon. "Smaller Pokémon, lower centre of gravity, easier to buckle down and focus on the weak spots. Feraligatr aren't too heavy, so machoke went for the legs. Probably better to stay at range if you can for those. I have pangoro do that too if it comes up."

"Guess hariyama can't," Danny said. "Or aggron."

"Don't see those a lot. People with those do know their Types a bit." They shared a chuckle before Brawly started moving towards the back of the Gym. Leading them through a door, the blue-haired Gym Leader headed for a pretty sparse room, but one to relax in from the looks of it. "I can guess why you're both here. You're wondering what I think of what's happening."

Ash and Danny shared a look, surprised. "Kinda. Okay, a lot. I was going to come here with Sidney, but, y'know…"

"Rustboro happened. At least Roxanne woke up. Only took a full attack on the Devon Corporation and millions of damage to get her to see things." The Gym Leader leant back, eyes closed. "Not going to lie, dudes. What's happening out there's scaring me. Limits on Pokémon, government tryin' to get their hands on some Types of them… I don't like this. At least your uncle managed to get them away."

"All planned."

"Of course. Not a lot escapes him. Takes more than a politician to catch a Home Region Pokémon Professor off guard."

"What do you think they want to do?" Ash asked.

"You tell me, G-man. Whatever it is, it isn't good, and I'd like to know even if Dewford's been safe so far."

Ash shared a look with Danny, who shrugged. "Better people know what's happening is what Sidney said. So… Phoebe and I kinda interrogated some former politician about this last week."

The adults listened to what the teenager told them, about how the plan had been formed years ago, about what the goal had been, the three men central to the plot, and how much support they had. Nothing was particularly new and important, though Ash felt pretty satisfied when Danny told them that the Aso Mountain laboratory was now completely wrecked and unusable after someone went through it. The details about Santi and Paulson were also useful.

"Well, dude," Brawly said after Danny had finished his story and fished a bottle of water out of his backpack. "Gotta tell ya, even with Phoebe's help, that's something I didn't think a fourteen year old could do, and I see a lot of them!"

"What about, y'know, Kalos?"

A throw-away gesture. "Eh. Anyone can fight like that if they're brave or stupid enough. Or both. Stealth's a different thing. Not mine, tell ya that much."

"Not mine either," Ash added, mostly for the Gym Leader's benefit. Danny knew it wasn't from the Unova stuff he'd talked about. "Nor pikachu's. But enough about that… It's worse than you think, Brawly. Santi's got six of the Golems under his control."

"Of course." The older adult let out a deep, deep sigh. "Probably not too well trained by our standards, but two of them probably take out three or four of mine in fair fights with ease, and fighting in Mauville's not going to be fair." He fixed them with a look. "You need to tell Wattson. As soon as you can."

"I was thinking about going there next…" Danny admitted. "And Ash? How do you know?"

"How do you know?" Ash shot back, guessing that the teenager did just because he wasn't surprised. "I didn't know until I read it."

"I was with Sidney for over a month and we went to places two golems were supposed to be," the teenager said. "Emphasis on supposed. Nothing but bones and dust there. And we only told a few others. Winona, Umbra, y'know. Gym Leaders. Unless…"

"Unless Sidney was the one who sent it."

"Seems like something he'd do, dudes. Him or Umbra, and those two are peas in a pod," Brawly said as a bell chimed. "Please tell me others know."

"Lance does. So does Misty. She was with Juan until a few days ago."

"My uncle does too," Danny shared. "Well, just five. I didn't see regice's cave. Not a stretch to make it six."

"That is something." Brawly opened the door again. "Love to talk more, but ya know, Gym Leading calls. Tomorrow night, my sparring area?"

It took Ash a moment to remember, but then he recalled the island just off the coast where he'd had his second Gym Battle with the blue-haired Gym Leader. "Sure. We can get there."

"Great. Talk to you later!"

Both of them exited the Gym and didn't speak a word until they were at least a mile off the path between Dewford and the Gym. Pokémon swung from tree to tree around them, but pikachu and helioptie were enough to stop them from wanting to attack, if any actually did. This close to town, most of them probably didn't anyway. "He's scared. Really scared. Even Winona wasn't as bad."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "And can we blame him? If there's a Ghost-type or Psychic-type attack here, he's in trouble. Wonder why they haven't done that yet."

"Beats me," Danny said with a shrug. "There are lorries here for goods, right?"

"I saw one on the ferry I took. And if you overload the gems you can get a short rampage in one of those smaller machines. At least, that's what Gary said. He tested that a few weeks ago." There was a fallen tree, looking like it had been felled by a Pokémon fight, and Ash sat down on it, far away from where it had snapped. "You okay?"

"Been worse. Been better. Not looking forward to going to Mauville."

"Why's that?"

"You… No, you don't. I think. You would've mentioned it," Danny said, confusing Ash and pikachu alike, the mouse's ears up in curiosity. "The ninetales living on Mt. Pyre played with Max's mind. Put a vision in his head. Took my words and a bit of fear and…" he trailed off, shrugging. "Took my Key Stone too, because that was the thing that got him the most. All because I said Mega gardevoir was scary."

Ash looked at his starter, and the yellow Pokémon asked something, with the helioptie answering. "Chu. Chu-pi-pi."

That was clear. "Not your fault, Danny," he echoed his starter's meaning. "And not Max's either."

"I know, I know. Sidney said the same. But, y'know, what…" A distant look came over him, followed by a violent shake of his head; one that nearly flung the teen's hat off. "Ugh. Sorry. Been trying to keep that to a minimum, but I don't like thinking about this."

"Why's that?"

"The vision really laid it on Max. Said I wouldn't let him practice with the Mega Evolution – he doesn't have his own Key Stone because it was stolen – and then we ended up in Mauville, got separated, and I apparently died from having a building collapse onto me. Or something." Danny shook his head, hat flying off this time. "Really thought I was past this."

Ash didn't know what to say to that, and he watched as the fourteen year old took several deep breaths and seemed to try and remember something. He didn't get what it was for until pikachu gently tapped his tail against Ash's chest, near the end of the nearly invisible necklace.

Then, before he could say anything, Danny seemed okay again. "So yeah, obviously not planning on doing that, but between the ninetales being forced into telling us about that and those Golems… Mauville's not my idea of a good time right now. At all. Kinda have to, though. I'll get over it. Not the first time I've gone into a trap, just the first time it's been this obvious."

Ash corrected his thought from before. Seemed, but definitely wasn't completely okay. "We'll go there together. Assuming pikachu doesn't object to having to be put in a backpack a bunch of times."

The yellow Pokémon made a very obvious show of thinking it over before shrugging and jumping onto Danny's shoulder, striking a pose and pointing forward.

"Pikachu, that's south."

Pikachu probably knew that, but telling him seemed to cheer Danny up. Who was Ash to stand in his starter's way?

~~§~~§~~

Slateport on a Saturday was as busy as Danny remembered it. And chilly to boot: a brisk wind forcing both of them to wear warmer clothing. At least it allowed pikachu to come along, hidden in Ash's too-large jacket so they weren't instantly recognised. "Got the list?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, patting a pocket. "You gonna haggle on the market?"

"Might as well try." Danny had seen Sidney do it, and he remembered a lot of people haggling here on the market from the first time he'd travelled here. He wouldn't stand out, which was important. "Don't forget the, y'know."

A tug at Ash's hair was enough to confirm it, and the older Trainer walked off right into the city centre, leaving Danny to go straight ahead to the beach-adjacent market. The two locations weren't far apart, but splitting up was still faster, especially when it was this busy. Plus Danny had a late birthday present to get for Ash, since he had completely forgotten to get one while with Sidney.

There'd be complaining and saying it wasn't needed and more like that, but it was the right thing to do, and so Danny was going to do it. He had a few ideas, and the market was better for most of them.

Twenty minutes later, he immediately found something, before he'd even gotten all of the things on his list. He still needed to grab a bunch of brushes for Water-types: they'd planned to take a route with only occasional access to enough water for a feraligatr or swampert to clean themselves in. There also weren't any vendors with good quality bitter Pokéblocks around, which was a shame but klefki was going to have to deal with it.

He was about to start haggling with a merchant over a gift for himself – a globe that you could feed weak energy attacks into and it'd change colour and create patterns – when something… Shifted. Felt off. The market's hustle and bustle dropped in volume. He didn't know how to describe it, but it wasn't right.

The wait wasn't long as a torrent of fire suddenly flew up into the air, three rows over. Then explosions elsewhere, and a cold wind whooshed into the area from behind him; from the beach. Cold and…

He returned the froslass who'd come out behind his back before she could unleash her attack in full, but the sharp cold bit at him for a moment still.

He locked her pokéball as he saw more proof: a gastly flying around, firing Confuse Rays every which way into a fleeing crowd that was headed his way. He jumped over into the stall, knocking a few wares onto the ground, only to see the merchant with a raichu at the ready. "Hope you got more Pokémon, kid. Raichu's the only one left tha's fit fer battle," the man said.

"Any Pokémon helps," Danny returned, sending out diggersby and swampert in the path, and klefki closer to them. ""Protect the defenceless!" he ordered.

"Follow that diggersby," the merchant followed up as he started sweeping wares into a bag that had come out of nowhere. Danny saw the raichu jump forward, pairing up with the ground-type and slamming an electrified tail into a misdreavus on the way there as diggersby started hammering away with ears and teeth and body. "Got one other."

It was a linoone, but an old one from the looks of it. Lively, but old, brown and white fur several shades lighter from age. It immediately started helping with the stall clean-up. "Is it good at searching?" He moved back into the main path, nearly getting bowled over by a fleeing woman but managing to stay upright as swampert Protected the fleeing group of people against something. "Can it find pokéballs?"

"Why?"

"'swhat they did in Rustboro. Long – duck!"A fleeing couple his age did so on his order, and the Razor Leaves that Danny had seen form behind them were stopped in their tracks by klefki and swampert. "Go, to the beach."

The pair got up, running past him and leaving the immediate area with only raichu and diggersby and several Ghost-types knocked out around them. Gastly, misdreavus, pumpkaboo, and a couple more he didn't recognise from a distance. Seven or eight total.

Adjacent areas weren't as lucky. A pillar of flame – a stall burning – was about seventy feet over, and panicked shouts now registered – how had they not earlier? "Swampert, diggersby, the fire!" Then, he turned to the merchant. "Linoone, get the pokéballs. Can you try and return all the Pokémon to them?"

"Can do. Then wha'?"

"Get them to me, then head to the beach. It's not safe here. More room to spread out over there if there's more."

"You're…" Something made the man stop as Danny looked at him for a moment. "Stay safe. Can trust your family."

The teenager paid the merchant no more heed as he went through the gap swampert had created in the line of stalls to find a group of three Trainers his age watching over a bunch of also-knocked-out Ghost-types. A pelipper was helping to put out the fire, but half of the other Pokémon around were flammable: a cacnea with a necklace, two vigoroth, a sylveon, a beedrill, and a mawile. Everything under control. Next part.

A Confuse Ray struck him, but he shook it off with only a shake of his head and the metallic-glass jingle of klefki slamming the Ghost-type into a glass case. He sent out ferroseed, hearing the Grass-type unleash a bunch of Pin Missiles to help out as he scanned the area and saw a boy lying on the ground, thrashing in pain. He heard diggersby cry, followed by something that felt like a Bulldoze, and a glance over saw a golurk go flying and a short Trainer with half-long hair try not to fall over as their pidgeotto screeched up above before going into a dive. A vulpix also jumped into view, using diggersby's distraction to unleash a Hex.

Hurrying over, he saw that the boy had slid a couple of feet. And that…

Arceus…

Danny swallowed the bile in his throat, sending out aggron instead after he'd seen that the blood wasn't gushing out. "Defend with your life," he said before turning on his heels and analysing the situation. Golurk was flagging, but fighting as much as it could, controlled by the signal, and a Hammer Arm created a crater in the street as diggersby dove through its legs and Mud Bombed its back. "Klefki, Mirror Shot. Ferroseed, Pin Missiles alongside it. Vulpix, your strongest Fire-type attack as well. Diggersby, move!"

A thin steel beam and a barrage of missiles impacted on the golurk's side as it was caught turning towards diggersby, who had jumped out of the way, using its ear to swing on a metal pole that immediately collapsed, but it gave enough momentum to get out. Shards of the pole also flew at the golurk, but they met a well-controlled Fire Spin first.

The Ghost-type broke free, but then swampert jumped in from the side, landing an Ice Punch straight on the head, and if that didn't knock it out, the Water Gun follow-up did.

"Vulpix!" the Trainer spat, venomously. "Get rid of it!"

"Swampert!" Danny ordered before turning to the enraged girl. "Save your Pokémon's energy."

"It attacked Arthur! He…" She spun around, suddenly heading for the boy, and aggron carefully moved aside. "He's… Oh kyogre…"

Danny was in time to pull her hair away from her mouth as she vomited after seeing the injury to the boy's arm, and he focused on the memory of his Mega Evolution to not join her. It was a bloody and disgusting sight, elbow completely reversed, a shard of bone completely piercing the skin as the boy thrashed about in agony. His hair looked bloody too, but head wounds always were.

Diggersby put ears around the boy's shoulder suddenly, stopping the arm from moving and stopping the bone from striking the ground. "Good thinking."

But he couldn't stay. There was more. This area was safe, probably. The three Trainers he'd seen before came up as well as proof, one of them putting pokéballs in a bag. "Smart linoone," the tallest of them – a pale-haired girl, flanked by a vigoroth, said as she walked up. "How'd yo…."

"Not mine," Danny said in reply, stepping in between the group and the boy and his… Sister? "Need two of you to stay here, one with me to find someone with medical training and lead them back here."

The pale-haired and now pale-faced girl and her female friend shoved the only boy – short-cropped black hair, thin, but not like a breeze would lift him up, looking about Danny's own age – forward as one. "You have arcanine and you're the strongest."

"Am not." A sigh, then eyes met, and Danny was clearly recognised for the second time in five minutes. "I'll get you back, Melissa."

"Sure you will, Tommy. Sure you will," Melissa spoke up as she accepted two more pokéballs from the linoone. One of them returned golurk successfully. "We'll keep guard here, right Ilona?"

The third girl, who hadn't spoken up yet, nodded, eyes focused on Arthur instead. Then, she snapped her fingers, and the sylveon sprung forward as she knelt, whispering something in the Fairy-type's ear.

"Soothing aura. Calm him down," Tommy said from beside Danny, and a vigoroth and cacnea had appeared as well. "Means diggersby can come with us."

"Good thinking." Danny returned most of his Pokémon, except klefki, who could keep up in the air and had the fastest Protect. "And… Send those pokéballs to the Littleroot Laboratory. Even the golurk. And ask for an assistant."

"And what? Tell them they tried to kill people?!" the boy's sister spat. "That'll go over well."

Danny shook his head, and noticed Ilona do the same. "They're not doing this willingly. We might be able to find out more from them." Not, but it was a lie they'd believe. "And the golurk… Now isn't the time. Just get an assistant tell them it's like Rustboro."

"We? Not us, right?"

"No." Tommy already knew and they deserved to know the truth. "But my uncle might. And there's many others." The penny dropped, but he stopped them from speaking by holding up a hand. "No time. I don't want more of this to happen." He started a jog heading north, past the rest of the group, avoiding the craters from Hammer Arms. Tommy and vigoroth joined a moment later. "Vigoroth, cacnea, arcanine, which else?"

"Vibrava, sealeo, sandslash. Wish I had others with me." The vibrava came out at that. "Warn us for Ghost-types."

"Others?"

"Yeah. I—" Tommy said, before something exploded nearby, followed by a crackle-fizz and power going down all around them. "Uh, that's…"

Danny saw what was normally a box on the pavement engulfed in flames, a mismagius next to it, but only for a second as it vanished, evaporating into thin motes. It stood a distance from other things except for a crumbled wall into some kind of courtyard, but there were a couple of trees somewhat nearby. "Need to put that out before it spreads. How's your sealeo?"

"Fresh, but swampert needs to do a lot of this. That's probably still got electricity in there. And, uh…" Tommy thought for a second as they stopped, sending out the Water-types. "Lots of water. I think. Hydro Pump, if you have it?"

"Just Water Gun, but swampert's strong. Why?" Danny said, gesturing for swampert to go to the right, away from the both of them.

"Dad's a firefighter. There's… Something. Dunno what. Hang on! Sealeo can use Water Pulse to help as well."

The two Water-types got started, and while some electricity did try to reach swampert, Danny could see the sparks fizzle out under the stream of water even before his starter stopped the attack for half a second. Sealeo launched several large Water Pulses at the sides of the fire, looking to extinguish the surroundings first, with success.

Then the arcanine came out and started glowing a soft light blue. It charged fast, and the attack flowed into Tommy's blue-white Water-type. "Everything you have, swampert."

The tap opened a bit more and between that and the obscenely large Water Pulse that detonated right on the box, the fire vanished, with a large area around soaked in water. Some of the splash had even reached swampert's feet, and he was at least forty feet away. "That's that."

Now that the fire was out, Danny frowned. Something didn't feel right. Why were they the only ones here, on the main route from market to city centre? The street took a corner up ahead, around a large and de-powered office building, but… It was too silent. There should have been more everything. As it was… The sounds filtering through weren't as common as he'd expect. "Something feels off. Keep arcanine out."

"Will d—LOOK OUT!"

Klefki used Protect, but the attack behind it punched through the shield, though not before Danny had had the wind knocked out of him by the large Fire-type grabbing him to safety. Then, arcanine spat a powerful Fire-type attack that hit an aerodactyl straight-on before a thunderbolt forced swampert to intercept bodily as three other Pokémon appeared in response to the danger.

Aerodactyl, some Electric-type, and something that had used Moonblast, Danny could see through swampert's Protect that diffused the Fairy-type attack. A moment later, as he returned klefki, the identity of the Electric-type became clear: an ampharos that put up what looked like a Light Screen, visible in the gap between aggron and swampert, maybe sixty feet away. It was standing not too far from an alleyway between another office building to the right and a lower building that looked like a boarded-up shop or something to the left.

"Aggron, keep us safe. Diggersby, swampert, move up. Ferroseed, Pin Missiles."

"Arcanine, sealeo, vibrava, you do the same. Vigoroth, help aggron!" Tommy ordered, looking shaken as he helped Danny up. "You okay? That was a Hyper Beam!"

A slight shiver ran down his spine, but the now-hatless teenager – where had that gone? – ignored it. As best he could. "Not the first time," he said, heart pounding in his chest. "But I owe you and arcanine." He turned back to the fight, noticing that the aerodactyl had taken to the sky, where vibrava was challenging it as best it could. "Nothing with an Electric-attack on your team?"

"Not with me… You have a Pokémon left, right?"

"That's froslass." A second Moonblast rocked the front line, but from a different roof than before. Higher. A mobile Fairy-type? "Aggron, swampert, swap," Danny said as he closed his eyes for a moment, looking for the memory he needed. Calm washed over him. "Block those Moonblasts."

An Ice Beam shot into the sky, forcing the aerodactyl to fly low enough that swampert could land a Water Gun. A grazing hit, and the revived fossil was mad about it, but another wave of attacks – Dragonbreath, another Water Gun, Aurora Beam, and a Focus Blast from the vigoroth forced it to stay away from the Trainers. Meanwhile, arcanine and diggersby were trading blows with the two other Pokémon: Dragon Pulse and Shadow Ball meeting a spat Flame Burst and some Mud Bombs.

The flying Pokémon was a problem. Doubly so because Tommy's vibrava was clearly outmatched. An at-speed wing cuff forced the green Pokémon down at least ten feet, and vigoroth's second Focus Blast forced the Rock-type away, but it was clear that it had eyes on them, looking for another opening to try and hurt or kill them.

But the odds weren't overwhelming. This wasn't Geosenge. They could beat the aerodactyl. It was just a matter of figuring out how.

Aggron picking ferroseed up from the ground to launch some Bullet Seeds at the Flying-type gave Danny an idea. "Swampert, back front. Aggron, back here," he said, and he noticed Tommy – who had been managing three Pokémon at the same time, ordering them around with precision – looking a bit worried. "We'll beat them," he said as he looked up into the sky as well.

"Could use that Mega aggron…" the other teenager stated, wincing as vibrava took another wing cuff. This time, it looked like Steel Wing. "Vibrava can't take much more."

"Not an option," Danny replied. "I have an idea. Just need to slow it down enough."

Tommy nodded. "Sealeo, Blizzard. Arcanine, use Helping Hand." A pokéball appeared in hand. "Ready."

A short moment of tracking – the aerodactyl was far away, coming in for an attack run on the vibrava with Iron Head – before he told ferroseed and aggron what to do.

The Blizzard was perfect. The pitch wasn't, but it was close enough: the flying ferroseed blowing up about ten feet above the opponent and creating a ton of pressure that forced the aerodactyl down at least thirty feet, right into the path of four attacks.

And then some eight-hundred pounds of Steel-type left specific moves be and just jumped on top of it.

A glint of something caught Danny's eye, and he turned around, only to see…

A gardevoir. That gardevoir. Glowing light blue. "DOWN!"

Tommy was hit by the Psychic, for a second or two before the vigoroth shoved its trainer out of the way, taking the attack onto itself. It took another five agonising seconds for arcanine to try and Flare Blitz it, followed by an Ice Ball that went through thin air as the gardevoir Teleported out. Damn it!

The gardevoir meant Paulson, meant a chance to save gardevoir's mother, meant a chance for revenge. Desire filled him, but he instantly realised he couldn't. Not safely. "Aim for the arm on gardevoir!" Danny said, before getting up and rushing to Tommy.

The other teenager was twitching on the ground, but his head was still. A foot kicked Danny, but he managed to get his hands under Tommy's head, lifting it so it couldn't slam into the street any longer. Vigoroth was nearby, groaning, already past the attack. Arcanine leapt up and kept guard as something white shone behind them. Danny didn't look over, suspecting what it was and approving.

Deep breath in, and out. Calm. Steel. Detachment. No time for revenge.

The jerking stopped, and Danny saw awareness return. Something exploded nearby, but green protected them. "Easy," he said when Tommy tried to move. "You know what happened?"

"Seiz… No, Psychic, wasn't it?" The black-haired teen made to sit up, managing under his own power as a spray of electricity arced around them, deflecting off of another Protect shield. He shook his arms, then his lower legs, and then he noticed something that made Danny look up as well. "Go walrein!"

The newly-evolved Ice-type reacted by blasting an Ice Beam into the area where the ampharos had been, and Danny saw it clash with some other blue, which meant the gardevoir was also there. A jagged line of lightning was easily disrupted by swampert this time, while diggersby had taken over guarding the knocked-out aerodactyl. "You okay to stand up? Need to move."

"Need to lean for a minute." Danny raised an eyebrow at the admission. "Legs feel weird." The arcanine approached, offering its back. "No. Need you to fight."

The Fire-type nodded and did just that, sending a Fire Blast against the opponents as Tommy put an arm around Danny's neck. "One, two, three," he said, lifting on three. It wasn't hard, and while he had to stay hunched a bit to allow leaning on his shoulder, the other boy could walk under his own power, just slow. "Need to go there. Need to…"

What he needed was no longer relevant as he saw the gardevoir and ampharos Teleport out. Arcanine wheeled around, and Danny turned his head as best he could, looking to see if there was an attack coming, but there was nothing anywhere near them. Not in the street off to the centre, not in the windows of the office building, not behind them, not in the nearby tree that was short a few branches from deflected attacks… Nothing.

"They're… Gone?"

"Arcanine," Danny said, and the Fire-type loped over. "Support your Trainer for a bit. I need to check something."

He ignored the protests and headed for the abandoned area, swampert and aggron instantly falling in line and a moment later, a sandslash joined them.

And there, in the alleyway, right next to a dumpster, was nothing. Nothing except…

Electrode used Explosion.

Two Protects flew up, but the blast was powerful enough to send Danny flying backwards.

It hurt. Everything hurt. He tried to move, couldn't move, arms, legs, hands not working. Eyes worked. Smoke. Where? Pain.

Swampert, aggron, sandslash, Tommy, arcanine. "Danny? Danny?!"

"Ouch." One. Two. Three! With a supreme effort, he willed himself to move and… Could. It hurt, sore all over, but he could. "Aggron. Swampert. You okay?" Both of them gave nods, and the Steel-type walked up, allowing Danny something to lean against. "Was a trap. Should have seen it…"

"You need a doctor," Tommy said, also leaning on arcanine. "It… What's that?"

That was a Flying Pokémon that Danny spotted after Tommy pointed at it. Orange, and with a rider, it still took him a moment to realise who it probably was. "Ah, cavalry."

"Cavalry?"

Danny ignored him, and he only had to wait another fifteen seconds before charizard landed, Ash and pikachu jumping off immediately, the Electric-type's cheeks sparking as he looked for any opponents. "They're gone, pikachu. We fought them off."

"The hell happened to you?" Ash asked in return. "And who's your friend?"

"Long story. Tell more later. Pikachu, catch." Danny lobbed ferroseed's pokéball at the mouse, who caught it as expertly as a foot high rodent could. "Ferroseed's somewhere there. Return him, will ya?"

"Chu."

"Eh… Ash Ketchum? Aren't you…"

"Not now, Tommy," Danny interrupted. "Ash. Paulson was here. Aerodactyl tried to get us with Hyper Beam. Then gardevoir used Psychic on Tommy. Then he fled and I walked into an electrode trap."

"He was guarding one of those things?" Ash asked. "Froslass? All Ghost-types got out of their balls. And why are you here?"

"Stasis. Was fast enough. And went looking for medic. There's a boy with…" An urge to cough overtook him.

"… arm," was the first thing he heard again after. "Really badly broken. Went looking for the medic, put out a fire, then aerodactyl attacked us."

"Klefki bl—blocked most of the attack," Danny picked up again, needing only a small clear of his throat. "Had to be creative with beating it." He looked past Ash, and spotted yellow moving back. Good. "Aggron threw an Exploding ferroseed above aerodactyl. Got it down long enough."

"Good thinking, but we need to get out of here," Ash said, sending out tropius. "Get our stuff, then away before…"

Danny returned swampert and aggron, and tried to whistle on his fingers for diggersby. That failed, but the Ground-type came anyway. "I know." He tenderly turned to Tommy. "Need you to keep the name and gardevoir secret, okay? If your friends ask, it was a… Something else. Ghost-type that can use Psychic. Gengar or something."

"Okay, but…"

Tommy didn't understand, but he had helped. Danny made a snap decision. "Contact my uncle in a week. Call after eight in the evening and ask for him. Drop my name if you have to. I'll send him a letter."

He walked forward a few steps, everything hurting and his back feeling… Exposed. Reaching around gingerly – as best his muscles let him – proved enough. The shirt was ripped, and his fingers came away very slightly moist, but not blood red. It was going to hurt, later. Then, with a little help, he got onto tropius's back, and the Grass-type set off after diggersby leapt into the pokéball.

Charizard was soon behind them.

~~§~~§~~

Paulson Teleported into Santi's residence without a word, only having shed his clothes into the incinerator, replacing them with a fresh set. "How did Slateport go?"

"Poorly. Birch was there," Paulson admitted. "Had a friend with him. Not the escapee, some random kid. Tried to get them with aerodactyl and gardevoir, but didn't work. Left an electrode trap, but doubt that'll work," he added, begrudgingly. "The attack here is over, correct?"

"Correct," Santi replied calmly, shuffling some papers. "It would be best if you showed yourself in the aftermath. Provide enough of a presence to make the Professor hesitate on an accusation. The reports streaming in will make it easy for us to control the narrative."

"It worked, then?"

A gesture towards the side caused Paulson to notice the muted and small screen. On it, an inferno was visible. A tall building, burning like there was no tomorrow, with the text scrolling underneath suggesting the area was still unsafe as Pokémon roamed it.

The Lilycove Department Store was no more, and with it, numerous civilians.

In war, sacrifices had to be made. It was worth it.

"I will declare martial law tonight."

Author's Note: Yeah. This chapter and the next ain't fun for anyone involved.