Riley followed Sandra to the southwestern end of Suncoast City, where there was a huge rock previously, but now was nothing but rubble. The brothers living in the apartment on the same island as the destroyed rock were completely shaken, sitting on the bench outside their house, both terrified.
Sandra and Lilly were both standing in the ghost of the rock. "Riley!" yelled both of them.
Sandra started, "Lilly here beat my gym just before you came in, and it appears that she stayed in Suncoast City just long enough to experience the explosion. She says she saw- Lilly, why don't you explain in your own words?"
"Riley, it was terrifying. There were two men wearing dark-grey suits that had lime-green trim, and a young woman with dark-blue hair down to her knees. They placed a bomb at the base of the rock, and it just shattered. I think I was the only eyewitness at the time. I was so scared that I hid behind that tree there."
"Lilly and I," Sandra nodded, determined, "are going to investigate. The route that was being blocked off by the huge rock that was here is Route 5, another water-based route. The reason it was blocked off is because there's a Guardian Temple in the dark cave at the end of the route. The Legendary Guardian itself terraformed that rock there to keep people out of its residence, but someone's desperate enough to go in for it! We'll have to go in!"
Sandra, Lilly, and Riley all hopped on their Ride Pokemon at the same time. Lilly and Riley both hopped on Lapras, and Sandra hopped on the back of a Sharpedo. She sped ahead of the two, and Lilly tagged up with Riley. "Riley, I've got plenty of items. If your Pokemon need a healing, I'll restore them immediately after any battles we get into on Route 5."
Lilly's Lapras followed right behind Riley's Lapras, and Riley encountered a wild Pokemon! Not one, but two! Lilly pitched in by sending out Elelel, who was right at home in the watery atmosphere of Route 5. Riley sent out Darwing, who glided above the waters.
The wild Pokemon that had hopped out of the water was a Pokemon that looked identical to a bell, but Riley knew better. He pointed his PokeDex at it. "Bellyp. Water-type. The Stationary Pokèmon. Bellyp cannot easily move, so they attach to surfaces like rocks. Their tentacles are disguised as a handle in order to fool humans into thinking it's a bell. Many people have lost fingers due to being bitten by Bellyp in disguise. They catch their prey by lashing out their tentacles and injecting a paralyzing toxin into their victim's bloodstream. If endangered, they can break off from their surface and hop along the seafloor."
The other Pokemon that splashed out of the water was Zipgill, the Pokemon that the Sailor from Route 4 had used! Riley had scanned it on Route 4, so he knew what it was all about. He ordered Darwing to use Talon Claw on it, and Darwing obeyed! The Zipgill fainted from the strong attack.
Lilly's Elelel used Tackle on the opposing Bellyp. The Pokemon that had been Tackled attacked Darwing by using Hydro Pump! Darwing was down for the count!
Elelel, enraged that the opposing Pokemon had hurt its partner, lashed out on Bellyp and used a Hydro Pump of its own. Bellyp, too, now, had fainted!
"As promised, give Darwing here so I can heal it."
Lilly probed Darwing to swallow the Revive that she'd put in its mouth. It flapped back to life as it swallowed the Revive, and now that it was feeling better, Lilly sprayed it with enough Potions to bring it back to full health.
Riley and Lilly both followed the water-based route to the entrance of a cove, where Sandra was waiting for them. "Lilly, you stay here. Riley and I will come back to you for healing, so we don't want you to get hurt. Riley, will you pair up with me to take care of whoever is trying to obstruct the Legendary Guardian?"
Riley nodded, pumping his fist with frustration.
Sandra walked head, Riley following, where they encountered a temple similar to the one Riley mysteriously was lead into in the forest patch between Routes 1 and 2. What made this one different was that the pedestal here had two hands on it that appeared to be wearing gauntlets, and the totem was carved into the wall of the cove, and looked more like a Pokemon wearing human armour that had a broadsword attached to the back of its head.
The two men that Lilly had described were sitting at the base of the temple's steps. They were wearing the same thing as the Team Delta Grunt that Riley encountered in Tempura Forest.
"You again!?"
Oh, one of them was the Team Delta Grunt he'd encountered in Tempura Forest.
"Me and my twin brother here are going to keep you from Azura at all costs!" demanded the opposite Grunt.
"Riley, prepare for battle!" was Sandra's very good suggestion.
And so, Riley did, sending out Burndillo for the first time in a while.
Sandra sent out a Pokemon that she hadn't used in her gym battle, a Rotom. It appeared to be possessing a vacuum cleaner, and attacked using the dust and dirt that it sucked up.
The Team Delta Grunt from before, who once seemed like nothing but a delinquent but now seemed like a junior terrorist, sent out the Pokemon he had in Tempura Forest, only evolved. "Go Vaporeon!"
That Grunt's brother sent out a Pokemon that looked really similar to Vaporeon. "Leafeon, stay strong!"
Riley commanded Burndillo to use Ember on Leafeon, and Sandra commanded her Suction Rotom to use Thunderbolt on Vaporeon.
The Leafeon attacked Burndillo with a Quick Attack, but Burndillo attacked immediately after it, using Ember on it, causing it to faint.
Rotom used Thunderbolt on Vaporeon, like instructed, and the Vaporeon fainted!
"At least you didn't beat me alone this time..." sighed the Grunt from Tempura Forest.
"I'm gonna be in so much trouble for this!" yelped his brother.
"Don't worry about it, Grunts. I got what I came here for." The young woman with the abyssal-blue hair turned around from the pedestal. Her extremely long bangs covered her right eye, and they had a streak of lighter blue in them. The rest of her hair, though, was straight like a pole and reached all the way down to her knee crooks.
She wore a tight-fitting jacket that had shoulder puffs and tapered into a skirt mid-thigh. On it was the same green trim as the Grunts' uniforms, and the same triangular D-shape on her chest.
"The quarter of the Wolf Medallion that the boss sent us here for is now within my grasp. Time to bring it back to the boss."
She walked right through Sandra and Riley, both trying to block her but unable to. The Grunts from Team Delta followed behind her, and soon the cave was emptied.
"Lilly!" Sandra ran up to her. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," Lilly nodded. "You beat the bad guys, I see."
"We beat two of them," Sandra sighed, depressed. She looked at Riley. "Their leader got away with the Wolf Medallion Piece. Someone that evil as to disturb the Legendary Guardian to get its Wolf Medallion Piece can't be trusted with such an important relic!"
She took a breath, calming herself down. "Lilly, thanks for sticking around, despite having the Flight Pass that I gave you. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you."
"You're... welcome..." Lilly smiled melancholily. "I feel so bad. I could have battled Azura, but I thought she was leaving because you'd beaten her! This is all my fault."
"No, Lilly," Sandra explained, putting her hand on Lilly's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong. Now let's go, I have something to give to Riley!"
Riley smiled, excited to receive another gift from the Gym Leader.