A/N

Back again, but this time with a little more action! And introducing trouble!

Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me or Koilate and we take no credit for any of them. The only things that belong to us are the human characters, the personalities of the Pokemon that are central to the story, and the story lines.


Chapter 3: Introducing Trouble

Adria hadn't checked the video feed from the previous night or this morning, so she couldn't have known about the figure on the rooftop. Of course, she wouldn't like it at all when things turned to the worst. And the Pokémon had either gone with Nathan and Maddie the previous night or went inside to sleep for the night. Cerberus was still asleep upstairs in Adria's room. Darteng was also asleep, and Firo was trying to wake up. All of the Pokémon were asleep so, as far as Adria knew, nothing was out of place. "Wonderful! Good luck on your mission to find your sister. Drop by any time, but give me a call first. I'll call you a bit later today so you have my number." Stepping into the doorway, she waved. "Thanks for the help yesterday, in the base, as well. Also, I'm not a pyromaniac," she'd never fully addressed that prior to now.

Matt laughed, amused that she felt the need to clarify that she wasn't a pyromaniac. Matt had that figured that she wasn't really; it was just something that Ender had said to tease them both. "You're welcome."

Only moments after he said something, the figure on the roof stood and chose to make their move. It was getting boring just sitting there, watching the pleasant exchange of idle chit-chat and phone numbers. It was time to make some chaos. The unidentified figure reached into the pockets of the baggy grey zip-up jacket they were wearing and pulled out two Pokéballs. That ought to be enough to properly mess with the two kids below.

Released from their enclosures, a great Tentacruel and a lithe Espeon descended upon Matt and Adria. The Espeon was specifically there to make sure Ender didn't get in the way. The Tentacruel on the other hand, had its sights set on the red-head standing halfway from the door to the gate of the fence. A powerful tentacle wrapped around the teen and yanked him completely off the ground.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of such hostile Pokémon, Adria sprung to action and her hand went instinctively to her waist where her Pokéballs were. But it was morning, and she was home and had no need to clip her Pokéballs onto her belt. Defenseless! Cerberus was upstairs along with Dart and Firo. Honey was much too young. Rylos was in the lake. All the other Pokémon were with Nathan and Maddie! With nothing to use as defense, Adria called to Honey and told her to go get the others, afraid that if she went herself the Tentacruel and Matt would disappear and she would be of no help to him. Meanwhile she grabbed the nearest object to her, which was an umbrella off the coat rack, and brandished it brazenly, leaving the semi-safety of the indoors in nothing but pink Nidoran (male) slippers and the clothing on her back to try and jump in and aid the red-headed trainer.

Matt was struggling as much as he could against the tightening tentacle wound around him. The tentacle was pinning his arms to his sides and preventing him from accessing his Pokémon for help. Shida had been knocked off and was attempting to defend him. Ender, meanwhile, was thoroughly occupied by the Pokémon he was weak against; the only thing he could do was try to keep the Espeon at bay.

With enough squirming, Matt managed to free one of his arms, but he still couldn't quite reach his Pokéballs. Instead, he threw out a hand to Adria to try and tell her to back off. "Don't try to get close!" The warning came subsequent her brandishing her ever-so-intimidating umbrella at the giant water monster with innumerable tentacles that could just as easily grab her as it had grabbed him.

The Tentacruel in question didn't seem pleased with Matt's shouting, so gripped tighter around his chest to keep him from making any more outbursts. However, his attention had been drawn to Adria and he turned his eyes to her to see what he was dealing with. She was a shrimp, really, and not worth his time at the moment. His target had been Matt and, now that he had the trainer, his next target was the closest body of water. He turned away from Adria almost lazily, instead moving to make his way around the side of the house.

For a moment Adria was stuck in place, her mind racing. Approach, don't approach, follow, help Ender, help Matt, throw rocks – so many choices to make and she herself could only chose one at a time. Behind her Cerberus came snarling down the stairs and right past her, going straight for the Espeon that was dealing with Ender. Darteng debated going after Cerberus to help or going after the Tentacruel. Type-wise, going to help fend off the Espeon meant he was at a major disadvantage. However, he'd have the upper hand should he go for the Tentacruel. Water attacks wouldn't affect him and his dry skin and poison was his first type.

He chose to waddle after the Tentacruel instead, making his way back into the house and going straight to the back door. The lake bed was behind the house, and he knew that was where the massive water Pokémon would be going; it was only logical. He croaked for his trainer to follow and avoid the conflict out front, the possibility of being injured if a Pokémon attack strayed from the target, and just cut through the house to the back. There was one thing Adria was certain of, and Matt could be certain of, and that was that Adria was going to help no matter what Matt said about it.

Of course Matt would be grateful for whatever help he could get at this point; he just hadn't wanted Adria to straight-up walk into the Tentacruel's clutches. A single human against such a large creature wasn't bound to have very good odds. There were so many powerful tentacles waving around that, should she have gotten closer, she would've walked straight into the same situation Matt found himself in. Speaking of his situation, it seemed to be looking grimmer and grimmer the closer they got to the water. It was obvious what the Tentacruel intended to do to him and, without the aid of his Pokémon, he wasn't going to be getting out of the tight grip around his torso any time soon.

Out front, Ender was locked in combat with the troublesome Espeon. The sudden appearance of Cerberus to his aid was very much welcomed because his opponent's main attack was not effective against him. The second Pokémon in the fight was bound to change the tide of the battle, but not as easily as he had hoped. Ender was familiar with this Pokémon, and it was a scrappy little thing. Just because it was going up against a dark-type Pokémon and it was being double teamed did not mean that it would be easy to take down.

Throwing open the back door, Adria had Darteng sprang into action immediately upon exiting the house. "Mud bomb!" Adria commanded and the toad took a deep break, taking in much air and moisture. Somehow, using physics and processes that Adria didn't understand, mud was created and exploded out of Darteng's mouth and straight towards the Tentacruel.

Running over to the lake, a large and enraged seahorse Pokémon surfaced. "Limit its vision with a smokescreen." The Kingdra puffed out his chest and a small puff of black smoke shot out of his mouth, exploding in mid-air at eye level of the Tentacruel, releasing smoke that drifted every which way. Next came a bubble. It was pink and very large, floating towards the Tentacruel. It was a 'Yawn' from the Kingdra. The smoke was to mask its approach.

Cerberus snarled and released a dark, wicked energy from his body, the Dark Pulse going straight for the Espeon. He was angry from being woken up so early in the morning. He was a lazy Pokémon and liked to sleep; he liked to sleep a lot and the fact that someone was attacking made him angry when Honey had rushed up to get him.

The Mud Bomb attack hit its intended target and the Tentacruel was knocked slightly off course. It didn't seem to faze the big Pokémon all the much, for he just continued towards the pond despite the attack and the smokescreen that rose up to inhibit his vision. Thankfully for the Pokémon, but not so much for Matt, the Tentacruel dove into the water before the yawn reached it and it avoided being put to sleep by the move. Now that it was under the water, the Tentacruel was in its element; it was stronger and faster under the water and dragged the struggling red-head down into the depths. Matt was still trying desperately to reach his Pokémon. If only he could get a hold of his own team, he might stand a better chance against this creature.

The Espeon darted away from the attack, off the side. The attack still managed to catch the fleeing Espeon, but it wasn't enough to take it out of the fight completely. Ender added to the assault with a Shadow Claw attack to see if he could do some damage. The Espeon dodged out of range of that attack completely and struck hard with a Psychic. It was going to have to think of a different way to take on Cerberus, but Ender was its main concern. Ender was the Pokémon it had been instructed to attack.

Adria cursed to herself as the Pokémon had dove down. Darteng could easily dive in after them, but none of his moves worked well and he wasn't good at punching underwater. However, if he could grab hold of the tentacles that were entangled around Matt, he could probably bite down to get them to release.

Darteng dove into the water right after along with his trainer who grabbed hold of Rylos and hitched a ride on him. Rylos swam swiftly down under the water after the Tentacruel. Wary of both Matt and Darteng, he used Dragon Pulse under the water to attack the large jelly fish.

Cerberus, back by the house, was already growing tired of this battle. His patience was thin as it was, and an Espeon attacking them wasn't helping him. It only made him try and go after it like a hunting dog on a rabbit hunt. Snarling and snapping his jaws, he tried to give chase; his mouth was engulfed with flames, readying a flamethrower.

The Tentacruel drew back sharply as the attack landed on its large, blue bell. Quickly, he turned his attention to the attackers that had followed him into the water. Just as Darteng didn't have any moves that were super effective against the Tentacruel, the Tentacruel didn't have much in the way of damaging moves that could hurt Darteng, or Rylos for that matter. Instead of attacking, it withdrew Matt closer to his body and thrashed its tentacles about in the water to churn it and obscure their vision somewhat as it scrambled for time. It decided that it could use one of its moves to its advantage underwater; Scald was dangerous because scalding water could inflict a nasty burn and, down in the pond, everyone was surrounded by water. It initiated the attack by firing a stream of the super heated water in the direction of its attackers, hoping to either burn them or heat the water to uncomfortable levels and drive them away.

Now that Cerberus was upset and completely focused on the Espeon, the Psychic-type knew the need to get away was high. Ender had been weakened sufficiently for the time being from the powerful Psychic attack and the large dog was too dangerous for the Espeon to comfortably take him on by itself. Growing weary of running about on the ground like a rabbit, the Espeon found its way back onto the roof by means of a few acrobatic leaps and the help of its Psychic powers and catlike grace. It pranced along the edge somewhat teasingly before retreating to its owner, the grey-hooded figure that was still standing up on the roof and observing all.

Rylos could feel the temperature rising as the stream of water grew closer. He knew his trainer couldn't handle the heat like that in the water so instead shot a Dragon Pulse below to propel himself and Adria out of the water as quickly as possible. Darteng joined them, swimming away for the moment to resurface. He was sure his trainer could come up with a plan very quickly. He needed to get to the tentacle that had Matt, and he planned to go all out and bite it as much as he could to get it to let go, but with the tentacles thrashing like so, that was difficult. Luckily, Adria had a plan already. For now, they had to flee; Adria needed to be above water to speak to Rylos and Darteng.

Cerberus snarled and barked, jumping up and down and spewing fire in the Espeon's direction clear of the roof top itself, clearly displeased and still very upset over being awoken for this.

Matt continued to squirm in the clutches of the overly-pleased Tentacruel. The water Pokémon was feeling a little smug after driving away his attackers and looked to the trainer that it had dragged down with him. Matt didn't look like he was going to be able to hold his breath much longer, especially with the tentacle constricting his lungs. By now, he had clamped his free hand over his mouth and nose, attempting to avoid reflexively inhaling water. Adria had better hurry with that plan of hers...

Ender was slowly recovering from the critical hit that the Espeon had scored on him. Right now, the Haunter was lucky he hadn't been taken out of the fight completely. His gaze followed Cerberus's enraged barking and fire up to the roof, where he spotted the Espeon and the figure in grey. Should he have been human, the very sight would have made his blood run cold. As it was, he simply scowled and turned away. He knew better than the try taking the Espeon on alone, so he didn't go to the rooftop. Instead, he went straight through the house and into the backyard because Matt had been dragged away by the Tentacruel and the safety of his trainer was very important to him. There had to be something he could do to help, so long as the Espeon didn't jump back into the fight.

On the surface, Adria gave quick instructions to both Pokémon before allowing them to dive back underwater. As they did, Darteng replayed the instructions in his head: "First, you and Rylos will travel under again. Bear through the searing water. Next, Rylos is going to use his dragon move 'Twister ' to get the water churning to grab the Tentacruel's attention while you, Dart, slip away and go straight for Matt. Be careful to not be seen when diving, and make it look like Rylos was alone when he dove back down."

The large seahorse used another Dragon Pulse to attack the large Tentacruel and began to churn the water with Twister, allowing the currents to change and bend to his will, also churning the heated water into the colder parts and releasing some of the heat from above. Darteng took this chance to swim with the current to the Tentacruel.

The plan worked; the Tentacruel was completely distracted by the sudden underwater twister that obscured the water and tore favorable currents away. It thrashed more to try remaining in its one spot and avoid being swept away in the angry current that Rylos had created. While its attention was so taken with the annoying seahorse Pokémon, Darteng was free to try and swim up to where Matt was being held still. Matt, in question, wasn't doing well. The thrashing of the Pokémon was disorienting him severely and he was on the cusp of passing out and losing his breath. Already, bubbles were escaping from his nose and mouth despite his attempts to prevent it; it would only be short moments before he completely lost the ability to hold his breath.

Darteng swam his way over into the tangles of the Pokémon's tentacles, navigating to the one that Matt was caught on. Finally grasping it, he bit down on the appendage to get the large, cruel jellyfish to release Matt. Darteng wouldn't be able to take Matt back to the surface on his own, but Rylos could power his way through using another twister to counter the other currents. Rylos was a powerful swimmer and could jet forward if he needed to, using Dragon Pulse like before. The water also felt a bit cooler, to his liking, and it made him feel better fit for this battle in the pond.

The Tentacruel's screech of anger and pain reverberated through the water, but Darteng's attack had the desired effect. The tentacle wrapped around Matt loosened enough for the trainer to wiggle his way free. Luckily, he still had some of his wits about him and reached to his belt. It wouldn't be necessary for Rylos to charge his way to Matt; Matt had his own helpful water type Pokémon. At the instant he was called, Gama the Politoed burst from his Pokéball and took stock of his situation. Without preamble, he latched onto the semi-conscious red-head floating in the water next to him and dragged him from the mess of tentacles that surrounded them. The Politoed could read the flailing currents and used them to his advantage to race to the surface as quickly as he could.

Meanwhile, above, the surface of the pond churned with all of the action below. Ender arrived to see a rather sodden Adria and the crazy writhing of the pond. "Adria! What's going on!? Where's Matt?" He'd missed out on quite a bit while he was out front battling the Espeon, but he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly where Matt was. The Espeon, in question, was watching them from the roof, sitting on the shoulder of the grey-hooded person.

Adria could still hear Cerberus barking angrily from the front of the house; still angry, but he had stopped using his flames. "That Tentacruel went straight under," Adria answered, shivering in her spot on the ground. She may or may not end up catching a cold for the air was crisp and there remained that light breeze. With few trees in this part of the area there wasn't anything to block the wind. "I sent Rylos to churn the waters and Darteng to free Matt. I can't see anything, but if it worked then they should be up any second now." Otherwise Adria would need to go back in. The water was cooler now. She hadn't escaped the scald completely. Her left foot had gotten burned and Rylos's tail was likely burnt as well. But he probably didn't care. The Kingdra hardly ever cared.

Ender looked to the water, hoping beyond hope that his trainer made it out alright. Matt was really going to have to thank Adria for this. If she hadn't been around, this could have ended a lot nastier. There was still the trouble of the figure on the roof, however, and the Tentacruel beneath the churning, sloshing surface of the pond.

Thankfully, Matt and Gama broke the surface moments after Adria's explanation. The second they were above water, Matt was coughing and gasping for air, trying to empty his lungs of water at the same time he was trying to breathe so he didn't pass out. Gama towed him easily to the bank, dragging him up onto land to avoid the Tentacruel making a grab at one of his ankles. Matt was relieved to feel solid earth underneath him again, but didn't have time to appreciate it at the moment because he was still trying to breathe properly while hacking up a lung. The light breeze that had been so pleasant before nipped at his sodden clothes and chilled him down to the bone.

Moments later, the Tentacruel burst from the water and sent spray in all direction from its thrashing tentacles. Apparently, it was angry that the trainer had been stolen from him. A loud whistle from the rooftop stopped it in its tracks. Its eyes turned to the figure on the roof.

The moment the unidentified person whistled, both Rylos and Darteng emerged from the deep waters. Darteng, originally, hoped to deal more damage to the large Tentacruel, but stopped when he noticed the creature had stopped attacking, as well. His eyes followed his gaze and to the mysterious person on the rooftop, croaking his dislike under his breath. This person, whoever they were, he didn't like at all.

Adria leaned over and helped Matt and Gama out of the water as fast as she could. Cerberus came darting around the side of the house and back to his trainer and the red-head. Seeing her and the boy wet made him unhappier, but he did nothing but take a position by them and radiate heat.

Matt was still panting, using one of his arms to hold himself up off the ground and wrapping the other around his abused ribs. He looked up at the figure with dread, but glared because he wasn't about to let them see him get unsettled at the very sight of trouble. Ender was glaring, psychic power gathering around his hands should another fight arise. The Espeon was nowhere in sight, however, and the Tentacruel had calmed significantly. The trainer on the roof – for it was obviously a trainer by the sheer virtue of having Pokémon – held up a Pokéball and recalled the Tentacruel. There was a laugh, emanating from the figure, before the mysterious person released a mean-looking Skarmory. The trainer hopped onto the Pokémon's back and took off, leaving the girl and boy behind to recover. It became apparent that this attack wasn't intended to kill either of them, only warning them that they could be attacked wherever they were and that the trainer that attacked them had been holding back. Next time they met, things might not end so nicely.

Watching the trainer fly off on his or her Skarmory, Adria's Pokémon seemed to have finally calmed down and were loosening up a bit. "That was what you meant by danger and trouble, wasn't it, Ender?" If that was the trouble... now she understood just why Matt had wanted to leave so badly. It was understandable why he had wanted to leave early and not travel with anyone, and why he wanted to find his sister. If that was the trouble tailing him and his sister, Adria wanted to help him as well. She hadn't realized it was this kind of trouble.

Matt coughed again, finally getting the last of the water from his lungs and leaving him a little breathless. Ender was nodding, floating lower to the ground so that he could speak to Adria face-to-face; he was also weak from the earlier attack and it was taking quite a bit of his energy just to remain conscious. "Yeah... trouble going by the name of Alex." That seemed all that he was willing to say, at the moment. The rest she could try to wheedle out of Matt.

At the moment, the red-head was attempting to get to his feet, still grasping his ribs with his good arm. He looked up to where the mysterious trainer had flown off, scowling and wobbling slightly on unsteady feet. Alex was trouble, and trouble had been following him for a good few days. "Didn't want to drag anyone into my trouble..." His voice was slightly rough from coughing all the water out.

Adria pulled herself up and offered her own help to Matt, letting him use her as his support for the moment. "I see. Well I admire your bravery and need to keep others out of your troubles and going to find your sister because of this trouble, but I can't let you leave now. Not yet, anyway," Adria addressed. "You need to get some help, Matt, and you need to rest and recover, Ender." She began to help Matt back over to her house. Cerberus rose from his sitting position and looked at Ender, jerking his head back a bit. Ender, if he wanted (or could) hold onto him since it was taking so much of his energy to remain conscious. He didn't know if ghosts could float when unconscious or not and if it took some energy to stay afloat. But at the same time, Cerberus didn't care.

Ender gave a rather shaky smile, rising off the ground a bit further. "Oh... I'll be okay... Just, um... Psychic type aren't exactly my forte and Psy in particular is a tough hitter." He followed them back to the house. Matt was looking just a little displeased at the fact that he was going to have to stick around a little bit longer, but didn't argue much. His chest ached too much and he couldn't find his balance yet, not to mention the fact that he was soaked and chilled to the bone. The breeze was doing nothing to help him, so maybe it would be good to retreat inside for a little bit. "Alex may come back, though..." He pointed out; a weak argument, but an argument nonetheless.

Adria thought about that for a moment. It was true that he or she would probably return. Adria couldn't exactly let that happen, but it wasn't like there was some secret room or some secret vault or cellar to hide in should he or she, that Alex person, come back. There wasn't anywhere exactly safe to hide if Alex came back. "You're still staying here. I don't have any medical field experience so I'll need to call someone who does," she informed. "You're staying here until you're fit enough to travel." She was firmly set on this decision, even if this Alex person showed back up.

"It's just a couple of bruised ribs!" Matt protested slightly louder this time. "I just need a little time to catch my breath and I'll be fine."

Ender followed behind the two trainers, Gama trundling along at his side. "I'd suggest you stop arguing, Matt. It's clear that Adria doesn't intend to let you go anywhere with 'a couple of bruised ribs'." There was some slight sarcasm in his voice. Ender knew his trainer well, and he also knew the signs of pain that his trainer unconsciously showed. The pinch of his brow and slight flinch whenever he breathed in too deeply were more than enough to tell Ender that things were a tad more serious than 'a couple of bruised ribs'.

Whatever the case was, it seemed that Matt and Ender would be sticking around a little longer than Matt had hoped.


Trouble, going by the name of Alex! Alex will be one of the main villains of this series, yay~