Gargantuan walls of stone sandwiched the members of Team Spirit in their attempts to navigate the Heavenpeak Labyrinth. The maze was so chock full of branching paths, diverging crossroads, and dead ends to the point where even Trevor struggled to map out the full layout in his head. The dungeon's confusing nature, in addition to the swaths of powerful crawlers which inhabited it, would gradually take its toll on the team's morale as they ventured onwards.

"AaaAAGH, where is this guy?!" Aiden groaned after landing a finishing blow on an aggressive, blank-eyed Swellow, "Are Silver Rank dungeons really this much more annoying?!" She turned towards Trevor. "Have you managed to find any trace of our outlaw, Treph?"

"N-no, not yet," Trevor panted, slumping over one of the maze's sandstone walls in exhaustion.

"Y'know," Aiden mumbled while tugging at her ears, "For a big ol' pile of rocks with a bunch of glowing rocks strapped to him, he's a pretty hard guy to find."

"You're telling me," murmured a deep voice from behind her.

With a surprised yelp, Aiden spun around to find Rin's dark, lifeless pupils staring into her. Aiden's yellow eyes burned with annoyance. "W-where the heck did you come from?!"

"Just got here," Rin responded calmly, "I've been trying to find that outlaw for a while now, yet it seems that I'm no closer to finding him than you." He gave a deep sigh. "This is getting real boring. I'm starting to think this gig isn't worth the reward money..."

After some deliberation, Trevor built up the resolve to tentatively speak up. "Hey...Rin, was it? Would you maybe like to team up with us for now?"

Aiden snapped her head towards Trevor with an astonished expression. Rin, by contrast, merely scoffed. "And why would I do that?"

"Well, you said it yourself, didn't you? We're all having a tough time finding this outlaw on our own. Maybe, if we all team up, we'll be able to make this mission go by easier. Strength in numbers, right?"

"And what if I just run off and take the reward myself? In fact, why shouldn't I just take mug you both all of your money right now?"

"You're not going to do that."

"Oh yeah?" Rin gave a smug, condescending grin. "Why?"

"Cause of this." Trevor opened his mouth to reveal a black, gnarled blast seed resting snugly between his fangs. "It's been in here throughout this entire conversation. Make one wrong move, and you'll regret it."

Both Rin and Aiden stood with dumbstruck expressions, eyes wide with surprise.

"You're not like any Pokémon I've ever seen," an intrigued Rin suddenly declared, "Alright, I'll play your little game for now," he said with a chuckle, "We'll find that outlaw together. This ought to be interesting." With that, Rin joined Team Spirit as they continued their seemingly never-ending search.

-

"How'd you end up in a team like the Supernovas, anyways?" Aiden suddenly asked as the trio continue to slog onwards, "You've seen what Alpha's like, haven't you?"

"Ugh, who cares anymore? It's not like I'm with him anymore."

"Don't you know what he did to Cody? The way he treated him even though he's just a kid?! How could you ever consider siding with a guy like that, don't you have any sense of-"

"Who do you think left you that Sitrus berry back there, huh? Who do you think stopped Alpha from completely crippling you?" Rin interrupted.

Aiden stood silently for a moment before tentatively muttering, "Uh...you?"

"Of course, me! What, you thought Alpha decided to leave you a little parting present after beating you senseless? Or that Gliscor who gave you two the stink-eye that whole time? I don't know what you two said but they were real pissed off. You don't wanna know what would have happened had I not been there."

"Okay, okay. Thanks," Aiden muttered, rubbing the back of her head, "But...why? You let Alpha take us out and kidnap Sunny, yet you also decided to help us? I just can't wrap my head around why."

Rin shrugged. "Cause I felt like it."

"What d'you mean you felt like it?!" Aiden crossed her arms annoyedly. "There has to be a better reason than that!"

"Ugh, you're just like Alpha. Always so heated about the smallest of things."

"WHAT?! I'm nothing like Alpha!" Aiden shouted, her features contorted in fury, "Y'hear me?! Nothing!"

Rin sighed, then looked at Trevor while motioning towards Aiden. "You live with this?"

Trevor struggled to come up with an answer. A tentative, "I...guess," was all he could come up with.

"Oh, c'mon Treph!" Aiden turned sharply towards Rin, "Oi, stop tryin' to turn my own teammate against me! And stop with this stupid 'I don't care about anything' shtick! It's gettin' on my nerves!"

Rin gave another noncommittal shrug, a subtle grin etched on his lips.

"You're unbelievable!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Rin abruptly stopped and began turning the other way. "Y'know what? This was kinda fun at first, but now I'm bored. I'm outta here, have fun getting pulped on your own."

"Well, fine!" Aiden shouted as Rin began walking in the opposite direction. "We can take this outlaw on without you! You'll see!"

"Wait, don-," Trevor began protesting, but Rin was already out of sight before he could finish.

"Aiden, why did you let him go?! He seemed strong, he could have helped us!"

Aiden stuck her nose high into the air. "We don't need someone like him, we're perfectly capable of doing this on our own! This outlaw's surely no match for us!"

-

Trevor and Aiden stood with slack-jawed expressions as they stared at the colossal Gigalith which stood only a few meters away, a giant boulder being the only thing keeping the pair out of it's sightline. The monstrous Pokémon was even larger than the Skarmory the pair had fought in Skybreak Cave, it's sturdy rock body adorned with glowing red crystals which looked sharp enough to easily impale metal. Each one of his echoing footsteps sent shockwaves throughout Trevor's body.

"...Aiden?" Trevor muttered quietly, looking back and forth between the Boldore pictured in the wanted poster and the hulking goliath which towered near them, "I-is this really our guy? That's not what's in the poster. He looks a lot bigger. And scarier. And, err, you get what I mean. W-why is he so massive?!"

"...He must've evolved since he went into hiding. The poster must be outdated," Aiden whispered, shaking her head with closed eyes. "This...this is fine. Great, even! If we can take this strong outlaw down, we'll definitely be recognized for it!"

Trevor remained unconvinced. "...Aiden, I don't think this is worth it. Let's run."

"What?! Why?!"

Trevor motioned towards the hulking Gigalith with outstretched arms, his eyes widening with exasperation. "Just look at how big he is! We can't beat him!"

"And how can you be so certain? We took down that Skarmory together, didn't we? That seemed unbeatable at first, yet we overcame that hurdle!"

"By the skin of our teeth! And there aren't any lives on the line this time, there's really nothing to be lost by fleeing..."

"Treph! This could be a once in a life opportunity for us to jump in the ranks, to catch up with Alpha's team! We're Silver Rank now, we're not the same rookies we were before-"

"YOU TWO ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD!"

Aiden was interrupted by a booming voice which which caused the pair to cover their ears out of fear that their eardrums might burst. The pair looked backwards to find Guro staring right at their location, eyes glowing in fury.