Something's wrong.

We all knew it, even before bad things happened. Luckily for us, we hid our young as soon as we could. Of course we hoped nothing would really go wrong, though.

But it still happened. It started with a Patrat, and of course we fought it off. But there were more. And then even more, and still more after that...we learned they belonged to a group of humans. By the time we discovered this, some of us even lost our freedom.

The humans ran away to the Castle, taking their Pokemon with them. They would be back, but we were not going to lose anyone else. We would be ready this time.

To keep them away, we shoveled and tossed around sand with our snouts and tails to make a bigger sandstorm. We thought it worked, but...

What's that?

A sound?

Not our sound.

Humans.

Enemies.

There might be more.

We need to get rid of them.

I took the lead of the group, silently burrowing closer to the sounds. To think we started trusting the humans. What a mistake. As soon as the human's foot was in view, I growled to signal the attack.

The teen was barely aware that she and the detective had lost each other, more preoccupied with her dread for what was to come. Would the grunts in Unova even recognize her? If they didn't, then there wasn't really a need to hide. But what if they do? Better yet, what if they even knew what was going on? Memories of that white room and that dark space gripped her mind. Have I even been free this whole time? Is this a trap? No, then they would have done something by now. She insisted, shaking away the bad thoughts. "Hey, Amy...could we maybe—" A sudden pain in her ankle made her yelp before she even got the chance to ask anything. Upon looking down, she saw a rather agitated Sandile attached there. It didn't look ready to kill, but the bite was really beginning to sting. That, along with her current jumpy state, wasn't exactly a great way of keeping her calm.

"Amy! Help, I—No, stay away!" Annette shrieked, trying to shake the Sandile off her ankle. As more and more of the alligator Pokemon surfaced, she grew more and more frantic. "Loki!" She hastily called out her Delcatty, who was immediately out and ready to fight. He hissed and leaped for the nearest Sandile, which concerned the wild Pokemon until each of them discovered something important about him: despite his short temper, the Delcatty was laughably weak. It only took one or two hits before he became fatigued.

The Sandile had him surrounded in seconds, but a yowl in the distance offered just the distraction Loki needed. The Delcatty tackled one Sandile away and bit down on its tail before running to Annette.

This is bad... Annette and her Pokemon's weak attempts to fend off the swarm were starting to grow even weaker; there were simply too many of them. None of the Pokemon were leaving serious wounds, but getting bitten and scratched over and over was taking its toll. Losing hope, she recalled her Delcatty and moved her arms up to shield her face. Team Plasma was nearby and she guessed the Sandiles were probably murderously fearful towards humans now. I didn't think...it would end like this.

Yet another yowl echoed, this time both louder and closer. Before the Sandile could wonder what was up, they were tossed aside by powerful claws. No longer worried about the girl, the Pokemon swarm focused on this newcomer.

Realizing that nothing was attacking her anymore, Annette lowered her arms and breathed in relief at what she saw. There, fighting off the Sandiles, was the detective's Pokemon. "Zangoose! Is Amy with you?"

Zangoose simply chirped in response, more focused on the hordes of Sandile surrounding him, but his trainer quickly arrived on the scene.

"Oh good, you're okay!" The detective panted, trying to catch her breath only to take in some sand and start coughing. "Ack, ow...that was a bad idea...ow...But anyways, justice has arrived!" She pumped a fist

Is it really a good idea to trust her with my life? Annette wondered. Of course, Amy was doing a much better job than her at fighting the Pokemon off. "Amy, did they attack you, too?"

"Yeah, but only a few. Apparently this is where the rest of them were...Zangoose, Close Combat!"

The teen blinked in confusion. From what she remembered, that attack left its user vulnerable, making it less than ideal for an entire swarm. She probably knows what she's doing, but... "Are you sure it's a good idea to use that when there's so many—"

"—Close Combat again!"

I don't think she's listening.

Obeying his trainer, Zangoose sheathed his claws and sent a flurry of punches at the wild Pokemon. As each fainted Sandile gave a boost to his ego, the cat-ferret began to drop his guard.

"Yeah, you're doing great!" Amy cheered, to which her Pokemon howled triumphantly. When this was all over, Team Plasma wasn't going to stand a chance!

While Zangoose's attack had taken out a fair number of the Pokemon, there were still about twenty or so left. Even so, he was just about ready to take them all on when a particularly sneaky Sandile surfaced from the sand beneath him and bit down on his tail, making him flinch.

That was just the opening the Sandile needed. Within seconds, they were piled on top of Zangoose to hit him with as many scratches and bites as they could manage.

"Zangoose!" Amy called out, then reluctantly held out a Pokeball. "Return..." A flash of red light enveloped the pile of Sandiles, and then they fell to the floor in confusion as Zangoose was called back into his Pokeball.

"Amy..." Annette hurried over to the detective's side, eyeing the puzzled Sandile army warily. "Do you have any other Pokemon you can use?"

"Well, Zangoose was my strongest...I think Staraptor can handle—hey!" Just as she reached for a Pokeball, one Sandile had leaped up to bite her hand. "Get off, get off!" The detective waved her hand around, frantically trying to shake the creature off.

"M-miss Amy, calm down! If you don't send something out soon, they'll...aah..." Trembling, Annette backed away from the approaching swarm. "When did they double?...Amy?" The woman in question offered no comfort, as she was too busy trying to get the persistent Pokemon off of her hand. "L-Loki, go!"

The weakened Delcatty stumbled forward as soon as he was out, but only made it a few steps before falling on his side with a frustrated growl. Even at a time like this, he still couldn't be any help.

"No, don't fight them. Use Sing!" Annette said quickly.

After blinking a few times and staring at his trainer, the Delcatty mentally smacked himself for not thinking of that earlier. Sitting up straight, he raised his chin and meowed a soothing lullaby, even adding in a purr or two for good measure.

As the Sandile's grip weakened and it fell to the ground, Amy flexed her hand a bit with a sigh of relief. "Ahh, finally. Wait..." It was then that she became aware of the singing. "Annette, that'll put us to sleep, too! Tell your Pokemon to stop...oh." Apparently it was already too late, as when she turned to face her, the teen was already sound asleep. "Come on..." The detective swayed a bit as Delcatty showed no signs of shutting up any time soon. "What if the Pokemon wake up...before...befo...zzz."

It wasn't until the last Sandile in sight fell asleep that Loki stopped meowing to look around. Proud of a job well done, the Delcatty gave a nod and strolled over to sit at his trainer's side to keep watch. Ha! Take that, Zangoose. Sure, both of the humans falling asleep was an unwanted side effect, but at least he took care of the swarm. That was enough for him.

Claydol paused, noticing that the sandstorm hadn't just calmed down—it vanished completely. Apparently the two were able to handle the Sandile swarm, contrary to its master's beliefs.

...Or so it thought, until it spotted a field of unconscious Sandile and two humans in the sand. The only thing moving was an injured Delcatty, and it was easy for the Claydol to guess what transpired at that point. It floated closer, knocking the cat Pokemon out with an Ancientpower attack the instant it was spotted, then stopped above the group.

Annette, Amy, Delcatty, and Claydol's figures flickered briefly before disappearing. As they all reappeared within a dark hallway in the Relic Castle, the Claydol remained puzzled at how remarkably easy this mission turned out to be.

"So they didn't make it through after all, huh? Well, looks like there was nothing to worry about," a Plasma grunt remarked as he approached, calling Claydoll back to its Pokeball. As a few more grunts arrived to carry the two girls away, he spoke into a transmitter. "Everything went without incident, sir...understood. We'll be waiting."

"So Alfred, what does he want us to do?" One grunt asked as she scooped up the fainted Delcatty.

"He wants to see for himself whether we're telling the truth," Alfred replied with a sigh, watching the other grunts leave with Annette and Amy.

"Aww, it's like he doesn't trust us," she whined.

"Gee, I wonder why. It's definitely not because we let a single kid stop our plans in the past few years alone. Twice," he remarked, growing bitter at the memory. After losing first to a mere boy and then to an even younger girl two years later, it had taken forever for Alfred to restore his reputation. Granted, the kids were both strong enough to defeat Ghetsis, but the grunts should have been able to stop them back when they were just weak newbies. No wonder the boss couldn't fully rely on his subordinates.

"Well, that's only the veterans' faults. I think the rest of us should have a second chance!"

"You..." He cut himself off and had to stay content with a shake of his head. She didn't know he was one of those veterans, so there was no reason to take the insult personally. "Judy."

"Yes?" The grunt asked, having taken to cuddling the fainted Delcatty somewhere during the conversation.

"Just...get that Pokemon in a Pokeball or something. That thing'll claw your face off otherwise, kid. Better yet, just put it in a cage since getting its Pokeball might take too long."

"Sure thing~!" Judy chirped and skipped away, leaving the elder grunt shaking his head.

"We're working to reshape the world, so why am I stuck with leading these kiddy missions?"

Unova Police Department, Opelucid City

"Come in," the head of Unova's Police Force called after hearing a knock on the door. When what looked to be a child walked in, his brow furrowed in mild concern. Whenever this kid had something to say, it was rarely good news. "Mr. Smith. What brings you here?"

"Hey there," Smith replied, taking a seat at the desk. As always, the man in front of him wore that permanent involuntary scowl, made more intimidating by his scarred face. "Well, Mr. Johnson, I'm here because I've heard rumors."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Out with it, boy. I know you wouldn't come here for that unless you knew they held some truth."

"Ha, true. You see, I've heard Team Plasma is rebuilding, and I know how we might slow it down long enough to catch them."

"If I wasn't hearing this from you, I would have written you off as a lunatic," Johnson remarked. "Go on."

As much as Smith didn't like the idea of mentioning anything related to Team Plasma in front of the police, he continued. This was all part of the boss's plan, he reminded himself. "I say we should restrict their movements. If you impose a law that limits traveling to only those who have enough gym badges, then nobody without a trainer card—or more importantly, a full record in the database—will be able to get anywhere. That way, if you station guards, you're certain to catch at least one."

"That's crazy! I will not hinder every citizen's travels over a mere rumor, even if it's from you. When I know for certain that they're rebuilding, I may reconsider."

"Hmm, is that so? Oh, well." Smith stood up and shrugged, but showed no signs of leaving. "I suppose there was no avoiding this. Something was bound to happen to you eventually."

It was then that Johnson grew suspicious. "Smith, what're you pl—!" Feeling a sharp blow to the back of the head, the man slumped over in his chair, unconscious. Behind him, the air became distorted until a black fox Pokemon appeared in its place.

"Good job, Zoroark. Now, If you will..." At the command, the Zoroark closed its eyes and Smith began to flicker before taking on Johnson's appearance. He held out his hand and inspected it, then looked to his dim reflection in the window. "Thank you. Now, make sure nobody notices you when you take him to the facility."

The fox Pokemon growled once before picking up the man and vanishing into thin air, leaving Smith sitting in his new desk.

"Now, time to issue a few orders..."

Author's Note: Well, that took a lot longer than I would've liked. On the bright side, it looks like those sicknesses got bored and left to find a new town! I hope this chapter turned out to be worth the wait, though.

Oh, Smith. You just reek of suspicious-ness, man.

As always, enjoy and thanks for reading!