Volkner pressed a hand against the rough wall to pull himself up to his feet, groaning lightly as the debris in the area pressed up against his palm and even broke his skin a little. But it was the least of his concerns; it was a bit more important that, towering above him was a Gallade, its elbow-blades barred fiercely as if it was intent on slitting Volkner's throat with them.

But as he blinked, the creature disappeared, and Volkner realized the fate he was being left to. He was in a dimly lit place, only barely able to see a few steps in front of him, and he probably wouldn't be able to find his way out. He was on his own here, and he didn't imagine there were any Wild Pokemon here. So he was also more than likely without food or water.

He had been taken here to die an agonizingly slow death.

"Damn it," Volkner cursed. "If I had Chuseph or Elekid, I could get out of here... but Chuseph's pretty much useless unconscious, and Elekid was left at the battle scene... I get the luck of being stuck in this dingy, dratted place with only a baby Eevee!"

He kicked the wall, and immediately recoiled, falling on his bum and grabbing for his foot. Despite the ancient appearance of the place, it was made of a very sturdy brick it seemed. He cried out in frustration, before turning to hope he was wrong – and walked into the dark hallways of this unknown labyrinth.

Flint barreled through Solaceon Town like his life depended on it; he didn't know why, but he felt like just maybe some other lives did. He remembered he had a dream. It was vivid, yet he couldn't remember much of its message - just that he had run into an odd girl who told him something. Perhaps this was it? He doubted it. After all, he was the flaming fire expert, not a psychic like Kanto's newly appointed Gym Leader Sabrina.

"Young man, slow down some, you'll hurt yourself!" a voice cried out. He was moving so fast that it was not from a decipherable source: someone dressed in blue had simply become a flash of the color to him as he passed him or her on his way through the very small little village.

He arrived at its end in no more than a few minutes. His breathing got harder by the second, but he could have cared less, and he was sure Mags could go on for quite a while longer. He turned a sharp curve to avoid a ditch, while Mags just hopped right on over it - proving his point. He allowed himself a choked laugh to somehow escape him, and turned another sharp curve around to go back on path. Yet another curve came around, and when he crossed it, he saw the battle scene.

Two women were locked in what appeared to be an intense Pokemon Battle with a young man: his hair was a dark shade of blue, down to his shoulders with bangs nearly covering his eyes. His face held an aura of malice to it that made Flint shudder through his gaps.

The women were standing side by side. One had long brown hair down past her shoulders, unstyled, with a red dress on. The other had brown khakis of a similar color to the other woman's hair, a green shirt and a black cape-like thing draped over her shoulders. Her hair was a caramel brown. In front of them, the caramel brown girl had herself a Turtwig, dancing around the field to avoid attacks by one of the opponents Pokemon - a white and green knight-like Pokemon he recognized as a Gallade. The regular brown girl had the gigantic rock snake that he recognized as Onix, slamming its tail down forcefully, causing small tremors in the process, in the spot where a white-skinned Pokemon with a bit of green that looked like it was wearing a dress was at the time: it kept teleporting around the battle field to avoid the crushing attacks. He believed it was Gallade's (typically) female counterpart, Gardevoir.

Flint reached toward his belt and unhooked a Pokeball. He allowed himself just a few more seconds to regain his breath before yelling out to gain some attention, "Flare, come on out! Mags, Flare, both of you help them out!"

He tossed his arm forward and from the thrown Pokeball came a small red Pokemon, standing on all fours, its tan mane seeming to waver due to the air around it suddenly getting very, very hot. It was the fire-type evolution of Eevee: Flareon.

The two women turned around and glanced at Flint - before they seemed to simply enjoy the fact that they were going to be helped.

"Turtwig, make room for Flareon!" the caramel brown woman yelled, and her Turtwig consented with ease. It appeared to be very tired, and Flint nodded toward the girl.

"Return it. I'll take over. You too, snake-girl."

Snake-girl seemed a little hesitant, but she too returned her Pokemon after the caramel brown girl did as well.

Flint ran forward, and glanced at their attacker.

"Heh. Attacking two innocent little ladies, eh?" Flint said between breaths. "I oughta beat your butt into the ground for such a heinous crime."

"..." The attacker did not speak. He did not need to anyway: he had two psychic types that were fully evolved. It meant they were experienced, and probably didn't need to be commanded.

So Flint simply decided to attack.

"Flare, attack Gallade with Nitro Charge! Mags, burn 'em up with Lava Plume!"

Flare began stomping the ground with his front two paws for a few moments, his body covered in an orange aura that radiated heat. Then he rushed forward toward Gallade.

Mags opened up his mouth, looked skyward, and shot three bursts of a chunky looking liquid upward into the sky, where it came raining down: Gardevoir teleported out of the way, and the lava landed on the ground with a hot hiss. Gallade lifted up his arm to provide a protective shield... and Flare was hit with the third.

Flint smiled.

The intensity of the orange aura around Flare's body increased, and he slammed right into an unsuspecting Galade made too busy to dodge by the flames pouring down on him, knocking him down to his knees and eventually right onto his face. The assaulter recalled his Pokemon with a scowl, and then finally spoke.

"You're going to pay for that. Gardevoir, keep dodging attacks with teleport, but use Calm Mind," he said. His voice was low, seething.

Flint felt an odd sense of dread at this; he'd have to end it quick. He returned Flare, and sent out his next Pokemon: a Pokemon with black fur that clung so tightly to its skin that it appeared to be exactly that - it's skin, dark and leathery. The Pokemon had a skull pattern on its head, and fierce, piercing eyes. It was his Houndour, a loyal partner.

"Hounds, c'mere," Flint said and then knelt down to whisper something in his ear. The hound nodded and ran over toward the battle field.

"You next, Mags," Flint murmured, and repeated the process. Mags ran over back to the battlefield, and Flint grinned as he spoke his next words. "Let the battle commence!"

Gardevoir was already in the midst of calming herself. She still seemed to have an aura of knowing about her though, and this made both Hounds and Mags look at each other with a bit of anxiousness. The plan must commence, or so they had been told, so they would do it either way.

Mags thrust his neck outward, pursed his lips and sent a stream of fire in the Gardevoir's path. The blazing beam was dodged with ease by a teleport off to the side.

Hounds' role was now to come in. He sent forth a second Flamethrower attack, dodged by moving down to the southwest with another teleport.

Mags and Hounds both sent forth their own individual attacks next: A dark wave of shimmering energy zipped forward and intervened with the path of a flaming mass. Flamethrower and Dark Pulse combined into one attack...

... and at that moment, the plan actually failed.

Not negatively so, Flint thought with a dropped jaw. It was still good this happened. But his original plan was much different...

...instead, the man returned his Pokemon.

"... Understood. It's -your- bounty," the man muttered.

The man then turned around and began to walk away. Flint held out a hand and was prepared to go running after him, but the two girls stepped forward, the brown haired snake-girl with a hand out on his shoulder, caramel brown girl speaking up.

"Thanks fer yer help, stranger, but let's let that guy go. He's pretty tough, and we'll be pushin' our luck," she said, her thick country accent ringing through Flint's ears and filling him with a mild annoyance: he hated to admit it, but she was right.

"Right... so, can I get the pleasure of knowing you lovely ladies and your names?" Flint asked. "If so, I might be able to provide you with a bit of... information."

Caramel stepped back a bit, and brown snake ended up staying in the same place but folding her arms over her chest.

"Gardenia," Caramel said. "And my friend here..." She pointed to snake-girl. "Is Jasmine."

"Flint Oba," Flint said. "And for the bit of information, your friend is in the Solaceon Ruins."

Volkner lay there wallowing in his self pity. He had been searching for what felt like hours, and he was hungry, thirsty and even going as far as to long for some companionship. So he sat there, and pulled out Eevee's Pokeball, preparing to see the little creature for the first time.

It sat there after being released, staring at him curiously, its black eyes wide and almost adorable enough to the point where Volkner smiled. It was a he, Volkner believed.

"... Hey little guy," Volkner murmured, allowing himself to extend a hand. "You get the wonderful ****in' company of good ol' me in this god damned place."

Despite his foul language, Eevee didn't seem to mind and ended up approaching Volkner's hand, gently rubbing his head against his palm. And oddly enough, Volkner found himself liking it.

He shuddered and drew his hand away. "... Don't think you'll get that often," he muttered. Eevee replied by plopping soundly down onto the stone floor and staring up at Volkner happily.

"Veee!~" it chirped.

Volkner smiled, then reversed it. What the hell? He was becoming rather attracted to the little guy already - he'd have to fix that. He slipped his thumb onto the release/return switch of his Pokeball, and returned the brown-furred critter before getting up and continuing to explore the area.

Flint sighed with annoyance. "For the last time, I'm not revealing my sources! And it doesn't make me a bad guy! I helped you out, didn't I?"

"... Touche," Gardenia said. "Fine. But yer not goin' with us to find Volkner - I ain't gonna trust ya -that- much."

Flint moved past her and tossed something backward. "Fine. But if yer guy is really an electric-buff like you say he is, take it to him. I found it explorin' the place, and I don't need it, sooo..."

Flint walked off, Mags walking happily beside him.

Gardenia looked at the object with a bit of awe. It was a light green stone with a yellow indentation in the shape of a thunderbolt in the middle.

She sighed, pocketing it and turning toward Jasmine. "Alright," she said. "Let's go find ourselves a Volkner."

So there we go. Chapter 9. It was a bit rushed - I'll admit, but that's probably because I have little time and I wanted to finish this.