Don't worry, readers. We'll get a more in depth version of Paul's backstory later. For now, just enjoy the nonsense.

Enjoy, lovelies.
- RD :)

"Haha!" Brock said as he made his speedy escape from the Pokémon Center. The second phase of Operation HUD was in full swing! Everything was going great!

Or, it was until Piplup fired a Bubble Beam attack right into Brock's face.

"GAH!" Brock screamed as he tried to move out of the way of the penguin Pokémon's attack. "Piplup, it's me! Brock!" He took off his mask, and Piplup immediately relaxed. "Look, Piplup, I'm sorry we had to take you away from Dawn. But this is part of our plan to get her with Paul!"

When Piplup considered his Trainer's happiness, there was no way he could say no. So, he let Brock carry him away into the – once again – incorrectly-timed sunset.

But soon, the sky fixed itself and went back to blue. "That was weird," Dawn muttered upon noticing the strange weather change.

She and Paul were searching around the Pokémon Center while Paul's Honchcrow circled the air in search of Piplup.

"Do you have one of those locator things?" Paul asked.

"Huh?"

"You know. When we were in the forest and you used your locator to find your Pokémon. Do you have another one of those?"

Dawn face-palmed. "Man! Why didn't I buy that one I saw last time we went to the mall? I'm sorry, Paul, but I don't have one for a Piplup."

"Whatever," Paul replied with a shrug. Usually he was very impatient, but for some strange reason, he didn't mind that they weren't necessarily going to find Piplup anytime soon. He wasn't sure why he felt like that or why he always ended up searching for Dawn's Pokémon, but he decided not to question the moment too much and just go with it. He almost wanted to smile. Alright, that would've been a little too OOC for the story to continue, he admitted, but he almost wanted to.

"YEAH!" Barry yelled as he and Brock high-fived. "I can't believe that worked!"

"Well, we owe some of our success to Piplup. He's joined the Dark Side."

"Pip piplup!"

"Good!" Barry exclaimed. "Because we have cookies!" Out of nowhere, Barry produced a plate of chocolate chip cookies and Brock and Piplup began to munch contentedly.

"Hey, is Ash in position yet? It's about time."

"Yeah, he should be. He's got Roserade with him, too, so all should go according to Operation HUD!" Barry said with the goofiest of smiles on his face.

Meanwhile, Ash struggled to pull himself up onto the Pokémon Center roof.

"Geez. You'd think they would've made ninja suits with powers built in or something," he huffed. "What I wouldn't do for ninja powers right now!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said in agreement.

Once they were finally on top of the building, Ash proudly glanced at their surroundings. The plan was perfect. They had even gotten Nurse Joy in on it, so they didn't have to worry about getting mistaken for actual Pokémon thieves. Naturally, Brock had to be rejected and dragged away by Croagunk like five times before they succeeded, but it had all worked out in the end.

"Hey, look!" Ash yelled when Dawn and Paul were in sight. "Alright, Barry's Roserade, do your stuff!" Roserade whipped up a Razor Leaf attack.

"HEY!" Ash hollered before realizing he still sounded like himself. "Oh." He grabbed the voice-changing thingy that they had bought from the Convenient Spy Store. "Young Trainers!" he said loudly. Dawn and Paul looked up at him and the leaf storm that surrounded him. "If you want your Piplup back, go to the old lighthouse. You will find your next clue there!"

"Oh, no!" Dawn yelled.

"Here we go," Paul muttered under his breath as he was dragged off on the insane Piplup rescue mission.

Yeah, this is so odd. But I love it.