A New Partner

"Well, that was embarrassing." Pluto remarked, taking off her helmet. She and Mercury had just found a good hiding spot from the police: a thick grove of mangrove trees that would shield them from anyone's sight.

"You're telling me!" Mercury yelled. "We coulda had that stupid kid's Pokemon if the cops hadn't shown up! Ugh! I can't believe this!" He turned to Pluto. "How can you be so calm right now?" He demanded.

"Because I don't see our battle as a defeat." Pluto replied. "I see it as a test. And the results of the test show that we can beat Gladion in battle."

"But we didn't beat him!" Mercury exclaimed.

"No," Pluto said calmly, "but we were winning when the police arrived. That shows that we can take him down when next we meet him."

Mercury considered this for a moment, then grinned wickedly. "Whaddaya say we go meet him right now?" He suggested, putting on his helmet.

Pluto gave a small smile and put her own helmet back on as well. Together, they sped on their ATVs back to Cinarum Town. Back to Gladion. And, this time, they were going to beat him.

…

"Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Barton."

Gladion was enjoying a PB&J sandwich prepared by Vally's mother. Silvally and Vally's Happiny each enjoyed a bowl of Pokemon food next to the table as their trainers ate.

"Why, it was my pleasure." Vally's mother said in a thick Southern accent. "I'm happy to repay the boy who saved my little princess."

Vally's mother ruffled up Vally's hair. Vally pushed her mother's hands away. "Mom! Quit it!" Vally complained.

"Oh, come on, Valerie. Can't a mother love on her daughter once in a while?"

"Mo-om!" Gladion had noted that Vally hated being called by her full name apparently. He didn't know why, but he wasn't interested enough to ask.

Vally's mother turned back to Gladion. "So, Gladion, what brings you to Miamia?" She asked.

"The new Aether Foundation lab that just opened in town." Gladion explained.

"He's the president!" Vally said to her mother. Gladion hated being called the president of the Aether Foundation. It made him feel like a spoiled rich kid. But he let Vally's comment slide.

"The president?" Vally's mother said. "My oh, my, you sure must be important!" Gladion shrugged. "So, how long are you staying in Miamia?"

"Dunno." Gladion said. "I can basically stay for as long as I want, or until they need me to make another appearance somewhere." Gladion hoped that his reason for leaving Miamia in the future wouldn't be the latter.

"Well, hey! That's great news!" Vally's mother said. "That means you can challenge the Pokemon League here!"

"Pokemon League?" Gladion had wanted to challenge a League ever since he battled his own region's current Champion, Catherine, at the base of Mt. Lanakila five years ago. He had just never had the chance because the Aether Foundation kept him so busy. But right now business was pretty slow for the Foundation. It might just be the best time to challenge a League.

"Vally here's wanting to challenge the League too!" Vally's mother said. "Aren't you, sweetheart?"

"Yeah!" Vally said excitedly. "Me and Happiny are gonna win the whole thing this year! Right, Happiny?"

"Happiny!" Vally's Happiny jumped into her lap, excited about the concept of challenging the Pokemon League.

"Vally, I keep telling you, if you wanna challenge the Pokemon League, you're gonna need a stronger Pokemon." Her mother said.

"But I love Happiny." Vally replied. "And she's gonna get stronger too!"

"I don't doubt that," Vally's mom said, rubbing Happiny kindly on the head, "but you're still gonna need more Pokemon if you wanna beat the League. It'd be best for you to go down to the lab in town and pick out another Pokemon to help you out."

Vally looked like she really didn't want another Pokemon partner, and Gladion didn't blame her. He knew that he certainly didn't want or need any other Pokemon than Silvally. Gladion was confident that his partner could take down any trainer on its own.

"Gladion?" Gladion's thoughts were jarred by Vally speaking up. "Would you go to the Pokemon lab with me to get a new Pokemon?" She asked.

Gladion wanted to say no, but Vally's puppy dog eyes expression broke his iron will. "Sure." He said, popping the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and getting up to go.

Gladion, Vally, and their Pokemon headed down to the Pokemon laboratory in Cinarum Town. On the way there, Aetherdex kept giving Gladion "helpful" advice. "If those Team Galactic rapscallions show up again, you'll probably want a Fire type to better combat them." It said.

"Thanks, Aetherdex." Gladion said emotionlessly, barely even listening to the stupid thing.

"Of course, a Water type would also do you well if the battle is taking place in an aquatic area, which this region is known to have many of."

"Thanks, Aetherdex."

"Then again, a Grass type would-"

"Aetherdex?"

"Yes, Gladion?"

"Shut up."

They reached the lab with no problem. When they got inside, they were surprised to find that a battle was going on in the middle of the lab between a muscular man in a lab coat and a boy around Vally's age. The lab coat-wearing man was using a rabbit-looking Pokemon that stood up on its hind legs and had bright red fur with an orange belly and long, upright ears. The boy was using a blue lizard Pokemon with bright pink eyes. "Harember, use Ember!" The muscular lab coated man commanded.

The rabbit Pokemon summoned a small ball of fire between its ears and lobbed it at the boy's Pokemon.

"Dodge it, Geckaqua! Then use Water Gun!" The boy said. The boy's Pokemon jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the Ember attack, then sprayed the Harember with a blast of water. Harember was down for the count.

"Congratulations, son." The muscular lab-coated man said, offering his hand for the boy to shake. "It appears that you chose a fine partner"

The boy shook the lab-coated man's hand. "Thanks, Prof. Hickory! I'm gonna train real hard with him! Right, Geckaqua?"

"Gecka!" The Pokemon croaked.

The boy left happily with his new Pokemon. The man called Prof. Hickory picked up Harember and fed it a Revive to help it recover a little. He set it up on a lab table then turned around to see Gladion and Vally standing there. "Oh. Hello there!" He said happily. "Are you two here to receive a new Pokemon?" Vally nodded. Gladion didn't respond in any way. "Terrific!" Prof. Hickory said. "I'm Prof. Hickory. I run the lab here in town."

Gladion looked Prof. Hickory up and down. The man reminded him a little of Prof. Kukui. Same tan skin, same excitable attitude, the only differences were that this man's hair was much longer and much more wild, his muscles were much bigger, and this man actually wore a shirt under his lab coat.

"What exactly are you researching here?" Gladion asked, looking around the lab. The place was a mess. There were scorch marks on the floor from Ember attacks, claw marks on the walls from Scratches, and several more places where the lab and its equipment had been damaged from Pokemon attacks.

"Battling." Prof. Hickory answered, retrieving a couple of Pokeballs from a shelf. "My goal is to find the secret to winning any Pokemon battle no matter what Pokemon you have or which one you're facing. And, speaking of Pokemon you have, come on out everybody!"

Prof. Hickory tossed out the two Pokeballs he had, and two Pokemon appeared next to Harember on the table. One was the same blue lizard that the other boy had left with. The other looked like a hamster with green fur, a white, pudgy belly and white, puffy cheeks. "These are the Pokemon I give out here at the lab." Prof. Hickory explained. "First, we have the Grass type Squeakotton."

"Squeak!" The hamster Pokemon said happily.

Vally was immediately struck with emotion. She grabbed Squeakotton and hugged it close to her face. "Ohhhh, look at its tiny, puffy cheeks!" Vally squealed. "I want this one!"

"A fine choice." Prof. Hickory said.

Vally set Squeakotton down next to her Happiny. "Squeakotton, meet your new friend, Happiny." Vally said.

"Squeak!" Squeakotton said happily. It ran up to Happiny and started rubbing its cheeks up against it as Happiny giggled.

"Uh, what's it doing?" Gladion asked.

"Allow me to explain." Aetherdex said. "Squeakotton: The Cotton Cheeks Pokemon. A Grass type. When Squeakotton sees something it likes, it will rub its cottony cheeks on it as a sign of kindness."

"Awww." Vally said sweetly. "They're already friends!"

Prof. Hickory turned to Gladion. "What about you, son?" He asked. "You gonna pick a Pokemon?"

Gladion shook his head. "No thanks." He said. "Silvally's the only partner I need." Gladion patted Silvally's neck. Silvally responded by licking Gladion's cheek, leaving his face very wet.

"Suit yourself." Prof. Hickory said. He then turned to Vally. "Now, little miss, I have a tradition here for new trainers."

"What's that?" Vally asked.

Prof. Hickory grinned. "A battle, of course!" He declared. "I'll be your opponent for your first ever Pokemon battle!"

Vally smiled. "All right! Let's do it!"

"Yes! Let's!" Vally, Gladion, and Prof. Hickory all turned in surprise to see Mercury and Pluto and their Pokemon, Toxicroak and Lucario, standing by the door to the lab. Mercury grinned insanely. "Your choice, kids!" He said. "Either hand over that Silvally or face the consequences!"

"Aetherdex, call the police to pick up these losers." Gladion said.

"I'm on it!" Aetherdex said, already dialing the number.

"I don't think so." Pluto said. She pulled out a remote control and pressed a button on it. Suddenly, all the lights and equipment in the lab shut off and Aetherdex dropped to the ground, completely shut down.

"What did you do?" Gladion asked heatedly.

"Just set off a simple electromagnetic pulse." Pluto explained. "The police won't be saving you this time."

Gladion gritted his teeth. "Vally, get out of here." He said, taking out and loading the Ground Memory Drive into Silvally's RKS System. "I'll handle Team Galactic."

"No way!" Vally responded confidently. "Me, Happiny, and Squeakotton are gonna fight with you!"

"Happiny!" Happiny said, stepping forward to fight.

"Squeak?" Squeakotton said nervously. It appeared that this Pokemon knew it was fighting opponents out of its league.

Gladion wanted to order Vally to run, but he knew he couldn't tell her what to do. He sighed. "Fine." He said. "Just be careful."

Mercury chuckled wickedly. "You'll be sorry, kid!" He said. "Toxicroak, Mud Bomb! Let's go!"

"Toxiiiiicroak!" Toxicroak fired several globs of mud from its mouth at Happiny and Squeakotton.

"Silvally, protect them!" Gladion shouted.

"Vally!" Silvally jumped in front of Happiny and Squeakotton, taking the full brunt of the attack. Fortunately, its Ground typing made the attack not very effective.

"Happiny, use Copycat!" Vally ordered.

Happiny jumped up on Silvally's back and fired a Mud Bomb attack at Toxicroak.

"Dodge it, Toxicroak!" Toxicroak lept out of the way, but the Mud Bomb attack managed to destroy a piece of lab equipment.

Prof. Hickory stepped forward. "I'll help too, kids!" He said. "Geckaqua, use Water Gun!" Geckaqua did not use Water Gun. In fact, it had retreated to under a desk, hoping to hide from all the powerful Pokemon battling right now. "Okay then… Harember, use…" Prof. Hickory looked around. Harember was nowhere to be seen. "Dang! Sorry, kids. I'm out." Prof. Hickory said.

Gladion was fine with that. The fewer Pokemon in danger, the better. "Silvally, use Multi-Attack on Lucario!"

Silvally rushed Lucario, its claw glowing dark orange. "Lucario, block it!" Pluto ordered. Lucario grabbed Silvally's claw with one hand, blocking the attack. Gladion was surprised to see that, despite this Lucario's elderly appearance, its strength matched that of Silvally. Clearly, this was one well-trained Pokemon. "Now attack with Power-Up Punch!"

"Lucar!" Lucario punched Silvally with a glowing fist right in the gut. Silvally went flying back.

"Silvally!" Gladion exclaimed. "You okay?"

"Silval!" Silvally replied, getting back up with a little effort.

Meanwhile, Mercury seemed to be focusing on Happiny and Squeakotton. "I'll squash your pathetic Pokemon!" He declared. "Toxicroak, use Poison Jab!"

"Toxicroooaaak!" Toxicroak lunged to attack, its glowing, purple fists dealing a flurry of quick punches. Fortunately, Happiny and Squeakotton's small size and high speed made them both very hard to hit.

"Squeakotton, Razor Leaf!" Vally shouted.

"Squeeeeeeaaaak!" Squeakooton fired a storm of razor sharp leaves at Toxicroak. It barely did any damage, but it did catch Toxicroak off guard.

"Toxicroak, pound that mouse!" Mercury yelled. "Use Revenge!"

Toxicroak's fist glowed bright red. It brought it down hard, barely missing Squeakotton and created a huge dent in the floor.

"Happiny, use Copycat!"

Happiny lept up at Toxicroak, its own fist glowing like Toxicroak's had. "Haaaaaapiny!" Happiny nailed Toxicroak right in the face with Revenge, scoring a critical hit that knocked Toxicroak back on its butt hard.

Mercury screamed with rage. "I'll kill you, stupid kid!" He screeched. Gladion had to give Vally credit. For a beginner, she was a natural Pokemon trainer.

"Lucario, use Power-Up Punch again!" Pluto ordered.

"Dodge it, Silvally!" But Silvally was too slow. Lucario hit it with full force, sending it falling back to the floor. "No!"

Pluto gave a small grin. "Finish it, Lucario." She said.

"Lucar!" Lucario raised its fist to finish Silvally off, but was suddenly hit by an Ember from out of nowhere.

"What was that?!" Pluto exclaimed.

"Harember!" Gladion looked and saw the small, Fire type bunny standing over by some lab equipment. It hadn't been hiding at all. It was just waiting for the perfect moment to attack. "Ember!" Haremeber fired another Ember attack, catching Lucario full in the face for a super-effective critical hit.

"Lucario, blast that Pokemon with Flash Cannon!" Pluto ordered. Lucario tried hitting Harember with that attack, but the bunny Pokemon was too quick. It lept agily from place to place, dodging Lucario's attacks and striking with its own fiery Embers.

Gladion knew this was his chance. "Silvally, Multi-Attack!"

"Siiilvally!" Silvally came up behind Lucario and struck it hard with its claw, sending Lucario flying and crashing into a piece of lab equipment.

Lucario had fainted. Pluto sighed and returned it to its ball. "Come, Mercury." She said, turning to leave. "We're done here."

"But Toxicroak's still standing!" Mercury argued. "I can still fight!"

"Yes, dear, but it would be four on one." Pluto said. "Don't fight a fight you can't win. Just leave with dignity."

Pluto walked out of the lab. Mercury turned back to Gladion, Vally, and their Pokemon, growled furiously, and returned his Toxicroak to its ball. "This isn't over!" He declared as he ran out of the lab. "You kids had better watch your backs!"

And then he was gone. Vally cheered. "We beat them!" She yelled excitedly. "We beat Team Galactic!" She ran up to Gladion and gave him a big hug.

"Yeah." He said, patting her gently on the head. "Thanks for the help." Gladion then looked over at the Pokemon that had saved Silvally: the little Harember. He then turned to Prof. Hickory. "You know what?" He said. "I think I actually will take a new Pokemon." Gladion knelt down next to Harember. "What do you say?" He asked it. "Do you want to join my team?"

Harember grinned. "Harember!" It said excitedly. Gladion took that as a yes.

"A fine choice!" Prof. Hickory said. "Best of luck on your journeys, you two!"

Prof. Hickory handed Gladion Harember's Pokeball, and Gladion returned the little Pokemon to it. A new member of his team. A new partner.

"It's getting late." Prof. Hickory observed. "You kids had better get going home."

Vally gasped excitedly. "You can sleep over at my house!" She said to Gladion. "Then tomorrow we can start travelling!"

Gladion gave a small smile. "I'll take you up on that." He said. Five years ago, Gladion would never have imagined he'd be going on a journey, challenging the Pokemon League, and meeting all sorts of new Pokemon. He was excited. And he wondered what other surprises Miamia had in store for him.