Disclaimer: Pokemon is not owned by this fanfic writer.

Hey now. A new chapter! Yay! It is a bit shorter but has a bit of humor and darker tone. Bit ironic isn't it. :D

By the way, if I made any game references error, let me know ASAP.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5:

"Professor Hasting! Professor Hasting!" Keith, one of the Fall City's Pokemon Ranger, yelled while pounding on the door of Professor's Hasting's room. "Open up! It is an emergency!" After a couple minutes of painful silence, Keith wrenched open the door and saw the old ma snoring very loudly on the floor. Next to the old man was a spilled cup of coffee that stained the carpet floor. "PROFESSOR!"

"Zzsmch… what?" Hasting muttered, his eyes fluttering for a second before shifting into a more comfortable position before going back to sleep. Hasting continued to snore much to Keith's dismay.

"Professor Hasting, this is an emergency! Lunick and that other guy disappeared last night!"

"Hmmm, that's great," Hasting muttered and waved Keith away. The ranger sighed and decided to take a different approach. According to Joel, this method always worked.

"That's not all! Your assistant decided to quit and left for Summerland!"

"WHATTTTT!" Hasting was wide awake now and reaching for his hat on the hat rack and grabbing his suitcase, "NOOOO! NOT MY ASSISSTANT!"

"Just kidding professor," Keith said quickly and dragged Hasting out of the room, "But seriously, this is an emergency! Lunick and that white hair guy escaped last night and left something troublesome for us!"

"Wes?" the professor said with shock in his eyes. "When did he slip out? I remember he gave me coffee before he went to… bed…"Hasting scratched his head as though trying to remember what happened after that. Keith ignored the professor and continued to drag the old man till they were at the on the outskirt of Fall City and close to the tunnel that lead to Ring Town.

The first thing that Hasting noticed was that the Krokka Tunnel had caved in and the entrance was sealed by large boulders of rocks. Hasting immediately feared that Lunick and Wes are trapped in the tunnel. Hopefully, the other exit was still open.

There was already a huge group of civilians surrounding a nearby tree. This puzzled Hasting because usually the caved in tunnel should be more interesting than a tree. Of course, whatever the tree had, Hasting couldn't see because of the massive crowd blocking his view. There were several Fall rangers there trying to maintain and understand the situation. Aria, straight and tall as usual, was commanding the place. She had a serious irritable look on her face and was obviously not in a good mood.

"Move it people! Rangers only! You two over there-" Aria pointed at two rangers who were trying to figure out what to do in the situation, "get some Pokemon's assist and remove the rocks that are blocking the cave! And you! Yes, you! Get someone to cut this web!"

"Aria seemed to be in a bad mood," Hasting said. "What does she mean by web?"

"You'll see," Keith muttered and then yelled, "Aria! I brought the professor!" Aria turned and noticed Hasting and Keith trying to swim through the sea of people. When Hasting managed to push through the crowd, he immediately realized what the fuss was for this particular tree. Hanging upside down and tied up by sticky web was a strange bald guy. His mouth was muffled by the same white sticky web that tied up his entire body. The guy was trying to scream something but it only came out as a muffle sound.

"Professor!" Aria said when Hasting managed to tear his eyes away from the sight and look at Aria as though wanting some answers. "After Lunick left (not on my watch by the way), I tried to go after him but the tunnel collapsed and it'll take all week just to clear it up." As if to prove her point, two Fall rangers behind her were trying to move a boulder. One of the rangers's lost their grip and the rock came smashing down on his foot. Swear words could be heard quite distinctively in the background.

"All right Aria," Hasting sighed in exhaustion. He wished Joel was here instead. He was better at leading than Hasting was. "Let's first get this guy back to the police station for some questioning and have some stay behind to clear the tunnel."

"Oh, professor, by the way," Aria said, remembering something, as she took a piece of paper, neatly folded in fourths, from her pocket. "This letter was attached to this guy's head." Hasting took the note and opened it carefully. He immediately knew who wrote the letter in such childish and messy handwritings.

"Dear Professor Hasting,

I want to let you know that me and Wes have decided to leave. We're not going to just sit around and hope for the best like you want us to do.

We've encountered this guy who seems to have information Wes thinks is important for you to know. Anyways, Wes asks that you inform us if this guy mentions anything suspicious.

Don't tell Spenser!

From Ranger Lunick and his partner, Minun.

PS. I wasn't the one who put sleeping pills in your coffee. Wes did it."

On the very bottom of the paper, Lunick, thinking that would brighten the mood, drew three chibi heads – two depicted Lunick and Minun smiling while the third one depicted a grumpy looking Wes with a small frown on his face. Professor Hasting couldn't help but smile and laugh.

"This is so like Lunick," Hasting said, chuckling, putting the paper into his lab coat. "Anyways, we'll just let those two go. I'm sure those two are fine together."

"Professor!" Aria said, shocked at Hasting's lax face. She was expecting a more serious tone from the man but then again, Joel was the one who always act responsible. "This is not a laughing matter!"

"Well no," Hasting admitted, "But I'm sure those two are fine. Those two are resourceful. Why don't we worry more about the – ah – present they gave us instead?"

"But," Aria protested, wanting to follow regulations and go after the two troublemakers. Rules should be followed to the book. Breaking the rules of a Ranger gave a bad reputation to the Ranger society. "They should be brought back and punished for disobeying their orders!" Hasting shrugged his shoulders, not interested in punishing as much as Aria was.

"Ah, but both of them were willing to break the rules to save their friends," Hasting said, stroking his short beard thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure we can cut them some slack."

"Professor," Aria sighed in resignation. There was no point in arguing against someone who has the same amount of sense inside of them as Lunick. "How can you be sure they're okay? For all we know, they could be trapped in the cave."

"Well, like I said," Hasting said, grinning, "they're resourceful. Anyways, I'm going to go and get something to eat. See you later!" With that, Hasting walked back into town, leaving Aria in charge with the other Fall rangers – all of whom were confused and waiting for orders.

Aria felt like slapping the palm of her hand to her forehead. Hasting was the head researcher of the Capture Styler and probably the most irresponsible person ever. It looks like she'll have to take charge from now on.

The first thing she was going to do after she fixed this mess was find Lunick, dragged him back to Fall City, and then make him feel pain beyond his imagination.

…

The first thing Lunick noticed when he opened his eye was sunlight streaming past the leaves from the tree branches. He was on his back and his arm and legs were sprawled out. The heat was slowly creeping up from the grass. Lunick slowly blinked several times as his mind tried to remember what was going on. Sure enough, everything that happened last night came rushing back.

Man, what a night, Lunick thought as he used the back of his hand to cover his eyes from the sunlight. So much stuff happened last night that the information seemed to be exploding inside of his head.

"You awake?" Lunick turned his head around and noticed Wes, away from the tree's shadow. He was watching a fire and had mushrooms lined up on sticks. Lunick could immediately tell that lunch (he tried not to grimace at the blackened fungus) was being prepared. He slowly got up, trying to regain energy. He noticed Minun right next to him, sleeping in the exact position Lunick was in.

"You guys are so alike," Wes said, noticing Lunick poking Minun for the fun of it, "No wonder you guys are partners." Minun snored in its sleep and tried to swat away Lunick's finger. Lunick grinned and giggled while Wes rolled his eyes before turning back to watch and control the fire. With Lunick, it was like taking care of an overgrown five year old.

"How long have I been out?" Lunick asked, stifling a yawn and stretched his arms high into the air. There was a small breeze going and relaxed Lunick immediately. He walked over to Wes and noticed that the guy was staring into the fire, as though he was looking at his thoughts inside the flames. His amber eyes glowed like hot coals.

"More than seven hours," Wes said. "We managed to get out of the tunnel safely though that place is now caved in. It's a good thing though since no one will be coming after us from that direction. You fell unconscious and I was in no shape to carry you. Therefore, I decided to set up camp. However, we lost a good portion of time so the best thing to do is to get recharged quickly before leaving."

"You can cook?" Lunick said, shocked. Wes didn't look like the type who can cook, then again, the stuff he was cooking didn't look like edible food. The mushroom didn't look too tasty either. Lunick grabbed one of the sticks and started to chew on the rubbery mushrooms. Definitely not tasty. He wanted to gag but Wes narrowed his eyes as thought to say 'If you're going to complain about the food then don't expect me to cook for you next time.' Lunick gave a hasty gulp, smacked his lips, and rubbed his stomach. "Delicious." Lunick made a mental note to carry food packages in his Ranger pack next time.

"Yeah, I can cook," Wes said, answering Lunick's question. He looked up at the clouds and had a misty look in his eyes – as though he was recalling all his troubled past.

Lunick wanted to pry more answers out of the stubborn trainer. Wes was definitely not someone who can be judged by the cover. Lunick started to chew on another mushroom and made a face of slight disgust…"Where did you learn to cook?"

"Prison." This time, Lunick choked on his mushroom.

"Yeah," Wes continued, ignoring Lunick's coughs, "I learned it as one of my 'reform' classes. It was actually interesting."

"P-prison?" Lunick repeated, not listening to a word Wes said.

"Yeah," Wes repeated, surprised at Lunick's shocked face. "What's wrong with that?"

"You, you been in prison?" Lunick waved his stick around as though to emphasize his shock.

Wes shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have a pretty past if that's what you're wondering. Most of the people have been in prison at least one time in their life."

"And that's a good thing? That all of you are criminals?" Lunick didn't mean to make it sound like that but it was already too late. Wes' eyes flashed dangerously, though not as dangerously as last night when he pinned Lunick against the wall.

"Orre is not a utopia world," Wes stated flatly, "The word 'government' doesn't even exist except in catching criminals. People break rules and get punish but no one tries to fix the system."

"Why not?" Lunick demanded. Wes stared incredulously at Lunick but the ranger continued on to lecture the thief. "You obviously don't like how things work, so why not try to get together and fix it?" There was a heavy silence that was only broken by the sounds of crackling fire.

"The real world doesn't work like that. And you still ask too many questions," Wes stated flatly and looked away – apparently done answering questions. He reached over and petted (Lunick just realized the Pokemon was there this whole time) Espeon who was sleeping while sunbathing.

Espeon looked a lot better than last night. Its purple fur glowed and sparkled underneath the sunlight and the Pokemon had a peaceful look on its face. Espeon was obviously well taken care before and there was sense of strong power beneath the beauty. Next to Espeon was the dark Pokemon – Umbreon. It too was sleeping and seemed to have a sleeping beast slumbering within it. Wes obviously took good care of his Pokemon and valued their lives. So why was it that he acted like two different people?

"Any ideas where to go next," Wes asked, breaking through Lunick's deep thoughts. Wes was obviously trying to change topics and focus back on the rescue mission.

"Huh? Oh, ummm," Lunick frowned, looking at his surroundings and trying to picture a map inside of his head. He noticed that they were a mile or two away from the tunnel they escaped. "It should be a thirty minute walk to get to the main part of Lyra forest. If Spenser was right, then your friend Rui should be there."

"We'll get there in ten," Wes said, puzzling Lunick as to what Wes meant by that. Lunick was about to ask but Wes, who picked up his own stick and stared at the mushrooms a bit, turned to Lunick. "Hey, my turn to ask a question."

"Huh? Uh, what is it?" Lunick asked, surprised at the role switching. He took another bite of mushroom and for some reason Wes looked apprehensive at the fungus.

"Are those mushrooms I picked for you to eat are poisonous?"

…

Murph panted as he peeked through his hiding spot – a large bush. Those darn people were still after them. His bulging red jacket and Ranger uniform was covered with sweat and the heat wasn't helping at all. He turned to see the hostage rescued shivering, but not from being cold. The girl's blue eyes were filled with fear but she was obviously trying to be brave for now.

The girl had orange hair tied up into small pigtails that stuck out from the side of her head. She had a long jean jacket over her purple tank top and had a short mini skirt. She wore pink boots with black socks. The girl was obviously not wearing the ideal clothes to run in but then again, she probably never thought she would be running away from maniac people.

"Are you okay?" Murph whispered, make sure the coast was clear.

"Yeah," Rui nodded but still looked worried. "Are you sure we can get out of here safely?"

"Of course," Murph said, trying to sound cheerful, but deep down was scared. Murph didn't want to admit this but he was hopelessly lost. Lyra Forest wasn't exactly people friendly. Mazes and dead ends were everywhere. Trying to find the exit was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"Th-that girl, Solana," Rui said. She had been holding back this whole time but now, she felt like she had to ask, "Is she going to be okay?" Murph gulped in fear. He remembered how he was supposed to stand guard while Solana went in to check out the factory. Suddenly, somewhere in the factory, a large explosion occurred and before Murph could really react or panic, Solana came out and brought the mysterious girl with her.

Contact Spenser and get out of here! I'll try and hold them off!

Murph had done what Solana had told him to do but Solana hasn't returned yet. Murph's worst fear was starting to creep up on him.

"Don't worry. Solana is the toughest Ranger around."

…

Somewhere within Lyra Forest…

The large dome like room was dark and appeared to be made entirely of marble. It seemed to be deserted at first glance; yet, if one looked carefully, he would notice four white marble chairs arranged in a semicircle and were more than twenty feet tall. If the person looked higher, he would notice that four human shadows can be depicted – one on each chair. They were all sitting in and looking down, as though they were going to judge the very soul that would dare to enter the room. Right now, it was deadly quiet, yet the four seemed to be waiting for something. All of them were looking at the large white marble door as if willing for it to open.

As though to answer their plea, the door immediately opened wide, giving a booming echo. Several bald headed grunts that had headphones and wore red vests came in. They lined up like military style. Immediately, a large, almost seven feet tall, person came in. The man looked as though he was made to be a wrestler and he was obviously the leader of this pack of headphone group. The man's muscles bulged and his small red sleeveless vest couldn't hide the large abs underneath. He had a permanent crooked teeth frown on his face and a brown electric shape mustache and eyebrows that defied gravity despite their long length. He had his strong and powerful arms crossed against his bare chest. His wrists were covered by large purple cloth. His black pants had many tech gears on the belt.

The man stared up defiantly at the shadows sitting above him as though he was not afraid to face the wrath of the gods.

"My, my, my, Gonzap," a cold and callous male voice finally said to the large wrestler. The voice, unperturbed by the large man's appearance, echoed through the room, giving it a chilling effect, "What brings Team Cipher such honor to have Team Snagem pay a personal visit here?"

"My men," Gonzap said, cutting to the chase and ignoring the voice's sarcastic tone, "have been suffering problems and setbacks." He didn't need to say anymore. The four people in front of him already knew what he was talking about. "I can't work together with that stupid group."

"The Go- Rock Squad?" the voice asked, though the question wasn't really necessary. "I suppose they are a bit on the dim side but your men were in charge of the operation. They work however you want them to. And some of your men work for them. I don't see Go-Rock Squad complaining as much as you do. Besides," the voice sounded dead serious now and the chill seemed to amplify in the room, "You allowed our prisoner to escape so easily even though Snagem were the only ones guarding here."

"You expect me to succeed that easily?" Gonzap snapped. He was definitely in a foul mood. He looked ready to break something.

"Now lookie here," another voice said from above. This one sounded playful and monkey like. "Dat's not our problem if you have setbacks. However, if you can't get da results we want, then it becomes our problem. You have a job so do it correctly." The voice then gave a loud laugh and slapped his thigh with his hand as though he just cracked up a joke.

"Moving on," another voice cut in, this time female. The tone of her voice made her sound like an incredibly vain woman. "Have you brought the intruder?" Gonzap, who was determined to redeem himself, nodded and motioned his hands to the people behind. His men dragged a young turquoise hair girl to the middle of the room. She was gagged and bound by the arms and legs. Her red jacket was ripped and looked like she just received a cruel beating. The girl looked as though she was close to unconsciousness.

"Oh my," the female voice said, feigning shock, "this is the intruder. Your men couldn't take care of this one girl? And I thought we hired professionals." The monkey voice immediately started to laugh at the female's sarcastic joke. Before Gonzap could start yelling, the fourth and final voice of the group interrupted.

"Enough. What do we do with the girl?" The male voice grunted and spoke in a really deep voice that rumbled. The four Team Cipher Admins fell silent as though judging the punishment of what to do.

"Dispose her," the cold voice replied, no hint of pity laced in it, "We have no use for her."

"Or do you?" The new voice caused many heads to turn and notice a shadow leaning against the side wall in the room. Apparently, the shadow had used the door next to him to silently walk in. He had on a large coat that made him look like part of the royalty's military. He had short cut white hair and was obviously in his late fifties if not older. Gonzap couldn't see clearly in the dark, but he immediately knew who it was.

"Now this is definitely a surprise," the cold voice said, actually having a hint of amusement, "The leader of Go-Rock Squad, what brings you here?"

"To perhaps give you another chance to retrieve the prisoner that managed to escape." The Go-Rock Squad didn't mention Gonzap's failure but he might as well have because Gonzap was fuming with a desire to punch the old senile man. Gonzap couldn't believe that it was this man who managed to combine to the three organizations together – his genius plan to combine their powers.

"This young lady," the old man explained, "is a Pokemon Ranger. She is an important person and I wouldn't be surprised if we can get a bargain trade, perhaps even for something we need. Threats are the only thing needed to get what you want when you live in Fiore." There was thoughtful silence before the cold voice replied – this time happy.

"Very well," the young cold male voice said, "we'll keep her prisoner here. Gonzap, take this young lady to her, ah, room." There was a note of finality in the voice and Gonzap knew he couldn't argue back. He motioned his men to take the silent prisoner back to her confinement. He gave a nasty look at the leader of Go-Rock Squad before leaving with his men.

"Gonzap is very angry," the female voice said, pointing out the obvious.

"No surprise," the deep voice rumbled in reply, "He likes to be in charge... and he hates failures"

"Ha, ha, ha!" The monkey voice laughed, "Well, with us here, he is the bottom part of da totem pole."

"Still, he is useful," the cold voice said, "However, his captured man and the cave in are problematic. I can't trust the loyalty of his men. We need to move faster if we're to succeed. I suggest we start working on phase two." He addressed the last part to the man below.

"But of course," the leader of Go-Rock Squad said, "The puzzle pieces are now finally falling into place. Soon, Fiore will be bowing down to a new power."

Author's Notes

Well now. We're finally getting to the main evil mastermind plan of this entire story. :D

By the way, I have no idea how these evil people sound like (evil I suppose), so I'm simply making it up. Hopefully, they are like as they are depicted in the games.

Okay important news.

I have school right now, so updates are obviously going to be slower. Please be patient and don't worry. The story will not be discontinued unless I announced it.

Also, I have a poll set up. Please let me know if you like long or short chapters.

Finally, for those who read DP Time Travel, I have made a new story that is the prologue to the DP story. Check it out if you want.

Let's thank my reviewers before I go.

…

741852AuthorNicolaStarlaLili

amichap

hydro-serpent58

littlmidget123

...

Okay that's it from me.

See you in the next chapter. :D

-JapanDreamer