Hey everybody, welcome to Chapter 24. You're probably surprised I posted this before posting a Pokestars episode, and the reason for that is because it's going on hiatus until this story is finished. This way, I can dedicate my time to making this story good. With that being said, there are seven chapters (including this one) left for my story. I hope you've enjoyed this series so far!

Haruka stood in a dark place, he couldn't see anything but black around him. He slowly turned around, looking for light around him.

"Hello, anyone there?" he asked, his voice echoing in the darkness.

"Haruka," said a voice. Captain O'Riley appeared from the shadows, an angry look on his face.

"You failed. So many people died that day, and you did nothing to prevent it. You could've done something, but instead, you just stood there."

"Like you did all those years ago," said another voice, one Haruka instantly recognized.

Haruka turned around, his eyes widening. "Emma?"

"You could've saved me, but no, you failed. It figures though, you've always been a failure."

"She was only your friend out of pity," said another voice. "She deserved better."

Haruka turned around again, his heart beating faster. The person who just spoke was Thomas.

"We meet again, Haruka. How'd your pitiful life going? You failed Emma when you allowed me to kill her under your watch."

Haruka clenched his fist, but a voice behind him stopped him cold.

"Haruka, you are a disappointment."

Haruka turned around and saw Scott standing there, a disappointed look on his face.

"I recommended you to the Oak Agency because I thought you were worth something. It looks like I was just taking pity on you."

Everybody around him started walking towards Haruka in perfect sync, chanting the same thing.

"You failed everyone, you failed everyone."

Haruka screamed and sat up. With a sigh of relief, he found himself safe in his bed. He looked around, making sure no one was truly there.

"Just a bad dream Haruka, it was just a bad dream."

He got up and went into his closet, pulling out a safe. He punched in a few digits and pulled out a manga. He went back to his bed and sat down, flipping through the pages without reading them.

The manga was titled, A Pokémon's School for Heroism. It was a first edition copy and signed by the author. The copy was worth a huge amount of money and would surely put Haruka out of his financial situation for some time. However, the manga had been a gift to him from Emma for his thirteenth birthday. Because of this, he refused to sell it. Anytime he was feeling low, he just flipped through the pages, Emma's words echoing through his head.

"You'll probably like it more than me," she had said. "My dad got it at a book signing event three years back. But I'm not that much into manga. Tell me how you liked it!"

A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Give me a moment," said Haruka as he returned the manga to its place.

He opened the door and found Juan standing there, wearing plaid night clothes. Juan looked at him.

"You're still wearing those?" he asked.

Haruka looked at himself. He was still wearing the black sweatpants and the black and blue sweater he'd worn earlier in the day.

"More comfortable, especially since the heater is practically broken. They won't even fix it despite the fact we're in early March."

"I can agree with you on that," said Juan. "Maybe we could make a work union to get the heater fixed."

Haruka chuckled. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I heard you screaming, so I came to check up on you. Are you okay?"

Haruka waved a hand. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a dream. Why are you awake anyways?"

Juan sighed and leaned against the door. "I was having nightmares myself. About my sister being taken again. It felt so real, so I couldn't sleep again."

Haruka was silent for a moment. "I know how it feels. To have old regrets come back and haunt you."

They were both silent for some time, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Juan shrugged and straightened himself.

"Want to go downstairs and get a snack or something?"

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't the cafe be closed by now? It's like one am."

"The vending machines aren't. My treat."

Haruka sighed. "You know my financial situation is dire when someone treats me to a vending machine."

Juan laughed. "Too true Haruka."

They both walked out the door and headed down towards the cafe. Typhlosion slithered slowly from Juan's room, following them to the cafe.

Haruka and Juan sat at a table, eating chips, cookies, and drinking lemonade. Typhlosion was curled up in a corner, munching on dried berries.

"Surprisingly," said Haruka. "This food is actually pretty decent."

Juan nodded. "Too bad it cost me six dollars, not counting the berries. Seriously, I could get all this for three dollars in a real cafe. A dollar per two cookies? Highway robbery!"

"Speaking of robbery," said Haruka. "I wonder what the Gamma Team is up to now that they've lost Kyogre. It's been a week and there's been no activity so far."

Juan shrugged. "Obviously they're not going to stop just because we stopped them once. They're preparing for something if you ask me. Which is why we're putting all of our efforts into finding and stopping them."

Haruka nodded. "That's true. I wonder what their final goal is though. Probably something world ending if you ask me, a lot of people like to see the world destroyed. Part of the reason why I don't trust humanity, except for you guys of course."

"You know, I think you may or may not be right. Catching legendaries doesn't really seem like something you'd want to do if your goal is to make money and revolutionize the future of Pokémon battling. That was their goal a long time ago when they had the old Gamma Team over twenty years ago. If you ask me, the new Gamma Team's goal is based around Scarlet, their leader. The members are like Venomoths attracted to light, only their attraction is power. Remember the guy we arrested a few days ago?"

Haruka groaned. "You mean the guy with the genetically modified Electrodes? The ones that kept exploding?"

"Yep. Remember how he kept screaming about how the Gamma Team was going to be the only ones who remained?"

"That was kind of scary not going to lie."

"I don't blame you. I think their plan really is going to be world domination. I suppose this entire Pokémon modification stuff is a way for them to create an army, as well as a front to disguise their true plans."

"Typical. Why wouldn't any normal person not want to enslave the world?"

"Like I said, they're just Venomoths attracted to light. Scarlet says to do this, they do it. Scarlet says not to do this, they don't do it."

"Like servants."

"Exactly."

Haruka leaned back in his chair. "When you put it like that, it makes me feel better. Imagine that, all those people on the Gamma Team bending over backwards for one person. I guess they aren't in as much control as they thought."

"I guess so. Anyways, do you want to talk about your dream?"

"Not necessarily. But fine. It was about what happened last week. With all the other people."

Six days ago

Captain O'Riley stood in front of a large crowd of people, all of them wearing black clothing. They were gathered at a cemetery, the cold wind biting them as he made a speech.

"People gathered here, Oak Agency members, and people who knew the ones deceased, we're all gathered here to commemorate those who gave their lives to defend this beautiful region from those who'd want to see it destroyed. Just yesterday, we fought the Gamma Team to prevent them from catching Kyogre. During the battle, an extremely dangerous woman known as Scarlet appeared with a Pokémon. Sources confirm the Pokémon was a thought to be an extinct species of Pokémon called Noble Pokémon. This Pokémon used a powerful Thunder that destroyed a ship and claimed the lives of these twelve people, injuring three people as well."

Captain O'Riley paused, looking into the faces of the crowd. All of them had downcast gazes as they respected their comrades. Captain O'Riley took a breath and continued speaking.

"I shall now list the names of those who'd died, so that we may observe a moment of silence for each of them, and pray that their souls find rest."

As he read the names out loud, Haruka stood apart from the crowd. He wasn't sure if he could deal with the other people after the funeral. Unable to handle it anymore, he'd turned and left.

Present day

"I couldn't do it," said Haruka, speaking to Juan. "The funeral simply reminded me of what happened to Emma, I couldn't shake the feeling it was my fault, that I'd failed again."

Juan put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, there was nothing we could do about it."

"That's the entire problem!" shouted Haruka, whipping around. "I could've done something if I'd just thought about it! Just like I could've saved Emma if I had thought about it!"

He shook his head and turned around again. "The day Thomas threw Emma out the apartment window was the last time I saw her. They didn't let me see her in the hospital, or attend her funeral. And it was my fault."

Juan looked at him, and then stood up.

"I'll give you some time, I'll be off to the side."

Haruka sighed. "Thanks."

Juan walked to a different table, waiting in case Haruka needed any support.

Seven hours later

"Hey, wake up!" shouted a voice in Juan's ear.

Juan bolted up from the chair he'd dozed off in, Haruka was sleeping with his head on the table nearby.

Juan turned to the voice and saw Katie standing over him, her arms folded as she stared at him.

"What are you doing here? I thought you started the day without me!"

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep last night and came down here."

"With Haruka?"

"Us bros have to watch out for each other, he couldn't sleep either."

"Right, because Haruka is usually a very friendly person."

Juan waved her off. "You just don't know him well. Where's Maggie? Doesn't she usually take you to the training academy?"

Katie shrugged. "She hasn't woken up yet, didn't seem like she slept last night either cause she's out like a light. I was going to check on Wilhelm to see if this was an Oak Alpha thing, but he's gone."

Juan yawned and stretched. "Maybe he just got up early. Strange, I don't think I saw him leave HQ yesterday. In fact, I didn't see him yesterday, or the day before that."

"Do you think he-"

"No. Wilhelm's an honest guy. There's no way he'd betray us."

And Wilhelm didn't betray them indeed. In fact, Wilhelm was currently shut up in his lab, working extremely hard. He was working so hard that Iridus was starting to get annoyed at the fact he wasn't taking care of himself.

In his lab, Iridus tugged on his lab coat for the twenty-seventh time. Wilhelm however, didn't notice as he continued working on two devices. He leaned over a section of the device, gingerly attaching a screw with a magnetic screwdriver.

"Iridus, can you pass the samarium and basherideum wires please?"

Iridus didn't budge, instead she fixed Wilhelm a glare and sat there.

"Please Iridus, this device is extremely important."

Iridus pointed towards the door, then signed outside with her claws.

Wilhelm sighed. "I appreciate your concern, but these devices are key to defeating Marlow's Mega Mimikyu."

Iridus sighed and moved off to a table. She collected the wires and gave them to Wilhelm, who wordlessly accepted them and started joining them with a pair of pliers.

A soft cry sounded from next to his table. He looked down and saw Pepper curled there. Wilhelm sighed and picked the Pokémon up. He gently set Pepper down on one end, earning him a glare from Iridus.

At that moment, Victor walked into the room. Pepper perked up and hid under the table. Wilhelm sighed and turned to fast him.

"Hey Wilhelm," said Victor. "Whatcha working on?"

"I'm working on a device that will absorb Inverse Energy and be able to project it into attacks. It's modeled so that Iridus could use it."

Victor leaned over the devices. One of them was complete, and Wilhelm was working on the second one. They were egg shaped and had multiple grooves in them. The inside of the unfinished device contained a mess of wires and a core that resembled a battery.

"How's she supposed to use them? And what's inverse energy, I've never heard it before."

"These ovals are the power source, they're going to fit inside of gauntlets for her to wear. As for what Inverse Energy is, it's pretty simple. Pokémon moves are simply energy. They're categorized into different forms of 'rare energies'. Standard energies are mostly stuff like radiant, potential, all that. Rare energies are exclusively for Pokémon moves. Aura, Pulse, Aqua, Cold, Dark, etcetera. However, Marlow unwittingly created a new form of energy with the creation of his Mega Mimikyu. I call it Inverse Energy. His Mimikyu radiates this energy on high levels, and its moves are also imbued with it. At first glance, it's clear that this energy protects it. I observed that this Inverse Energy rapidly drained the power of Halby's attacks. A direct hit from one of its appendages completely nullified an Ice Beam. Drawing on other types' effectiveness and my own observations, I concluded that in order to defeat such a powerful Pokémon, I would need my own source of inverse energy."

Victor blinked at him, trying to process everything he was saying.

"So this is like a ghost is super effective against ghost kind of thing."

"Precisely. With these devices, Iridus will be able to deal significant damage to Marlow's Pokémon. His Mimikyu is a serious threat. Left unchecked could spell doom for all of our operations."

Victor nodded. "Makes sense, Iridus doesn't seem to be happy about it though."

"I'm unsure why. She's been bothering me for the past week. Always pointing at the door."

"Maybe it's because you've shut yourself in your lab for so long. Take a break! Maybe she wants you to take her to a park or something. I bet she's feeling cooped up."

Iridus nodded. Grateful that Victor was able to interpret her.

"Unfortunately," said Wilhelm. "I don't have much time for a break. We don't know when the Gamma Team will strike again. We'll be going out on patrol anyways, that should take long enough for Iridus to enjoy fresh air."

"I guess so," said Victor, sounding completely unconvinced. "Either way, we should probably head to the meeting room. Also, you look like you haven't slept in years."

"Really? I've been sleeping six hours per day. That should be sufficient."

Soon, almost everyone from the Oak Agency was gathered in the meeting room. Scott stood at the head of the room, Thalia sat next to him with a computer in her hand. Haruka, Juan, Maggie walked in all together.

"Great, everyone is here except for Aisha," said Scott. "Where is she by the way?"

Thalia pressed some things on her computer and adjusted her glasses. "She left just twenty minutes ago according to the log."

"What?" asked Scott sharply, turning around to face her. "What do you mean she left?"

"She said she had to leave to take care of something important. She said she didn't have any time to explain. She left her phone behind as well."

"Well this is a terrible time not to explain! We need all hands on deck for this mission!"

"Do we though, it's just a scouting mission," said Haruka. "Well, it's supposed to be just a scouting mission. It's probably going to escalate into something worse."

Scott looked at him. "Alright then, why don't you go look for her?"

Before Haruka could say anything, Joyce stepped forward.

"I'll go with him!"

Haruka looked at her and sighed. "Guess I'll go."

Haruka and Joyce were walking down the street. Wandering around and asking around to see if anyone had seen Aisha.

"Oh yeah, I've seen someone like that," said a woman holding a parasol with a Drifblim tied to it. "She seemed to be in a hurry, and accidently bumped into me and didn't pause to say sorry! Though I'll excuse her, she headed into the Pokémon Center."

"Finally," said Haruka. "A str"

"Thank you so much for your assistance," said Joyce. "This is very important."

The woman nodded as Joyce and Haruka entered the Pokémon Center, they froze in surprise as they saw the entire place deserted.

"Shoot, it's a trap," said Haruka, spinning around.

A woman appeared from the side door and looked at them.

"Excuse me! I am so sorry but the Pokémon Center is closed. Everyone had to leave because of an extremely serious medical emergency. Code Crimson level!"

Joyce gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "That is serious." She turned to Haruka. "Do you really think we should bother Aisha at a time like this?"

Haruka shrugged. "I trust Scott more."

Joyce turned back to the nurse. "Excuse me for asking but do you know where this place is?"

The nurse frowned. "Are you sure? It's a pretty dangerous site."

Haruka turned around. "If you say it's dangerous it's dangerous. I'm in no mood to die today."

"Don't worry," said Joyce in an assuring tone. "We're professional Oak Agency members."

The nurse's frown turned to a look of suspicion. "But they already dispatched Oak Agency members to the scene to help out. Surely you would know that."

Joyce pulled out her badge. "We're a different branch of Oak Agency. We're just looking for a friend because we need her help."

"Alright then. It's a Pokécare center in the Tangela District."

Joyce nodded. "Thank you."

Five minutes Later

As Joyce and Haruka entered the scene, they saw the entire Pokécare center on fire. People were shouting as they battled the flames. Others were running around, carrying Pokémon on stretchers. Tents were set up all around the field, Pokémon being ushered inside.

"Dear Arceus," said Joyce softly, looking at the scene. "What could've happened?"

"The Gamma Team obviously," said Haruka. "Pokécare centers don't explode on their own."

Joyce looked ahead. "You never know. Maybe we really shouldn't bother Aisha."

Haruka stuck his hands in his pockets and walked forward. "Maybe we should. Stay behind if you want. The faster we're out of here the safer I feel."

They walked into the area, looking at all the destruction around them. As they walked through the medical area, they were greeted with strange looks, albeit suspicious ones.

"Why are they all staring at us?" asked Haruka.

"I suppose we don't look like Oak Agency members. I see Aisha over there."

They walked towards Aisha, who was in the middle of talking on a phone while examining a blackened Bellossom with an arm cast on a soft wheel table.

She gave a huff and put the phone on another table. Haruka and Joyce could immediately see it wasn't her phone. Aisha bundled the Bellossom in a damp blanket and rested it on its pillow. She noticed Joyce and Haruka standing there and turned around.

"Hello guys, what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you know," said Haruka. "We were supposed to go scouting for the Gamma Team, but you left without telling anyone. Scott said we should look for you."

"No."

"No?" asked Joyce.

"No, as in I can't follow you guys. Can't you see what's going on around you?"

"Yeah we can," said Haruka pointedly, turning around. "But the Oak Agency needs you, I guess. Which is the only reason I'm here."

"Well I can't come with you guys. My duty as a nurse takes precedence over the Oak Agency. I'm sorry, but there are more important things going on here. So many Pokémon are hurt and in desperate need of medical attention. Almost every single nurse in the Raticate District and nearby were sent here to deal with this crisis."

Joyce nodded. "We understand. But before we leave, what exactly happened here?"

Aisha sighed. "We actually don't know. The entire place seemed to have just exploded."

"Must be the work of the Gamma Team," said Haruka.

Aisha looked at him. "Just because something bad happened doesn't mean it was caused by the Gamma Team, or any evil team for that matter. Instead of projecting the blame onto others, we should look for what actually happened."

Haruka gave her a look. "You're joking right? Actually sticking up for the Gamma Team?"

"I'm not sticking up for them, I'm simply stating a fact."

Haruka fully turned around and glared at her. "Oh yeah? You want some facts, well here you go. Who blew up the jail a year ago? Who attacked a Pokécare center after that? Who stole the Blue Orb and set off a powerful Noble Pokémon that later attacked and killed people? Who attacked multiple Dynamax Pokémon labs around the region? Who set off Pokémon in Roggen Caverns and caused loads of injuries?"

"I get-"

"And who attacked Poképark twice? Setting off Dynamax Pokemon and leaving one of their own to die? And yet you blame me for instantly pointing fingers at the Gamma Team when it's clear they're the ones who cause all the mayhem around here! Gavin's own sister joined the Gamma Team! And I don't see treating them as if they're real people! Spit it out now, which of your loved ones joined the Gamma Team? A sibling? Boyfriend?"

"What's your problem Haruka?" asked Aisha, her own voice raising. "Since when did you start caring about all this? Why don't you go back to reading manga and playing games like you always do?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot I wasn't allowed to do anything else. You dodged my question Aisha."

"Well I'm sorry I forgot I had to answer your questions!"

"Please," said Joyce. "There's no reason to argue. All three of us have important jobs we need to fulfill, and standing here arguing amongst ourselves isn't fulfilling those jobs."

Aisha let out a breath. "Right. Haruka, I'm sorry. I'm just under-"

"I don't need your apologies," said Haruka, walking away. "You're right, I should just continue not caring."

Soon, everyone had gathered again in the meeting room. Scott was in a noticeably worse mood when Joyce updated him on what happened. Haruka so far had been unresponsive and instead sat in a corner.

"So that's that, she's just going to abandon the mission," said scott.

"Well," said Joyce. "She had a very good reason to do so. I hope all those Pokémon get better soon."

"Yeah yeah," muttered Scott, waving a gray file absently at her. The file was marked with a bright red CONFIDENTIAL in huge lettering. "We can do this without her. We're going to split into teams. Juan-"

"Actually captain," said Juan nervously. "I was wondering if I could actually go by myself. To Alfheim City."

Scott looked at him. "And why would you want to go there by yourself?"

"His sister's stationed there, I'm sure he worries about her," said Haruka suddenly, looking up from the corner.

"Sure. Anyways, I'm going to tell you who's going-"

"I'd also like to go alone," said Haruka. "I just need some time to think."

"Seriously?"

"Well," said Thalia thoughtfully. "If Haruka and Juan go off by themselves, and Victor remains here with me to keep tabs on things, we could still have three groups of two going out to other cities with the other fully fledged Oak Agency members. Seeing as there isn't much work to be done in Barius considering our earlier sweeps, the majority of trainee recruits were sent there. We could station three groups in Croynaria, Voyanna, and Outainus."

"I guess that works," Scott said gruffly. "Can I now read the list of teams or am I going to have more interruptions? I need to file this away."

"I'm just going to go scan some files, continue without me," said Thalia.

Soon, the teams had been made and Scott was walking away from the conference room, heading towards his office. However, he did not hear someone else coming from around the corner.

As he turned the corner, another person ran into him. Scott staggered back and dropped the file in his hand as a mess of papers and files fell from the other person's hands as well.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" came the frantic and apologetic voice of Thalia. "I didn't see you there."

Scott sighed, only Thalia could be this clumsy. "It's fine."

Thalia quickly gathered her files and handed them to Scott. "I believe this was the one you had," she said as she handed a gray one to Scott.

Scott took it and started walking away. "Next time, look out for other people."

Scott continued walking to his office, he hadn't seen the contents of the confidential file yet, but from Captain O'Riley's tone he knew they were serious. He took out his keys and opened his office door. It was only then he realized Thalia had given him the wrong file.

Fifty minutes later

Gavin and Ellen were driving in a car together inside of Outainus, Ellen at the wheel. The Oak Agency had split into teams. Juan opted to go by himself, choosing to Alfheim City, presumably to join his sister. Wilhelm and Maggie remained in Voyanna while Joyce and Scott went off to Croynaria. Victor remained back in base to monitor things while Haruka also chose to go by himself to Barius.

"I haven't been to Outainus before," said Ellen, "I wonder what it's like."

"Well, the city is divided into two parts," said Gavin, looking out the window. "The rich part, and the poorer part. The rich part of the city has skyscrapers, parks. It's really beautiful. It's much cleaner than Voyanna actually, and the people are so nice."

His voice sounded wistful, so Ellen stayed quiet and let him continue.

"And then, there's the poor part. The media doesn't like to talk about this place. The amount of crime that goes on in this place makes Voyanna City look like a crime free city. I know myself, I used to live there."

"Are you okay talking about it?"

"Yeah. It was sometime ago. I used to live with my sister Gabrielle in a small house. Like most neighborhoods, ours was dirty and full of crime. Our mom was the only adult in the house, our dad died sometime after we were born. At least,she was the only adult in the house when she wasn't off doing drugs. Eventually, she became fed up with us and abandoned me and my sister on the side of the road. We lived on the streets for about two days. We were walking over to the rich side of Outainus when a man found us. After we told him our story, he adopted us and got our mother in jail."

"What happened after that?" asked Ellen.

"Well," said Gavin, reclining his seat and kicking his legs onto the dashboard. "Our step dad taught us responsibility, integrity, and a lot of other important life skills. He didn't make that much money as a construction worker, but he still provided for us. I haven't seen my mother since she was released three years ago. She served the max sentence of ten years, plus another three for drug charges. It doesn't really matter to me though, I found a better life. Gabi though, she was affected more than I was."

Ellen sighed. "I wonder which one is worse, losing a mother you loved so much, or being abandoned by a mother you didn't? Either way, please get your feet off the dashboard."

Gavin laughed before settling into a normal position. "You and your rules, either way, I doubt we'll run into her in our search. My guess is that she's moved on."

Ellen nodded, looking at the road absentmindedly.

Twenty minutes later

Scott and Joyce were walking through Croynaria. Joyce was looking around as they headed to the Wares District. The Wares District was a storage area, lots of warehouses and office buildings filled the area, data centers as well. Because of this, a lot of big businesses paid a lot of money to get office and storage units in this area.

"And that's another battle stadium," said Joyce, pointing to a large building with colorful neon lights.

"Yeah yeah," said Scott. "We're not here to sightsee. Let's go."

Joyce frowned. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm doing fine."

"You've been really tense recently. Is it because of all this responsibility?"

Scott sighed. "I'm just focused on the mission."

"Maybe you should loosen up," said Joyce. "I know how important the mission is, but still. You should take time to enjoy things or else life is just going to seem bleak. Life isn't only about work, no matter how important it is to you."

"Sure. Let's go."

With that, he quickened his pace, leaving Joyce behind. Joyce shrugged and followed him.

Juan walked towards the group of people he spotted moments ago. He knew from their clothing that they were Oak Agency recruits. This wasn't the first group of recruits he saw, but he could see clearly that the group he was looking at had his sister.

The recruits turned as he approached, and Katie was among them. She immediately brightened up when she saw her brother.

"Juan? What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly, running up to him.

"I came all this way to join you guys, I'm guessing your trainee family?"

In the Oak Agency training facility, recruits were organized in 'families', these families were groups of five to six people who always trained together and stayed in the same bunkhouse.

"Yup! This is Edward," she said, pointing at a tall boy with a blond buzz cut and kind brown eyes. "He likes cooking and is really nice to people." As she introduced him he gave a little wave. She then pointed at two average height boys with long reddish hair and black eyes.

"Those two twins are Clint and Clyde. They like arguing and insulting each other in any way you can think of. And over there-"

"I think I can introduce myself, Katie," said a boy with black hair and green eyes. "I'm Oscar, the head of the group."

Juan frowned. "Huh, did they change the system? I could've sworn they didn't have leaders."

"They didn't change the system!" Katie burst out. "Oscar just thinks he's so cool and self proclaimed himself as leader!"

"Well someone needed to make sure no one slacked off, and you certainly didn't fit the role."

"Oscar only says that because of you," said one of the twins.

"No! You are the lazy one!" shouted the other.

"Shut up!"

"Noisy!"

"Both of you shut up!" shouted Oscar.

The twins immediately stayed quiet, but that didn't stop them from glaring at each other.

"That's why we need a leader."

"They listen to anyone but themselves," said Edward.

"Anyways," said Juan. "I'm Juan, Katie's elder sister. Since we have our introductions down, we should head out. Where are we headed?"

"The Co"

"The Commercial District," said Oscar, starting off.

Katie shot him a glare. "There's no reason to show off."

"There's no reason for you to show off in front of your brother. You know I'm the one giving the orders around here."

"I think Oscar shouldn't be giving orders around here,"said one twin.

"I agree," murmured Katie.

"I think I like Oscar orders," responded the other twin.

"Alright," said Oscar, turning around to face them. "If you have something to say to me, spit it out now."

"I think Oscar has the brain of a Rhyhorn," muttered Katie.

The twins laughed while Juan gave Katie a reapproaching look.

"What? He said I should say what I wanted to."

"What did she say?" asked Oscar, giving Katie a deathly look.

"It'd be better for you not to know," said Juan.

They continued walking towards the Commercial District. Like the Wares District in Croynaria City, the Commercial District in Alfheim City was just like the Wares District. The Gamma Team clearly needed a large facility to operate, and the Commercial District was the best place to look.

"So," said Juan, trying to make conversation. "How do I tell you twins apart?"

"Clint's the ugly one," said the one who must've been Clyde.

"How is that even possible?" asked Clint.

"Because you just are."

"But you two look exactly the same," said Juan.

"I know, he can't seem to wrap his head around the fact. I'm Clint by the way, you can tell by my gray scarf," he said, pulling out a half hidden scarf from his Oak Agency suit.

Clyde pulled out a black one from the same area. "And I'm Clyde."

"Okay, so Clint is gray and Clyde is black."

"And Clint is ugly."

"Shut up before I slap you. You're the brainless," said Clyde, raising a hand threateningly.

Clint stuck out a tongue and jumped back before he got slapped, causing everyone to laugh except for Oscar.

"So immature," he muttered.

"Ah come on," said Edward. "No need to be cold, can't we just have a little fun before the mission officially starts. Why don't we tell about the trainee camp?"

"There's nothing to tell him about," said Oscar. "It's too easy and mundane."

"The exercises are fun," argued Edawrd in a calm voice. "Remember the dodgeball tournament?"

"Oh yeah!" shouted Clint. "You should've seen Clyde, he caught so many throws!"

"You were equally as good," said Clyde. "Remember when you won us the quarterfinals after you got those people from all the way across the gym?"

Oscar said nothing and turned away.

"Remember when Oscar got us disqualified after throwing his little temper tantrum?" asked Katie with heat in her voice.

"Katie, there's no point in mentioning stuff like that," said Juan.

"Let her talk about it if she wants," said Oscar, turning back around. "The only thing she can do is focus on the mistakes of others. It's not like she's able to do anything else other than talk about other's mistakes."

"Says the person who tries to boss everyone around to make himself feel like he's someone on top."

Edward tried getting in between the two. "Now guys, let's not get so-"

"You want to try me?" asked Oscar, his voice rising as his face became red.

Edward groaned while the twins looked on. "You guys can't do this here."

Juan put a hand on his shoulder and lightly shook his head. "When Katie gets riled up, she refuses to listen to reason. As long as things don't get out of hand it's fine."

"You want to lose like last time?" asked Katie, putting a hand on one of her pokeballs.

"You got lucky! Out, Edge!"

"Josh!"

In two flashes of light, a Pinsir and an Altaria appeared. Josa flew into the sky, out of reach from the Pinsir.

"Let's do this Edge, Mega Evolve!"

"Josa, Mega Evolve!"

A stone embedded in the middle of a chain around one of Edge's horns glowed, rainbow light flooding into it from a band on Oscar's wrist. A glowing cocoon surrounded the Pokémon as its form changed. Edge gave a sharp cry as the light exploded, opening its two wings from its back. At the same time, Josa was also surrounded by a rainbow light from Katie's mega band. As the light exploded, her long feathers gathered into a cloud behind her as she fluffed her large cloud wings.

"Oh boy," said Juan, Raptor appearing beside him as he opened one of his pokéballs . "Raptor, get ready to intervene just in case. Street Pokémon battles with mega evolution almost never go well."

"Edge, use Stone Edge!"

"Dodge it and use Sky Attack!"

Edge flew close to the ground and rammed his horns into the ground, creating a huge pillar of stone that jutted out at Josa. Josa flipped around and dodged the attack, surrounding herself in a golden light as she charged up Sky Atack.

"Double Edge!"

Edge charged at Josa right when she finished charging her Sky Attack. The two Pokémon rammed into each other at full speed. Edge was thrown downwards with Josa appearing not to have taken too much damage. Cotton feathers surrounded the front of Josa where Edge had struck.

"What! How?" asked Oscar angrily.

"Simple, Josa surrounded herself with her protective cotton before impact. Just like running headfirst into a steel wall, you're going to be hurt more than the wall."

At this point, many people had crowded around the Oak Agency members to watch the battle. Because of the two feuding agents, their progress was going to be severely halted.

"This entire battle is a waste of time," said Clint as he watched Edge dodge a Dragon Pulse and attack Josa with X-Scissor.

"I don't agree," said Clyde.

"Of course you don't. You disagree with everything I say."

"Josa, Hyper Voice!"

Josa let out a cry that created huge fairy waves that blasted Edge into the ground, causing people to jump back. Edge got to his feet and used Stone Edge, clipping Josa on the side.

"Mist!"

Josa expelled a cloud of mist that surrounded the entire area. Almost immediately, the cloud filled with a golden light as she used Sky Attack.

"Your tricks get old! Stop her before she can strike, Double Edge!" shouted Oscar.

Edge flew into the cloud at full speed. A few seconds passed before Josa and Edge were both flying out of the cloud. Edge threw Josa to the ground, almost throwing her into a group of people.

"Hey!" shouted Juan. "Be careful!"

"Josa, Dragon Pulse!"

"Dodge it and use Earthquake!"

"Raptor, intercept the Pinsir with Fly!"

Raptor immediately took to the air as Edge readied to use the powerful move. Before Edge touched the ground, Raptor tackled into him with a burst of speed. Raptor grabbed the Pokémon before it fell and dropped it onto the ground. Edge reverted to his base form and laid there, fainted.

Oscar leapt at Juan, anger written on his face.

"You cheater! You just wanted your sister to win because you knew I was about to beat her!"

Juan looked at him. "Did you really think having your Pinsir Earthquake in a crowd of people is a good idea?"

Oscar opened his mouth to protest, but then slowly closed it, realizing his error. He turned around and returned his Pokémon.

"This changes nothing."

"Sure it doesn't," said Katie. "I'm still bet-"

Her sentence was cut off when she felt something land on her hand. She looked up and saw it was raining, not only was it raining, but it was raining heavily. People around them quickly departed as it started raining buckets.

"Strange," said Juan, motioning for everyone to gather under Raptor. "Rain wasn't in the forecast."

"Don't worry, I know of a Pokémon who can handle this," said Edward "Go, Palm."

A giant Tropius appeared from a pokéball and knowingly spread its huge wings over them. The Tropius was much larger than usual and was able to cover them with its leaves, all except for Oscar, who stood by himself under the rain.

"Josa would help too," said Katie, returning her Altaria to its pokéball. "But she hates wet wings."

Juan nodded and looked over to Oscar. "Come on man, I know you don't want to get wet."

"I'm not going anywhere with her," said Oscar vehemently.

"Well you already went on this mission so you don't have much of a choice. Strange how this heavy rain came so quickly, no one would have foreseen this."

At that moment, something even stranger happened. The rain in the sky suddenly stopped completely. Not only did it stop, but the cloud vanished instantly as the falling drops turned into steam. The sun burned with a harsh glare as pools of water around them evaporated rapidly.

"What the hell?" asked Oscar, who'd still been under the rain when the change happened.

"Do you think someone else is having an errant Pokémon battle?" asked Clint.

"Of course not!" argued Clyde. "It's just some extreme weather pattern."

"Bro," said Clint, turning to look at his brother seriously. "Even extreme weather isn't this extreme."

"I know," said Clyde guiltily. "I was just arguing for the sake of it."

Clint sighed while Katie and Edward laughed. "I seriously don't understand you."

"But I thought twins shared a mental connection," said Edward, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yeah," said Clint. "A mental connection between twins can only be maintained if both people are intelligent. Unfortunately, I'm the only intelligent one."

"Are not!" shouted Clyde.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "You really think so."

As they argued, Juan was silent, thinking deeply. Suddenly, the heavy rain picked up again, promoting Oscar to move underneath the feather canopy.

"Now this is really strange," said Katie. "Maybe two people and their Pokémon are having a weather war."

"Reminds me of competitive battling in Unova," muttered Edward.

"Even so," said Juan. "The rain and sun shouldn't be intense. In fact, only two Pokémon in primal forms can accomplish weather at such level. You don't think-"

"But Kyogre disappeared during the battle!" Oscar burst out. "Right?"

"That's what we thought. But Scarlet was trying to control Kyogre before Ashley intercepted her. Kyogre disappears sometime during their fight."

"Maybe Kyogre did disappear and swim away," said Clyde. "But not because it wanted to."

"But because Scarlet took control of it and sent it to a specified location for one of the Gamma Team elites to capture later!" finished Clint.

"Oh sh- I want you guys to head to the nearest Oak Agency HQ and tell them of what's going on, if they haven't noticed," said Juan, climbing onto Raptor. "Under no circumstance should you follow me, stay in the HQ and wait for things to calm down."

"What?" asked Oscar. "You can't ditch us!"

"Yeah what give's Juan?" asked Clyde and Clint together.

"You're still recruits, trust me, it'll be safer."

"No," said Katie. "We're still Oak Agency members, we can watch ourselves. We're coming with you!"

"Katie," said Juan, his voice sharp. "I'm doing this for your own good. Try and follow me and I will stop you. These are two dangerous things!"

"What about the last mission! That was dangerous, people died! You can't refuse extra help!"

"If it was dangerous for fully fledged members like us it would be deadly for you. Don't argue with me about this."

"You promised mom and dad you'd take care of me!"

Juan flinched, remembering his promise to his parents at their deathbeds. It always pained him, especially when Katie had been kidnapped. He'd always felt like a failure. He tapped Raptor's sides with his feet, a sign they should go.

"I'm protecting you this way. I can't let you throw yourself in harm's way. Not after what happened."

"This isn't protecting me!" shouted Katie, tears forming in her eyes as Raptor started flying away. "This is just pushing me away! You need me! I can't just stand aside and let you get hurt, I'm not a little girl anymore! JUAN!"

Oscar put a hand on her shoulder as Juan flew off. "He's gone. Let's head to the nearest HQ and tell them about this."

Katie turned around. "We can't just stand aside and abandon him!"

"Who said we were? After that, we head to a Pokémon Center and heal our Pokémon. We're going to have to be at top quality if we're going to be fighting. Now, stop crying. You said you weren't a little girl anymore."

Juan rose steadily on top of Raptor, not looking back at Katie. He pulled out his phone and dialed Scott.

"Did you find anything?" asked Scott, picking up the line immediately.

"Oh it's more than anything. I'm a hundred percent sure the Gamma Team has Primal Kyogre. They're using it with Primal Groudon somewhere in Alfheim, I'll find where, but we need the entire Oak Agency on this."

Juan heard mild cursing on Scott's end. "Alright, I'm heading over. I'll put a call to Captain O'Riley about this. The Gamma Team isn't getting away this time. Send the location to captain O'Riley stat, don't do anything reckless."

"Affirmative."

Juan turned off his phone and directed Raptor towards the outskirts of the city. He pulled up a map of the district he was in and looked to possible places the Gamma Team could be.

"Considering I haven't heard any panic, they're probably not within the city. Perhaps a Wild Zone."

He veered Raptor around, heading to the nearest Wild Zone. As he neared the area, a huge pillar of stone rose out of the ground in the distance. A huge blue figure flew into the air and blasted streams of water. Juan knew full well that it was Kyogre. He pulled out his phone and landed on a building. Raptor stretched out his wings and laid down.

"Now isn't the time to relax Raptor," he said as he dialed Captain O'Riley's number.

"Juan, what's your position?" asked the captain the moment he answered the phone.

"I have them in my sights, by the looks of it, Scarlet's making Kyogre and Groudon fight. Maybe some sort of training."

"No," said O'Riley gravely. "She's trying to bring Rayquaza."

"What?"

"Normally, in times of great need, the Draconids in Hoenn would summon Rayquaza with the Jade Orb. A legendary artifact under the watch of Lorekeeper Zinnia, the strongest dragon type trainer known to man. But in the past, two times thousands of years ago, and a third time about fifteen years ago. Rayquaza would come out from the sky to break up fights between Groudon and Kyogre."

"So now she's trying to replicate this. Any plans?"

"I only have one right now, and it's the most plausible one given the circumstances. The other OA agents in Alfheim City should be at your position in three minutes. The ones from the nearest city Outainus should be here in thirty, disregarding traffic, signals, and the speed limit. Once they're here, the two forces will attack together and try to buy enough time for the others to show up."

"I don't know, thirty minutes is a lot of time. The Gamma Team's numbers have thinned over the past year. Even the Alfheim squad could hold their own against them since there isn't that much of a number difference."

"True, but they have access to powerful genetically modified Pokémon, and two legendaries. Wilhelm has already told me there's a power spot in your area, so we can expect genetically modified Dynamax Pokémon. Stay put."

With that, Captain O'Riley hung up. Juan sighed in dismay, the one thing he didn't want to be doing was waiting.

Wilhelm parked in front of the entrance of the Oak Agency headquarter and quickly got out of the car. Maggie was in the passenger seat and was looking at him confused.

"What are we doing here? We were supposed to gather in Alfheim city."

"I know, but if the Gamma Team is trying to summon Rayquaza, that means all of their forces are going to be there, including Marlow."

"You've been so focused on Marlow lately," said Maggie as they walked through the door. "Why is that?"

"He's invented his own mega Pokémon, a very powerful one at that. It barely takes any damage from attacks and is going to be extremely dangerous for any future minutes. Halby nor Pepper were able to do so much as a scratch. Pepper eventually lost the will to fight and I had to bail. I believe this Mega Mimikyu is even stronger than the dragon hybrid seen earlier. Figuring out how to defeat it is essential for any future operations so I've been working on a device. It's almost done, I just need to attach it to the gauntlets Iridus made for herself and we'll be-"

At that moment, a loud screech was heard emanating from upstairs, stopping both agents cold. The cry sounded like two Pokémon mixed together, so Wilhelm knew exactly which Pokémon that was.

"That was Pepper!" cried Wilhelm. "Something must be wrong."

"Let's go then!"

They ran upstairs and headed towards Wilhelm's lab. As they reached the second floor, they saw Thalia. She was holding a bag and was clutching her arm.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were supposed to be heading off to Alfheim City."

"We came back to get something from my laboratory, and then we heard Pepper screaming. Do you know what happened?"

"No actually, I came in to investigate but then the thing slashed me. I have to go now to get this treated."

"Are you okay?" asked Maggie.

"Of course I'm okay, I didn't just get slashed by a creature just now," said Thalia with a sarcastic edge to her voice.

Maggie frowned. She thought Thalia's tone sounded familiar, but for a different person.

"Let's go Maggie, we don't have a second to lose."

She nodded and followed him.

"So what even is this device for?" asked Maggie before walking directly into Wilhelm, who'd stopped in front of his open door in shock.

"What's wrong?"

Wilhelm hurried into his office and started looking around.

"My device, and Pepper! They're gone!"

"What?" asked Maggie incredulously. "What do you mean gone?"

"Exactly what I mean. They're nowhere to be found. Pepper never leaves the office without me, especially after last week. Do you think?"

"Thalia stole them? But she's so nice!"

"But we know she came in contact with Pepper," he crouched down and pulled something out from under the table. "This is her phone."

"She must've dropped it when Pepper attacked her," said Maggie. "I guess there's no disputing it. Wait, what if she has a Pokémon with Teleport or something?"

"This is a government building, so they're Alakazam's making sure no one teleports inside or teleports outside within a quarter of a mile."

"Alright, but what if she called a Kangacar?"

"I'll call the ride share service, let's move."

Wilhelm and Maggie burst out of his lab and ran down the stairs. Wilhelm pulled out his phone and called the Kangacar company.

"Hello? Is this the Oak Agency?"

"Yes, we need a list of everyone who hired a Kangacar ride in the last thirty minutes. Particularly anyone named Thalia Hill."

"Thalia Hill? Her Kangacar picked her up a minute ago."

"I need you to send us the car's location and tell the driver to stop the car."

He hung up the phone and kept running. After telling Maggie, they headed onto the street and were quickly heading towards the GPS location of the car. There was a sudden shattering sound as the door of a car up front exploded off the hinge. An unusually large Honedge and Thalia came out of the car. Without pausing, Thalia immediately started running, the Honedge following her.

"Come on Wilhelm!" shouted Maggie, breaking off into a sprint.

Unfortunately, Wilhelm didn't have the same physical condition as her. He struggled to keep up with her.

"I'll catch up! Just keep track of her position!"

Maggie raced after Thalia, weaving between people on the street and shouting at them to move. But no matter how fast she ran, Thalia widened the gap between them.

Thalia ducked into an alley next to an apartment building and Maggie followed her. She heard a sharp noise of something being impaled by steel. She entered the alley and saw Thalia using her Honedge as a platform to climb on the roof. She climbed onto a ledge as her Honedge floated upwards and impaled itself between Thalia and the next ledge.

"You've got to be kidding me with these conveniently spaced ledges," muttered Maggie as she searched for a way to scale the wall. She spotted a drainpipe leading from the top of the apartment down into the ground.

She looked up and saw Thalia rapidly scaling the building. Steeling herself, she grabbed the drainpipe and started climbing after her. Despite her best efforts, rapidly placing one hand and one foot above the other, it was clear Thalia was making quicker progress.

Her muscles burned as she climbed as fast as she could. She had two thirds done when Thalia got onto the roof. By the time she managed to get to the top, Thalia had already leaped to another building.

Despite the protesting of her legs, she broke out into a run and chased after Thalia. She knew she wasn't going to catch up though.

"Gengar, go!"

Her Gengar appeared and sank into the ground, trailing after Thalia. Up ahead, Thalia sent out a Kadabra.

"Night Shade!"

Gengar rose up from the ground and created a ghostly project of himself. The Kadabra dodge the attack, and the ghostly projection flew towards Thalia's bag and disappeared.

In a flash of psychic light, the Kadabra used Teleport. Instead of disappearing, the move was redirected towards Thalia's bag.

With a smile, Maggie realized that Marlow's device probably absorbed Pokémon moves. Because of that, Thalia couldn't escape without ditching her bag. Maggie then frowned. Thalia's last two Pokémon were somewhat familiar. She then remembered the tone of voice and had a terrible realization. She realized that even if she couldn't teleport away, there was still a good chance she would escape.

Suddenly, the doors on top of another apartment burst open, revealing Wilhelm, Iridus, and Halby. Maggie sent out her Absol and Axew, the seven of them together cornered Thalia, forcing her to stop.

"Alright Elaine," said Maggie, using her real name. "What did you do to Thalia?"

Elaine turned around, her Pokémon following suit. She wasn't wearing glasses anymore, and wore two sleek, black gloves instead of furry Umbreon ones. She wasn't wearing her suit and had green eyes instead of violet ones.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a sarcastic tone. "I didn't do anything to her."

"No! You're a nasty thief! Thalia was a-"

"No you idiot, Thalia Hill isn't a real person, just a disguise I've been using. For all your security measures, you never suspected a thing. I've gotten everything you could possibly think of. From confidential files to the fact your aunt used you as a slave."

Maggie froze, causing Absol to growl at the thief. The other two Pokémon followed suit, trying to appear intimidating. Stiele glared at them with its one eye and hovered a few more inches off the ground, causing them to back off.

"Why did you steal my device?" asked Wilhelm. "And where's Pepper?"

Elaine gave him a look that suggested he was stupid. "Where do you think?"

"What about my device? What's the point of taking it?"

Elaine looked at her nails. "And why should I tell you that? Not like it matters though. The entire purpose of me being Thalia was to sabotage the Oak Agency as much as possible. I figured that taking a device meant to defeat a supposedly undefeatable Pokémon would be a major blow. Unfortunately, it seems to be dead weight at this point. Anyways, I need to go now. Scarlet's calling me back. Honestly, this plan would have gone without a hitch had the sedatives been as effective as they should've been."

"Don't think we're done with you!" shouted Maggie. "We still want Pepper back!"

"And so does Hans, not everyone can get what they want."

"Absol, use Night Slash on the bag strap!"

Absol leapt forward and tried to attack the bag, Stiele rushed forward and with a graceful sweep of its body, clashed against his horn.

"Halby, Ice Beam! Iridus, Dragon Breath!"

"Gaol, use Shadow Ball!" shouted Elaine, sending out her Umbreon.

The ball of shadow slammed into Halby as Gaol received both Pokémon's attacks. On the other side, Stiele used Psycho Cut on Maggie's Gengar as it used Shadow Punch as Maggie's Axew leapt at him and latched her jaw onto his tassel, causing it to release its sheath. Absol leapt forward and attacked it with Night Slash, knocking it away.

While this was happening, Elaine was slowly moving backwards with Katraz. She knew she couldn't keep the device, but she didn't intend on leaving it with the Oak Agency. Her movements weren't unnoticed. Maggie's Absol noticed her and let out a short cry. Gengar leapt at Stiele and used Hypnosis. Absol ran at Elaine, his horn glowing green.

Elaine reached into the bag and pulled out a pokéball before flinging the bag. Absol was aware of her actions before they happened and leapt forward, using Psycho Cut on Katraz before catching the bag.

"Iridus, Clanging Scales!"

Iridus fired a shockwave of sound that slammed into Katraz before she could use Teleport. Maggie ran and leapt at Elaine and tackled her before she could dodge. Absol gave a hiss of shock, detecting something with his horn.

Wilhelm saw Pepper's pokéball fly from Elaine's hand as she hit the ground. His eyes widened in shock as he realized where it was going to end up. He ran forward and leapt for the pokéball, catching it as it fell off the edge.

"Wilhelm!" shouted Maggie, rolling off of Elaine.

Wilhelm had gone too far off the edge and couldn't hold himself up. Iridus however had gone after him and grabbed him before he could fall.

Wilhelm got to his feet and quickly opened the pokéball. Pepper appeared unhurt, but a bit fazed.

"Thank Arceus you're alright," said Wilhelm, giving Pepper a hug.

The hybrid Pokémon gave an odd noise that sounded something between a sniffle and a laugh. It then burst into tears, hugging Wilhelm back. Iridus however, seemed a bit jealous.

"Elaine escaped," said Maggie with an edge to her voice.

"It's okay, we got Pepper and my device back," said Wilhelm, letting go of Pepper and taking Elaine's bag from Absol. "Let's head back and finish it."

Maggie sighed and nodded. "How'd you get here anyways?"

"I figured out where she was most probably going to go and asked the Kangacar driver to take me to a farther ahead apartment. From there, I used the elevator and went through the roof exit."

"Great. Let's go."

"I have a question," said Wilhelm, returning his Pokémon back to their pokéballs . "What did your aunt do to you exactly?"

Maggie sighed. "Better not to talk about it. All you really need to know is that she is terrible and cruel."

Juan was still up on the roof, feeling more and more antsy. The two legendaries had been fighting for almost thirty minutes now, Rayquaza was bound to appear anytime soon. Juan had spotted some Oak Agency members, but the ones from Outainus had yet to appear. To ease his worries, he called Captain O'Riley.

"Any news?" asked Juan.

"Yes, and not all of it is good. Rayquaza has been spotted flying over Unova and will be here in an hour. Meanwhile, our forces from Outainus will be here in two minutes, Barius forces will be here in twenty, Voyanna in twenty five, and Croyina in thirty. Get ready."

With that, Captain O'Riley hung up. Juan looked back at the battlefield. He had already mapped out where all the people were, particularly the mission branch. He glared at a small figure in the distance, standing by himself off to the side. He wanted revenge on him. He sent out Typhlosion and created a plan.

"Okay guys, we know that the Gamma Team mission branch is dangerous. We need to isolate them as much as possible. Here's what I was thinking…"

The Gamma Team stood around, well away from the clashing legendaries.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" asked Molly. "What if Rayquaza just decides to ignore this?"

"I doubt he will," said Marlow. "This is what he does."

"What about the Oak Agency?" asked Jacob. "Think they'll try anything?"

"Not with two powerful legendaries in our arsenal," said Olivia.

"I doubt it," argued Devon. "The Oak Agency always tries stuff. I even caught a glimpse of them sometime ago."

Olivia shrugged. "Maybe they're just-"

And that's when Oak Agency members burst out from behind buildings and from trees.

Juan saw everyone charging out from behind cover and immediately sprung into action.

"Alright guys let's go!"

He jumped onto Raptor who took off immediately, grabbing Typhlosion by the tail as he went. They dove down onto the battlefield, straight towards Kazuma. Kazuma looked up in surprise right as Typhlosion wrapped his long body around him. Raptor puller upwards, straining to carry both people and a Serperior.

"Ha, you're so funny," said Kazuma.

The next few moments were a blur. Thinking back on it, Juan swore he saw Kazuma's eyes glow red.

Raptor suddenly tilted, surrounded by psychic energy. He flipped over and crashed onto the ground, Juan barely escaping. Typhlosion was unwound from Kazuma's body by the same energy. Juan rolled over and stood up, Kazuma was visibly tired now, sweat was gathering on his face.

"Alright Kazuma, this ends here! I'm tired of you! I'll defeat you and then your next stop will be jail!"

Kazuma laughed. "We'll see about that. How's Katie by the way? I-"

"Don't you dare talk about her! Typhlosion, Wrap!"

"Goodra!"

His Goodra appeared in a flash of light and used Ice Beam. Typhlosion weaved around the attack and wrapped around the Goodra, constricting her tight, preventing movement.

"Go, Electivire! Ice Punch!"

Kazuma's Electivire appeared in a slash of ran towards Serperior, his ice glowing with cold energy.

"Raptor, Close Combat!"

"Thunder!"

The Electivire's tails whipped around, firing a heavy bolt of lightning at Raptor. The avian Pokémon flew around the attack and slammed into Electivire in a flurry of wings and talons.

"Goodra, Sludge Wave!"

"Dragon Pulse!"

Typhlosion unwrapped his head from Goodra and blasted her with Dragon Pulse. She recoiled from the attack and struggled to unwound him from around her. Meanwhile, Raptor was struggling to dodge its attacks.

"Pio, go!"

"Swampert!"

The two Pokémon appeared on the field. Electivire fired off another Thunder, but the attack was redirected towards Pio and was absorbed into him.

"Oh now that's cheap. Earthquake! Electivire, Volt Tackle!"

"Pio, onto Raptor!"

Pio leapt onto Raptor as Swampert let loose a powerful Earthquake. Goodra, Typhlosion, and Electivire were damaged by the Earthquake as Raptor and Pio soared in the sky.

"The snake's alone! Ice Punch!"

"Pio, Iron Tail! Raptor, Fly!"

Pio leapt from the sky and slammed his tail on the Electivire's head, stunning it. Raptor bashed into the Swampert and flew around it, using Double Team and creating clones of itself.

Goodra and Typhlosion were still battling. The lower half of his body had been burnt by Flamethrower, but he'd managed to get in a few Dragon Pulses. Typhlosion was still wrapped around her and refused to let up as his teammates were battling around them.

All of a sudden, a ball of fire flew at the Electivire and slammed into it as Pio battled it. Before anyone could react, a huge torrent of water slammed into Swampert as an ethereal spirit fist slammed into Electivire as well.

"Oh come on," groaned Kazuma. "Don't tell me otaku boy joined the party."

"Most times I would be disheartened at that," said Haruka, his three Pokémon next to him. "But I'm glad to be of disservice."

Ellen's Garchomp was currently locked in a battle with Devon's Gyarados. Both Pokémon were trying to overpower the other to now effect.

"Stone Edge!"

"Dodge it and use Bulldoze!"

Instead of dodging, Devon's Gyarados barreled through the Stone Edge. Gnasher used Dragon Rush and met the Gyarados head on. The two Pokémon rammed into each other and stayed there.

"Crunch!" shouted Ellen.

Gnasher latched onto the Gyarados' side and pulled it to the ground. Gyarados' tail swirled with water as he swung it at Gnasher.

"Stone Edge!"

Gnasher slammed a foot into the ground and created a jutting stone that threw the Gyarados into the air. He sprung into the air and used Dragon Rush, damaging it further.

"Hurricane!"

Devon's Gyarados created a torrent of air that grabbed Gnasher and threw him towards the ground. The Gyarados flew downwards and used Crunch, grabbing Gnasher with his mouth.

"Earthquake!"

Gnasher thrashed around in the Gyarados' mouth, creating shockwaves that threw the Gyarados backs. Gnasher then landed into the ground with enough force to use Stone Edge, defeating the Gyarados.

"Dragapult go!"

"Dragon Rush!"

"Dragon Darts!"

Dragapult appeared from Devon's ball and avoided Ellen's Garchomp swiftly, firing off two Dreepys. The Dreepys slammed into Gnasher and U-turned back into the Dragapult's head, fainting Gnasher.

"Go, Magia!"

Ellen's Delphox appeared and started fighting with psychic energy. Devon's Dragpult sank into the ground as it used Phantom Force.

Meanwhile, Gavin had finally found and caught up to Gabrielle. She turned around and saw him, her eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

"Gavin," she said without warmth. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I came to stop the madness you've taken part in!"

"Trying to be the so-called hero like always. You've been blinded, the Oak Agency isn't as righteous as you think it is."

"Don't turn this conversation towards your dead boyfriend!" said Gavin sharply. "I'm here to tell you what you're doing is wrong. Do you really think this revenge is healthy? Look at where it's leading you!"

"It's leading me to do things that will change society! Don't you see? The Gamma Team isn't about genetically advancing Pokémon anymore. By the end of all this, Scarlet will sit at the ruler of the world."

"And you're allowing that? Think of what could happen! All the people who could be hurt and affected negatively by that! What about the people who gave their lives trying to stop what you were doing!"

"When Scarlet is ruler everything will be fair! There'll be no Oak Agency, no government, and no excuses for murder!"

Gavin laughed, a cold and humorless laugh. "How ironic, you're saying the Oak Agency is an excuse to arrest and kill whoever the government wants. What about you? Think about the seventeen people killed last week. That was your doing, you were a part of that."

"Some sacrifices had to be made."

The calmness in which she said simply made Gavin angrier. "How can you speak like that? You're turning out no better than mom! You're following her path."

"I pave my own path," she growled. "One that'll lead to real freedom! Here's the difference between Scarlet and society. If you're poor, no one cares about you, you have no value. But with Scarlet, as long as you have loyalty, you can go anywhere."

"The path you paved is a path of unfounded revenge! What did you see in Micheal?"

"He showed me the real state of the world! He was one of the few good things about life!"

"What about stepdad, and me? I was always there for you, just as I'm here for you now! And despite the fact step dad didn't make much money himself, he still provided for us and even got us Pokémon! How can you be so ungrateful?"

"And we had to do all his work for him in return! You call that charity?"

"Believe whatever you want Gabi, but it's not too late! You can still switch sides! I've already talked to the Captain about this! You don't have to go to jail!"

"What's the point? The Gamma Team has already won. We hold two legendaries, and a third will be in our possession in thirty minutes. If anything, you should join instead. If you make enemies with Scarlet, you'll spend the rest of your life in hell."

"I'd never join you! The Oak Agency and other heroes will give the Gamma Team everything we have! Don't you see what you're doing is wrong? What could all of this be worth?"

"Not only will Micheal rest in peace, but those who used to be trampled underfoot by society can rise up. You've led a pampered life so far. First born, stepdad's favorite, even a special place in the Oak Agency. With Scarlet's new future, all that will be changed."

"But most of that was achieved by hard work! If you want to go places in life, you have to work for it! What is this? Team Skull mentality? Open your eyes and make the right choices Gabi!"

"I've made my choices already. If you want to stop me, go ahead, I won't hold back."

Gavin was on the verge of tears. "Where the hell is this coming from? I'm your own brother, I took care of you for most of your life! Whenever mom was being abusive, you'd always come to me. I always did my best to stand up for you! What about when mom threw us onto the street?"

"That was a long time ago. Things have changed now, I'm no longer the little girl you need to defend. I can make my own choices. Which is why I choose to go against you! Out Tony!"

"Go, Speedy!"

The two Pokémon faced each other, Speedy marched forward and stood between Gavin and Tony, unwilling to move.

"Tony, Flamethrower!"

"Earthquake!"

Speedy slammed his body to the ground and tilted his shell towards Tony right as he used Flamethrower. The flames glanced off Speedy's shell as Tony was hit by the seismic waves. Speedy's shell, despite its durability, was intensely blackened because of the harsh sun due to the warring legendaries.

"You don't have to do this!" shouted Gavin.

"Nothing you say will change my mind! I've already committed-"

She was cut off by a massive shaking that seemed to rock the world. Out of the earth rose mighty earthen pillars that cut off the battlefield around them. Gavin looked around in surprise as he found himself completely alone with Gabrielle.

"What is the world?" asked Maggie as she and Wilhelm approached the scene. They had just gotten there when the pillars had risen up. Because of the pillars, they were completely separated from the battlefield.

"That must be Precipice Blades," said Wilhelm. "Scarlet must be trying to prevent more of the Oak Agency from entering the battle, as well as trying to zone people to create favorable encounters. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was attacked the moment they tried flying over."

"Do we try to bust through?" asked Maggie.

"I don't know, these blades are extremely strong. The combined efforts of our Pokémon probably wouldn't be enough, and it would alert Scarlet to our presence. My main objective is putting Marlow's Mega Mimikyu out of the picture."

"I know!" said Maggie, coming up with an idea. "I'll have Gengar do reconnaissance. He can sink through the blades and find Marlow. Then we can plan our attack."

"Sounds good."

Maggie sent out her Gengar and gave it a few instructions, the Pokémon nodded and sunk into the ground, moving off through the earth.

In a few moments, Gengar came back. He ran off, prompting them to follow them. He led them to a row of stone pillars in front of them.

"I guess we will go here," said Maggie, returning Gengar to her pokéball.

"I suppose we should scale it. Iridus!"

Iridus appeared, wearing Wilhelm's device on her claws. The egg shaped devices had been fitted to the middle of gauntlets for Iridus to wear.

"We have to climb this, let's go."

The earthen pillars were slopped, meaning it wasn't impossible to climb. They were also jagged, with many usable handholds. Irides went first, digging her claws into the jagged areas and helping Wilhelm and Maggie (occasionally) up with her tail.

They almost reached the top when Wilhelm made Iridus stop. The gather on a large shelf of rock as Wilhelm carefully peered over the edge.

Almost immediately, he ducked his head down as an Aura Sphere was fired at him. Iridus protectively rose to a fighting stance, ready to protect Wilhelm.

"Maggie, stay behind Iridus. Her bulletproof scales should protect us from moves like Aura Sphere. Iridus, go now!"

Iridus leapt on top of the pillar and blocked an Aura Sphere with her scales. The attacker was a Lucario on top of a another pillar. Iridus charged at it while it readied another Aura Sphere, prompting it to leap backwards to avoid her.

The Lucario used Dragon Pulse and fired it straight at Iridus. She raised her claws and the attack was absorbed into her gauntlets.

"Brick Break!"

Iridus leapt at the Lucario before it could escape. The egg shaped devices on her gauntlets glowed with a purplish energy as she struck. The stream of dragon energy washed over the Lucario as it went flying.

"Dragon Breath!"

Iridus opened her mouth and breathed a stream of dragon energy at the Lucario. It flew backwards and hit one of the other pillars. It didn't regain its balance and slid down.

"Great job Ir-"

Out of nowhere, more attacks blasted the pillar around them. Wilhelm looked down and saw Marlow's Mega Mimikyu blasting Shadow Balls at them from below, its shadow tendrils thrashing wildly.

"This is it Iridus, we may not be much of battlers, but it appears the need for fighting has come to me. Maggie, you should stay back."

Iridus slid down the earthen pillar, charging right for Sketch. Shadow Ball had no effect on her as she came down the cliff, Wilhelm following.

Iridus landed on the ground with Wilhelm behind her. Marlow stepped in front of Sketch and gave Wilhelm a cruel smile.

"Well if it isn't my old colleague Wilhelm. I'm surprised to see you here. If I remembered correctly, you weren't exactly a front line kind of person. Fancy gadget you've outfitted your Kommo-o with. I see you've taken it upon yourself to try and defeat me rather than letting someone else do it. How very noble of you, but why be noble when you can just win?"

"Not everything is about winning Marlow. I don't understand your attempt at small talk, but that's not why I'm here. Iridus, get ready!"

"Be like that I guess. I couldn't care less. Everything I've done in my life has led to this. I've advanced my own Pokémon beyond anything imaginable! Sketch, Stygian Slash!"

"Iron Defense!"

Iridus put her arms together, palms outwards and toughened her scales with a metallic glint. Sketch's tendrils whipped at Iridus and struck her multiple times. The egg shaped batteries on her gauntlets took on a Vantablack color and barely glowed.

"Interesting," commented Marlow. "Hone Claws!"

"Fire Punch!"

Sketch's tendril swished around and grew rigid as Iridus leapt forward. Her fist ignited with fire that immediately turned black, matching the impossibly black color of Sketch. The moment her fist connected with Sketch, the Pokémon flew backwards with a hiss of pain.

"What!" shouted Marlow, completely surprised. "How'd you manage to hurt Sketch? That device of yours must've altered the attack somehow."

Now that Iridus had used an attack with her gauntlets, the batteries had significantly less power in them than before. They instead glowed with a bluish-purple light.

"Sketch, use Play Rough!"

"Iron Defense!"

Sketch leapt at Iridus and attacked her in a barrage of tendrils, coated with a fairy energy. Iridus threw Sketch off with a Clanging Scales and used Dragon Breath. But these moves didn't deal much damage.

"Attack the device, Stygian Slash!"

"Iron Defense!"

Sketch attacked Iridus' claws with its signature attack. His tendril whipped wildly, each strike making the devices darker and darker.

"Iridus, Fire Punch!"

Iridus ignited both of her fists with black fire and countered Sketch's attack, causing the Mega Anomaly to reel backwards in pain. Seizing her opening, Iridus rushed forward and punched Sketch with both fists. Sketch faltered and fell, allowing Iridus to attack him with a barrage of blows, draining the batteries.

"No!" shouted Marlow as Sketch began to vibrate. Iridus stood back warily as green light burst out of Sketch. Sketch now stood perfectly unharmed in its base form.

"Dammit, Trick Room!"

"Fire Punch!"

Sketch created a purple area and immediately sped up right before Iridus' fist reached him, her punch slowed down. He moved around her and used Astonish, creating a grotesque projection of himself.

"Now, Mimic!"

Since Sketch lost Shadow Ball when he reverted, he used Mimic in place of it. A claw appeared from underneath his cloth and ignited, hitting Iridus in the side.

"Give her hell!"

Sketch's claw moved back and forth with intense speed granted by Trick Room when his claw was normally slow. Iridus managed to put her claws out to try and defend herself. Her gauntlets glowed red with heat the more damage she took.

"Iridus, release the power!" shouted Wilhelm.

Moving as fast as she could in the Trick Room, she brought her gauntlets together. The result was a huge burst of fire that threw Sketch backwards and left the grass around burnt to nothing. Sketch laid on the ground, fainted.

"Damn you and your little tricks," sneered Marlow, returning Sketch. "The moment I defeat Iridus with her little gloves, victory will be mine. Go Snox!"

Marlow's Malamar appeared. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard in the sky, causing everyone to look up. Up in the sky, flew Rayquaza.

"Green space noodle approaching!" shouted Kazuma to Scarlet. Since he'd lost to both Juan and Haruka, he'd used his psychic powers to escape and regroup with Scarlet to serve as her lookout.

"Noted," said Scarlet, flying upwards to face the legendary. Exerting her mind control, she paused Groudon and Kyogre's battle and made them face the new legendary.

Rayquaza used Extreme Speed and flew at Scarlet. All the effects of the weather chaos caused by the legendaries disappeared due to its Air Lock ability. Kyogre flew upwards to meet Rayquaza and blasted it with Ice Beam. Rayquaza tried dodging the attack, but its movements were slowed by Scarlet's psychic ability. She tried to pull it down as Kyogre hammered it with Ice Beam, preventing it from Mega Evolution.

The moment it got low enough, Groundon used Precipice Blades, trapping Rayquaza in pillars of earth. Normally, Rayquaza could've easily escaped it, but Scarlet's psychic power and Kyogre's relentless Ice Beams were hampering it from escaping.

"Now Rayquaza," said Scarlet, intensifying her psychic powers. "Your will is going to be-"

She didn't get to finish before a high speed object slammed into her with a powerful force. Despite her strong psychic powers, she couldn't maintain her flight and crashed into the ground, coughing up blood as she landed. Rayquaza immediately seized the opportunity and trashed around in its earthen pillar, breaking out and using Dragon Ascent on Kyogre.

Scarlet got up and whipped her mouth. A Mega Salamence landed on the ground, and its trainer got off its back.

She had chin length black hair streaked with gray and red eyes, and wore a white cloak with black shoulder pads and a dragon symbol as well as gray shorts with a red rope around the beneath her cloak was a black top with two red crescent lunar symbols and she wore a pair of open toed gray boots. She wore three accessories. Two spherical red earrings, as well as a blue Mega Anklet on her right leg.

Kazuma gasped in surprise while Scarlet scoffed at the new person.

"Your Zinnia," sneered Scarlet, unimpressed. "The Draconid Lorekeep."

"And you're the witch who thinks they can reignite a millenia old war to try and take Rayquaza from under my care. I'm disgusted."

"I didn't ask for your opinion," said Scarlet, rising into the air again. "You're finished."

"Out, Noivern! Salamence, use Dragon Claw!"

Zinnia sent out her Noivern and hopped on it and took off. Her Salamence flew at Scarlet, his claws glittering with energy. Scarlet stretched out a hand and threw it off course.

Zinnia cupped her hands over her mouth and looked at Rayquaza. "Rayquaza! I ask that you lend me your power!"

Rayuaza gave a loud roar and flew towards her. Zinnia stared it down, unflinching as it coiled around her. Rayquaza stopped and gave her a hard look before ascending into the sky. It flew back downwards, in its Mega form.

"Dragon Ascent! Salamence, use Double Edge!"

"Kyogre, Groudon. Attack!"

Salamence flew at Scarlet, using Dragon Dance to boost his speed. Scarlet threw the Mega Pokémon back, but her psychic hold slipped as the Salamence raced around it. Rayquaza flew around Kyogre's Ice Beam, its Delta Stream forming around it. It tackled Kyogre and threw him to the ground.

"Rayquaza, Outrage!"

Rayquava surrounded himself with a dragon energy and slammed into Kyogre, throwing him downwards. It used Extreme Speed and dodged huge earthen spires created by Groudon. It surrounded itself with more dragon energy and fired it towards the sky. Meteors appeared and rained down on the battlefield. Striking pillars, Kyogre, Groudon, and many other places.

"Earthquake! Salamence, use Dragon Claw!"

Rayquaza charged towards Kyogre and threw it towards the ground before slamming into the ground and creating a massive quake. Both legendaries cried in pain as earth pillars around them collapsed, one of them almost fell on Scarlet, who used her psychic power to stop it. Doing this distracted her from Salamence, who slammed into her with Double Edge.

As Zinnia commanded her Pokémon from on top of her Noivern, a Mega Pidgeot and its trainer approached her.

"Who are you?" asked Zinnia, not turning around. "It's clear you're not t=part of the enemy, but it's still stupid to approach a full on legendary battle."

"I'm the leader of the Oak Agency, a group of people who defend against criminals and evil. Right now, we're fighting Scarlet's people, but your reckless fighting is disrupting battles and causing injuries."

Zinnia gave Captain O'Riley a cold look. "What's a few injuries worth compared to the destruction of your entire region? If you had any sense, you'd be assisting your people instead of arguing with me. I didn't come here to deal with your thug problem, I came to investigate what was causing Rayquaxza's ire. Now leave me to my battle. Rayquaza, Dragon Dance!"

Rayquaza writhed around, building speed and strength before charging at Kyogre with Dragon Ascent.

Scarlet was still fending off Zinnia's Salamence, but was showing signs of tiring. Despite flying all the way from Hoenn, trailing a Legendary Pokémon, Salamence was still fighting hard.

Zinnia looked at Scarlet, and then the two legendaries. Let's see, Scarlet controls Groudon and Kyogre with extremely powerful psychic power. When Salamence attacked her the first time, Groudon and Kyogre both froze. So if I can defeat Scarlet, I can stun the legendaries, perhaps even free then.

"Rayquaza, listen to me! Groudon and Kyogre aren't your main targets! The woman is! Attack her, Dragon Ascent!"

Rayquaza eyed Scarlet and flew upwards before diving at her. It used its Delta Stream to push Salamence out of the way and surrounded Scarlet. Realizing she was trapped and unable to affect it with her psychic powers, she surrounded herself with psychic energy and teleported a few feet away.

"Now Kyogre!"

Rayquaza hadn't expected the teleport and didn't pull up fast enough. Kyogre used Ice Beam and threw Rayquaza towards the ground.

"Groudon, use Precipice-"

"Now Brutus!" cried a new voice. "Hydro Pump!"

Scarlet rolled her eyes and started looking up. "These twists are getting-" Her eyes widened at the sight before her.

The largest Gyarados she'd ever seen dove down at her, carrying six riders on its back. It was six meters tall and was a bright red color, multiple burn scars lined its body, but didn't seem to slow it down. It unlatched its jaws to an impossible level and created a huge blast of water at Groudon. Without Desolate Land, the water wouldn't instantly evaporate. Groudon gave a pained roar and staggered backwards.

Instantly, five of the riders leapt off its back. In five flashes of light, two Unfezants (a male and female), a Tropius, a Pinsir, and an Altaira appeared. The latter two mega evolved and all five riders flew down onto various positions in the battlefield.

"Waterfall!"

Zinnia watched with a raised eyebrow as the huge Gyarados resisted every psychic attempt to throw it Scarlet made. It surrounded itself with water and slammed into Groudon. With a groan, Groudon flashed red and reverted to its natural form, falling over.

"Damn it!" shouted Scarlet, quickly returning both legendaries to Master Balls. "I swear to you Zinnia, I'll be back for Rayquaza, and I'll kill you in the process."

Before anyone could do anything, she teleported away. Many of the Gamma Team teleporting with her in the process. The rest of them turned and fled, leaving the Oak Agency to give pursuit.

Zinnia sighed and landed her Noivern, returning it and her Salamence. Rayquaza reverted to its normal form and flew away, its mission complete.

"Well that's a big Gyarados you have," said Zinnia, talking to the person who was riding at the Gyarados' head as she climbed down.

"Oh it's not mine. It actually has no trainer. He wanted to follow me after I treated him. I'm a nurse and an Oak Agency member. My name's Aisha Harris."

Juan walked over to where a girl was arresting a Gamma Team agent. He stood behind the girl, a stern look on his face.

"Katie Garcia, you are an idiot and are in so much trouble when we get home."

Katie turned around to protest, but was surprised when Juan gave her a hug.

"And that's why I love you."

The Gamma Team member snorted. "How sweet."

"No one asked you," said Juan. "How'd you get here, Katie?"

"Me and the others were fighting a bunch of Gamma team members when Aisha appeared riding the biggest red Gyarados you'd ever seen. We formulated a plan and got the jump on Scarlet. By the looks of it, she escaped."

"But she doesn't have Rayquaza, so we've won."

Katie smiled at her older brother. "We sure did."

An hour later

The entire Oak Alpha, Captain O'Riley, Cyrus Hale, and Zinnia were gathered in one of the meeting rooms, discussing the fight earlier.

"Thank you so much for your assistance. I don't know what would've happened had you not been here Lorekeeper Zinnia," said Captain O'Riley.

She waved a hand dismissively. "No need for the praise or the formalities. I'm simply doing my duty as a Draconid. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go back and stay with Rayquaza. Finding Kyogre and Groudon should be Brendan's job. He's the champion. Salamence and I have a long journey ahead of us, so I can't waste time speaking here. farewell"

With that, she got up and strode out of the room, leaving everyone else to watch her leave.

"I wonder why she came to this meeting in the first place," said Ellen.

"Probably to tell us she's not going to do anything unless it has to do with Rayquaza," said Haruka. "You know how important people only protect their best interests."

"That aside," said Maggie. "We have bigger problems, the Oak Agency was infiltrated."

Everyone except Wilhelm looked at her in surprise.

"How?" asked Scott.

"By who?" asked Joyce.

"Should've known," said Haruka. "Things rarely go our way."

"We were infiltrated by Thalia, better known as Elaine Marron. She's been able to gather all sorts of classified information."

"So that means she has information about Operation: Shutdown!" exclaimed Cyrus.

Everyone but Scott and Captain O'Riley looked at him in confusion.

"It won't hurt to tell them at this point," sighed Captain O'Riley. "Operation: Shutdown is a two step plan over the course of a week. One, to do a region wide sweep and shut down any black markets. Two, to initiate a lockdown of all cities, major or not."

"What?" asked Gavin. "Full lockdown?"

"Yes. We have to press the Gamma Team. already we arrested twenty members today. We have to whittle their numbers, make the first move. Scarlet's becoming bolder and bolder, it's only a matter of time before we catch her off guard."

"Fine then," said Juan. "I suppose we need all hands on deck for this."

"I assume you're worried about your sister."

"Nope, I think she's proven herself at this point."

"I think so as well. Who knows, Katie and her group could become fully fledged members soon. Any more questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Great, we'll crush the Gamma Team. We can do this."

Everyone left the room and went about their way. As Juan walked to his office, Cyrus approached him.

"How old is your sister?"

"Seventeen, why?"

"When's her birthday?"

Juan looked at him suspiciously. "In just four months, do you ask?"

"Just wondering. It's pretty impressive how good she is for someone her age."

"If you say so."

Zinnia rode on her Mega Salamence, headed towards Hoenn. She was deep in thought like usual.

Scarlet's a dangerous person. This won't be her only attempt at getting Rayquaza. She's just as possible as that one person I faced all those years ago, Rachel Ashford.

And that's the end of the chapter. Sorry for taking a good five weeks on this. I've been pretty sick recently and have had trouble sleeping, resulting in a lack of energy and no determination when it came to working on this story. I can guarantee you that the next chapter will be much quicker. In case you're wondering, I am completely aware that at the end of the Delta Episode, Zinnia quit being Lore Keeper. This is Fanfiction however and I changed things because I didn't really like that ending. So Zinnia's still the Lorekeeper in this universe. I hope you enjoyed the longest chapter in this Fanfiction!