Chapter 9: Team Aqua Surfaces

"Good morning, everybody!" Lyla exclaimed, stretching as she walked out of the bedroom. Aiden and Eziray were seated at kitchen table discussing their plans for the day. When they had arrived in Rustboro the night before, all of the hotels were booked and the Pokémon Center was completely packed. The only room they could get was the most expensive room of the most luxurious hotel in the entire city. After a couple desperate phone calls to Aiden and Eziray's parents, they got enough money to rent the room and not render themselves completely broke. It was a beautiful suite (two bedroom, one bathroom, and a lounge leading into a small kitchen) and it had everything they could possibly need, but it was not worth the ridiculous price they had to pay for it.

"Morning, Lyla," Aiden said as she walked into the bathroom.

"So the front desk called a little while ago, knowing that we're trainers, and told me that the gym is closed today because the students at the Pokémon School are on a field trip and Roxanne is chaperoning them. She also informed me of a Pokémon Contest tomorrow night. Do you think Lyla's ready for a real contest?" Eziray asked.

"I don't know. Hey, Lyla!" Aiden exclaimed. There was no response, only the sound of something heavy splashing into the water and clanging against porcelain followed by the word 'Damnit,' screamed by Lyla, of course.

"Everything okay in there?" Eziray called.

Lyla busted out of the room with a dripping wet PokéNav in hand.

"I dropped my PokéNav in the toilet!" she screamed, looking as if she wereabout ready to break down.

Eziray sighed and Lyla sat down at the table with her so they could fiddle with it. While they were trying to get it to work, Aiden of course had a better idea and phoned the front desk, asking if there was a computer wizard in the house. The woman at the front desk talked for some time as he jotted down notes on a pad of paper provided by the hotel next to the phone. When he hung up, he ripped the paper off the pad and set it down next to Lyla, who was now more angry than upset.

"What's this?" she asked, picking it up.

"Directions," Aiden replied.

"To?" Eziray asked.

"The Devon Corporation. That's the company that invented the PokéNav. Remember Norman had mentioned them before. If anyone can fix it, it would be them. If not, than we could at least buy a new one!" Aiden explained.

"With what money?" Lyla whined, dropping her head onto the table with a thunk. "We spent it all on the hotel!"

"Myaaa…" Skitty trailed off as Lyla repeatedly banged her head against the table.

"Maybe they'll take pity on us…it's worth a shot, I guess. Anyway, let's go," Eziray insisted in her usual over-excited manner, so the three trainers followed the directions to Devon Corporation which was, of course, closed when they got there.

"Who goes on lunch break at ten AM?" Lyla demanded, hammering on the glass door.

"There's someone in there," Eziray observed, peering in through the glass. There was a woman at the front desk, typing away rapidly at her computer. Hearing Lyla's slamming, she looked up and frowned at the trainers, making a 'go away' motion and mouthing 'We're closed.'

"Please?" Lyla mouthed back, holding up the broken PokéNav and giving the woman her most pitiful look. The woman sighed and walked over, letting the trainers in and shutting the door quickly behind her.

"We're having a problem with our security system. It shut off by itself at two AM this morning so I've been advised to keep the doors locked and not let anyone in. You three don't look very suspicious, so if anyone asks, you had an appointment. Okay? Now what seems to be the problem?" the woman asked, taking a seat back at her desk.

"Has the five year warranty on this expired yet?" Lyla asked nervously. The woman took the device, examined it, and typed its serial number into her computer.

"You're in luck! The warranty won't expire for another two months," the woman said. "Is it not working anymore?"

"Yeah… I don't suppose the warranty covers water damage?" Lyla asked, scratching the back of her head. The woman frowned and shook her head 'no', explaining that it would cost money to fix it. Curious, Lyla asked how much it would cost and when the woman told her, Lyla laughed nervously and said it was a little out of her budget. The woman then showed her the price tag for a new one, which was about double.

"Guess I'll have to get a few gigs here and maybe earn enough to fix it…or we could just buy a regular map," Aiden suggested.

"W-wait a minute!" Lyla exclaimed, remembering something. "The president! I know the president! He gave it to me himself when my mom and I helped organize and decorate the grand opening of your Lavaridge store location! Well, he gave it to my mom but she had no use for it so she gave it to me. Maybe he remembers me?"

"Name?" the woman asked with a sigh, picking up the phone and pressing a button.

"Lyla Sinclair…but he wouldn't know me maybe. Try my mother, Caroline Sinclair," Lyla said.

"Ms. Sinclair is here to see you, sir," the woman said.

"Who?" a man's voice responded.

"Miss Lyla Sinclair, the daughter of a Caroline Sinclair. Do these names ring any bells, sir?"

"Uh…vaguely…"

"This is apparently the daughter of a woman who had helped with the opening in Lavaridge. She said you gave them a PokéNav as a thank you token but it's broken now and she was wondering if we could fix it free of charge."

"Send her away. We have enough problems on our hands right now and I'll be damned if I'm going to take the time to cater to some clumsy snot-nosed brat's issues with the PokéNav she received free of charge. I would also like you to run down to the coffee shop and order two coffee drinks."

"Two? Do you have a visitor, Mr. Stone?"

"Yes, and it is very important that you leave the building and go get some coffee for us immediately."

"I see…"

The woman's expression was empty for a moment as she hung up the phone, then she looked up at the trainers with a very alarmed expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to be on your way now!" she exclaimed.

"But –" Lyla began.

"I'm sorry about your device, please come back when we are open. Now leave," the woman said, gathering her things in somewhat of a panic. She then shooed the trainers out, locking the door behind her and walking calmly down the street in the direction of a nearby café. The trainers watched as she walked past the café, obviously with no intention of buying the requested coffee, so they began to suspect that something bad was happening inside of that building.

"I've met Mr. Stone before. He was much nicer than that. And the fact that he wanted his own receptionist to leave too? Maybe his 'visitor' is holding him hostage! And he sent us all away for our own safety," Lyla exclaimed.

"Lyla, I'm sure this company has grown a lot in the almost five years between now and when you last saw Mr. Stone. He's probably become some money-crazed asshole just like every other president of every other big-name company. And asking for some coffee for him and his guest doesn't really sound like an odd request to me!" Eziray replied, convinced that there was nothing to be worried about.

"I don't know, Ez. Remember that security was shut off in the middle of the night. Maybe it wasn't an accident. Maybe someone did it on purpose to make infiltration much easier. Besides, did you see the expression on that receptionist's face? Even she suspected something was up. It wouldn't hurt to go back in there and check things out. If Mr. Stone is in trouble, we should probably give him a hand, don't you think?"

"I guess that's not a bad idea, but I'm telling you guys…it's nothing to worry about!" Eziray exclaimed.

"Espeon, come on out!" Aiden exclaimed. "Can you Teleport us into the building here?"

Espeon looked at the building and then back to Aiden suspiciously.

"You want me to assist you in breaking and entering?" she asked, incredulously.

"We're not breaking anything!" Lyla corrected. She considered her statement a moment, and then went on. "At least we won't be if you help us." Espeon glared at her for a moment and then continued.

"Aiden, I am not going to be a part of this little criminal scheme and I advise you to erase the notion from your mind completely or you are going to end up in a lot of trouble. I care about you, Aiden and you too, Eziray. I do not wish for you to be in any sort of trouble…"

"What about me, Espeon?" Lyla asked. Espeon stared at her for a moment answering, her tone so low it was practically a hiss.

"You? You, my dear, are poison. You and that-that…that thing you call a companion. You and that devilish little Water Pokémon are going to get my friends into a lot of trouble someday. This was your idea, I presume?"

"Don't worry about it, Lyla! Espeon takes a while to warm up to anyone," Eziray said, completely oblivious to what Espeon was saying to Lyla.

"You know, Espeon, we're getting into that building regardless of whether or not you help us. Gracie can use Teleport too, remember? Wouldn't it be much easier if you just did it?" Aiden reasoned. Espeon sighed.

"Have it your way," she said and teleported the trainers inside the building. Once inside, all of the Pokémon were released from the Pokéballs for protection. Then everyone crowded into the elevator together.

"Now this is nice and cozy," Lyla said, trying not to step on Mudkip.

"Yeah, maybe we should have waited until after we were out of the elevator to send them all out," Eziray said.

"I think we should split up," Aiden suggested suddenly.

"What? Why?" Lyla asked. "It's not like we have to find him somewhere in the building. He's the president. He's not going to be just anywhere! He's going to be in his office, on the very top floor! Besides, you've seen the cartoons… you NEVER split up!" she exclaimed, reaching for the button to the top floor. Aiden grabbed her hand away from it.

"What if there are others?" Aiden asked.

"Others?" Lyla and Eziray echoed.

"Yes, like accomplices. Even if there aren't, the building should be evacuated, so two of us should divide the floors and get everyone out of danger," Aiden explained.

"You're right!" Eziray exclaimed.

"But I'll go rescue Mr. Stone!" all three trainers declared at the same time.

"What? You two don't even know him! I've actually met him before! He'll remember me. I want to do it!" Lyla demanded.

"I'm the strongest!" Eziray exclaimed.

"Let me handle it," Aiden said calmly.

"I'm the strongest!" Eziray repeated.

"Guys come on, let me do it!" Lyla said, reaching for the button again.

"But I'm the strongest!" Eziray whined, reaching for the button as well.

"Knock it off you two!" Aiden shouted, fighting their hands with his. Then he pushed the button for the second floor and the button of the middle floor, allowing Eziray to push the top button.

"HA!" she exclaimed as the elevator began moving.

"That doesn't mean you get to go to the top!" Lyla challenged.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the second floor. Before anyone could even object, Aiden shoved Lyla out of the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors.

"Here's your stop!" he exclaimed as Mudkip and Skitty scampered out of the elevator to be with her.

"Oh no you don't!" she argued, trying to force herself back into the elevator before the doors closed. He pushed her again and she stumbled back and fell over.

"Ciao!" Eziray taunted from inside. Lyla looked down at her bag and gasped.

"HEY! BE CAREFUL! MY EGG'S IN MY BAG, YOU COULD HAVE BROKEN IT!" she scolded but the door was already closed and the elevator was moving up.

"Aiden," Eziray said with a grin.

"What?"

"I know your deal."

"Excuse me?"

"You wanted Lyla on the lower floors because it's the farthest away from danger. You're so sweet!"

Aiden didn't say anything, he just grinned slightly until the elevator stopped again and the doors opened.

"But you of course didn't want to make that obvious, so that's why you argued with me too. And you're really going to let me go to the top!" Eziray exclaimed.

"Maybe not!" he exclaimed with a mischievous smirk, shoving her out of the elevator. She immediately tried to come back in but Espeon used Psychic to keep her from moving. Charo, Baby, Gracie, and Speedy exited the elevator calmly as the doors closed and Aiden continued to the top.

"You just wait Aiden! I'm going to get you for this!" Eziray called after the elevator which was surely long gone at this point. Inside of the elevator, Aiden seemed quite proud of himself but he suddenly realized something.

"If this elevator makes a noise, whoever is in that room will be aware of our presence…I think it's safer to take the stairs," he concluded, pressing the stop button as soon as the elevator reached the next floor. He knew that this would reset it so the elevator wouldn't go up anymore. Then he, Espeon, and Torchic teleported over to the staircase.

Meanwhile, back on the lower floors, Lyla had come up with a pretty easy method for getting everyone out of the building. In fact, it was so quick and so successful that she was already on the fourth floor. All she had to do was scream one word…

"FIRE!" she shrieked, emerging from the stairs onto the fourth floor. "FIRE! FIRE! EVERYONE HAS TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Panic-stricken, no one bothered to ask who this mysterious girl was. They just wanted to get out as quickly as possible so they piled into the elevator or raced down the stairs and exited the building as fast as they could. Once outside, they of course realized that the building wasn't on fire but the door was locked, so they couldn't get back in.

"Mya!" Skitty exclaimed as Lyla began climbing the stairs to go to the fifth floor.

"What?" Lyla asked. Skitty was staring into the room so Lyla looked too. Someone was still there. Lyla muttered to herself about him having to be deaf or something and walked over to him.

"Excuse me!" she yelled angrily.

"Shhhhhh. Not now. I've almost perfected it!" he exclaimed, working as if there was nothing to be worrying about.

"Did you hear me? The building is on fire."

"SHHH!"

"Dude! It doesn't matter if you finish it or not! It's just going to be destroyed in the fire anyway. You may as well save yourself!"

"There's no fire."

"Yes, there is!"

"The smoke detectors would be going off."

"The security system is down."

"Yes, but the smoke detectors are installed on a completely different system which is functioning just fine at the moment. I should know because I installed it myself. I don't know who you are and I don't really care. Just stay away from me and my machine. Someone else can deal with you. Just leave me alone!"

"…What is it?"

He didn't respond so Lyla knelt down beside him and watched him work.

"When it's finished…this machine will have the power to restore fossils!"

"Restore fossils?"

A few floors up, Eziray hadn't managed to evacuate anyone yet. In fact, everyone on the floor was trying to get rid of her. They didn't believe her when she told them that the building had been infiltrated.

"CHAR! CHAR!" Charo shouted from on top of a desk. Everyone stared at him, trying to understand.

"Charo's right! If WE can infiltrate the building so easily, can't you see that a criminal with training could break in just as well!" Gracie communicated to everyone in the room. The crowd seemed to mull it over for a moment and concluded that it wouldn't hurt to evacuate, but someone spoke up suddenly.

"What if you're the criminal?"

"ME?" Eziray asked, in complete shock.

"Yes, what if you want us all out of here so you can steal our research? I've seen those two gangs recruiting members your age before. I'm not going to be fooled!"

"She's right, neither am I!" someone else exclaimed.

"However, the safety of my co-workers is much more important than the research. I want everyone to leave now. I will escort the girl and keep her out of trouble."

Eziray sighed with relief and no one disobeyed. They all left quietly.

"Thanks," Eziray said.

"I have my eye on you and I have Pokémon too. I am not some pushover so don't you try anything funny!"

"You have my word! Just help me evacuate the rest of the building! They'll all listen to you!"

The researcher nodded and the two proceeded up the staircase.

Meanwhile, Aiden had finally made it to the top floor. He tried to open the door to Mr. Stone's office but it was locked.

"Damn," Aiden thought to himself. Then he stuck his ear to the door to see if he could hear what was going on.

"Fourth floor, huh?" someone said.

"Yes. It is on the fourth floor," someone else replied.

"You better not be lying to me, Mr. Stone. As I said before, that Crawdaunt will destroy everything until he finds what he's looking for. So I really hope it's there, for your company's sake."

"Will your Crawdaunt hurt the researchers working on that floor?"

"As long as they cooperate, they should be fine!"

"Craaaw," something said.

"It appears that we have a fly on the wall," the first person said. Aiden gasped, realizing that a Pokémon in that room had sensed his presence. The door opened and a man scanned the corridor. He was dressed in blue plants with white circles going down the out-thighs. He was also wearing a white and black striped shirt and a blue bandana with some strange, symbol that resembled an upside-down V made from bones with a circle over the middle of it. Aiden and his Pokémon had disappeared so the man saw nothing.

"How strange. I'm sure glad I sent your brother to retrieve those parts," the man said, closing the door. "Your competence is questionable, Crawdaunt."

"Oh, I don't know. I'd say he hit the nail right on the head!" Aiden exclaimed. The man whipped around and saw Aiden standing towards the back of the room. Espeon and Torchic were positioned in front of him, awaiting orders, and Mr. Stone was standing behind him. "If I didn't have a Psychic-type with me, you surely would have caught me!"

"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded.

Coincidentally, back on the fourth floor, the researcher had just asked Lyla the same question. She explained why she had come to Devon Corporation that day and what had happened at the front desk and why she and her friends were trying to evacuate everyone. He smiled and thanked her for her concern. She stood to leave, concluding that there was no way to get him out but she suddenly heard something clacking against metal above her.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. Skitty and Mudkip were staring at the ceiling too.

"CRAAAAAW!" something shouted as explosive bubbles came shooting out of the vent above and the cover came crashing to the ground followed by a large, lobster-like Pokémon.

"MUDKIP!" Mudkip exclaimed, running out in front of Lyla to battle. The Pokémon took no interest in them however and turned to the machine that was being worked on.

"DAAAAAAAUNT!" it exclaimed, blasting the researcher away with a Bubblebeam shot from its claws.

"KIIIIP!" Mudkip cried, shooting the intruder with Water Gun. It didn't affect it at all. The Crawdaunt simply turned around and smashed Mudkip into the ground with its glowing claw. Lyla screamed and dropped to her knees by Mudkip's side. The attack knocked him out cold, so she called him back to his ball and looked up at the Crawdaunt who was stealing two vials of liquid from the machine.

"My…machine," the researcher managed. Then the Crawdaunt took a sheet of paper from the researcher's desk and hopped back into the vent where it came from.

"Don't worry! I'll get it back! I know where the Crawdaunt's going!" Lyla exclaimed, gathering Skitty in her arms and rushing up the stairs. She didn't bother evacuating the rest of the building, but when she caught up to Eziray she yelled that there was a showdown starting at the top. Eziray ran ahead, excitedly, and the researcher with her sped after the two as well.

Back in Mr. Stone's room, Aiden was actually doing quite well. Neither Espeon nor Torchic had a scratch on them, but the Crawdaunt seemed to be pretty battered. Suddenly, the other Crawdaunt hopped down from a vent over the middle of the room and handed what it had stolen to its master.

"Thank you, Crawdaunt. Now both of you, use Bubblebeam!"

Both Crawdaunt opened their claws and teamed up on Espeon with Bubblebeam.

"You okay, Espeon?" Aiden asked.

"I'll be fine," she said, shaking herself.

"Torchic, return!" Aiden exclaimed, calling his weaker Pokémon back. "There's no point in keeping you out. You're only going to get hurt. Espeon, use Morning Sun!"

Sun began shining in through the window and it seemed to heal Espeon's wounds.

"Bubblebeam again!"

Another gang attack of Bubblebeam made its way towards Espeon but she and Aiden were ready for it this time.

"Swift!"

Espeon swung her tail, releasing a flurry of explosive yellow stars that countered the attack, creating an explosion. When it cleared, Espeon had teleported away. Suddenly, the two Crawdaunt became surrounded in blue energy from Espeon's Psychic attack and they were both thrown against the wall. At that moment, Lyla and Eziray busted into the room.

"YOU JUST BROKE DOWN MR. STONE'S DOOR!" the female researcher exclaimed.

"You must be Miss Sinclair. You've grown quite a bit…" Mr. Stone trailed off, somewhat in shock from the entire situation. Lyla grinned.

"Crawdaunt, return!" the grunt exclaimed, calling his two Pokémon back. He was outnumbered at this point and used a smoke ball to escape. When the smoke cleared, Mr. Stone suggested that he had gone to the roof, so the three trainers left the room and climbed one final staircase to the roof. Sure enough, the crook was at the top, about to escape via a glider that had been apparently placed beforehand on the roof.

"Give back what you stole!" Lyla demanded. He simply laughed at her and took off. "Skitty, use Assist!"

Skitty nodded and used Assist. Her body began glowing brightly and Lyla winced.

"Bide?"

"Charo, use Flamethrower!" Eziray ordered. Charo torched the glider and it began to fall but the thief managed to keep it in the air long enough to escape. The group sighed as Mr. Stone and the female researcher came out onto the roof as well.

"Sorry, we didn't get those parts back…" Lyla said, turning to them.

"Not to worry. The two vials of 'Creation Fluid' that he stole were actually just two vials of water. We keep the real stuff locked away someplace safe. And as far as the blueprints go, I have another copy in my desk. But you three did manage to evacuate almost everyone in the building and for that, I'm very grateful. Therefore, I will fix your PokéNav, free of charge and give it back to you during dinner tonight at the finest restaurant in town!"

"We kinda blew all our money on the finest hotel in town so we're going to have to pass," Lyla said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh nonsense, I'll pay the bill of course!" Mr. Stone insisted. The three trainers looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Later that night, at dinner, Mr. Stone returned the fixed PokéNav as promised and told some news that Officer Jenny had told him.

"That man was a member of a gang called Team Aqua," Mr. Stone informed them.

"Oh…I thought he was a pirate…" Eziray said, both confused andslightly disappointed.

"Of course you did," Aiden muttered.

"Team Aqua…that's Team Magma's rival gang. I used to overhear my mother talking about them a lot. I guess she knew someone who helped start the group or something…" Lyla said, frowning. "So that was a real member, huh?"

"Yes, and we're not really sure what they're planning or why they wanted to learn about restoring Pokémon Fossils, but I'm just grateful that no one was hurt," Mr. Stone said with relief.

"But what about the researcher working on the machine? The Crawdaunt attacked him!" Lyla suddenly remembered.

"He's perfectly fine and back to work on that machine. Such a hard worker he is! Anyway, Officer Jenny said that the destroyed glider was found in a tree within a couple blocks of the Devon Corporation, but there was no trace of the crook and they have no idea where he could be. She suspects that he will try to lay low for a few days before attempting to escape the city, so everyone's keeping their eyes peeled for a suspicious blond fellow dressed in blue.

Lyla closed her eyes and drowned out the rest of the conversation with her thoughts. Skitty was the only one to take notice and frowned, knowing that Lyla was dwelling on some painful memories that they both shared.

Author Notes:

Although the Team Aqua/Magma events that I describe are quite similar to the ones in the anime/games, I'm trying really hard not to copy them exactly. I will be incorporating my own ideas as well as every event that occurs in the anime (with my own touch of course). With that said, I just wanted to say that Lyla's PokéNav and May's PokéNav both receiving water damage and resulting in the characters having to go to Devon to fix it is a complete coincidence. I had the idea before I researched the episode a while back when I happened to drop my phone in the toilet…twice in one week. I thought, "Hm. That would be a good reason to pay Devon Corporation a visit and run into Team Aqua…" Good times *sarcasm* Anyway, I hope you liked it. Read and review!