Okay then! Time for chapter three! This one has a major boss fight, and I think has the best ending I could write for it. I rewrote the boss fight I think four times before landing on this one. It also took me awhile to figure out how to incorporate the Dimensional Scream, but I got it fairly well. Well, enough with my talk and writing the author's notes longer and longer to bolster the word count.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Nintendo, Pokemon, or any of the characters shown except for my own Original Characters.

"Felix…Felix…FELIX!" I awoke with a start, floundering around in my coals like a Magikarp out of water. I had forgotten Dee was to wake me before the morning chant so I could participate. I quickly looked out the window placed in my room, only to see it was still pitch black outside.

"Hey, what gives?" I complained, digging myself out of the coals. "I thought you said you would wake me up just before dawn."

"Did I now… Well, you're awake now, and that's what matters." He patted me on the back before pulling me into the main room.

"The main reason I woke you up so early is to teach you the Team Mantra." Dee told me after I had actually woken up. He paced back and forth in front of me.

"You mean that thing you all shouted yesterday?"

"Precisely! Every member knows it by heart, and you are no exception."

"Dee, there's only three… four now, but there aren't many members and the chant is short."

"Can I at least have this moment?" he asked, stopping in front of me. I shrugged.

"Thank you. Every team has a chant they speak when they first awaken to get them pumped for the day. Team Strikers is simple, yet effective." He cleared his throat.

"When evil strikes… We will strike back! To battle, to glory, to victory!" he finished.

"Okay. So when everyone's awake, then we shout it?" I asked.

"Only when Brandon calls for it. Until then, we can relax." He sat down in the nearest chair, and pulled out several mechanical parts and started tinkering with them. I sat down next to him, and looked over his shoulder trying to see what he was doing. It looked like he was making some sort of brace for an arm. Maybe armor? Before I could question him on it, I heard two doors open. I turned around and saw a sleepy Sneasel and a tired Treecko. I locked eyes with Brandon, but he looked away quickly. He inhaled a large amount, before shouting;

"Team Strikers, what do we do?!" he shouted after taking a deep breath.

"Strike evil down!"

"And how do we do it?!"

"By striking first!"

"When evil strikes…"

"We will strike back!" This time I also shouted, not knowing about the first two lines before.

"To battle!"

"To glory!"

"To victory!"

I shouted with Dee and Crystal on the last four lines, silently blaming Dee about not telling me about the first two. Brandon tossed everyone a bag, including me surprisingly enough.

"Alright team. Today we'll be heading to another mission in Drenched Bluff. Anyone have any objections." Dee quickly raised his paw before Brandon would skip it.

"We're running low on Oran Berries, and I was hoping that I and Felix could run into town to grab some." Brandon nodded.

"Sounds good. Meet us on the second floor, we'll go from there." Both myself and Dee ran out the door, leaving Crystal and Brandon in our wake. Crystal turned to Brandon, happiness in her eyes.

"You didn't yell at him!" Brandon sighed.

"It took so much not to, but yeah. As long as he doesn't pester me during the mission, I'll manage."

… … …

"Alright Felix. Did anyone show you around Treasure town?" I shook my head.

"Only time I was actually here was when I was training with Mew. Other than that I ran through or didn't stop to look." He sighed, pulling me over to a directory.

"Okay then. Right over here is Marowak Dojo. He's somehow able to control dungeons, but only small ones. He'll send you in for training, so if you have free time I highly suggest it."

"Down here is Chansey Daycare. Sometimes rescue clients give teams eggs as rewards, so you leave them there to hatch."

"Just north of there is the Kecleon Shop. That's where we'll be going." He finished, pointing to a spot not far from here. "Other than that, those being the main stops for any explorer, there's just a few specialty shops and the hospital. And Mew." I nodded in reply, and we ran over to the Kecleon shop, passing other rescue teams on the way.

"Welcome to the Kecleon shop!" I was surprised to see that the store owners were brothers, one normally colored and one a strange shade of purple.

"Hello. You two got any Oran Berries?" Dee asked. The purple one ducked behind the counter and pulled out a wooden crate.

"How many you need?" he asked.

"Four should be plenty."

"That'll be 100 poke." Dee reached into his bag and pulled out two large coins and handed them to the brothers, placing the small berries into his bag. Dee turned and motioned to leave.

"Misters Kecleon!" I stopped in my tracks, not wanting to run into the two pokemon running up.

"Ah, hello Marill and Azurill! What shall it be today? The usual, I presume?" The green Kecleon asked. The larger of the two, who I assume to be Marill, placed three medium sized coins on the counter.

"Two large apples please." The purple Kecleon ducked behind the counter and pulled out a paper bag, presumably with the apples. They exchanged items, and the two blue pokemon scampered off. The green one turned to us as the purple one vanished into the hut behind them.

"You see, those two are brothers. Their mother recently became sick as a Houndoom, so they've taken up the family mantle and started buying the groceries." He turned to look at the two retreating figure, his eyes softening. Dee nodded, adjusting his bag.

"Yeah, I heard about their father. Nasty what happened to him."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Hunting party of Luxray. Never would wish that fate on anyone." Dee finished.

"Misters Kecleon!" I turned and saw the two brothers' running back up, Marill holding the paper bag.

"Misters Kecleon, there were three apples in the bag. We only paid for two." Marill told him. Kecleon smiled and patted his head.

"Consider that a gift to both of you from me and my brother. You may split it amongst yourselves for a treat." The Marill and Azurill's eyes grew, and they smiled, thanking him profusely. Kecleon waved it off, saying it's nothing. They turned to leave, but Marill tripped and the bag split open. I went forward and handed it to Azurill, who was standing right beside me.

"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble." When I handed Azurill the apple, my claw grazed his skin. After they left the shop, I took a step forward to leave, but stopped. I felt dizzy, like I was going to pass out. My vision faltered, and I heard a voice, shouting for help.

"H…h…h…help!"

My eyes snapped open, and my ember grew slightly. That sounded exactly like Azurill, not a question about it.

"Uh, you okay Felix?"

"Dee, did you hear a cry for help just now?"

"Just now? Uh, can't say I did. Hey Kecleon?" he turned to him. "Did you hear a cry for help?" Kecleon shook his head.

"No. Why?"

"No reason." Dee quickly pushed me forward and out of earshot of the shopkeepers.

"Okay. You say you heard a voice." I nodded.

"Yeah, it sounded like Azurill." Dee chuckled.

"Is the heat getting to you? Do you want the day off or something?" I shook my head.

"No, I definitely heard Azurill scream for help." Dee shook his head impassively at me.

"Come on, Brandon and Crystal is waiting for us." He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I pulled myself out of his grip and walked with him until we got to Treasure Plaza. Off to the side I could see Marill and Azurill really excited about something. I wonder if it had to do with the Drowzee they were talking to.

"Marill! Azurill! What happened, you win the lottery?" Dee asked once we came into earshot. Marill shook his head. "No, even better. A long, long time ago we lost a very important item to us. Mr. Drowzee here says he's seen it somewhere, and is going to take us to it!" Dee smiled.

"That's excellent news." He turned to Drowzee. "It's excellent that good people are still around." Drowzee nodded, a joyful expression on his face.

"Yes. When I heard about the boy's predicament here, it struck such a blow to my heart. But a memory surfaced, and I recalled the item that they so very seek!"

"Well, that is good." I said, nodding to all three of them.

"Well, if you'll excuse us, we should be off. No time like the present, I always say." Marill, Azurill, and Drowzee all took off for the crossroads. Before that however, Drowzee bumped into me, knocking flat on the ground.

"I'm so very sorry." Was all he said before dashing off after the two brothers. Once he left with the brothers, the dizzy feeling came surging back into me. Before I could react, my vision faded again, and was replaced with a vision.

Drowzee and Azurill were talking, but Marill was nowhere to be seen. Drowzee took a menacing step forward Azurill, greed clouding his vision.

"Listen here you little brat! You're going to help me, otherwise I'm going to put you in a world of hurt!" he snarled. Azurill cowered behind his tail and screamed.

"H…h…h…help!"

The vision faded, and I was staring at a confused Dee.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the day off?" he asked as he helped me up.

"N…no. im fine." I shook my head, but continued thinking about the vision and scream I heard. Drowzee seemed nice, but I couldn't shake the vision. I bumped into Dee, nearly knocking us both over.

"Felix. I'm starting to get worried. First you imagine a scream from Azurill, and then you black out after Drowzee knocked into you, and now your spacing out and nearly knocked both of us over. Are you positive that you are fine?" Dee asked me, placing his paws on my shoulders. Nervous, I told him about my vision. He slowly backed up, lowering his arms. He crossed his eyes, and stared at me.

"That does it. You are taking the day off due to… whatever is going on. And that's final." He grabbed my arm before pulling me towards the guild. Despite my complaints and protests, his grip didn't soften and he dragged me down to the first floor of the Wigglytuff Guild. I saw Brandon and Crystal standing in front of a blank Outlaw notice board, doing nothing. I pulled myself out of Dee's grip, and hurried over to them.

"Why are you guys just waiting there?" Upon hearing my voice, Brandon took a large step away from me, but answered my question.

"We were thinking of taking out an outlaw tomorrow, but when we got up here, all the jobs were taken. We're waiting for them to be updated." I nodded.

"And how long does that take?" I asked.

"Should be soon." Brandon answered, annoyance starting to creep back into his voice. Getting the nod to shut up, I took a step back and fought Dee to stay. He finally relented, saying that if I have one more black out like that I'm taking the day off without any complaining. When I turned back to the others, the board had been flipped around, and a cross pattern was visible. Crystal muttered something about him being late (I later learned that she was talking about Dugtrio), and the board flipped back over. Dozens of new requests were visible, but the thing that caught my attention was Dee. He was shaking, but not in fear.

"Felix, please tell me you see the same pokemon. Upper Left." I looked where he said, and was shocked.

Drowzee was wanted.

I silently and with a shaking hand reached up and grabbed the flyer, looking closer at it. I handed it to Crystal, anger and fear causing me to shake uncontrollably.

"What's so special about this guy, other than the fact he's an A-rank mission?" I quickly relayed what had happened to Brandon and Crystal, including my visions. Both confused gazes were quickly replaced with determined and angry ones, and we quickly bolted out the door.

Down the crossroads, we saw a blue figure pacing back and forth, muttering to itself. Seeing it was Marill, I picked up the pace until I was in earshot.

"Marill! Where's Drowzee and Azurill!?" I shouted, nearly tumbling into him. He looked at us, his eyes red from crying.

"Drowzee took *sniff* Azurill to… *sob* Mt. Bristle." Brandon's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"Did you say Mt. Bristle?!" he shouted, surprising us all. Marill nodded, causing Brandon to curse loudly.

"We haven't got a moment to lose! Quickly, we must go after them!"

… … …

MT. BRISTLE F1

"Brandon! You still haven't told us why Mt. Bristle has gotten you so worked up!" I shouted after him, he being a good few dozen feet ahead.

"This place is filled with powerful Desolates! Many teams have trouble scaling the mountain, even the most experienced!" he shouted behind him, picking up the pace again. We sprinted by multiple Pokémon, not even stopping long enough for me to see what kinds they are. After nearly exhausting ourselves, we found the stairs to the next floor.

MT. BRISTLE F2

"Shouldn't have eaten such a large breakfast…" Brandon muttered and Dee carried him. Once we made it up the stairs into the next floor, he had collapsed in stomach pains. We quietly trudged along, making sure Brandon didn't pass out just yet. We rounded the corner and I was met with a rather large rock being hurled at my head. I instinctively ducked, but was met with another rock into my gut. Holding back tears from the pain, I looked up to see a gargantuan boulder with four arms sneering at me, two of his arms holding more rocks. I managed to react fast enough to dodge the first one, but was struck again by the second, sending me crashing into the wall. It felt like I popped something inside of me, and this time tears started flowing down my face. Before the boulder could take a step towards me, however, multiple ice shards struck its grinning face, sending it reeling a few feet back. I looked back to see Dee guarding Brandon from a large quadruped pink creature with a large horn, and Crystal staring down the boulder, three ice shards in hand. Quick as lightning, she tossed them, striking the boulder in the arms and one of his legs.

"You alright Felix?" she asked me after hitting the boulder. I nodded weakly, turning my attention back to the fight at hand. I jumped into the air, sending an ember at the boulder before it could move, the ice slowing it down. Once my fire connected with Crystal's ice stuck on its body, it shrieked in pain as the superheated water trickled down its body.

I know how that feels I thought to myself, landing on all fours near Crystal. She turned to me.

"I got the Graveler; you help Dee with the Nidorino." I nodded, limping over to Dee's fight.

He was fighting hand to hand with the pink beast, taking care not to touch any of its spikes sticking out of its back. Brandon was leaned up against the wall, clutching his stomach in pain. Seeing an opportunity, I quickly lobbed fire at the Nidorino, causing it to give an opening for Dee to hit its exposed stomach. It landed on its back, receiving another punch and fireball from Dee and me, respectively. It got up and ran off, squealing in pain.

"Thanks for the assist." Dee thanked me as I chomped on an Oran Berry, feeling the pain from the Graveler gradually vanish. Crystal walked up, shaking her claws off.

"I put that rock on ice. He's not going anywhere." All three of us nodded, Brandon managing to walk again. We entered a room, seeing two different colored seeds on the ground in front of the staircase. I picked them up before tossing them to Dee to inspect.

"Stun seed and Blast seed. That'll come in handy." He said, pocketing the two. We all ran up the stairs, eager to find Drowzee.

MT. BRISTLE F6

"Hey, so how did you three meet, if you don't mind me asking?" I questioned as we walked. Crystal pondered that for a minute, before answering.

"Well, Brandon and I met when we were kids. He left his forest after the incident, and moved into my village. He was rescued by the guildmaster and Chatot, and brought to my family as an orphan. We met Dee, what three years ago?" she turned to Dee for confirmation.

"Actually, it was four." He told her, hands behind his head.

"Well, we met him four years ago, and after asking all our families, decided to form a rescue team." She finished. Brandon nodded. I stopped as I recognized an item on the ground, but it looked different to me. I saw that it was a berry, but it was shaped and colored slightly different than an Oran berry.

"That is a Chesto berry. Used to wake Pokémon who fell asleep, and can always come in handy." Dee answered my question before I could answer it, picking up the berry.

"How does it do that?" I asked him.

"Caffeine and the taste. Berry is dry as Brandon's humor."

"Shut up." He snarled. The rest of us laughed and continued walking until we found the stairs.

MT. BRISTLE F9

"According to the map," Dee explained. "The next floor is the summit, where hopefully we'll find Drowzee and Azurill." We all nodded, the flames of determination burning in our eyes. We were lucky enough to scale the mountain with minimal fights, only the ones on the second and fifth floors giving us much trouble. Strangely the dungeon seemed barren; pokemon and items were scarce. On this floor we got lucky; the stair up were in the same room that we entered, so we entered, ready to fight Drowzee.

MT. BRISTLE PEAK

We scrambled up the stairs, running around the tip of the mountain, and came to a clearing. We took cover behind a pile of stone, and we peeked over the top. Drowzee and Azurill stood in the middle of the clearing, walking over to a microscopic hole in the wall.

"Mr. Drowzee, I don't see my item anywhere. Are you sure it's here?" Azurill asked. I could hear them both clearly; the stones rebounded the sound.

"Azurill, I need you to do something real quick." Drowzee asked him. "You see that hole in the wall? I need you to go into it."

Azurill looked at him before shaking his head. "Is my item in there?" Drowzee sneered, scaring Azurill.

"I'm going to be honest with you, kid. Inside that hole is rumored to be filled with treasure, gold, and riches. A thieves hold, it has more money than your wildest dreams." Azurill took a step back, shaking.

"Wait, where's my brother?! Is he lost?" he stammered, looking around. Drowzee shook his head, smiling wider now.

"You're brother isn't coming, hell, no one is. So I suggest you get in that hole!" Azurill shrieked silently, before running away from Drowzee and towards us. For a second I dared to hope Azurill would make it, but faster than I could perceive, Drowzee blocked his escape attempt.

"Listen here you little brat! You're going to help me; otherwise I'm going to put you in a world of hurt!" Azurill cowered behind his tail, and screamed.

"H…h…h…help!" Before I could make a move, Brandon snarled, and took off towards the outlaw and captive. Crystal and Dee followed, and I was left in the dust. I grabbed the bag Dee had left, and tore after them.

"Drowzee! We are here to arrest you!" Brandon shouted, the rest of us still trying to catch up to him. Drowzee turned and looked surprised to see us, even more so when he noticed me and Dee.

"So, it's you two again. Looks like you brought some backup." He stood in front of Azurill, blocking him from view. By now we all stood next to Brandon, I still stood away so he wouldn't be distracted by me.

"Damn straight. You can either surrender your self now, or be beaten senseless by Rescue Team Strikers!" I shouted, trying not to cower behind my own tail. As much as I knew we had to defeat Drowzee, he still scared me. Both Dee and Crystal nodded, Brandon still staring down Drowzee. He scoffed, opening his arms.

"Well, if a rescue team who has never captured an outlaw over D-rank thinks they can best me, an A-class outlaw like myself, then give it your best shot!" he shouted, changing into a fighting stance.

"Strikers! Charge!" Brandon shouted, taking three steps back along with Crystal. Dee stormed forward, his fists glowing a bright white. I stood between them all, dropped to all fours, and prepared an ember. Drowzee smirked, and held his hands out in front of him, a green barrier forming in front of him. Dee collided with the barrier, only to be shot back with force from Drowzee. Both Brandon and Crystal shot several projectiles, Brandon shooting small green pellets of energy, Crystal firing more icicles. I felt my tail burn brighter, and I shot an ember with them. Drowzee summoned another barrier, this one orange in color, and stopped all three attacks cold. He grabbed two of the icicles before they deformed and shot them at Brandon, nearly hitting him and freezing the ground underneath. Dee tore a chunk out of the ground and lobbed it at Drowzee, and I sent another ember with it, but again, it was blocked by the orange barrier. Before anyone else could react, Drowzee's eyes turned blue, and the pile of stone we previously hid behind floated up into the air, and hurled themselves at the two ranged shooters. Brandon tried to move out of the way, but slipped on the ice and was struck by several of the rocks before being launched away. Crystal barely had enough time to dodge, and was pinned by one of the larger rocks.

"My, my. Looks like I'll be having some fun tonight!" Drowzee shouted, hurling the final two rocks at myself and Dee. Dee simply punched the rock into pieces, and I ducked out of the way.

"Brandon! Crystal! You two okay?!" Dee shouted, trying to get an opening on Drowzee.

"Yeah… *cough* im fine, just a little stuck." Crystal shouted, summoning more icicles to hurl at Drowzee.

"I think he cracked my throwing arm with that last one, but other than that I can fight!" Brandon replied, firing more of the green pellets. Both Crystals and Brandon's attacks were once again stopped by the orange barrier, but this time cracks appeared on its surface. Drowzee's eyes turned blue again and Dee was lifted into the air, crying in pain and holding his head.

"Confusion. How's that headache, jackal?" Drowzee sneered as he continued to inflict more pain to Dee. Seeing this, my ember roared, and I sprinted towards him. I managed to catch him off guard, shattering the orange barrier and tackling him to the ground. He lost his concentration on Dee, and he landed headfirst onto the rocky ground.

"You insignificant, worthless, brat!" Drowzee shouted, trying to get a grip on me. I managed to slither away, but not before leaving a smokescreen in my wake. Seeing this, Brandon charged forward, his head shining blue with energy. He dived into the smoke cloud, and I heard him cry in pain. A few seconds passed by, and I looked over to Crystal. She was still creating more icicles, dozens of them floating around her. I turned back around just in time to see Brandon fly out of the smoke, covered in cuts and fast asleep. Drowzee stepped out of the smoke, grinning evilly.

"You four are nothing compared to me. In just five minutes, I incapacitated two, trapped one, and now just have to deal with a lonely little charmander. Well, denizen of flames, won't you attack me so I can get this over with already?!" he shouted, charging towards me with the same speed as when he blocked Azurill. Before I could move, he unloaded a massive uppercut to my chin, sending me flying into Crystal.

"Drowzee! Time to cool off!" Crystal shouted, sending the many shards of ice at high speeds towards Drowzee. He blocked nearly all of them, except one. It caught him in the arm and froze it. He looked at his arm, tried to move it, but when he failed he turned and glared at Crystal.

"Worthless little…" he muttered as he sent another rock flying at her, knocking her unconscious. He turned his attention back to me, staring me down.

"Hopefully without any further distractions…" he grabbed me by my throat, slightly constricting my windpipe. "I can end you, and go back to my initial plan." I peered at him with half closed eyes, feeling instinct kicking in.

"Not…yet…" I opened my mouth as far as it could go, firing an ember point blank into Drowzee's face. He cried in pain and surprise, dropping me and covering his face. I coughed deeply, air returning to my lungs. My vision was shaky at best, and I didn't have the breath to shoot another ember either.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID CHARMANDER!" Drowzee screamed, his face deeply burned by my ember. He sprinted at me, his right fist coated in pink energy. I couldn't react in time, and was slammed into the ground by Drowzee's punch. I was still conscious, and I opened my eyes enough to see him walk away and grab Azurill roughly. I pulled my arms under me, and pushed myself up. I couldn't open my right eye anymore, and I couldn't tell if I had broken or just cracked my ribs, but I managed to stand up.

"I'm… not done yet… Drowzee." I muttered out. He spun around, seeing I was just barely standing up.

"While I do commend you for guts, I'll still have to kill you, charmander." He growled, turning to face me. He dropped Azurill, and started walking towards me. I looked around, hoping that someone was able to help me. Brandon was fast asleep, Crystal was buried under rocks and is probably going to be teleported back, and Dee's foot was sticking out of a clump of rocks. I was all alone, and I stood before someone who had the power to kill me without a second thought. I fell to one knee, unable to support myself any longer.

"Charmander. I have fought many, many other opponents far above your skill level, but you have infuriated me most of all. I will take great pleasure in your death." He slowly made his way over, his right fist glowing with psychic energy again. This time I knew it was it. He rushed for me.

Before impact, I felt something take hold of me, and it felt like I could do anything. I no longer felt my injuries, although I knew they still pestered me. I opened my eye again, seeing the fist about to collide with my face. I raised my hand and caught the punch, much to both my and Drowzee's amazement. He threw his other fist at me, also sparking with psychic energy. I reached out and caught that fist as well. He screamed, forcing me into the ground, and I struggled to even breathe. I gritted my teeth, feeling a new kick from my instinct.

It told me to open my mouth and take a deep breath. So I did, and exhaled. I was shocked by what happened next.

A torrent of flames poured from my maw, striking Drowzee for a second time point blank, but this time with more power behind my flames. He screamed so loudly that it hurt me to keep going, but I knew what he had done, so I kept blowing fire into him. I forced him back, sending him sprawling on the ground. When I couldn't keep up the fire, I stopped and caught my breath. He shocked me again by standing up, although I could easily tell he was reaching his limit.

"You hold more power than I thought, Charmander. But it doesn't matter, not even your Blaze ability can help you now." He raised his arms, as if enticing me to hit him. "I am a god, compared to you! I cannot be defeated by such a weakling, it is inconceivable!"

"Conceive this, Drowzee." And with that, my tail flame swelled, and I shot one, last supercharged ember directly at him, knocking him back and unconscious. I felt my strength leave me, and I could just barely keep myself from passing out. I saw Azurill bouncing towards me, and I struggled to stay awake.

"Az…urill. Hand me…the bag…" I muttered, doing everything to not black out. I could see him stop, look around, and hand me the bag after finding it. I opened it, rooted around before pulling out three Oran berries and stuffing them down. I felt their medicinal powers healing me, and I was soon able to stand back up.

"Thank you very much! How did you know where I was though?" he asked me, I waved him off, saying that his brother told us. I quickly looked around, seeing both Brandon and Dee had been teleported out by the dungeon. Crystal was probably out by now too, so I grabbed a length of rope from the bag, tied up the charred criminal, and held on to both Azurill and Drowzee as the badge teleported us out.

CROSSROADS

We teleported back, and I lurched forward. I had teleported twice now, and it still felt like I went through a blender whenever I did. I looked behind me, seeing Drowzee was still unconscious. I looked back in front of me and saw Crystal, Dee, and Brandon all sitting down, nursing their wounds. Dee looked up as I looked over at them.

"About time, we've… oh no way, you actually managed to beat him!?" Dee cried, standing up and looking at Drowzee. I scratched my neck nervously, not knowing what to say except what happened, so I did.

"So it sounds like your Blaze ability kicked in at just the right time, is what I'm getting at." Brandon finished, leaning up against the tree. I nodded.

"Yeah, it was pure luck which won this fight." I said.

"Well, hopefully next time we'll win on skill. How about we celebrate with a drink in Spinda's Café?" Dee asked everyone. We all agreed, and we dragged Drowzee to the police station for the reward.

… … …

'Team Strikers managed to defeat notorious outlaw Drowzee the Drainer, known for draining his victims of memories until they can no longer think or act normally.' Dee read the article that the newspaper printed of us. We were sitting in the now filled Spinda's café, which was in the hole by the crossroads.

'Will this be the start of a new legendary outlaw crusher team? Or is it just pure luck? I suppose we'll find out!' Dee finished, setting down the paper.

"I think I'll stay with 'pure luck' on this one." I said, taking a sip of my delicious gummi smoothie.

"I'm still pissed of at how easily Drowzee got me. Prick hit me with Hypnosis and Dream Eater before I could even react." Brandon said, chewing on the end of his stick. I shrugged.

"Well, it doesn't matter in the end. We did a good thing saving Azurill from Drowzee." Crystal said, standing up. "I propose a toast. To the new addition to Team Strikers and too many more victories in the future." She raised her cup. "To battle."

Dee raised his cup to meet hers. "To glory."

Brandon raised his. "To victory." They turned to me, and I thought of my line.

I raised my cup to meet theirs. "And to battling evil at every whim. We are Team Strikers, and we won't stop…" I led them on, hoping they would get it.

"Until evil stays down. For good." They finished. We clinked our cups together, and chugged the rest of the drink.

And that will end the chapter! I am very happy with the way that it ended, with Felix's Blaze ability kicking in at the final seconds to score the winning blow. With Azurill saved, Marill elated to be back with his family, and Drowzee behind bars, our heroes enjoyed a drink in Spindas Café!

Trivia Time!

I wrote 1500 words without wearing any pants. It's up to you to figure out which 1500 words it was.

Review, and I meet you all in Chapter four!