Chapter Sixteen - Preparing Operation Brighton! The Truth Revealed!
Alexa and Ryder walked up the escalator and met up with Keith, Buizel, Erma and Professor Hastings in the Operations Room. Alexa wore a support bandage over her left elbow, much like Ryder still had his bandage on his tail.
"Did you get to sleep okay?" Keith asked. "I didn't get to sleep very easily."
"And it's my fault," Alexa sighed. "I shouldn't have let you down. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologise," Keith said kindly.
"Anyway, what's going on?" Alexa asked towards Erma and Hastings.
"Well, we're attempting to access the data Sven recovered from the Oil Field hideout," Hastings began. "But it's password protected. We don't know anybody who knows the password."
"Excuse me," Isaac said nervously. He approached Alexa, Keith, Erma and Hastings from the escalator.
"What's up, Isaac?" Keith asked.
"W-well, it took me a while, but I've realised I've been used," Isaac elaborated. "A-and everyone here's been so nice to me."
"I know what it's like to feel used, Isaac," Alexa whispered to herself sadly. Keith squinted over at her with concern.
"The password is Melody," Isaac stated. "It's my little sister's name. I wonder how she's doing."
"Isaac, thank you," Hastings said gratifyingly. "Nage! Vatona! Tell the researchers the password is Melody! No exclamation mark, just Melody. No period either!"
A few minutes later, in the Conference Room…
"A-hem! Thanks to Isaac," Hastings began. He, Erma, Sven, Wendy, Isaac, Keith and Alexa were all gathered around in a circular formation. "We have accessed the blueprints of the Incredible Machine. May I draw your attention to the monitors beneath us?"
Several images and texts popped up onto the underfoot monitors. The design for the 'Incredible Machine' looked all too familiar, horrifying everyone in the room.
"Is that what I think it is!?" Wendy asked in horror.
"It's what it looks like, alright," Sven stated with shock.
"It's Altru Tower!" Keith exclaimed.
"And it's complete tomorrow!" Erma panicked. Alexa, however, was the one most horrified.
"That explains everything!" she cried. Everyone faced her in confusion, even Ryder and Buizel.
"What do you mean, dear?" Erma asked.
"It explains everything I've been suspecting all this time!" Alexa replied. "It explains why the tunnel starts from where the Shadow Crystal once stood and ends at an old Altru Inc shack, it explains why Altru Inc wasn't concerned about Team Dim Sun's activities, it explains why the Go-Rock Quads were reluctant to sing lyrics written by Blake Hall and it explains why Isaac was found in the Oil Field hideout! It all links together!"
"And it makes perfect sense!" Keith agreed. Hastings paced around, looking as though he was in thought.
"So, how do we proceed from here?" he pondered. "Isaac, we will have to devise a plan." He and Isaac left the Conference Room as the images underfoot disappeared.
"Until Professor Hastings is done strategising," Erma began. "It is best if the rest of you go out on patrol. But, also, take this time to ready yourselves for anything."
A little while later…
Keith and Buizel were walking down the Chroma Road. They saw Alexa and Ryder sitting underneath a tree, both looking equally depressed. Keith and Buizel approached them.
"Hey, what's wrong, Alex?" Keith asked. "And what's eating Ryder? I haven't seen him down before."
We're both bummed out about the same thing, Ryder sighed. Alexa then sighed.
"We should've said something about our suspicions earlier."
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, sitting next to Alexa. Buizel sat next to Ryder, and the two had their own chat.
"Ryder and I have been exchanging our opinions about what we've been speculating since our mission in the Chroma Ruins," Alexa explained. "We had a strong feeling Altru Inc was involved somehow, but we should've said something earlier. That's why we're depressed."
"I'm not worried about that," Keith smiled. "Chances are we would've found out about the whole thing ourselves anyway, regardless of whether your suspicions have been made clear or not." Alexa sighed and she looked up at the sky; it was clear blue with hardly any clouds in the sky and the sunlight was seeping through the leaves of the tree she and Keith were sitting under, providing a perfect amount of shade.
"Keith, whenever I get depressed, I look up at the sky," Alexa began. "And I think about my family and friends supporting me."
"Although the latter isn't really relevant if you're thinking of those who didn't bother to keep your friendship," Keith teased.
"Yeah," Alexa laughed. "But right now, I'm thinking of my new friends, the ones who have supported me during my time here in Almia, as well as my family. My grandpa, who told me about Pokémon Rangers to begin with. My parents, who arranged my journey to Almia. My little brother, who was the inspiration I needed to not lose sight of my goals. Crawford, who helped me understand what it means to be a Pokémon Ranger. Luana, for providing her perspective of what being a Ranger is like. Barlow, for being a great leader while I was an Area Ranger. Rhythmi, who was one of the first people to befriend me." She trailed off; she was in a tranquil state of mind and smiled peacefully, with tears of happiness brewing in her eyes. "And…and you, Keith…"
"Me?"
"You're the special one. You've helped me in so many ways; from the minority that is motivation to the majority such as defending me. I'm grateful to my other friends here in Almia, but I'm most grateful to you, Keith."
"Hmm." Keith looked up at the sky along with Alexa. "You know something? At first, I thought you'd be rather annoying, given our exchange of words when we first met. But you know what I believe made us friends that day?"
"What?"
"The moment we spoke in unison for the very first time, after sealing our promises in front of the Pledge Stone at school. I've never met anyone who said the same thing I did at the same time."
"I must admit, it was a shock back then," Alexa stated. "But, yes, I can see what you mean. That was the first time where I spoke in unison with someone else too." Her tears fell down her cheeks slowly, but she still maintained her cheery disposition.
"I know. We both blushed afterwards. After that, I think we've done virtually everything at school together. Our desks were even next to one another!" Keith laughed.
"To tell you the truth, I'm glad I came here," Alexa confessed openly. "Not only did it make me realise that I can make friends, but it allowed me to meet the awesome people that ended up being friends. Sven, Wendy, Isaac, Professor Hastings, Chairperson Erma…Rhythmi…and you."
"I'm happy to know that your life took a turn for the better," Keith said kindly. Alexa moved her hands away from her knees and rested her palms on the floor on either side of her.
"It didn't just make a turn," Alexa began. "It took a U-Turn from a deceiving friendship and it headed towards a life with real friendship."
"Yeah…I like your metaphor better," Keith said with a small laugh. "You're too nice a person to be treated like something at the bottom of a barrel."
"Thanks, Keith," Alexa thanked politely. Keith moved his hands from his knees much like Alexa did. His right palm rested on the ground next to him, but his left palm accidentally touched Alexa's right hand. Both of them noticed this and looked at their hands in confusion. Noticing where their hands were, they quickly recoiled their hands as they faced one another with embarrassment while blushing. The embarrassment faded as the two of them both smiled and laughed nervously, but they were still blushing.
A short while later…
On the roof of the Union, Hastings, Barlow, Isaac, Sven, Wendy, Erma, Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel were all gathered around.
"Alright, everyone, Isaac and I have devised a plan to thwart Team Dim Sun once and for all," Hastings began. "A mission of this magnitude deserves its own operation name. I think we shall borrow the name of the man who made our achievements thus far possible; we shall call it Operation Brighton."
"I like that," Alexa smiled. "His diary was the soul reason why we were able to come so far."
"Precisely," Hastings agreed. "However, this would not have been possible if you hadn't found the diary, Alexa. So, it's only fitting that you should be credited for discovering it."
"I agree," Sven corroborated. Alexa smiled and blushed; she was flattered. Keith smiled towards her.
"Now, the Shadow Crystal – based on the blueprints - will be set on top of the Altru Tower," Hastings continued. "In order for the Shadow Crystal to be rendered weak, the Blue and Red gems must be close to it. This will be difficult, so we have decided to leave this to our two best Top Rangers. Sven and Wendy."
"Now you're talking! I've been waiting for a mission like this for ages!" Sven said enthusiastically. He and Wendy took the Blue and Red Gems respectively before leaving the roof.
"Alexa, Keith, you two are to remain on standby during this operation," Hastings continued. "I know it's disappointing, but if anything goes wrong, we will need backup."
"It's okay, I understand," Alexa sighed. "I just hope Sven and Wendy can succeed on their own if we want this to be over quickly."
"Don't worry, we Area Rangers will do our part as well," Barlow volunteered.
"Alright, everyone, let's hope for the best," Hastings stated. Alexa scoffed and she walked away from the roof. Ryder followed her.
"Why do I get the feeling that she feels like she's being punished?" Keith asked openly.
"Perhaps that is precisely how she feels, dear," Erma answered. Keith faced her in confusion. "She took the outcome of her mission to the Haruba Desert very hard. However, my hunch is she knows all too well that losing the Yellow Gem was inevitable, since they got you involved." Keith looked towards the escalator, looking guiltier than before.
With Alexa…
"Why do I get the feeling I'm being punished?" Alexa sighed. She and Ryder were heading towards the ground floor escalator.
We've established nobody blames you for losing the Yellow Gem, Ryder stated. Besides, it should be my fault for losing it.
"I don't know…I guess I was just denying the inevitable, since Heath dragged Keith into the whole mess," Alexa stressed.
BOOM!
"What the hell was that?!" Alexa exclaimed, startled. Murph ran up the escalator, looking panicky. He approached Alexa.
"Alexa! There's a strange guy downstairs, and I think he means business!" he panicked. Alexa and Ryder ran down the escalator. They were furious as to who they found standing in front of the doorway.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Alexa asked angrily. "You have no business here!"
"I have score with you, one thing, Alexa," Heath said with frustration, pointing to his left eye; he had a black eye.
"You deserved everything I dished out on you in the Hippowdon Temple!" Alexa fumed; Heath's black eye reminded her of the circumstances that led to the punch what gave it to him. "Unless you want to have the capability to cosplay as a black and white Spinda, get the hell away from here!"
"But first, here's something for payback," Heath stated, dishing out a Miniremo. An Electivire ran into the room and raced towards Alexa.
"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc towards the Electivire. Alexa attempted to control her capture disc properly, but the orbs of electricity Electivire had surrounding it made it difficult for her to do so, as they broke the capture line occasionally.
"Urgh…! This is harder than I thought it would be," Alexa whispered spitefully towards Ryder.
Perhaps my Pokémon Assist ability can be used here? Ryder pondered.
"Go for it," Alexa permitted. Ryder fired one of his Aura Spheres towards Alexa's capture disc.
The Electivire, however, kicked the capture disc away from it, causing the Aura Sphere to hit its leg instead.
"LEEEEEEEC!" The Electivire cried out in pain. Alexa and Ryder were left bewildered at what just occurred.
"Um…okay…"
Should I try again?
"If you want to."
Ryder fired another Aura Sphere towards the capture disc. This time, it was a direct hit; the capture disc absorbed the sphere and its power had been doubled. The Electivire was furious about its foot injuries, and it discharged its electricity around it. Alexa's capture disc took damage, but was still intact. Concerned about how much energy her styler had left, Alexa checked the energy level; little under half.
"If this isn't over soon, my styler won't work!" she stressed. "I guess I should have it recharged after this is over."
Soon after, Alexa's capture disc successfully captured and redeemed the hypnotised Electivire. The Electivire – despite its injury – left.
BOOM!
"What was that?!" Alexa exclaimed, turning towards the escalator leading to the first upper floor of the union.
"My distraction did good!" Heath rejoiced. "You fell for me again! You fool!" he laughed. Ignoring him, Alexa and Ryder raced up the escalator.
Upstairs…
"There's no way I'll let you take Isaac!" Keith fumed. Alexa and Ryder ran over to him and Professor Hastings, who were defending Isaac from Ice. Alexa looked towards Ice and immediately helped Keith defend Isaac.
"I'm not going back with you, Ice," Isaac said clearly.
"Oh, come on, Isaac. I thought you and I were friends," Ice said mockingly. "I even shared my candy with you."
"Big whoop," Alexa sighed sarcastically.
"You deceived me!" Isaac yelled. "You're not promoting feelings of friendship into Pokémon!"
"I mean, let's face it, Ice, hypnotising Pokémon is a funny way of promoting friendship into them!" Alexa scolded.
"Your team is a disgrace!" Hastings fumed. "And I'll have you pay for the damage you caused!"
"Professor, we have bigger things to worry about than the damage done to the building," Keith commented.
"You're wasting your time!" Lavana sighed, making her way towards Ice. "Let me deal with this."
"Who said you could steal the spotlight?" Ice asked rudely.
"Your method will be too time consuming," Lavana sighed. "You've got to play dirty! Like this!" Lavana pulled Melody out from behind her and held her arm tightly.
"Isaac, help!" Melody panicked. The sudden development horrified Isaac, but infuriated Keith, Alexa and Hastings.
"Melody!"
"Now, Isaac, you will come with us, won't you?" Lavana asked tauntingly. "You will if you care about your precious sister."
"You dirty old hag!" Keith and Alexa both insulted Lavana in unison. Lavana looked at the duo in extreme anger.
"Wha…did you just call me a hag?!" she asked angrily, in a seemingly uptight voice. "Why I ought to…!" She trailed off abruptly to clear her throat. "Anyway, Isaac, perhaps you just need a little bit of persuasion. Like so."
"Ow! It hurts!" Melody complained as Lavana pinched her arm. This worried Isaac even more and made Keith and Hastings even angrier. Alexa, however, shut her eyes tightly and held her head with both of her hands, as if she was suffering from a migraine.
"So, Isaac, what's your decision?" Lavana asked coldly. Alexa faced Lavana, looking angrier than she was with Heath.
"You're not getting away with this, you-"
"No, Alex!" Isaac abruptly interrupted her, placing his left hand over her mouth briefly. He soon lowered his hand. "I'll go…" Alexa and Keith faced him with concern.
"Isaac…"
"They're hurting Melody because of me," Isaac sighed. Hastings muttered under his breath as Isaac started making his way over to Lavana.
"Isaac!" Alexa called sharply. "You know as well as I do that what you said isn't true! Can't you see they're trying to deceive you?!" Isaac faced her, looking somewhat angry.
"What would you know?!" he asked rudely. "You can't understand what it feels like to have a member of your family being used against you!"
Alexa said nothing. She could easily counter, but she restrained herself from doing so, despite having a clear understanding of what Isaac was feeling. She sighed to herself as she was forced to witness Lavana leaving with both Isaac and Melody.
"What, was I not needed for this raid or something?" Ice asked. "Oh well. At least I can do this." He pulled out his Miniremo and a hypnotised Garchomp entered the area. Hastings, Keith and Alexa panicked upon seeing the behemoth.
"Garchomp is a very powerful and a very speedy Pokémon," Alexa began. "I don't think it'll be easy to capture this thing."
"We'll see if your styler loses its energy from this beast," Ice stated, typing in a simple command. While Ice was typing, Keith noticed what energy Alexa's styler had left. The Garchomp charged towards Alexa.
"Capture on!" Alexa fired her capture disc in an instant. Ryder fired an Aura Sphere at the disc, doubling its power. Despite the power boost, the Garchomp broke the capture line and charged towards Alexa.
CRASH!
"WHAAAAAA!"
The Garchomp struck both Alexa and Ryder with its right fin glowing in a white light. The two collided with the wall behind them and fell to the ground. Angry, Keith fired his capture disc and continued from where Alexa left off. Buizel fired a small bubble from his mouth and it hit Keith's capture disc. The capture disc spun around on the spot, forming a growing bubble around it. While the Garchomp stood around, Keith flicked the capture disc towards it, which caused the capture disc's bubble to hit the Garchomp causing it to slow down. Keith made his capture disc continuously spin around the slowed Garchomp; while this was happening, another bubble was formed. This was continuous, so Keith occasionally flicked the formed bubble at the Garchomp, making its movements more sluggish. As soon as Buizel's Pokémon Assist ability ran out on the capture disc, Garchomp was captured and redeemed.
"Not too shabby. I can see why you're Top Rangers," Ice loosely complimented. "We'll have a rematch if we see each other at tomorrow's event." He then started to make his way out of the union.
"The outcome…will still…be…the same, Ice…" Alexa strained as she and Ryder struggled to get back onto their feet; Garchomp's attack was powerful, which made their collision with the wall equally as powerful.
Regardless…of any…cheap shots…you make… Ryder panted in corroboration.
"Until then, farewell," Ice stated, ignoring Alexa's statement. After he left, Keith and Hastings ran over to Alexa and Ryder.
"Alex, are you two okay?!" Keith asked.
"What was that attack?" Hastings queried.
"Urgh…Brick Break," Alexa replied, still feeling the pain from the said attack. "It's a powerful Fighting type move that can break through defensive moves such as Light Screen and Reflect…!"
"How's Ryder? He got hit too, didn't he?" Keith asked.
I'm part Steel type; I'm more vulnerable to Fighting type attacks, Ryder answered breathlessly; he got winded as a result of the Brick Break that collided with him. Alexa also appeared to have been winded from Brick Break.
"Bad news, bad news, there's another creepy guy on the third floor!" Murph panicked, racing down the escalator.
"Let's go, Ryder…!" Alexa and Ryder – despite their weakness – ran towards the escalator and headed up to the next floor.
"Alex, wait!" Keith called.
Upstairs…
"In our boss's grandiose scheme, the Union is an inconvenience," Wheeler began. "I'm here to remove that eyesore."
"Who are you? What do you want here?" Linda asked.
"Are you a clown or something?" Rhythmi asked, somewhat rudely.
"This floor is off-limits to everyone but those associated with the Union," Erma calmly scolded. "What is the meaning of this?"
"What is the meaning of this? What about 'I demand an explanation'?" Wheeler asked mockingly. "Before I destroy this place, I want to pick up a certain Ranger; the one named Alexa."
Alexa and Ryder – who hadn't heard Wheeler's words beforehand – arrived onto the scene. Rhythmi spotted them.
"No, Alexa, stay back!" she cried. Alexa and Ryder faced her in confusion while Wheeler turned to face Alexa and Ryder.
"Why, what's wrong?" Alexa asked calmly.
"Ah, so you're the one the boss wants!" Wheeler exclaimed excitedly. Ryder snarled angrily; the fact that Wheeler was around was enough for him to get angry, never mind what he said.
"What do you mean, I'm the one your boss wants?" Alexa asked in confusion. She suddenly gasped in horror; she remembered Blake Hall's gestures. "Oh, God…!"
"Go, my Bidoof! Get the girl!" Wheeler commanded.
Not in THIS lifetime!
GYAAROO!
Ryder roared with fury as he became surrounded in his own aura. This horrified everyone in the room, even Alexa.
"Wh-what's going on?" Rhythmi asked.
"I don't know, dear," Erma replied quietly. Ryder formed two Aura Spheres, one in each paw.
You'll regret EVER threatening Alex like that! He fired both Aura Spheres in separate directions; one destroyed the Miniremo controlling the Bidoof, the other hit Wheeler in the gut, knocking him into the turned off computer behind him. The Bidoof fled after they were redeemed. Ryder faced Wheeler with anger, still surrounded in his own aura.
"Y-y-yikes!" Wheeler panicked. A Dim Sun minion walked down the escalator.
"Mr Wheeler? We have already achieved our objectives of this raid," the minion began. "We should bail out."
"Aiyee! I hadn't noticed that!" Wheeler exclaimed. He faced Alexa, who looked somewhat pale. "This isn't the end, my dear, no, don't go thinking that." He and the minion made their way up the escalator.
"No…it's just begun. Get back here, you!" Alexa attempted to give chase, but…
BOOM!
The escalator leading to the roof became disabled. Alexa managed to avoid the small explosion what caused this.
"Don't bother giving chase, dear," Erma began. "We need to work on our operation."
A little while later…
"I will adjust our strategy for Operation Brighton based on today's events," Hastings began. He, Erma, Alexa and Keith were in the Operations Room. Alexa had a bandage across her head, underneath her hair, and around her right forearm, while Ryder had a bandage around his forehead and just below the spike on his chest in addition to the bandage around his tail. "First and foremost, Isaac and Melody must be rescued. Alexa, Keith, despite everything thrown against you, you two still managed to protect the union. You two are promoted to Ranger Rank 9!"
"Thanks, Professor," Keith thanked calmly. Alexa appeared to be in thought; why was Blake Hall so interested in her?
"Voicemail, it's me, Sven!" Sven suddenly stated via voicemail. "They threw up a powerful barrier on top of the Altru Tower!"
"It's impossible to get to the Shadow Crystal from the sky!" Wendy added. The transmission ended, leaving Erma and Hastings in shock.
"I didn't expect it to be so easy," Erma said calmly.
"They must have left it off of the blueprints for a reason," Hastings muttered. "But how do we eliminate the barriers?"
"Professor…you realise that we still have two more Top Rangers here, don't we?" Erma hinted. Keith and Alexa – having understood the hint – faced each other in shock. Their shock quickly subsided as they turned confident and nodded once before facing forwards.
"Although they're Top Rangers," Hastings began reluctantly. "They lack experience. As evidence, have a look at their expressions-"
Hastings and Erma faced Alexa and Keith and were soon shocked; both Alexa and Keith appeared to be determined, as did even their partner Pokémon.
"They're…they're both looking at me with determination in their eyes…" Hastings stated quietly. "You…since when did either of you grow to be so…capable? And confident?"
"I've always had to be capable and confident," Alexa began. "During my career as a Pokémon trainer – since I was at the age of 10 – I've had to face dangers of magnitudes such as what Operation Brighton may present. Although my previous experience may have presented me with fear, I was determined to see it through to the very end! I don't see why Operation Brighton should be any different! Despite how the strategy has changed, the main goal itself remains unfazed, and so should our approach to the operation itself! I, for one, am more than ready to prove that to everyone here!"
"I don't care what Alex says," Keith began. "It's my fault we lost the Yellow Gem in the first place. But what's done is done, and I believe it's time to take things to the next level and end Team Dim Sun once and for all!" Alexa looked over at Keith in confusion. "Let's not forget what's riding on this operation; we're trying to prevent Pokémon from suffering! That's the job of any Pokémon Ranger, not just us Top Rangers! That's what I want to prove to you!"
"Fine. I understand. I must have been oblivious all along," Hastings started. "No more treating you like rookies. I promise. Alexa, Keith…I am presenting you with a mission truly worthy of Top Rangers."
"We're ready!" Alexa and Keith declared simultaneously. Buizel and Ryder nodded concurrently.
"Number one; you two are to infiltrate Altru Tower and rescue Isaac and Melody. Number two; you are to locate and reclaim the Yellow Gem. Number three; Keith, you are to take a Staraptor and fly the Yellow Gem to above the tower and join Sven and Wendy. Alexa, you are to remain at the tower by yourself; you are assigned the key role in Operation Brighton."
"The…key role?" Alexa asked; she and Ryder were equally shocked at such a development.
"Indeed," Hastings confirmed. "You are to make your way up the tower while disabling the three barrier layers. Afterwards, guide the three flying Rangers to the Shadow Crystal. Alexa…it goes without saying that you will be the one to face the most foes along the way. This will be a harrowing, challenging and ultimately rewarding mission! My lips are trembling as I issue these very commands!"
"Sven and Wendy in the sky," Erma began. "Our dedicated Operators. The research staff that forego sleep to decipher the diary. Murph with his happy personality. Everyone has their own responsibilities, duties, their own purpose of being. Everyone is supported by each other. We all need each other. If no one forgets this, Operation Brighton cannot fail."
"All right, people. Operation Brighton, part two! Let us restart!" Hastings exclaimed.
"One more thing, dears," Erma began. "I have noticed that you two have made your bond of friendship stronger. Perhaps this operation will be a test for you."
"A test?" Keith asked.
"Yes, dear. A test to see how strong your friendship really is," Erma explained.
"How strong?" Alexa questioned.
"You two will be working together for a majority of this operation," Erma continued. "This will mean that your friendship will be tested. This operation will prove to us – and to the pair of you – how strong your friendship is in terms of how loyal you are, how much you care for one another and how well you perform as a team. Are you absolutely ready to put your very friendship to the test?" Alexa didn't look so sure; she self-proclaimed that her friends back home were no longer her friends, meaning that she had yet to test her own loyalty.
"I'm ready," Keith stated confidently. Alexa faced him in shock, whereas he faced her looking faithful already. "How about you?" Alexa appeared to be insecure, but, remembering that Keith was her best friend, whom she could confide in, also turned confident, looking towards him with a loyal demeanour.
"If you're ready, there's no reason why I shouldn't be," she replied. "We're in this together!"
"Let's go!" Keith, Alexa and their partner Pokémon raced out of the union. Hastings and Erma watched them leave.
"Erma? Could you see something else in Alexa's eyes?" Hastings asked curiously. "I somehow felt insecure around her."
"Perhaps Alexa doesn't lack in experience as you first assumed," Erma answered.
The scene changed to the outdoors; Alexa, Keith, Buizel and Ryder were all running along the Union Road at top speed side by side. Nightfall was upon them.
"We mustn't forget, Alexa has come from a life of a Pokémon Trainer. If anything, she is not to be underestimated."
To be continued…