This is chapter four of my story, like I said in the previous chapter, this one will have more Pokémon battling. I'll also be introducing a new OC submission. You may notice how the Banned Pokémon list increased a lot. Not only is that from OC submissions, but also from important characters I'm adding to the story. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.


Present day

"Zap that mouse from existence with Thunder!" shouted Kazuma.

His Electiver pointed its arms up into the sky in the position of a cactus. It glowed yellow as a flash of electricity arced through the room. The target, a Cinccino, easily avoided the move.

"You're going to have to try a much more accurate move if you want to hit Scarfy! Tail Slap!" taunted Jacob. Jacob was Kazuma's best friend and turned out to only be two years older than him.

"Volt Tackle!"

The two Pokémon charged at each other, Scarfy dodged at the last second and used Bullet Seed. The Electivire whipped around and got hit by the seeds. He easily brushed them off like they were nothing.

"Use Earthquake!"

"Jump it!"

The Electivire slammed the ground with its mighty arms and caused the floor to shake and crack. Scarfy leaped into the air and used Tail Slap. It hit Electivire five times across the face before landing and dodging its foot.

Electivire growled angrily as it prepared another Thunder.

"Keep up the pressure Scarfy, you're too small and fast!"

"Is that what you believe? Then I'm terribly sorry."

Jacob shuddered, Kazuma's time in the Gamma Team changed him somewhat. His creepy behavior was just another result. Scarfy sprang up with another tail slap, but they were prepared this time.

"Ice Punch!"

Electivire's fist connected with the little Chinchilla Pokémon and sent it flying towards the wall.

"Destroy it with Thunder!"

Electivire finally hit the tiny Pokémon with a Thunder. The effect was devastating as Scarfy fainted immediately.

"No! Return Scarfy. Go, Lily!"

The Hisuian Liligant appeared in a flash of light, she did a little twirl before facing the Electivire.

"Use, Victory Dance!"

Lily started doing a little dance to boost its stats.

"Stop it with Thunder!"

The Electivire used the move, but Lily is part grass. So the Thunder didn't do much.

"Now that you got stronger, Drain Punch!"

"Volt Tackle!"

"You're really going to do that every time I go for a contact move. Dodge it!"

Lily leapt and spun at the last second, dodging the hulking Electivire. Electivire kept racing around, trying to hit Lily to no avail. Eventually, Electivire tumbled on the floor, too drained to continue.

Every Pokémon that learns a move normally can't always have a drawback. Electivire's drawback for using Volt Tackle is that it loses energy every time it uses it. So the longer it's used, the more tired Electivire becomes. It's not that bad compared to Obsidiode, the poor Pokémon has a chance to explode!

"Good job out there. Go, Goodra!"

The gooey, draconic Pokémon appeared. It didn't look very menacing, but this Pokémon is Kazuma's ace. He had found it as a lonely abandoned Goomy, and the two have ever since been dedicated to each other.

"Use, Flamethrower!"

Lily dodged the incoming flames and readied itself with Drain Punch.

"One thing you happened to forget, my Goodra is equipped with three super effective moves, Sludge Wave!"

Lily backpedaled and leaped over the poison wave.

"You forgot Lily is super agile, Leaf Blade!"

"Ice Beam!"

Lily twisted in mid-air, narrowly avoiding Goodra's Ice Beam. It flipped around and Goodra unleashed Sludge Wave at the last second. Goodra stumbled back as it was hit by Leaf Blade, but Lily was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Lily leaped into the air/ It was drenched in purple sludge and was poisoned.

"Victory Dance boosted its defensive stats! No matter, Ice Beam!"

Lily dodged it again and landed, she started moving in a zigzag pattern.

"Drain Punch!"

"Sludge Wave!"

This time, the Sludge Wave was expected and Lily leaped behind Goodra. It was about to strike when Goodra turned around, flames eeping from its mouth. Lily's attack barely touched the Goodra before it was blasted by flames.

"I swear, that thing is on an entirely different speed level. Go, Mary!"

An Azumarill appeared from the Pokéball. She did a little hop and a chirp.

"You can't expect to break my win streak with that thing! Return, Goodra. Go, Swapmert!"

"Mary, use Belly Drum!"

Mary started hitting her body hard as she glowed orange.

"What did that do?" Kazuma asked.

"Belly Drum takes Mary's energy down by a lot, but maximizes her attack, Waterfall!"

Mary charged at the Swampert on a surge of water.

"Earthquake!"

The floor shook as Swampert hit the ground. Shards of the floor cracked and shifted all around Mary.

"Time to put on some speed, Aqua Jet!"

Mary raced forward surrounded by a ball of water. She raced towards Swampert and leaped into the air.

"Liquidation!"

Swampert's arm glowed blue as he swung it towards Mary, the two attacks connected as Swampert was blown back into the far wall. Mary landed on the ground, clearly weakening, but still standing.

Swampert got up on two legs and roared at Mary. He then got onto all four and raced forward.

"Earthquake again!"

Swampert slammed the floor again as Mary leaped into the air.

"Waterfall!"

"You won't get Swampert the same way you did before. Knock her away with Liquidation."

As Mary came crashing down upon Swampert, he stood up on two legs and swung his arms like you'd do with a baseball bat. He hit Mary and sent her crashing to the ground.

"Aqua Jet!"

"Earthquake!"

Swampert tried another Earthquake, but Mary was too fast. She slammed into Swampert and sent him tumbling right in front of Kazuma.

"Return. Go, Goodra!"

The gooey dragon reappeared on the field as Mary turned to face the new threat.

"One good attack should take your Azumarill down, Sludge Wave."

"Dodge it with Aqua Jet!"

Mary raced towards the incoming wave and it curved up on the poison and flipped through the air.

"That would have made more sense if it was using Surf. Goodra, use it again."

"Play Rough!"

Goodra readied another Sludge Wave when Mary came rushing at it. Its super effective move ready to oneshot Goodra. Goodra spat out the Sludge Wave, Mary leaped back and then over the wave with Aqua Jet.

"Ice Beam!"

Goodra tilted her head upwards and fired the freezing beam. Mary wasn't as agile and couldn't twist in mid-air like Lily. Ice started forming on Mary as her Play Rough missed since the beam pushed her back.

"No, finish it off with Sludge Wave!"

The Sludge Wave washed over Mary, and knocked her out.

"Argh you're too good!"

Kazuma walked to his Goodra and patted her on her head. "Thanks for helping me secure my 10th win in a row."

Goodra gave a happy shrill and hugged him.

"Great practice session of sending a team of three Pokémon, one by one, to attack the other Pokémon with a wide variety of moves until one Pokémon is physically unable to battle." A creepy female voice came. Olivia giggled at her own joke before getting serious.

"Lady decided that it's time the Gamma Team went further. She has a mission for you, Kazuma. But she wants to make sure you're ready. You have permission to take your friend Jacob with you, and you'll be going with another recruit."

"Anything I need to know?"

"If you fail, you'll be torn apart. Which I admit would be fun to see."

Jacob involuntarily took a step back, he eyed the door Olivia was standing at.

"That's great to know, but what if I complete the test mission."

"Then you and your friend will be promoted to the mission branch. There you'll get to meet us."

"Two things, I know you, and am I actually going to see this Dagger person? Or will she be on some mission again?"

"Let's wait till after you complete your mission. However I can't say I'm rooting for you. Nice Goodra by the way. Congelatio?"

A Froslass floated from behind the wall and fired an Ice Beam. It hit Goodra and froze her.

"What the hell?"

Olivia blew him a kiss, "Good luck!" and then she left giggling.

Kazuma returned his Goodra. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"I have no idea, for some reason, I want to fail the mission and go on the run."

"Let's get our Pokémon healed and get our mission from the cloud-top branch."

An few moments later

Kazuma and Jacob went up the stairs towards the executive branch meeting room. When they went in, there were only two people there. The leader of the executive branch, and a younger man who was probably the new recruit.

The man had light blond hair and green eyes. He had glasses and wore a white lab coat, which was odd since he didn't seem to be in the research branch. Unlike everyone else Kazuma met, he had a watch.

"Where's the rest of the cloud-top branch? They're too busy ordering everyone else?"

The leader of the executive branch gave him a bored look. He wore a black and gold Gamma suit with metal shoulder pads that were more for decoration. He wore a sparkling badge. He had gray hair and cold, steel eyes

"Your humor is charming, but I'm afraid that this mission is top-secret. The other executive branch members aren't trusted enough to learn about this mission."

"Wow, higher ups among higher ups. Next you say that Lady is just a sub-leader, and that there is a secret leader giving orders."

The older man sighed, "I'm starting to seriously regret this. Your mission is simple: attack a Team Plasma warehouse and steal their uranium cores. Marlow Gladwyn here will help identify it. As well as lend assistance."

"Quick question, why isn't he in the nerd branch?"

Marlow gave him a smile, "They were not nerdy enough."

Kazuma smiled back as his eyes lit up. "I think we're going to get along very well."

The executive leader cleared his throat to get their attention, "You'll take Gamma car F-27. The coordinates will be automatically sent to the GPS. Good Luck."

Marlow, Kazuma and Jacob stepped out of the room and went down the stairs. Once they were in the main hall, Jacob turned to Marlow and asked, "So what's your story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, why did you join the Gamma Team? I joined after I got arrested for selling some incriminating stuff I didn't know was incriminating. And Kazuma here got arrested because someone set him up."

"Oh, you want to know why I joined?" Marlow's eyes grew dark. "It was because of the damn man! If I were to get my hands on him, not even Arceus could save him!"

"OK, how bout you calm down and-"

"Calm down?" Marlow gave a bitter laugh. "We worked together for three years, I was his young, studious apprentice. I finally made a breakthrough that he never made. And then he took it all and left!"

Kazuma put his hand on Marlow's shoulder. "Ouch, what was his name? Maybe we could beat him up together or something."

"I don't know what's wrong with me but I just can't remember his name, or even much of what he looked like. I can't remember my research either! He clearly did something to me, he'll rue the day he did that!"

"Ok, how about we forget about this guy and grab some coffee before the mission?"

Jacob caught on to what Kazuma was trying to do. "Yeah this guy makes really good coffee, he used to be the owner of-"

Kazuma cut him off with a sharp look. Telling Marlow about how he used to be the owner of Sliggoo coffee would reveal that he was actually Zach Schrank. Marlow gave Jacob a confused look.

"He was the owner of?"

"A small coffee joint I used to go to. He makes some amazing coffee. I recommend the cappuccino with chocolate powder. Cause when you're angry, you need some milk."

"I've heard about the scientific reason behind that. Milk contains-"

Jacob patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, I know. You don't have to spoil the joke."

They went to the break room and waited while Kazuma made the three of them coffee. Marlow and Jacob both got cappuccino with chocolate powder, while Kazuma had coffee with milk and caramel.

They walked to the garage with their coffee in hand.

"I just realized we never formally introduced each other, I'm Marlow Gladwyn."

"Jacob Tarot."

"Lord Kazuma."

Marlow gave him a strange look. "That can't be your actual name right?"

Jacob quickly jumped in before Kazuma could say anything snarky.

"He's self-conscious about his real name and demands that it be kept secret. So he goes by Kazuma."

"Oh ok." Marlow seemed to want a better explanation but kept it at that.

They eventually made it to the F-27. Kazuma jumped into the driver's seat before Jacob could.

"It's okay I can-"

"No, I'm the one driving here, said Kazuma, his voice dangerously low."

Jacob sat in the backseat of the car and nervously strapped on his seat belt. Marlow sat in the passenger seat and started conversation as Kazuma carefully drove into a tunnel.

"So, do you guys want to learn about my current research?"

"Sure, it'll take my mind off the 99% chance we'll crash and die," said Jacob.

"Let's see where do I start? I'm currently researching the mysteries of mega evolution, but before we start. Tell me what you know about evolution."

"Evolution is when Pokémon grow into bigger stronger forms."

"Actually, current research suggests that Pokémon don't grow when they evolve. They metamorphosize. Growing is what me and you do, a fourteen year old will still look the same in let's say, a week. But he still grew, the process of growing just happens slowly. Give him a year and he'll look slightly different. Give him three and he'll look much different. But that's three years. For Pokémon, they glow white and suddenly, they evolve into something completely different! You can't look at Trapinch for the first time and say it evolves into Vibrava. A Trapinch doesn't take the time to change its stubby legs into thin poles, shorten its gigantic head into the same one as Vibrava's, and grow wings. That even raises the question, why does Trapinch evolve into Vibrava. The only answer is complete metamorphosis. Only complete metamorphosis can drastically change an organism."

"Thanks for the lecture, but Marlow or Gladwyn isn't a kind of tree." Kazuma stated as he raced down a tunnel at 80 MPH.

"I think you're breaking the speed limit." groaned Jacob as he buried his head into his lap.

Kazuma drifted down a sharp turn before shooting off at 60, causing everyone but him to slam into the right side of the car.

"You're telling me that the Gamma Team obeys the law?"

"Not really, but they don't try to purposely kill themselves!"

"Fine you Wimpod." Kazuma muttered as he slowed the car to below 20.

"Sike!" he shouted, cackling as he hit the gas again. Going well over 100.

"Arceus, have mercy on my soul." cried Jacob as Kazuma made another high speed turn.

"That reminds me of an interesting theory. A trainer has claimed to have caught Arceus before. It's also been mentioned a trainer having hacked Arceus long ago. You know how the legends say he has 1000 arms? Well, the Arceus that we believe to see, the white horse thing, are one of his thousand arms. The real Arceus is just too much to fathom."

"Cool, but can Kazuma please not kill us with his driving?"

Kazuma made another wild turn and scratched the car against the tunnel wall.

"Of course I won't get us all killed. I'm not crazy."

"Debatable."

Kazuma rolled his eyes but finally slowed down to a more manageable speed.

"So, why are we getting these uranium cores anyways, and why do we have to attack Team Plasma?" asked Kazuma

"They are great for power and can last very long. But they are very rare and hard to make. Team Plasma has been known for making the batteries before."

"I'm kinda sad Olivia didn't come, she'd wipe the floor with them in a fit of rage. Literally." Jacob said, chuckling a bit.

"She hates Team Plasma?" asked Marlow, raising an eyebrow.

"Yea, they were the people who attacked the lab her father owned. I also have a beef with them."

"Why?"

"It's their fault she acts the way she does, she can be a real pain."

"This is a lovely conversion but I'm afraid we've reached the end of the tunnel."

The trio stepped out to a spacious garage. Only four cars were parked there including theirs. A ladder led up somewhere. They climbed the ladder and ended up in a small dark room.

It was a storage room of sorts, with many boxes littering the floor. At the end was a door with a blinking scanner.

Jacob walked forward and held his badge up to the scanner. A light flashed green as an electronic lock whirred to life. He opened the door and gestured to everyone to follow.

They climbed a flight of stairs and found themselves in a small house. There were two small bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and an office with a computer and Gamma Team documents.

"This is a safe house. They are scattered all over the place and work as rest points before missions. Of course, thanks to Kazuma's driving, we made it here in record time. We can immediately get started on the mission."

"Then let's go, the sooner I blast those Plasma grunts the sooner I can meet my end goal."

"What is your end goal by the way?"

"To unlock the secrets of mega evolution and use it however I like. Mega evolution is actually a form, not metamorphosis. They revert between mega and non-mega on the trainer's whim."

"Wow, you know a lot about mega evolution! Does one of your Pokémon have the capability to evolve?"

Marlow gave an annoyed look on his face, "Unfortunately, the only Pokémon I have capable of mega evolution completely hates me. However, I have a trainer with an Altaria who's going to help me with my research."

"What's their name?"

"Didn't bother finding out, you don't really talk to your hostages on a friendly basis."

"Oh, I get it."

"But I have a question, do you possibly have any Pokémon capable of mega evolution?"

"I'm not sure, I have a Cinccino, a Lilligant, and an Azumaril."

"What about you Kazuma?"

"I say we get started on our mission and quit loitering. But I have an Electivire, Goodra, and Swamert."

"You have a Swampert? That's perfect! It's a Pokémon capable of mega evolution. How's your bond with it?"

"Pretty good, why do you ask?"

"Mega evolution requires a strong bond between the trainer and the Pokémon, a keystone, and the right mega stone. I have the last two, but as I mentioned earlier, she hates me. That's why my Salamence can't mega evolve."

"Oh, so if my Swampert is able to mega evolve, you can conduct research on it."

"Exactly!" He looked at his watch. "Enough dilly-dally let's go. We already lost the time we gained from your driving."

"What time is it?"

Marlow started walking towards the front door. "I don't know, my watch is broken."

An hour later

"Argh, we've been walking forever! My feet hurt, are we there yet?" Jacob complained.

Marlow looked at the warehouse secluded in an alleyway. "Funny you should say that right now, we're here."

The warehouse looked like a standard warehouse, the only difference was that it was pretty small. A man wearing a Team Plasma medieval suit stood guard, three pokéballs strapped to his waist.

"You said you had a Goodra right? Does it have Draco Meteor?"

"Of course, what. You'd think it would have Dragon Tail?"

"Oh, I have a very cruel plan. Let's hope that guard has a specially based attacker."

"I like cruel plans, tell me the plan."

"It's a surprise, just use Draco Meteor when the battle starts."

"I feel like you two are going to get along very well. And that unfortunately scares me," said Jacob, his eyebrows raised.

"Let's just go and beat the man's Pokémon," said Kazuma with an evil smile.

He leaped forward and raced down the alleyway. He stopped in front of the guard and shouted. "In the name of me, Lord Kazuma. I demand you to give us an immediate entry!"

The man looked him up and down, he then eyed Marlow and Jacob as they came up and stood behind him.

"Gamma Team members? Or just a stupid nineteen year old kid and his friends doing stupid Noivernman cosplay. This is actual adult business, scoot before I release Axehead."

"Two things. You don't ever call Noivernman cosplay stupid. Because Noivernman is the coolest fictional character ever created. I commend parents who buy their five year old children costumes of Noivernman. Two, I'm afraid the contents of this warehouse will soon belong to the Gamma Team."

"You got nerve kid. I'll see to it myself I wipe the floor with you and your friends with my Pokémon. Go, Axehead, Flake, and Fold!"

"Go, Goodra!"

"Out, Lily!"

"Advance, Snox!"

In front of the guard appeared a Haxorus, a Cryogonal, and a Leavanny.

Goodra, Lily the Lilligant, and a Malamar appeared.

"Advance? Can't say I heard that before. Axehead, Outrage! Flake, Blizzard!"

"Goodra, use Draco Meteor!"

"Dodge the blizzard and use Victory Dance!"

Draconic meteors appeared from the sky and crashed into Axehead as he surrounded himself with purple draconic rage. The effect was devastating and knocked him out immediately. But the attack left Goodra weakened.

Flake's blizzard hit Snox and Goodra while Lily flipped over it. Goodra's special defense is quite high and it survived the hit.

"No! You didn't even get any damage in. Fold, X-Scissor on the Malamar. It can't survive a bug type move. Flake, Ice Beam."

"Oh no you don't. Poison Jab!"

"Use Swagger on the flake thingy!"

Lily rushed forward and slammed Fold with an arm full of poison. Snox puffed up its body and swirled its tentacles. The effect boosted Flake's attack, but confused him.

Flake used Ice Beam, and then spun like a disc. He sprayed the beam over Lily and Fold before ramming into a building.

"What the?"

"Snox, use Power Swap on Goodra, then use it on the Cryogonal."

Snox turned to the Goodra and switched their stat boost. Goodra immediately grew stronger as the after-effect of Draco Meteor was given to Snox. Snox then turned to Flake and did the same thing, only that he took the strength boost and gave him the after-effect.

"You sly little-, Fold. Use your X-Scissor. Flake-"

But Snox was already dealing with it, it unleashed blades of psychic energy at the Pokémon. Its newfound strength easily taking it out.

Fold batted Lily away and rushed at Snox, determined to at least take out one Pokémon.

"Don't worry, let him have this one."

Snox moved slowly and it seemed like the perfect target due to its double bug weakness.

As Fold was about to strike, Snox suddenly whipped around and hit it with a payback. Goodra wanted in on the fun and finished it with a painful, 4x effective Flamethrower.

"No! You may have defeated me, but you can't defeat all of us. We will stop you from completing your goals. Even-"

Lily smacked him on the back of the head and he fell down, silent.

Jacob noticed his friends giving him a strange look.

"What? I grew tired of his classic villain grunt speech." said Jacob confused as he saw the looks on his friends faces. He walked up and pushed open the doors to the warehouse.

The place was surprisingly void of anyone. Boxes and shelves with boxes filled the room. But there was no one in sight. Kazuma and Marlow walked up behind him.

"I don't like this," said Kazuma, sounding nervous. This immediately alerted Jacob, Kazuma was never nervous. He was sadistic, narcissistic, and much of a joker, even in tense situations. So why would he be nervous all of sudden.

"What's wrong? You don't sound like yourself."

"I don't know, I just feel like we blundered into a trap."

"Wow, you got it correct. What would you like your prize to be?"

Marlow's POV

Ten Pokémon and ten trainers stood in a circle around us. The trainers all wore full black and had hats and bandanas across their mouth and noses. They were part of Team Plasma NEO. The NEO grunts held batons that I immediately recognized as the shock batons Team Rocket used a long time ago.

One of the Plasma members stepped forward, twirling his baton as he spoke.

"You have two options. Fight and be immediately killed, as these rods were able to do that to a Marowak. Don't forget the Pokémon surrounding you three. Your other choice is to surrender."

I looked at my friends, and then at one of my pokéballs. If I was fast enough, I could send out Sketch and take out these fools in seconds. I just had to get him talking.

"Interesting that you have those shock batons, I never knew that Team Rocket did business with you." I shot a look at Kazuma, hoping he'd shut his mouth so my plan would work.

"They sell to the highest buyer. Our admin thought these weapons could come in handy. I don't see the point in you talking."

"I'd be careful if I were you, we have genetically modified Pokémon. You wouldn't be able to scratch them."

"This is why Team Plasma hates the Gamma Team so much, we will take and release every single one of your Pokémon. You people are cruel, and you can't luff your way out of this.."

"I can't? I'm not even bluffing, and I can see the hesitation in you and your teammates' eyes."

"Be quiet! I can end you now. You better keep your mouth shut!"

"I'll shut it for you. Advance, Sketch!"

My Mimikyu appeared in the ring of Pokémon. The Pokémon didn't notice it immediately, giving me time to prepare the attack. I turned my broken watch.

"Activate your Omega power!"

Everyone noticed Sketch now, I felt power flowing from the crystal in my watch into Sketch. Pokémon fired moves at him, but they caused no effect. Sketch rise into the air as yellow and purple energy surrounded him. An evil laugh echoed from inside the doll.

"What the hell did you do?"

I didn't respond. Black arms shot from under Sketch and pulled the Plasma members and their Pokémon inside him. I saw my friends watch in horror as Sketch flopped to the ground,

"What-"

I lightly shook my head and impercibly pointed at Sketch. Jacob understood and stayed quiet. Sketch now shook and then ejected his captives. The Pokémon were all knocked out while the trainers were a lovely shade of white. I pulled out my patent-pending Lock Ball. It was purple and black with six silver lines that ran from a motherboard to the button on the front. There was a four bar gauge under the button that indicated the electronic lock. I threw the ball at Sketch, who was starting to recover with long black arms seeping out of his body.

The ball sucked in Sketch and hit the ground. The ball didn't move at all. But I knew Sketch very well, he was waiting for someone to pick up the ball before trying to break free. The gauge flashes green and then turns black. This meant that Sketch was perfectly locked in and couldn't leave. I picked up the ball and saw the gauge starting to fill up, this meant that Sketch's power was slowly wearing off.

"What the hell was that? What is an Omega power, and why does your Mimikyu have it? That was creepy af! I thought it was going to kill everyone!"

"Yea, what is the name of Arceus? It just decimated everyone! I mean, that helps us, but how did it do that?"

I waited for them to finish ranting before explaining.

"Z-power is a phenomenon based in the Alola region. It unlocks hidden powers within a Pokémon. You need a Z-band and crystal, my watch serves as a Z-band. Some Pokémon have exclusive crystals, I found that Mimikuim Z gives Mimikyu the power to absorb a foe and beat it inside its doll. A Mimikyu doll gives it a shape, but holds it back. Mimikuim Z gives it a bit of power to thwart this. I found that by boosting the Z crystal with some uranium and Origin Ore gives Mimikyu the power it would normally have if not for the doll. But in that state, Mimikyu is very dangerous. That is why I made a special pokéball to contain it."

"Isn't that a bit cruel?" Jacob asked.

That was a very stupid question. "Listen Jacob, I have to make as many important discoveries as I can. My goal is to change the world and put upon it my mark. I will go and do anything, even if it means having to exploit kidnapped people."

Kazuma looked at me. "That example was pretty direct. Are you sure you haven't already done that?"

"My Pokémon aren't capable of mega evolution, how else am I supposed to study it? Let's get the uranium cores and bounce."

We spent the next few minutes ransacking the area and collecting uranium cores. I mean to say I collected them and shouted at the others for mistaking the cores and rods.

"I don't see the difference between rods and cores," said Kazuma for the thirteenth time.

"I already told you, rods contain uranium-nine. The activation method is different compared to cores, which contain uranium-two."

"Do you read a thousand page science book everyday?"

"That's way too high for even the fastest of readers. I aim for a five page hundred science book every two days."

"Oh, like that's supposed to make a difference."

I rolled my eyes and continued searching for uranium cores. After they mixed the two uranium batteries a few more times. I gave up and had them bring everything. I separated the two battery types into two boxes and forced them to carry them all the way back to the car. I did all the hard work after all.

An hour later

"Argh, we've been walking forever! My feet and hands hurt, are we there yet?" Jacob complained.

I looked at the entrance to the safe house which was half underground. "Funny you should say that right now, we're here."

"Why am I getting serious nostalgia?" asked Kazuma, stroking his chin.

Jacob put the box down and rubbed his hands for the forty-second time. "I just remembered something important. I'm driving."

We went into the safehouse and heard the noise of plates clinking. We saw someone in the kitchen eating. They stared at us as we hauled the boxes inside.

"You do know you can't permanently live here. What are those boxes for."

Kazuma put his bos\x down and put his hand on the person's shoulder.

"Hear me out buddy. It's none of your business."

He picked up his box and strode to the garage.

We followed him down into the garage and put the boxes into the truck. Jacob rushed to the driver's seat and locked his door.

"Jeez, that guy can be extra sometimes."

"Honestly, his reasons are valid. You already scratched the car badly with your driving."

"At least I got us there ahead of schedule."

I sighed and got in the car. After a moment of protest, Kazuma got in as well. Jacob slowly and started driving into the tunnels. He wasn't going slow, but he wasn't going too fast. After a few minutes, I felt myself wishing Kazuma would drive.

Two hours later

No one's POV

They got out of the car after a long drive and stretched their sleeping legs. Marlow took the box of uranium cores and hauled it to the executive branch meeting room. The leader of the branch raised an eyebrow when he looked into the box.

"So, you completed your mission?"

Kazuma eyed him as he noted the surprised look. "Of course we did, it was pretty easy actually. Shows how capable we are."

"Well then, I shall award you your mission branch badges. Your mission will be given tomorrow. Right now, you'll meet the rest of the mission branch."

He handed them sparkling badges. Jacob raised his hand as a question formed in his mind.

"Well we are able to create custom clothing."

"Yes, yes you will."

They immediately left the room and headed to the office computers rather than the mission branch room. They spent the next hour creating their custom clothing, which was due to be sent by tomorrow.

"Finally, we won't look like the average grunt. Now some random kid who got a new Pokémon last week will think twice before battling us," said Jacob triumphantly.

"Wait, weren't we supposed to be meeting the mission branch?" asked Marlow.

"Eeh, who cares. Designing new clothing is our top priority."

They all agreed to that and went to the mission branch room. The room had a long desk like the executive branch room. There was a large TV, and a corner of the room seemed strange. They saw Olivia swing in an office chair. Her eyes lit up when she saw them.

"So you guys made it. Congrats!" Her eyes clouded over. "Old Dakota notified us that you'd be here an hour ago."

"We were dealing with priorities. What we were doing was much more important than meeting half of the mission branch. Where is this Dagger person anyways."

"Right here."

Dagger stepped out of a corner taking Jacob and Marlow by surprise. She was wearing the simple Gamma Team suit, the only difference being that it was mostly gray. She had black gloves and had black braided hair. Her eyes were covered with a black baseball cap that she wore low over her head.

"I don't think creating customized clothing is a priority."

Kazuma stepped forward, indignant. "Of course it is, we have to distinguish ourselves from grunts. Who are you supposed to be? An emo girl? A person doing cosplay of some book character?"

She chuckled slightly. "Keep guessing."

"A ninja? A rich and important girl who created a false persona and trained herself in the art of fighting, and then decided to travel around the world with the greatest superhero ever fighting villains like The Mime?"

"You got that one out of Noivernman Returns didn't you? And no, I'm actually a thief."

"Let me guess, you take joy in people realizing their valuables are stolen, but they don't know who?"

"You got that right."

Jacob stepped forward. "Why would we need a kleptomaniac for the mission? Are we going to steal something."

Olivia stepped up and pushed Dagger away.

"You learn about it later, I suggest getting some training. I'm open for a battle."

"No thanks, I'd rather battle Kazuma or Dagger. But not you."

"Boys are no fun, the only thing they're good for is exploiting. See you tomorrow!"

With that, she walked out of the room, giggling to herself.

"That person, I don't even want to ask. You can call me Elaine. I take it you three will be joining the mission. Don't bother with the introductries, I know who you are."

With that, Elaine turned and walked away.

"Is she sure she wouldn't be classified as an emo girl?" asked Kazuma dubiously.

"I have no idea at this point," said Marlow, shaking his head.

A day later

It was time, all five mission branch members walked into the meeting room. Kazuma was wearing a black and gray gamma suit with a long cape. He also wore the bandana Henry gave him sometime ago. Jacob's suit was a gray and black body suit, his silver hair was tucked under a cap. Marlow wore a plain science coat insignia with a silver G.

Olivia clapped her hands like a four year old. "You guys look amazing! Let's take a picture!"

He ran behind the four of them and pulled out her phone. She then took a selfie.

Jacob looked at the picture. Elaine was missing from the picture, and there was a knife pointing at Jacob's neck.

"Why is there a knife pointing at my neck," said Jacob, visibly trying to stay calm.

"You're too boring, so I wanted to spice up the photo. Anyways it's mission time!"

Jacob leaned close to Kazuma and whispered, "I don't have any idea how she's able to jump from doing something crazy, to getting work done."

Kazuma just shrugged, he wasn't an expert on crazy behavior.

Olivia sat in her office chair and swung to face the screen. She pressed a button on a remote, causing the screen to spring to life and display a huge beach.

"This is Palay island, there is said to be a powerful artifact hidden in a temple. The artifact is said to be connected to the legendary Pokémon, Kyogre."

"So we are going into the legendary hunting business?" asked Marlow.

"Not exactly, the blue orb by itself grants Kyogre the power to transform. How does it do that, to such a mighty legendary Pokémon as well. Anyways, there is a temple on the island that definitely isn't cult based. The blue orb is stored inside the temple, and is guarded by three kids, someone known as a guardian, and a Noble Pokémon. Noble Pokémon were huge Pokémon that served Arceus, most of them became extinct as Hisui became Sinnoh, but a few exist."

"Oh, this reminds me of the climax of Noivernman Returns where he and Silent Wind raid the SAND's temple."

"You watch too much Noivernman kid, this is where I come in. I'm a professional thief, probably one of the greatest. Your job is to defeat the guardians and unlock the temple. My job is to go in there, sneak past this Noble Pokémon, and get away with the orb."

"Ok /emo girl/nin-"

"I'm going to cut you off right there. Olivia, you may continue with the debriefing."

"We're going to be taking a super fancy jet over the island and then glide down. The reason for this is a clever forcefield that only admits humans, and destroys anything else that comes in contact. We have to glide in wingsuits because parachuting simply isn't fast enough to dodge the beams that will be surly trying to kill us"

Jacob's eyes widened as he thought about something. "How did you discover this forcefield?"

"We flew a helicopter with a dummy in it. The human kind of dummy. Anyways, once we get onto there. We will proceed towards the temple. Fighting trainers and Pokémon along the way. We defeat the guardian, unlock the temple, and have Elaine steal the orb. Then, with the field deactivated. Our escort will pick us up."

"You say anyways too much."

"Anyways, I think Kazuma should shut his mouth before I unstring his vocal cords. Let's go everyone!"

Five hours later

The five of them stood over a vast island on a circling jet. They had spent a few minutes changing into their wingsuits. The wingsuits were similar to the grunt ones, the only difference being the badges. They surveyed the island, a huge palm forest, lots of sand near the shore, many odd totems of different Pokémon, and a huge temple. Marlow stepped forward and paused.

"Okay, there are two problems. One, due to the high altitude, the air is thin which makes it hard to breathe. Two, this is my fir-"

Olivia shoved him hard. He fumbled for a moment before tumbling out of the plane. He flipped through the air as he attempted to right himself. It was clear he was going to make it.

"Damn you!" Kazuma shouted. He leaped out of the jet and dove after Marlow.

Jacob stepped forward, he started taking deep breaths, and then turned suddenly as Olivia tried pushing him. He caught her by the leg and forced her out of the jet.

"Yes! I finally got her! Take that Olivia!"

He would have continued his jeering had Elaine not pushed him out of the jet.

Elaine's POV

He honestly deserved that. I normally wouldn't have done something like that. But that guy was grating on my nerves. At least he's better than Kazuma.

I leaped out of the jet and immediately pulled myself into a dive. I sped past Jacob and Olivia. Heists are all about speed and carefulness. If you take too long, the authorities show up. If you step a millimeter of target, you're busted.

Something whizzed by me and almost took my head off, I saw another of its kind rapidly approaching. It must have been one of those beams Olivia was talking about. They were coming from the totems.

I spread my wings and flew past it, a few more came after me. A few quick aerial maneuvers allowed me to dodge them, and a dive pulled me past a few more. They were starting to get hard to dodge however. But any security system can be shut down, especially one as unsophisticated.

I opened one of my pokéballs at a statue as I dodged a few more beams. Stiele appeared next to me as I pulled into a glide.

"Use Swords Dance, then attack all the statues you see with Shadow Sneak."

Stiele gave a rumble in affirmation before six glowing swords clashed over his head. He then disappeared into the ground before rising at the nearest statue.

I sent out Katraz next and had her use Protect, the hexagonal barrier surrounded the both of us. A beam suddenly cut through the shield and almost hit me. Had Katraz not teleported me back a few meters, I would have been dead.

"New plan, use Disable on all the statues."

Katraz floated towards the ground and ran along the sand. I found myself wishing that you could teleport anywhere you've seen, not physically been. It would make heists a lot easier.

I noticed that the beams were coming less frequently, that meant my Pokémon were doing good. I spotted the landing point up ahead. The only problem was that I was pretty low to the ground, and the site was in the middle of a hidden grotto.

I landed on the ground in front of the forest, there was no way I was going to glide directly through the forest. I rubbed my left thumb against my palm and waited. My Pokémon should appear soon. Eventually, Katraz and Stiele appeared. Stiele started to size himself up with Katraz. He's very big for some reason and stood almost as tall as Katraz. He always tries to see if he's the biggest in his own smug way.

"That's enough. Return, Katraz." The familiar red glow enveloped her as she was pulled into the ball. "Stiele, I need you to use Psycho Cut on the branches."

Stiele gave his nod of affirmation and got to work. It eventually took some time, but I got to the clearing.

Kazuma and Marlow were on the floor while Jacob and Olivia were arguing. Despite me not trying to move stealthily, they didn't notice me and Stiele. I returned him and tapped Jacob on the shoulder.

"Sweet egg of Arceus! Where in the blazes did you come from?"

I ignored his question. "What happened to them?"

"We don't know, but Jacob here isn't being helpful at all." Olivia interjected.

"You're the one who suggested we use your creepy Froslass!"

"Cold is strictly the best way to wake someone up."

"Note, you said cold. Not frostbite!"

"Congelatio can control how much frost she can use perfectly well."

"She definitely can, that's the entire reason why you named her Congelatio. Which is frostbite in latin for Arceus' sake!"

I sighed as I listened to their pointless bickering. I walked over to the two and sent out Katraz. She gave them a look before activating her psychic powers. In no time, they both shot up awake.

"My chest hurts. Thank Arceus you just had to land on it. Could have broken my ribs."

"My Trick Room idea worked! We didn't die! And as for me landing on your ribs, it could have been prevented if my damn Salamence would listen for three seconds!"

"Maybe don't use pseudo legendaries in the first place!"

"Who are you to judge?"

"Well maybe I'm not one to judge, but I sure would love a frickin thank you for saving you like."

"Maybe I would say thank you if you didn't have to quote Noivernman: The Mime Strikes Back!"

"Oh so you're going to bring that up? Well me quoting the movie was perfectly reasonable. It was practically the same exact scene."

Jacob and Olivia walked up to me and watched the two of them argue.

"How is it that they were able to argue about different things so fast?" asked Olivia.

"I don't really know or care. We have a mission to do." I said, grinding my teeth.

Jacob pulled Kazuma up while Marlow got up on his own.

"Oh yeah, of course you can get up unassisted. You used me as a literal cushion!"

"Consider ourselves even for the warehouse business."

I wonder what Trick Room was, and how it saved them from hitting the ground too hard. Either way, we had a mission to do.

Olivia layed out a map of the island on the ground.

"Where did you get that from?" asked Jacob.

"I sketched it myself, I'm a pretty talented artist."

She took out another painting from a backpack she had, only this one was very graphical. It showed Ghetsis getting ripped apart.

"This one always calms me down, since it's based on the future."

"Okay, let's get back to the map," said Jacob, clutching his stomach as he refused to throw up.

"Right now, we are here, in this grotto." She pointed her finger at a circle in a clump of trees. "We have to get to the temple. See the sandy court with all the buildings? That's where the guardian and her siblings live. We have to get through here to enter the temple. Every inch on this map is equivalent to three miles. With my ruler, it shows that the court entrance is five inches away, meaning we have to go fifteen miles. I hope you all got some hiking boots!"

Through the corner of my eye, I saw a movement in the forest. It seemed to be shrinking.

"I think the grotto is closing up."

They all whipped around to see what I was talking about. The grotto was closing up as Pokémon started gathering around us.

"Oh no, are we going to be eaten by the forest and its Pokémon?" asked Jacob slowly backing up into everyone.

"I'm pretty sure Pokémon don't eat humans." stated Marlow.

"Go Katraz, Protect!"

I sent out my Kadbra, who instantly surrounded us in a barrier. Fortunately, there were no statues to destroy it this time.

"Do you think we could fight them all?" asked Olivia.

Kazuma looked around, he then made his voice slightly robotic.

"They're too many of them, I predict a 94.72% chance of death." He then made his voice extremely deep. "I'm always a sucker for the 5.28% chance. Let's go." He then sent out Goodra and Electivire.

Jacob sighed. "Stop quoting Noivernman please." He then sent out a Hisuian Lilligant and a Cinncino.

Olivia sent out her Espeon, Froslass, and Sneasler. While Marlow sent out his Mimkyu and Malamar. This was probably a bad idea, but I was ruled out. I sent out Stiele and Gaol, my Umbreon. I asked Katraz to shut down the barrier, and we all readied our Pokémon in a circle.

There must have been more than a hundred Pokemon. There were Tangrowths, Carnivines, Victrebells. But the others had type coverage. I suspected the Electivire had Ice Punch while the Lilligant had Poison Jab.

Our Pokémon started on the offensive. Kazuma's Goodra turned out to be very effective with its Sludge Waves and Flamethrowers. The Froslass didn't have Blizzard, but Ice Beam still worked. Moves were flying all over the place. Vines lashed through the air, colorful beams flashed across the grotto. It was absolute chaos, not the kind of way I would battle.

Katraz hit a tree as a Tangrowth hit it with a Power Whip. She teleported towards me and fired a Confusion at a Victrebell. I ducked as a Carnivine flew over me, ice forming across its face.

"Protect Stiele, Gaol, get in here!"

Katraz formed a barrier around us, this gave me a chance to survey the battle while prepping my team. Stiele readied itself with Swords Dance while Gaol recovered with Moonlight.

We seemed to be winning, Goodra and Congelatio were dealing heavy damage. Goodra had wide spreading moves while Congelatio had Spikes up. Electivire was taking hits and dealing them back, while Lily darted back and forth, taking out Pokémon. But more grass types were approaching. We were getting overwhelmed.

"New plan, Stiele, deal as much damage as you can with Shadow Sneak. Gaol, same goes for you. Katraz you stay with me."

My Pokémon rushed out and continued the fight. We slowly pushed our way through the grotto, still taking Pokémon out as we progressed. Then, they came.

Bellossoms started to swarm in, they shook their little dresses and released different colored powders.

"Everyone, hold your breaths!" shouted Marlow.

Our Pokémon started falling asleep as the powder settled over them. Gaol managed to get one Bellossom to sleep as his ability kicked in. But he fell asleep nonetheless.

"Everyone come here!" I managed to shout, the action took away some of my breath.

They all ran to me, it was difficult with all the attacking Pokémon. I felt my lungs hurting as I ran out of breath. Marlow made it to me, his face was red. Just a few more seconds. Olivia and Jacob made it, but I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I took a breath, I smelled something sweet. And my consciousness faded.

A few fortunate minutes later

I felt someone slapping my face. I shot up and grabbed them with my left hand. I settled when it was just Olivia. Kazuma, Jacob, and Marlow were on the floor, asleep. A shimmering barrier surrounded us as wild Pokémon stared at us through it.

"What happened?"

"After you fell asleep, I realized what you wanted to do. So I dragged Kazuma, who was already asleep, to you guys and asked Katraz to use Protect."

"How'd you not fall asleep?"

"I gained a natural immunity to things that affect the lungs after an attack a long time ago. I survived radioactive dust and haven't found myself affected by gasses or spores ever since. But keep this between us, I don't want to fulfill Kazuma's Noivernman fantasy."

"Got it, now let's wake everyone up."

They eventually woke everyone up. When they were asked how they made it, Olivia simply said it was Elaine who did it.

"Those Pokémon are just staring at us, how are we supposed to get out? All of our Pokémon are asleep except for the water types, and Lily. Who wouldn't stand a chance against all of them." asked Jacob.

"Not all Pokémon, we still have Katraz. And Salamence," said Marlow glumly.

"We can use her to fly out! Can't Salamence fly at sonic speeds?" shouted Kazuma.

"If she'll listen."

He sent out his Salamence. The huge beast roared into the sky before turning and facing her trainer.

"Listen carefully. Right now, we're in a bad situation, and we need your help. I'm not asking you to mega evolve. All I need you to do, is on the count of three. Fly as fast as you can, away from the grotto."

Salamence tossed her head and turned to face the waiting Pokémon. She then crouched down, waiting for her passengers to climb on.

"She actually listened for once! Let's go."

Jacob raised his hand. "How are we supposed to hold on? I'm not going to touch anyone."

"Just hold onto her sides and don't fall," said Kazuma.

They all climbed onto Salamence. Marlow, Kazuma, and Olivia climbed on first. I jumped on with Jacob settling in behind me. I took out Katraz's pokéball, ready to return my Pokémon.

"Okay everyone, 3… 2… 1…"

The forcefield disintegrated as Salamence shot off into the sky. The waiting Pokémon had no time to react as she flew off into the air. We almost slipped off as her sudden start threw them back. Those Bellossoms tried shaking their powders, but they could prevail through the wind Salamence was generating. I noticed that she didn't attack any Pokémon. She just seemed to be focused on escaping.

Vines tried wrapping around Salamence as she flew, she pulled through them and attacked the vines with Dragon Claw.

She broke through the forest and glided through the air. She climbed even higher and soared through the air.

"The view is amazing, much better than my map! And there's the temple!" shouted Olivia.

"Ok, you don't have to shout in my ear," said an annoyed Kazuma.

"Please don't start an argument here," asked Jacob.

We flew on in silence. The temple came much closer, and the court was directly below them.

"You can land here now, Salamence," said Marlow.

The Salamence didn't land, however. She decided to ignore Marlow and continue to fly. She didn't get to fly much longer as something blue grabbed at her in midair. She was immediately pulled to the ground.

No one's POV

They all jumped off at the last second as Marlow returned his Salamence. Two twins stood in front of them. They both had blue hair and eyes, but the boy's was shorter while the girl's was longer. They wore plain white with the girl wearing a dress.

"Trying to skip past the guardian's court?" asked the boy.

"Well I'm afraid that won't happen," said the girl.

"If you want to get into the temple."

"Then you have to get through us."

"All of us.

"Oh no, don't tell me you do the classic twins finishing each other's sentence thing, I hate that." groaned Kazuma.

"Oh, so you're going to insult us like that?" they asked at the same time.

Marlow stepped forward. "I think you already insulted me by dragging my Salamence out of the sky."

"Then it is you who would want to fight us?" asked the girl.

"Why not?" A cruel smile formed as he said it.

They walked over to a small arena, two pockets of water were on both sides of the arena.

"The rules are simple." stated the boy. "Only use two Pokémon. I suspect you know how a Pokémon battle works."

"Of course I do."

"Good," said the girl. "Let's do this Yumi!"

"Come on out Oliver!"

A Starmie and a Floatzel raced out of the water. They landed on the ground, water dripping from them.

"Advance, Snox, Sketch!"

He threw his pokéballs, his Pokémon appeared in two flashes of light.

"Yumi, use Signal Beam on the Malamar!"

"Block it Sketch!"

Sketch jumped in front of the beam, taking little damage as he double resisted it. Snox would have been decimated by it.

"Using other Pokémon to block moves? How cruel! Oliver, use Aqua Jet!"

"Signal Beam!"

"Psycho Cut!"

Snox sent out psychic waves in an attempt to stop Oliver's charge. It didn't do much as Oliver barreled into him.

"Your Pokémon are pretty fast. Sketch, Trick Room!"

"Oliver, Crunch!"

Oliver was about to attack Snox when something in the battle shifted. The background changed to pink as Yumi, who was attacking with a Scald, and Oliver, slowed down.

"Yumi! What happened?"

"Snox, dodge the Crunch."

Snox, who was usually slow, moved super fast as he avoided the move.

"Trick Room is a clever move that reverses speeds. The faster you are, the slower you are. Now Sketch, Mimic!"

A glowing light emerged from Sketch as he copied Crunch.

"Now Snox, use Swagger on Starmie! Use it multiple times until you can use Power Swap to strengthen you and Sketch."

Snox easily employed the strategy. Yumi and Oliver did their best to defend against it, but after the first Swagger all odds were stacked against them.

Suddenly, the room faded as their speeds went back to normal.

"Yumi, Signal Beam."

The giant star rolled across the ground and slammed into Oliver, who was trying to attack Sketch with Aqua Jet. Yumi's boosted attack only added to the damage.

"Sketch, Trick Room!"

"Not again!" cried the girl.

Yumi and Oliver slowed down as they tried to untangle themselves. Snox used Power Swap and gave himself a huge attack buff. He passed it off to Sketch. Sketch moved behind Yumi while she slowly attempted a Signal Beam. Once in place, he used Astonish.

The move itself is very weak. The only reason Sketch keeped it was because he liked scaring people and Pokémon. His attack boost only added to the power as Yumi went flying into her waterpool. Her Signal Beam canceled.

"Use Crunch!"

Sketch turned around and unleashed Oliver's own move upon him, the attack immediately fainting him.

The boy stomped up to Marlow. "Those were the cruelest things I've ever seen! This match shouldn't count!"

Marlow simply pushed him away. "Learn about the real world kid. Most of the time, those with good intentions find themselves on the losing end."

As he walked to the next room, Marlow was surrounded by his teammates.

"Great battle man, you completely swept those kids!" exclaimed Jacob.

"I never knew that Trick Room could be so powerful," said Olivia.

"If only Pokémon could turn white like people could. It would have been so funny seeing that Starmie become as white as a shiny Gengar." Kazuma said, chuckling as he thought about the image.

"Don't worry, there will most likely be more fights coming up. And-"

"Like you'll be fighting me."

Kazuma's POV

Damn guy took me by surprise. I would be perfectly fine if it took everyone by surprise, but Elaine was completely unperturbed. I saw her give a little smirk as I tumbled backwards into Jacob.

He looked exactly like the male twin, only that he was older. He was wearing all white too. Which seems pretty dumb to me. But I'm going to mop the floor with his Pokémon.

I stepped forward and pointed my finger at him. "What's the big idea? Just coming in here and trying to take us by surprise. You wanna fight me?"

The man looked bewildered. "I mean, sure I guess. Well, I am supposed to fight you anyways. If you want to get to the temple, then-"

"Then I have to get past you, your little siblings already said that."

"Well then, follow me."

We walked to the arena. Like the last one, there was water. Only there was one pool.

"So you're challenging me to a 1v1. Three Pokémon?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I'm a good guesser. Go, Electivire!"

"Come on out, Pearl."

A huge snake pulled itself out of the water. I hadn't expected it to be this huge. I knew from a Noivernman episode that it was about twenty feet, but this one could be thirty.

"Like her? She's a very large Milotic."

"I can see that."

"Fully stretched out, she would cover the whole arena."

"Size doesn't matter much to my Pokémon. They just see a huge Pokémon as a huge Pokémon to take down. Electivire, use Thunder!" "In the pool." I lowered my voice for the second part so only Electivire would hear me.

Electivire sent his Thunder, the water flashed over Pearl as I saw her pull her tail quickly out of the water. The water flashed as I heard gurgling down there. If he had more Pokémon, they wouldn't be in any condition to fight.

"The battle's here you coward! Why would you attack there!"

"Thunder has pretty low accuracy. So don't expect it to always hit."

"Like I'll believe that, Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge it with Volt Tackle!"

Electivire raced around the huge torrent of water. He was about to ram himself into Pearl. When something happened, causing a flash of electricity that blinded me. When I could see again, Electivire had fainted.

"What happened?"

"I hit your Electivire with Hydro Pump, the water caused it to faint because it was surrounded by electricity. How'd he learn Volt Tackle anyways?"

"None of your business. Go, Goodra!"

My Pokémon appeared out of her ball and gave a soft coo. She then turned and glared at Pearl. I loved it when she attempted to be threatening.

"Pearl, Ice Beam!"

"Flamethrower!"

The two attacks met, Goodra's Flamethrower instantly pushed through the Ice Beam and hit the side of Pearl's Face. The attack however, didn't do much.

"Oh yeah, can you block this? Dragon Pulse!"

"Dodge it!"

Goodra leaped out of the way and hit the ground. Another attack almost hit her as she got up.

"Return. Go Swampert!"

I replaced my Goodra and sent out Swampert.

"Big mistake. Use your Hidden Power!"

Grassy orbs flew towards Swampert. There was no way he could dodge them.

"Ready yourself!"

The orbs hit Swampert. I expected a one-shot from the hidden power grass, but he held on.

"With a single attack I, what?"

Swampert glowed white as he expelled a white energy forward. It hit Pearl full force and blew her back. Swampert fell to the ground and fainted. I took out my pokéball and returned him.

"It's called Mirror Coat. It's basically Counter, but it's specially based. Out, Goodra!"

Goodra appeared again, unlike last time, Pearl wasn't prepared.

"While she's still recovering, Draco Meteor!"

This was my favorite move to watch. Goodra shot an orange beam of light into the sky, which bursted into many meteors. All of them crashing into Pearl. Taking the dang thing out.

"No! That match doesn't count. You-"

A beam of ice hit him and froze him over. I figured who did it. And for once, I actually approved of Olivia's actions.

"Great job! I was pretty worried that Milotic was going to barrel your team," said Jacob.

"That Milotic was interesting. It's a very large specimen. The largest I have ever seen, probably the largest seen other than here." mused Marlow.

"Eh, forget about that. I need healing for my Pokémon though."

"It's fine. I can take the next person," said Olivia.

We walked through the court to the next room. The arena was empty.

"Aren't we supposed to battle someone? Or did they run because they realized we were too strong?" I asked into the arena.

A lady floated out of the water. She looked like everyone else but older.

"Actually, the guardian decided you should skip me and fight her. She's interested to see your "tactics".

She sank back into the water before we could say anything.

We walked forward to the next room. There was a girl standing there. She couldn't have been much older than me. She wore a dress like all the other girls, but this one had gold in it. She also wore a circlet with a sapphire in it.

"So, these are my next challengers. An entire party of you in fact. The last challenger I had was a long time ago. I'll take one challenger in 1v1 format, who will it be?"

I stepped back. "My Pokémon are in no condition to fight."

"I don't do professional battling," said Elaine. I noticed she hadn't spoken at all since we took a flight on Salamence. Definitely an emo girl.

Jacob stepped forward. "I'll do it."

Jacob's POV

I suppose this might not be a terrible idea. Lily is a grass type, meaning I have the advantage. Olivia has no type advantages here, Kazuma can't battle, and Elaine stepped out. I suppose Marlow could have used Sketch and his Omega Power. But after what happened at the Plasma warehouse, I do not want to see it again.

"Very well, come on out Tidal."

Something arose from a pool of water, it turned out to be a normal sized Gyarados. The giant snake was about the size of a normal Milotic, but Gyarados is much stronger than a Milotic.

"Go, Lily."

My Lilligant appeared. She did her customary twirl before settling into the fight. Then, I realized my mistake. Lily is double weak to flying. Gyarados is flying and water..

"You realized you made a mistake huh? Then I shall make your defeat as quick as possible. Tidal, mega evolve."

Oh boy, it wouldn't take Marlow to figure out I'm so screwed. I watched as a glow emanated from her circlet. Something in the middle of the weird three pointed part on Gyarados' forehead matched the glow. An explosion of rainbow light erupted. When it cleared, a mega Gyarados appeared.

It gave a mighty roar, Lily stepped back a bit at how mighty it seemed.

"It's okay Lily, we're stronger than this. He may be big, but you're tough."

"She actually, and if that's what you think. Then good luck. Dragon Dance!"

Lily's dance was elegant, but Tidal's was horrifying. It convulsed and twisted like a living bungee cord attached to a ten pound weight.

"Use Bounce!"

Tidal leaped into the air. I looked up and saw him coming down onto Lily.

"Wait, wait, dodge it now!"

Lily leaped to the side as Tidal hit the ground.

"Leaf Blade!"

Lily rushed forward raising her arms as they glowed green. She threw her arms out her arms as green waves flew out. Tidal twisted as he dodged her attack.

"Waterfall!"

"Dodge it!"

She flipped backwards as Tidal dove towards her in a torrent of water. She did another flip behind him as he did another dive. She slashed him with another Leaf Blade as he turned around. She could be a show off at times.

"Nice hit, but she can't deal with this, Earthquake!"

He slammed his body into the ground and sent out shocks.

"Now Waterfall!"

He rushed Lily and slammed her as she recovered from the shock. She tumbled backwards and almost tripped.

"Bounce!"

If she kept up the pressure, I wouldn't be able to win. It was time for a risky play.

"Victory Dance again!"

I think she understood she couldn't dodge this Bounce, so she boosted her attack and defense right when the Bounce struck.

She went flying back and skidded against the ground. I could hear everyone behind me shouting.

"That's all your Pokémon has?"

Lily miraculously got up. She staggered forward as Tidal started her down.

"Keep going Lily, you can do this! Drain Punch!"

"Finish it off with Waterfall."

Lily faced down Tidal. I held my breath as he bore down on her. She dove to the side and hit Tidal as hard as she could. She glowed as she siphoned energy from him. Tidal realized what happened and twisted away from her. But he was fortunately too late.

"No! Use Bounce again."

Lily was prepared this time. There was no shock to disorient her. She leaped to the side and immediately leaped back. She twisted around and used Leaf Blade without me telling her.

It reared back at the last second and was about to strike when Lily attacked with another Leaf Blade.

"Keep up the pressure!"

She dashed forward, slashing at Tidal over and over again. Me, Lily, Tidal, and lady all knew that Tidal couldn't take another attack.

"Bounce!"

Tidal sprange into the air, I didn't see Lily after that.

"What hap-"

But my forming question was answered as Tidal crashed to the ground. A flash of green caught my eye as Lily flipped through the air. She did a small bow before coming to my side.

"H-How did I lose? I had Mega Evolution and-"

"Three things. One, me and Lily train a lot and we never give up. Two, I have type advantages. And three, I'm guessing you and your Gyrados don't train very much."

She didn't look surprised by my assessment. She simply nodded and said, "You're right. Not only did we never have actual challengers, I figured mega evolution would allow me to easily win."

"Pokémon are our friends as well. We should spend a lot of time with them."

She looked at me and Lily. She smiled before giving me a shiny blue jewel.

"This will open the door to the temple. Thank you for what you taught me."

I accepted the gift and started going back when she stopped me.

"My name's Laura."

That was pretty unexpected, so I stopped and turned. "I'm Jacob."

I made it back to my friends. Marlow and Kazuma instantly crowded and congratulated me.

"You defeated a frickin mega Pokémon! Your Lilligant must be strong!" shouted Kazuma, clapping me on the back hard.

"I had no idea of the true nature of mega Pokémon. They seem very strong, but you were able to defeat one! Plus, I got to see a mega Pokémon with my own eyes!"

Olivia walked up and held up a drawing. It looked pretty rushed but still talented. It showed a mega Gyrados using Waterfall, and a Hisuian Lilligant leaping out of the way.

"I'm surprised the battle didn't last that long, I guess your Lilligant is stronger than she looks. I also made this picture on Marlow's request."

It was a picture of a mega Gyrados by itself. There were a bunch of notes scribbled on the side. I suspected Marlow used this as an opportunity to study mega Pokémon.

"Thanks guys. Anyways, I got this jewel. It's supposed to open the temple."

Elaine walked up and smoothly took the jewel from me. She took the backpack from Olivia and started walking to the temple.

"I'm guessing you packed all the things I told you to pack?"

Olivia nodded.

"Good, nobody follows me. I'll be back sooner or later."

We all watched her walk off to the temple. Kazuma leaned closer to my ear and whispered, "Emo girl."

I could do nothing but nod.

A few minutes later

Elaine's POV

Rule number one of being a thief, always survey the area where your target is before planning a heist. Unfortunately, I couldn't do a survey on a remote island where anything that wasn't originally on the island gets shot down.

I spotted a small indent the same shape as the jewel. I fitted the jewel in the hole, it glowed blue before the door rumbled open. Great, this is turning out to be a movie.

The opening was dark and smelled old. I reached into the backpack and pulled out a pair of night vision goggles. Even if there are no guards, I'm not risking a flashlight. I walked into the tunnel and crept through. I wouldn't be seen in this lighting, but there was nowhere to hide in case something was there.

I stopped at the first turn and became immediately suspicious of the cave. I looked down paths and came to a realization. This was a maze. As with all mazes, there is always the option of the right hand rule. But if this is supposed to be guarding an ancient artifact, they would at least counter that.

I reached into Olivia's backpack for something useful. The walls reached all the way to the ceiling, so I could just walk on the top. I pulled out some crayons, I could use them to mark the walls.

I marked the left turn, but the walls duplicated the same mark on the other sides. I figured that my last option was just to go with the actual way and do the maze properly.

An hour later

I eventually came up with a way to mark which path I went. I used Stiele to chip the floor in the path rather than outside the path. The mark was duplicated since it had nowhere to duplicate. I also asked my Pokémon to help traverse all the different paths since I could always call them back with my hand.

I made it to the end of the maze and used my left hand to call my Pokémon back. As I progressed on, I saw a huge checkered floor. I pressed my ear to the first tile and heard the echoes of moving water below. I could easily guess that stepping on the wrong tile will drop you into the cavern below.

I pulled out my rope launcher and attached one side to the wall behind me, I pressed the other side and shot the rope to the other side. The rope didn't attach to the other wall, it instead slipped off as if the wall was greased. Which it probably was.

I looked to the side of the checkered floor. I saw more totems facing the opposite wall. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what happened if you stayed above the ground.

My Pokémon came up behind me. I would probably need them for this part. I returned Gaol to his ball and had Katraz and Stiele follow behind me.

I ran across the tiles and felt the floor drop as I leaped. I spread my arms as I started gliding with my singsuit. I heard the scrape of the totems moving.

"Katraz, Disable. Stiele, Psycho Cut."

They attacked the statues as I dodge the beams, I saw the lasers lessened as they slowly dealt with the statues. I saw the edge climbing as I glided to the end. I hit the ground and rolled as I took out my pokéballs. I returned Katraz and Stiele and ran to the next room.

I froze as I heard heavy footsteps, those sounds were all too familiar. I peered around the corner and saw the giant, robot-like Pokémon. Golurk.

I pulled myself back around the corner. These Pokémon were pretty easy to sneak by. The only problem was that there was no decent cover. My wingsuit was too gray, so I took it off and stuffed it into the backpack. I took a deep breath, and went.

I stuck in the shadows and moved slowly and quietly. As long as I don't make sudden movements, the inexperienced eye wouldn't detect me. I crouched low but didn't stay too close to the floor, staying too close could inhibit my movement in case I needed to bolt.

I passed the first Golurk after what seemed like five minutes. It barely moved as I went past it. So far, so good. I crept forward along the wall as I soon passed the second Golurk. Getting past the third one was going to be a problem. It stood directly in front of the exit and there were no convenient places to hide. I didn't want to risk using my Pokémon either.

I slowly put Olivia's backpack down and reached inside of it. I pulled out a smoke machine. These were not useful for trying to stay undetected, but were good at concealing. I figured I had no choice but to use it, since I could pass under it without it noticing.

Black smoke erupted from the machine as all three Golurks looked at it. It started to fill the cavern as I snuck past the last Golurk. I heard a nasty crack as a Golurk destroyed the machine. I'm just glad that wasn't me.

As I stared into the final room, I heard the Golurk settle back into its usual place. I thanked Arceus that those Pokémon were mindless, or else it would have figured the machine was not trying to break into the cavern.

There was a huge lake between me and the blue orb on the pedestal. Inside the water was a faint glow. I reached into the backpack and tried to find anything useful. There was an inflatable raft, but the light in the water was making me uneasy. I however, found some grip claws that were for my forearms and shins. I looked across the lake, it was pretty wide, but I'd rather side climb on the wall than use a raft.

Thirty minutes later

I dropped to the ground, violating my own "Ten decibel landing" rule. I put the claws back into the bag and wiped away the sweat on my face. Using these things is no easy task, especially when there aren't that many deep crevices to rest on.

I rested for a few minutes before going to the pedestal. I passed my left hand over the pedestal carefully. There didn't seem to be any more traps, which seemed unlikely. But there was nothing I could do about it. I then turned to the orb, plucked it off the pedestal, and put it in the bag.

Immediately after that, I heard something. I took out Katraz's pokéball and was about to send her out when waves rushed up and slammed into me. Another wave came up and blurred my vision. When my vision cleared, I saw what looked to be a Lanturn.

It was huge, its dazzling light almost blinded me. It had huge teeth however, and was brown in a few places. Its eyes were dark and merciless. And then I remembered some text from an ancient book I once stole. All Noble Pokémon were Hisuian variants.

It splashed its flippers into the water and created another wave. I grabbed Katraz's pokéball and braced myself for this one. It carried me around and out the exit. As soon as the water thinned, I jumped up and ran. The Golurk were all gone, giving me a chance to sprint away.

I heard the roar of waves as I made it to the tile room. I sent out Katraz and asked her to teleport us out. But she didn't, that's when I realized that something in this cave blocked her Teleport.

I jumped over the gap right as the waves crashed into me. I tumbled through the water and did my best to stay afloat. I crashed into a maze wall and immediately got up and started running. The room was darker than before and I realized my goggles shorted out. I took out the flashlight and ran along the path, looking for Stiele's crosses.

I heard a distant roar which prompted me to run even harder. I managed to make it onto the final path when the water crashed into me. I tumbled out of the exit and landed hard on my back. The temple closed behind me and spat out the jewel.

"I got it," I said, out of breath.

"May I ask, what did you get?" came an unfamiliar voice.

I scrambled up to my feet and saw my teammates. They were facing down five other people and their Pokemon. The five other people I realized, were Oak Agency members.


And this is the end of the fourth chapter. This is a long one as you can see. Way to leave things on a cliffhanger. I'm hoping that future chapters will be as long as this one. But I can't guarantee they will, since I've been dreaming about this one since I started Chapter three.