ACT ONE - IMMOLATION

Chapter 8 - Red and Misty's Bug-Catching Adventure

"You're doing it wrong. If you keep waving that pen around like that, you'll probably gouge someone's eye out."

Red felt his left eye twitch. It was a rather familiar feeling, considering the number of times he had felt it twitch, irritated at his compatriot's comments. Apparently, while Misty was afraid to step into a forest full of bugs, she had absolutely no problem in proclaiming herself captain the moment she got anyone to follow her lead.

Not that Red had any wish of becoming the girl's minion or whatever. The money had changed hands before they had stepped into the shadowed expanses that was Viridian Forest since it was pretty much given that even a caterpie could send the great Misty running for her life. In return for fifteen hundred pokédollars, he had practically sold off his happiness for the next week or possibly more. Mawile was inordinately displeased with the fact if the scowls she sent his way were of any indication.

"I'm just trying to plot our way through the entire area. Surely, you aren't expecting me to just keep traveling like some incompetent idiot, and hope that these…" he pointed at her diary, "pokémon will magically show themselves to us?

"Of course not," Misty defended her position. "But this forest is filled with bugs, and it is clearly given that pineco hang on trees. There are… " she waved her hands around, "lots of trees around. Trying to find this apparent pineco colony just because some bumbling fool pointed it out on a map, is not reason enough to travel to the insides."

"Oh, so you'd rather make us walk along the periphery of the forest in the vain hopes of catching your beloved bugs—"

"They are not my beloved bugs!" Misty retorted, her face scrunched in horror by the mere accusation.

"Don't care!" Red barked. "The map clearly shows that this section is rich in Elder berry trees, and Elder berry has the sweetest sap. Pineco hang on trees rich in sweet sap. Inference— We'll find pineco there."

"You made that up."

Red's right eye twitched. "Did I now? I suppose you'd know, what with being a bug-type specialist and everything."

"No, I'm not." Misty snapped, "and neither are you. How can you be so sure that-?"

"I've practically lived in Professor Oak's ranch all my life. I know the pokémon in there, and their habits and habitats. You paid me to help you catch these pokémon, not be your bodyguard."

Misty sneered back at him. "I didn't ask you to be my bodyguard either. I've got Croconaw for that."

Red sent a fleeting glance at the actively snoring creature less than one yard away from him. Considering that they had their lunch over two hours ago, he'd have to assume that it was a heavy sleeper.

"And he is obviously doing a marvelous job at that."

Misty let out an incomprehensible 'buh!' but left it at that.

"Well," Red replied sagely, "now that we have provisionally agreed on the fact that my job is in fact, limited to catching those four bugs, it is up to me to decide on our path"

Misty blinked.

"Right, back to planning." He spread out the map over the canvas floor. "We've been traveling all day, and it got us nowhere. So from now on, we'll start locating areas where we have a higher probability of finding your bugs and travel accordingly. These sections," he pointed out, "have a dense growth of Elder berry trees—"

"According to a year-old estimate," Misty muttered under her breath. "But ignore me, I'm just a novice and you're the arborist."

Red ignored that. "We'll start looking for pineco, and I'll thank you not to scream when we're there." Ignoring Misty's shift in demeanor at the statement, he continued, "It's possible that there are beedrill nearby, and loud noises can attract their attention"— Misty shivered at that —"not to mention that pineco responds to movement by exploding."

"How do you catch something that explodes when you get close to it?"

"With great difficulty," Red muttered, remembering the pineco swarm back at the Ranch. Back when he was eight, a Pineco had fallen on his head before it exploded, throwing shrapnel all around. He had been fortunate that the pineco in question was a rather young one, so its shrapnel were soft and felt like bark. In desperation and fright, Red had raced back to the professor, knowing that Explosion, in general, caused immense damage to a pokémon. Unfortunately for him, the poor pineco kept on exploding over and over every two minutes or so. By the time Red had returned to the lab, he was drenched in sap and covered in little bruises, with pineco bark all over him. It hadn't been a good sight.

"What do you mean?"

Red sighed. "Pineco hang themselves to elderberry branches, by secreting a combustible adhesive and bind themselves to the tree. They also start producing layers or shells around themselves. The greater the number of layers, the closer to evolving the pineco is. Usually, a new bark coating is produced every two weeks or so."

He drew a line connecting their present location to their next destination. "When threatened or surprised, pineco respond by exploding, allowing their outermost shell to fragment outwards. A two-month-old pineco's shell will be flakes of soft bark, as if getting hit by balls of paper. A six-month-old pineco's shell shrapnel feels like tiny pieces of blunt wood, enough to hurt but not enough to cause cuts. A year-old pineco's shell is made of solid shrapnel, able to pierce through human skin easily." He subconsciously pulled his shirt tighter, covering up to his wrists. "This is because the layers are a combination of wood and some sort of metal-based compound, with the metal concentration increasing with the age of the pineco. A pineco with twenty layers or more is nearly 80% metal and will begin to evolve into a forretress. Most pineco end up shedding their layers quite often because of their hypersensitivity to motion. That's why forretress are so rare. It can take several years for one to appear in a pineco colony."

There was also the fact that certain pineco had a high proclivity to explode at random, but that was neither here nor there. He looked up to his compatriot. "That is why catching a pineco single-handed is a difficult business. You'd have better luck catching a forretress instead. Evolved they may be, but at least they won't explode in your face."

"Well, I'm sure there are other trees with sweet sap that don't require us to go so deep into the forest. What if there are pineco there?"

"Because," Red said patiently "with every layer a pineco grows, its weight increases significantly. A pineco nearing evolution can weigh 300 kilograms or more. Most trees cannot support their weight. Elderberry trees not only provide food that a pineco can consume, but also branches that can bear their weight."

"..."

Misty stayed silent for a moment, staring at him as if re-evaluating his opinion. "You really know what you're talking about."

"Huh?"

"When you said that you practically lived at the ranch, I thought you're exaggerating."

Red blinked at her, before shrugging it off. "It's not a big deal. Professor Oak's my mentor, and he showed me how to take care of the occupants of the ranch. Compared to some of the other residents, pineco are practically tame."

Misty arched an eyebrow. "Tamer than something that explodes at the slightest movement?"

Red laughed at her show of disbelief. "There's a large nidoran herd, though half of it is actually from the Pallet Forest. The old man brought them into the ranch 'cause they were being poached for their horns and hide. His nidoking leads the herd."

"His nidoking takes care of the entire nidoran herd?"

Red shook his head. "The herd has a few of nidoking and nidoqueen to lead them. Oak's nidoking leads the leaders, and keeps them from rampaging about." He smiled nostalgically, as if it had been ages since he had seen them. "Then, there's his arcanine, and trust me, it's a beast. Once you've watched it run, you'd be convinced that it's teleporting."

Misty chuckled.

"Then there's the tauros herd. Some irresponsible fellow caught an entire bunch of them and then donated it to the Oak Trust."

"Seems like the Professor spends a lot of time on the ranch, taking care of the occupants."

"Oh no, he has assistants for that. And well, he had me for that, but now I'm on my journey."

"Oh." Misty wondered what to say to that. "So… you want to try for the Indigo Conference, correct?"

"No, I want to win the conference, and then challenge Lance for his position." came the direct reply.

Misty would have scoffed at such hubris, but something about the trainer made her pause in her tracks. "Champion huh? That's rather ambitious of you. How many pokémon do you have?"

"Three," Red replied without hesitation. "Apart from Mawile and Shellder, there's Skarmory. I'd have allowed her to fly ahead, but the forest won't let her."

So he doesn't have anything else. Come to think of it though, where on earth did he get a skarmory? You usually need to be an elite-trainer to try and catch one.

"Where did you catch a wild skarmory?"

"Me? Catch a wild skarmory?" Red laughed. "Out of my pay grade here. Me and Mawile would be hard-pressed to survive."

"Then?"

"I won her at the Trainer Square."

Ah. That explains it.

"I didn't know that the Trainer's Square had uncommon pokémon like Skarmory as well."

Red shrugged. "I won enough battle points to hit the weekend jackpot, which turned out to be a greatball. Luckily enough, it turned out to be a skarmory."

"And it didn't attack you? Skarmory are known to be dangerous predators. Well, the wild ones out there anyway."

"Dunno. Skarmory's been as mushy as an eevee. Even Shellder adores her."

Shellder squeaked, while Mawile frowned slightly at the fact.

Misty gaped at him, flustered. "So… a mawile, a shellder, and a skarmory. I can see a growing pattern there since none of them can evolve further. Well, Shellder can. Are you planning on using a Water Stone."

"And getting myself maimed or possibly killed?"

"So… you know." She muttered. "Then why?" She considered his team. "Sentiment?"

"Initially," Red admitted, "Shellder is my first capture, so I just… wanted to keep it along, maybe train it to move around and throw in a few moves. Obviously it wouldn't grow very much compared to the others, but it could learn, well, something. Perhaps in a year or so when I have the money to spare, I could try a hand at evolving it through a Water Stone. At the very least, I'd already have a strong team to fend it away should Shellder...I mean, Cloyster, attack me."

"...I see." The girl stared at the teen in front of him.

Even Mawile was listening to his words carefully. Of course, the deceiver still thought that Red was wasting his time on the mute, but at least she assumed there was some thought behind it.

Red's expression brightened up. "But the important thing is that my trust hasn't been misplaced. I'm working on a special technique for him, though it's more of a mix between a fluke and a half-assed job right now."

"You mentioned that it managed to perform some form of Water Gun."

Red laughed. "Initially it was an attempt to teach him Water Gun, but Shellder's control over pressure is abysmal, and the volume of water he can produce is very small as well."

"That's not unusual. Shellder do not learn Water Gun. They do not have the reserves for it." Misty interjected. It was a known fact.

"I know," Red nearly snapped. "Shellder doesn't produce enough water to perform Water Gun, but he did manage to do something. You see, the shellder-line has a single advantage over most other water-types. And that is their ability to build up pressure. They actually move by ejecting air from the back of its shell. They can clearly generate extremely high pressures, so I decided to work on a modified form of Water Gun that holds less water at higher pressure."

"Like a Water Pulse?" Misty felt her interest rise in the conversation.

That's kind of strange, hearing him talk like that. Does he not know that move-creation is something that an elite-trainer does? A pokémon needs to gain superlative control on its natural moveset first, to be even considered for further development in something new.

"Not a pulse. Shellder's control is too poor to maintain that kind of structure. What Shellder can do… is throw droplets of water, propelled by extreme pressure, at its opponent. That's how Shellder one-shotted a pidgeotto the other day. I'm thinking of calling it Water Bullet".

The fuck? Misty felt her jaw drop, as her mind went into overdrive. A single globule of water shot at the target using high pressure . Only, instead of manipulating the pressure to give the water shape like in Water Pulse, it was used to add to its velocity. And there would be several of these globules flying at the opponent.

"And you think—" Misty's tone shifted into something else. The easily-irritated water-type defender took a back seat, and the apprenticing water-type specialist came to the surface. "You think that a shellder can do that?"

"I… think so."

"How much progress have you made?"

"...Some." Red felt a little discomfort at Misty's changed attitude. "Why?"

Misty blinked. "Why? You, a rookie, have apparently been working a damned new move, and you ask why? Because I want to see it while it is being created. That's why!"

"And what good will it do you?"

"I've been studying water-types ever since I was little, and I gave up on the shellder line. To see some real development for a shellder is something I won't miss. I can help you create this new move. I can help you even register it, though you wouldn't really need my help, Oak's little prodigy and all that."

"I'm not the old man's prodigy."

"Sure." Misty drawled. "Any other earth-shaking revelations you have regarding shellder?"

"Oh yeah," Red beamed. "Shellder can use Double Team like you wouldn't believe."

"Sure." Her dry tone gave away what she thought about that.

Mawile shook her head. She's in her denial phase. She'll learn. I know I have.

"Huh, your funeral. Shellder, time to show off. Use Double Team."

Shellder squeaked, before letting out a 'Shill' sound, activating his skill, as several illusory forms of Shellder began appearing all around itself, covering the entire canvas floor inside the tent. It appeared all around Red, all around Mawile, and all around Misty and finally the last one on Misty's lap, before it shot out its dark, crimson tongue.

And licked her face.

Misty screamed.

"Shhhh! What did I tell you about not screaming?" Red hissed.

Two days later

As the two bug-catchers soon found out, traversing through Viridian forest to reach exact locations was easier said than done. For one, the trees were tropical ones, with leaf-laden branches spread out on all sides, creating a multi-layered canopy. Even during the day, the light they had was limited to the beams that managed to pass through the overlapping leafy layers, giving the illusion of an eternal twilight zone.

Luckily, the trees had enough spaces between them to allow Skarmory flight, albeit a severely hindered one. Of course Red being Red, had used this as a chance to train her aerial maneuverability, instructing her to fly as fast as she could while avoiding any branches or trunks.

He had thought that it would probably take them a day at the most if they kept on traveling towards their desired direction. Learning to deal with maps and directions was something of an essential skill for trainers and was stressed upon at school. That and the rare night spent with his mom learning to determine directions using the stars made up his navigation skills. Who would have thought that Delia, Professor Oak's assistant, and psychic researcher, had originally been an explorer?

The first time Red had come to know about it, it had shocked the hell out of him. Explorers were pokémon trainers, usually elite-level ones, who worked as freelancers in service to research organizations. They usually accompanied a scientist to unexplored, dangerous zones where they would act as bodyguards and assist scientists with their research.

His mother had been part of an expedition to a forbidden zone known as Galar, as part of a support team sent with a Head Researcher— Samuel Oak. Delia had been a young trainer making her name in the gym circuit and had jumped at the chance to work alongside the legendary Samuel Oak. Apparently, her sharp wit and her unique thought processes had impressed Oak enough to send her an offer of apprenticeship. Delia had never looked back.

Either way, Red hadn't really expected the forest to turn out the way it did. The forest allowed no light to enter at night which meant that the two travelers had to do most of their walking during the day. Sure, they had torches and other equipment for providing light, but traveling like that in the dark, while surrounded by poison-types was something only an idiot would do.

"I cannot believe that you talked me into this… this stupid idea. I mean, what was I thinking when I agreed? No seriously, what was I thinking?"

Red sighed at Misty's explosive reactions. Come to think of it, it probably wasn't too surprising. Misty suffered from acute entomophobia, and Red had made her walk through an entire forest of bugs for three days now. Frankly, he was surprised that she hadn't already run off somewhere screaming all the while. He casually wondered if the resident bugs would consider her screams to be an attack on their territory, or hide themselves fearing a powerful predator.

He glanced at Misty, meeting her bulging eyes. Her jaw was half-clenched, with her lips firmly pressed together. Also, Red noticed, Misty had her hands almost sticking to her body, as if afraid that some bug would tear it off if she allowed her hands to go free.

"Are… you okay?"

A vein pulsed on Misty's temples. "Do I look like I'm… okay, Red Ketchum?"

"We are nearing the Pineco site… I think." Red replied, glancing at his watch. "We have around three hours or so before the day ends, and the trees are different. The bark is…" he glanced at the trees, inwardly cursing himself for not teaching Mawile Flash. While Skarmory did know Flash, she wasn't suited to walking.

"The bark is darker here, which means that these trees are quite old. I remember spotting a thick growth of Pecca berry trees near the Elder berry plantation. That probably means…"

"That we are very close?" Misty asked hopefully.

Red shook his head. "It means that there are beedrill nests nearby, so for God's sake, make sure you don't scream!"

Misty had an agonized expression on her face. Gulping, she nodded. "I'll try."

"That goes for you as well, Mawile. You have to keep a lid on your urges to eat a weedle or something, should they show up here. We cannot fight off a horde of beedrill at this point." Red emphasized. "Do you understand? Mawile?"

There was no response, something that triggered an immediate reaction in him.

"Mawile? Mawile, what are you—" He paused, as his eyes registered on the issue that had caused his exuberant starter to become deathly silent.

What the—?

It was a caterpie.

Well, it wasn't just a caterpie. They were stage-one bugs, squashable by the slightest movement of Mawile's jaw. But more importantly, this was a caterpie, and yet…

And yet…

This is wrong. This is fundamentally wrong on so many levels.

Mawile blinked, as she stared at the three-foot-tall caterpie, which blinked back at her in return. Those creepy eyes were almost as big as her own face, not to mention that it clearly had a longer body dragging behind it.

A caterpie, taller than me.

Mawile blinked again.

Mawile knew she wasn't blessed when it came to height. None of her species were. It was a physiological thing, with the exception of the rare giant that possibly grew another foot or two taller, gaining a net height of around four feet. Of course, the smaller runts tended to be a little less than one and a half feet, but that was neither here nor there. Mawile, with her tiny two-foot-tall frame, had accepted that she was never really going to win points for her height. The fact that Shellder was less than half her height had been an incredibly satisfying factor for her, which was probably why she had been slightly… appreciative of its position, despite it freeloading over Red's resources.

But this…

"Ewww!" Misty screeched. " That's a giant caterpie. Do Something! Send it away! Get rid of it!"

Mawile felt a single vein pulse on her forehead. Here she was in the middle of an existential crisis, in which even a first-stage squashable bug was taller than her, and this orangette was screeching her head off. This wasn't the first time that Mawile had to suppress her urge to swallow the annoying orangette whole. Even Shellder seemed comparatively bearable compared to this wild, orange thing.

"Send it away! EEEEWE! It's so creepy!" Misty was essentially throwing her hands and legs all over the place.

"Shhh!" Red hissed, "Can't you stay for a moment without freaking out at every bug we encounter? This is the Viridian Forest for god's sake."

The caterpie tilted its head inquisitively, staring at the orangette's antics.

"But that's a giant caterpie."Misty wailed, rushing behind Red to use him as a shield against the string-shotting monster that she seemed to believe would swallow her whole.

"Yeah, so what?" Red hissed back. "Mawile, get rid of it."

Mawile was only too happy to do so. Her jaw practically jiggled with excitement, as she brought it down upon the bug that was the bane of her existence, however temporary that might be. A loud 'slurrrp' later and the Viridian Forest was lacking one giant caterpie.

"She… she ate it?" Misty blinked. One part of her seemed to be.. happy that the caterpie had vanished.

But she ate it! The other part of Misty's mind, the part that had taken the backseat until now, rose up. "She... she swallowed it whole!"

"Yeah? So what's the big deal." Red asked.

Yeah, what's the big deal? Mawile thought in irritation. Seriously, she should have gotten rid of this orangette on the very first day. Does she think I eat grass or something?

It must be noted that Misty Waterflower had been somewhat hysterical because of her constant exposure to the surrounding bugs. The presence of the giant caterpie had only exacerbated the situation. The revelation that the cute little thing she knew to be Mawile, had just casually swallowed another creature was enough to push her past the boundaries of hysteria. Thus, it was not irrational to expect that her next words would be less of a question and more of a—

"BUT SHE ATE IT!"

—a wild screech.

In what could be termed as a dramatic entry, something erupted from out of the bushes, causing the leaves and fly all over in a miniature gale of wind.

And right there, buzzing in front of them, was a beedrill— its stingers ready to impale the invader, and wings vibrating at high speeds, creating miniature winds all around them.

"And this is why I told you" Red sighed "not to scream."

Misty gulped.

"Mawile." Red motioned.

Mawile shook her head subtly, raising her jaw with exaggerated slowness, as she summoned the ice, feeling the cold wind empowering her.

"Misty, get ready to release Croconaw."

Misty had no qualms about following the command. The only problem was, there was a large BUG in the air, buzzing in front of her, ready to pounce upon her with its stingers, tear her into pieces and then feed on her before—

"Misty." Red hissed.

Mawile rolled her eyes before she gazed at the beedrill.

"Maw!"

The bug looked at its newest distraction, wondering what was wrong before—

Astonish!

A mild jolt sent the beedrill into slight disorientation, and everything changed. The cute, little, ivorish creature was gone, and in its stead, stood a large black jaw that threatened to devour her. Beedrill would have attacked, but its body seemed to be temporarily paralyzed by the sudden fear that seemed to consume it, that menacing jaw was leaking and—

"Icy Wind!" Red yelled.

Mawile raised her jaw and released a gale of biting, cold winds with tiny ice pieces within them. It was proof that she was getting closer and closer to Hail, where the little shrapnels would be shards of ice. The tiny ice shards slammed into the bug in the face, sending it tumbling down into the bush. Injured from the attack, the beedrill soared up, before flying away.

"Yeah!" Misty cheered, the adrenaline rush of the situation getting the better of her. "We sent it flying, didn't we?" Her initial hysteria lost as she gazed at Mawile fondly.

"... Maw?" Mawile tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah, we sent it flying alright. Seriously, is that the best you can do?" Misty yelled after the already-departed beedrill.

She really doesn't learn, does she? Red wondered, glancing down at Mawile.

It is your fault you brought her along. Mawile thought, glancing back up at Red.

As one the trainer and pokémon sighed, looking at Misty with something akin to sadness.

"...what?" Misty asked, creeped out by their gaze.

As if in answer to her implied question, the bushes exploded, as half a dozen Beedrill zoomed out of it, buzzing loudly, their stingers leaking deadly poison.

"You just had to ask, didn't you." Red retorted.

"I'm— I'm sorry." Misty yelped.

"Save it for later. Mawile now!"

This is all her fault. Mawile decided, letting out a burst of Icy Wind again. Obviously, given her tiny reserves, it was hardly enough to cause damage to the horde in front of them, but it was enough for a distraction. Taking advantage of the situation, Red took out his other pokémon, the one member who actually had the strength and ability to deal with the horde.

"Skarmory, attack!."

With a wild screech, Skarmory shot out of her greatball, her wings spread out, already gathering layers of steel over the surfaces. She shot through the Beedrill horde, fracturing one of the stingers that tried to resist her wings, as she soared into the air, the enraged Beedrill swift behind her tracks.

"At the very least, I stand right about the forest being a good test for our strengths." Red chuckled. "Mawile gets to eat bugs. Skarmory gets to fight, and Shellder gets to..."

Shellder, who had been hanging on his finger all this time, let out a shrill squeak, registering its presence. Unfortunately, that caused it to let go of its hold, leading to an unceremonious fall to the ground.

"...And Shellder too." he finished lamely.

Poor Mawile could only sigh at that.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bug-catching expedition had finally arrived at a meager position that could almost tentatively be called a success. In simple terms, they had finally been able to spot a massive growth of Elder berry trees, and to a certain black-haired trainer's elation, there were hordes of pineco latching on the branches. In fact, there were several dozen per branch, with the heavier and larger ones latched on to the tree trunks with several thick strands of resin acting as adhesives.

"That's… a lot of pineco." Misty muttered, "and can you stop looking so smug about it?"

"Well, what can I say? I did tell you that I had previous experience."

"Forgive me for being skeptical about someone who didn't have a single badge to defend his claim." Misty shot back.

"You do realize that this no-badger can simply call it quits and leave you here all alone?"

"What? You promised me!"

"Shhh!" Red hissed. "Don't shout!"

"Sorry!" Misty replied in hushed tones. She didn't need another beedrill experience, thank you very much. "You promised to help me in return for money."

"Promised to catch the bugs, yes." Red shot back. "Not to deal with your tantrums. I can just as well get the bugs and mail them to wherever you come from."

"Fine!" Misty receded. "Now how about you show me how to catch one of them, oh wise one?"

Red arched an eyebrow at the obvious implication of a challenge. "I can think of a few ways to capture a pineco, without them exploding all over us."

"Really?" Misty challenged. "You told me that they respond to close movement by exploding. Your skarmory is too large, and considering how closely the pineco are huddled together, if even one of them explodes, it will likely trigger the others as well."

"Point."

"And your Mawile has mostly been a physical attacker too, and it's not like Fairy Wind or Icy Wind will help matters either. It would be enough to drop the pineco, but not enough to keep it from exploding once it falls on the ground."

"You are really thinking it out, aren't you?" Red asked, a little amused.

"Of course I am. Shellder isn't an option, for obvious reasons. Double Team will creep them out and may cause them to explode. So we're out of options unless you have a fourth pokémon hidden somewhere."

Red shrugged. "Nope. Those are all I have. Perhaps… Some of your own pokémon?"

Misty hesitated for a moment. "Croconaw can use Water Gun and Bubble Beam, but both will probably cause the pineco to explode. My starmie can be more… accurate in her hits. She knows Ice Beam, but I doubt it would help, since we still need to bring the pineco down."

"Perhaps she can hit one on the resin, and then catch the pineco mid-fall with Psychic?" Red offered.

"She's… not that capable. Yet."

A young starmie then. Since staryu only develop their psychic affinity after evolution, it's probably been less than a few months since it evolved. Red mused.

"All right, well that sums up our current situation."

"Yes, and we have no plan to successfully catch one. Seriously, catching a pineco shouldn't be this hard. It's a first-level bug, after all." Misty hissed in frustration.

"You're right. It shouldn't." Red replied after a moment, pulling out an empty pokéball from his belt.

Misty blinked." What… are you doing?"

"Catching it, of course! "

"Of all the presumptuous brashness you could come up with." Misty paused midway, keeping her tone in check, "you cannot possibly think that you'll catch a pineco with just a pokéball."

"It's worth a try."

Misty glared at him, as if trying to figure out if he was being serious or simply messing with her. Finally, she gave up and crossed her arms across her chest. "Fine. Impress me with your skill."

Red rolled his eyes. "Here goes nothing." He held the pokéball in his hand, aiming for the pineco horde on the third branch. Even if his aim wasn't great, chances of him missing all of them were fairly low.

And then, he clicked on the capture button of the pokéball.

The familiar red light shot out of the capture device, hitting one of the pineco latched to the branch. It took a second-worth of wait before the pineco felt itself surrounded with a red aura that forcibly pulled it into the pokéball before it could even react. The top of the device lifted up, securing the capture, before shutting down with a 'ding'.

"And that's how," Red declared smugly, "you catch a pineco."

"What-but-how?"

"Why so surprised? It is a stage-one bug after all."

"But-how-buh!"

"What? Did you think that hitting the pokémon in the head with the pokéball was necessary to capture them or something? Why would any sensible manufacturer add such a silly clause to a capture device? You don't want to lose a pair trying to capture a running pokémon or something."

Misty just continued to gape at him, wide-eyed.

"...what?" Red asked, stepping back warily. After all, Misty was prone to violent behavior at the best of times.

"But, I mean— it is supposed to be thrown, the pokéball I mean, right?"

Red rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Why do you think it's thrown?"

Misty thought about it. "Because— because it would be dangerous to do so, otherwise?"

The teen sighed. "Most wild pokémon out there are dangerous, so it is advisable to throw the pokéball at them after they are disoriented, since they can always fight off the pokéball's suppression, and break out. Of course, you would have a problem if the pokéball was in your hand when that happened. Pineco however, are too docile to do so and therefore, this works just fine."

Misty just nodded back in befuddlement.

Meanwhile in Pewter City

"He certainly has a stubborn streak," Cassidy observed, staring at the ongoing battle from the command room. "This is what… the thirteenth match for the day? My word, he's practically a machine. I'd be impressed if not for the fact that he keeps losing them."

Butch sighed. "Don't I know it."

Cassidy smirked. "I never asked, but what made you pay all that money on this scrawny kid again? You don't seem the kind to blow cash on charity."

Butch chortled at that. "See that kid fighting? Watch him." He raised the remote towards the screen, increasing the volume. "What do you think will happen?"

Cassidy snickered but didn't say anything, as the sounds on the battlefield became audible.

"Raichu, evade and use Thunder Punch." Ritchie was saying.

The electric rodent leaped off the ground, just in time to avoid the Dark Pulse aimed at him, using his speed to maximum effect. The opponent, a Houndoom belonging to a Johto-native, growled at its missed prey, before it sent out a shower of flames, causing the Raichu to drop his attack and shift to the right.

"Damn!" Ritchie cursed. "I cannot win like this." He observed how the Houndoom had its claws clenched into the ground, ensuring that a significant amount of any electrical attack that hit would be channeled into the earth, losing a lot of potency in the process.

"Don't let it get closer. Use flamethrower again." The other trainee ordered his pokémon.

"Raichu, leap into the air and use Thunder Shock."

"Gotcha!" The opponent smirked. "Take the hit, and use Smog."

The Houndoom barked maliciously, before belching out poisonous, dark purple smog from its mouth into the air, aimed in Raichu's general direction. Meanwhile, the thunder attack hit Houndoom, causing him to shriek in pain as he felt his nerves get inflamed. As expected, most of the Thunder was channeled into the ground, leaving the Houndoom somewhat fatigued and disoriented, but still in the battle.

The same could not be said about Raichu.

The Smog had taken effect and poisoned the electric rodent, rendering him paralyzed and nearly incapacitated, leaving him to fall down to the ground. The Houndoom, somewhat able to still move, leaped towards the Raichu and bit it in the neck, before bodily pulling it up and slamming it down.

Raichu didn't move.

"Ha! Told ya, your piss poor rodent ain't good enough for my Houndoom, buddy!" The Johto-native chortled, before walking off, leaving Ritchie to stare at his fallen pokémon, clenching his jaw.

"Fourteenth loss, eh?" Cassidy chortled at the screen. "This little guy seems to have made up his mind to achieve some sort of record for losing. I don't think I've heard anyone to lose that many times in one day."

Butch smiled. "There is one, actually. Seventeen losses in a day. Check the stats for the trainees that came up nine years ago."

"Nine—" Cassidy stopped short, realizing something. "You've been here for nine years too, haven't you? Don't tell me that—"

"That record belongs to me," Butch answered with a smile floating on his lips. "At one time, I was in that guy's shoes," he nodded at the screen. "Nothing spectacular. Not a genius, not an instinctive battler, and pretty terrible at all-round battle strategy. I had none of it. It was just me, my Magmar, and an arrest warrant in my name."

"You are the only executive in Team Rocket with a champion-level pokemon, Butch. I cannot believe that you were once a nobody like that little kid over there."

Butch chuckled. "It's been a difficult path for me and Magmar, and it'll be difficult for those two as well. You know why I paid in advance for the kid? He wanted the money to get a Thunder Stone for that raichu. My agent told me that he offered him a deal for a Thunder stone in return for two months of grunt-salary. That little loser over there, he bargained for a years' salary upfront to get his team in working order and bought TMs with whatever remained. He cared about nothing except his pokémon and was willing to sacrifice everything, himself included. That's conviction, and the one thing I respect more than anything else in the world."

Cassidy smiled at that. "A years' salary? My word, I'm not sure what to call that, bravery or stupidity."

"Call it whatever you will. I believe the kid has it within him to grow within our ranks. That over there is a future executive, carved out of continuous, non-stop effort. Not talent, not technique, but sheer diligence."

"Is that why you went double for him during training?" Cassidy mocked. "I must admit, I was shocked to hear the great Butch turn coach for a group of trainees."

Butch chuckled. "What did you think I did that for?"

"That you were angry that you paid for a loser, and tried to get some satisfaction by beating the shit outta him?" She quipped.

Butch shook his head in amusement.

Back in Viridian Forest

"I'm so beat," Misty muttered.

"You have been beat after every two hours, ever since we started on this trip. How exactly did you travel from your school to Viridian again?" Red questioned idly. It had been another two days of constant traveling, searching for the next location to catch the next pokémon on the list. The mission had been a major success, and now they were traveling for the third item on Misty's list.

"I teleported. How else? " Misty answered offhandedly.

Red stopped in his tracks.

"...What?" Misty asked, wondering what was wrong with her acquaintance, or, dare she called it, extremely annoying but interesting friend.

"You teleported all the way from Saffron City to Viridian?"

"Well, I stopped at Cerulean for a few days first."

"But that— that," Red did a mental calculation. "That must have cost you nearly thirty thousand."

"Twenty-six grand to be precise," Misty replied. "I get discounts for using Teleportation services so often."

Red didn't know whether to be shocked at her casual way of mentioning such a high figure, or the fact that she seemed to spend such an outrageous amount for teleportation every now and then.

"You spend that much on teleportation?" He asked, his throat dry. Despite being pretty comfortable in terms of economic wealth, Red had lived a rather frugal life. After all, one did not stay poor when working for Samuel Oak. Misty's expenses seemed a little too outrageous for his tastes. Hell, his mother earned around fifteen thousand a month, working for Oak, less than this girl spent on teleportation."

"How else am I supposed to travel home and back from school? Traveling by train would take over two days, and walking is certainly not an option. I'm not a fan of the paid flight services, which leaves teleportation as the most convenient."

Red blinked. "On second thoughts, I should have asked for more when you hired me."

"You sore loser." Misty taunted. "I was prepared to go upto twelve thousand while asking you to agree with my request. It's not my fault that you caved at the first offer."

Red face-palmed. With that much money, he could have gotten himself four intermediate-tier TMs for his team. Hell, he could have gotten himself another low-intermediate Move Tutor and have some money left over.

Misty chortled at that. "Either way, it seems that it'll probably be another week or something before we managed to complete our mission, so it's possible that I'll reconsider. Depending on the result of course." She gloated in a smug voice. "Either way, leaving me alone in this forest ain't an option on the table."

"Fine then. I'll be training my team here for a while. While ledyba was an easy capture, capturing a venonat is going to be tricky as hell."

"I'm still surprised that ledyba are that… dumb." Misty muttered.

"They are not dumb." Red retorted. "There are just… unused to combat. They group and fight together as part of a swarm. Also, ledyba are practically babies. It's usually the ledian population that fight any predators."

"It got taken down with a stone." Misty accused.

"Well not entirely. Mawile sent out a gust of Icy Wind. Ledyba do not like the cold, and they flew away. I simply aimed for the ones at the back of the swarm. If you aren't attacking the swarm as a whole, ledyba tend to avoid combat. The stone was enough to disorient one of them and it was easy enough to catch once it got separated from the swarm."

"Sometimes I wonder if you are an actual bug-specialist disguised as a rookie," Misty muttered.

Red chuckled. "Believe me I'm not. Some of it is from my years of serving at the ranch. The rest is from reading the research material from the pokédex every night. I like reading about pokémon in detail, and the National Dex has access to the global pokémon database."

"I'd never have figured you to be a nerd."

Red shrugged. Knowing about a pokémon was instrumental in taking care of it. Unlike humans, a pokémon did not come with an off-switch for their rampages, especially when their caretaker did something they found terribly resentful. The league and the general population commonly turned a blind eye to it, but death at the hands of one's own pokémon was one of the biggest reasons for trainer deaths every year.

"I have a mawile as my starter, as well as a skarmory on my team. Lack of information can get me killed.."

"I'd have thought that a cute—" Misty hesitated over the word for a moment, probably remembering Mawile's casual consumption of the large caterpie, "— cute thing like Mawile would be a terrible choice for a starter."

Red winced, thanking whatever deity was listening that Mawile for once, had decided to rest in her pokéball. Apparently, she had gotten tired of walking through the forest, and wanted a break. The trees were thicker so Skarmory wasn't out either, and Shellder… didn't count. So it was just him and Misty for a change, chatting amiably as they traveled through the forest.

"Well?" Misty demanded.

"To be honest, I wanted a charmander for my starter," Red admitted, inwardly surprised at how… indifferent he felt about it now. Back at the beginning, he had been completely adamant about getting a charmander, and no other pokémon could really substitute its place in his heart. But after spending all this time in Viridian with Mawile and her antics, Shellder and its experiments, and more recently, Skarmory and her preening, he had gotten used to thinking of them as parts of his life. He casually wondered if he'd have chosen a charmander as a starter if he had the chance to repick his starter.

Probably not.

"So what happened?"

"Well, to make a long story short, the old man ended up giving away the starters for some ongoing research in Kalos and—" Red paused, "come to think of it, I never got to know what the research was about. I'll need to ask the old man next time when I call him."

Misty arched an eyebrow. It was obvious that she had heard Samuel Oak described in venerated terms, but his casual description of the centennial legend in such crass tones seemed… almost off-putting to her.

At Misty's nod, Red went on. "Anyway, after some discussion with him, I decided on a pikachu. Yeah I know, I was surprised too, but the old man told me that pikachu would be a good substitute until he got me a charmander."

"I didn't know you had a pikachu."

"I'm glad I don't. That little shit tricked me and nearly electrocuted me to death. Fried half the nerves of my arm. The old man threw money like candy, from what I'm told, to get me all functional."

From her frown, Red mused that she didn't like his self-deprecating humor. "Either way," he began, "Can you imagine me with a pikachu? I'd have gotten nowhere with it, with that nasty brat electrocuting everything in sight."

"As long as it didn't zap anything of mine we'd be fine." Misty answered, "Anyway, what happened next?"

"Well when I was somewhat capable of movement, he came to see me and gave me Mawile. We had a somewhat rough start," Red chuckled, remembering some of Mawile's initial antics, "but I'd like to think we've grown on each other since then."

Misty did not doubt that statement. All three of his team seemed to hold Red in high esteem. "That's… interesting."

Red shrugged. "Sometimes life throws you curve-balls. I'm happy that I got Mawile out of it, no matter what it took me, and I wouldn't change a thing now."

"So… you don't want a charmander?"

"I… wouldn't say that I don't want one. But if I get one, I think I'd like to catch it in the wild, as rare as they are. I don't think it'll be the same to simply get one from the old man."

"I see," Misty replied. "So… about this venonat."

"Oh yeah, this one's gonna be tricky. Are you sure you can't substitute anything else for it?"

Misty shook her head. "We can always look for spinarak yet." She shuddered, probably imagining one of the spidery-monstrosities.

"Spinarak are generally found on dense forest floors. We're pretty much close to that anyway. Chances are we might encounter a spinarak while waiting for a venonat."

"Waiting?"

"Venonat have highly reactive compound vision. They are hypersensitive to motion and can see things coming from nearly half a mile away. Any movement around it is probably going to send it running."

"Then how do we find it?"

"We put up a tent and start a fire. Venonat tend to get attracted by bright light. And we could use a little rest too, though I should tell you, it might take some days before we manage to catch one."

"..."

"Misty?"

"Yeah?" She asked, looking slightly off-guard at being broken out of her reverie. "What?"

"I asked you if you were okay with that."

"Yeah, I guess some days of resting doesn't sound like a bad idea. It will also give me the opportunity to see Shellder's special move. Besides it's not like YEAAAAK—"

Red had pulled her towards himself without preamble, and in reaction, she had jerked back, causing both of them to fall down on the ground with Red above her, pinning her down to the ground with his body. Her arm was still clenched in his fist, causing one of his hands to get buried beneath her body.

"Excuse me," she asked, keeping her voice as low and controlled as possible, "What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" Red hissed softly, stopping her from getting up. "Don't fight. Stay low."

"Why?" Misty hissed.

"'Cause we unknowingly entered pinsir territory."

Misty flinched. "Pinsir are dangerous."

"You really have a gift for stating the obvious," Red replied in an offhand tone, trying to listen to whatever was near them.

Is it close?" She whispered.

"Not it," Red whispered back, raising his head slightly to look to his right. The bushes beside him provided enough cover for them to hide for the moment. However, should the pinsir discover them, no amount of bush cover could save their asses. He slowly pushed his head upward, from where they were sprawled over the ground.

Four pinsir. One pinsir was too much a challenge for Mawile to deal with. Perhaps Skarmory could take on one and probably win. But four? From what he knew, Misty's croconaw was extremely sluggish, being near evolution and he had no idea if her starmie would be of any help at the moment. For a moment, he cursed himself for not trying to acquire a fire-type before setting off for the forest. Fire was excellent in combating bugs after all.

Lay low for the moment, but get ready to fight. That seems like an optimum solution. Even better, set up a distraction and run away. Pinsir are terrifyingly strong but they aren't fast.

Red turned to face Misty, a part of him slightly… unnerved by their close proximity. He wasn't really comfortable grabbing her like this but dire circumstances necessitate action. Knowing Misty, she'd have probably screamed on seeing the pinsir and made their situation even worse.

"Can you get to your pokéballs?" He whispered. "I need you to get ready to release starmie at a moment's notice." He slowly released his hold on Misty's other arm and plucked out Skarmory's pokéball. As much as he liked Mawile, this battle was too risky for her. He needed someone strong, durable and speedy. Skarmory fitted the bill.

Misty nodded quietly, arching to reach Starmie's pokéball.

There was just one problem.

A weedle, nothing fancy, just short of a foot in height, poked its head out of a tiny perforation on the ground, just inches above Misty's face. And as luck would have it, Misty tried to look towards her left, trying to see if there was some way to crawl out from their present uncomfortable situation. Her eyes scanned the pokémon in front of her, and after two long seconds began to dilate. It was slow at first, but then her phobia came in full effect. Before she could give in and scream her lungs out, Red clamped her mouth tightly with his other hand, while pushing the one hand beneath her further left, pulling her towards himself until his face was inches far away from hers, and clenched the weedle in his fist.

Misty kept trying to scream over and over, but Red forced her to stay quiet. It would not do to let her be and get killed by the pinsir herd. He had too much to accomplish to end his life like that. Instead, he forced his fingers to clench around the weedle, containing it. The weedle, realizing an obvious trap by a predator, pushed its needle out into Red's palm, right below the thumb.

"Shut up!" He hissed.

Red shut his eyes as he felt the toxin take effect, but more importantly, felt Misty relax beneath his palm, and let her mouth go free. The moment his hand was free, he pulled the weedle out and sent it flying.

"Ouch." Misty whispered, looking at his other hand from the corner of her eye. The slight purplish tinge was distinct, even from her position. "Does that hurt much?"

"No clue."

It took around half an hour for the pinsir herd to be distracted, though it had less to do with Red and Misty staying silent, and more with a strange cry resonating through the forest. From what Red inferred, it was a dull, throaty shriek over a hundred yards away, causing the pinsir to grunt wildly and rush towards it. A few moments later and they were gone.

"I can't feel my legs," Misty muttered, still pinned down by Red's weight. "Any longer and you'll have to carry me.."

"I think we are fine now," Red whispered back. "They seem to be attracted to something else. I think it's another pokémon."

"More pinsir?" Misty breathed.

"I… don't think so." He answered in the same tone. "It screeched, and Pinsir don't screech. Wait a second," He pushed his head upwards before crouching again.

"Did you see anything?"

"No. But I think they're gone now."

Misty sighed. This was not what she had in mind when starting out on her bug-catching adventure.

"Okay, here goes," Red whispered, slowly raising his head before he glanced towards the right again. The pinsir seemed to have vanished, and he couldn't hear them grunt anymore. Taking one last tentative look around, he slowly started moving from his position. "Alright, I think we can try to escape now, but don't scream at anything or panic."

Misty nodded. "I'll try."

"Good." Without further ado, he pushed himself up, pulling her off the ground. His hand, he idly noted, felt numb. Though, some of that might have been from the weedle's toxins. The site of the puncture was now an angry purple, though he surprisingly didn't feel much pain.

"That doesn't look like something you should ignore," Misty whispered, seeing him curiously observe his hand.

"This is not the time. Let's get out of here first." Red answered, "Can you walk?"

Misty took a step away, and let go of Red's hand. She faltered for a second, feeling her knees go weak, but Red caught her before she actually fell down.

"Put your weight on my shoulder, and we can walk."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

A few hours later

"Do you think that this place will be safe?" Misty asked, rubbing themselves gently.

After over an hour of walking, they had finally gotten themselves into a location that had a lower density of tree growth. The land was mostly filled with dry grass, with a few berry trees growing some distance away. In other words, a perfect place to set up camp.

"Well, this is probably as good as it's going to get," Red muttered, cautiously observing the purplish shade on his palm. He extended his thumb away from his hand experimentally, before slowly retracting it.

"Strange, I'd have thought that the weedle's poison would be more effective than this. I mean, I did use an Antidote and everything, but it didn't even hurt like I expected it to."

"Huh? Are you actually disappointed that it isn't hurting as much as you expected it too?" Misty exclaimed, "You did apply the antidote properly, right?"

"Yep," Red answered offhandedly. This wasn't the first time he had encountered bug poison, and while they did sting a lot, a timely antidote usually took care of it. He had expected the bugs of Viridian forest to be even more toxic than the ones on the ranch. "The swelling and discoloration should be gone in a couple of hours. It still stings a little bit, but the pain is nothing like it could have been."

"If you say so." Misty drawled, "or you might have built up a good pain tolerance over time."

Red shrugged. Truth be told, he hadn't really been hurt ever since… well, ever since the pikachu incident. There had been that time when Mawile had pulled Shellder off him, and the numerous times she had bitten him— with her frontal teeth, not her sinister black jaw. Then there was Shellder who had the habit of clamping into his hands but that was different. The only other injury he had taken since the incident was the one involving Skarmory.

Come to think of it, he had felt bloodloss and nausea, but pain? Not very much, to be honest.

"Yeah, I guess I do have a lot of pain tolerance," Red answered, inwardly flinching as he remembered being nearly shocked to death. From what he had heard, the electrocution had damaged nearly half the nerves on his arm. Did that have something to do with this?

"I suppose now would be a good time to release our pokémon," Misty suggested. She looked exhausted by the day's events, and the uncomfortable situation earlier had certainly not helped. "Do you want me to put up the other tent?"

Red thought about it. "Well, if you wish, you can sleep in here with me and Mawile. It's not exactly safe around here and you… have a problem," Red explained."Worst comes to worst and we get attacked, we may need to leave the tent behind. That way at least we have one tent for future use, even if this one gets destroyed."

Misty seemed to consider it for a moment "You have really thought this through, haven't you?"

"I like to be prepared." He answered. "Working with the old man has taught me just how dangerous it is to be a trainer. The professor wanted me to help him in research, you know. He's still probably sulking that I choose to be a trainer instead."

He would probably be a good researcher too. Misty mused. Extremely pragmatic when needed, and good at analysis. Hell, he's already working on creating an original move. It's almost like…

Misty glanced at him again.

"About your Shellder…" She began abruptly.

"Huh? What about it?"

"Well, I'm studying to be a water-specialist, so perhaps I can help you with the theory behind the moves. You do know that basic moves lead to high-tier moves in time, right?"

"Yeah well, I did look into that a bit for Icy Wind since Mawile knows it, and we are working to progress that into Hail. I think she is close, but it will still be a while before she gets the hang of it. I know a few move chains, but that's all. It's a study in progress."

Why am I not surprised? Misty mused. "Well, what about water-types? Do you know much about them?"

"Not a lot," Red admitted. "I was more interested in teaching Shellder Water Gun since that's a basic-tier move. We also spent most of our time in Viridian City battling at the trainer square and Mawile's progress took priority there. Skarmory's pretty recent, so there's not very much I have been able to do for her."

"Well, I wouldn't know about Skarmory or Mawile, but water-types are my specialty," Misty replied with a smile on her face. "I've literally grown up among them. If you want, I can help you with water-types— taking care of them, understanding their move chains —stuff like that."

Red blinked. "Is this about… what happened earlier?" he mused for a moment, awaiting a reaction. Finding none, he continued, "Listen, I didn't try to save your life there so that you'll owe me or anything."

"No it's certainly not—", Misty almost exploded, "I mean, it has nothing to do with it. I just wanted to help you with Shellder because… because I like helping. Yeah, that's why."

"...sure."

Misty blinked. "So, we're good, right?"

Red shrugged.

"Well sure. Unless..." Red glanced at her suspiciously. She had promised to help Shellder with Water Gun, but this offer included quite a bit more." you're not gonna charge me for it, are you?"

"Nah, I mean, no," Misty replied, shaking her hands hurriedly, "not gonna charge."

"Cool."

"..."

"Aren't you gonna say anything else?"

"...nope." Red stood up. "Guess I'll just start up the fire. It's been a while since I've cooked."

"You know how to cook?" Misty arched an eyebrow.

"I'm a trainer, planning to travel all over the Kanto mainland. By foot. Of course, I know how to cook." Red retorted. "Unless of course, you know some ex-gym leader wanting to travel with me and act as my chaperone and cook."

"...That was oddly specific."

Red shrugged, before turning to leave the tent.

In an undisclosed location

"Bishop, to E5."

The automated chess piece moved forward, gently sliding into the designated location. Almost immediately, the pawn sitting on D4 swerved diagonally, hitting the bishop, sending it flying out of the chessboard.

"I forgot mental orders were a thing," The man seated in the shadows smirked. "That little pawn of yours is really tough. Sent my poor bishop flying."

"I am extremely careful with my pawns." The other man laughed. "How is the consignment coming along?"

"Badly." The man in the shadows frowned. "It seems my entire presence in Pallet was for nothing. Oak wasn't involved in the transfer. Instead, the handling was shifted to someone else."

"Who?"

"Brock Pebbleman."

The other man chuckled. "The old boy's grown bolder from what I've seen. All this time here patiently waiting, and that overgrown child snatches the prize when I'm distracted. Queen to A3."

"I thought stealing was my job."

"You have done your job well, my friend, but this will require a joint venture. Project Apotheosis depends on its successful completion."

"Yeah, you and your projects. Speaking of which, I believe this will require... a personal investment?"

"It might. Lance is many things, but a fool he is not. There's a reason he gave the transport job to Pebbleman. You know the security risks, and you know just how difficult Pebbleman can be." He casually shifted his Rook between his King and the rival Queen.

The man in the shadows laughed. "Well, it's not like I can't do it. It's been a long time since I've performed my art on such a grand scale."

"Only you'd label your skillset... art. Personally, I'd prefer to pick your conniving brain for my research. The Admin job is still open should you choose to accept it."

The man in the shadows chuckled, bringing his own rook forward, "I'd rather be Pym. It's the least irritating mask I've adorned in decades. You'll get your consignment in time, no matter how skilled Pebbleman might be. I'd need some aid though."

"Must be my lucky day. The wolf is willing to hunt outside of his pack." The other man laughed. "What do you need?"

"A good executive team, and some lambs. Oh, and a Salazzle. I'm told the ones in Pewter base are rather vicious."

"Easily arranged."

"Though the League's aces may be a problem."

"That's a given, which is why I wanted you in particular. This mission too important to screw up."

Pym smirked. "Understood. That reminds me, how did you acquire the transport information? I can't imagine Lance sharing it with anyone before the moving date, even Pebbleman."

"What can I say? All the world's a game, you just have to know how to move the pieces right. Oh, and one last thing."

"What?"

"Checkmate."

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