Rai and Scout sat before a mighty exeggutor that they had come all the way to Yellow Petal Town to speak to. He stood at the top of a massive tree and Mane had volunteered to watch the bottom for trouble.

He definitely wasn't afraid of heights.

"Do not mind my circular way of addressing you," said the first head of the exeggutor. "It is the unfortunate result of trying to sway myself to be both serious, mystical, and playful as an exeggcute. This head speaks clearly."

"This head," the middle one said, "speaks frustratingly."

"And I am an idiot!" the third head laughed.

"We are all the same person," the other two snapped.

"I know! That's the joke!"

"My apologies for my behaviour," the first head said. "Now, before we get side-tracked further, what can I do for you, Team Ion?"

"We're searching for an outlaw," Rai explained, falling into old patterns easily. "His name is Pyroar, and we've got some information here…" he looked to Scout, who was already pulling the items out.

Exeggutor levitated the offered items over, and all three heads read through it quickly.

"Ah, yes," the first nodded wisely. "I believe we can give you some assistance."

"While the reed of knowledge may not be from us, perhaps another."

"Totodile!" the third head shouted. "Totodile knows!"

"Thank you," the first head said, very flatly. "Must you be so blunt?"

"It was going to be fun to go in circles for a while," the middle head sighed.

Ignoring them, the final head said. "Totodile totally totalled uh… well, he and Sudowoodo can help you. Totodile's in town; you can find him dancing in town normally. He's friends with Sudowoodo who tried to capture Pyroar a few weeks ago, but it didn't go well I think?"

"No," the first head said.

"Probably not," the middle said, before sighing louder. "Stop giving definitive statements. You don't know, Sudowoodo might be absolutely fine! We barely leave the tree as it is, how would you know?"

"I know because I DO get visitors," the first head snapped as Rai and Scout exchanged uncomfortable looks. "Perhaps you were asleep at the time?"

"Have you seen Sudowoodo?"

"Have YOU?"

"See ya, Team Ion!" the third head said, giving them an excuse to leave. "Run while you can. Seriously."

"Thank you, Exeggutor." Rai bowed. Scout did the same, and they left with some haste.

Mane happily re-joined them once they tumbled their way down, happily announcing that no one had tried to chop the tree down as he was watching it.

Upon learning who they needed to talk to next, Mane took the lead eagerly, racing ahead of Rai and Scout and nearly leaving them behind.

"Come on, we don't have all day," Mane called back at them, laughing at their slowness.

"You climb a giant tree and tell us that again," Scout huffed back, panting for breath. Sure, he didn't sweat in this body, which was nice, but the overactive panting he had to do was annoying in a whole different way.

"What's got you all fired up, anyway?" Rai asked once Mane had slowed enough for them to keep pace with them.

"Nice joke," Mane laughed, "I just can't wait! The sooner we find and beat this Pyroar guy, the sooner we'll graduate! Us, graduating from the Wigglytuff Guild. Ha, who would have thought?"

Scout exchanged a look with Rai. "Were you sniffing flowers or something while you were waiting?" he asked, really not sure about this enthusiasm from Mane.

Mane was not the most enthusiastic of pokémon around. Filled with sardonic remarks and purposefully dragging his feet to irk others. This energy was not expected, and Scout wondered if he was trying to make up for sitting around while he and Rai climbed the tree.

"Maybe," Mane answered. "There's a lot of them around. Now let's go!"

"Pikachu and Eevee," Scout muttered under his breath and jogged behind Rai and Mane.

"Lagging behind, eh?" Mane said, not looking back. He often guarded the rear in dungeons. "Respect."

"You know it's just because I'm on two feet, not four like you two!"

"Respect."

"Shut your mouth."

"Mmspek," Mane hummed, not opening his mouth.

Scout sneered at him, but it was a bizarrely endeared one.

It took a few minutes of questioning and walking to a different part of town, but they found Totodile without trouble.

The small Water-type was busy with a crowd of pokémon, riding a ball of water that somehow was not popping while juggling softball-sized water balls. Despite the aggressiveness, he tossed them with, none of the water was splashed onto the crowd, each maintaining their form.

Totodile did a flip, landed on the water ball, which rippled violently as he tossed all seven juggled balls into the air, each in a different direction with varying amounts of force.

Part running, part paddling, he maneuvered the water ball he was riding on and opened his jaw to the sky, zipping back and forth and catching every tossed ball in his mouth and drinking the water down.

He did a jump, flip, and landed on his ride with more force than before, popping it and spraying water up. As several pokémon, mostly Fire-types or Ground-types, tried to evade the falling water, it all missed them and splashed onto Tododile.

"Tada!" he called, doing a pose. The assembled pokémon all cheered before Totodile gasped. "One more!" he said alarmed. A single water droplet was falling, and he dashed, using a krokorok and rhydon as stands to leap into the air and catch the drop on his tongue. He did one more flip and posed once more.

The whole crowd applauded for him, and Poké were tossed into a scarf shaped like a hat.

Scout clapped as well, Rai and Mane couldn't exactly do so themselves, as the crowd dispersed and Totodile returned to his hat of prizes.

"Hello," Mane said, stepping forward quickly to introduce them. "You're Totodile, right?"

"Sure am!" Totodile replied, propping the scarf-hat on and beaming at them. Not a single coin slipped out, even when he began to dance around them. "Hello! Hello! Litleo, Shinx, Meowth! I bet I know you. Team Ion, am I right or am I right!?"

Totodile rapidly shook hands with Scout, taking the paw Scout had offered on reflex, nearly jolting the meowth out of balance.

"You're right," Rai said, grinning with just a touch of embarrassment. "We saw you perform, that was really impressive."

"Thanks." Totodile grinned. "I've practised that so many times. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've messed up that last part. Well, actually, I could definitely begin. The first time was when I just crashed right INTO Fearow and the second time I accidentally kneed Bronzong in the face. Although that hurt me more than it hurt them."

He giggled at the memory.

"So, what can I do for you besides share stories!" Totodile asked, flipping back and landing in front of Mane. "I'm sure you could tell me a few good stories about saving the world, but if you were here for stories, you probably wouldn't be talking to me."

"We're on the trail of an outlaw," Mane said, confidently stepping forward again. "Meowth, pull the stuff out."

"He might just recognise the name," Scout pointed out.

"Right, Exeggutor said you are friends with Sudowoodo who tried to bring in an outlaw a while back?"

"Oh!" Totodile nodded rapidly, his hat jingled, but still, no coins slipped. "You mean Litleo's evolved form? Pyroar?"

"Yeah," Mane growled. "We're on the hunt for him. Dragging the good name of my species into the dirt! Reason enough to destroy him."

Scout smirked at Mane at the mere concept of Mane having a 'good name' before explaining. "Part of it's a guild mission, but yeah. Here." He handed the stuff over, and Totodile read them in seconds.

"I know the guy!" He nodded rapidly. "Yep, know him, know him well. He came around and stuck around town for a couple of days. Didn't tip well, or pay for drinks, not nothin! Sudowoodo found out he was a bit of a bastard baddy no good fella and so decided to take him down."

Totodile shook his head sadly. "See, Sudowoodo is our town mascot, you would have seen him coming in just standing around near the start of town. Unless you came from any other direction, you wouldn't see him then! Or anyway, because he's still not standing around but sitting around and that's terrible. Just awful. Truly the worst. Nasty Pyroar, I'd have tried to help, but Sudowoodo is a bit scared of water."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. Is Sudowoodo okay?" Rai asked.

"And where did Pyroar go?" Mane added.

"Sudowoodo's okay, just a bit completely and utterly humiliated at losing to Pyroar. And as badly as he did, ouch. You'd think Rock beats Fire, but no, as it turns out, Fire just burns Rock until Rock faints and is then half-buried, just so that he can, and I quote from the note left behind 'Be as useful as the tree he pretends to be' and, well, that's just a bit harsh."

"True," Totodile added, musing on the point before anyone could respond. "But harsh."

"But what a burn right?" he laughed, again before any of Team Ion could respond. "Ah… yeah, I'm not willing to tell you where Pyroar went. At least, not yet."

"Oh, what now?" Mane growled, rolling his eyes. "What do you want? Poké? An autograph? To sleep with us? All three things have been asked many times, and we've acquiesced."

"To the first two," Rai and Scout both shouted, noses going red.

"Yeah, yeah. But the offers come in anyway. I'm getting what Lucario was whining about now."

"As fun as all three certainly sound." Totodile laughed, then winked. "I've got something else in mind. You're definitely strong, but Pyroar is too. I'm not just letting you go get yourselves hurt, so you've got to prove to me you can handle him."

Mane frowned, a spark popping off his mohawk. "And how are you gonna do that? Fight us?"

"Oh, good gracious no!" Totodile said, shaking his whole body in refusal. "Not at all. I'd destroy a little more than just your pride." He had the gall to wink again, Mane took a step forward and was pulled back by Scout.

Mane yelped, as Scout tugged him back by his tail. "Heel, boy."

"Uh, no offence," Rai said, taking Totodile's declaration as a joke. "But he has a point. How are you going to be sure? Isn't saving the world enough to justify us taking on a single outlaw?"

"Yeah, probably," Totodile agreed, going back to dancing circles around them. "But hey, I hear lots of stuff. Most stuff is just pokémon bragging and all."

"You don't believe us?" Mane demanded.

"I'm not saying you didn't save the world," Totodile laughed, shrugging any and all verbal barbs off. "But you can't blame me for being cautious? He severely wounded Sudowoodo, and he's more than just the mascot but the self-appointed guard of the town! He's probably the strongest pokémon here, cept for me and Exeggutor." He winked again and sprayed some bubbles. "So, he if lost so badly, what might he do to you?"

"We can handle it!" Rai said, confidently.

"Then you can definitely handle my test!" Totodile retorted back, ten times as friendly and three times as excited.

He had them there. So, Team Ion shared a collective nod.

"Alright," Scout began.

"What do you?" Rai continued.

"Want us to do?" Mane finished.

"One: That's adorable, finishing each other sentences." Faster than they were prepared for, he booped them all on the nose one after another. "Numbero two, our poor town's got some trouble. With Sudowoodo out of order and Exeggutor never leaves that tree… huh." He blinked. "The tree never leaves the tree. That makes a lot of sense and is like a pun at the same time! Hahahahaha!"

Rai awkwardly laughed along, not getting the joke. Mane raised an eye, while Scout blinked. "Did you just say Exeggutor has his head up his own ass?"

Totodile continued, smiling, "With Sudowoodo out for the count, both physically and morally, we've had some trouble here. A collection of those wildies have been entering the town to trash the place, cause mischief and general tomfoolery, and stealing our stuff! It's really annoying, but they are pretty strong, so no one's really been able to do anything about it yet."

"You mean no one has stepped up to do anything about it?" Mane said, looking Totodile up and down.

"What? Me? They're always across the town when they come, and I can't get there fast enough! Honest! Truthfully!"

"So, you need us to drive them off?" Rai asked. "We can do that. Where do they normally live, we don't really want to wait around for days hoping for them to show up. Taking the fight directly to them will work!"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Totodile said mysteriously. He waited, blinked, and looked around. "Well, if they had ANY sense of dramatic timing, there should have been a crash and commotion by now. You can tell they're troublemakers when they won't even play along with my show, darn them."

Shaking his head, he generated another water ball and began to zoom off riding it. "Let's just look around, they're bound to show up eventually!"

Sighing as he didn't give them an answer as to where the wild pokémon were, Team Ion pursued him. Totodile was fast, but he rolled in circles a lot, and they were able to keep pace.

When the pokémon began tossing more Poké to him, they began to suspect he was using their appearance to drum up some more cash.

If that was the case, they may never know. For Totodile's tomfoolery was spoiled when his water bubble exploded inexplicably.

And then the most annoying laughter rang out. "Hoi-hihihihihihihihi." There was a collective groan, and the townsfolk all began to back away as four pokémon made themselves known.

The high-pitched giggling came from none other than a jynx, with her arm entwined with a rather large electabuzz. Trailing behind him was a snivelling magby and strolling up by jynx's other side was a croagunk.

"There they are," Totodile grumbled, rubbing his tail where he landed on it. "Can you handle them?"

Team Ion stepped forward, standing between the rest of the town, and the retreating townsfolk, and the four interlopers.

"Stop right-AH!" Rai had stepped up to warn them away and was immediately attacked. A jet of ice from Jynx cracked into his head and knocked him sprawling.

Seems that these pokemon cared not for the 'no moves in towns' law.

It took Scout even less time to leap after Rai and for Mane's mohawk to explode into flames. But he didn't attack yet, simply jumped between the four and Rai, giving Scout whatever time he needed.

"I'm fine," Rai said, pushing Scout off him and strolling up next to the snarling Mane. He bumped him with a grin before turning to the four, eyes narrowing as his pupils constricted.

Mane grinned, and Scout bared his claws. The battle has begun.

Team Sunrise had taken to their new, still limited, but extended freedom with gusto. There was a hard limit of not going too far from town. However, the guild either underestimated their speed and stamina or was playing fast and loose with Magnezone's rules and giving them more freedom without stating it.

They had to come back every night, and that was fine. However, all four of them could go quite the distance and back, further than the rest of the apprentices for sure. Between Sean's Fighting-type stamina, Striker's speed, Guardian's endurance, and Saniya's pure haxx, they found it possible to go about as far as Amp Plains and back in a single day.

Which Guardian knew to be uncommon in town. It had taken Team Ion an entire day just to reach Amp Plains when they first went, a story he retold as best he could to an interested audience.

"I'm glad you didn't leave Mane to die," Saniya said happily, giving Guardian's face a brief hug. "That would have been sad."

"Yes," Guardian said gravely. "I am relieved I didn't make that mistake, at least."

"Plus, have you heard him talk? He's hilarious."

"I'm surprised you approve of him being around Scout in the way that he acts," Striker said neutrally. Saniya gave him a deeply offended expression and Guardian decided to keep a firm, but gentle, hold on her, so she didn't decide to punch the lizard in the nose. "I like him," he added, and she calmed down. "But still." And back to offended.

"I would have been surprised," Sean said, voice so dry the two Grass-type's could have wilted from it. "But he wasn't nearly the first pokémon I met that was so forward. Was it like that in the future?"

"Yes," all three said immediately, and then all exchanged an amused look.

"If not worse," Striker said, blushing slightly. "In those times pokémon would… not be shy about making advances. I'll leave it at that."

"Oh! Oh-oh-oh! What about that time-?" Saniya began. Guardian clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Do not soil Sean's ears with that story," Guardian said, knowing exactly what she was going to say. Some things could not be forgotten even with reality-altering paradoxes.

"Aww come on!" Sean said. "Everything I got was second hand, I should at least know some things?"

"I am afraid that, as you so helpfully made it clear many times, in human terms you are still a juvenile," Guardian said, as the responsible adult of the team.

Saniya bit his hand. The only adult on the team perhaps.

Sean huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine. I won't talk to you until you tell me."

"Is that not a childish response?"

Sean stuck his tongue out. "Anyway. We were talking about you being oddly okay with Mane around Scout. Not feeling any empty nest syndrome yet are we?"

"Preposterous."

"Is it though?" Saniya asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Striker added, smirking himself. "They're all alone now, without you to be watching and making sure."

"Raigeki is there," Guardian said haltingly.

"And he… doesn't make that worse?" Saniya grinned. Guardian had no answer for that point.

The mood remained light as Team Sunrise chatted.

"I really do miss them though," Saniya sighed, they were getting close to their destination now, but she had more words to share. "It isn't the same without them."

"It is a hole Team Ion has left in town," Guardian agreed.

Saniya began to whine, "Everyone is leaving me, and I don't like it!"

"We're not going anywhere," Sean soothed.

"Who said you are everyone!?"

"I did."

"Well, alright, then." She hugged him. "Don't leave me, please."

Saniya did not deal with parting well. Having known every time she left the group in the future could be the last time she saw them. They could be killed, or even she could be, was beyond difficult every time.

"And I believe we're approaching now," Guardian said, nodding forward to the dungeon entrance.

"Oooh!" Saniya said, enchanted by the sight before them so much that she didn't zip forward in excitement.

It was a waterfall. Truly a novel thing to these pokémon of the frozen future, to see that water crashing down with boundless life.

"It's so loud!" Saniya yelled. She didn't have to, she just enjoyed the freedom. "So much steam? Is it hot?"

"Just the impact of the water falling down," Guardian explained, "causing it to be tossed up as mist."

They walked onto a rocky outcropping, leading up to the bursting waterfall.

"This IS the Waterfall Cave, right?" Striker asked. "Are we certain?"

"Let me try!" Saniya said. Guardian grabbed her before she could zip forward. "Aww, come on, let me goooo."

"We need to be careful," Guardian said, and she crossed her arms at him and stared. Guardian was far better at staring, and she broke first.

"Fine."

"Want to take my hand?" Sean asked, holding his paw, not hand, out to Saniya. She grinned and took it.

There were three reasons why they were here. The first, and most obvious, was that there was a lost pokémon inside and they needed to extract them. Some Psyduck or so had entered this dungeon and not returned. Clefairy, Psyduck's friend, had come to the guild in alarm and Team Sunrise had taken the mission.

The second, and far less obvious, reason was that they wanted to see the place. Team Ion had spoken about the Waterfall Cave, and it sounded beautiful, if damp and moist. It was an exciting dungeon to go to, and all four were eager.

The final reason was that Scout had mentioned a Dimensional Scream apparently could occur here. Or, at least, it did in his idea of the world. No one entirely understood how it worked, even Saniya, and Sean had very few Dimensional Scream's in his time in the now-present.

It was a disorientating experience to have for sure, but one mixed with inner jokes and bonding moments. It only worked with a partner one trusted entirely, after all.

Guardian still sometimes thought about the Dimensional Scream Sean had experienced during that awful night when he sent Chatot, Scout, Mane, and Sean to the Dark Future.

He himself had been holding Sean at the time, and Striker was meters away. They weren't entirely clear on how close that trusted partner had to be, but no scream had ever occurred without one of them being within arm's distance of Sean.

The idea that even then, even when he was carting them off for execution, Sean still trusted him enough to have a Dimensional Scream was a little too much for Guardian to bare, so he refused to think about it and quashed the line of thought before it went too far.

"Anything?" Saniya asked.

"Mmm," Sean said, eyes losing focus as he stared at something only he could see. Saniya steadied him as Sean's eyes and ears heard something from another time.

Sean resurfaced with a crooked grin on his face and mirth dancing in his eyes. "Well, it wasn't Wigglytuff I saw," he laughed, shaking his head. "I actually got two visions. One was Sunflora and Loudred arguing so much that he yelled loud enough to disturb the waterfall, it's how they figured out it was a cave entrance."

"Oh! So they DIDN'T determine it was an entrance with all that hokey pokey nonsense!" Saniya gasped.

"Nope. Argument."

"Tee-hee-hee."

"Hoo-hoo-ha."

"You all laugh weird," Striker muttered, simply asking for retribution at this point.

"Hoo-haha," Sean laughed, sticking his tongue out. "Second one I saw was just Scout looking like he had a big speech prepared and Rai just leapt right in with no hesitation. Scout said some bad words under his breath but eventually jumped in after him. This is definitely the place."

Guardian entered first, being both the slowest, largest and most durable in case something was wrong. Striker, Sean, and Saniya followed in quick succession.

"Ew, the ground is moist," Saniya said, wrinkling her nose.

"You're not even touching the ground," Sean said, frowning in disgust and lifting his feet to state at his paw pads, now grimed up. "Ugh."

"Moist. Mooiiiist."

"Stop saying moist."

"The moist-ure is very unpleasant here indeed," Striker said, only the barest hint of a smirk on his face.

"I'm going to need some moist-urizer after this one," Saniya giggled.

"I'm afraid moist people won't get this joke."

"Hahahaha. Moist."

"Okay," Sean said, grimacing in disgust. "Here's the plan. I'm going to go with Guardian. You two can… go off together. That way we can cover more ground."

"Moist ground?"

"Yes," he said through clenched teeth. Guardian's eye glittered with amusement. "That. Come on, we'll make a game of it. Whoever finds Psyduck first wins."

"Bully! A challenge! I love competition!" Saniya cheered, grabbing Striker. "Now where would I mount the stuffed head of a…" her voice trailed off as she and Striker disappeared down a hallway.

Sean breathed a sigh of relief.

"Moist."

"Don't!" Sean snapped, fury lighting his eyes, "you start with me here and now, good sir. I will rampage through these walls and bring devastation upon us all."

Guardian gave a deep belly laugh. "My apologies, the temptation was far too great."

Sean mock-glared for a moment longer before he cracked a grin. "Alright. I'll forgive you this one time."

Guardian's eye twinkled, but he sharpened up quickly. "We have a job to do," he said, and Sean nodded. "Let's go."

Once they were permitted to do jobs, Sean bought a rollcall orb for them. It worked easily, tapping it to someone for a few seconds would 'register' them to them. After about a day the effect faded and there was a pretty short range on them, but that range got jumbled in a dungeon to 'functionally unlimited'.

If Sean and Guardian found Psyduck, they could summon Striker and Saniya. And the same was in reverse, as of course, Striker had a rollcall orb as well.

He spent most of his money on orbs after all. Despite how little they earned.

Needing to stop Saniya from trying to toss Armaldo into the sea was a valid concern for the three. She had calmed down greatly on her wrath upon him until Armaldo informed them they were hit with the ninety percent tax the apprentices were on.

She renewed her oath of vengeance upon him that night.

"Are you okay about that broken orb?" Saniya asked, startling Striker out of some thoughts. He realised he had been staring into the light of the broken orb, thankfully no sharp edges, and put it away with a hurried chuckle.

"Of course."

"Striker."

"I am," he insisted. "It's just how those orbs work. I can't… change that or anything."

Saniya giggled. "You're weird, you know?"

"I do." He nodded. "To make sure to remind me at least once a week."

"Am I weird?"

"You are probably the most normal member of our little group," Striker replied. She gave a mock gasp before nodding.

"But of course. You have to be crazy not to see it."

Striker grinned. "Well, I mean, you are certainly, without question, quirky. But if you weren't, I'd be genuinely worried something was wrong."

"Yeah," she agreed. "You don't live through the Dark Future without coping in some way or another." She turned to him with a grin and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Isn't that right, my Strikey-wikey?"

"You know I only love the orbs."

"Ugh. The orbs." She tossed her head back, putting on a show of dramatically fainting in mid-air. "Orb this and orb that. You guys worry far too much about your balls."

"Saniya!"

"What?" She said, completely innocently. "Did I say something? Or are you extrapolating something I said as something obscene? I wonder what that says about you hmm?"

Striker gave her a flat look.

"Hmmmm?" She floated in close until they were nose and nose. "Hmmmmmmmmmm?"

"You are a menace to society."

"And you are far too attractive for your own good. Who's the real menace when everyone stops working to listen to you? Huh? Who's the bringer of anarchy then when society collapses due to only wanting to listen to you? Huh? Answer me, you false idol!"

"I am not a false idol."

"Yeah, you're really not. You really are this dreamy, it's crazy really." She floated around him, keeping the tip of her nose on his head as she did so.

"Is this a roundabout method of calling me crazy?" he asked, putting two and two together.

"HA! You must be joking. Ahaahah. A tee. A hee. A hee." She booped his nose. "Fine, yes, you got me. I'm calling you crazy."

Striker laughed and shook his head fondly at her.

Saniya valued her time with all her friends, both in groups and on their own. Striker wasn't the biggest talker when others were around. He had explained to Saniya that he felt like others had more important things to say. He'd put in his two cents if he decided it was appropriate but wasn't one to potentially stop someone else from saying something.

But with her, he spoke much more freely. She loved to hear him talk. Not only because she loved his voice, but just enjoyed talking with him in general. Sean was easy to tease, and so was Guardian, neither of them really gave it back as good as they got, however.

Striker, on the other hand.

"Truly, your scheme was the most straightforward thing I've witnessed," he claimed after she asked his honest opinion on her one-mon act of the Tale of Lucario. "Every twist and turn masterfully done but seen in advance. Truly."

"Nooo!" She denied him, pushing him in vengeance. "I am the most random!"

"The hot dog song? Saw that coming a horizon away."

"No, you didn't!"

"And the ballad of houndour the wise? I saw that before."

"No, I made it up! AH!"

She giggled, he chuckled. They had good times together.

"I bet I can get Sean to say moist."

"Bet. How much?"

"How much ya got?"

Dusknoir were large pokémon. Riolu were not. It was natural for Sean to ride on Guardian's shoulder since the ground was beginning to genuinely mess with him.

Guardian did not permit Sean to wipe his feet on his back. Sean, however, did so anyway.

"I shouldn't have tossed you in the water first," Guardian grumbled, now with wet dog smell on his shoulder.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have," Sean retorted, sopping wet but his feet were no longer grimy. Guardian formed a Shadow Ball and tossed it at an offending feral pokémon. Sean copied the move and tossed his own at a different one.

They did make a good fortress team—Spamming Shadow Ball or Shadow Sneak to ward anything off from approaching. The Waterfall Cave was not considered an overly dangerous dungeon, they weren't expecting any terrible battles. Which was why Sean really suggested splitting them up.

Or so he'd claim if anyone asked him. Moist rattled in his mind, and he shivered a few times.

With Sean nice and safe on his shoulder, Guardian happily took care of everything that came their way. Something Sean picked up on.

"Are you doing it again?" he asked, turning to Guardian's face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Being all fragile teacup with me?"

"…I don't think you're going to break if I set you down. I just thought you didn't want to touch the ground."

Sean sighed and rattled his head. "Yeah, right. Sorry."

"It is fine, Sean." They floated in a moment of comfortable silence. "It is hard, sometimes, to forget you aren't so frail now."

"I was never frail," Sean replied, rolling his eyes. "Just because I couldn't use attacks like the rest of you didn't make me frail."

"You got sick."

"Once."

"Still."

"That sucked, yeah." Sean's eyes moved off to the past future with a soft smile. "Still, I remember a couple of times that 'frail human' saved your butts. Do you remember, uh… aggron? I think it was. It was trouncing you and Striker, and I jumped on its head."

"Nearly scared me to death," Guardian snapped, he did remember this. "Striker didn't stop complaining about that for many rest cycles. He only stopped when I forced him to. He was keeping Scout up with his muttering."

"Hahaha," Sean laughed. "Sorry," he added to Guardian's Look. "Still, that was crazy."

"You slammed a blast seed on its face and detonated it. That was indeed crazy."

"Awesome."

"Crazy."

"Crazy awesome."

"Heh," Guardian's eye-rolled. "Scout said the exact same. For three whole sets of cycles, he talked about that event."

They enjoyed some more stories between them. Sean's heroics being the topic of choice.

"I swear that gyrados was going to eat Saniya."

"Impaling its tail did require quite the burst of desperation."

"I had a stick. I might as well have used it."

Or his foolishness.

"I thought, back then, that watching you climb a sheer cliff in the middle of a battle to jump onto the enemy tauros was going to be the riskiest and outrageously foolish action you would ever make. I wish I had been correct."

All in all. A pleasant catch-up session.

"I still remember the taste of pennies from that."

"And I still don't fully understand why we should 'praise the sun'. It is beautiful, but…"

"Did I never tell you?"

"No."

"Hoo-haha."

"…Are you going to tell me?"

"I think I'll leave you guessing for now."

All good times come to a close, however.

"Hm?" Sean voiced, feeling one of his tassels quiver.

"What is it?" Guardian asked, pausing in his story of Scout's thirty-seventh attempt at being, in Scout's words, 'as cool' as Sean.

"I felt something," Sean said, before closing his eyes to focus. He'd been a riolu for close to two years now, he hadn't really tried to keep track. Nothing was as difficult to get used to as the aura tassels.

Understanding Striker and everyone else? Wonderful. Being as strong as a pokémon? Amazing. Having an extremely strong sense of smell? Manageable. Potentially becoming a lucario like his fu-

"Hm, I can kinda feel something over there," Sean said, the tassels shaking and he pointed to a patch of wall. "It feels like, uh… despondence, a bit of anger, and just… fear."

"I'll check it out," Guardian nodded, lowered Sean to a relatively dry patch of ground, and began the work of phasing through the wall.

As a Ghost-type, he could do so well. But being as solid as he was, it did take Guardian a bit of time to fully move through objects.

He emerged from the wall as a spectre of death, startling poor Psyduck half to death. "Oh my GOSH!" she squeaked, startling back several feet in alarm.

Immediately, Guardian felt like absolute grime on the moist ground of this dungeon.

"Of course," he lambasted himself. "What were you thinking, appearing on her like this? The Terrible Dusknoir, arriving when one is at such a weak point. She must think it's over for her, that I am here to-"

His own thoughts were cut short when she slammed into his stomach, desperately clutching on and sobbing relentlessly. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you're here to save me? Thank you, thank you, thank you."

That was the best he could make out of the tearful blubbering.

Slowly, carefully, Guardian lowered and clasped his hands around her and lifted her up. "It's alright," he said, softly, soothing her. "You're safe."

Looking around, he found a path he could float over, as he couldn't simply phase her through the wall as well and found himself within eyesight of Sean.

"You found her!?" he called, rushing in happily. "Great, are you okay Psyduck?"

"I-I-I'm okay. Thank you for coming out to save me."

"Okay, let me just summon the others." Sean pulled out his Rollcall Orb and squeezed it. The orb flashed, melted away, and then two quick pops sounded out.

Saniya and Striker fell over upon their appearance.

"Ooooh," Saniya moaned. "That was awful. Why is it always awful? My teleports aren't nearly that awful. Awful as moist!"

"Do you want to be sent back?" Sean growled.

"No. This orb is the worst."

"Lay off the orb, it did nothing wrong," Striker groaned, trying to get up.

"You and your orbs, jeez. Has Azumarill done nothing to help you?"

"There's nothing to do as I need no help!"

"You're both fine. We found Psyduck."

"I can see that," Striker said, pulling himself to his feet. Saniya had fallen to the ground and stared pitifully at Striker until he picked her up. She vibrated the gunk off her, and incidentally onto him, before zipping around.

"Yippee! You're in the safest of hands now, Psyduck!"

"Y-Yes. You saved the world, I can't imagine I'm in any safer hands. Thank you."

"Oh, do go on," Saniya said, flushed with praise. Striker pulled her away.

"We should be off," he pointed out. "Now that there are five of us concentrated here."

"Does Sean count or have we not figured that out yet?" Saniya asked. "Ooh! We could test it!"

"Please don't," Psyduck whimpered. Taking pity, Saniya did drop the matter, and they quickly fought their way to the end of the dungeon.

"Oh, this is gorgeous!" Saniya beamed. "Look at all the pretty gems!"

"This is quite magical," Guardian agreed. "Is this why you came here, Psyduck?"

"Yes," she said, nodding weakly. "I wanted to get something for Clefairy since she's always so nice to me, but I can't swim, and I kept getting attacked and pushed that way."

"You can't swim?" Saniya blurted out. "Wut, y?"

Psyduck cringed in embarrassment. Saniya nodded and easily tore a large purple gemstone out of the ground, the cracking sound echoing throughout the chamber. "Well, that means we can't press the slippy slide button at the end, or you might drown. Okay, let's just take this back for your girlfriend, and that'll be that."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"She's a girl, right? And your friend?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"So…?"

"Girlfriend."

"HA! Knew it."

Saniya floated off, satisfied with herself as Psyduck protested in mortification until they were out of the dungeon, out of the woods, and into Treasure Town.

"I'm just saying, you're protesting a LOT." That quietened Psyduck. "Silence of defeat, eh?"

There was no winning against Saniya.

"So. We should work out the whole 'does Sean still not count or not' on dungeons," Saniya pointed out once Psyduck was home safe. She was uninjured, just distressed, and Clefairy calmed her down.

"How should we do that?"

"We could ask Bidoof or something to join us in a weak dungeon. Like good old Moist Bluff."

"Drenched Bluff," Sean snapped.

"That's what I said."

"No. You didn't. You said moist."

"HA!" Saniya cheered as Sean deflated. "I got you to say it. You owe me 178 Poké now. Fess up." She held her hand out to Striker, who relented and gave her the money. Sean watched the transition with nothing but a flat expression.

"I think this is where we go… anyway," Guardian said, changing the subject. "Sean and dungeons. Bidoof?"

"Or any of them," Saniya said, brushing it off as she counted her winnings.

"Flaaffy is an option," Striker suggested.

"Oh, Flaaffy this and Flaaffy that," Saniya sighed. "It's all I heard about from him today."

"This is the first time I've mentioned him," Striker protested

"And it just passed midnight." Saniya stuck her tongue out at him. "I win. Again. Worship me like the goddess I am."

"Why Flaaffy?" Sean asked.

"His tail is an orb. What isn't there to like?"

And that was all that he needed to say.

Armaldo tried to chew them out for being late, but Saniya again won by pointing out they reached Treasure Town before the day was out and that was the technical agreement. She sailed away to bed, resting in the laurels of victory.

It had been a good day.

Mane grinned, and Scout bared his claws. The battle has begun.

It was Electabuzz who acted next, huffing in amusement at the three tiny pokémon daring to stand up. He rotated his arms and sent an extreme blast of electricity at them. Rai intercepted it and took the full hit, falling back onto all fours as his whole body jerked and shocked.

Electabuzz's cocky grin froze as Rai unleashed the electricity he had just absorbed, right as Croagunk ran in to double up on the leader's move and score an easy knockout.

Lancing Croagunk right through the middle and dropping him like a sack of potatoes and causing him to fold like a cheap suit.

The three remaining aggressors could only blink. And that was a costly blink.

Mane and Scout both had begun to move right as Rai had landed. As Croagunk fell, Mane sent his mighty Fire Blast, and Scout zipped forward as the claws on his right paw extended into a dark sabre.

Magby managed a brief, "Meep." Before Scout's paw crashed down, the darkness striking through the magby.

Electabuzz's fur curled from the heat as Jynx was blasted off his side and he stumbled from the burst of pressure, tripping over Magby who just keeled over after Scout's lighting-fast Night Slash.

Rai stepped forward as Mane prowled the right and Scout raised his claws from the left, surrounding Electabuzz.

The big bully looked left and right in panic as in seconds his posse just went down. "S-Screw this." He got up and ran for it.

"Want me to get his legs?" Scout asked, tensing in readiness.

"Get him," Mane said, puffing out smoke.

Scout was many things. Cute. A mess of a meowth. Upsetting durable.

One thing he absolutely was was fast.

Electabuzz got ten steps before Scout zipped forth almost as fast as a Quick Attack, his Night Slash going for the back of the knee and sending the pokemon tumbling before Scout leapt onto his head and his koban glinted with unnatural light.

Hypnosis had Electabuzz snoring on the ground.

"Holy moly," Totodile called, wobbling back over on a new water sphere. "Wow, that was… actually impressive! Good job, Team Ion!"

Whispered immediately broke out. Team Ion? Here?

"Give them space," Totodile called, and the crowd obeyed. The threat of being splashed was ever-present with Totodile. "Okay, maybe you can handle Pyroar."

"Maybe?" Mane asked.

"Yep! Maybe."

"We creamed these guys with a single hit each."

"These one-pump-chumps are one thing, but Pyroar probably is another. Anyway, I'll tell you where he was seen heading to!"

Several townsfolk came to gather up the knocked-out wild pokémon and find some sort of legal punishment as Totodile pulled Team Ion away.

He danced on his water ball until they reached a different part of town, a much smaller path heading out. "This one isn't used AS often as the other places since no one really goes this way. Anyway, Pyroar was heading in the direction of Blackstone Village, there's not much else out that way reputable folks want to go."

They were in the northwest, the three began to think. But Totodile answered for them. "Further than Blackstone is Towny Town, brr that's a place for sure, and further still is Fissure. Blackstone is the last 'good' town in this particular direction with Indeedee and the Clefable Guild there."

Totodile hummed. "Makes sense that Pyroar would be heading that way. Once he gets past them, he's pretty much in lawless land. I bet he's cocky enough to try. Well, good luck!"

"Thank you, Totodile," Scout said first. This was excellent news, their research into his movements had been spot on the money, and they were already heading that way. They'd speed up now, knowing they were on his trail.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Thank you for your help!"

"You're welcome. If you're ever around again, say hi! And, seriously, be careful. I can see you're strong and appearances are deceiving. For both you and definitely other pokémon. Stay safe, world saviours, Team Ion!"

"Stay safe, Totodile. If anyone else causes more trouble, make sure you contact someone."

"Hahaha. Okay."

He saw them off as the reinvigorated team made haste. The day was still young, and this was a real and true proper lead on Pyroar's location. If they could catch up, that'd be great.

Team Ion charged onwards.

Ha. Ion. Charge. I happen to be hilarious.

This is one of the chapters where I kept most of Team Sunrise's stuff in it. There was a lot of 'filler' with them in the original Arc 2. Fun filler, sure, but still very much filler. I kept this one as it's early on and establishing them as a team is still important, so it's less filler (plus, Psyduck is something of a running gag).

Thanks for reading!