[Part 1]

"Well… That's not good…" Inabayama gulped, looking at the scene in front of them. Honestly, Hiei felt like agreeing with that assessment.

Just two hours ago, they finally landed on the northern shore of the great Lake Biwa. The rest of their journey did not take long, and was not obstructed by any external dangers, yet had proven being particularly troublesome for the dragon. Turns out, while sitting in a slowly moving gravity bubble was not all that different from sitting anywhere else, sitting in a gravity bubble that moved at rapid speeds really messed with her sense of balance. The poor Goodra spent her first hour just lying on the shore, and desperately trying not to lose her breakfast.

Which meant that their backup plan of traveling the rest of the way by the sea was now their very last resort, in case none of their other options were even remotely plausible. Hiei was not willingly torturing her girlfriend for weeks of underwater travel, and it would take too long traveling at a pace that was more comfortable for her.

Which, of course, left them with the conundrum of getting to the very north of Honshu island, since the next thing in their way was-

"Why is it still winter up there?!"

Yes, that's what Hiei would've liked to know as well. According to maps, beyond this range of mountain peaks separating them from the north of the island were swaths of lands that the humans widely regarded as wilderness. No, of course there were roads, and even settlements here and there, but these were small, and rather easy to avoid. Though in order to get there, they had to get through what was currently presiding over Ibuki mountains, and their immediate surroundings. And that was winter.

Hiei did not do winter.

"So, there is no reason for us to go North-West from here," the Gardevoir sighed, "Not unless we want to ride another bubble through the East Sea"

"No thanks," Inabayama was quick to reject that idea, earning a soft chuckle from the Gardevoir.

"The East is also out of the question, since that's where the human city of Nagoya and its satellites are. It's tens of kilometres of urban sprawl, and we don't want to risk going through that, unless absolutely necessary"

"Which leaves us with… Either finding a way to go through the snowy mountains now, or waiting until it all melts," the dragon concluded, "And we are still too close to the lake for comfort"

"Indeed. Even if we find shelter that won't be discovered by some miracle, we'll still have to deal with increased human presence after the lake is subjugated again"

"Hm…" Inabayama, seemingly in deep thought, checked the horizon with her gaze, before her eyes fixated on something, "Say, what do you think about hitting up that place for supplies?"

"That is… Town of Nagahama?.. Why?"

"See how it's uncomfortably close to the lake? You know, the lake that is currently full of VERY angry water snakes that shoot lasers at everything in sight? Well, most humans wouldn't think twice about leaving a dangerous place like that," the dragon smirked, "I've noticed that every time I was found out, they quickly cleared every building around me of most people, leaving only those who knew how to fight. Relatively speaking. That town is probably either in the process of clearing out, or has already gone through the hassle until the lake snakes are all calm and harmless again"

"Which means we can look for supplies there, and wouldn't have to deal with more than a handful of humans, and not even that if we're careful" Hiei concluded, "Inabayama, you are a genius, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot. Mostly from beautiful green ladies," the dork dragon chuckled.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," the Gardevoir smiled.

[Part 2]

The streets of Nagahama were lifelessly empty. Just a few days ago, people and cars moved through them like blood through veins, spreading life to every corner of the town. Now, though, the only movement that could usually be seen were leaves and pieces of litter carried by the wind.

Well, that, and Goro and his pals quietly sneaking through these barely lit streets.

See, unlike the common folks that fled the town at the first sign of danger, they were cut from a whole different cloth. Stronger, faster, and much more capable than the average Joe, they prized themselves on being able to face any danger, and tough any challenge - that was the awesome way of Team Brute. The Team that was destined to rule over this entire country, and then the world.

Though before that could happen, they needed resources. Resources like money, gear and powerful Pokemon. Naturally, Team members were always busy collecting such resources, recruiting new members, and spreading the influence of their group over the islands.

But the ongoing Lake Biwa incident has proven to be a golden opportunity for their Team. For their top brass, it was a chance to poach some of them shiny Gyaradoses straight out of the lake, so they could add these powerful Pokemon to their roster. For middle management and grunts, it was an opportunity to gather valuable resources from the abandoned towns of Shiga prefecture.

Goro and his pals were in the latter group.

Now, just because the town was abandoned didn't mean they could act carelessly - military patrols often combed through these very streets. And it didn't matter how tough you were if the other guy had an assault rifle. Being on the lookout for them was Hitomu's job - she was admittedly very impressive at finding and climbing good vantage points, from which she could notify the rest of the group of any incoming dangers.

Then, there was Joben, a former handyman, and the only guy on the team who knew how to use lockpicks and disable security systems. He made it really easy for them to break into houses and shops without creating any signs of intrusion - which meant that unless they screwed up, the patrols would not even know they were here in the first place.

Finally, there were the twins Gin and Doi. These two didn't have a specialisation, but were strong and reliable, leaving them with the job of hauling anything particularly good their group came across.

Now, it was not the best idea to just loot everything even remotely valuable. They had no transport - using one would be a sure way to get caught - meaning they couldn't haul stuff like expensive electronics, or art pieces. Rather, it made sense to get items that were both light, and high in value.

Which meant they were going through every relatively promising building in search of cash, jewellery, Pokeballs and Pokemon accessories like Potions, strengthening pills and carried items. And due to how that lake got pretty dangerous almost instantly, most people didn't spend much time packing, often leaving stuff just lying around in their homes.

So far, they've collected two briefcases' worth of valuables, and three backpacks' worth of Pokeballs and Pokemon-related items. Which meant they could probably gather about as much, and finally call it a day.

At the moment, Joben was busy disabling the surprisingly lax security in a rather large general store. Now, they did not expect to find any cash in the register, but this shop had a great view on the rest of the street, food, and possibly some supplies they could use.

"Aaaaand… Done," Joben smirked, opening the door, "After you"

The team, aside from Hitomu, who was still busy on her previous vantage point, had entered the building. The store was half-shrouded in darkness, with only the windows and the quietly humming fridges providing some semblance of visibility. Taking out flashlights, Goro, Gin and Doi went across the isles in search of anything good, while Joben went to the backrooms, to deal with any cameras, and check the safe while he's at it.

"This banana milk expires today. Arceus forbid we waste perfectly good milk," Gin noted, checking through the contents of a fridge.

"There's some sausage that expires in three days too!" Doi half-yelled, hungrily biting into some top-shelf salami.

"Think we could take some chips as well?"

"Nah, let's just take what's close to expiring. We're not monsters"

It was weird how these guys could take cash and jewellery from someone's house, yet drew the line at stealing food with long shelf life from a store, but Goro was not about to question it. Going along with them would just be easier.

"Guys, two boogies incoming in a minute, copy," Hitomu suddenly spoke through the comms.

"Got it," Goro confirmed. That was strange, patrols were usually larger than just two people. It could be some stragglers that took too long to evacuate, it could be someone else maraudering in the area, or it could be someone important, like a Gym leader, picking up the army's slack. Either way, it was a good idea to quiet down and not draw their attention.

Luckily, Gin and Doi were both quick to stop wrecking havoc on the refrigerated food isle, turned off their flashlights, and hid behind the shelves until a confirmation from their lookout.

Who… Was taking her time updating them on what was going on. Was she too busy hiding? Her last vantage point was on top of a three-story house across the street, so two people would have no chance appearing too close for her to use the comms. Weird. Too weird.

Still, Goro felt like going along with her instructions of not contacting her first, just in case.

Silently commanding the twins to quietly stay put, Goro decided to sneak into backrooms - the store's cameras might shine a light on what was happening out there. They PROBABLY have at least one that could check outside.

"What's the situation, Joben?"

"Disabled their camera feed, erased all data. They won't know who hit them. Not unless one of the guys decides to leave a bunch of fingerprints while snacking," the man snarked, "What's with the boogies?"

"No idea, we can't exactly risk to check. Do they have any cameras peeking outside?"

"Yeah, this one, and this one. Hold on, I'll bring them back online," Joben turned two screens on, one of which showed the store' entrance, and the other looked at the street, including that one house Hitomu used as her vantage point.

"Hm… Can you zoom in with this one?"

"No can do, their tech is shite"

"Hm…" Goro tried to look closely into that second screen, that shoved something weird at the roof, but with the feed quality it could'a just been a pile of Pidgeotto shit all along. Rather, he decided to go against their lookout's instructions, and contact her first, "Hitomu, what's the situation? Kinda waiting for updates here"

One minute… Two… No answer. NOT good.

"Shit, I think something happened," Goro looked at their lockpick guy, "They got a backdoor?"

"Course they do."

"Unlock it. Quick. Nah, leave the cameras be. I'll pick the twins, and we run"

With that, Goro snuck out of the backrooms, and checked the refrigeration isle where the twins hid first. Nope, the two morons were not there anymore, just a broken bottle of milk here, and some half-eaten sausage there, and…

Wait, what's that noise?

It came from the electrical appliance isle? Yeah, he could see two silhouettes there. Why the hell were they rummaging through the shelves at a time like this?

"Gin, Doi, I swear to Arceus, this better be importa-"

Two pair of eyes - emerald, and blood red - shone at him through the dusk.

These were not the twins.

"Wha-"

Pain.

Then nothing.

[Part 3]

"Another one, huh," Hiei stated, as the fourth human in purple clothes disappear in a flash of light. Of course, this time she didn't bother leaving any blood traces or his clothes to signify he was even here. Just the round capture devices the human had on him, that her girlfriend was quick to deposit into a bag she scooped off the shelves just a minute ago.

They already had what, five dozen capture devices? Yeah, they needed a bag for these, since releasing so many Pokemon in a town was a bad idea - humans in black and green were still around, and could be a big problem.

Hoping this was the last of the purple humans, Hiei turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

"It says that it's an 'electric blanket'. Which is a blanket that uses electricity to heat up. And there are three kinds here. This one won't do, as it needs a constant access to an electrical source, which is easy to find in human homes, but can't be found on the go. These two only differ in size. Both work off a portable source of electricity, which should be enough for… Three hours, I think?"

"Three hours isn't much, and there are just five of these blankets that have this 'portable sauce'"

"We don't need five. Just two, and a few dozens of portable power banks"

"Which are?.."

"Portable sources of energy. Like my batteries, but for electrical devices. As long as they fit these 'electric blankets', and are at their full capacity, we should be good with a few dozens. This store doesn't carry any, though"

"Oh, then we should look for one that does. Too bad we killed all of these guys, we could'a asked one of them where to find it"

"Hm, that's a good point…" Hiei agreed, then deciding, just in case, to expand her tactile gravitational field, and… "Huh, we've missed one. He's at this building's back door. Could you block his retreat from the outside?"

"Sure. Just count to thirty," Inabayama smiled, then quietly and swiftly leaving the building through the front door.

Well, seems like it was about time to actually flex her linguistic muscles, and communicate with a human. Good thing Hiei saw just the thing that would allow to accomplish such a feat riiiiight on that shelf.