About two days passed since the big event that happened in the Domus Flau colosseum, and still people were talking about it like it was a big deal. Even now, lacrima vision networks had broadcasts and news of the battle specifics Joey undermined, and Jeffrey and Charlotte were questioned. As for a certain party-loving fanboy, he decided to treat to himself for the job well-done.

"Here you are." The brunette waitress put down the platter. It was a nice, big chicken skillet with steamed vegetables on the side.

Joey's smile grew ever so bigger. "Alright! That's what I'm talking about! Thanks!"

"My pleasure." She bowed. "Will there be anything else?"

Dereece looked at Joey to see what else he wanted. Shrugging, it was as though Dereece knew Joey's answer. "Better get a small chocolate cake dessert." He ordered.

"Okay, one chocolate cake." She wrote it down on a piece of paper, as per her training. Once accomplished, she took to her heels for the patrons still counting on her. "Okay, I'll be right back!"

With her gone, Dereece looked at Joey. "She seems nice."

Joey shrugged. "Yeah, guess so." He lifted a big fork of steaming chicken and began his splendid feast. Almost immediately, his taste buds swelled with the sweet, juicy flavors that the chicken was cooked with. The look on Joey's face showed ecstasy as he munched on piece after piece.

The two had broke into a silence as they ate themselves away, as well as their platter. It wasn't often that they ate out, mostly because back they didn't know much of any easygoing places. Back in Lumiose City, burger shacks and ice cream parlors were what they were used to, and it was a daily, if not weekly thing. It's only because of the allowance Joey got from his mom that made it all possible. But now working as a mage, he realized just how rough working can be. But he knew better than to complain. He chose this path, and after everything, he couldn't just up and quit. It wouldn't justify all that's been done, and for those who leaned on him.

Before he got too deep, the waitress soon returned with the cake full of cake, with the bill right beneath. "Here you gentlemen are." She sat it down between their near-empty chicken skillet order. "Wow, that sure was fast. Nice job, boys." She winked.

"Don't blame me." Dereece craned his head towards Joey. "Blame the bottomless pit over there."

"I heard that." Joey muffled with a mouthful of meat.

The waitress chuckled and took the empty serving plates. "Well that's good. Hardworking mages need their strengths. Hope you boys have a wonderful day." She nodded, to which they responded with their own nods and she went off elsewhere.

As she was walking off, Joey stopped eating to take notice of the green tight shirt she had on. But his attention went down towards the black leggings. Although when he noted how her thighs and her backside were rather…not so stacked, he resumed eating.

"I saw that." Dereece cocked a brow.

"Don't judge me." Joey swallowed the last piece of chicken. "Alright, let's get to the good stuff…and also this cake."

Dereece ignored Joey's little innuendo and lifted their fork. The two toasted their forks together before they started their dessert.

A couple of tables down, some guys were talking. They all were crowded around a table, via one they reserved for earlier because of their numbers. They were feasting, and of course, they were gonna get a big bill, but troubled stirred itself up.

"Hey, they still talking about that cheap fight?" one slurred, quite loudly.

Before Joey could eat his piece of cake, he and Dereece were hearing the volumes projected.

"C'mon, enough with the ridiculous shows already! We get it! These half-asses can stop with this big show! It's getting old!"

Another big guy nodded. "Agreed."

"You know what I'm talking about! That little battle everyone saw! And who fought again? Someone from Fairy Tail was it?" he scoffed. "Man, I didn't think they'd suck that bad!"

A stouter individual smirked. "Hmph, kid looked way over his head on that one."

"And seriously, could he look anymore ridiculous?! I've seen shabby rags before, but that was just embarrassing!" he uproariously laughed. "Was that a battle or a fashion show? Because all I saw was a big old joke!"

The roar of his lash out had a mug of booze spill onto the ground. Nearly half the tavern was completely silent at the skirmish starting to go down. This included Joey and Dereece, specifically Joey, who was disturbingly quiet. Dereece looked over to his pal to see the shadow over his eyes. He wasn't even finishing that first bite yet.

"HAHAHAHA! Yeah, I could do so much better than that little jackass! I bet he didn't even know how to fight! Using beginning Trainers like that was child's play!"

"Last I checked, Fairy Tail is supposed to be the strongest guild, right? They kicked some serious ass back in that war. How could they seriously let some half-witted wannabe fairy like that into their guild?"

"Hahahaha! That guy even looked weak! I bet I could take him out with one hand tied behind my back! No, not even!"

"Yeah, and what did he have again? Some bucktooth squirrel, some pigeon, and literally trash! HAHAHA! I don't know what's more sad, the fact that the hottie from Mermaid Heel got her ass kicked by a garbage bag, or by the kid who owned that sac of garbage!"

"You ask me, fits that punk to a tee. Living trash." A mage gulped down booze.

"Damn straight. If I ever see that little punk, why, maybe I'll just prove that point! It'll really show how low Fairy Tail's gone. Number one? Yeah right! What kind of half-witted ladies that fill those honkers with booze all day would go for a wimp like that?!"

That was the last straw. As they were speaking trash and laughing, Joey shot out of the booth and made a beeline for the door.

"What the-?! Hey, wait!" He looked back at his plate. "Oh man…" Scraping some money from his pockets in a hurry, he paid the bill, as well was the tip, and hurried with the cake out for Joey. "Joey!"

Joey turned tail and jogged out of the tavern. To anyone passing by it would look like someone in a hurry, or to the dull someone who was on a run in very poor fashion tastes. But to those who took a closer look and took the time to sympathize, Joey had misty eyes brimming with frustration. He heard it all, ever bit of it. From start to end, all that ridicule shook him pretty bad. Normally, someone like him would brush it off because of his shallow ego, but after his experience, his heart began to ache, because he didn't know how to stand up for himself. The only option was to run.

'I'm not weak…I'm not! I'll show them! I'll make Fairy Tail and everyone else see that!'

"Joey! Wait!" Dereece screamed from behind.

Nic walked through the downtown district close by. He had two large paper bags of groceries in one arm, and the spare one holding soap products needed for his and his wife. "Hope Erza realizes this stuff went off sale yesterday. When she realizes this she's gonna-" As he was walking back to their home, he noticed a harsh dash from someone close by. He saw Joey, and he looked upset. He then saw Dereece chase after him in a frantic hurry. He thought of calling out, but seeing the tears in Joey's eyes, he knew something was wrong.

He just remained silent as he watched Joey head for the guild.


"Alright, then! Let's go!" Natsu punched forward. "Alright Darumaka, show 'em your Rollout!" Darumaka rolled into a ball and went speeding into Romeo's Litwick. The attack made a perfect strike, sending Litwick soaring.

"Oh no!" Romeo watched as he saw Litwick fall to her back hard. "Litwick!" He took a closer look, seeing that she was struggling to get up. "Man, that little guy's packing some power…"

"Really? Thanks!" Natsu balled a fist. "But there's more where that came from! We're not done yet! Rollout!"

"Coming right up!" Rolling faster, Darumaka speedily rushed into Litwick again, continuing the battle. "Coming through!"

As their little battle, Gray was having his own little spar against Juvia. His new Bergmite was against her Azurill, and both looked competitively serious. "Alright, you ready?" he asked. "You can go first."

Juvia nodded. "Right, my darling." She looked down at Azurill. "Azurill, be sure to do your best, alright?"

The little mouse-like creature bounced on her ball. "Oh yay! We're gonna play!"

Juvia chuckled at her child-like demeanor. "Yes, I guess you can say that." Her expression turned serious again. "Now, let's use Charm!" Azurill bounced in place as a cute, pink bliss surrounded her. Her eyes blinked multiple times as they made Bergmite weary, lowering his Attack harshly.

"Adorability, great." Bergmite stiffly noted.

"Okay." Gray reached out. "Use Bite!" Bergmite did as told and had fang-like glowing projections show. He rushed at Azurill, biting into her ball an making her wince in pain. However, she looked just fine because of her typing, and the Attack decrease.

"Sorry, my love, but you'll have to do better. Use Bubble!"

Azurill opened and eye and looked down at Bergmite. "I'm not playing tag, you big meanie!" She inhaled and expelled clear bubbles right in Bergmite's face. The gesture made Bergmite slid back across the ground, quite harshly at that.

"Man, the little guy's packing a punch already." Gray said. "Use Powder Snow!"

Bergmite slid back to a halt and finally gained some ground. He glared forward, teeming with glistening bright blue before he exhaled a cold breath with snowflakes. The two attacks battled it out, but they stirred in sparkles and flakes that blew between them. Azurill hopped happily at the dazzling display.

Looking around, a lot of people were hard at work. And those not working were taking time reading pamphlets and learning in Pokémon battling. From the bar, Lucy was wide-eyed with Klefki. "Woah, just look at all this." she awed. "I don't think I've seen the guild this productive before." When she looked to the distance, she was seeing Kinana's Seviper unleash a Poison Tail, which completely downed Droy's Bellsprout in one critical hit, much to his despair. And Lucy looked farther out to see Laki's Bonsly shooting rocks at Jet's Taillow, scoring a direct hit. She thought that was anew move, but disregarded it as Taillow fell straight down in defeat. Even Mirajane was taking a small break to battle with Vullaby against Lisanna's Rufflet. All around, nothing but battles as far as the eye could see, and while others looked frustrated, others were picking up the pace. It was starting to make herself envious of all this hard work.

"Hey Lucy." Wendy's greeting caught the blonde by surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, Wendy." Lucy responded before looking out with a smile. "Oh, nothing. Seems as though the guild is rather over productive is all."

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed. "That's Fairy Tail for ya!"

"I can most certainly understand." Carla said. "Wendy was rather anxious to have Swablu train a little as well."

"H-hey! I can make my own points!" the Sky Dragon squealed in embarrassment. She calmed down and looked up at Swablu. "But yeah, we've been getting better as of late. Haven't we?"

"Sure!" Swablu chimed merrily.

"Seems Joey's battle left than a little impression." Lucy chuckled at the prospect. Joey was rather influential, if not flamboyant. Seeing his battle certainly was something. Another thought rushed to the front though. "Hey, where's Erza and Vanessa?"

Sophie was walking by, hearing Lucy's question. "I believe they went on a job together. They left this morning. I wager they shouldn't be back till about another few hours."

Lucy nodded at knowing the sisters-in-law having a job together. "Say, Sophie, did you just get back?"

The Memory-Make Mage nodded. "Yes. I was needed to stop a little Slugma problem near a village. Fortunately Dewpider and his Bubble cleared the problem."

"Wow, seems everyone is busy." Lucy looked over at the job board, seeing Nab there with his Munchlax still. "…well, more or less." She muttered.

The doors suddenly went open. Popping into the guild was Joey, followed by Dereece. The former looked more than a little rushed.

"Oh, hello Joey." Mirajane greeted. She was behind the bar again, deciding that it was time to get back to work. "You looking for Nic?"

Joey, however, was surprisingly dismissive. He brushed pass Mirajane, darting right for the board. Immediately, he started looking at the requests like his life depended on it. Dereece finally caught up, still holding onto the cake, surprisingly.

"Captain Joey, maybe you should slow down." He advised. "I know you're sensitive, but you don't have to get so worked up over-"

"I know, Dereece." Joey sounded like he was trying to contain his anger the best he could. Dereece immediately quelled. "…but I worked too hard for this. I'm not gonna stand around and have those creeps laugh behind my back." He looked at the jobs higher up on the board. Usually the jobs on the bottom half were low-level requests, that's what Dereece picked up on. Joey looked higher up, one getting his attention. "Let's try aiming higher." Without repercussion, he seized the job flyer.

"Let me see." Dereece looked over his shoulder, staring at the job that caught Joey's attention.

WANTED: EXPERIENCED MAGE

Caol Tunnel has been very unstable. Wild Pokémon are crawling everywhere, making it difficult to navigate. Please, I require a strong mage to clear the tunnel. I was able to leave marks before it became too much. Please reach the backs needed for excavation.

Reward: Negotiable

"A strong mage…" Joey's mind was fixed on that part specifically. The job wanted someone strong, and someone independent. Maybe Joey wasn't the best at the latter, but he can be capable. This was the chance to prove how well he works with his magic. "Alright Dereece, let's take this job."

Dereece looked concerned. "Are you sure about this? It's not really specific."

"Don't care!" Nonchalantly skipping across the guild hall, Joey pranced over and showed Mirajane the request. "Yo! We're taking this one!"

"Sure, let me see." Mirajane looked down, noting the request. She hummed as she looked at the location and everything else. "Caol Tunnel is it? Sounds pretty dangerous. Sure you can handle it?"

Joey beamed with pride. "Won't know until we try. Ready, Dereece?"

The man groaned. "Like I have a choice anymore." As he followed Joey out, he looked back at Mirajane, waving her off as she did to them. They soon filed out like soldiers, with the girls watching them take off.

"Was it me, or did Joey seem a little on edge right there?" Wendy inquired.

"I saw that, too. I know that look." Watching his back fade into the distance, Sophie's eyes narrowed. An odd, ominous chill went up her spine when she saw the upset look Joey had when he rolled in. She'll have to remember this feeling if it happens again.

Mirajane sighed out loud. "Well let's hope for the best." For all their sakes, they sure hoped so.


Torterra let out a roar as he raised up on his hind legs, slamming down on the ground with great pressure. The ground cracked once, then twice, until finally a shockwave of cracking fault lines exploded and shot tons of dust and debris skyward at Magmortar. The Blast Pokémon remembered his training and activated his cannons. He faced down at the ground and expelled a searing hot Flamethrower right into the earth. The projected flames shot him skywards like a propulsion, getting him high enough into the air to avoid the tremor that echoed deeper into the forest, overturning dirt and rock. As the attack subsided into a field of clouded dust below, Magmortar was in perfect angle above to open his maw, expelling a Clear Smog attack that eroded into the dust cloud where Torterra was surrounded in.

"Leaf Storm!" Duncan commanded.

Torterra made a shrilling roar as he raised his head, his body having a bright green shine as a whirlwind began picking up, and green energy leaves engulfed it with shredding, pulsating pressure with every square inch. The typhoon was powerful enough to dissipate the cloudy attack, whereas Torterra's attack shot skywards at Magmortar. Magmortar extended his arms down and roared as he expelled another Flamethrower attack at the incoming attack. The results were an immense explosion between the two powerful Pokémon that sent shockwaves everywhere, although Duncan remained unfazed through the winds.

The dust cleared, and both Pokémon were seen standing still like they were before. "Good. That's more like it." Duncan complimented. He readied for another command on the fly, but the sound of footsteps from behind made him turn around to see his "teammates" walking towards him.

"Duncan! There you are!" Joey rushed up towards him. "C'mon, found us a job."

Duncan looked at them before he looked at Torterra and Magmortar. He pulled out their individual capsules. "Return." The balls returned them both inside, which he put into his coat pocket. He returned his visage towards Joey. "Exactly what kind of job is it?"

"Here." Joey handed him the flyer.

Duncan took the flyer and scrolled through it. As he scrutinized it, his face remained unchanged, but underlying those eyes, Dereece could feel a cold chill continue to shake him.

"Wow." He awed facetiously. "Could you be anymore pathetic?"

"Say what?" Joey gasped.

"I may not have been here any longer than you guys, but even I know how a guild job works. There's always a reward posted. Besides, did you even study the place before you went out from the start?"

"He's…kinda got a point." Dereece couldn't believe he would agree with Duncan of all people, but he made a very keen point. He's never even heard of that place until recently. "Maybe, maybe we should-"

"C'mon, it's not that bad." Joey waved dismissively, grabbing Dereece beneath his arm in buddy-buddy fashion. "We'll at least scope it out before we make any choices, okay? Now c'mon! Gotta get a pay going!" He dawdled off, carrying Dereece beneath his arms. The confident strides needed were going to take him far, but his leadership and insight qualities needed great improvements. Duncan was the last to follow, and while he didn't want to, he needed some kind of money.

"Fine…but remember, you're responsible." Duncan reminded underneath his breath. "…not that you would know that."


The space was rather dark for someone who was working in the shadows. It was hard to tell from the very dim lacrima light set up, but someone was making use of it. Undisclosed, a hand held a lacrima, which shimmered to reveal an overhead visual of Joey and The Freaks taking to their heels through the trail that lead to the destination. A mischievous smirk crossed a pair of lips that could've been seen. Something large crawled up his shoulder, hissing at the lacrima like it was prey.

The unknown figure looking through the dim lighting chuckled low, but it was dark and bone-shrilling. The lights went out, almost like pitch-black.


Erza and Vanessa walked through Magnolia's bustling streets. In tow behind them, Aegislash and Delphox respectively followed their Trainers' lead back to the guild hall. With their sisterly job completed, they took it in their best interests to check back with the guild first.

"Will you be coming over for dinner tonight?" Erza offered her sister-in-law. "We'll be making some ribs."

Vanessa offered a smile. "Thanks, but Sophie and I are already making plans for dinner." She said. "Well, at least that's what she said."

"That so? That's a shame." Erza whined facetiously. "But if you need anything, the very least we can do is save you a plate."

Vanessa chuckled. "I'll have to take you up on that. Sophie's not like Mirajane…or myself…but she'll make do. Speaking of which…" she looked ahead at the guild hall, noticing a certain equally bodily gifted blonde. "Why am I not surprised. Back so soon?"

Sophie looked over from the small booth she had for herself. She was currently feeding Dewpider some Pokémon Food designed for Bug-types. "Why hello there." She greeted.

Vanessa nodded in gesture. "I take it that your job went well?"

"A-ni be-se-der (I'm fine.). Dewpider was surprisingly helpful." She flashed her feasting spider a smirk. "His ability is most uncanny. Isn't that right?"

Dewpider looked up, seeing his Trainer's teasing smirk. He swallowed and gave an embarrassed huff. "Hmph, I guess. Not a big deal." He modestly huffed before resuming his meal.

Sophie chuckled at Dewpider. "He's sweet once he warms up to you." She looked towards Delphox and Aegislash out of their Poke Balls. "So I take that the job involved Pokémon."

Erza nodded. "Quite so. They needed manual labor in clearing a trail through a woods to reach the riverbank. Aegislash and myself took care of the cutting, and Vanessa's aura and Delphox's Psychic cleared the way."

Sophie crossed her arms. "Seems a lot has been busy. You. Your team, Erza. The Freaks. Quite the productive week this has been."

"The Freaks you say?" Vanessa caught note of the last names. "So Joey went on a job as well?"

Sophie frowned. "Quite so…and he looked upset. He was in some hurry as well."

"Upset how, exactly?" Delphox inquired.

Sophie continued explaining. "Like he needed to be somewhere. He was in and out. And determined. If I'm honest, I would think something provoked the party guy's groove."

Erza and Vanessa took note of the other's looks of wonder. They were well aware that Joey was sensitive, even more so than Natsu. He was a good person, but they weren't there to know or be weary of what made him like that. Likely guess was another emotional night of revelations like he's been having. That's was appeased their intuitions for the time being.

Erza looked forward, a serious glare shown. "And you're absolutely certain he went on a job."

"Yes, and he left just recently." She huffed so much her buxom bounced some. "Let's just hope they don't push themselves like last time."

Erza nodded. "Joey's enough of a handful as it is, but he's become more aware of his surroundings…even so, there's no telling what he might pull." With Joey's eccentric demeanor in mind, another person, one of very destructive, reckless, and otherwise equal unpredictable actions took her conscience. "Sophie…have you seen Nic by any chance?"

Mirajane walked up, carrying a platter of someone's order. "I think I saw him in the market area. He looked like he had quite a bit of groceries." She smirked. "Is someone missing him?"

Erza scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I was just curious is all." She walked out, heading to the direction of her home with Aegislash following. "We'll see you soon. Come, Aegislash."

The others watched from behind, giving her an uneasy stare. "She sure looks tense. Did Nic do something you think?"

Vanessa remained relaxed at Mirajane's inquiry. "Knowing Nic, it's hard to say." She crossed her arms and smirk. "But he's always one to keep you on your toes."

"That's true." Sophie chuckled.


Standing at the front of a mine-like entrance, The Freaks looked up and about their job's location. According to the directions, this was the spot, but it was so rugged and unstable that it looked like it could collapse on them.

"This it?" Joey questioned. "Caol Tunnel."

Dereece looked over, seeing the safety tape around it, "Yup, if that's any indication." He pointed at the tape bordering it. "Still say this is a bad idea though. You at least thought this through?"

Joey beamed with pride. "Of course I did. I'm not stupid." He pointed ahead. "Look, the job asks to clear Pokémon, right? And from the looks of the tunnel, it might be cramped. So here's what we'll do." He pointe da thumb to himself. "I'll lead with my Barrier-Make in case things fly or fall over us. Dereece, you can follow in the middle, you know, because I'm better than you." Dereece had to hold an eyeroll and sigh in. "And Duncan, you're the last line of defense, so you get to be in the back. Got it?"

Dereece blinked. He actually considered Joey's intentions and was admittedly surprised. "You know…that's not too bad." He gasped. "Wow, Captain."

"No need to praise me and my awesomeness." Joey beamed. "Save that for after the job." He tilted his head at Duncan. "By the way, Duncan, will that be okay you think?"

Dereece and Duncan looked to what Joey referred to. After so many tries with his magic, Duncan has been getting better control, but all the swords he's used up were shattered. That went double for his pocket money. For now, he had around a makeshift wooden sword that he managed to sand and sharpen. It wasn't much, but until he found a suitable replacement for his kendo stick, it'll have to do.

"It's nothing. So you really doing this?"

Joey nodded. "You betcha! We're gonna show those guys we're not slack offs. It's time we take our skills to new places." He turned towards the caverns. "Alright Freaks, ten hut! Let's get to that checkpoint!" He filed off the dirt road into the domain. Dereece and Duncan were in tow, suspicious looks on their faces.

As they filed into the caverns, the woods outside were quiet. In the leafy shrubs, something faded in and out, string at the cave before it whisked off in a hurry.

They all followed Joey into the cavern. For a cave, it was reasonably lit. "Some natural lighting." Dereece complimented.

"It isn't anything new." Duncan chided. "Caves are usually lit well. But if you were so startled to begin with, you could've had a Pokémon that can learn Flash." He raised a brow at him. "You did think that far ahead, didn't you?"

Dereece didn't know how to rebuff Duncan. He wanted to, but he realized that by experience, Duncan outweighed them by a large margin. He was a Trainer who competed in the Sinnoh League, whereas he and Joey are still subpar. When he thought about it, could Yanma or Heracross learn Flash? He didn't think it was possible, but with Earthland, anything's a possibility. He just chose to focus on the front. "So Captain, exactly how far are going to go down again?"

Joey kept his eyes forward. He was looking as serious as could be. "We'll go to the checkpoint. Once we get there, we'll have to see if we can further extend it and make sure a perimeter is set. They said it was an excavation tunnel, so they need some space to work with no interference. Duncan, you keeping an eye out back there?"

The experienced Trainer shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

"Alright, then let's…" he trailed off as he suddenly stopped. Behind him, the others followed his lead and slowed down.

"What's wrong?" Dereece asked.

Joey looked ahead, his eyes squinting at darkness ahead. Even with hearing aids, he turned the dials on them to help him further the frequency. With them, he picked up on flapping. He braced himself. "Get ready!" At that shout, Zubat began flapping towards them, all hissing at the intruders.

"Zubat!" Dereece exclaimed.

Without hesitation, Joey reached forward. "Let's try this! Barrier-Make: Barrier!" He reached forward, using his power to create a paneled barrier that blocked the path ahead. All the Zubat flew absent-mindedly into the barrier, bouncing back into the atmosphere. "That'll keep 'em from getting to us."

"That's true." Duncan said. "But, the job said to clear the way?"

Joey's eyes widened. "Oh." He gasped when the Zubat came to attack again. He held the barrier up as they tried nipping into it, only to end up repulsed. "Well then how are we supposed to do that?!" he shouted back.

Duncan sighed irritably. He turned his back from them. "How pathetic." When he looked back, he found that Zubat hanging from the ceiling above were coming down, and Geodude provoked were huddling around. "You're a Pokémon Trainer, and there's a wild Pokémon. Take a guess at what you do." He pulled out a Poke Ball and threw it. "Gastrodon, up front!"

The Poke Ball popped open, revealing the Sea Slug Pokémon in the waits of a command.

Duncan swiped his arm. "Use Muddy Water!" Without complaint, a brown, muggy cyclone began surrounding Gastrodon, which quickly expanded into a vortex all around. The attack swallowed up all the Pokémon, unable to fight the intense currents.

Joey looked back in awe. "Woah, I didn't know he had a Gastrodon."

"Joey! Focus!" Dereece shouted.

Joey mentally facepalmed himself. "Right, right. Sorry…" He pulled out a Poke Ball, as did Dereece. "Let's do some extermination! Go, Chespin!"

"Go, Yanma!"

The Spiny Nut Pokémon popped out, serious and willing, and Yanma appeared above, humming lightly. The barrier came down and the Zubat went to attack. Immediately, some used ultrasonic Supersonic while others soared in for a Bite. Chespin was immediately hoisted by Yanma and sailed around the attacking foes.

"I'll drop their guards, and Dereece, you beat them up. Cool?" Joey planned.

Dereece nodded. "Whatever you say, Captain."

"Alright." Joey reached forward. "Chespin, use Growl!" Chespin opened his maw and let out a loud screech. With Yanma holding him, Chespin's distorted soundwaves echoed into the wild Zubat's ears, disorienting them at such a close range, as well as weakening their Attack stats.

Dereece reached out. "Now Yanma, Quick Attack!" Yanma nodded and she began zigzagging through the air. Chespin closed his eyes and held firm as Yanma carried him at massive speeds, beelining into a multitude of Zubat at once. "Alright!"

As Yanma flew around, a red outline followed her, and she began to go faster. With her Speed Boost picking up, some Zubat regained themselves as they followed her. But Yanma quickly turned around to face them. The Zubat again fired Supersonic and red lasers at her, via Absorb.

"Dodge it!" Dereece commanded. Yanma scooted backwards using her speed. The sonic waves and the lasers all misfired to either open air or stalactites.

"Alright, Chespin, Rollout!" Joey commanded.

"Launch me!" Chespin curled into a ball ready to attack. Yanma did a little flip in the air and tossed Chespin at the cluster of Zubat. He rolled through the air, striking them like bowling pins.

"That's how you roll!" Joey cheered. He watched as Chespin landed while Zubat drop like flies. A lone Zubat, that was still hanging in there, shook its head and glared at Chespin. "Go, Rollout!"

Chespin went rolling at the wild Zubat, but before impact, Zubat fluttered into the air, dodging the attack. Once Chespin missed, he stopped and looked up, where Zubat came down for a Bite. Its fangs made impact, making Chespin wince and slid back. He hurriedly gained ground again as he prepared when Zubat launched another Supersonic attack.

"Use Growl!" Joey yelled.

Chespin shrieked into the air, making distorted soundwaves reach out and match the Supersonic. The results of the two soundwaves echoing through the caverns, shrieking down the halls and crevices that rattled some of the Pokémon dwelling inside of them. Among them, heads perked up as they all glared ahead.

Once the soundwaves finished bellowing, the air was clear for Chespin and Zubat. "Use Growl again!"

Chespin looked determined as Zubat fluttered from the shotback of that loud noise they made. "How's about we try something else?" Chespin glared forward and he took in another deep breath. But instead of a soundwave coming out, small green seeds shot out, planting on Zubat. They opened up, snaring roots and vines around the bat and sapped up energy from the bat.

Dereece's eyes widened. "Hey, that's Leech Seed!"

"Leech Seed?" Joey looked ahead, his expression lightening. "Alright, looks like we've leveled up."

Zubat cringed as the last bit of its strength diminished. It fell to the ground, the vines and roots dissipating to thin air. Chespin beamed with a smile, snickering lightly. However, he heard fluttering above, making him look at another Zubat incoming with wings spread. Chespin was more than ready, but a large white shockwave shot from the side, exploding upon impact. The already hampered Zubat sundered, getting Chespin to look up at Yanma's whose wings glowed and faded.

"Did I get him?" she chirped.

Joey blinked before he flashed his own smirk. "And it looks like someone learned Sonic Boom."

Chespin and Yanma looked happily forward as the Zubat laid around them defeated. Behind them, Duncan had already done his share with Gastrodon, Geodude and Zubat long having been taken cared of by Gastrodon. With the horde dispatched, they began to regroup.

Dereece hunched over in a sigh. "Phew, man. Glad that's over." On his head, Yanma plopped down, making him grunt.

"Don't celebrate just yet." Duncan said as he walked passed them. "Still a ways to go from here. And I can guess that means even more Zubat will come as well."

This only made Dereece grunt. "Yup. Knew this was a bad idea."

Joey exchanged looks with Chespin. The Grass-type nodded in confidence, making him smile. "We gotta push through. This is a job after all." He began walking around the defeated Zubat as they laid around. "C'mon, let's go get that checkpoint and our~…oh…" He looked ahead, his confidence fading when he and everyone else saw what was coming after them.

Chespin's last Growl didn't go out without dying hard. Unfortunately, the soundwaves that bounced throughout the narrow tunnel attracted a large sum of Zubat that fluttered after them in territorial fashion. The sheer number left Chespin to hold onto Joey's leg as he and Dereece hugged the other for their terrified lives.

"MOMMY~!" Their high-pitched wails echoed throughout the tunnel for all to hear.


Bergmite took in a deep breath as he expelled another Powder Snow attack. The frosted attack traveled across the ground over towards Azurill, who was still bouncing.

"Now, Azurill! Counter with your Bubble!" Juvia commanded.

Azurill continued bouncing, her energy lifted from all the exercise given today. "Okay!" she chimed. She took in a deep breath, expelling bubbles again, but something was different. They were far more compressed, and they were clustered into a beam that bolted through Bergmite's attack, shocking the iceberg before he was hit with bursting blue sparkles, sending him sliding back. Gray's eyes widened when he saw the attack hit.

"What the…?" He looked down, seeing his Bergmite strain the get up. He tried getting up, but he ultimately fell over, eyes swirled from the damage he's accumulated.

"Hang on…that wasn't Bubble, was it?" Juvia blinked. She was still wrapped up on that fact that she didn't realize she had won. When she saw Azurill hop in joy towards her, she barely was able to catch her.

"Yay! Juvia, we won! We won!" the little mouse-like creature chirped loudly.

Juvia blinked. "Uh…y-yes. We did." She embraced the jovial mouse, much to the creature's happiness.

Cana, still at the bar with her Purrloin, looked over at Kinana as she fed her exhausted Seviper a Sitrus Berry. "Hey Kinana, girl." She chimed. "Wanna have a round?" she asked, rolling up an imaginary sleeve with a smirk.

Kinana looked over at Cana's request and back at Seviper. "Are you okay for another battle, Seviper?" she saw the snake nod at her, and she responded with the same gesture. She turned towards Cana. "Okay, we accept."

Cana got out of her seat, stretching her thick thighs. "O~kay! I've started to get bored a little watching all this action. So let's say we get ourselves going, eh kittycat?" she teased her Purrloin.

Purrloin stretched on the barstool like a back stretched its back. "Mmmm…sure, why not?" She plopped off the stool, facing Seviper with her tail swaying. "Just try and play fair. Wouldn't appreciated a few fast punches, would you?" The irony was that she was a Dark-type, and she and Cana did nothing but pull fast ones. Taking candor aside, they saw Seviper hiss in retort.

"Alright, we're ready! Seviper, Screech!" Kinana commanded Seviper, who opened her maw and shot orange soundwaves that shrilled through the air at Purrloin, starting the battle while others went along.

Mirajane was in front of the guild's request board. She was scrolling through page after page in the binder she had in hand and comparing it to the ones on the board that were still available. But there was another reason why she was doing this, and after the job that Joey took, she only served to make her flutter through each page a little faster than before.

Deciding to take a break outside his office, Laxus approached the barmaid. "What's up?" he questioned. "You look like you're being rushed. Is it busy?"

Mirajane noticed her master. "Oh, Master Laxus." She greeted before resuming her duties. "Not really. Just making sure that all these requests made are up to co."

"I see…" Even as an S-Class Mage, Laxus could feel some form of hidden motif behind this act. He always knew that the jobs and binders are always synchronized when the guild doors open first thing in the morning. So to have Mirajane do this in the middle of the day must be some kind of mistake.

As she compared the requests to the binder, Mirajane scrolled through this week's recent requests and pointed up and scrolled through the many jobs. Ultimately her face fell. "I was afraid of this." She sighed, backing away from the board. "Seems there was a job miscounted after all." She turned towards Nab, who was at his daily search for a job. "Nab, what about you?"

Nab crossed his arms, raising a brow. "Hmmm…"

"You sure you didn't miscount it in the records?" Laxus inquired. "It happens time to time. Can't be some kind of prank now, is it?"

Mirajane shook her head. "No, it couldn't be. It was the job that Joey took with Dereece. The one for Col Tunnel." She went through the humungous book again, rising a brow. "I've been digging around, but that specific request isn't in here. There weren't any for Caol Tunnel from today's incomings."

Nab looked troubled. He stared at the board a little longer before something popped up. "Wait! Hold on!" he yelled.

"What is it?" Laxus inquired.

"I just remembered something!" he shrieked. "Now I remember. That job that they took, I remember scanning through it once. It didn't look interesting, but I thought something was out of place." He rubbed the back of his head, groaning annoyingly. "It wasn't there before felt something sting my back. After that, everything got all fuzzy for like a second."

Mirajane looked over at everyone battling. "You think one of their attacks misfired?" Just as she said that, Natsu's Darumaka shot with a Headbutt attack, but it missed Sophie's Abra when he used Teleport. He shot into Mirajane's face, instantly falling her over like some dummy, while Darumaka also flatlined.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" Natsu waved.

"Oh dear." Sophie gasped.

With Mirajane having swirls in her eyes, Laxus could see that there needs to be an issue taken cared of. The master sighed at the predicament. 'What would the geezer do at a time like this?' he thought. 'Probably scold them or something. Hmph! Guess I should tell them to take the fights outside from now on.' He frowned at Nab as he rubbed the back of his head. 'Still, if this is someone's idea of a joke, they'll have heel to pay. And I can guess whoever took that sucker will have that same exact thought.' He walked towards the board, staring at it coldly. "Nab."

"Uh, yes Master?" he nervously asked.

"Keep an eye out." He slowly turned and walked off. "I have a hunch that something's not right either."

Nab was shocked at Laxus' reliance, but he didn't object. "Uh…right." He nodded, watching Laxus walk over to tell them all to battle elsewhere. 'What's going on around here?'


Joey swiped his arm. "Pidove, use Gust!"

The pudgy bird's wings glowed bright before he summoned a powerful wind, stopping all the Zubat heading their way. Some were blown back by the strong winds, knocking some out from his ability adding extra power. For those unwilling to submit, Yanma went abruptly speeding pass them, using the Gust as a tailwind for his Quick Attack through the mob of bats that have been infesting them for ages now. The flock fumbled like flies for the umpteenth time, leaving Pidove to perch on Joey's shoulder while Yanma rested on Dereece's head.

Dereece sighed exhaustedly, his hands on his knees. "Phew. Okay, now please tell me we're in the clear." He almost sounded like he was pathetically begging for the torment to stop.

"Yeah, we've gotta be clear by now." He looked over at Pidove, who looked a little exhausted. "Okay bud, thanks. Take a rest."

"Yes, Master." The pigeon retreated back into his Poke Ball, leaving Joey and The Freaks to their own air.

Joey took in a big yawn before shaking his head, trying to get the sleep out of his head. "Okay…let's take a break." He sat on a small rock. "Like right now."

"Finally!" Dereece exasperated before plopping on his butt. Duncan calmly stood, unfazed by the whole trek. "Ugh, how far down did we get even? Anybody know?" Dereece questioned.

"Beats me." Joey shrugged. "Just following this safety tape…I'm surprised it got this far." He turned towards the mine-like walls, rotating on the rock before it stirred. Alarmed, he abruptly shot up, revealing the rock to have two brown feet and a hexagonal core. "What the-?!"

The rock jumped angrily. "Hey! Get off my head!" he shouted. "Do I look like a chair?!"

Joey stepped back. "Woah man, geez. Sorry."

"Hmph." The agitated Roggenrola hopped away into the darkness ahead, leaving Joey and everyone else to watch it hop like a rabbit.

"Geez, this place literally is crawling with Pokémon." Joey muttered.

"Welcome to the real world." Duncan chided lightly, leaning against the rock wall, getting them to look at him. "You know, it's not exactly bright to be in a place like this if you're looking to take a break. If you're really going to rest, did you make sure to bring Repel?"

Joey blinked. He and Dereece exchanged confused looks before realizing the mistake. "Well…no…but…" He saw Duncan spraying himself with a can of Repel, making his eyes widen. "Woah, hey! That the stuff?"

"Hmph."

"Gimme!" Joey seized the repel from Duncan, looking at the spray can like it committed a crime. Before long, he tried spraying himself, but sadly nothing came out. He looked at the bottle again and realized it was empty. "Hey." He growled. "Not cool man. Not. Cool."

Duncan shrugged. "Wasn't my fault."

"Well, you got some more on ya?"

Again, Duncan shrugged. "Hate to break this to you, but that was my last one."

Dereece facepalmed in frustration. "Oi vey."

Joey let out a long, undesirable groan throughout the dark caverns. "Well this is just great. First we get Zubat every two feet, next thing you know, you end up sitting on a rock that can talk back at you. Just…just…" Joey's small irate span suddenly turned 180 when he blinked. He blinked several more times, rubbing his eyes to make sure what he saw was right. "Hm? Wait…" he pointed forward. "Is it me, or is that safety tape up there?"

"Say what?" Dereece got up, thankfully no talking rock berating him. He looked ahead to see the safety checkmark ahead, and it seemed faded.

Duncan glanced forward as well. All three got up and noticed the darkness in which the Roggenrola stopped t. It looked back at them, before he turned and walked into the depth, beyond the faded tap. The Freaks followed, getting to the edge as well.

"This looks like the checkpoint." Dereece said, his voice forewarning dread.

"This is as far as they've gotten." Duncan turned towards Joey. "What now?"

Joey could sense the doubt in both comrades; Duncan sounding far more neutral than Dereece's anxiousness rising. A part of him wanted to back out, but that was just a part of him. He steeled himself, prepared to see this mission through. He stepped forward. "Follow me. Stay careful."

Dereece and Duncan found no objections. With one person having Repel, they may as well stay close. They followed Joey beyond the checkpoint into the darkness of the cave. They all walked in, and it all seemed…quiet. The hush tone left a sense of anxiousness for them to keep track of.

"Uh…is anyone else feeling a little creeped out here?" Dereece asked.

"No…" Duncan began. "It's quiet. Too quiet…" He scanned the darkness, seeing anything that might pop out. With Joey looking dead ahead, he was unaware of something that Dereece caught above. "Above you!"

Joey snapped up to find rocks falling down onto him. Immediately he activated his magic. "Barrier-Make: Hemisphere!" He hurried manifesting a dome of his magic, surrounding himself and his teammates. The rocks all fell onto the barrier, crumbling away.

The barrier lifted, leaving Dereece in a state of shock. "Where id that come from?! Look out!"

"What the-?!" From ahead, rock darts shot with heavy precision. Joey leaned back as he created another barrier, stopping the attack as well. Once it was gone, he lifted the defense. "What's going on?!" He looked around them, his eyes wandering to two shits along the widened caverns.

Two massive boulder-like chains slowly eroded from the side. Looking down at them were two rock chain-like snake creatures that had horns on their heads. They growled low at Joey and his team for entering.

"Onix!" Dereece yelled. He pulled out a PokeDex, he hurriedly analyzed their opponents.

"Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. It usually lives underground. It searches for food while boring its way through the ground at 50 miles per hour."

"Oh boy…" Dereece looked back up, seeing them glaring. "They don't seem too friendly."

As if he was on the mark, the Onix let out a territorial roar. Both raised their heads as gray energy manifested into rocks, via Rock Throw. Without warning, they launched them at them again.

"Barrier-Make: Barrier!"

Joey quickly created a barrier in front, avoiding rocks that could've crushed them. The bombardment of rocks continued pelting Joey's barrier, leaving him busy. "Guys! Get out your Pokémon!" he grunted.

Dereece and Duncan did as told, but as they got out their capsules, they heard shifting from behind. By the time they turned around a horde of Roggenrola were there. They all kicked up dirt and sand, via Sand Attack. The sudden wave of sand caused them both to tough and cover up.

"Is this…" Dereece coughed. "An ambush?!"

Duncan grunted at the predicament they were getting in. He couldn't believe this was happening to them.

The Onix roared, and one Onix raised its head with a gray outline over the body. A shimmered gray energy shaped and separated, turning into gray rocks, via Rock Tomb. Rearing its head forward, the Onix hurled them at Joey. He hurried to adjust the barrier.

"Barrier-Make: Ball!"

Molding the barrier into a massive ball surrounding him and his teammates, the blinding sand was thwarted, as well as the crushing force of the rocks as they crumbled away at the barrier's wake.

"We gotta do something, and quick!" Dereece pointed out. "Look out!"

Another Onix reared lower, hurling another Rock Throw attack at the barrier ball. However, this force pushed the ball backwards, causing Joey and his team to lose balance inside. They all screamed as they fell onto one another. The ball barrier fell onto the Roggenrola horde, who all raised their hexagonal heads and lifted the ball up.

"What's happening now?!" Duncan exasperated.

The Roggenrola all shouted as they moved the barrier, making it shift over them over to a ledge. Far below, it looked like a steep dive like a naturally formed slide, though looking very rough stalagmites popping out.

Joey swallowed. "…uh oh."

The Roggenrola all shoved Joey and the others off, sending the barrier ball rolling down the bumpy hill to the depths of the caverns. They all screamed as they ricocheted off every corner of the ball like a pinball machine. The ball itself was hitting stalagmites every now and again, similar to that of a pinball machine. Each harsh blow jutted them inside, and in some cases bumped right over some Geodude. They plundered down the bumpy steep hill until everything went black.

By the time they started coming around, The Freaks weakly got to their feet. "Ugh, man, what a rush." Joey said, his eyes still spinning. He pressed on his own head to simmer down the dizziness. When it settled, he looked around to notice the atmosphere was cooler than what it was. "Uh, guys? We might have a problem here."

Looking around, the atmosphere was unlike that of the narrow tunnel they had to get through, the one that really ticked them off and their Pokémon to no end. It was still barely lit – surprisingly – and small caverns connected at the ledges, one of which that they slide took them to. They were in solid ground with open space, and around them were startled cave-dwelling Pokémon, from Onix, to Geodude, to even Roggenrola, with Zubat far high up on stalactite ceiling.

"Where the heck are we?" Dereece asked as he stumbled around.

A slow, ominous clapping sound was heard, alerting them as they turned towards the direction of where it came from. "Nice of you to drop in." a sly, eloquent voice chimed.

Joey and everyone's eyes widened as they were seeing someone step out of the shadows, and they did not like what they saw. Joey's gasp was loud enough to make it sound like he forgot how to breathe. His eyes narrowed as the figure stepped into light.

"It can't be…"

Appearing with a Venipede purring in his hold was an old foe, who had charm, with equally as much vice that made him devious. The same guy who messed with them before, and would do so again. "Don't celebrate." He smirked. "…not yet at least…"

Kane was back.


The door opened to Erza's home, her Aegislash in tow. Once inside he closed the door and took in a deep breath. "Good work today, Aegislash. Suppose this calls for a break. You should rest up for now." She held up her Poke Ball. "Return." With the command, Aegislash reverted to energy, recalled into her capsule. Sighing again, Erza felt some of the tension relax. "Honestly, it's just one job after the next. First Natsu goes and makes a mess, then the slack needs to be picked up the day after." She snickered at the irony. "I must be delirious if I'm complaining this much. And here I thought I lost my mind long ago when Natsu and Gray made up." Such bittersweet memories in the atmosphere for her. It didn't feel like it was long ago before the fall of Zeref and Acnologia, and even then, stakes were high. But before she could fall back on such thoughts, her mind wandered to a pit on her stomach, and empty pit. "Suppose I should see what Nic is planning for tonight." She wandered into the kitchen area, looking around to see if her husband was there, but there was nothing but empty space. "Nic?"

She didn't find Nic like she wanted, but to the knight's surprise, there was a little folded piece of paper. Curious of what it was, she reached over and picked it up. She opened it, taking careful consideration of the words in cursive.

Erza,

Went out for a bit to pickup some things. I have the ribs in the fridge ready to be put in the oven. I should be back by the time they're ready.

The husband you can't go a day without,

Nic

Erza had a feeling Nic was just pulling her leg at the last part, but the message got through to her. The inside of her stomach turned from hunger to slight worry. "I had a bad feeling about this?" She looked out the window, her stare getting anxious by the second. "Nic, what did you do now?"


Wild cavern dwellers surrounded The Freaks as they found themselves unable to get out. They were at odds before with numbers stacked as high as before on Caracole Island, but this time they were alone. To make matters all the more terrifying, the self-proclaimed archnemesis of the party lover himself was added for extra salt to the wound.

Seeing his rival once more, Joey scornfully glared. "Hello, Kane." He sourly replied.

Kane feigned surprise. "Why, Captain Joey, you do remember me. One should remember their archnemesis after all."

Joey raised a brow. "Really? I just thought you were some crazed fan of me who desperately sought my attention."

Dereece gave Joey a stern look. 'Is he serious?'

Kane chuckled mockingly as Venipede scurried up his shoulder. "Well, you're in the ballpark at least. Your attention is a part of this grand scheme after all."

"And what's that?" Joey asked. "And wait, why the heck are you here anyway?"

"Why, to defeat you naturally." Kane answered matter-of-factly, petting Venipede in the process. "I suppose you're wondering how it is that I came up with such a brilliant scheme to lure you all the way out here."

Joey crossed his arms. "No, not really." He deadpanned.

"Good, cuz I'm going to tell you." Kane countered. "You see, after Venipede and I woke up from our…concussion, we've decided that in order to succeed in your eminent defeat, we had to find a way to make sure that no one would come and help you like before." He gestured all around him. "That's when we found this wonderful hiding hole just crawling with Pokémon."

Joey and everyone looked around to see his valid point. Dereece didn't sway. "But how did you know we'd be here? You wouldn't know unless…" he trailed off, picking up on the sense of it all.

"Unless I knew you would pick the job?" Kane finished, looking at his nails nonchalantly. "You see, those mages that were at that tavern, they were another guild that's in Magnolia, last I recall: Twilight Ogre. I knew you two didn't get along, so, I made use of that."

Dereece stepped forward. "You mean…you paid those guys to talk smack…on purpose?"

Kane snickered. "I see you pick dots fast. So while they were doing that, I timed it just right for while your guild was busy…" He flashed back to when everyone was having battles in the guild. He knew Nab was there, and with a snap of his fingers, Venipede's Poison Sting stung his back, getting his attention long enough for him to slip pass him and plant the fake request before bolting away from a confused and disoriented Nab. "I snuck the job in a split second, and with that, the bait was set. Given Joey's mental state of being jealous, and getting carried away, I knew that when the word 'Experienced' was seen, the bait was taken."

Joey's vision squinted. "Okay, that was pretty interesting." He complimented. "But sucks for you, because that makes no sense…" he blinked confusedly. "Right…?"

"Oh! But that's the best part!" Kane uproariously replied. "Unlike before, we're deep in the caverns underground, where no one will come and pull you out just like before! And to add good measure…" he snapped his fingers, making all the Pokémon around glare at The Freaks ominously. "I've secured a little trusted help."

Dereece glared. "How'd you get them to work for you?"

Without needing to use verbal answers, Kane pulled out a small sack from his coat pocket. He reached inside, holding up a nice aged stone. Almost immediately, the Onix, Geodude, and Roggenrola turned with looks of delegacy written all over their faces. "You see, Joey isn't the only one who can have reinforcements of his own." Kane mocked.

"And the Zubats?"

"Oh those were just a bonus." Kane shrugged, fiddling his fingers. "Really, those things are so fickle to deal with. Even I wouldn't waste my time with such any winged rodents. Now then…" Venipede hopped off his shoulder, with Kane getting out another Poke Ball. "Time to get down to business."

Joey immediately grew serious as he knew he couldn't run out like before. He pulled out two Poke Balls, while his teammates prepared as well.

"Keep those two busy!" Kane ordered. "And leave the middle one…to me."

Dereece and Duncan immediately found themselves swarmed with wild Pokémon, including Zubat swooping down. In a matter of seconds, Joey was helpless as he found himself isolated from his friends and forced in a duel against his nemesis. He gave a serious glare back at Kane, ready for battle.

"Yes, that's the look I wanted to see." Kane hissed eagerly. "Such vile contempt, such luxury. Why, isn't this perfect? Light and dark, facing off yet again! So then, Joey, to whom shall this victory belong to, and to whom shall be left buried alive?" He tossed both Poke Balls. "Let us begin! Go!"

Venipede hissed as he was already out, but appearing next to him was an orange weasel-like Pokémon. He had a creamy yellow belly, with two ovals on the back. He had two tails connected like a propeller, with blue fins connected to the arms. The intricate part about him was his flotation sac around his neck. He folded his arms in seriousness.

"A Buizel?" Joey pulled out his PokeDex, analyzing Kane's creature beside Venipede.

"Buizel, the Sea Weasel Pokémon. It inflates its flotation sac around its neck and pokes its head out of the water to see what is going on."

Joey put the PokeDex away and glared at Kane's style. 'So he's got another Pokémon, and it looks strong.' He balled his fists. 'If I use Trubbish, Toxic Spikes won't work. My Pokémon are still worn out from being dragged down here, and I didn't have much time to heal them.' He grunted again at his lack of assortments needed. He needed to make note of this. 'Guess I have no choice. It's all I got for now!' He pulled out two Poke Balls, throwing them out. "Alright! Chespin! Pidove! Go!"

The Poke Balls opened, revealing Chespin and Pidove once more. Each one chirped and chimed respectively against their opponents, hearing them growl and hiss.

"Very well then…" Kane squinted. "Let us begin! Buizel use Growl!" Buizel took in a breath before he screamed out, expelling distorted ripples that reached out towards Chespin and Pidove, shrieking through their ears. With their foes immobilized, Kane got to work. "Now, Venipede! Use Rollout!"

Venipede hissed before he curled into a ball. He sped into Chespin, closing the gap in a hurry.

Joey, however, wasn't the only one having some trouble. Dereece was feeling himself cornered with the Roggenrola and Geodude crowding around him. 'Gotta get to Captain Joey. He needs help!' Hurrying mentally, he found a quick solution to this dilemma. He activated his magic, taking steps into the air. He hurriedly went along, getting over the Pokémon that were bargained by Kane.

"Heh, guess this magic really is good." He realized, but his joy was cut short when he saw a glistening orange-like orb at the base of a Roggenrola's core. "Uh-oh…"

The Roggenrola launched the orb, hurling through the air and quickly struck Dereece. The impact of the Rock-type attack created an explosion, one that Dereece fell straight down from in a frantic wail. This time, no one caught him, and he plopped on his side like he fell out of bed.

"Owww…" he groaned weakly, stirring back up. "Smack Down…great." This was a problem for him. Yanma would be at a significant disadvantage if she were let into battle. He had to hurry and think, and fast. He pulled out a Poke Ball. "Okay, go Heracross!"

The Poke Ball popped open, revealing Dereece's Heracross at the ready. "You call?" he inquired curtly.

A wild Onix roared as it created a blue aura around its body, and soon two red auras flashed consecutively, via Curse. Some Roggenrola went for Headbutt, and others went shooting rocks, via Rock Throw. Heracross maneuvered all around them.

"Use Horn Attack!" Dereece commanded.

Heracross's horn glowed brightly and he aimed for the Roggenrola clustered beneath. He roared as he went to sunder like a missile, making an intense burst of rock and energy that sent them all flying off in various direction. "Like that." He said, but a shadow overhead caught his attention. When he looked up, he saw rocks falling from the ceiling. "GAH!" he shrieked as he fluttered out of the way, avoiding the crushing blows that shook the earth. He scurried through the atmosphere in a hurry, but was blown down when a Zubat daring enough swooped from the bite and had wings glowing, putting Heracross back on the ground with a thud.

Dereece tensed at the uneasiness he was feeling. "Oh man, not good…" He looked around, finding that he was being surrounded by bats that were alarmed by the battles. "Shoo! Shoo! Go away! Waaaah~!"

Duncan, however, looked around his surroundings. At the corner of his eye, a few Geodude went to attack, but being smart he gripped the makeshift wooden stick and used his Holding Magic to amplify its striking force. With one swing, he batted the Geodude away into the distance behind some more Geodude and Onix. They all slowly crept towards Duncan, but unlike the problem with Dereece, Duncan was keeping a strong perimeter.

Taking a glance around, he recognized that the number of Pokémon around him were drastically shorter than the wailing Dereece had. The Zubat themselves are barely getting down to him without being repulsed by some smell. 'That last Repel must be in effect still. Good.' Taking sheer advantage of this opportunity, Duncan pulled out a Poke Ball and threw it. "Gastrodon, Muddy Water!"

The capsule opened, summoning forth Gastrodon a second time. The Sea Slug Pokémon let out a cry as he raised his head almost immediately, summoning another vortex of brown water all around him. The attack spread about the area like a vicious blue whirlwind, swallowing up all the Pokémon in the area.

As the waves diminished in the distance, Duncan continued looking around, finding that even more wild Pokémon were being attracted now. He looked left, and then right, and his glare hardened in a fury. "Okay then…" he started. "Seems like we'll be getting some Exp. from these guys after all."

Chespin slid across the ground, avoiding Venipede's attack. He came to a halt, but Venipede blindsided him. He came from behind, forcing Chespin to spin out of the way. Venipede rolled back around and continued his onslaught, leaving Chespin little room to counter.

"Pidove, give him some cover! Gust!" Joey commanded.

"I shall obey, Master!" Pidove chirped, his wings glowing bright blue as he flapped them, summoning a strong wind at Venipede.

"Don't think we've anticipated this!" Kane rebuffed. "Buizel, use Sonic Boom!" His Buizel's tail glowed white, and he swung it, sending a large white shockwave up to the tempest that aimed for his teammate. The attack sliced until it dissipated with the winds, leaving a stalemate.

"Alright, use Quick Attack!"

"Buizel, Quick Attack!"

Both Pokémon either chirped or snickered. Afterimages followed the two as they soared at one another, colliding once with one another. They backed off, only to follow into parries with the other each second they collided. Pidove dove for Buizel again, and Buizel shot up for another interception. They both soared as they collided head-first with the other, leaving another stalemate that left the air to shudder. Moments later, after a long struggle, Buizel growled out and reared his head forward, sending Pidove paddling backwards in the air.

Buizel landed on a knee, smirking. "Got him."

Joey swiped his arm. "Chespin, block Venipede!"

"Aye!" He stood his ground and steeled himself as Venipede went rolling on ahead. "Alright, come get some!" Holding his arms out, Venipede went rolling into him. He caught Venipede in his clutches, tumbling considerably until the rolling came to a tough halt. With him in place, the next part could begin.

"Now use Bite!" Joey shouted. Chespin opened his maw, readying to bite down on his rival's exoskeleton.

"Not so fast there!" Kane shouted. "Use Sonic Boom!"

Buizel obeyed the command and this time swung his tail from the side, making a crescent-like shockwave travel across the ground on Chespin's side. By the time he registered the attack it had already hit him, making him airborne.

"Now, use Poison Sting!"

Venipede followed up next, hissing as he reared up on his lower-half and exerted poisonous purple barbs at Chespin. The attack landed a clean mark, sending Chespin sliding back in pain. He groaned as he tried standing, whereas Pidove regained some balance. Kane's Pokémon returned to their positions again.

Joey saw how beaten up his Pokémon were. He grunted in annoyance. 'He's gotten stronger for sure.'

"As you can see, Joey, I have taken measures in counteracting your Pokémon." Kane mockingly explained. "Now, let's see who's the brilliant mastermind this time! Buizel, Growl! Venipede, Rollout!"

Buizel released another shrilling cry that distorted through the air towards Chespin and Pidove again, lowering their Attack stats further. As they were in distress, Venipede me another attempt at rolling across the ground, this time into Pidove. Kane eagerly smirked.

"Well we've got some new tricks as well!" Joey reached out. "Chespin, Leech Seed!"

Chespin slid in front of Pidove, glaring at Venipede. "Alright, roll yourself out of this!" He took a deep breath, exhaling green seeds that dropped on the ground where Venipede was heading towards. The attack sprouted out of the ground, snaring Venipede and making him hiss as vines and roots tangled him up.

"What's this?!" Kane gasped. "My sweet Venipede!"

Venipede hissed and struggled to break free of his hold on the roots snaring his body. Unable to break free, Chespin felt himself get restored a little. This was their chance, and Joey saw that. "Use Rollout!"

"You got it!" Chespin curled into a ball, rolling right along into Venipede. The super-effective Rock-type attack scored a crisp blow in his face, sending him flying onto his back, much to Kane's horror.

"VENIPEDE!" he shrieked. He saw Venipede struggle to get up as Chespin began rolling about. Anger rising, his glare darkened as he reached forward. "Give Venipede some cover! Buizel, Sonic Boom!" Buizel's tail glowed and he swung it around, sending a crescent at Pidove to keep him occupied.

Seeing the shockwave head their way, and knowing that their Attack was reduced, Joey had to act fast. "We gotta block…" he tensed up for the next move. "Pidove, try Steel Wing!"

"I shall obey, Master!" Pidove saw the shockwave head his way, readying himself. Remembering his training, Pidove's wings began shimmering a weak metallic gray coating. He chirped loudly as he soared at the shockwave. With a cry, his wings busted through, dissipating it and leaving him to bolt towards Buizel.

"It worked! Alright!" Joey cheered. "Pidove, Steel Wing!"

Pidove cried out as he closed the gap with Buizel with his wings glowing. He was close, but before impact, his wings faded back to normal, the energy dissipating. Shocked by this, Pidove lost balance, to which Buizel took advantage of and jumped atop the misbalanced bird.

"Use Sonic Boom!" Kane commanded.

Buizel let out a cry as he spun in the air, creating a white shockwave directly above that Pidove was unable to handle. The shockwave's impact sent Pidove to the ground, crying upon his terrible thud.

"Pidove!" Joey shrieked. He mentally cursed himself upon the faulty move he called for. Choosing to focus on the battle than his lacks, he reached forward. "Chespin, cover him! Rollout!"

Chespin continued rolling throughout the ground's wake, churning gravel as he spun faster into Venipede. The leeched centipede remained still as his prey came for him.

"You know…" Kane smirked. "You didn't really think we didn't have a backup plan, did you?"

"What?" Joey gasped.

Kane reached forward. "Alright, Protect!" Venipede's eyes opened and he created a translucent turquoise shield. The rolling Chespin struck the shield with intense force, but the barrier didn't break. Instead, Chespin ricocheted back into the air, crying out form the repulse.

"Venipede learned Protect?!" Joey exclaimed, but he saw that Buizel was already set. "Snap! Chespin look out!"

"Too late! Use Sonic Boom!"

Buizel let out a cry as he spun his tail yet again, sending a white shockwave into Chespin from the side yet again. Chespin was too slow to act before the attack struck him with deep force. The shockwave sent him doubling over onto his stomach, several meters from Joey. He grunted in pain, even while some of Venipede's energy was sapped again back to him. Buizel and a slightly shaken Venipede regrouped, facing Chespin as he was struggling to stand.

"Chespin…" Joey looked over, seeing even Pidove a little disoriented as he was trying to get up.

"It's over, Captain Joey." Kane's voice alerted Joey's attention. "Despite your remarkable gifts…you could never fathom what it takes to have real ambition. So now I'll show you…" he reached forward. Getting ready to command his Pokémon around the dazed Chespin. "Venipede! Buizel! Time to finish up once and for all!"

Joey was losing precious time, as well as patience. He looked back to see Dereece being overwhelmed by the cavernous Pokémon, and Duncan was doing just fine without any help. Their team was so scattered, and Joey was seeing Chespin surrounded as Venipede hissed, and Buizel bent his knees for the final strike. When he looked over again, he saw Pidove in the distance. As dizzy as he was, the bird was given no attention. Perhaps Joey did have a chance after all.

"Pidove! Stop them!"

Pidove's dizzy expression turned upright when he heard Joey's command. He saw him pointing to Buizel and Venipede as they surrounded their ally. Asif oblivious to all else, Pidove stood up. "I must obey master!" he took off ahead of them, ascending above to attack.

"Now what?" Kane scoffed. "Buizel, stop that buffoon of a bird!"

Buizel and Venipede looked up at Pidove, seeing him over their heads. They readied and attack, but they saw Pidove had his eyes closed before they flashed open. With a loud chirp, Pidove cried out as he flapped his wings, sending-shaped light blue crescents at them.

"What the-?!"

Buizel gasped in shock. He pivoted and fired yet another Sonic Boom, but the crescents Pidove shot were in greater numbers and strength. The crescents rained down with deep force, impacting Buizel with explosive results. The crescents reached for Venipede, but he whipped up another Protect, shielding himself while Buizel went flipping into a feral scream overhead.

"What?! No!" Kane screamed, watching Buizel thud on his back, fainted. He looked ahead, horrified at what happened. "He…he took him out. With just one Air Cutter."

"Air Cutter?" Joey looked at Pidove, completely shocked. "Woah, that's awesome! Pidove, you learned Air Cutter!"

Finally given room, Chespin looked up to his savior. "Pidove, you…you saved me! Again!"

Dereece screamed as he was overwhelmed by the sand that the Roggenrola were all shooting at him. He was coughing as Heracross could barely keep up. Zubat swarmed around their heads, hissing ad waiting for the dust to clear.

"Muddy Water!"

The sounds of roaring water washed away everything. Dereece and Heracross covered up as a rush of brown water encompassed everything around them, including the wild inhabitants. They were spared as the waves bypassed them. Once the waves cleared, the Pokémon surrounding them were all downed, except those who had Sturdy. They were pushed back a fair distance, more than enough for Dereece and Heracross to regroup.

"Heracross, wha…" Dereece looked over, seeing the culprit and his Pokémon walk up. "Duncan!"

A rogue Onix shook its head, still holding on from that wave. Blinded with an accuracy loss, Duncan casually walked forward and swatted his wooden sword with Holding magic. The added force, downed the Onix, making the ground shake.

This sunder had another effect, one that made tunnels within the cavern have a very weak vibration. The thud was heard from another distance, this one alarming something in the dark. It growled low, as if annoyed.

Duncan disregarded his defeated opponent, looking at his hand as the wooden sword was chipped. "To much power." He said lightly, before a Geodude came from the side, only for his Gastrodon to Body Slam it. Even then he remained calm.

"Buizel!" Kane got to his knees, looking down at his defeated Buizel with shock. "What have they done to you? Hurry and rest!" He hurriedly recalled Buizel, leaving him and Venipede to battle. "Well now, seems you have done it now. Kudos on your 'talents' at dumb luck." He balled his fist. "But now, this is-!"

"Kroooaahh!"

A loud echo shrilled through the caverns. This alarmed everyone there, stopping them from their battles.

Joey went wide-eyed. "Uh…that wasn't my stomach.

The echoing roar bellowed again, alarming the wild Pokémon even.

A chill went up Dereece's spine. "Oh no…what now?" he whined. He looked towards Duncan, seeing as how he seemed deathly serious. He looked back to the direction of the roar in the distance.

Many of them in the area began to scuttle away, whereas Onix began to grow weary. They could feel an ominous chill run up and down their bodies as they stared with uncertainty at the direction of the echo. The low growls coming from one of the tunnels made it clear that something was heading their way.

Joey looked over at Kane, figuring that it might be his fault. But by the stumped look he had, he could feel this wasn't his doing. He looked concerningly at the growing noise.

In front of Kane, Venipede began hissing. "What are you talking about?" Kane asked, to which Venipede hissed and squealed. "You mean…" his face began paling. "Oh dear. Seems this situation has gone out of control."

"KRROOOAAAH!"

The entire cavern shuddered at the soundwaves that shrilled through the cavern. The entire underground pulsated uncontrollably those with great hearing could feel their ears bleed. Joey, having hearing aids, reached in and lowered the input, lowering the volume to a muffled bit. He looked ahead, his eyes widening at their uninvited guest wandering out of a rogue tunnel.

It appeared to have been a rather large, bipedal Pokémon. It was primarily purple with yellow accents on the body and sides. It had massive tubes running all throughout the head, including two massive tube-like tails. The being had a massive, gaping mouth with two teeth on the top and bottom.

Upon seeing the Pokémon, Dereece paled. "An…Exploud?!"

"WHO'S MAKING ALL THAT NOISE?!" the loquacious creature boomed, loud enough to quake the earth beneath them. The shockwaves of its roar sent small airwaves traveling across the ground, blowing away some Geodude.

Uneased by all this, Joey pulled out his PokeDex, analyzing the third party in this fight.

"Exploud, the Loud Noise Pokémon. Exploud triggers earthquakes with the tremors it creates by bellowing. If this Pokémon violently inhales from the ports on its body, it's a sign that it is preparing to let loose a huge bellow."

Seeing this made a shiver went up Joey's spine. He remembered the last time he got into an incident with an Exploud when he was so young. Just the mere thought made him subconsciously graze his hearing aids.. Such a scary memory that he never wanted to go through again.

Exploud took in a deep exhale, taking up as much air as he possibly could. Once he was ready, he quickly went to attack.

"Joey, make a barrier, now!" Duncan screamed.

"Uh, r-right!" Joey reached out, surrounding himself, his Pokémon, and a gathered Dereece and Duncan and their Pokémon in another hemisphere of barrier.

"Hey! What about me?!" Kane screamed, but he looked over and his eyes widened in shriveling fear. "Oh dear…"

Exploud shrilled a loud, menacing roar, one that shook the cavernous domain and all the inhabitants that lived in the area. Its Roar attack shrilled through the atmosphere, causing many Pokémon to either be blown away by the shockwaves or flee in fright. The rampaging area calmed itself soon, leaving nothing but dust and dirt to clear to reveal nothing but the defeated Pokémon within the area that Duncan had already took care of, leaving nothing but Loudred still standing.

Off to the side, Kane was on the ground with Venipede, both stirring awake. "Gnngh…what happened?" He looked around, gasping in despair. "No…my reinforcements!" he looked at Exploud. "This wasn't part of the deal! Who are you to interfere with me and my nemesis' epic battle?"

The Exploud turned towards Kane, his annoyed look serving to give a less than pleasing vibe. Almost immediately Kane regretted provoking it, because it raised it foot and prepared to stomp down on Kane.

"Look out!" Joey screamed for his rival.

Kane quickly pulled out a lighter, and in an instant, the little ember went out on command. Everything went pitch-black as Exploud's Stomp stamped on something hard. When the lights came on, Loudred and everyone looked down, finding that Kane and Venipede weren't there.

"Looking for something?" Turning towards a cliff's edge, Exploud and everyone looked up to find Kane and Venipede perfectly fine.

"How'd he get there so quick?" Dereece wondered.

Joey briefly remembered this trick. Back a little while ago, he recalled when Kane left his room when the lights went off. It was only now when he finally picked up the pattern. 'Wait…if that's his magic, does this mean he can teleport using lights or something?' He was cut off when Exploud took in a deeper breath. "Oh snap!"

Exploud expelled another omnidirectional shout, shrilling shockwaves all throughout the atmosphere. The shockwaves made the ground tremble in fear, as well as made everyone inside Joey's barrier cover their ears, except Joey. The shockwaves were enough to make the ground beneath Kane and Venipede crumble away. They cried out and fell, before Kane managed to grab hold of a small ledge and dangled with Venipede on the end of his coat, whereas the rocks fumbled straight down to the bottom. He looked down, looking a little frightened.

Duncan and Dereece grunted inside Joey's barrier, along with their Pokémon. They all could hear the tremors and the pulsating pressure banging against their feet. It was enough to mistake for a dynamite eruption. As everyone was immobilized inside the barrier, Joey's hearing aids were dropped to zero. In his ears, all that was heard was the constant ringing. Everything around him had no other sound. He looked around to find his other Pokémon were also incapable of doing anything. This opponent's Hyper Voice was strong. Very strong.

Being a deaf Barrier-Make Mage had advantages, but not for those inside who could still hear. 'I gotta do something. The sound is still getting through.' Joey was on pins and needles as Exploud's tremors ripped through the earth constantly. 'Man, all I can do is defend!' Joey was at a total loss here; outmatched with Exploud's very high level.

The Normal-type readied a steady charge, rampaging after his opponents. Each step he took shook the ground in a fury, and Joey only swallowed as everyone else was still disoriented. 'It's all down to me…' Images of Broly again flashed. His teeth began gritting. He held his ground as Exploud closed in.

Just as the rampaging beast closed in, something held him back.

"What…?" Heracross muttered.

Exploud grunted as he felt something pull on his tail tube. "GNGH! WHAT?!" he shook, but it didn't loosen the hold. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Before he could expel a roar, a harsh force dragged him into the air, hurling him into the ground with a thud so impacting that those who watched flinched at how harsh that was.

"Oh! That's gotta hurt!" Dereece winced.

Joey looked at the savior of their overwhelming opponent, which looked like a long, sticky string that wiggled away. Almost immediately, it clicked. 'Wait, that tongue…!' He and everyone followed the tongue to the darkness of a wall nearby, almost completely disappearing from sight. 'Was that…?'

A figure stepped forward. "I thought something was fishy." A voice called out from the darkness. "So then you staged all this."

Everyone turned around at the voice. When they turned, their eyes lit up upon seeing a person with short spiky black hair with the deepest, heartfelt blue eyes, and yet he looked so calmly as he walked up to them.

Joey rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "N-Nic-senapi?!" He was taken back by Nic casually walking up to them. "H-how d-d-d-did you…?"

Kane was still dangling, his eyes shooting wide upon seeing and feeling who this person was. 'That's Nic Pularis, in the flesh?!'

Seeing how they were all gathered and partially scraped, Nic scanned The Freaks, ignoring Duncan's cold stare. "You guys alright?"

Dereece, barely able to comprehend the situation, slowly nodded. "Y-yeah, we're good." He answered. "But…how did you find us?" From the corner of his eye, he saw something fade into view besides Nic, tilting her head oddly. "Wait, is that…?"

Nic pet Kecleon's cheek using the bottom of his knuckles. "I had Kecleon tail you just in case." Nic answered promptly. "Sorry, I know this wasn't my business…" he looked at Joey. "But when I saw Joey down at the market today, I thought something went wrong. That's when I went to that tavern and learned about the truth." He shot a look at Kane, who was kicking and grunting up on the cliff. "So he's the one who paid them that sum to talk smack about the guild, that right?"

Kane was unable to answer. He was kicking frustratingly at the air. He and Venipede just couldn't pull themselves together to even answer right now.

Kecleon noticed Exploud getting up, her head tilting in curiosity. "The stereo system got rebooted."

Nic glanced over, seeing Exploud in fact rising up, and he looked more pissed than ever. Turning with seriousness, he readied for battle. "I'll explain more later. Right now, we've gotta wrap this up. You guys okay with this?"

Joey and Dereece slowly nodded nervously. Though Duncan wouldn't admit it, he was vaguely disappointed with the interference, but out of respect of Nic's status, he voluntarily backed off this time.

"Alright, thanks." Getting the message, Nic glared forward. "Kecleon."

Exploud let out another shriek of anger. "MORE NOISE!" he stomped ahead, charging at Kecleon in the way. "YOU ALL ARE MAKING TOO MUCH NOISE~!"

He raised a foot over Kecleon's head, stomping down onto her. However, that was put to a halt when Kecleon reached up with one clawed paw, stopping Exploud's foot in place with just the limb alone. He blinked once, frozen in place when he saw the creepy crane in Kecleon's neck. He paled in fright.

"Use Brick Break!" Nic roared.

Pulling her spare arm back, Kecleon balled the claws as the entire arm glowed bright white. Straightening her head, she let loose an impact straight into Exploud's head, creating a bone-shrilling shockwave and tremor that made dust and dirt spread all around. The shock from the overwhelming strength sent Exploud whistling skywards. He was nothing but a purple blur that shit up to the ceiling of the deep cavern, creating a massive crater that crushed the stalactite beneath. The echo of that attack was so dense that everything went silent again.

Kane stared up in shock, almost forgetting to maintain his hold. The Freaks stared up at the defeated Exploud embedded in the ceiling by that one move, catered by the green creature that adjusted – which slowly craned her head to the side again, blinking twice like nothing happened. They were at a loss for words alone. Dereece swore his heart stopped for a second.

"Woah." He gasped.

"Yeah, you can say that again." Joey muttered. He looked at Nic's back, seeing how calm he was about the situation. It made him envious as well as scared at the same time. 'Nic-senpai and Kecleon are so strong…'

Slowly, gravity began to work against Exploud. The creature got torn from the ceiling, leaving the crater to collapse upon itself. Rocks started falling from great heights, plummeting down from the ceiling that was starting to shudder.

"O-oh snap! This is bad!" Dereece shakily warned.

Duncan looked around, seeing rocks crumbled around them. "This cavern's roof is coming down!"

Snapping out of momentary shock, Joey went wide-eyed. "GAH! You're right! I'm too young and pretty to die!" he wailed.

Nic jumped to their side, glowing and reverting to his Earth Form. "Everyone stay close, and hurry after me!" Nic raised both arms into the air. "Dig!" Using his bare hands, he sundered into the ground, creating a hole that was bored through. "Hurry!" Nic shouted through the hole.

"Return!" Joey and Dereece quickly returned their Pokémon to their Poke Balls; Duncan did as well with Gastrodon. Without complaint, Joey and Dereece jumped into the hole, just before rocks fell to bury it.

"W-wait! What about me?!" Kane shouted, but the ground shuddered beneath, terrifying him. Looking up, he saw a huge piece of the ceiling crumble onto him, panicking him to trying and reach for his lighter. The light turned on, and just as the rocks came down, Kane screamed in fright before all went black.


The shuddering was dimmed outside as a hole opened on the side of the entrance. The hole flooded out dirt and soil, before Nic and Kecleon jumped out, the former reverting to his normal self. He looked back, seeing Joey and Dereece tumble out, the big latter being used as a cushion for Joey's fall.

"Oh…" Dereece felt air inflate his belly as he rolled over after Joey got up. "Yup…I'm fine." He grunted.

Joey labored in breath, completely out of oxygen from that near-death experience he just narrowly escaped. "That was a close one!" he wheezed, leaning back against the wall. "I thought I was gonna be a pancake…"

Nic stood off to the side, remaining rather quiet for them to catch their breaths. Being respectful of their space, he chose to leave them be as he nodded at Kecleon for a job well done. Once she was returned, he looked back to see them on their feet.

"You okay, Dereece?" Joey asked.

Dereece coughed as he brushed his huge shorts off. "Yeah, I'm fine. All thanks to that guy." He gestured his eyes towards Nic.

Joey looked over, finally processing Nic's appearance. "N-Nic-senpai! Y-you saved us! Again!"

"You sure you guys are okay?" Nic asked again.

Joey was thrown off by Nic's inquiry. "W-why wouldn't I be? I-I mean I'm not broken or anything…"

Nic frowned. "Sorry, I meant about what they said about you."

Joey trailed off from Nic's testament. He slowly realized what he meant, about the tavern incident. His face began to fall when he couldn't hide his feelings.

"I was honestly worried you know." Nic admitted. "It's okay to be honest, Joey…I won't judge you for what you did…" his brow furrowed. "But condoning what you also did is something else. You realize what you did, right?"

Joey held his arm, a shadow overcasting his shame in front of Nic as he swallowed a lump. "N-Nic-senpai…I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry or anything. I-I was just…"

"Upset, I know. In all honesty, I feel the same as you." He snapped Joey back to facing him with shock. "You know, you can talk all the smack about me as much as you want, I couldn't care less one bit…but if you talk about my friends or my guild like that, that's another story."

Joey swallowed another lump. "But…but I hate it when people talk badly about you, Nic-senpai. I really do." He gave Nic a pleading stare, almost desperate. "How do you handle that? How do you handle all these emotions just bottling up inside of you?"

Nic blinked at Joey's question. He rubbed the side of his head as he looked away. "Well…that's a good question."

"Because he's more mature and less compulsive, that's why." The sound came from behind. Turning around, everyone saw Dereece standing outside the cavern entrance, not a single scratch on him.

"Duncan?" Dereece gasped. He looked at the hole, then back at him. "But I thought you…"

In Duncan's hand, there was a think brown laced rope. "I used an Escape Rope to get out. Unlike our Captain, I actually came prepared." He looked specifically at Joey, walking pass Nic to stand in front of Joey. "And I can't believe that you let yourself get caught up in something as ridiculous as this trap setup by a second rate creep."

"Duncan." Dereece growled.

"It was enough that you let your little emotion spree run wild that you took it out on something as a job, but dragging us along when you yourself wasn't prepared is just plain pathetic. You should be grateful that you're still allowing Nic to hold your hand as he is now, otherwise if not for him, you'd be dead. Unlike you, he actually has experience, and he thinks two steps ahead at the very least. If you're really looking to match up to someone like him, you're mindsets' the first thing to get fixed."

"That's enough Duncan!" Dereece shouted.

A strong silence fell around the group. The atmosphere's tension grew adhesively cold, one that could make one lower their heads. Joey especially was this example.

Seeing Dereece's stare against him, Duncan closed his eyes and turned away. "Just speaking the truth."

Nic remained silent as he glanced from Duncan to Joey.

Joey, finally taking in a sigh, slowly stood up, though his head was still down in shame. "…you're right." He nodded acceptingly. "I…I messed up again. I'm sorry I dragged you both to my problems. I wasn't thinking at first. I just…wanted to show how strong I can become…but it turns out I went down that wrong path again." He sighed mournfully again. "And now look. I put you guys in harm's way…"

"Joey…" Dereece moved to him, but Nic beat him to it.

Joey expected a big scolding from Nic, especially with how reckless he was. He closed his eyes, waiting for what will happen. Moments later, he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He opened his eyes as Nic had his head down.

"If it makes you feel better…I think you did just fine in there."

Joey's eyes widened. "You…do?"

Nic nodded. "Yeah. To be honest, I wasn't planning on interfering at all until Exploud showed up. I was keeping an eye ever since you guys went into the cave." Nic recalled when Kecleon came and got him. Using his Ground/Rock Form, he embedded into the caves and watched the team from the walls. "I told you that my style's all about improvising, right? You did just that with your magic. You held it together all the way up to that battle. And that goes to your teammates as well." He shot a look at Duncan, who scoffed. Dereece rubbed the back of his head. "So Joey, just because you've made a mistake, doesn't mean to have to out yourself down so hard. I won't say what you did wasn't the wisest thing…but I can't condone all of what Duncan said either." Again, he shot a look at the Trainer. "I have trouble handling my emotions at times as well, and, well, I still struggle at times…but I don't let them eat me from inside, because I have people who love and worry about me. And believe it or not, Joey, you're one of those people we all worry about."

Joey's eyes shrunk to the side of peas, his cheeks flourishing. "I…I am?!"

Nic smiled. "Yeah." He pulled away, crossing his arms. "To be honest, I'm not too tethered to my guild as my wife is, but I still look out for them the best I can. We're people who you can turn to, Joey. And we don't take lightly to being messed with. If someone is being talked smack about Joey, especially from our guild…" he trailed off, turning away. "Well…to be honest, I'm not the guy you should ask that part about. That's for you to decide. You have a mind of your own, so you can make that choice, whether good or bad. Got it?"

Hearing Nic's speech to him left Joey completely stoned. He didn't even know what to say until he slowly evolved a smile across his face. Out of respect, he bowed to Nic. "Thank you very much!" he shouted.

"Alright. So I guess that also means that you can fair well now for yourself. You're on your own for training from here, can you manage that?"

Joey nodded in encouragement. "Yeah. I'll be just fine now. Thanks, Nic-senpai."

Nic smiled. "Don't mention it. If anything troubles you…don't keep it bottled up to yourself. I realized something during my time in Fairy Tail, talking to someone, even when you don't want to, really does help."

Dereece took in a big sigh. "Phew. Well, glad that's over with," he looked back at the cavern entrance. "Still…Kane really was crafty. He staged a whole setup. I don't even wanna know if he got out of there so-AH!" he floored, having been hit by some rocks that fumbled from the hole Nic made.

"Ouch! Hey, Dereece, you okay pal?" Joey knelt down, nudging his buddy. "Dereece?" He looked at the rocks, which got his attention. "What the…?"

Nic stepped forward. "What is it?"

Joey picked up the few rocks, looking at their intriguing symbols and accents on them. He squinted, trying to recall their pictures. "Wait a minute…" His brain began thinking back to the pictures of the video games he played in his childhood. He went wide-eyed when he recognized the patterns. "Guys! Hold it! I just found something!"

Duncan raised a brow. "What now?"

"Take a look at these?" He gave a rock to Nic first, then to Duncan. They looked at the various patterns. For Nic, his was a shield-like plate. For Duncan, it looked a lot like a sail. And for Joey it looked like it a fang or some scary pattern on it.

Nic gasped. "…fossils?"

"Yeah! Pokémon fossils!" Joey cheered. "Can you believe this?!" He smiled wide. "First Chespin and Pidove learn new moves, now we're finding fossils in this world too! Man this is so cool!" he snickered in delight.

Duncan looked down at the fossil, but he chose to divert the gesture towards Nic. "So what do we do?"

Nic furrowed his brow. "Honestly, not sure myself. First Pokémon, now fossils are being brought up." he chose to make a decision. "I think this is a job for the Cambire Foundation to sort out. Maybe we'll get some hints on how they got embedded into the soil and the caves."

Duncan shrugged. "Fine with me."

Joey then thought of something. "Wait a sec…" he looked back at the cavern entrance, staring at the darkness inside. "Were these found in there? Or did they fell out of Kane's pockets when he teleported?" he rubbed the back of his head in confusion. "Then I guess that means they would've been found elsewhere, huh?"

Nic wasn't so sure himself, but rather than dwell on it further, he chose to look at the fossil one more time before taking in a moment's worth of serenity. He pondered deeply about something; it was just a thought, but one that could spell a revolution. But right here wasn't the place to think about it. He needed some time, as well as space. "Now then…" he turned and walked back towards the forest. "We should be getting back soon. My wife's expecting me to bake the ribs tonight…otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from her."

The Freaks understood. They could settle this fossil discovery at another date. For now, it was getting late, and they were hungry. With Dereece finally regaining some consciousness, Joey supported him as they slowly trekked back home. But before they got too far, Joey took one more glance back at the cavern's darkness, He didn't know why, but he felt like this wasn't the last of Kane.

Disregarding his wonders, he picked up the pace. "Hey, don't leave your Captain hanging! Not cool!"


Deep inside Caol Tunnel, it was still dark, save for the one candle light from a wick that Kane held. After the inner caverns had collapsed upon themselves, he narrowly escaped the carnage, but not without some heavy loss. He sat on a lone rock on the edge of a huge wall of boulders where the safety tape ended, marking where the whole cave-in happened.

Venipede crawled up to him, hissing in an upsetting manner. He looked upset.

"Shhh, it's alright, no need to cry, my Venipede." Kane picked up his precious Venipede, softly blowing air misses at the centipede, who began to purr and coo softly in return. "It'll work out. Believe me, I know how you feel." He softly stroked Venipede's face, making him purr louder. "We've been duped by our own logic yet again by Joey's genius. And what's worse, it seems that our beloved fossil collection has been misplaced in the rubble. How sad. Perhaps we've given this a little too much thought." He brushed his sharp chin with his fingers as he glanced off. "Instead of targeting Joey, I believe what we've should've done is take care of that Pidove. That's twice now that the little mindless drone of a bird has swooped in and saved that excuse of a man!" he angrily paced around, fuming with his raised tone. "But to do that, we're going to have to find a defense or it…but how?"

Suddenly, the rubble behind began to shake. Both turned startled and backed away as the rocks began shifting. It looked like something was digging itself out. Kane and Venipede remained weary as they saw it shift and churn, until it finally came out.

"Gnnnnngh! C'mon, c'mon…" with a frustrated grunt, the Roggenrola shot out of the dead end with a loud 'POP' sound. He fumbled to the ground on his back, kicking and gaining momentum to jump onto his feet again. "Phew! Man that was cramped!" he looked around, realizing he wasn't with other Roggenrola. "Hey, where is everyone?" he looked up to see a confused Kane and Venipede staring him down. "Huh? Oh! You guys! You're the ones who gave us those delicious stones! How ya doing?"

Kane blinked in surprise. He slowly turned towards Venipede and they began stirring up something. Slowly, a dark smirk crept onto Kane's face as he fiddled his fingers together, humming at Roggenrola.

Roggenrola, seeing his mischievous gesture, tilted his head. "Um…hello?"

"Venipede." Kane said. "I do believe that I have found a solution after all…"

Kane started a low chuckle, to which began expanding to an insidious laughter. Venipede soon joined in, both rejoicing in yet another masterful plan to take down Joey once and for all. All while Roggenrola nervously chuckled, no idea that he was to be part of something grand in a mastermind's life.


Alright, so here's the last chapter of the Joey Arc! I wrapped up a bit of Joey's personal character development, at least enough to show how sensitive he is, yet at the same time while he has become serious and is being himself from last chapter, that he still has to be prepared for himself in the future. So if you guys were looking for an overall agenda of Joey, this was the message.

As you saw, a lot of Pokémon learned new moves again, including Joey's Chespin and Pidove! Hope you guys liked the attention they and Dereece's Pokémon got!

Alright, now that Joey's little arc is over with, Nic can finally get back upfront and lead everyone to the next arc, the Glacidia Arc but before that, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take a little step back for a while and work some stuff out. December is here, and I have some art and some holiday matters to attend to. Plus I have to plan the next few arcs. So I will be updating again this month, but I don't know when. In the meantime, bear with me and I'll be sure to make sure this next arc really knock your footwear off!

I also chose to finally end the poll, so to those who voted and gave your thoughts, thanks again!

Okay, for real though, please share your thoughts in a review, let me know what you thought of how I made Joey learn his lessons these last two chapters, and I'll see you guys next time! XD