I started writing the first draft of this a long time ago. In one of the battles, one character sets up a ruse. I'd forgotten all about that part. As I was reading through to edit, I ended up falling for the ruse too. Past me would have beat present me.

Polaris-Ponyta, Shira-Reshiram, Mia-Cubone, Marin-Primarina, Lunick-Rockruff, Zetty-Rotom Dex

Chapter 6: Stampede

We rode out of Paniola Town the next morning, me on Polaris and Ben and Hari on Tauros. Beyond the outskirts of town were endless pastures. The sign proclaimed this area "Paniola Ranch." Tauros and Miltank filled the pastures, grazing or napping in the sun. At the sight of them, Ben's Tauros pricked up his ears with interest and stuck his head through the fence. A nearby Tauros raised his head and moved closer. I watched, making sure there were no hostilities. Tauros can be pretty territorial. But the two of them just sniffed each other.

"Welcome to Paniola Ranch." Ben, Hari and I looked over to find a ranch worker who was at work raking the field.

"Thanks." Ben said. "These are some beautiful Tauros.

The man stopped raking and came over to chat. "You've got a nice looking Tauros yourself."

"Thanks. I've had him almost ten years now. He took part in the Kanto Pokémon League with me."

"No wonder he looks so healthy! This isn't an Alolan Tauros then?"

Ben shook his head. "No, we're both from Kanto."

The guy nodded. "Did you know that the Alolan Tauros are calmer than those from other regions?"

Ben raised his eyebrows. "I didn't! My Tauros has less temper than most, but a lot of that has to do with help from my friends." He gestured to Hari and I. Since we could talk to Tauros, we were pretty good at steering him away from rampages. But Ben didn't explain that part.

Another Tauros came up to the fence to investigate. I reached through to pet his thick mane. They were more quiet and curious than the Tauros I was used to.

In the distance, there was a thundering BOOM. The Tauros and Miltank in further pastures began bellowing. The note of fear in their cries was obvious. All of the Pokémon nearby straightened up, alert. The ranch worker propped his rake against the fence and jogged in the direction of the noise. Ben, Hari and I looked at each other. Then we urged Tauros and Polaris to follow. The next pasture down had become a cloud of dust as Tauros and Miltank stampeded back and forth. At first I had no idea what was happening. Then I saw movement in the grass. Small Pokémon were darting back and forth, snapping at legs and stirring up a frenzy. I reached for a Pokéball, then paused. There was something else. Across the pasture, the fence was broken. There were people standing at the fence. People dressed in black with skull-shaped beanies. It was those same goons I'd seen in Hau'oli City. Team Skull. They were using their Pokémon to try and drive Tauros and Miltank out of the pasture.

"What the-" the ranch hand had just arrived and stared in bewilderment.

I hissed and urged Polaris forward. She leapt over the fence and thundered toward the small Pokémon in the grass. As we ran, I pulled out Marin's Pokéball. Polaris fell on the nearest of Team Skull's Pokémon – a Salandit. She sent it flying with a powerful kick. I sent out Marin, giving him some quick instructions through telepathy. He began making a fence out of his bubbles to keep the rest of the herd in the pasture. The he turned his bubbles against Team Skull, trying to chase them off. A moment later, Ben's Pigeot appeared in the sky and swooped down at the gang from above.

Polaris turned to the next Pokémon. A Passimian, which faced Polaris, wary. Polaris spat embers, careful not to catch the grass on fire. She hoped to spook the opponent into running. Passimian jumped out of the way and started throwing stones from the ground. Polaris dodged, but a stone bit into my arm and I felt blood start to run. Polaris snorted in anger and sent out a blast of fire. She aimed high, not hitting the grass, but Passimian ducked. Frustrated, Polaris charged, sending Passimian tumbling across the ground. We wheeled to face the third Pokémon – a Rattata. But it turned and fled, chattering in alarm. It ran toward one of the Team Skull grunts and climbed onto his shoulder. Rattata's trainer turned to face me. All of the grunts had masks, which continued the skull charade by giving the impression of bare teeth. But the frightened Rattata knocked loose the mask in her agitation. Her trainer stood frozen, and was staring at me. Polaris pulled up in front of him and I gaped back. It was Julio.

"Are you freaking kidding me!" I snarled. Julio took a step back. Was I just imaging it, or did he look ashamed?

The beaten Salandit and Passimian skittered to his side. One of the other Skull grunts shouted, "hey, Gladion, you're the hired muscle! Get over here!"

I looked in the direction of the shout and saw a blonde boy in tattered clothes. Julio seized the opportunity to retreat with his Pokémon, joining the rest of the Team Skull. Before I could do anything to stop their retreat, something dropped out of the sky and crashed beside us. Polaris spun around to face it. It was Ben's Pigeot, unconscious. I gaped, and movement caught my eye. A Pokémon was attacking Marin. A Pokémon I'd never seen before. Its forelegs had hooked talons, while the back legs were claws. The tail looked fish-like, and it had a mane. But its head was encased in a helmet with piercing eyes gleaming through dark slits. The Pokémon gave me the chills. Something was wrong with him. And he attacked Marin with ruthless ferocity. I urged Polaris forward and started giving Marin directions. He used his bubbles to hold off attacker, but the strange Pokémon smashed through them and hit Marin with Iron Head. Marin went down.

I slipped off of Polaris's back and she thundered forward to meet this strange, brutal opponent. He lunged, but she dodged out of the way and hit it from behind with Flamethrower.

"Null!" Shouted the boy Gladion. "Use Crush Claw!"

Null whirled and clawed at Polaris, but she slipped out of range and hit him head-on with Fire Blast. Null staggered backwards, shaking his head and hissing. Then he charged again. There didn't seem to be any thought behind his movements. He was moving in blind rage. The attacks came fast and hard, but they were blunt enough that Polaris managed to dodge or deflect most of them. When Null slashed with his claws again, Polaris leapt into the air with Bounce.

"Sandstorm!" Gladion shouted.

Null whipped up the dirt in the pasture, making it difficult for Polaris to see him. But she spotted movement and flew down with the full force of her hooves. Null staggered away, retreating into the dim depths of the sandstorm. Polaris backed toward me, watching and waiting. But nothing happened. As the seconds dragged on, I realized what was happening.

"Polaris!" I shouted. She galloped toward me and I swung onto her back. She charged through the sandstorm, but we didn't see anything. And as the dust in the air settled, it became clear that Team Skull had fled. I cursed as we stopped at the broken fence. I didn't see any sign of them. I was half-tempted to go after them, but that was a job for the police. Polaris turned back. Ben and Hari had helped herd the remaining Tauros and Miltank to the safe side of the pasture. The ranch worker from earlier was there, as were several other staff.

"Police are on their way," Ben said as we approached.

I nodded, then turned to the ranchers. "Those guys cleared out. If any of you can ride, we better look for any missing Miltank and Tauros. I'm not sure how many got out, or how many Team Skull managed to take."

They nodded and a couple of them climbed onto the backs of Tauros. Ben did the same with his Tauros. We galloped out of the hole in the fence. When we split up, I used telepathy to track down a couple wayward Miltank that were hiding in a thicket. We calmed them down and lead them back, then went to search some more.

When the police arrived, we gave a report. Only a couple of the ranch's Pokémon were still missing – probably taken. But the fact that Team Skull made off with them right under my nose made me shake with fury. But not as much as finding that Julio was one of them. I clenched my jaws so tight that my teeth grated off each other. I had to tell the police about him. I felt like such a moron. When we'd met Julio, he had even been wearing part of his Team Skull uniform! The black tank top and shorts. He was just missing the obvious touches like the hat and mask. But I also kept thinking about how guilty he looked when I recognized him. I found myself thinking of Fleur – my friend from Kalos. I thought she'd betrayed us and joined Team Flare. But she'd actually snuck in to spy. But that didn't seem possible in this case.

The ranch gave me some Moomoo milk for Marin and Polaris. The police turned us loose after we'd told them what we could, and Ben Hari and I headed down the road, silent. When we came to the crossroads, we stopped and faced each other. We'd always planned to split up here. I was going to the next trial, and they were heading back to Heahea City to continue their projects with Kukui. But it was such a bitter note to part on. We were all shaken up about Julio.

And then there was that strange Pokémon.