Operation GEAR: The Angel of Reckoning

by The Great Butler

A girl and her friends set out on a search for truth in a land torn apart by political and religious strife. However, they are unaware of what they are stepping into: the grasp of a terrifying, inescapable enemy that aims to bring down mankind's greatest achievement, the Pokemon League. Soon, the truth becomes clouded, and a desperate struggle for survival begins.

13. Sweet Little Lies

This is probably going to be a pretty long chapter, but on the other hand, there really isn't anything to warn for, aside from major XY spoilers. Get ready for this one…

-:-

CHAPTER 13: Sweet Little Lies

-:-

Goldenrod City took on a completely different appearance when under the sun's warm glow.

At night, it was a neon-laced metropolis, glowing so brightly that it could be seen from space. While the central part of the city retained its glory during the day, sunlight showed the uncomfortable truth of the slums surrounding it much more than the night did.

Matt, Nekou and Olivia, much like most of the other trainers and travelers who visited Goldenrod, were nestled away far from the concerns of the city's poorer section. The gigantic Pokémon Center was right at the heart of the city, cradled by its many distractions, which spread out in all directions.

Inside the building, the three were just entering the vast lobby after coming down from the floor where their room was. Many others were milling about the space, engaging in a wide range of activities from eating and watching television to playing with their Pokémon.

"Feels like forever since I've gotten a rest that refreshing," Matt said while yawning and stretching his arms. "I think I might actually miss that room when we leave here."

"Was your bed as comfortable as mine was?" Olivia asked, though it was unclear if she was directing it at Matt or Nekou. "Taking a shower and getting my hair cleaned out felt good enough, but then getting to sleep on that? I'd do it again and again."

"Olivia…" Matt said, becoming serious. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I got a good sleep and I feel completely better. Why would you think anything else?"

"Well…" Matt looked up at Nekou, who was looking back at him. Both of them had great concern in their eyes, but what he got from her was feeling that he shouldn't push the subject. "Yeah, I guess the beds were comfortable," he said, resigning himself to not pursuing his worries.

"I know mine was." Nekou assumed that Olivia was talking to her. "Plus, I can drink as much as I want in there and get away with it."

Matt sighed, though it was due to a mixture of frustration and amusement instead of just frustration. "What's different about that room? You drink all you want everywhere you go."

"You wouldn't know about drinking in small spaces." Much to Matt's surprise, Nekou was actually taking his question, which was intended as a tease, seriously. "Get drunk in small areas and things can get weird. Believe me when I say that you want space if you're getting fucking bombed."

"I guess I'll cede to the master on that subject, then."

Just then, Matt glanced over toward the bank of videophones against one of the walls and did a double-take. There weren't many people there, but he swore he recognized one of the few that was.

"Hey, isn't that…"

Nekou stopped walking, albeit only because Matt stuck his arm out to stop her. "What now?" She saw him silently pointing in the direction of the phones, so she followed his direction and looked in that direction as well. Almost immediately, she saw exactly who he was talking about. "Yeah, that's her."

"I thought so." Matt started walking toward the videophone area, but before long he broke into a stride. "Bunny!"

Immediately upon hearing Matt's voice, Bunny turned from her call. Her eyes lit up when she saw her three friends. "Matt! Come on over! Bring Nekou and Olivia too!"

Matt reached Bunny first. While Nekou and Olivia caught up to him, he asked her, "How have you been? How'd the Ruins of Alph go?"

"Oh, it's been an adventure, to say the least," Bunny laughed while rolling her eyes.

"Is that a familiar voice I hear?" the person who Bunny had been talking to said through the videophone.

Bunny shifted aside slightly, allowing Matt to see who she had been talking to. It turned out to be Professor Juniper, and judging from the room behind her, Matt realized that she was still at Professor Elm's lab.

"Well, hello, Professor."

"You guys all doing okay out there?" Juniper asked. "It's been pretty rough in Johto lately. Is Olivia with you?"

"I'm right here!" Olivia piped up as she jostled into the picture.

"How's Oshawott?"

"We're getting along a lot better," Olivia said, showing a wide, cheerful smile. "He even evolved into Dewott!"

Upon hearing this news, Juniper smiled as well. "Well done, Olivia! I'm quite proud of you!"

"Bunny, I'm sorry we interrupted your call," Matt said. "You can get back to it now."

"No, actually, I think I want you to hear this." When her statement was met by three confused looks, Bunny elaborated, "I was just telling Professor Juniper that I caught a Pokémon that should have never been in this country, even now."

"Let me guess, a Kalos Pokémon?"

"How did you know?" Bunny gasped.

Nekou shrugged. "We ran into one of Polaris's members in Ilex Forest, and she used a Pyroar against us. Did you catch one too?"

"No, not Pyroar. Let me show you." Bunny took out a Poké Ball and opened it, releasing a tall, stout-bodied creature. He had grass-like fur in different shades of green covering much of his body, as well as four strong hooves and a pair of long, dramatically curved horns. "This Pokémon is called Gogoat."

"Yes, you're right about that," Juniper commented, drawing the attention of the four. "Gogoat is a Pokémon from the nation of Kalos, as we already established. They're very useful, as they can be ridden and have a sort of empathic power in their horns. But the thing is, Kalos Pokémon weren't included in the government's migration program. All I was ever aware of was the migration of Unova Pokémon."

"Well somebody must be bringing them here," Nekou sharply remarked.

"I agree," Juniper concurred with a nod. "But the question is who. I'll keep trying to find out what I can, but for now, I can help you a little. Olivia, would you plug your Pokédex into the external port on the videophone?"

Olivia took out the Pokémon, but fumbled around with it as she looked for the place to connect it to the phone. "Where?"

"There's a small opening on the bottom that has the connector inside of it."

"Oh, here it is." Olivia found what she was looking for moments after Juniper described its location, and after opening it up, she plugged the connector into a port just beneath the videophone's screen. "What's this for, exactly?"

"I'm updating your Pokédex, Olivia," Juniper cheerfully explained. "Previously, it didn't contain any data on Pokémon from Kalos, but with this upgrade, scanning a Kalos Pokémon will work like scanning any other Pokémon. I want you to keep using it on any Pokémon you find that are unfamiliar to you, because we need to get a grasp on just how many introduced species are here and what kind of effect they're having on their environments."

"I can do that," Olivia said, accepting the professor's request with a smile. "I do like seeing new Pokémon…"

"Wonderful! I have no doubt you'll do well on it." A bell sound punctuated Juniper's statement. "And that means your Pokédex upgrade is done." As Olivia unplugged the device, however, Juniper's look grew dark. "Now I have a request for you, Bunny, Matt, Nekou. Have any of you seen Professor Elm or heard anything about his whereabouts? He has still not come back."

"Seriously?" Matt said in surprise.

"If he didn't come back by now, something's happened to him," Bunny reasoned, holding her chin. "The question is, if someone kidnapped him, who? Considering we ran into Team Rocket, could they…"

"What about Polaris, though?" Nekou interrupted, her voice carrying a sound of annoyance. "We also fought them. That Séduire person was responsible for the Meteonite outbreak in Ilex Forest, after all."

"I don't know…" Matt said indecisively. He was genuinely conflicted between the two choices, as he considered them both equally viable.

"I have to go now," Juniper stated. "I'll be in contact if I learn anything. Stay well!"

A moment later, the screen went dark as Juniper hung up on the call. With that taken care of, Bunny faced her three friends.

"So how did it go?" Matt inquired. "How were the Ruins of Alph?"

Bunny sighed and grinned. "Crazy, I'll tell you that right now. Right after we got inside, a bunch of Unown attacked us and separated us."

"What happened to Dante?" Olivia wondered.

"I don't know, but I'm sure he's fine. Myself, though… something strange ended up happening. I fell through a doorway that sent me to some other place."

"What?" Nekou gasped, finally coming into the conversation.

"That's what happened."

~:~

After falling through the portal in the Ruins of Alph, Bunny found herself waking up in an unfamiliar place. As she came to, she looked around at her surroundings to try and deduce where she was.

She was lying on a stone runway leading up to a huge, triangular stage. Statues of various Pokémon stood on both sides of the runway, and far up in the cavernous temple, ledges from the upper levels looked down onto the stage. More immediately, however, Bunny realized how cold she was when she noticed how everything in the temple was covered by a slight layer of frost.

Bunny stood, but before she could understand anything more about her situation, the sound of footsteps from the temple entrance distracted her. An elderly, hunchbacked man approached her, with an Abra tagging along loyally at his side.

"Who are you?" he coughed. "Outsiders like you aren't welcome here!"

"Please... I don't mean any harm," Bunny pleaded. "I don't know how I got here."

"How do I know you aren't one of those Harmonia loyalists?" The old man was starting to slowly circle her. "So you finally found the one place we were safe from you.."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about. My name is Bunny Spruce. I'm an archeologist. I was exploring the Ruins of Alph when some Unown sent me through a portal and I ended up here."

The old man's demeanor softened considerably upon Bunny's explanation. "The Ruins of Alph? Oh, I understand now... this has happened before. I can send you back. Abra, use Teleport to send her back to the Ruins of Alph."

~:~

"…and after that, I made my way directly west to get to Goldenrod City, since I knew you would be coming here. That was when I caught Gogoat, by the way. So how are you three doing?"

"To say that everything's been crazy is an understatement," Matt sighed. "There have been outbreaks of crazed Pokémon everywhere, and just yesterday we had an encounter with Cassy."

"I heard about the Pokémon behaving strangely, but Cassy? That crazy girl that used to hang around you all the time? Why would she have been around here?"

"She's a member of Polaris." Matt's revelation elicited a strong physical response from Bunny, as she curled her face in shock. "And apparently, a highly ranked one, I think. I don't really know what it all means…"

"I got the Hive Badge in Azalea Town," Olivia piped up.

"I'm proud of you for that," Bunny cheerfully said, patting Olivia on the head. "What was it like?"

"It… it wasn't easy…" Olivia nervously looked away from Bunny as she spoke. The memories of her breakdown were returning, and she was trying not to succumb to them. "It wasn't easy, but in the end… the feeling of holding that badge in my hand… it was something I want to feel again. I decided to put aside Contests for now so I can focus on Gyms."

"That's very mature of you to make that decision," Bunny complimented. "So where are we heading now?"

"Oh, that's the funny part," Matt laughed bitterly, barely masking his disgust. "We met up with the International Police detective, Looker, and he's taking us to see Jacob."

As soon as she heard Jacob's name, Bunny's face became completely serious. "Oh," she mumbled, her eyes half closed from the annoyance her memories of the man brought up. "No wonder you seemed irritated about it. Oh well, I guess we best get this out of the way now."

Matt nodded in assent, then turned to the strangely silent Nekou, who didn't do or say anything other than step closer to the others. They all started toward the exit, but were stopped when another voice called to them.

"Olivia? Is that you?"

When the newly-reformed group of four turned in the direction of the voice, they saw a familiar boy dressed in a blue-and-black school uniform.

"A uniform from Earl's Pokémon Academy…" Matt said in surprise. "…Monroe? Dominic's son?"

"…you… actually remember me?" the brown-haired young man meekly said as he approached the group. "I'm honored…"

"What are you doing in Goldenrod City?" Olivia asked.

"I just got a Plain Badge from the Gym, actually." Furthering his point, Monroe extended his hand, showing them his badge, a yellow diamond outlined in silver.

Olivia lit up immediately upon seeing it. "I'm on my way there right now! You've got to tell me what you can about the Gym Leader!"

"Well…" Monroe chuckled gently before continuing, "…Whitney's a Normal-type Gym Leader, and she uses a Miltank as her main Pokémon. She's really imaginative with her moves, so you can't let her surprise you. But the thing is, you have to do something else before you can face her."

"What's that?" Now Olivia was confused, narrowing her left eye.

"You have to go around Goldenrod City and collect stamps from five places before they let you in. It's… I hope I'm remembering this correctly… the Radio Tower, the Battle Factory, the Global Terminal, the Game Corner and the Photo Studio in the underground shopping area."

"I've got an idea," Matt chimed in. "After we go talk to Jacob with Looker, how about we all go to the Battle Factory together, and then while I'm doing my challenge, the rest of you can split off, go get the rest of the stamps and meet up with me later at the Gym?"

"Don't you want someone there to support you, though?"

Matt shook his head at Bunny and smiled. "I don't need it. Honestly, I think Olivia would appreciate it more, but I'll leave it up to her."

Matt, Bunny and Nekou all looked down to Olivia in anticipation of her decision. They didn't have to wait long, as she quickly said, "Sure, I'm up for it. I have to get my second badge as soon as possible."

"Second…? Huh, what do you know." Monroe was mumbling to himself, so the others didn't take notice of him until he directly addressed them. "I… I hope I'm not being a burden, but may I come with you? I don't have anything to do for a while…"

"Sure, I don't see why n…"

"Just as long as you can keep up," Olivia teased, cutting Matt off in the process. "I won't be held back."

"Good to see you're back to your old self," Matt thought to himself.

With nothing more to be said, the group once again headed for the exit of the Pokémon Center, this time with Monroe tagging along.

There was a small plaza immediately outside the Pokémon Center. A pair of fountains bookended the cobblestone grounds, and numerous benches provided plenty of space for pedestrians to rest. It was an area nestled in the tall buildings like a small oasis in an urban desert.

As the group walked out of the Pokémon Center, they were immediately confronted by Silver, who defiantly stood in their way and stopped them.

"We've been waiting for you," Silver growled. "Any longer and I would have come in there looking for you myself."

"Well in that case it's pretty lucky you didn't have to, right?" Nekou sniped back at him. "What now?"

"Let's get going," he ordered, pointing over to Looker, who was leaning against a lamppost with his arms crossed. "Looker says he can't wait all day for you."

"Then let's not make him do that."

Matt led the way over to Looker, and the rest of his friends followed closely behind. Once his audience was assembled, the detective pushed himself off the lamppost with his foot and faced them with a stern manner.

"Being much late to this meeting, you all are," he commented. It took him only a brief moment to realize the group had grown in number, and when he did, he scowled. "Being who is being that boy?"

"Oh, you mean Monroe?" Matt answered. "He's trustworthy, don't worry about it. He's the son of a friend of ours and one of my sister's students."

"If saying so you are." Looker turned sharply on his heel and added, "Follow me. Going we are to the place where the man with the name Jacob Alexison is held. Making haste we must be doing."

Matt, Olivia and Bunny were put off by Looker's harsh tone, but it was Monroe who spoke up as they started to follow him and Silver. "I don't understand, what's going on?"

"We're going to talk to someone who's being held prisoner before we do anything else," Matt explained. "He may have information we need."

As Matt, Olivia, Bunny and Monroe walked off, they were too caught up in talking amongst themselves to notice that Nekou had stayed back. She quietly opened two of her Poké Balls, releasing her Murkrow and Duskull, then took a small camera device from inside her uniform and attached it to her Murkrow's neck.

"Edgar, you know what to do," she said to her Duskull. "Use your powers to search through the city for our target. Lenore, you use that camera to record wherever it is. I'll receive the video as soon as you get it, and then I want you two to meet me at Goldenrod Gym. Got it?"

Edgar and Lenore happily voiced their agreement, and Nekou petted them on their heads.

"Do a good job for me out there, okay?"

With that, Nekou rose up, turned and rushed to catch up to the others, while her Pokémon floated up into the air over the city.

-:-

During the night, Colress had arrived at the Purine Base. Having safely parked his aircraft in a spacious hangar behind the facility, he joined Getriebe and Jeunes in the main lab. At the present, they were holding a video conference with Finansielle. Meanwhile, Meowth was standing behind them, still blank due to the Meteonite's influence.

"It would appear that Matt Chiaki's group has reached Goldenrod City," Getriebe explained in his monotone voice.

"Do they know where you are? Where the base is?" she questioned.

"No, I expect that we're quite safe from him," answered Jeunes with a casual shrug. He quickly turned serious, however, and added, "Team Rocket might be a different matter. There's been rumblings about them having a presence here."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll work out." Finansielle's nonchalant response to the seemingly bad news surprised the two masked scientists, while Colress simply stood behind them, smiling while he tucked his hands in his pockets. "Getriebe, the Purine Base is under your direction. It is up to you to prevent any leaks of its location."

"I accept that mission."

"So what do you think, Colress?" Finansielle asked, her bright mood continuing to create a jarring contrast with those of the others. "Have you got what you need to work there?"

"More than enough, easily," he replied. "All we have to do is finish scanning all the Pokémon that were sent here, and that's nearly done. Once we get that out of the way, the transfer of the data from this base's systems to our labs will be easy as pie." Colress grinned even more widely and pushed his visor up his nose with two fingers, a habit he'd developed with his glasses. "I'm not concerned about Team Rocket or that Matt Chiaki boy you seem so intrigued by. That woman, on the other hand… I've been spoiling for a rematch with her since we tangled in Unova."

"Don't go doing anything stupid," Finansielle warned. "It would be awfully unfortunate if I had to pull funding for the Purine Base because you got it exposed."

"Don't worry, Lady Finansielle, I've got no intention of starting anything with them." Colress lowered his head, allowing the glow of the video screen bearing Finansielle's face to reflect on his visor. "If my prediction is correct, Miss Lalume will come calling right to our door."

-:-

The court complex where Looker took Matt's group turned out to be fairly close to the Pokémon Center. It was an unassuming place, simply a cluster of gray buildings, but it was this dull appearance that made it stand out in the bright lights of Goldenrod City.

The detective had deposited his charges in a visiting room, where a group of chairs faced a wide pane of opaque glass. Silver stayed behind while Looker went off to another room, but he simply watched from the back of the room as Matt, Nekou, Olivia, Bunny and Monroe arranged themselves in the chairs.

After several minutes of seemingly nothing happening, Olivia was looking around in impatient confusion. She nearly jumped out of her seat when the phone sitting before them on a small ledge below the window began ringing. After seeing her calm down with Nekou's help, Matt picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"It is happening to be me, Looker! All preparations of readiness have been set into their places where they belong. Are you having readiness?"

Matt turned around, only to find his companions staring intently at him, at which point he realized that the phone's audio was being piped into the room.

"What's the point of the receiver?" he asked incredulously.

"It's just a formality we are having, not much more! So are you having preparedness or not?"

"Yeah, I guess I am. Let's get started."

As soon as Matt gave his assent, the glass changed from opaque to clear, revealing two men behind it. One was Looker, holding a small remote in his hand that triggered the change in the window.

The other was an elderly man in an orange prison jumpsuit. He was balding, retaining only some wisps of white hair on his head, but he also had an unkempt beard similarly lacking in color. When he set his eyes upon Matt, he smiled and slowly picked up the phone on his side of the window.

"Hello, Matt," he calmly said.

"And hello to you, Jacob…" The bitterness in Matt's voice was obvious.

"To what do I owe this pleasure? It's quite nice to have you come calling with your rather lovely new friends."

Matt didn't see Nekou blanche at the implicit suggestion in Jacob's words, but he didn't have to as he felt a similar revulsion. Bunny, meanwhile, simply sat stone-faced, staring at her former professor and friend.

"Don't push your luck, Jacob," Matt growled, clutching his shoulder where Jacob had once shot him. "I would rather just watch you go back to prison for the murder you committed. Unfortunately for me, I need help and you're the only man I can turn to."

"So what is it? What did you seek me out for?"

"It's about the past of this country and the world. I am aware of the existence of a certain Guild of men that shaped the world's history thousands of years ago, but they dropped off the charts of history around the time of Caitlin the First's rule over this country, about a century and a half ago."

"Did you ever think that they don't exist anymore?"

Matt almost instantly became visibly flustered at the suggestion. "But… I remember back to when I found the Golden City of La Ciudad Dorada years ago… that man who tried to stop me, Count Fernando VIII… he said that he thought people from that Guild were coming for him and an artifact in his possession. He thought I was one of them."

"And since when do you put stock in the ravings of a madman?" Jacob reproached him. "You're Sutter's grandson, I know you're smarter than that. Listen well. That Guild disbanded after the events of the attempted revolution led by Colonel Nixon against Caitlin the First in the year 1850."

Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew the events Jacob was referring to, especially because he had lived them. Some time earlier, while at the Indigo Plateau investigating the ruins of an ancient city, Matt, Nekou, Olivia and Bunny had been sent back in time by a strange phenomenon and witnessed the rebellion firsthand. Recalling these events led Matt to a realization he considered even more ominous – the Time Gate phenomenon in Ilex Forest was very similar to what had happened.

"…are you even listening?" Jacob snapped, bringing Matt back to reality. "They were disbanded because their influence was seen as no longer necessary. Caitlin the First instated the earliest workings of what would become the Pokémon League. As it were, she replaced the guiding hand of a secret organization with bread and circuses for the people, but damn if it didn't work."

Matt stood and stepped away from the glass, running his hand down his face. All of a sudden, his quest for the truth of the events of the past had hit a wall. He considered the apparent link to the Guild a clue to why those events had taken place, but with that lead now quashed by Jacob, he felt helpless, as if he had run headfirst into a brick wall.

He failed to notice Nekou take up the phone.

"I've got a few questions for you too, old man."

Jacob's expression brightened at the chance to talk to her. "Well, I have to consider this quite a gift. I've been in prison for a long time now, after all. You're a sight for sore eyes."

"You're lucky I need you. And you're even more fucking lucky you're on the other side of that glass, because don't you think for a second I'd hesitate to crack you one for that. I need to know more about what's in this book."

Nekou produced the book she'd stolen from the Pokémon Academy library, the one where Sutter and Jacob recounted their adventures. Much to her surprise, as soon as he saw it, Jacob turned white as a sheet and attempted to stand, only to be restrained by his handcuffs bracing him to the table. He ended up smashing his face against the glass.

"No! Not that!" he screamed. "Don't read that! What's in that book should have been burned decades ago!"

"Well I hate to tell you, but it's more relevant than ever now. I read all about your travels with Sutter Chiaki in it… but what's really got me intrigued is this one person, Saeko Oryo…"

"NO!" Jacob slammed himself against the glass again. He was blatantly trying to break the handcuffs off the table, which forced Looker to rush in and restrain him.

"Doing that you are again, and ending this meeting will!"

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry…" Though he stopped throwing himself around, Jacob was visibly rattled and disturbed.

"I need to know," Nekou repeated. "What is the truth behind Saeko Oryo, the Jewel of Life and what happened that day in the Tenganist holy land?"

"If you really want to know, it's a horrible story…" Jacob looked up, hoping to see Nekou dissuaded from the story, but he was disappointed to find her gaze more determined than ever. "Fine. You know of the Transcendence, the power that many Tenganists have?"

"Yes."

"Saeko Oryo had the most powerful one, the ability to see the past and future. Her people called her "The Oracle" and she was held in a position of high honor within their society. But then…"

"I know, she was burned as a witch," Nekou said, irritated. "Stop stalling. What really happened?"

"The… the reason she was to be burned was because… she… she got too close to us. Sutter and I, we were outsiders. That led the Tenganists in the holy land to treat us with suspicion already, but she got too close to us. When she was tried and condemned, we were exiled from the holy land. But, as we were leaving, she escaped her prison and tried to leave as well. When she couldn't, she… she committed the mortal sin. She used the partial Jewel of Life there for her own benefit."

"How, and why?" Now Bunny was involved in the questioning, as she was utterly fascinated with the story.

"As far as I can tell, she didn't want to die, so she swallowed that accursed thing. Foolish choice… it unleashed massive energy and burned her from the inside out. She condemned herself to the very death she tried to avoid. But that wasn't it. The backlash from her swallowing it… even though it was just partial… it unleashed a blast of energy that destroyed the Tenganist holy land. At once all of its residents perished, and a lush jungle was turned into a snowy wasteland. Sutter and I only survived because we were just outside of it. We watched as everything in front of our eyes turned to pure death in an instant."

"No wonder he's so shaken…" Matt murmured.

"You said it was a mortal sin in their eyes. Why?"

"Your fortitude is admirable," Jacob complimented Nekou. "Long, long ago… the Tenganists spread throughout the world. There was not one place they didn't reach with their then-advanced society. In the Kalos region, an especially strong settlement of Tenganists took hold three thousand years ago. They were led by a mighty, powerful king… he was called AZ, the beginning and the end, because of the great power he held. He was the alchemist who first discovered the way to create a Jewel of Life using the Life Plates of Arceus. Even with just shards of the Plates, a jewel containing the life energy of the earth could be created, just as it was by Arceus itself in the legend of Michina. AZ created a Jewel of Life and led his kingdom to great prosperity, but it would not last."

Jacob stopped for a moment to appreciate how enthralled his audience was.

"A war started. Greedy individuals led by AZ's younger brother wished to capture the kingdom and the power it held. The war was so horrible and vast that AZ had to send his beloved Pokémon to fight in that war… and it perished. When he received its body, AZ was distraught. Desperate to save it, he created a device powered by the life energy of other living Pokémon to resurrect that Pokémon, but it was not enough. He had to augment it with the Jewel of Life for the device to work, and it did. But even with his Pokémon revived, he was too far gone into his madness. He further powered up the device and turned it into an ultimate weapon, a harbinger of death itself… with the Jewel of Life he set devastation and ruin on both sides of the war. He ended it, but his Pokémon left his side because of his sins… AZ then disappeared, and the kingdom was dismantled by his regretful brother. Because of AZ's actions, using the Jewel of Life for such purposes is considered a mortal sin even by the modern-day Tenganists."

"I see…" Nekou passively said, lost in her consideration of what she had learned. "Well, thanks, I guess."

"Listen to me though!" Jacob was screaming again, and behind him, Looker was watching warily. "Don't pursue any further knowledge about this!"

"Why the fuck would a murderer like you care?" Nekou countered with a bitter tone.

"I learned my lesson. What I did was wrong. But if you pursue the Jewel of Life and knowledge of what happened in the past, it will bring you nothing but ruin! Listen to me! Matt, you know better than anyone here what could happen!"

"All I know is that you shot me." Matt shared the same audible bitterness that Nekou had. He looked down on Jacob and added, "Why should I believe that you care about my well being now?"

"It's not just yours but possibly this entire world's!"

Jacob stood up again, and at that point, Looker had had enough. "That is having it, Alexison! We are being done here!"

The glass went opaque again when Looker pressed the button on his remote, and Matt's group could hear several crashes against the glass, presumably from Looker restraining Jacob.

"I guess he sure takes his job seriously," Olivia awkwardly uttered to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Sometimes, you're right about that," Silver put in, approaching the group for the first time since the meeting started. "I think he wants me to show you out now."

"That's probably for the best," Matt concurred.

Before they started walking, though, Bunny tapped both him and Nekou on their shoulders. When they turned to look at her, she said, "I'm going to keep looking into what he told us, because that story reminded me of something I heard that happened in Unova."

"Unova, huh?" Nekou raised an eyebrow. "Who knows what you might find…"

-:-

Team Rocket weren't the only ones with a hideout in Goldenrod's slums. Polaris had one too, set up in a small warehouse inconspicuous to passersby on the street. Inside, Cassy lay on a makeshift bed with her leg bandaged. Geminus was with her, though he was speaking to Finansielle using a video screen.

"I have to say, I appreciate your diligence in going out there and recovering her," Finansielle said, "but she must be punished according to the Sacred Helix's code for removing her mask. Do you understand why we wear masks, Geminus?"

"Do enlighten me, my lady," Geminus requested, standing with his arms crossed.

"We wear masks because in the world envisioned by Polaris, we are all equal. That cannot be perfectly duplicated right now, so the next best thing is erasing who we are by all assuming the masks. I let Ghetsis get away with it for now because he's too much of a blind egomaniac to cooperate and it's not worth the effort for the time we need him, but I have higher expectations of Séduire."

"If we are trying to be the salvation of the world from its sins," countered Geminus, "should we not forgive her for her own? I understand we must hold ourselves to a higher standard if we are to be the leaders of man's next evolution, but she is just an innocent girl who lost her mask through an accident." Geminus grinned, then asked, "Can she not be forgiven?"

Geminus and Finansielle stared at each other for what felt like forever, their eyes searing into each other from behind their masks. Abruptly, though, Finansielle smiled.

"I suppose forgiveness can be arranged."

His request granted, Geminus grinned a bit more widely as well. "I knew you'd find some mercy in your heart, Lady Finansielle."

"I sure did. Stand by for what you should do next."

Finansielle disappeared from the screen. Geminus then walked over to the bed, sat down and took up Cassy's hand.

"Don't you worry. I'll make everything you wish for come true."

-:-

Outside the court complex, Matt, Nekou and Bunny were left standing in confusion as they attempted to rationalize what Jacob had told them while Olivia and Monroe went off on the subject of Goldenrod City's Gym. Each of them was struggling with the new knowledge in a different way. While Matt was sullen and silent, holding his chin as he faced the wall his quest had seemingly reached, Bunny was pacing back and forth and Nekou was facing away from the others, fiddling with the stem of her glasses.

"What's wrong?"

Matt jumped, having been so enraptured in his own thoughts that Bunny's sudden question startled him. "What he told me… well, what I asked him about was what spurred me into looking for the truth in the first place. Back when we first met Dante, he told me that the Light Stone, which is necessary for finding Reshiram, will only appear to someone who has put extraordinary effort into searching for the truth. But if my search all started for a reason I was mistaken about, how can I actually find the truth?"

"Is it really mistaken, though?" Bunny suggested. "So the Guild you thought was behind what happened five years ago doesn't actually exist anymore. Does that really matter? The end result you're pursuing is still the same. You still want to know the truth behind the same events, it's just that one potential answer isn't in play anymore."

For a few minutes, Matt considered what Bunny had said, taking to pacing back and forth much as she had been doing. When he finally stopped, he turned to her and said, "You're right. Thanks for talking me down from that."

"So what will you do next? What's your next step?"

"When I defeated her in Cherrygrove, Dahlia told me that the Frontier Brain of the Battle Factory might know more about Reshiram. Plus, Olivia needs to go there to get one of the stamps she needs for entering Goldenrod Gym, so I think the answer is that we should head over there first."

"Alright." Bunny smiled, then looked over to where Olivia was still in Monroe's face regarding battle strategy. "Olivia! Come on, we're going to the Battle Factory now!"

"Alright!" she called back. "Come on, you're coming with us," Olivia then said to Monroe.

"I… I wanted to in the first place."

As Olivia and Monroe walked back toward Matt and Bunny, they passed by Nekou, who was still preoccupied fiddling with whatever she was doing. Olivia realized that Nekou's lack of presence in the conversations going on was unusual, so she slapped her friend on the back to get her attention.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"What the fu…" Once Nekou had turned around and realized who was addressing her, her angry expression softened. "Sorry, Olivia, I was distracted. What's going on?"

"We're heading over to the Battle Factory."

"Okay, obviously I'll be coming along."

Matt and Bunny had been watching the entire exchange between Olivia and Nekou, and by the time the two of them and Monroe finally joined with them, they were visibly frustrated.

"Ready yet?" Matt sighed.

Nekou gently draped her arms over his shoulders, licked her lips and stared into his eye as she breathily replied, "I don't know… are we?"

"Okay, now you're messing with me," he said, pulling away. "I'll take it as a yes. Let's go."

"Maybe not, you don't know…" she thought to herself with a wry grin as the group finally started on its way.

The Battle Factory was at the far western end of the city, but not terribly far from the Pokémon Center and therefore not far from the court complex. While the trip didn't require a significant amount of walking, though, the necessary route did take them past a number of landmarks on their way. While they passed by the Magnet Train station – a dome-roofed building that Nekou never stopped staring at as she passed – and the imposing structure of the city's Radio Tower, a large building made of glass came into view. It was both wide and tall, with multiple antennae and satellite dishes affixed to its roof. A vast, busy plaza spread out before it.

"Wow, that building is beautiful!" Olivia burst out, running to get a closer view of its sun-drenched splendor.

"That's the Global Terminal, Olivia," Nekou explained once she caught up. "People trade Pokémon and battle with others worldwide from there. That's the nexus of the Pokémon trading market."

"You have to go there to get one of the stamps," Monroe added as a reminder.

"Can we go to the Battle Factory first?" Matt quietly asked. "Remember, you guys can all split from me once I get started there."

"Fine, fine," Nekou said, waving him off.

Matt turned, but stopped almost instantly. Over by one of the plaza's fountains, he could see a towering man in a dark red trench coat. The figure's height wasn't the only thing setting him apart from the nondescript crowd around him, however, as he had a wide shock of orange hair that spread out in both directions from his head, as well as an orange beard. He was just standing there, staring toward the rest of the plaza and the Global Terminal itself.

"Wait," Matt said, putting his hand up to stop the others.

It ended up being Nekou who walked into his hand, and when her chest bumped into it, she immediately took a single step back and snarked, "I knew you were interested."

"Nekou, not now." Ignoring Nekou's attempt to get a rise from him, Matt pointed toward the strange man. "Doesn't that guy look familiar?"

"Yeah, he does, actually…"

"I've never seen him," Olivia remarked. "He gives me the creeps."

"Wait, I know who he is," Bunny suddenly realized. "That's Lysandre Flordelis, the president of the electronics company Lysandre Labs in Kalos. What's he doing here?"

As it turned out, Bunny would soon get her answer. Lysandre had seen the group pointing at him, and he slowly and deliberately approached them himself. Matt quickly understood why Olivia said she was disturbed by him; he was easily taller than the six-foot-plus Matt, and his eyes burned with an unsettling intensity.

"I see you recognize me," Lysandre said, his deep voice shaking the bones of his audience. "Therefore, we will dispense with formalities. Who are you?"

"Matt Chiaki, sir." Matt couldn't help but show Lysandre a degree of respect he didn't usually show. "And this is Nekou, and Bunny, and Olivia and Monroe."

"Matt Chiaki…" Shutting his eyes, Lysandre continued speaking, "I know of you as well. Even as far off as the Kalos region, your efforts in creating a renewable energy source are recognized. I commend you for your efforts to improve this world."

"Th-thank you…"

"May I ask why you are in Johto, Mister Flordelis?" Bunny spoke up.

"I am here because I am intrigued by the organization known as Polaris…" Nekou immediately blanched at the statement, but Lysandre didn't notice. He instead turned away to face the Global Terminal once more. "A group that aims to reshape the world… is it a force for good? I have tried to help the world with the profits from my company but my efforts have been futile. Resources, money and land simply exist in only finite qualities. Could Polaris be able to accomplish what I could not and save this world?" Turning back to the group, Lysandre asked, "What do you think?"

"I think Polaris is a fucking scam and you'd have to be dumb as shit to fall for it," Nekou immediately chimed in, causing her companions to visibly panic.

"Nekou, don't be so rude!"

Nekou shrugged at Matt's reproach. "So what? He asked what I think, and I just answered him."

"Yes, that is true," Lysandre said, much to the surprise of both Matt and Bunny. "You have your opinion on Polaris. I recognize that. I wonder what you will do to contribute to the world, though. As for me, I'm interested in this place because Polaris will be holding a speech here in this plaza tomorrow. I want to see for myself if their claims have merit."

"Maybe we'll meet there?" Olivia suggested.

"Perhaps. Well, it has been interesting speaking to you and your friends, Matt Chiaki. I would like to see you again someday. I expect that I will."

With that, Lysandre walked past Matt and the others and left the plaza. Immediately, Nekou turned her nose up at him as he vanished into the crowd.

"What a fucking weirdo."

"Nekou, please…"

"Actually, I think I agree with her on this one." Bunny's agreement with Nekou made Matt stare in wide-eyed surprise at them both. "I heard he was a strange guy, but that was actually disturbing…"

"Come on, let's go," Olivia urged them. "We can't fall behind schedule here."

Shaking off the sense of fear that Lysandre had instilled in him, Matt started to lead the group down the road toward the Battle Factory once again. They didn't have far left to go, and before long, the huge, egg-shaped metallic building came into view. It was at the front of a cluster of buildings on the coast and had several large industrial fans on each side.

"There we go," Matt said, smiling in relief. "Now we can finally get going."

"Come on, you slowpokes! Get moving!"

For the second time, Olivia ran ahead of the others, but she didn't slow until she reached the entryway of the Battle Factory. Matt, Nekou, Bunny and Monroe all had to rush through the crowds to catch up with her at the iron gates.

"You're pretty enthusiastic about this, aren't you, Olivia?"

"After the shit we've been through," Nekou said to Bunny, "I can hardly blame her."

Matt pushed the doorway open and held it for his friends to pass through before he entered himself. He was surprised what he found inside – unlike the Battle Arcade, which had a dark and flashy interior, inside the Battle Factory was bright and stark white, both on the walls and on the floor. The only break in this sterile setting was a path of transparent blue plastic on the floor leading from the entrance to a desk on the other side of the room, underneath which ran glowing circuitry lines.

"Olivia, this way," Monroe urged while gesturing toward a bank of computers nearby, "that's where you get the stamp for the Gym."

"Alright."

"I'm guessing that's the registry desk where I need to go…" Matt ventured while Olivia went off with Monroe. He followed the blue path, and Nekou and Bunny went after him. When he got to the desk, however, he was left in confusion as he looked around for an attendant. "What's with this? There's nobody here?"

"Look at that," Bunny said, pointing at a red button on the desk that Matt had initially missed. "Think that calls someone?"

"Let's find out."

Almost instantly upon the moment Matt pressed the button, a hologram lit up from the desk. It was of a short, droopy-eyed man, whose green hair was styled into segments wrapped around his head. He was well-dressed, clad in a black vest with a white undershirt accompanied by a slate-gray necktie.

"…Thorton?!" Matt exclaimed, stepping back in surprise.

"Welcome to the Battle Factory. I am the Factory Head, Thorton," the hologram introduced. "If you are a challenger, please scan your Frontier Pass now."

"You know this guy?" Nekou questioned Matt as he fumbled for his Frontier Pass in his bag.

"I went to school with him in Rustboro. We had the same robotics class together."

Once Matt had scanned the Frontier Pass using a small panel in front of the hologram projector, it recited, "Welcome, challenger. Today in the Battle Factory, you will face a series of three-on-three Single Battles. However, you will not be permitted to use your own Pokémon. Instead, you must select virtual rental Pokémon from our stock, and your opponents will also be using rental Pokémon. After each victory, you will get a clue toward your next opponent and the opportunity to trade a Pokémon for one of the previous opponent's Pokémon. If you win three battles, your fourth and final will be against me. Good luck."

Part of the desk slid away, allowing Matt passage through to the path leading to the battlefield. Before he followed it, he turned around to Nekou and Bunny, discovering that Olivia and Monroe had rejoined them.

"I guess I'll be here a while if I want to talk to him about Reshiram. You guys go around the city and get the rest of the stamps. I'll meet up with you later at the Gym." Matt put his hand on Olivia's shoulder and added, "Be confident when you go in there. Just go ahead and go for what you want. Make all of us proud."

"I will!" she responded with a broad grin.

Matt straightened up to his full height, but before he could turn around, he noticed Nekou wink at him and say, "Nice."

-:-

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Thorton was watching from his control room as Matt wrapped up his first battle. With a Tangrowth in the group of Pokémon he'd selected, Matt had made short work of the Gastrodon and Quagsire before him, and was just finishing up the last opponent, a Magnezone.

"Tangrowth, Focus Blast!" Matt's voice echoed in Thorton's spacious office from the monitor the Factory Head was watching the battle on.

A sphere of energy took shape between the Tangrowth's arms, which she then threw at the Magnezone. There was a great explosion, and when its smoke cleared, the Magnezone was lying still on the ground.

"Challenger wins!" the holographic referee droned. "Battle number one concluded!"

"Shit…" Thorton groaned, slumping in his chair. "I can't deal with this. Not now with Finansielle breathing down my neck."

"He's going to ask you about Reshiram if he reaches you," Jeunes said from the shadows behind Thorton. "We cannot risk letting any information fall into the hands of the enemy."

"Don't you think I know that?!" Thorton snapped. "And why are you here anyway? I'm working!"

"Cool your jets, Getriebe," Colress sarcastically uttered, stepping forward toward the control computer where Thorton was seated. "We finished entering all the Pokémon we received from the others into the database, so you of all people should know how to fix this. The Purine Base is yours, after all. Just dial up the difficulty on his challenge. Make him face a Pokémon he cannot possibly defeat."

"Yes, yes, you're right," Thorton responded, calming considerably. "He's gotten better as a trainer since I went to school with him, but this base contains enough data for me to create something he has no hope against."

With his colleagues looking on, Thorton swiftly entered a command into his control system. When he hit the execute key, the holographic referee on the battlefield instantly acted.

"Challenger, your second opponent will lead with a Pokémon that knows Air Slash. Would you like to trade?"

"Yes, here." Matt pulled away one of the holographic Poké Balls floating next to him. Three more of them appeared in front of him, and he touched one of them – the one with the Magnezone – to add it to his team.

"Your trade is complete. Now beginning battle number two."

A holographic trainer was projected on the opposite side of the battlefield from Matt. It was a young man with spiky green hair, dressed in a vest, bowtie and cape.

"I took time off from my gig at the circus to battle you! Go, Tornadus!"

The Pokémon that materialized from the hologram's Poké Ball was a muscular, green humanoid, with everything below his waist enveloped by a white cloud. Another cloud sat atop his head like hair, and his long, purple tail stretched around him to its ending in a curl.

As soon as they saw the Pokémon Thorton had sent Matt's way, Colress broke down laughing.

"G-Getriebe…" Colress was so beside himself with hilarity that he could barely speak. "You sure took my advice literally, didn't you?! I mean… wow, throwing a legendary Pokémon at him… this is just too good!"

"We just have to hope Tornadus gets past the Magnezone," Jeunes added, sobering the mood. "It gets that far, we're home free."

The sudden sound of footsteps indicated that someone else had joined the group of three conspirators. "It's all finished… those containers are all counted and collected safely on the ship that'll carry 'em on out of here…"

Colress turned around and pushed his visor up again. "Ah, good job, Meowth," he said to the brainwashed Pokémon. "Putting you to work for Polaris's cause was a fine idea after all."

"Don't stress him too much," Thorton remarked while pulling up a chart on his computer. "Have a look at this. If you overtax his mind, the Meteonite's energy may cause him to simply fall into a comatose state. The energy he was exposed to wasn't stabilized."

"You're lucky you have a mind like mine working to fix that, because with just a little bit more work, I'll have that sorted right now. Now, what's the schedule for getting those Pokémon to the Adenosine Base?"

"The day after tomorrow," Jeunes answered. "Trust me. I have this all prepared already."

The three Polaris members continued to discuss their plans while paying fleeting attention to Matt's struggle against Tornadus, which was unfolding on the monitor.

What they were unaware of was that they weren't the only ones privy to their colluding. Outside, flying over the Battle Factory, were two Pokémon staring intently at the building.

"Duskull, dus duskull," Edgar chattered to Lenore, his eye glowing as he gazed at the Battle Factory.

"Mur-krow."

-:-

Olivia, Monroe, Nekou and Bunny had gone to the city's Game Corner in their pursuit of the Gym stamps. They'd saved it for last on Nekou's recommendation, agreeing with her belief that it would be good to relax with some games before heading off to the Gym. Nekou had stayed behind as the others went to get the stamp, however, as she was preoccupied looking at something on her phone.

That something was a direct video feed from Lenore's camera. Grimacing at a revelation she didn't want to believe, Nekou pressed a button on the screen to switch to an infrared view of the video. Her worst fears were realized when she could make out four figures, which with a small amount of digital enhancement took on the recognizable shapes of Thorton, Jeunes, Colress and Meowth.

"Fuck…" Nekou growled at the phone, a feeling of dread taking hold in her stomach. "Fucking hell… I was afraid of this… the Battle Factory is the Purine Base after all…"

"Hey, Nekou, what are you doing?" Olivia called out from a cluster of games a short distance away. "Come over here and check this out!"

Putting aside the grave concerns she had for the moment, Nekou put her phone away and followed Olivia's beckoning. The girl and her friends had gathered around a game machine titled "Meloetta's Dance Rumble," which featured a small, fairy-like Pokémon with blue eyes and long golden hair overlooking a stage.

"Oh, this game?" Nekou laughed, a wry smirk coming onto her face. "I'm good at this shit. Let's play."

"Good, because Monroe thinks I'll beat him."

"Aw, come on, Olivia, I told you I'm just not that good at it…"

"You won't beat me." Suddenly thinking of something, Nekou turned to Bunny and asked, "Why didn't you play?"

"This game isn't my favorite," Bunny replied, waving off the inquiry, "you play. You guys ought to have more fun."

"Alright then."

Nekou and Olivia took the stage, each of them occupying one of the two pairs of directional arrows under their feet. After looking to Olivia to confirm that she was ready, Nekou deposited several coins into the game machine, bringing it fully to life. The Pokémon adorning the machine, Meloetta, cried out cheerfully, followed by the words 'Both of you, dance like you want to win!' displaying on the video monitor before its two players.

"Get ready to lose, Olivia," Nekou whispered while she continued smirking. "I like you, but I play to win."

"I won't go down without a fight." Olivia countered with a wide grin of her own. "Either way, we're walking out of this with fistfuls of game coins."

Spotlights flared around the game, and a fast-paced dance song started to play. Arrows started scrolling up the screen to tell Nekou and Olivia which steps to make on the stage, and they furiously attempted to follow every single one.

-:-

"You have got to be kidding me!" Thorton screamed, standing and kicking away his chair. Behind him, Colress and Jeunes both had looks of worry themselves.

It had taken another twenty minutes, but Matt had actually overcome the trainer with the Tornadus. Luck had played a huge part, as Matt quickly deduced Tornadus's Flying-type from its Air Slash and sent the Steel-and-Electric-type Magnezone to face it, only to discover it also knew the Fighting-type move Focus Blast. However, all of the attempted Focus Blasts Tornadus used missed their target, leaving Magnezone able to defeat it. After that, defeating his Gengar was a simple matter, but it took Magnezone, Tangrowth and Matt's third Pokémon, Glaceon, to finally put down his Pinsir.

The mood in the control room was one of palpable panic. Though none of them said it, the three Polaris leaders were all thinking the same thing: if Matt could find a way around a legendary Pokémon like Tornadus, there could very well be no way to stop him.

"Maybe try another legendary Pokémon?" Jeunes suggested. For once, the ordinarily cunning and brilliant scientist was at a loss for a solution. "Heatran? Landorus?"

"That's not going to work. He'll find a way around it."

"Wait, Getriebe, I have an idea," Colress chimed in. His sarcastic manner from earlier was gone. "This base contains data on just about every possible Pokémon. So far we've been hitting him with Pokémon he clearly can figure out. So why not hit him with something we know he's never seen?"

"What are you thinking, Colress?" Thorton questioned, reverting to his typical bored tone.

"Finansielle told us about him. He's been to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and Orre. Notice something missing from that list?"

"Kalos," Jeunes immediately answered, verbally stepping on Thorton, "and the only Pokémon from Kalos he's seen is Séduire's Pyroar. We send a team of Kalos Pokémon against him, and he'll have no chance."

"Let's do it then," Thorton said, turning back to his control system. "I've got a few ideas up my sleeve."

-:-

Out on the battlefield, Matt had just finished his trade, swapping away his Magnezone for the Tornadus used by the previous hologram trainer.

"Your trade is complete. Now beginning battle number three."

The hologram generator on the other side of the field projected a young woman wearing a tank top, tight jeans and her brown hair in a bun. Despite being just a computer program, she displayed personality by lifting her sunglasses from her eyes.

"Oh, my, a challenger…" she said. Matt thought he detected a condescending tone in her voice. "Let me finish you off so I can go back to the beach. Go, Greninja!"

The Pokémon sent out by the beautiful woman caused Matt to recoil. It was unlike anything he'd seen before – a purple-and-white frog with flat, webbed feet and hands and sharp, angular ears, whose tongue wrapped around its neck and flowed out like a scarf. The Pokémon, Greninja, leaned down and struck a battle-ready stance as he awaited Matt's move.

"It looks kind of like a frog," Matt reasoned, "so I think it should be Water-type. In that case, Tangrowth, make your mark!"

The virtual Tangrowth emerged from her Poké Ball and flexed her long arms, but she was barely out for a moment before the holographic trainer reacted.

"Greninja, Ice Beam!"

What happened next caught Matt completely by surprise. Before he attacked, the blue parts of Greninja's body changed into a much lighter blue, and the ensuing Ice Beam he launched was far more intense than Matt expected. Tangrowth ended up taking a direct hit, and not only was she badly injured, she was frozen into a block of ice.

"Tangrowth!" Matt gasped.

"Greninja, Dark Pulse!"

Greninja's color changed again, this time to a deep black. He then brought his hands together to form a cluster of dark energy, which flooded forward in the form of black rings. Within her block of ice, Tangrowth had no hope of escape.

"Tangrowth is unable to battle!" the holographic referee called.

Without a word, Matt recalled Tangrowth and readied another virtual Poké Ball. "I don't know what this is… Glaceon, do your best out there!"

When Matt's rented Glaceon came out of the sphere, she shook her head and stretched. Greninja and his trainer both stood still, waiting for something to happen.

"Glaceon, try a Blizzard!"

The virtual trainer reacted instantly. "Greninja, Water Shuriken!"

While Glaceon took in air to use in her attack, Greninja shifted back to his original blue coloring and formed a set of four throwing stars made of water in his hand, which he used to cut Glaceon's body in several places. When he finally got hit by the blast of ice Glaceon countered with, he barely shivered.

A sudden realization came to Matt's mind. "The color changes… it's changing its type! Shifted to Water to block an Ice attack, shifted to Dark and Ice before… alright, try this! Hyper Beam!"

"Greninja, Rock Slide!"

Glaceon started to charge energy for her attack, but Greninja was simply too fast. His skin took on a brown hue, and he used his power to create a glowing portal that dropped large rocks onto Glaceon, crushing her. She held on even under the weight of the stones and managed to fire the crimson laser from her mouth, but like the earlier Blizzard, Greninja used his type shifting to shrug it off.

Matt felt his heart stop as the flaws in his strategy caught up with him. He knew that Hyper Beam often required a Pokémon using it to rest afterward, but that had slipped his mind when he ordered it, meaning Glaceon had no ability to even try escaping from the rock pile. Both he and Glaceon could do nothing but watch as the computer program controlling the opposition played out its next move.

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!"

With his skin shifting back to blue once more, Greninja shaped another set of throwing stars – this time a total of five – in his hand. His motions were swift as he threw the quintet of watery weapons Glaceon's way, and they hit her with such force that they even caused the hill of rocks to collapse around her.

As the aftermath became visible, Glaceon was lying prone on the floor among the broken stones.

"Glaceon is unable to battle!"

Matt scoffed and sent Glaceon back to her virtual Poké Ball without a word. The same feeling he'd had after meeting with Jacob, that of his goal of finding Reshiram seemingly slipping away, was back again. The difference was that this time, he wasn't feeling hopeless. He'd burned through that earlier. As he curled his face and burned right through the holographic trainer with his gaze, he felt his arms twitching as anger washed over him. He reasoned to himself that if he could overcome Tornadus, a Pokémon he knew was legendary, he could defeat Greninja.

"That's it!" he gasped out loud, realizing just what his last Pokémon was. Reflexively, he grabbed the last Poké Ball and threw it, releasing the Tornadus that had been his enemy less than a half hour earlier.

Matt knew his situation was desperate, but watching Tornadus stretch his muscular arms in preparation for the impending fight gave him a brief sense of hope. It didn't last long, for when he glanced over to Greninja, he saw the Pokémon adjusting his tongue scarf, equally ready for what was to come.

"Tornadus, Air Slash! Take it down!"

"Greninja, Ice Beam!"

That Greninja would use Ice Beam again was something Matt had anticipated. But as the two Pokémon started to move toward each other, he realized that Greninja was quite clearly moving faster than Tornadus. Without outrunning him, Matt knew that Tornadus would be at Greninja's mercy.

The clash played out in the blink of an eye. Tornadus had a wave of wind energy surrounding his tail, but when Greninja slammed him with the blast of ice, he lost his aim and lashed the wave up at the ceiling as he fell to the floor.

Matt's thoughts were beginning to jumble, and he was no longer able to focus on the battle. All he knew was the basic type matchup of Fighting overpowering Ice. "Tornadus, try a Focus Blast!" he cried in desperation.

Tornadus brought his hands together and formed a sphere of energy between them, but well before he could act, Greninja was upon him.

"Greninja, Ice Beam!"

The computer program was so confident in its impending victory that it no longer felt the need to change Greninja's type, instead opting to go in for the finishing move immediately. With his superior speed, Greninja got as close to Tornadus as he dared and shot an Ice Beam right into the Flying-type Pokémon's face.

Matt looked away. He didn't have to have his eyes on the battle to know what was coming next.

"The house wins! Battle number three concluded!"

-:-

In the control room, the mood was one of celebration. Jeunes and Colress were even high-fiving each other.

"Well that takes care of that!" Colress laughed. "Don't have to worry about him troubling us on Reshiram now!"

"I must give you credit, Colress," Jeunes complimented. "Excellent idea, sending Kalos Pokémon into the battle."

"Well, I am a genius after all." As he stroked his own ego, Colress pushed his visor up again and put his hands in his pockets.

"You two are celebrating," Thorton droned, his voice taking the joy out of the room, "but what do we do if he comes back?"

"He won't be back here today, rest assured," Jeunes answered. "He'll go back with his little harem for the night to lick his wounds. And tomorrow? Don't make me laugh. Tomorrow we'll have this whole area locked down. And the day after that, Getriebe, we'll be evacuating you to the Adenosine Base to continue your work. This facility is going to be shut down. Its purpose has been served."

Thorton spun around in his chair, surprised at this news. "I cannot say I'm thrilled with that. This base has been my pet project since the start."

"You don't have to worry. All your work will be transferred to the Adenosine Base so you can continue."

-:-

Meanwhile, after winning enough Game Corner coins between them for Olivia to receive a prize, she, Nekou, Bunny and Monroe had gone to Goldenrod City's Gym. Unlike the previous two Gyms the group had visited, this one was much more ordinary in appearance. On the outside, it was a simple brick building, while its interior held a battlefield of artificial grass surrounded by a white and pink floor.

A young woman stood confidently before Olivia and her friends, staring them down from the opposite end of the battlefield. Her pink pigtails shook from behind her head as she walked forward to address her visitors.

"Welcome to Goldenrod Gym!" she cheerfully greeted. "I'm Whitney, the Gym Leader here!" Whitney hesitated when she realized Monroe was there. "Oh, Monroe, it's you again. Did you come back for something?"

"I'm just here to support my friend," Monroe answered, gesturing to Olivia.

"Oh? And who might you be?"

"My name is Olivia!" Olivia's voice carried such confidence that Nekou and Bunny immediately felt a surge in pride for her. "I'm here to challenge you for the Plain Badge!"

"I'm liking your spunk, challenger," Whitney said with a wink. "Alright, how many Badges do you have?"

"One."

"Then this will be a three-on-three Single Battle. Substitutions are allowed on both sides, and the battle is over when one side loses all their Pokémon. Are we all square on that?"

"I got it, but…" Olivia wrinkled her nose. "…who's the referee?"

"Oh, usually, I have my assistants here, but they're all up at the National Park today."

"I'll referee the battle," Monroe volunteered.

Both Olivia and Whitney looked at the boy in surprise, but quickly accepted the idea. Whitney said, "That Monroe's a real whiz kid, you know? Olivia, you pick good friends."

"Is that true?" Olivia asked Monroe as she stepped into her box on the battlefield and he walked to the referee position at mid-field.

"I…" Suddenly, Monroe was flush with embarrassment. "I… guess I'm okay."

"Olivia, you can do it!" Bunny called out, having gone to a nearby spectator area with Nekou. "Win that Badge!"

"Oh, I intend to," she responded, taking up one of her Poké Balls.

"You've got some fire in you, Olivia. I like that. Let's have a fun battle!" Reaching under the end of her red-and-white baseball jersey, Whitney pulled a Poké Ball of her own from the waist of her shorts and threw it. "Go, Porygon!"

"Lillipup, let's play!"

Once they arrived on the battlefield, the two Normal-type Pokémon regarded each other with caution. Porygon, being the more experienced of the pair, simply floated in the air and watched its opponent, while Lillipup began slowly circling it, looking for a weakness to exploit.

"The first match is going to be Olivia's Lillipup versus Whitney's Porygon!" Monroe announced. "Go!"

"Lillipup, use Tackle!"

"I thought you'd begin with a Normal-type attack," Whitney said as she watched Lillipup scamper toward Porygon. "And I'll go with this! Porygon, Conversion 2!"

Lillipup leapt into the air and rammed Porygon, throwing his foe back a few feet. However, Porygon quickly recovered and began glowing. Before long, the surface of Porygon's body had changed to a brown color.

Whitney saw Olivia's surprised expression and felt compelled to explain. "Conversion 2 changes the user's type into one that resists the type of the last attack that hit it. I just knew you would use a Normal-type attack when I saw you begin with Lillipup. After all," she said with a smile, "I am the Gym Leader who specializes in Normal-type Pokémon."

"If you changed Porygon's type, with that color it must be… Rock," Olivia correctly deduced. "I just need to make my attacks stronger, then! Lillipup, Work Up!"

Seeing that Olivia was taking care to have Lillipup raise his offensive ability, Whitney decisively said, "You make yourself stronger in one way, I'll weaken you in another. Electroweb!"

Just as Lillipup's red glow from Work Up was disappearing, Porygon's beak began to spark with an electrical charge. It fired out a clump of electrified thread that spread into the shape of a web, draping over and shocking Lillipup.

"Lillipup, hang in there!" Olivia called out as Lillipup struggled out of the web. "That's right, like that! Don't be afraid of that Porygon!"

"I see what Whitney's doing…" Nekou muttered to Bunny on the sidelines. "Slowing Lillipup down… that'll make it harder for Olivia to keep a leg up on her."

"Do you think Olivia will get through this?"

"Of fucking course I do," Nekou beamed. "She's tougher than to fall just because of such a trap."

With great confidence, Whitney thrust her arm forward and commanded, "Foul Play!"

"That attack…" Olivia knew of Foul Play; she thought back to her training with Nekou, where she'd seen Nekou's Zorua use it. Despite not fully realizing what it meant, she knew that when Porygon's eyes glinted before it darted toward Lillipup, she knew it wasn't a good sign. "Get out of the way, then use Crunch!"

Unfortunately for Olivia, she hadn't realized the secondary effect of Electroweb yet. Lillipup wasn't fast enough anymore to move himself out of the way, and Porygon tackled him with significant force.

"Hitting Lillipup with its own attack power…" Nekou mused, but she trailed off without finishing.

"Whitney sure has her bases covered with Porygon," Bunny added, effectively completing Nekou's thought.

Lillipup pulled himself up slowly. Once he was standing again, he realized his legs were trembling, and the fear that was sinking into his body finally struck his mind. He froze, but then he thought back to Olivia's encouragement, which gave him a surge of energy. He could literally feel his trainer's faith in him.

Abruptly, he lunged at Porygon, giving so little warning that it could not get away from him. He bit down on one of Porygon's feet, sending a shockwave of pain through the virtual Pokémon's body. Whitney gasped as her Pokémon lashed around in mid-air and cried out, desperately trying to shake off the opponent that so hurt him.

"Fuck yeah! You go for it, Olivia!" Nekou cheered.

"Porygon, you can't stand for that!" Whitney screamed, her voice straining in her throat. "Get it off with Electroweb!"

With anger in his eyes, Porygon looked down at Lillipup – who was still latched on tightly to its foot – and produced another Electroweb. This one, though, was in too close a quarter, and ended up shocking both Lillipup and Porygon itself. After a moment, the electricity caused a small explosion that finally separated the two.

"I was right in what I thought of you, Olivia! You're quite skilled. I'll have to step up my game to stay in competition with you. Porygon, Conversion 2!"

In response to the Dark-type attack Lillipup had used against it, Porygon shifted the color of its body, this time to a metallic silver.

"…oh shit." Nekou groaned.

"What?"

"Bunny, that Porygon just turned itself into a fucking Steel-type. I don't think Lillipup has any attacks that will significantly hurt it now." Looking away from Olivia, Nekou noticed a smile play onto Whitney's lips. "That's what she was hoping for, a Conversion 2 to the Steel type. I get it now… Steel is one of the most defensive types."

Olivia recognized this fact, and took the most immediate action she could think of by calling, "Work Up!"

Feeling encouraged by how successful Crunch had proved against Porygon, Lillipup boldly growled at it, filling his muscles with further vigor. He punctuated this act with a loud, bone-chilling howl.

"Sticking with Lillipup…" Whitney briefly looked confused and seemingly stared past Olivia, but swiftly recovered. "I'm not sure if you know what you're dealing with here, now that Porygon's a Steel-type. Let me give you a taste. Foul Play!"

"Let it come to you, then use Crunch!"

Lillipup braced himself and bravely faced down the oncoming Porygon. Just as his opponent arrived, he opened his mouth and caught the front of Porygon's body, then attempted to bite down into it.

Much to his shock, however, Crunch no longer worked. He could not get his teeth into Porygon's body no matter how hard he tried. Olivia remembered the point about Porygon now being a Steel-type just in time to see it snicker at Lillipup and kick him back toward her.

"Whitney sure isn't letting up, is she?"

Nekou and Bunny turned in surprise to find Matt sitting next to them. They both chuckled nervously as they realized they'd been so enraptured in the battle that they had not seen him arrive.

"So that's what surprised Whitney just now…" Bunny reasoned. "How'd your battle go?"

"Let's just say I had plenty of time to do other things before coming here," he answered before turning back to the battle. "This is Olivia's time now. Give her your attention."

"Lillipup, can you go on any more?" Olivia said, her voice quivering with worry.

Though he stood up again, it was plainly obvious to all present that Lillipup couldn't take much more. He was covered in scratches and burns, and his entire body was shaking. Olivia felt her eyes twitching, but with memories of her battle in Azalea Town fresh in her mind, she resolved not to cry.

"Lillipup… just do what you can. It's not bad if you can't win. Just do your best."

Lillipup turned and gave Olivia a shaky nod. He agreed with her. He knew that while he might have been unable to defeat Porygon on his own, he would be weakening it for the next Pokémon on Olivia's team.

Whitney saw the courage she was facing and stared in wide-eyed surprise for a moment, before simply closing her eyes out of respect for her challenger. "Not everyone who comes in this Gym has got the spine you have, Olivia… we've only just begun, and yet I feel like I should be honored to be in this battle. But…" Lashing her eyes back open, Whitney threw her hand forward again and shouted, "I won't lose! Porygon, Icy Wind!"

"Lillipup, get through that! One step at a time!"

Porygon was unnerved by Lillipup's endurance, and it felt several times any desire Whitney had to end the fight. Gathering all of its power, it set upon Lillipup with a powerful gust of freezing air.

Much to the surprise of both Porygon and its trainer, Lillipup stood fast against the cold, refusing to cede even an inch of ground to his adversary. Not only that, he was actually pushing slowly forward through the storm in direct defiance of all the pride-fueled anger Porygon was putting into it.

And then a blinding light flashed from the heart of the heart of the attack.

"Wha…" Whitney was finally truly speechless. She was only able to watch, her mouth open in utter shock.

"Well, well, well, what do you know," Nekou said with a smirk, matching the one she saw Olivia gaining. "She got lucky again."

"Yes!" Olivia squeaked at the top of her lungs. Even though she couldn't yet see whatever it was Lillipup was evolving into, she fumbled out her Pokédex anyway.

"Herdier, the Loyal Dog Pokémon. Type is Normal. Evolved form of Lillipup. This very loyal Pokémon helps trainers, and it also takes care of other Pokémon. It has black, cape-like fur that is very hard and reduces the amount of damage it receives."

The light exploded outward, dispelling Porygon's Icy Wind. In place of Lillipup stood a larger, more outwardly confident canine Pokémon. The burst of cream-colored fur that had coated his face as Lillipup now formed a pair of bushy eyebrows and a makeshift moustache, while the dark-colored fur referred to by the Pokédex draped over his brown stomach and legs. He howled with newfound strength, making Porygon reel back.

"Keep going, Olivia!" Bunny shouted from the stands. "It's not over yet!"

"First, let's see what I've got now…" In a moment of prudence that surprised Matt but not the others, Olivia kept her Pokédex out for a moment. She was thumbing through the pages related to Herdier's capabilities. "So two of our attacks got a little stronger… let's show her one! Herdier, give it a taste of your Strength!"

"Porygon, Icy Wind!" Whitney's confidence was beginning to give way to desperation. The battle with Herdier had dragged on far too long for her liking, and she was beginning to get nervous that she didn't have control of the situation after all.

Assuming the confidence its trainer had lost, Porygon locked onto Herdier with even more fury in its eyes and let loose with an Icy Wind of increased intensity. Herdier wasn't shaken by it, though. He simply tensed his body up and then shot straight through the gust like a bullet, catching Porygon completely by surprise. Its Steel-type protection shielded him from significant injury, but Herdier's impact against its body violently shook it.

Unfortunately, Herdier's display of strength also snapped Whitney's head back into her previous sense with a realization. "That's your Achilles heel…" she uttered. "Porygon, finish this now with Foul Play!"

Consumed by violent urges directed at Herdier, Porygon appraised his new strength with a black glint in its eyes, then tackled him before he could prepare a defense.

Even with his newfound power, Herdier couldn't stand against Porygon turning his own strength on him while suffering from everything else he'd taken. He collapsed on Olivia's side of the battlefield, but just before going down, he shot her a proud look. Olivia thought she even saw him smile.

"Herdier is unable to battle!" Monroe announced. "The winner is Porygon!"

"That was rough…" Matt intoned, shaking his head.

As soon as she saw his action, Nekou grabbed Matt by the sides of his face and looked right into his eye. "Don't do that!" she shrilled, apparently referring to him shaking his head. "She put up a hell of a fight!"

"You're right. I have to admit that." Matt's genuine reversal was the only reason Nekou released him. "But what now?"

"She'll pull through, I know it. Don't doubt her."

"Herdier, return." There was great peace in Olivia's voice as she brought Herdier back to his Poké Ball. "You did really well. I'm proud of you."

"I am too," Whitney commented. "You gave me a great fight there. Let me apologize now… Porygon gets a little too into competition sometimes."

"Oh, don't apologize for that, I appreciate the challenge. Now, I'll try this! Let's play!"

Olivia threw another of her Poké Balls, but the Pokémon that emerged was one that Matt never expected – a Mr. Mime. The Psychic-type Pokémon stretched his spindly arms then cheerfully started miming, seemingly ignorant of Porygon's presence.

"A Mr. Mime?!" Matt exclaimed. "When did she…?"

"The Game Corner," Nekou smugly revealed. "We did so well there that we got enough coins for a prize. That's what she won."

"I see you took advantage of the Goldenrod City tour this Gym sends you on," Whitney said. "I'm glad to see it… and I'll be glad to show you what this city's Pokémon can do! Porygon, Electroweb!"

Olivia simply grinned and carelessly directed, "Protect!"

Spreading his arms and gesturing in Porygon's direction, Mr. Mime created a barrier around himself that dispelled the electrified webbing, rendering it useless. Once he was safe, Mr. Mime dropped the shield.

"I thought you'd do that," Olivia said. "You did it to the first Pokémon you saw that you thought would be faster, so I knew you'd do it again. This time is different, though. Mr. Mime, Mimic!"

Mr. Mime's body flashed in a golden hue in response to this direction. It was simple, but deceptively so, and Whitney was all too aware of what it meant.

"Take my own attack away and turn it against me, will you? It won't be that easy! Porygon, Icy Wind!"

Porygon realized the trouble it was in just as much as its trainer did. Knowing it likely wouldn't last much longer, it turned all its remaining strength toward washing a freezing gust over Mr. Mime. He stood well against it, though some frost did develop on his body.

"Use Electroweb to wrap this up!"

Having temporarily learned Electroweb through his use of Mimic, Mr. Mime turned it on Porygon, lashing a thread of charged silk from each of the fingertips on one of his hands. The webbing tangled Porygon up on its own, but the electrical shock that the threads delivered finished it off. As the threads disappeared, it collapsed onto the floor.

"Porygon is unable to continue! The winner is Mr. Mime!"

"Well then," Matt quietly said to himself as he crossed his arms, "looks like Mr. Mime was a good prize after all."

Whitney recalled Porygon and readied her next Poké Ball before she spoke. "Not bad, not bad… but can you stand against my star? It's showtime! Go, Miltank!"

Both Nekou and Monroe regarded the seemingly jolly-looking cow Pokémon with great apprehension when she arrived on the battlefield. Their views were for similar reasons – while Nekou was familiar with the notorious reputation of Whitney's Miltank as a Pokémon that crushed the hopes of challengers, Monroe had lived it and barely come out on top. Both of them waited nervously to see how Olivia would handle it.

"Your star, huh? It should make a fun challenge. Mr. Mime, Electroweb!"

"Hmph… I'll just go ahead, then. Miltank, Stealth Rock!"

Miltank got wrapped in the charged threads Mr. Mime threw over her, but she didn't show much of an outward reaction to the power coursing through them. Even while tangled in the threads, she surrounded herself with bursts of light, which she quickly directed to surround Mr. Mime. The lights planted themselves in the ground and faded to reveal a number of pointed stone pillars.

"Alright, you did your job, Miltank. Pinch hit!" Olivia was quite surprised to see Whitney take out a Poké Ball and withdraw Miltank. As she threw the next ball, Whitney said, "Kecleon, go!"

The third and final Pokémon on Whitney's team turned out to be one from Hoenn, as Olivia and her friends mentally noted. Kecleon voiced a low-pitched squeal and wagged her tongue in Mr. Mime's direction as a way of announcing her presence.

"Whitney's Pokémon sure have a lot of personality…" Olivia thought, tiring of the overwhelming characters she found herself against. Luckily, she was also aware of Kecleon's capabilities, so she was able to quickly figure out a plan. "Hit it with Electroweb, Mr. Mime!"

"Kecleon, Incinerate!"

Kecleon was too slow to act, and ended up draped in the electrical net Mr. Mime cast over her. She spent several seconds being shocked by the threads before finally launching a stream of fire from her mouth. It burned through the Electroweb and flowed over Mr. Mime, leaving small singe marks all over his body.

Olivia stared at Kecleon and took note of a change she had anticipated – Kecleon's skin was now yellow. "Color Change… it's another type change strategy," she thought. Holding up her own Poké Ball, she said, "Alright, Mr. Mime, take a break."

"So she's switching as well," Matt observed, leaning forward onto the railing in front of the seats. "Where are we going from here…"

"Watch and see," Nekou replied, gesturing toward the battle with her head.

"The first Pokémon I caught for myself…" Olivia said to the new Poké Ball she held in her hand. "Not for him, for myself… I'll get this right. Now… let's play!"

Olivia put all the strength she had into flinging the Poké Ball. It released a bright ball of light, from which two pincers arose before it dispelled to reveal the Pokémon's identity.

"Krabby…" he hissed, using his right pincer to shield his eyes from the bright lights of the Gym.

Almost immediately, the stones planted in the ground when Miltank used Stealth Rock started to glow, and an energy field they generated gave Krabby a brief shock. He quickly recovered, however.

"A Krabby?" Matt gasped. "But when…?"

"That day in Slowpoke Well," Nekou answered, not even really waiting for a question. "That's the result. Olivia caught that Krabby in Slowpoke Well."

"She hasn't used it before…" he fretted. "Is she certain this will work?"

"I'm sure she has a strategy," Nekou said in great confidence.

Whitney was sure Olivia had a plan as well, and decided that she had to dispose of Krabby quickly. "Kecleon, be ready. I don't trust it."

"Kec," Kecleon answered with a nod.

"Krabby, Mud Shot! Go!"

With surprising speed, Krabby dug his claws into the ground and then violently pulled them out, throwing a large clump of mud at Kecleon.

"Solar Beam!"

When Kecleon was hit by the mound of dirt, she reeled back, a result of Color Change shifting her type to Electric. Her skin turned brown, then her entire body began to glow from her absorbing light.

"Perfect," Olivia said, striking a grin very reminiscent of one Nekou would have. "Dig!"

"No!"

Krabby jumped up into the air, turned his claws downward and began spinning, allowing him to pierce through the ground. Just after he disappeared, Kecleon fired a wide beam of light from her mouth, but with Krabby nowhere to be seen the attack was useless. Seconds later, Krabby burst out of the ground beneath Kecleon and struck her in the chin with his claw.

"Good job, Krabby!" Olivia called out. "Keep it up!"

"Come on, Whitney, focus…" the Gym Leader said to herself. "It's a Water-type, so… Solar Beam!"

"This is what I was waiting for! Bubble Beam!" Olivia immediately countered.

There was barely time for Kecleon to start absorbing light again before she was harshly buffeted by the bubbles Krabby launched from his claws. As she had become a Ground-type through Color Change's reaction to Mud Shot and Dig, she was especially weak to the Water-type attack. Every bubble left a noticeable bruise on her skin, and by the time the stream finally ended, she fell forward to the ground in defeat.

"Kecleon is unable to continue! The winner is Krabby!"

"Yes!" cheered the young trainer, basking in the admiration from her friends. "Good work, Krabby! I knew you'd go far!"

"She's really doing well," Bunny said. "Was she this good in Azalea Town?"

"No…" Matt answered gloomily, "but she's really improved over the last few days. She's grown up quite a bit."

After recalling Kecleon, Whitney threw Miltank's Poké Ball to release her into battle again. She then put her hands on her hips and said, "You're doing very well here so far, Olivia, but now you're going up against my star player. Are you going to hit one out of the park, or strike out? Show me right now!"

"Oh, I will! You ready, Krabby? Dig!"

"Alright, here we go! Miltank, Heart Stamp!"

As he prepared to burrow into the ground again, Miltank rushed Krabby and hit him with a crushing punch, her fist glowing with red light. Though he hissed loudly due to the pain radiating down through his body, he still managed to get underground. All that was left when Miltank pulled back was a heart-shaped imprint on the battlefield.

Not showing any sign of doubt, Whitney announced, "Stomp!"

Krabby burst from the ground and slashed Miltank across the leg. However, she was ready with her other leg raised, and forcefully brought her foot down on Krabby's head. While Miltank was left nursing a gash on her leg, Krabby was already badly injured and trembling violently.

"Okay, fine, what about this?!" Olivia snapped. "Bubble Beam!"

"Heart Stamp!"

Before Olivia realized it, Miltank was upon Krabby once more. She put even more strength into her Heart Stamp than the first time, smashing him with everything she had. He managed to still stay conscious, however, and he showered her with a blast of bubbles from his claws. They all left small marks on Miltank's body, but when the injury on her leg was hit, she stumbled back and cringed.

"Huh…" Olivia muttered when she noticed Miltank's reaction. "Alright, go for its leg with Vice Grip!"

"I won't let you!" A vicious sound came through in the way Whitney snarled, reflecting a sudden change in her mood. From her perspective, Nekou mentally attributed it to Olivia finding a weakness she could exploit, thus putting Whitney at a disadvantage. "Miltank, Rollout, now!"

Krabby rushing in with the intent to grab Miltank's leg actually gave the Normal-type Pokémon a huge opening. She curled up into a ball and rolled forward, mowing over her foe. In her wake, Krabby was left unconscious and splayed out on the ground.

"Krabby is unable to continue! The winner is Miltank!"

"Rough…" Bunny mumbled.

Having had first-hand experience with Miltank's power earlier, Monroe looked on in worry while Olivia recalled and consoled Krabby. Though he was rooting for her, he had a terrible expectation that she wouldn't be able to win.

"Mr. Mime, let's play!"

As soon as Mr. Mime hit the battlefield, the stone pillars activated their energy field again and shocked him. He stumbled and flailed his arms, but quickly shook it off.

"So this is it, then. Olivia, give it your best!" Smiling broadly, Whitney called out, "Rollout!"

Turning back to Olivia's direction, Miltank gathered speed and rolled toward Mr. Mime.

"Electroweb!" Olivia swiftly ordered.

Mr. Mime bravely faced the oncoming Miltank and threw an Electroweb over her. She still took the shock it brought, but her speed allowed her to break through it fairly quickly on her way to colliding with her opponent. Olivia could only gasp and watch as her Pokémon was smashed backward several feet.

"I can't take another one like that," Olivia said to herself. She saw that Miltank was coming back around and even gathering even more momentum, a sight that was giving her increasing concern. Suddenly, she remembered something she'd learned once, and calmed considerably. "Use Protect!"

Miltank once again had Mr. Mime in her sights, but she ended up only hitting the shield Mr. Mime put up around himself. This completely broke her pace, and she was left to fall back to her trainer with her Rollout ruined.

"It's alright, Miltank," Whitney said. "Let's see what happens next."

The sparkle in her eyes made clear that Olivia was eager to show her what would come. "Magical Leaf!"

"You're not putting me away this easily!" Whitney roared. "Stomp!"

Mr. Mime hung back, allowing Miltank to come to him. For her entire approach, he showered her with sharp, glowing leaves, cutting her body up in a number of places. Some of the leaves even cut into the gash on her leg, making it even more painful for her. She did her best to endure it and managed to reach Mr. Mime, though she could only stomp on his foot.

"Alright, throw it into the air with Confusion!"

The two Pokémon being so close to each other allowed Mr. Mime to look right into Miltank's eyes. She struggled to get away when she saw them filling with blue light, but it was already too late, as she was in the grip of his psychic power. He lifted her several feet off the ground, then used his mind to throw her diagonally upward.

"Miltank, use this to build up momentum for Rollout!"

"I'm not done, Whitney!" Olivia said, her words accompanied by a toothy grin. "Pull it down with Electroweb, Mr. Mime!"

Mr. Mime lashed Electroweb threads around Miltank like whips. Even though she rolled up into a ball in preparation to use Rollout again, she still got shocked and slammed into the ground.

"She's improvising… I'm impressed," Matt admired. "That was practically a Contest move in terms of being elaborate."

"Do it, Miltank!" Whitney's voice was getting increasingly raspy as her emotions burned through into her voice more and more. "Rollout!"

"Protect!"

Whitney's last-ditch attempt at a comeback with Rollout was useless, as Miltank simply bounced off of Mr. Mime's shield again. Her slow wobbling backward in the aftermath of her failed attack gave Olivia the chance she had been waiting for, and with wide eyes and a great smile, she seized it.

"Use Magical Leaf! Direct it all to the cut on Miltank's leg!"

Sharp pain shot through Miltank's body with each one of Mr. Mime's leaves that hit her wounded leg. It quickly clouded her mind and weakened her body, eventually bringing her to her knees.

Whitney was speechless. With Miltank immobilized, she couldn't order any attack – Miltank simply did not know any that it could use under the circumstances. She was completely stuck, and Whitney realized that her Pokémon was a sitting duck for Mr. Mime's finishing move.

"Alright, this is over!" Olivia pointed forward at Miltank and boomed, "End this with Confusion!"

Once more, Mr. Mime used his psychic power to surround Miltank in blue light and lift her. This time, he lifted her nearly all the way to the roof of the Gym, then smashed her down at incredible speed.

With the kind of force Mr. Mime had put into his assault, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Miltank briefly stood back up after being slammed to the ground, but her bruised, battered body could simply take no more and gave out on her.

"M-Miltank is… unable to continue!" Monroe declared, dumbfounded by what he had seen. "Mr. Mime is the winner, and the victor is Olivia!"

Within seconds of Olivia's victory, Nekou had jumped the railing and run to embrace her. Matt, Bunny and Monroe followed, but at a slower pace.

"I'm so fucking proud of you, Olivia!" Nekou was actually almost crying while tightly hugging Olivia. "That was all you, and it was amazing!"

"Aw, thanks, Nekou… it felt so good to just put all my own skill into wanting to win..."

"That's right, your win is your achievement," Whitney said, approaching the group. "There used to be a time when I would have cried after losing, but not now. I've learned that my job as Gym Leader is to teach young trainers like you to do exactly what you just did. And you know, I'm proud of you too. It was great fun battling you. Here you go, you've earned this… the Plain Badge."

Matt, Nekou, Bunny and Monroe looked on as Whitney handed the Plain Badge to Olivia. Once she had it, she looked at it in her hand, almost tearing up as her emotions overwhelmed her.

She thought of all the years she had dreamt of moments like this in a quest to get her father back, imagining that winning Badges would increase his favor of her. She thought of her mental breakdown in Azalea Town, and finally, she thought of everything she'd gone through to get to this point, where she'd won a Badge entirely for herself on her own strength.

For the first time on her journey, she felt truly proud of something she'd achieved, and after looking at how proud Nekou and the others were of her, she fully felt like she belonged there with her friends.

-:-

That evening, as the sun was beginning to set, Jessie and James stood on the roof of a building across the street from the Battle Factory. They were fully dressed in their trenchcoats, accessorized with dark sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats.

"So there's where they took him," Jessie said, peering through her high-tech binoculars at the facility. "The Battle Factory… to think Polaris even controls a Frontier Society facility."

"We'll make good on our mistake," James resolved. "Meowth, we'll get you back, and we'll get revenge on Polaris for what they did…"

-:-

At the same time, Looker and Silver were sitting in a small café, drinking coffee as they discussed what would come next.

"Silver… I am wanting you to return to the company of Matt Chiaki and the people he calls friend."

"Why?" Silver growled, irritated. "I don't want to put up with her any more than I have to."

"That's being just the exact thing. I am having to escort the prisoners Jacob Alexison and Grings Kodai back to the region of Kanto tomorrow, no matter what. Therefore, the job falls to your shoulders to observe their actions. I am having a feeling that is bad that something of great importance will soon be taking place within this city."

"Fine, I guess I'll seek them out. I'm not making any promises, though."

"Good. Have remembrance – if you wish to obtain the revenge you are seeking on the Team Rocket and the man who is your father, having cooperation with me is of paramount importance."

-:-

Late that night, long after most of Goldenrod City had gone to sleep, Giovanni and the other members of Team Rocket were still wide awake in their hideout. Everyone was present for the meeting, including Jessie, James, Proton, Rosalie, Trevor, Ada and Pierce.

"Where is she?!" Giovanni fumed. When he slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair, his Persian cringed next to him. "She said she'd be here!"

Ariana, after swallowing a gulp of coffee to wash down her medication, replied, "I'm sure she'll be here soon. After all these years, Giovanni, you should have more faith in her."

"Fine. But I don't like how she pushes the line all the time. Tomorrow is going to be an important day… war might break out between us and Polaris, and I don't want to even entertain the chance of a rude surprise."

"I-I… I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, b-boss…" Ada whimpered. "I have faith in Lady N-Ne…"

Suddenly, a voice could be heard outside the door. Strangely, it was singing to itself.

"I've seen you on the beach and I've seen you on TV, two of a billion stars, it means so much to me…"

"Oh boy," Trevor chuckled, adjusting the collar of the floral shirt that burst from beneath his uniform. "She sounds like she's really going today."

The door burst open, and the person in question walked in with great, confident strides. She slammed it shut with her foot, as her hands were busy fumbling with the music player she'd been using.

"Lady Nekou!" Ada exclaimed.

"It's good to finally see you again too, Ada," Nekou warmly said as her teammate jumped into her arms. As a further show of affection, Nekou kissed her on the lips before they separated.

"The boss isn't happy with how late you are," Pierce sternly informed her.

"Well I'm here now." Turning to Giovanni, Nekou raised her arm and said, "Admin Nekou Langley Lalume reporting! Hail Giovanni!"

"Hmph, fine…" Giovanni grumbled. "Let's get on with it."

Nekou reached into her uniform and took out a memory card emblazoned with the Team Rocket logo, which she then handed to Ada. Ada in turn sat down at the bank of computers and inserted the card, causing data to fill the screens.

"Get around here, people!" Rosalie ordered. "This is the real thing!"

Once all the assembled Team Rocket members were gathered around the computers, Nekou began her explanation.

"This is everything I gathered during my mission," she stated. First, a picture of Matt and relevant data to him appeared on the computers. "Matt Chiaki, grandson of archeologist Sutter Chiaki and guardian of Olivia Mistbloom. And way, way more involved in all that's going on than he even knows."

"What does that mean?" James asked.

"Well look who he's the son of." On Nekou's cue, two more photos appeared. One was an old man with gray hair and red spectacles, while the other was a woman with blonde, helmet-shaped hair. "Charon and Fumika Chiaki, his parents. Charon Chiaki was better known as Pluto, one of the Commanders of Team Galactic, but passed away of old age three years ago. Fumika Chiaki, on the other hand… she was also a Team Galactic Commander under the name Mercury…"

"Mercury?!" Jessie cut in. "That's the woman who stole Meowth! It was her!"

"You said someone from Polaris did it," Proton said. "Are you really suggesting…"

"It could be true," Nekou replied to the incomplete question. "We know that Polaris had moles inside Team Galactic to bring them down from within. And how do we know that? This one." Joining the pictures on the screen was one of Cassy. "Cassy Natsuka. See, nothing looks wrong with her on the surface, and at first, she seems like just the typical possessive girlfriend. She met Matt Chiaki while they were both students at the Rustboro School, fell head over heels in love with him almost immediately. From the sound of it, she pretty much owned him for years. You know, typical possessive girlfriend shit like controlling his schedule and not letting others get too close to him. Thing is, she was also a Team Galactic member at the same time as Mercury… and I just found out that she is Séduire, one of Polaris's Chromosomes. Her motive is to force Matt Chiaki to love her again, even though he likely never truly loved her at all."

"You're saying everything is connected through this guy you've been watching?" Even Ariana was becoming surprised at the way things were developing.

"You don't even know all of it yet, Maman, you guys. Jessie, James, you might want to pay attention to this part. This…" A picture of the Battle Factory replaced all the others. "…is the Battle Factory, which is also Polaris's Purine Base. I learned through audio and visual spying that its Frontier Brain, Thorton, is the Chromosome named Getriebe. And you know what? He was also in the Rustboro School at the same time as Matt and Cassy."

"This is looking more and more like a bigger conspiracy than we ever expected," Trevor mused.

"How do we even know we can trust this Matt Chiaki guy?" wondered Jessie.

"He's the most harmless person I've ever seen. He could not be evil if he even tried. The thing is, he used to have an evil side that was yet another Team Galactic member. That side of him called itself Janus, and he was a scientist who worked in Team Galactic's labs. In fact, it's Janus's fault that the Galactic Bomb exists. As far as I can tell, the last time Matt Chiaki relapsed into the Janus personality was five years ago during Team Galactic's last stand. He was using a device to drain Dialga's power, but it was shut down, resulting in his defeat. The red liquid that the power manifested as was accidentally spilled onto Olivia Mistbloom, but she seems to be healthy by all accounts despite this. I also became aware that during the extensive surgeries he had after his body was destroyed, he had Janus removed from his mind in a controversial, first-of-its-kind procedure."

"So that's what we're dealing with…" Rosalie lowly said.

"Assemble," Giovanni suddenly announced.

Without any dissent, the members of Team Rocket present lined up next to each other. Nekou stood with Ada and Trevor, whose uniforms were similar to hers, only that hers was mostly unbuttoned and accompanied by a short skirt, customizations made to suit her tastes.

"My followers, you must understand the severity of the threat Team Rocket currently faces. I ask of you, what is the primary goal of Team Rocket?"

"To capture the rarest and most powerful Pokémon!" Jessie instantly responded, as if it was programmed into her.

"We'll assemble an army of those Pokémon and conquer the world!" James added.

"Correct. Polaris, however, aims to change our world in such a fundamental way that it is a threat to not only Team Rocket's goal, but our very survival. Make no mistake, this is a war for our survival. We do not know what Polaris's true goal is, but if they trigger a revolution, we will not be able to live in that world anymore. It's with those stakes in mind that I give you your respective missions for tomorrow. Jessie, James, Proton, you are to attack Polaris's speech and disrupt it, while recapturing Meowth as well. Pierce, you search for where Polaris is keeping the Meteonite so we can figure out how to capture it."

"What should I do?" Nekou questioned.

"Continue on your observation of Matt Chiaki. Keep him from interfering in our plans."

Nekou's eyes brightened at the news. "I'll be glad to."

"Boy, you sure seem happy," Rosalie teased. "What is it? Have you fallen for him? Done what you do to get intelligence from your targets?"

"Hahaha, fuck no. Not yet anyway." Nekou licked her lips and added, "Give it time. I'll get him to want it."

END of CHAPTER 13