Pokemon Society: Shadows of Unova

by Omesta

An exciting sequel to my first series, Heroes and Villians. A dark shadow has been looming as Team Plasma returns from the dark, more forceful and determined than before. Running out of options, an underground resistance formed by the Champion to try and fight back. However, with issues spiraling out of control, the Oak Agency and many familiar characters return to save the day.

Hey guys, welcome to Pokémon Society: Shadows of Unova! I hope you were all in wait for this, because I know I'm so excited to write this story! I've been planning it since I wrote chapter 22, so it's going to be good. It'll be released in about five or six parts, and this is just the first. Without further ado, let's get this story started. (PM any questions or leave them in the review box below!)

Undisclosed Location - Calzei Region - 2300 Hours

The room was almost pitch black. The only thing that brightened it was the moonlight filtering through the sky windows.

There were hundreds of crates littering the floor. Most of the crates were stacked on each other, while others were on top of or in shelves. In all this, was a simple table and five chairs. Three on one side and two on the other.

On two of these chairs were two men. Both were wearing exactly identical costumes. Black fedoras, black suits, polished leather shoes, and silver wristwatches. They also had black sunglasses, which seemed detrimental considering the low visibility.

"They're late," said the man sitting on the right. "There's no point in us waiting any longer."

"Give them time," said the man on the left. "They're high buyers, we won't get another multimillion poké deal like this again. If it was worth the five-hour plane ride, it's worth the five-minute wait."

"I'm just hoping they get here before the authorities arrive."

"Don't worry, everything will work out. For us at least."

After a few moments, both men perceived the sound of someone landing on the floor, despite how imperceptible the sound was to normal ears. In a flash, they both pulled out guns and pointed them in the direction of the sound.

"We come bearing crime," said a feminine voice.

"Take a seat," said the man on the right, standing up and pointing his gun at the person who spoke. "Try anything funny, and I'll have all three of you riddled with holes before you can even call out your Pokémon."

"Is this how you greet old friends?" said a different voice.

"I remember the old days when people threatened you with Pokémon, not firearms," said the woman again as she took a seat and came into view.

Her two other comrades took seats as well before the two other men put away their guns. All three people were wearing Team Rocket uniforms. The woman had bright Sierra, the man to her left had silver hair, and the man to her right had no hair.

"Thank you for making us feel at home," said Sierra with a silvery voice. "You can call me Sierra. The silver haired man to my left is Warren, and the bald man is Brutus. What about you two gentlemen?"

"Call me Agent F," said the man who'd stood up with the gun.

"And call me Mister E," said the other man seated to Agent F's left.

"Cryptic," said Brutus.

"We didn't ask," said Agent F. "We only care about one thing, and that's if you brought the money. We didn't come all the way from the Donalda Region to waste time."

"And our organization doesn't like our time wasted," said Mister E.

"Fortunately, time wasters are dealt with in a way so they can't waste our time again."

Both men erupted in sarcastic laughter at the exact same time for about half a second, only managing to unnerve the Team Rocket members further.

"Yes, we have the money. But I'm guessing you have what we want?" asked Warren.

"We ask the question!" snapped Mister E, pointing his gun at Warren.

Warren raised his gloves hands. "Jeez! You have some serious anger issues."

"Of course, we have your enhancers, Mega Stones, and everything else you asked for," said Agent F, casually lowering Mister E's hand. "I suppose you'll be reactivating Team Rocket."

"Yes, but not in this forsaken region. Arianna's orders were to move to the Azure Region. But I'm seriously tired of this. We get stopped by kids, other evil team members, and random celebrities! When will the real authorities actually catch us? It's less embarrassing."

"We don't care, as long as you stay out of the Donalda Region and our organization's business," said Mister E.

"Quick question," said a new voice from somewhere. "What would the name of this organization be?"

Everyone snapped to attention. Mister E and Agent F rose at once, pulling out their guns. They fired simultaneously at where they heard the voice, but the person was gone.

"Tell me, have you've ever heard of the fictional masterpiece known as Noivernman?" asked the voice from somewhere else.

Both men turned around at the same time and fired. Mister E tossed Team Rocket the briefcase.

"Wire the money to the bank account!" he shouted as he and Agent F fired at a moving shadow.

Sierra caught the briefcase and sent out a Rapidash before jumping on it and galloping away. Her two comrades followed suit, riding on different Pokémon.

"Maybe your aim is so bad cause you're wearing sunglasses in the dark. How dumb can the both of you be? Also, why are you two moving and shoot with perfect synchronicity. Creepy if you ask me."

Agent F grew frustrated and pocketed his gun, pulling out a pokéball instead. "Sniff him out Stoutland!" he shouted as he sent out his Pokémon.

The Stoutland sniffed the air, but then froze. It gave a whimper as it clutched its nose in pain. A sphere rolled on the ground, expelling gas.

"Damn!" shouted Mister E. "Find him Reuniclus!"

"What was I saying about Noivernman again?" asked the voice, now crouched on top of a precariously stacked tower of crates. "Oh right. We all know how great he is and stuff, it's a shame he's fictional."

He leapt from the stack of crates and sprinted behind a shelf as the Stoutland barreled through the tower, the two other men opening fire.

"Anyways. I am the nonfictional incarnate of Noivernman! A great secret agent like him! Trained in martial arts, espionage, self-preservation, bomb diffusion, and a bunch of other notoriously difficult courses to be a hero! My friends know me by many names, but you'll only know me by one."

In that moment, two flashes of light erupted in the room. A huge Swampert gave a roar and charged at the Stoutland, who had been closing in on the secret agent. The Reuniclus, which had been slowly making its way over to the agent while telekinetically flinging boxes was struck by a powerful Thunder from another Pokémon.

The agent delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to a crate in front of him. The box exploded forward as it broke and splintered, Pokémon dolls flying out. The crate plowed through where Mister E and Agent F had been standing as they dove out of the way. The agent ran forward and leapt onto the table, striking a menacing and impressive pose while illuminated by the moonlight. Clad in a dark black spy suit reaching up to his neck, a utility belt filed with gadgets, combat boots and gloves, he was a scary sight to any criminal.

"You can call me, Lord Kazuma."

Amidst all the chaos, Mister E was still able to fix him with a bewildered look.

"Call you what now?"

Kazuma dropped his pose, his bravado ruined by his foe's cluelessness.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, what kind of name is Kazuma? And why Lord Kazuma- Wait a minute. You're the old Gamma Team member!"

"Yeah, but I've changed. You're the bad guys here, and I'm going to teach you a lesson of justice!"

"Well, I have a lesson for you," said Agent F. "Never get distracted!"

He whipped out his gun and fired at Kazuma. Kazuma however, was perfectly prepared. He fell backwards and axe kicked the table upwards, his heel being protected by his heavy combat boots. He kicked the table forward, causing it to slam into Agent F and fall over again.

"Reuniclus, use Psychic on this fool!" shouted Mister E.

"Volt Tackle Electivire!" shouted Kazuma, ducking behind a crate.

Kazuma's Electivire charged forward, surrounding itself with electricity as it slammed into the Reuniclus, knocking it forward. Before it could fly to far, he grabbed onto one of its arms and swung it around before slamming it into a shelf.

"Now finish it, Thunder!"

With a loud cry, it summoned powerful volts of electricity to come crashing down on its foe, fainting it.

"Now to take out the trainer!" shouted Kazuma, rushing Mister E.

Mister E face him and drew his gun, but Kazuma was faster. He whipped his arm around, jabbing his hand with his elbow and disarming him. Kazuma then brought his knee into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. A straight punch to his glass jaw finished Mister E.

Kazuma dusted his hands, looking at the scene. His Swampert easily overpowered the Stoutland without any command from him, and both men were out cold. He figured they were the foreign drug dealers he was meant to find.

It then occurred to him that the Team Rocket grunts got away. He shrugged and put a hand to his ear.

"This is Agent Kazuma to Agent Dagger. What's your status?"

"Cleaning up the mess you left behind," said Elaine with an annoyed edge to her voice.

"I was taking care of the dealers. Surely you can take care of the small fry."

Elaine rolled her eyes. Kazuma was never dependable when it came to being diligent. But that's what she was for.

She was currently in an alleyway, standing stationary over a sleek, black motorcycle. It was a high tech one that Wilhelm himself had modified, adding many offensive and defensive features.

As for her, she was wearing the same spy suit as Kazuma, as well as a motorcycle helmet. Her spy suit however, had a lot more pockets, same went for her utility belt.

She saw all three criminals pass by. There was a Gyarados and a Pidgeot alongside the Rapidash. She pushed down the accelerator on the handlebars and sped after them.

Thanks to Wilhelm, the motorcycle was almost silent as it ran on electricity. She had turned off the headlights as she approached the Team Rocket members.

The leader of the trio looked back to see if anyone was pursuing them and managed to spot Elaine thanks to the streetlights dotting the sides of the four-lane road.

"We got company!" shouted Sierra from on top of her Rapidash.

"Allow me the privilege of getting rid of her," said Warren.

"Go ahead, but stalling the agent is all that's necessary. Our goal is to get these goods back to our transport and get out of here."

"I'll do what's necessary. Turn around Pidgeot, use Hurricane!"

His Pidgeot did a U-turn and beat its wings heavily, created a powerful rush of wind straight at Elaine.

Elaine didn't flinch as the Pidgeot started its attack. She pressed the brakes and rotated the handlebars, leaning to the left and digging her feet into the ground. The end result was her drifting to the left and accelerating before the attack hit. She drifted to the right and continued her pursuit.

At this point, the few cars around them realized what was going on and tried to get out of the way of the ensuing battle.

Warren on the other hand, gritted his teeth. "Looks like this person's got some moves. No matter, see if you can dodge this! Use Heat Wave! Spread it out as much as possible!"

The Pidgeot whirled around again, having continued flying forward after its first attack. It threw its wings out, creating a blast of heat from its wings.

Elaine pressed a button on her dashboard, activating one of Wilhelm's additions. She ducked her head down as the front visor extended up and over her head. The front of the motorcycle extended to cover the rest of her side.

The intense waves of heat slammed into the motorcycle, but she simply gunned the accelerator even more to deal with the air pressure.

"Looks like your agency's pretty rich!" shouted Warren, sweat breaking all over his face. "But what's heatproof glass going to do against this? Hyper Voice!"

Elaine shrugged and retracted the shields to save power before activating another one of Wilhelm's added abilities. This one was modeled after the device used in the gauntlets created for his Kommo-o.

The motorcycle hummed with power and fired invisible ultrasound waves from its front. They passed through the Pidgeot's attack, nullifying it completely. The waves then slammed into the bird Pokémon and sent it crashing to the ground. Elaine pressed the brakes and slid to a stop.

"It's not over," said Warren, groaning in pain.

"Yes, it is," said Elaine, whipping a wire at him from her utility belt.

This wire was a special capture device called known as ES Wires. They used two magnets at their ends to wrap around and secure their target. Once the magnets are automatically secured, the wire delivered a single and powerful electric shock, incapacitating their victim for up to an hour. They were also outfitted with trackers for later pick up. As an added bonus, it disabled the release feature on a pokéball within a close enough proximity until manually enabled.

She dug through Warren's pocket as he twitched on the ground. She pulled out a pokéball and returned his groggy Pidgeot.

She left the pokéball with the fallen man and got back onto her motorcycle, speeding down the street. The Team Rocket members had disappeared during her little scuffle, but it was no matter. After all, one of them was riding a flaming horse.

She shook her head. Criminals nowadays were such a joke. While it was a good thing, it didn't make her job any more exciting. Her job as a spy for the Calzein Division of Espionage (CDE) wasn't really fun. She rarely stole anything, and she hadn't required much training as she already excelled at almost everything they needed to teach her.

Soon, she spotted an unnatural source of light to her right. She turned down the street and spotted the Rapidash galloping over a bridge.

Unfortunately, it would take a bit of time to catch up. Those Pokémon were fast, and she didn't want to push the motorcycle too much. All those different abilities took up fuel and were extra weight, lowering speed, acceleration, and the like.

As she got onto the bridge, she noticed something was off. She didn't see the Gyarados.

She noticed something fast approaching to her right. Knowing it was too late to try and avoid it, she instead hit the brakes and dug her leg into the ground, turning the entire motorcycle to face her attacker. She leapt off the motorcycle and hit the ground in a survival roll, getting up to feet quickly.

She sidestepped her motorcycle as it went careening off the bridge, crashing into the highway before. It was durable, but a fall like that would severely damage it.

"Say your prayers you damned Fed!" shouted a voice from on top the Gyarados that attacked her. "You'll pay for what you did to Warren!"

"Actually," said Elaine, pointing a finger at where her motorcycle had fallen. "You need to pay for my motorcycle. Custom made bikes with all sorts of movie gadgets don't come cheap."

"Don't mock me! Get her Gyarados!"

The Gyarados reared up and threw its head forward, trying to attack with Crunch. Elaine leapt away and sent out her Umbreon, Gaol.

"Whatever, I'll take what you owe from your bank account. Shadow Ball!"

"Take the attack and use Dragon Dance!"

Gaol formed a ball of shadowy energy in his mouth and ran forward, leaping up and firing it at the Gyarados. It threw its tail out and absorbed the damage from the attack before twisting around in a strength boosting attack.

"Confuse Ray."

"Waterfall!"

Gaol fired two shadowy orbs that whirled around the Gyarados as it reared up. It dove downwards in a torrent of water, headed straight for Gaol.

"Duck down!" shouted Elaine.

The Gyarados flew upwards right before it hit, missing Gaol as he crouched down and sprung forward.

"Earthquake!" shouted Brutus.

The Gyarados dove downwards and slammed into the ground, creating powerful quakes and splitting the earth. Ground rose and shattered all around them. Gaol was narrowly hit by one as he rushed towards the Gyarados. Elaine calmly sidestepped a falling lamppost.

"Gaol, use Foul Play."

Gaol charged the Gyarados, surrounded by a sinister energy. He turned the Gyarados' power against it as he slammed into it.

"Don't lose to a lousy kitten! Bounce!"

The Gyarados fell backwards and prepared to leap into the air and deliver a devastating attack. While it did preform a leap, that leap led it off the bridge. A loud thud sounded as it hit the ground, fainted.

"Gyarados!" shouted Brutus, running for his Pokémon.

He didn't get very far when Elaine threw an ES Wire, taking him to the ground. She figured the Gyarados was fine where it was for now.

She touched a hand to her communicator. "Victor, do you hear me?"

"Yes, I do!" said Victor. His most recent promotion had him working as a mission control communicator for the CDE. "What do you require?"

"I need visuals on the escaping Team Rocket member. Pink hair, riding a giant flaming horse. Give me her location."

"All right, give me a moment," said Victor, typing madly on his keyboard. "All right, I got a hit. Let's see… a Rapidash was spotted around there… getting security cam images. Got it! She's currently tearing down twenty-eight street, in the district you're in."

"All right, thank you." She hung up the line. "Go, Katraz!"

Elaine's Kadabra appeared from her pokéball, the only Pokémon on her team to not have evolved. But both the trainer and the Pokémon preferred to keep it that way.

"Katraz, I need you to use Teleport and take me to twenty-eight street, Tangela District."

Katraz nodded, surrounding the both of them in psychic energy. Part of Katraz's training was to use her extraordinary intelligence to memorize almost every single street in the Calzei Region for cases such as these.

They appeared in the middle of the street. Elaine thanked her Pokémon and returned her, looking around carefully.

There it was, a complete eyesore on a dark street. The Rapidash was coming in her direction. Elaine pulled out a pokéball and got ready.

Sierra rode on a few more meters before noticing Elaine. She swore in surprise and almost fell of her Rapidash.

"Damn you! Get her Rapidash! Flare Blitz!"

"I choose you, Stiele! Use King's Shield!"

Elaine's oversized Aegislash appeared in a flash of light, creating a hexagonal barrier. The Rapidash slammed into the barrier and rebounded off, the shield shattering as it absorbed itself into her.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Sierra. "Get ready for another attack, High Horsepower!"

"Psycho Cut!"

In a flash of light, Stiele transformed into his Blade Form. With an expert swing of his body, he created purple blades of psychic energy that slashed the Rapidash all over.

"Flare Blitz!"

The Rapidash charged through the psychic blades, headed straight for Stiele. Acting quickly, he transformed into his Shield Form and used King's Shield, blocking the attack and causing a repeat of before.

"You dammed coward!" shouted Sierra. "It's your fault for picket the worst Pokémon to use against my fire type!"

Elaine said nothing. Stiele didn't react either, choosing only to float in place and fix its one eye on the Rapidash.

"Quick, use Flame Charge before it can put up a shield again!"

"Swords Dance."

The Rapidash galloped forward in a burst of speed, intense fire swirling around its legs. Magical power boosting swords clashed above Stiele as the Rapidash slammed into him.

"Take that! You chose the wrong move to use there. You better recall your Pokémon before I give you a good trashing!"

Elaine sighed and shook her head disappointedly. "You really have no clue. Take a good look."

Sierra gave a gasp as she saw Stiele was virtually unharmed.

"King's Shield is a move that lowers the attack of anyone who makes contact with the shield. When he uses this move, he'll revert to his Shield Form and stay in that form until he uses a direct attacking move. In his Shield Form, he takes a lot less damage as you'd expect. Unfortunately, you didn't expect that. Now, Flash Cannon!"

"Get back Rapidash!"

Stiele transformed into his Blade Form and fired a bright ball of magical steel. It exploded in the Rapidash's face, blinding it as it reared up.

"Now, Shadow Sneak!"

Stiele's shadow extended outwards, attacking the Rapidash from below. It gave a weak cry before falling over and fainting.

Sierra gave an enraged scream and pulled out another pokéball, almost dropping it in her frustration. Elaine simply whipped an ES Wire at her, capturing her.

"Mission complete," said Elaine, calling Victor. "Notify HQ, I'll be there in a few minutes."

She sent out Katraz, pulling out her phone to track down the captured Team Rocket members.

Another successful mission.

Twenty Kilometers from Calzei Shore – Middle of the Ocean – 0200 Hours

A Braviary flew over the dark and cold waters, its wings beating frantically as it flew as fast as it could.

Flying like this wasn't efficient, but the rider on its back was not looking for efficiency. He had to escape, quickly.

He looked at the speedboat he'd been piloting earlier, it's smoldering remains sinking into the murky waters. His hand tightened around the briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, scared to loosen his grip for a second.

The briefcase was filled with an assortment of government files, contracts, incendiary papers, government censored news articles, any form of media, public or not, the revealed the plight of the Unova Region. In the right hands, it was a beacon of hope for the Unovan people.

It was also a mark of death.

Ever since he got possession of the briefcase, he was targeted by the government. They had chased him across the Unova Region and across the ocean. He looked behind him now.

In the dark was a stealth jet, the same one that had shot down his speedboat with a pair of missiles. Had it not been for his Pokémon, he'd be dead. His Carracosta had defended him from the missiles, allowing his Braviary to take him away.

He shuddered at his pursuer's persistence. He knew his Escavalier had damaged the jet before take-off, reducing their speed and causing them to leak fuel. Yet, they still chased him, determined to put an end to him.

Despite the darkness, he could still make out the symbol of an electric blue "P" and "Z" emblazoned on a shield with a crown branded on the side of the plane. That symbol was on every piece of government property and Unovan symbol, the Plasma Government symbol.

It had started almost four years ago. Team Plasma had started their silent takeover of the government and region. After two years, seventy five percent of all political officials were part of Team Plasma. A year ago, they started holding real power. They shut down the PWT and suspended the Gym League. Now, they ruled the region with an iron fist, banning the ownership of Pokémon.

The only ones left to defend their precious home were the Insurgents, a secret resistance led by the former champion, Rosa. They did their best to fight against Team Plasma, undermining them in big and small ways.

But now, all that had crumbled. Their main base had been attacked by Team Plasma. The man didn't know if anyone escaped, he didn't know if Rosa was dead or alive. Since his escape, he'd lost all contact with the Insurgents.

He reflected on Rosa's last words to him as she gave him the briefcase with contraband they had spent two years collecting.

"Get the briefcase out of Unova, get it to someone who can help our region to go back to the way it was. The Insurgents haven't fallen, we're only lying in wait. Team Plasma won't hold our region hostage, not as long as anyone lives. You're our last hope Callahan. I'll be waiting."

Callahan closed his eyes. He was going to honor her last wishes, even if he died doing so.

Sliggoo Coffee - Chansey District – 1000 Hours

Kazuma brewed coffee in front of the counter in his beloved store. He took a moment to breath in the fresh aroma of coffee and success.

Since he and Elaine had finished their investigation of contraband and other items being trafficked between regions through criminal networks, he took the time to relax and tend to his store.

"We got another order!" shouted Henry from the register, grabbing a bagel from the pastry section in the back and slicing it. "Regular sized cup of Alolan coffee! No cream or sugar! Order number twenty-two!"

"Did ya finish the current order Kazuma?" asked Jacob from another side of the room.

"Just about," said Kazuma, slapping an order sticker on the side of the cup. He passed it to Jacob who put it along with a bag of pastries.

"Order number fourteen!" he called. A short woman walked up to collect her order. "One cappuccino with two chocolate crème croissants and a sesame seed bagel?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Thank you for your patronage."

Kazuma smiled. The three of them made a great team. Business ran faster when it wasn't just him running it.

The bell chimed as a new person entered the store. Henry looked up and saw Elaine enter the building.

She was wearing a simple black and gray, long-sleeved shirt with a front pocket and jeans. She had a tablet bag with her as she walked directly to the front counter.

"Hi Elaine," said Jacob. "The usual?"

"No, I need to speak with Kazuma. Important business."

'Sure," said Kazuma, having been listening to their conversation. "Is it private?"

Elaine nodded. She leapt over the counter and walked to the back, Kazuma following her.

"What do you think they're going to talk about?" asked Jacob, scrubbing a dish.

"Probably has to do with all the criminal networks going around," said Henry. "But let's not sorry about them. We got our own customers to serve. One large cup of dark roast with no sugar and two creams."

"What kind?" asked Jacob, getting to work.

"The Special Secret Creamer."

Jacob laughed. "Didn't he used to call it the Lord's Creamer back in the Gamma Team?"

"Time's a changing pal."

The Back Storage – Sliggoo Coffee – 1011 Hours

"So, what's all of this about?" asked Kazuma.

Elaine pulled out her tablet and unlocked it, opening a folder of pictures. Kazuma looked at the first one. It was a picture of a jet that had crashed onto Calzei Shore. The first thing he noticed was the Plasma Government emblem on the side. Elaine saw his reaction to the picture and swiped to the next one.

This one showed human tracks leading away from the jet. The next picture showed that a battle had most likely taken place somewhere close to the crash landing. The final few pictures showed various bullets scattered around the scene.

"This is a problem," said Kazuma. "What exactly happened?"

"Last night around 2 AM, missiles were heard exploding twenty miles away from Calzei Shore. Later investigations showed that a Plasma Government fighter jet had fired two missiles at an unidentified object in the water before heading towards the Calzei Region and making a crash landing. From what I'm gathered, I believe Team Plasma here was chasing someone from the Unova Region."

"If they went that far to chase him down, even trying to kill him, he has to be important," said Kazuma.

"Exactly. And knowing Team Plasma's agenda, I'd say this mystery person is against them. They're probably key to stopping whatever's going on in that region."

"Is this a sanctioned mission?" asked Kazuma.

"No, but sometimes we must take a little initiative. I'm sure the division can understand. There's no harm in investigating as off duty agents anyways."

"Alright! Just you wait, we're going to teach those Plasma guys a lesson!"

"Using violence while off duty is against the division's laws. Hate to break it to you."

Kazuma sighed. "I know."

Seventeenth Street – Barius City – 1200 Hours

Callahan walked through the street, moving swiftly and purposely. His destination was the Oak Agency HQ in Barius City. The Oak Agency had become worldwide news since the Scarlet War. If anyone could help, it was them.

Still, he had to be careful. It was a miracle he made it here alive. His Braviary almost collapsed from exhaustion, leaving him to fight the waves with his Carracosta. He temporarily lost the Plasma Government members by hiding and resting on an island, only to discover they were waiting for him on Calzei Shore. Following an ensuing battle, he managed to escape.

Since then, he'd spotted the Plasma members every now and then. By the looks of it, they hadn't figured him out yet. They only knew he was somewhere on seventeenth street.

The reason for this was because the streets from ten to twenty-four were also known as The Commerce Sub-District. The reason for this was because all the big-time companies and business were located here. Callahan had already stolen and changed into slightly ill-fitting professional clothing. Along with his briefcase, he fit right in.

In addition to this, he cut his wild brown hair with a pair of scissors and got a pair of reflective glasses. By doing this, the only thing the Plasma Members had to go off of was a man with a briefcase, and looking around, a lot of people had briefcases. All he had to do now was fit in.

He stopped at a food truck, deciding to buy himself an early lunch. It had been over twenty hours since he last ate. He bought a cheeseburger and a salad before sitting down to eat.

He made sure to keep a tentative eye on the street. He spotted one of the Plasma members scanning the people around them. Their eyes locked onto him, and then drifted away.

It was then Callahan realized how tired he was. He hadn't had a good sleep since the attack two days ago, only getting a max of four hours. He shook his head; he couldn't afford to sleep now.

He finished his lunch and threw his trash away, mustering the energy to push on. He was doing this for the Insurgents, for Rosa. He had no time to sleep or doze off.

According to the directions he received from someone on the street, the Oak Agency HQ was on twenty eighth street, so he was still about ten streets away. While most people were on their lunch break, going past twenty-second street was going to attract attention.

He couldn't send out his Braviary either. The Plasma Team members would defiantly recognize the same Pokémon, especially since his was smaller than average. His only plan was to try and lose them before getting out of The Commerce Sub-District.

He increased his pace, checking his watch as he did so. To most, he'd seem like the average worker who was late to work, and that was the persona he was trying to take on.

He refused the urge to look behind him, setting on a single-track mindset. He'd make it to where he needed to be and fulfill his last mission.

Twenty-Sixth Street – Barius City – 1230 Hours

Callahan was practically running at this point. He was almost there and there was nothing to lose. He pushed though crowds of people, gripping the briefcase as he did.

The only thing stopping him from sending out his Braviary and taking off was the fact the Plasma members had found him. Taking off and leaving the safety of the crowd would only cause them to open fire on him and his Pokémon. He had to make it there, on foot.

He slammed into the shoulder of a lady as he tried to squeeze between her. She cursed at him as he rushed his apology and continued to move. He heard the lady shrieked again. Looking behind him, he saw one of the Plasma members shove her aside to the ground.

His heartbeat even faster as he sprinted away from them. Holding the large briefcase, he was at a speed disadvantage. All around him, people started to scatter, not knowing what was going on.

He then heard the sound of a gunshot. Ducking down, he turned onto the next street. Only one street away from the Oak Agency HQ. He had to make it.

"Carracosta!"

In a flash of light, his Shiny Carracosta appeared. The rocks on its body were teal rather than gray, and its skin was a darker tone than normal.

"Rollout!"

His Carracosta folded its body into its shell and rolled towards the Plasma Members. Bullets pinged off of it as it plowed towards them, leaving them to jump out of the way.

"Let's go!" Callahan shouted, sprinting down twenty-seventh street.

His Carracosta followed him, still rolled into a ball.

As he ran down the street, he heard bullets being fired at him. His Carracosta popped out of its ball and blocked the bullets with its shell.

"We have to do something about this!" shouted one of the Team Plasma members.

"Treating a Pokémon as a shield just so you can survive? How irredeemable! Pokémon liberation will be accomplished! Damn the trainers!"

The first team member seemed on the verge of tears as he almost stopped his pursuit. "The poor Pokémon, believing his only goal in life is to serve its master. We will bring about a change! Plasmaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Those blind sighted fools," muttered Callahan. "They don't understand the true nature of people and Pokémon."

"It's time this little charade ended!" shouted the second Plasma member.

He pulled out a small device and pointed it at the Carracosta. It fired a beam of light and hit the Carracosta. It gave a roar of pain as it was forced back into its pokéball.

"Now, shoot him down!"

The first Plasma member recovered from his sadness and whipped out his gun, firing at will.

"I got him!" shouted the Plasma Member.

Callahan's body laid on the ground, stretched out next to a dumpster he had been trying to dive behind. His body was bleeding from countless holes that riddled his body.

"Somethings not right," said the second Plasma Member.

"What, I shot him dead. With all those bullet wounds there's no way he'd be alive."

"That's the problem! How many bullets did you fire?"

"Like eight or so."

"Exactly! From where I'm standing I can at least fifteen."

"Let me see."

The Plasma Member who shot him approached the body. Out of nowhere, a white mass of fur tackled him to the ground, Callahan's body disappearing into nothing.

"What the hell?"

"Greninja, Water Shuriken!" commanded a voice.

The Plasma Member broke into a run, dodging three blades of water. He looked over his shoulder to see his attacker, only to be nailed in the back by a Greninja.

"I'd like to ask one thing," said the trainer, appearing in a cloud of smoke. A Greninja and a Hisuian Zoroark came over and stood behind him. "What are two Plasma Members doing here, firing guns like madmen?"

The trainer was wearing an Oak Agency uniform. He had long black hair, obscuring his eyes. Between the gaps of his hair, the Plasma Member could see cold, black eyes.

"S-Stay out of this! I'm a representative of the Plasma Liberation Party, you can't arrest me! I came all the way from Unova to deport a criminal escapee back to Unova where he can be tried for his crimes! He's stolen millions of dollars' worth of government documents to sell to an underground spy network! This is not your problem to deal with!"

"What's the point of sending a dead man to jail?"

"He's already attempted force; we had no choice to disable him."

"So, I'm the one in the wrong?"

"Yes, yes you are!" shouted the man, believing he had the upper hand. "Now stand aside and let us continue our business. I can have you punished for helping a criminal escape!"

"You mean this man?" asked the Oak Agent member, snapping his finger.

Fog appeared in the air and dissipated, revealing Callahan.

"He's told me everything he could while I hid him. The Insurgents, the reality of how you've made the Unova Region a totalitarian government region, your oppression. There's no way in hell I'm trusting the word of Team Plasma! Greninja, Hydro Pump! Xander, Hyper Voice!"

The Hisuian Zoroark gave a loud cry and blasted the Team Plasma member with sonic waves as the Greninja leapt into the air and fired a beam of pressurize water. The man was knocked out cold as he went flying through the air, coming to a hard stop as he hit the ground.

"Thank you so much sir!" said Callahan, his earlier shock wearing off. "I was worried I'd never be able to deliver this. Please, take it. It's yours to use."

The agent held up a hand. "You're welcome, but I'm a regular agent stationed here. This isn't my kind of thing. Fortunately, I know a lot of other people. Follow me to the station, we'll talk there."

"Thank you. But before we go, I never got your name."

"Call me Haruka, Haruka Shinomiya."

"You mean the-"

"Yep," said Haruka, a warm smile on his face. "I'm that Haruka."

Oak Agency HQ – Barius City – 1409 Hours

Callahan and Haruka were waiting in an interrogation office room. He'd called his friends over an hour ago and had explained to Callahan that the city they were in was more than an hour away.

They were currently watching the interrogation of the two Plasma Members. The two members so far had refused to say anything. They hadn't responded to promises, threats, or deals.

"Think they'll crack?" asked Callahan.

"I doubt it," said Haruka. "But they're not our problem, our guys are here. I'll introduce you to the field team. Follow me."

Haruka stood up and walked out of the door, Callahan following him.

"Where are we going?"

"To a meeting room we'll want some privacy, just in case."

They walked through the hallways of the Oak Agency HQ. Lots of people waved to Haruka as he strode through the passageways. He made it to a door sectioned off by a heavy door scanner and scanned his ID card, opening the door.

Inside the room, there were five people standing there. They all looked up from their conversations and phones to see the newcomers.

Froom left to right, the first person was a tall man who looked to be about twenty-five. He had thick brown hair and dark blue eyes, as well as a somewhat muscular composition. He was wearing a light brown jacket over a white shirt, as well as khaki pants.

The next person was standing close to the man. She had thick black hair with red streaks mixed into it. She had multiple earrings and a nose ring as well. She wore a faded jean jacket over a black crop top, as well as leggings. She had a tattoo on her right arm as well.

There was a girl standing in the middle with longy and wavy jet-black hair. She wore a pair of glasses and an Altaria themed hoodie.

The next person to her right was also a woman. She was the shortest in the group and had shoulder length blue hair. She wore a fancy blue dress that went past her knees and wore black leggings underneath.

The final person was a tall man with blonde hair. He had maroon-colored eyes and wore an orange leather jacket that was currently unzipped. Between the gap in the jacket was the word "Noivernman" in bold vertical letters.

"Meet the crew," said Haruka, spreading his arms. "From left to right we have: Gavin and Gabrielle Lemmings, Katie Garcia, Molly Edgeworth, and Zack Schrank-"

"Actually," said Zack. "I prefer being called Kazuma."

"But we don't care!" said Haruka grandly. "Me and Zack don't typically get along on a daily basis, so I call him Zack. Anyways, there's one more person here, but she's hiding. So don't expect-"

Elaine Marron suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, causing Callahan to jump back. She was wearing her full spy gear, utility belt included.

"And there she is. Now that she's here, I'll tell you why I called these guys. Zack and Elaine are special members of the Calzei Division of Espionage and are highly skilled at what they do. My four other friends here are highly specialized field agents for the Oak Alpha. While I be an Oak Alpha agent, I typically work in the city I'm stationed. These guys work anywhere and everywhere. So, if it's a mission to the Unova Region, they'll be your best bet."

"And you're sure I can trust them with this highly sensitive information?"

Haruka looked at the assembled group. "Most of them may have been Gamma Team members, but I'd trust them with anything. Except for Elaine, she has a habit of stealing things. Oh, and I wouldn't trust Zack with any personal secrets. He's an absolute troll and an action junky who prefers fighting villains than saving the day. But he can be useful, at times. I have dome business to attend, see you around."

With that, Haruka turned and left the room, leaving Callahan behind with the six agents.

"So, what's this about exactly?" asked Elaine, getting right down to business as she took a seat and motioned for him to do the same. "Haruka gave us the rundown, but I'd like to hear it in your own words."

"Woah slow down," said Gavin. "You can't just rush at him like that. I'm sure he's been through a lot, why not offer him a drink or something."

"Please," said Callahan. "I'm fine. I can hare my story."

"You sure?" asked Gabrielle. "You look like you haven't slept well in days."

"As a matter of fact, I have not," said Callahan, folding his hands. "But I cannot afford to rest until I have completed my mission. Champion Rosa of the Unova Region, the leader of the Insurgents, entrusted me with this briefcase that could very well alter the fate of the Unova Region. There's no time to rest with such an important responsibility. I have battled death at every turn to get this briefcase and its contents to you. Simply put, the Unova region is under heavy oppression and rule from Team Plasma. They've had a shadowy grip on the region for more than two years. The Insurgents worked hard to undermine them and erode their rule. These papers were part of that plan. In this briefcase, I have documents detailing everything they've done, many of their plans. My mission was to bring it here and expose their corruption so that we may receive help in eradicating the Plasma Government once and for all!"

"And we're going to help with that," said Kazuma. "Things are going to get violent."

Molly gave a sad sigh. "Not really. My darling Olivia refused to join us. I'm sure you can understand why."

"Your conviction is great to hear," said Elaine. "Let's take a look at that briefcase, shall we?"

Callahan nodded. He put the briefcase on the table and pulled a key from his pocket. With a deep but shaky breath, he inserted the key. He put his hands on the lid and slowly opened it.

"Hold on!" said Katie suddenly, slamming the lid back down. "What if it's booby trapped?"

"What?" asked Kazuma sarcastically. "Do you think it'll self-destruct?"

"Maybe!" countered Katie. "If these documents are so important, wouldn't you want to put a counter measure in case the Plasma guys got their hands on it?"

"I assure you," said Callahan tiredly. "There's nothing to worry about. These documents were in the hands of the Plasma Government to beginning with anyways."

He opened it the rest of the way. As expected, many documents were fitted into the briefcase. Some of them had red stamps on them, marking them as confidential. Others were news articles, handwritten notes, and more.

Elaine picked up a heavy folder and looked into it, her eyebrows raising.

"Come look at this," she said, spreading the contents around the table.

Almost all of the papers featured portioned maps of different places in the Unova Region. The remaining five documents were detailed diagrams of different weapon systems.

"Is that an anti-aircraft turret?" asked Gabrielle, pointing at a diagram.

"It appears so. They're mines, turrets, drones. These maps detail where everything is going to or have been placed," said Elaine, frowning.

"It's been like this," said Callahan. "They've been slowly but surely locking down the region. I had to circle around a quarter of the region just to avoid their water mines and boat sinkers."

"Look at this!" said Katie excitedly, pulling a document from the pile. "This is a list of some of their secret operatives."

Kazuma took the document from her and scanned it. "We could possibly run this through a face recognition program. Could be helpful."

"Only that's controlled by the Plasma Members themselves," said Callahan.

"I found a report by some guy named Steve Harris," said Gavin before reading it aloud for everyone. "Everything has been going smoothly. Slowly but surely, my team and I have been hunting down and erasing those damned Pokémon slavers. But the Insurgents prove an annoying challenge to face. We've been investing a large majority of our resources into finding and hunting them down. Yet, they still manage to allude our grasp. Their Pokémon slaves prove to be very loyal to them, making this entire ordeal a struggle. Their leader also proves to be a nuisance, makes sense she used to be a champion before we tore down the entire monstrous system. Despite our usage of the PSSs, they still manage to overpower us. Because of this, I request usage of the [redacted]. Hail Plasma."

"What are PSSs?" asked Gabrielle.

"They're called pokéball suppression systems. They force a Pokémon back into their pokéball and then lock the release feature. They used it on my Carracosta when I was fleeing earlier today."

"Sounds serious," said Molly. "It seems team Plasma have been developing anti-Pokémon warfare devices."

"It's most likely much more serious than all of you make it out to be," said Elaine. "It's clear that whatever this weapon our friend Harris is asking for is a dangerous one. It's clear he views the Insurgents as a major threat. It's also clear that the leader, whomever they may be, wants to keep this weapon or device on the downlow, hence the reason it's redacted."

"Are you trying to say that this secret weapon is so secret not even the secretaries are allowed to know?" asked Molly.

"Precisely. Besides, you can't always trust secretaries."

"Don't worry," said Gavin. "I know of that fact first-hand, Thalia."

"That was two years ago," said Elaine. "I'm surprised you even bothered to remember that. Either way, that doesn't matter. For now, we have to formulate a plan."

"And by 'we' you mean us," said Kazuma pointedly.

"Exactly. You six go over everything in that briefcase and formulate a plan on how we're going to get into Unova and what exactly we're going to be doing there. A few things to remember: One, we don't know who their leader is, so that'd be helpful to figure out. Two, the Insurgents have been quashed-"

"Temporarily," said Callahan.

"And are currently the only fighting force the region has," continued Elaine. "Discovering what happened to them and freeing them from whatever predicament is vital. Three, finding out the nature of this weapon and what threat it could pose not only to the Unova Region, but to the whole world as well. Four, finding out what the Plasma Team truly are up to. Five, trying to find if there are any measures we can take to defeat them. Another important thing to note is that bringing in a large number of operatives team into the Unova Region is counterproductive. It's easier to sneak seven people into a locked down region than it is fifty. If the Plasma Government were to find out about the Calzei Region's involvement, retaliation is likely."

"But then wouldn't it make more sense for just the three of you to go?" asked Katie. I'm not trying to back out, but Callahan is of course, necessary to this mission, and you and Kazuma are trained for this kind of stuff."

"You prove an excellent point," said Elaine. "But three people would not suffice on a high stakes mission like this one. Bringing too little people increases the chance of failure, and bringing too many people does the same."

"What about you?" asked Gabrielle. "While we formulate the plan…"

"I'll be speaking to the higher-ups," finished Elaine. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes, make some significant progress by then if you'd please."

With that, she strode out the door and left, leaving everyone else to communicate between each other.

Outside of the room, she sent out Katraz. The Kadabra appeared in a flash of light and floated into the air.

"Alright Katraz, I need you to take us to location 2B."

Katraz nodded and surrounded both of them in psychic energy. They reappeared in a secure location where not even Elaine knew where it was. She and Katraz had been taken there blindfolded, and only Katraz was allowed to learn the location for teleporting later.

The room was a dark square with nothing but a button. Pressing it, it gave a beep before playing a recorded message.

"Give us a moment, an agent will connect with you shortly once your identity has been verified."

Elaine stood still and waited. She knew they were cameras hidden everywhere, scanning her and trying to match her with the very few people on the database.

The speaker in front of her crackled as a human voice spoke through.

"Welcome Elaine. I suppose you want to talk to Captain Caesar?"

"Yes, I do," said Elaine.

Captain Caesar was the division head of the CDE. His identity wasn't known by many as he preferred not to talk in person. All this secrecy and the back and forth to contact him was all part of it.

"All right then," said the voice on the other side. "Standby for teleportation."

An Alakazam appeared next to her. It closed its eyes as it appeared, bending its spoons as it used Teleport again to take Elaine and Katraz to another location. This location changed every now and then, and a special psychic barrier prevented any Pokémon except for the Alakazam to teleport between it.

Elaine appeared in the new room. This one had much better lighting and a comfortable couch in front of a TV screen. Before leaving, the Alakazam gave Katraz a condescending glare before disappearing.

"Don't worry about him," said Elaine, returning her Pokémon. She walked over to the couch and sat down, pressing a button on the screen to page Captain Caesar.

Usually, the captain responded immediately, having already been informed of her arrival. This time however, he didn't pick up. A minute later and there was still silence on the other end. Elaine was naturally very patient, but couldn't help wondering what was taking the captain so long.

Finally, the screen flashed as the silhouette of a man appeared. It was completely grayed out, and only his clothing could be made out. The silhouette brushed their shirt and cleared their throat.

"Good afternoon," he said in a low, business voice. "Sorry for responding a bit late, you caught me in the middle of my lunch."

"My apologies," said Elaine evenly. "But what I have to say could not wait."

"I'm aware. Haruka already took the chance to have a brief discussion with me about the certain circumstances over a secure channel. I believe you are here to elaborate."

"Precisely," said Elaine. "Our current problem right now is that we have reason to believe the Plasma Government, as they're called, has a secret weapon. This weapon was referenced in a report we found, but any details about it were censored. The implications on how this weapon works, what threat it poses, and the Plasma Government's intentions to use it are. But we do know that whatever it is, they planned on using it to wipe out the resistance movement going on in the region, a movement they deemed very had to deal with."

"So I have reason to believe your goal for this mission is to discover what kind of weapon this is?"

"Not only that," said Elaine. "But to piece back what is remaining of the resistance. And if possible, try to shut down the Plasma Government for good. We've long since established the new Plasma Government is a threat. But treaties and peace-deals aren't helping the thousands of Unovans affected by their rule."

"A task force of six highly skilled agents and one resistance member aren't going to be able to dismantle the Plasma Government, not when they were able to corrupt the current government."

"I understand that, but I'm sure you're able to see the issue with bringing a large army into the Unova Region to ty and free its people. The Plasma Government has been developing anti-Pokémon weaponry for some time. A war on their own turf would not be successful. Don't forget that retaliation is highly likely. We'll be more focused on rescuing the Champion first and reassembling the Insurgents before coming up with a plan. Perhaps then we can bring in the Calzei Region."

Captain Caesar thought deeply for a moment, his avatar reflecting that. "very well, you bring up fine points. And the arrival of Callahan is definitely an opportunity. I'll speak with the government council about this, I'm sure they'll be able to see the added political benefits of building a new Unovan Government under the influence of the Calzei Region. Political alliances could be formed. In the meantime, you'll have sixty days to provide meaningful results so we can form a concrete plan and take action. One more thing however. Are you sure you can trust this Callahan fellow?"

"Being completely trusting is not something I'm known for, sir," said Elaine. "Haruka said he's trustworthy, and while his words do carry a lot of merit, I still did a cursory analysis and background check when Haruka first called. I believe he can be rusted, for now at least."

"Good, I trust your judgment, There's a reason you're my top agent."

"Thank you," said Elaine. "You can expect good results."

With that, the silhouette faded as the connection closed. The Alakazam appeared once again, ready to escort her back.

Elaine walked into a room full of activity as she came back from her meeting. Gavin, Katie, and Gabrielle were in one corner of the room with a large board, poring over a few documents with sketches and blueprints. Molly and Callahan were examining a large map spread on the wall, adding different symbols and markings.

Kazuma on the other hand, was moving back and forth, examining what the other people were looking at and jotting things down.

Everyone looked up when Elaine entered. She nodded and took a seat in front of everyone, folding her hands together.

"So what have you completed so far?" she asked.

Gavin stepped forward. "So far, the three of us have been looking into their drone technology. And we've learned some crazy stuff about these attack drones. They employ a variety of systems to hunt down any flying object that isn't supposed to be there."

"We're talking infrared lasers, sonar detecting, radio waves," continued Gabrielle. "The drones are connected to one of the thirty or so towers located around the Unova Region that detect abnormalities in the airspace. The people at the tower can directly control the drones from there."

"The drones also have a special function that was mentioned a few times," said Gavin. "It allows them to hunt down and eliminate people through unknown methods."

"How many of these drones do they have?" asked Elaine.

"I'd say about two hundred," answered Gavin.

"One weakness they have that may be easily exploitable is their single-track focus," said Katie. "Upon detecting something, they'll continue to track it until destroyed. If it takes too long, other drones in the surrounding area will automatically be called to attack as well."

"So you could create a diversion," said Kazuma. "Drone versus drone, the agency has plenty of them."

"But wouldn't the people in the towers be able to discover and ignore the decoy?" asked Callahan.

"Not if the decoy starts shooting down their forces," countered Kazuma. "Besides, I'm sure they're guard is down since they believe the Insurgents have been crushed. I'm already forming a plan to get onto the region. Just need to verify a few things."

"You said get onto the region, not sneak onto it," Molly pointed out. "What are you planning?"

"I'll explain later. For now, tell me about all those water mines you circled."

"They're everywhere, highly sensitive, and have enough power to take down something heavier than a speed boat. Need me to elaborate?"

"Would it be possible to see them if one was going slowly?"

"From above the water, no. They're built with a reflective top that hides them beneath the shimmer of the water in the day. Obviously you're going to have a hard time seeing them at night so that's not a problem for the explosive tech team. Next question?"

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Your enthusiasm is amazing. Either way, how far away from the shore do the mines reach out?"

"About five kilometers, give or take."

Kazuma nodded his head. "Sounds reasonable. My Swampert could swim thrice that distance."

"Are you going to have your Swampert scout out the mines?" asked Callahan.

"Yes. Once we've gotten through the mine field, or sea, we can head onto shore and figure out our next move from there."

"That's assuming we can get past the coast guard," said Gavin.

"That's where the full extent of my plan comes in," explained Kazuma. "First off, Callahan, Katie, Gavin, Gabrielle, and Molly all board one of the agency's Rapid-X23s. These come from the stealthiest and fastest line of speedboats produced in the Calzei Region. From there, you guys' head towards the Unova Region until you're on the border of the mine. You deploy whatever attack drone we decide on and create a diversion to lure all the nearby drones to one area. While that's going on, Elaine and I will be flying a Shadow 2-16-"

"You mean those fancy stealth jets?" asked Gavin.

"Yeah-"

Elaine raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. "Which way do you intend to die? By poor flying or by the enemy."

Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Come on, I have a piloting certificate and I'm not bad at flying."

"No, you're just too reckless and daring," said Elaine. "Go on."

"Anyways," continued Kazuma. "Before I was rudely interrupted, I was explaining phase two of the plan. Me and Elaine will board the fancy jet and fly towards the harbor where Callahan and everyone else should be. We'll use the weapon systems to dismantle the defense tower and any other defense they have on the shore. From there, we'll join back together and lay low somewhere before executing our next plan of action."

"Sounds mostly reasonable," said Gavin, earning him a glare from Molly and Katie. "It's not like we have anything else."

"We still have time before we finalize a plan and set out. Until then, we're sticking with this one," said Elaine. "At least, a version of it. We have sixty days to get some real information out, and every second counts."

Molly sighed. "Sixty days without my girlfriend."

"She said we have sixty days to get information back to the Calzei Region," said Katie. "Theoretically we could be there for more, or god forbid someone dies and can't go back to their psycho girlfriend."

"Olivia's changed," argued Molly. "You're just hating."

"I'm justified in my feelings," said Katie.

"Uh," started Gabrielle, a bit hesitant. "I just wanted to put this out there, but no one has actually talked about what we'll do once we make it to the Unova Region. We can't just barge in there without a plan."

Everyone paused for a moment, realizing the Gabrielle did have a point. Callahan jumped up and shook his head.

"Don't worry everyone! I'm sure Champion Rosa had a contingency plan for this. She wouldn't send me here, telling me I had to reform the Insurgents when I come back without a solid plan on how actually to do that."

"Or maybe she could've overlooked that," said Molly with a shrug. "Could happen when you're spending most of your time fighting against a corrupt government that's out for blood."

"You don't know here like I do," argued Callahan, getting a bit annoyed.

"Both of you make great points," said Elaine, causing Callahan to shoot her a look. "From an objective point of view at least. But we should believe that Champion Rosa had a backup plan in case something went wrong. Did the Insurgents have any special meeting areas or something like that?"

"There is one area," said Callahan slowly. "There was an underground bunker beneath a Swanna fountain in Castelia City. But we stopped using it due to some leaks in the system."

"It's worth checking out," said Elaine. "We have to follow every lead we have. Anything else anyone wants to share?"

Everyone else shook their heads.

"Good, we'll finish reading through these documents and prepare. We head out two days from now."

Two days later

Oak Agency Central Hangar – Tatakami Island – 0000 Hours

The time had come, lots of time had been invested into making sure that this worked. After selecting a jet that was top quality, the managers of the plane went through a checklist and made sure everything was functioning. The same went for the boat.

All seven people had special mission suits tailored and designed for them. They were skintight yet comfortable suits, fitted with a special utility belt to contain all sorts of useful objects and gadgets. The suits had built in wingsuit technology, heat resistance cold resistance, and shock resistance. They made the wearer hard to see in the dark and as a bonus, reduced the noise caused by cloth rubbing together to zero.

They had spent the entirety of yesterday finalizing the plan and getting anything that was necessary for the mission. As it turned out, Kazuma's plan was surprisingly solid and required very minimal changes.

As for gear. Elaine and Kazuma were equipped with ES Wires, stun guns, smoke balls, grapple launchers, wire cutters, lighters, multipurpose flash drives, encrypted radios, EMP emitters, bugs, flashlights. Elaine specifically had a set of thieving tools like lockpicks and electronic safe crackers.

The four Oak Agents had handcuffs, flashlights, standard radios, tasers, small jot pads, and a variety of healing items for Pokémon.

Callahan however, took only a radio. He was neither qualified nor licensed to use any fancy technology outside of his suit.

By this time, the Oak Agents and Callahan had already departed by boat almost three hours ago. Now, it was Kazuma and Elaine's turn to head out.

They had taken their positions in the fighter jet, Elaine being the main pilot in front and Kazuma being the co-pilot in the back. Elaine would handle everything unless she instructed Kazuma to do otherwise. Everybody except for him agreed that this was for the best. While he may be qualified for piloting, no one actually trusted him to do so.

In front of the hangar where they had boarded the jet was a long runway. A member of the CDE waved to flashing batons as he waved them clear for takeoff.

"Ready for this Agent Kazuma?" asked Elaine, flipping switches as she prepared to taxi.

"Affirmative, Agent Dagger," said Kazuma in a monotonous voice before breaking into a grin. "Hell yeah I'm ready! Let's get this show on the road!"

Elaine shook her head with a sigh before sending the jet forward in its wheels, picking up speed as her head pressed into the back of her helmet and the seat.

"Your enthusiasm is great. Your lack of professionality isn't."

She tilted the controls upwards as the jet blasted down the runway, easing into takeoff. It flew upwards at incredible speeds, the life support systems and jet gear preventing any serious harm from the rapid ascent.

When they were leveled, Elaine took the radio from the jet and spoke into it, connecting with Gavin.

"This is Team Air Strike to Storm Team, do you copy? Over."

"We hear you loud and clear. Over."

"We've successfully taken off and our ETA is around one hour and forty minutes. By then we'll be in position to attack. Remember, you are not to approaching the docks without the signal, and you are not to land on the docs without another signal. Over."

"One small thing, you haven't told us the signal. O-"

"Is it really necessary to say over?" interrupted Katie. "Doesn't the radio click once someone stops pressing the little button thingy?"

"Be professional," said Callahan. "Unova relies on your help."

"I'm just putting it out there."

Elaine turned on her own radio, cutting them off. "You'll know what the signal is when you see it. Sit tight for now, we're on our way."

One hour and fifteen minutes later

Callahan, Gavin, Gabrielle, Molly, and Katie were all in a slightly large speed boat. Gavin was at the front, operating the controls while everyone else kept watch. Also on the boat was a large drone and Kazuma's Swampert, both of them taking up most of the space.

The drone had a multitude of weapons systems, ranging from bombs, bullets, and missiles. Not only that, but it was remotely controlled and had a 360-degree view for whoever was controlling it.

The deploy zone was rapidly approaching, and Storm Team still didn't have all the necessary details. First of all, they didn't even know who'd be piloting the drone. Second, they were supposed to deploy the drone and wait for the next signal, which they had no idea about.

"It would be nice if some things were made clear from the start," said Katie as they found themselves six kilometers from shore.

Their radio suddenly crackled as Victor's voice came on. "Alright people, we have everything sorted out now. Get ready. Activate the drone at the launch area and standby. Haruka's going to be piloting it."

"Haruka," echoed Gavin.

"Are you doubting me?" asked Haruka. "Equipped with a state-of-the-art game controller, a sixty FPS VR screen, instant command and flawless graphics with a digital overlay. It's the ultimate video game. I'm setting a record for drones destroyed."

"Against an unknown number of powerful military drones," Gabrielle pointed out. "The best you'll be is a distraction."

"Nah, I'd win."

Everyone shrugged and continued on. The radar on their boat started beeping as they enter the deploy zone. Kazuma's Swampert leapt into the water, its head poking out. Gavin, Callahan, and Gabrielle lifted the drone and set it on a flat deck at the edge of their boat.

"You're all set, good lucky out there," said Gavin, activating the drone.

"Don't worry about me," said Haruka. "I'm sitting in the safety of my gaming chair. You're the ones who need to be careful. I'll be off now; I'll notify you when it's safe to approach."

With that, the drone activated its flight mode. The engines beneath it spun as its thrusters started with a buzzing noise, the top of the boat changing color form its heat. Its sleek black body rose into the air and disappeared into the night sky.

Haruka's POV

All right, it was go time. I wasn't going to lose to a bunch of stupid AI controlled drones, not with this setup. If I could beat two level nine CPUs at once with a broken controller while playing Ultimate Smash, I could destroy a few dozen drones with one superior one. At least, if they didn't swarm me too fast.

The multiple views on my headset changed as the drone swiveled its camera to compensate every slight turn of my head. Testing a few different directions, everything seemed to be in order. The night vision held up really well and would make spotting even the smallest details. The zoom worked perfectly, the controls were flawless, I'm perfectly ready for this.

Gently touching the buttons that were for the weapon systems. I traced the buttons Victor had pointed out for the weapon systems. A high-powered machine gun, missiles, and two laser cannons, bombs, and grappling hooks.

Wait, do grappling hooks count as weapons?

Shaking my head, I made the drone ascend higher above the ground. The Team Plasma grunts hopefully won't see me coming, the machinery needed to do the looking for them. The radar on the left corner of my screen told me nothing was around me right now. But I knew for a fact the drones were coming.

Probably should get there quicker.

Pushing the sticks down, the drone climbed higher in the sky, its thrusters making louder sounds as it went higher above the docks.

The meters flew by and turned into kilometers. The drone was soon almost positioned over the Unova Region.

That's when two flashes sparked on the side of my radar, but this attack was far from unexpected. Kicking the controls into high gear, I shifted the drone and spun it into a barrel roll, completely dodging the missiles.

The flashes still remained on the radar like an annoying pest. Rolling my eyes, I opened the drone console and activated an anti-targeting missile defense. A blue sphere on the drone lit up and started humming as it warmed up.

Four more flashes appeared on the radar. More missiles, what joy. I increased the throttle and dodged the missiles, flipping it around in circles and rolls as missile streaked in every direction.

I spun around in my chair, poising my finger over the fire button as the EMP finished charging. "Now! Light up in a glorious explosion!"

Another blip briefly flashed on my screen before disappearing entirely. Gritting my teeth in frustration, I held off my attack and headed to where the new blip was.

Most likely and enemy drone. At this rate, I won't reach it before these missiles come for me. I have three… maybe four seconds before impact. Using the anti-missile EMP leaves me open to counterattack. I don't want to get eliminated in the first few minutes of my match.

This was probably going to be a stupid idea, but what the heck? Jamming the stick forward, I cut the engine after two seconds. Through the camera, the drone was easily visible. Taking a deep breath, I locked onto the drone and spammed the missile button. It dove downwards as my own drone dropped, heading nose first.

Jamming my hand against the boost button, my drone shot forward, using its one-time turbo engine to shoot itself downwards with the help of gravity. The missiles jerked downwards, only to hit the space where the opposing drone was now occupying.

That was a close o- Shoot!

I jerked the controls up as I fired the engines, almost crashing into a building. Curse me and my lack of focus.

At this point, I knew that the Plasma Members knew I was here. The drones we're going to converge on me like Combee to honey.

Rubbing my hands together, I dried my sweaty palms and readied my true gamer mode.

"It's time to sweep these fools."

The shore of the Unova Region was fast approaching. Elaine's jet flew silently above, almost invisible in the night.

Through eyes and ears alone, it was invisible. But the Plasma Government was not relying on their eyes. Their anti-aircraft guns were placed in strategic locations all around the port, each having an operative team with protective sheds around them.

There were seven different anti-aircraft stations situated around the port, but their target was the dock patrol base. The port was about two kilometers wide and built as an almost perfect square. They had a lot of ground to cover while trying not to be shot down.

"Get ready Kazuma," said Elaine, turning down the throttle. "Slowly down allows us to line a good shot while being-"

"I get it," said Kazuma, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a rookie."

"Then don't miss your mark and get ready. First anti-aircraft station approaching."

The jet flew downwards towards the first station as bullets began to fly. Elaine twisted the controls and pulled the jet into a barrel roll as Kazuma fired the missiles, aiming for the gun rather than the people.

The missile streaked towards the gun, only to explode before contact. Elaine pulled the jet up as guided missiles were launched.

Elaine didn't flinch and pushed the nose of the jet downwards, easing off the pressure from the ascent. She flipped a switch and deployed two anti-missile drones. The missiles automatically locked onto the drones as she flew downwards, a large explosion behind her.

Following the descent, Kazuma fired the guns on the front of the jet. The bullets pinged off the shed and ground before landing a hit on the anti-aircraft gun, causing it to explode as its ammo rack was destroyed.

"Target des-"

Elaine flipped the jet into another barrel roll before he could finish, standard missiles streaked past the wings as bullets joined the fray.

"There's another anti-air station!" shouted Elain, flipping the controls. "Brace yourself!"

Bullet hit the wings as Elaine pulled the jet closer to the ground. She increased the throttle and gunned the jet forward, heading directly for the dock patrol base.

"We'll have to take care of the control tower closer to land," said Elaine as she brought the jet upwards. "Get ready."

"I'm always ready," said Kazuma with a smirk.

"Then make sure you don't miss."

She turned the jet around, flying at a ninety-degree angle as she did. She righted the plane and pulled down as bullets were fired. Based on their somewhat subpar accuracy, she could tell they were AI controlled. All it took was a bit of fancy flying to dodge.

Unfortunately, they had the advantage in numbers and the fact that the right wing was already damaged. Ignoring these facts however, she leveled the jet with the approaching tower and nodded for Kazuma to fire.

"Thanks for lining me up perfectly," said Kazuma, hitting the fire button.

Two missiles streaked toward the tower, making direct collision before they could be remotely exploded. Elaine pulled the jet around, causing them to experience many Gs as they narrowly left the blast range.

They didn't succeed without damage though. Shrapnel from the tower embed themselves into the jet as enemy fire hit. An explosion from below rocked the entire jet, causing it to destabilize for a moment before Elaine wrestled with the controls to restabilize them.

Elaine cursed as she checked the gauges. "We're leaking oil and our engine is damage. We're going to be losing speed, fast."

Kazuma tried not to look panicked. "So, what's the real problem?"

"Overconfident until the end, aren't you," said Elaine, pulling the jet upwards as she turned. "I have a plan. When I tell you to eject, you better eject."

"Wait," said Kazuma, his eyes widening. "What are you planning?"

Elaine said nothing as she concentrated on flying. Smoke and fire trailing from the back of their jet, bullets spraying everywhere, the jet continued its unstable and dangerous path towards the dock patrol base.

A spray of bullets tore through the left wing, causing the jet to tilt. Elaine spun it into a brief barrel roll to keep straight before leveling it out.

"Get ready," said Elaine calmly, putting the jet into a dive in front of the base.

Dread filled Kazuma as he realized her plan. "You're not about-"

"Eject!"

She slapped a hand on the eject button as Kazuma did the same, sending both of them shooting upwards as parachutes deployed. The jet started to break down as it crashed into the patrol base, sending an eruption of flame spiraling upwards. Fortunately for the Plasma members, they'd foreseen her kamikaze and scattered.

"That should be a suitable signal," said Elaine, nodding to herself. She flipped on her radio and contacted Kazuma. "That should draw their attention away from us, hopefully they didn't see us eject. But don't expect to be safe when we land."

Kazuma didn't respond. Looking over to him, Elaine noticed that he was slightly shaking in his parachute, too numb to answer the radio.

Elaine gave herself a self-satisfied smile. "How the confidence has fallen."

Gavin stared out at the erupting fireball less than half a kilometer away, the fire cutting through the darkness of the night.

"I'm guessing that's the signal," he said, passing a pair of binoculars to Katie.

"Or it could be a sign that they're dead," said Molly with a shrug. "As a pyromaniac, anyone within a few meters of that would probably either be dead or-"

"Nope," said Katie, removing the binoculars. "They're alive. Saw them myself."

Callahan stopped the boat and gave her a confused look. "If you can see them, wouldn't the Plasma grunts be able to see them as well?"

"Not when they're trying to put out the fire literally meters away," said Gavin.

At that moment, Kazuma's Swampert popped out to see what was holding them up. Gavin waved for him to continue on as he started the boat again, carefully navigating through the water.

Reaching the port, he held up a hand for everyone to wait as he carefully climbed onto port, sinking the ship once everyone was settled. Looking around, he could see people frantically running about, trying to find ways to salvage technology and potentially put out the ever-increasing fire. Waving everyone forward, he snuck onto port, using the few shadows and random port objects as cover.

He held up another hand, peeking around a crate. Nearby were two Plasma Members, speaking frantically on radios as they prepared weapons. Gavin pulled out a pokéball and quietly opened it.

Jeff the Galvantula appeared besides him. Issuing a few instructions, Jeff crawled out from behind the crate and snuck up to the to men.

Before they could react, Jeff leapt forward, wrapping them in tightly woven strands of silk. A few jolts later and both men fell paralyzed to the floor, their equipment circuited.

"I think those were the only ones nearby," said Katie, holding out a scanning device. "Everybody else has headed toward the crash site."

"Good," said Gavin, returning his Pokémon. "We're in the clear, for now at least. Get your Pokémon out, we fly low."

Gavin returned Kazuma's Swampert to a pokéball Kazuma gave him as Molly sent out her Charizard alongside of Callahan's Braviary and Katie's Altaria. Sharing a ride with Callahan, Gavin and the rest of his team flew off towards the heart of the city.

All around them, alarms blared as the Plasma Members responded to the attack. Elaine and Kazuma had already successfully escaped long before the Plasma Members had any idea what was going on. Having hijacked a patrol car, they moved through the dark streets, lights and sirens off.

Haruka's drone was battered and broken, yet it was still flying.

Both laser cannons had been destroyed while his bombs were depleted. His machine gun was constantly running the risk of overheating and or jamming due to the damage it had sustained.

But despite all that had happened to it, the enemy drones around him laid destroyed.

He'd valiantly fought against fifteen drones, and managed to come out on top. His skills as a gamer were unmatched, he could easily destroy a swarm of AI.

Even now, more drones came. His speed had been decreased significantly due to heavy damage. Seeing little options when it came to maneuverability, he tilted it upwards as he headed towards the nearest drone, cutting his engines.

His drone slowed down easily, picking up speed as it started to fall. The drone he was pointing at dove at him, readying its weapons.

Doing quick calculations, Haruka reactivated his engine and slammed his thumb on the fire button. The drone, being a useless AI, fired missiles that immediately exploded as bullets tore through them. The drone itself exploded as bullets tore through its armor, raining shrapnel on Haruka's drone.

Out of nowhere, a missile slammed into the side of Haruka's drone, the damaged sensor not picking it up. Haruka fought with the controller, briefly managing to take control, even if it was inevitable.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you down with me."

A human operator would have pulled back, knowing they landed a critical hit and would've let the damage finish the job. The AI controlled drone however, still chased after Haruka's drone.

Which turned out to be a mistake.

Right before Haruka's drone spun out of control, he launched the grappling hook, barely pausing to lock on. His gamer aim however, was true.

His drone spun out of control due to the added weight, bringing the other drone down with him. Both fell to the ground and crashed, exploding.

Haruka sighed, removing his headset as the display went black. "How'd I do Victor?"

Victor was sitting next to him, looking on another drone monitor as it too went black.

"Seventeen destroyed, thirty-eight minutes and forty-seven seconds. I'd say that's an S rank."

Haruka nodded, taking a short sip from a power drink. "As expected."

"That was a stupid idea," said Kazuma, the shock having long wore off.

"It still worked. Would you rather have been reduced to ash?" asked Elaine, eyes focused on the road.

"Could've told me at least."

"Would you have gone along?"

Kazuma opened his mouth, only to close it and sulk in his seat. "Whatever."

"Exactly. Stay ready though, we're ditching the car soon and continuing on foot. I'm sure they have ways to track this car."

"Of course," said Kazuma, rolling his eyes. "All top-secret missions involve ditching a vehicle only moments you get them. Perfectly cool and reasonable."

"The Plasma Team is a force to be reckoned with. Already they were able to dismantle the underground resistance and control the region. We can't take them lightly."

"I get that. Whoever their new leader is, he's more component than Ghetsis. Blah blah, there's danger here and danger there. Haven't you learned by this point? I'm ready for anything!"

"Except for last minute kamikazes."

"Whatever."

Two hours later

Gavin and the rest of his team were hiding out in an abandoned apartment within perfect view of the fountain. One detail that was surprising to all four of them was the fact that most of the area had been ruined.

It turned out that a major battle had happened after Callahan's departure from the Unova Region. Signs of explosives and various Pokémon attacks were present in the area. The fountain for the most part, had been destroyed.

The only thing they could do now was wait for Kazuma and Elaine. The ruined fountain and city block only served as a sign that the Insurgents were not here.

All four of them sat somewhat dejectedly on the floor, Molly resting on an overturned bed. Callahan was especially worried, they had lost their only link on the Insurgents, making finding an almost impossible task.

To simple knocks sounded on the door. Springing into action, everyone took positions around the room, readying pokéballs. Molly, being the most physical fighter out of them, moved towards the door.

"Who's there?" she asked, getting into a fighting stance while placing one hand on the doorknob.

"A knight of darkness," said a familiar voice on the other side. "I fight for one purpose-"

"Got it, you're an idiot," said Molly, pulling open the door.

Elaine and Kazuma stood there, having long gotten the Plasma Members off their trail. Everyone else gathered at the door to share the news.

Elaine nodded her head. "I see. Let me take a closer look however, I looked at it from a distance and have a suspicion."

Callahan raised an eyebrow. "Really? All signs point to the fact the Insurgents have been driven out of the base. Searching more just leaves us open for attack."

Elaine looked down the hallway, making sure there was no one else around. "Trust my plan. We've chased the Plasma Members away for some time. And any others that chance upon us will be incapacitated immediately."

Gavin shrugged and motioned for everyone to follow Elaine outside. Moving swiftly, they descended the building through the cracked and damaged stairs, heading through a backdoor and going around to reach the fountain.

"Tell me," said Elaine. "How did you enter the underground bunker?"

Callahan looked over the rubble, not seeing what Elaine was. "The golden crest feathers of the Swanna statue were fake. We removed them and entered through a ladder."

"So," said Elaine carefully, moving bits of rubble. "There's a ladder inside of the Swanna's stomach."

"Yes. The inside of the statue was hollow. It originally wasn't like that, but we modified it to serve as a secret entrance."

Elaine carefully dusted off a piece of rubble. In the darkness, they could barely tell that the dust covered object sparkled with a hint of gold.

"I need some assistance here," said Elaine, stepping back and pointing at a pile of rubble.

"Step aside," said Kazuma, sending out his Swampert. "Clear the way buddy!"

His Swampert gave a roar as it heaved pieces of rubble off of the object in front of them. In a few seconds, the Swampert revealed what looked like a pair of Swanna feet and a bowl. On the front of it was the gold-colored crest feather, chipped and broken in many places.

"And that's your statues," said Kazuma, returning his Pokémon.

"There's still a chance the Insurgents are around," said Elaine, looking down the hole. "The rubble from the fountain seemed to surround the central area rather than being scattered around haphazardly. My guess was that the rubble had been cleared before, only to be replaced."

"Which means that someone could still be using the base!" said Callahan excitedly.

"Only one way to find out."

Thank you for reading the long awaited first chapter of Pokémon Society: Shadows of Unova. I know I promised this last month, but I've been extremely busy with other stories and just life in general. I decided to end the chapter early at this cliffhanger in order not to have an even more infuriating cliffhanger. I really hope you enjoyed this and will leave a positive comment to compliment my extremely hard work. See you in a few months.