The next day, Team Nova woke up to some commotion coming from outside their room: Some knocks and some chanting.
"Who's gonna get the door?" Kroto asked, still waking up, "Don't tell me I have to…"
"I'll get it," Traximus responded, opening the door to a myriad of pokemon waiting outside their door.
"Ah you must be Team Nova!" A Breloom shouted, "We've heard some things about you!"
"Uh, yeah, just one second…"
Traximus slowly shut the door behind him and looked to his teammates, who were all equally as wide eyed.
"Wow! That's a lot of pokemon!" Palla exclaimed.
"Are we all ready to go?" Traximus asked.
"Just let me get out of bed first…" Kroto responded.
After all members of Team Nova filed out of bed, they were greeted with some pokemon at their doorstep. As the pokemon stepped to the side, they realized that Wayne was waiting for them at the end of the hall.
"Ahem. New recruits, are we ready for the induction?" Wayne asked Team Nova.
With a collective nod from all members of Team Nova, Traximus responded, "Yes, sir!"
"Good! Then come this way so that we may begin!"
Filing out and into the main halls of the compound, Team Nova assumed center stage for the time being. Their team was situated to the left of a podium that found itself in the middle of the main commons area.
"Now we just have to wait for the other team." Agent Wayne commented.
Kruler crossed her arms and tilted her head, "Just who might this other team be?" The question only drew blank stares and shrugged shoulders from the other members.
"Ah, here they come now, everybody assume your positions!"
As the newcomers came into view, they revealed a Kirlia, a Meowth, and a Hattrem. All of whom wore smug expressions. That was, until they locked eyes with Team Nova. The two teams took a moment staring at each other until members of both teams became too disgusted to hide their contempt any longer.
"Ugh! Who let these brutes in here?!" Ivy shouted, "It was difficult enough dealing with their shenanigans back at the University!"
"Oh great… Not these losers again…" Kroto moaned, facepalming.
Rico tapped the shoulder of Traximus, getting his attention. "What is it?" The Bagon whispered.
"Who are these ladies? And why do they look so disgusted with you guys?"
"They're Team Pixie. Met them back at the university," Traximus turned and snarled at the opposing team, "They were a crew of stuck up pokemon that only think of themselves and how 'perfect' they think they are."
"Hey! That's no way to talk about-"
"Enough!"
Wayne's grating voice snapped the teams out of berating each other and drew their attention to him. "This is meant to be a time of induction, not a debate stage! Both teams will conduct themselves orderly at once!"
Both teams fell silent at the chastisement. After being escorted on stage, Team Pixie begrudgingly stood beside Team Nova. A silent tension waved in the air between the teams, when Wayne placed himself firmly in between the two teams on stage.
"Comrades! From this point onward, let the names Team Nova and Team Pixie be known to the world! They will take the steps required in our regiment to become top-tier explorers! Seniors! Present the teams with their equipment and badges!"
From there, the familiar Unfezant flew towards Traximus and his team, holding what was an explorer's bag alongside some other useful tools.
"Now boy, listen here. This here is yer explorer's bag, it can fit plenty of things inside of it, so stock it full with those items, you hear? With that comes yer explorer's badge and yer team's Connection Orb."
"Oh wow!" Palla tried to hold back her excitement.
"Huh." The Froakie pondered, "It looks almost exactly like the bag we found in the dungeon."
"Now, this induction will be a short one, because of some news I have to deliver immediately. Will Teams Nova and Pixie return to the crowd for just one moment?"
Doing as instructed, both teams found themselves walking to opposite sides of the crowd, separating themselves with a myriad of pokemon.
Wayne cleared his throat, "Now, all of you know about the attack on Kira University that has occurred just recently. It appears that not only are all of our new recruits survivors of the incident, but we have new evidence pertaining to the execution of the attack."
Murmurs rang off in the audience. Rico turned to Kroto and asked, "Is that eternarift thingy really strong enough to destroy an entire university?"
"Quiet! Quiet!" Wayne demanded. When the audience settled down, he continued. "According to a scientist named Alcryst, the attack could have been carried out by pokemon within our own country. The perpetrators are believed to be members of Team Blackhand, a known terrorist organization. According to our database, higher profile members of this team include an Audino, a Gengar, a Drapion, and with new information, the Notorious 'Derge."
Wayne then turned to the bulletin board behind him, "As such, you are to report any suspicious activities to the government as soon as possible. Do not engage with Team Blackhand if you can avoid it. That is all. You are all dismissed for daily activities."
With the pokemon dispersing for their routines, it left Team Nova and Team Pixie behind. Giving one last look at Team Pixie, the group noticed that Ivy stuck her tongue out at them briefly and then walked off with the rest of her team.
"Well guys, should we head off to work?" Kroto asked.
Traximus rolled his neck, "Yeah! Let's make our first day a good one!"
~ Lively Town - Talgeria ~
"More tea, Basillo?" An Archen asked.
"Nah. I'll pass for now…"
The Chesnaught felt at ease knowing his homeland was safe. There was no Dark Matter, Bittercold or Temporal Anomalies to deal with. Even the mystery dungeons around Lively Town seemed to be calming down for the most part, save for the once in a while feral that manages to escape it. For the first time in a while, he was able to say that life felt good.
"Basillo, you're just about as carefree as ever!" An Infernape leaned on the wall adjacent to the Chesnaught.
"Well… It's been a while since the Kalgore War. Being a veteran wasn't what I had on my bingo sheet for our stay here!"
"I hear you. Since the war ended, life got boring. The mystery dungeons stopped being that much fun and there isn't much to explore when half the world hates us, you know?"
"You call it boring, I call it relaxing. It's been catastrophe after catastrophe since we've joined the Expedition Society, don't you think things being boring is a blessing?"
The Infernape went blank-faced. "When you put it like that… Yeah, I guess it can be."
"Now you're seeing things my way!" Basillo chuckled.
Just then, a Lycanroc burst into the room, fear written all over his face. "Sir Basillo! We have an emergency!"
"Huh?!" Basillo spit out his tea, "What? What is it?!"
"We have numerous unidentified individuals who warped here using entercards! We have no clue as to their intentions! What do we do?!"
"Are they hostile or are they peaceful?!" The Infernape asked.
"Signs point to hostility. Most are cloaked and we couldn't get a good look at the ringleader!"
"Dangit!" Basillo yelled, "So much for our peace!" He pointed to the Lycanroc, "Evacuate the civilians! My team and I will work to defend the town!"
With a nod, the Lycanroc disappeared from the room. Basillo turned to his Infernape companion. "Just like old times, eh?" The Infernape chided.
"Let's meet these fools where they-"
"Oh, there's no need for that…"
A flash of light blinded the pokemon inside the room. When the lights faded, and Basillo blinked a few times, he was greeted with a Dragapult, a Tyranitar and a cloaked pokemon who he couldn't recognise. The Chesnaught gritted his teeth and prepared himself for battle. "Who are you?! Why are you here?!" He shouted.
"You could say I'm a concerned party." The cloaked pokemon said, "I need a set of items that you have in your possession. If you hand them over quietly, we won't have to take action against your fair town."
"Items… What items…" Basillo had a sudden realization that made him angrier, "You're after the Beast Keys?!"
"Precisely. Hand them over, and we promise nothing will happen to your citizens."
"We won't give them up without a fight!" The Infernape interjected, "There's no way you can take on us and all the guards at the same time!"
"Oh, but I have already dealt with your guards. And your civilians to boot. Take a look outside…" The cloaked pokemon snickered.
Leaning over to the window, Basillo and his Infernape companion found that their civilians were already being forced out of their homes, guards being forced to their knees, and others strewn about the town, knocked out. "How did you…?" Basillo looked on in horror.
"During peace times, pokemon get complacent, weak, vulnerable. Your defenses fell nearly instantly, allowing us to take complete control."
"Grr… We'll never hand over the keys!" The Infernape snarled, "Ready Basillo?!"
"Right behind you, Infernape!"
"Hmph. You have chosen poorly. Shasha! Fafnir! You know what to do." The cloaked pokemon ordered.
The Tyranitar stomped her foot against the hard floor, kicking up a sandstorm. The dragapult put on some specs on his eyes, shielding his eyes from the weather. Unfortunately, Basillo and his partner found themselves slightly inhibited by the changing weather.
"Sandstorm?! In a building?! You're kidding!" Infernape screamed.
"Forget it! Assault formation!" Basillo yelled back, "No hesitation!"
Basillo rushed forward with a brick break attack aimed at the Tyranitar. However, the rushing sands made it difficult to see. Despite this, he nearly landed a hit, if it weren't for the Dragapult intercepting the hit and causing Basillo to stop prematurely. Fortunately, his Infernape companion noticed and blew a flamethrower attack about in between them, causing both parties to stagger backwards in their respective directions.
"Watch where you're firing that thing!" Basillo shouted. The Chesnaught then pounded the ground with his massive arms, causing a grass knot to appear underneath the Tyranitar. Shasha tried to move out of the way of the vines, but got herself caught on one of them, tripping underneath her own weight. With her fall came a loud thud that nearly knocked most pokemon on the floor off balance.
"Shasha, get up. You're embarrassing yourself." Fafnir scolded, launching a dragon pulse at the Infernape and scoring a direct hit on his chest.
Shasha, standing up on her feet, responded, "It's not my fault I'm heavy set!"
"Whatever." The Dragapult launched another dragon pulse, this time, missing the Chesnaught.
"You won't get away!" The Infernape screamed, recovering and charging at the Tyranitar with a close combat readied. Unfortunately, his attack was interrupted when the Dragapult launched a draco meteor directly into his head, causing a blue and orange explosion that scattered dust everywhere.
"Infernape!" Basillo yelled, rushing over to him, checking for any signs of life. Fortunately, he was still breathing, just severely injured.
"Thank goodness for focus bands… Ouch…" Infernape huffed before lying back down on his stomach.
Basillo turned back to the cloaked pokemon, "What do you want with those keys?! What good could possibly come from using them now?!"
"That is irrelevant to you, but give them to me and I'll spare you and your precious civilians." The cloaked pokemon threatened.
"Fine. They're in the safe on the top floor. The code is 08-01-23. Take the keys, but leave our town alone!" Basillo growled.
"Very good… Fafnir, Shasha, make sure that these two don't do anything rash. I'll go check out the keys for myself." Bastian smirked.
"Yes Bastian." Fafnir responded.
Heading upstairs, Bastian managed to find a dark black safe with red trimming sitting inside the back wall. He moved to it, and inputting in the password given, the safe cracked open, revealing three brimming keys: an aqua blue key, a neon yellow key, and a crimson red key. The cloaked pokemon swiped up all three keys and placed them in his satchel. "Perfect…" He muttered.
Moving back downstairs, Bastian called out to his teammates, "We have what we came here for. We shall leave at once." He then turned to the injured Infernape and Chesnaught, "But we won't leave you empty handed. You deserve something, yes… We'll give you one last gift for your cooperation."
"Fire up the entercard Fafnir! We're out of here!" Bastian shouted.
With Fafnir doing as instructed, Bastian dropped an orb just before the Entercard could take him. The dark purple orb rolled over towards the Chesnaught and his injured companion. Just as it made it towards the duo, it began flashing, and then, within seconds…
Lively town would never be the same again…