"So we're going to Paldea…can't wait to…huh? I just noticed…" Jexi said. "Where is David?"

"He said he wanted to head to the S.S Libra back in Orre so he's split off for now." Genis said.

"Is that a good idea? I mean, there could still be Cipher grunts lurking there." Tenko said.

"I'm not too worried. David is a skilled battler. He's not going to lose easily to a few grunts." Hope said.

"Yeah. I mean, he managed to reach the Top 8 of the Perfect Link Tournament twice, after all." Jesse said.

"We can leave David to his own devices. For now, we need to find Team Star." Mark stated.

"Think they'll be where we found them last time?" Simon asked.

"Uh…dudes…I don't think it's gonna be like that…look." Luna said.

The group looked out the windows as they flew over Paldea, only to look in shock as Mesagoza was covered in Team Star symbols and graffiti as normal civilians were forced out.

"What the…what is Evice making them do?!" Penny exclaimed in shock, rage, and horror.

They landed just outside as the teachers and staff of the academy were trying to keep the citizens all under control.

"Director Clavell!" Nemona called out.

"Oh…it's all of you." Clavell asked.

"What's going on here?" Arven asked.

"Hmm…where to start? This strange man arrived and took control of the former Team Star squad leaders and the Team Star members and is using them to make Mesagoza a base. He's only allowing citizens in on the condition…they surrender themselves to Cipher." Clavell said.

"What? That's insane!" Himiko said.

"Wait…so Evice is still here?" Mark asked.

"Yes. He's holed up in the academy along with the squad leaders. Claiming himself the new Mayor of Mesagoza." Clavell explained.

"Damn, and of course Connor's group got chased out…" Emo muttered under his breath. "Okay, so we just breach the academies, corner them, beat Evice up, and free the squad leaders from his control. Simple."

"Uh….not quite that simple." Shun'ei said, looking through some binoculars as he saw Shadow Pokémon patrolling the city.

"A frontal assault's going to be difficult with all those Shadow Pokémon in the city." Adora said. "Maybe there's a quieter way inside?"

"There was never going to be a stealth mission in any of this." Penny said.

"So we're just gonna charge in straight ahead?" Bow asked.

"Unless anyone has a better plan." Catra said.

"There was never a better plan. This is the ONLY plan." Penny said. "Team Chronicle and their allies are taking back Team Star by force."

"Well, I'm sold. Let's do this!" Akane said as she cracked her knuckles.

With that, the group, led by Team Chronicle, headed to the gates of Mesagoza as Cipher grunts saw them approach.

"Stop right there! No one is allowed into Mesagoza unless you surrender to Cipher, Mayor Evice's decree." The grunt declared.

"Well, here's our rebuttal." Simon said before kicking the grunt in the groin.

"Uh…why did you do that?" the grunt asked. "You know this is pretty much protective armor, right?"

"Is your face protected?" Simon asked.

"Uh, no? Why…" he said before Simon punched him in the teeth as he fell over.

"That's why." Simon said.

"Wait a second…don't tell me you guys are the…!" another grunt said.

"We're the ones who are friends of the people you've been using to take over this city." Hope said. "And two of us, just so happen to be the ACTUAL leaders of Team Star."

"...We're going to move you now." Penny stated.

They marched into Mesagoza and started mowing down the enemy as they moved towards the academy.

Evice looked out from the window of Naranja Academy.

"Well…should have figured this was gonna happen sooner or later." Evice said.

BAM!*

"What in the….oh." Evice said seeing Mark and Penny standing there.

"We got some words to exchange." Mark said.

"How did you get past my executives?" Evice asked.

"Our friends are dealing with them as we speak." Penny said.

"You dare to try and uproot me? Ha. You little insects can never uproot Cipher's plans!" Evice said. "We will rule this world through the Shadow Pokémon Plan."

"Heck of a job you've been doing so far." Mark stated. "Every other region has been freed. Your little stronghold is the only place outside of Orre left. It's over."

"Over? Not quite. Not after I crush the both of you here." Evice said.

"Not going to happen." Penny said as she and Mark took out Pokéballs.

Cipher Admin

Evice

"Let's do this! Go!" Evice called out as he sent out Slowking and Scizor.

"A Double Battle huh? Good thing I got a teammate by my side. Let's go, Jolteon!" Penny said sending out Jolteon.

"Back 'em up, Skeledirge!" Mark added, sending out his Paldean starter.

"You wandering heroes and that Snagem Deserter have meddled in our business for the last time!" Evice said. "Slowking, Water Pulse on Skeledirge! Scizor, attack Jolteon with Metal Claw!"

Both Pokémon attacked their targets, but Skeledirge and Jolteon dodged.

"Jolteon, Thunder Fang on Slowking!" Penny said.

"Skeldirge, Will-O-Wisp, then Fire Spin! Don't let Scizor move!" Mark called out.

Jolteon dashed towards Slowking, while the Singer Pokémon unleashed a sinister-looking flame that gave Scizor a burn. Scizor buzzed before fire ignited from it for a bit as a spiral of fire had it trapped.

Meanwhile, Jolteon attacked Slowking with a supereffective hit infused with electricity, causing Slowking to faint dead away.

"I'm not finished yet. Go, Machamp!" Evice said, sending out the Superpower Pokémon in Slowking's place. "Use Earthquake!" he said as Machamp slammed its fists on the ground as both Skeledirge and Jolteon were dealt heavy Ground type damage.

"Damn…" Mark grounded out. "They're not going to survive another hit like that."

"Fine then, we'll use something different. Return!" Penny said, she and Mark bringing their Pokémon back. "Go, Eldegoss!"

"Gawain!" Mark added, sending out a Ceruledge in Noble Style Holowear alongside Eldegoss in Space Style Holowear.

"Hahaha! What do you think this is, a Contest?" Evice chorteled. "Machamp, Earthquake again!"

Machamp prepared to unleash another Earthquake only to be quickly cut down by Gawain.

"What?!" Evice said in shock.

"(Hmm…you…are nothing but a muscleheaded idiot.)" Gawain said.

"Nice work." Penny said.

"Grrr…return!" Evice said recalling Machamp. "Go, Salamence!" he said switching to Salamence.

"Eldegoss, Sing!" Penny called out. The Cotton Bloom Pokémon unleashed a melody that put the dragon to sleep. "There, that should leave him open for one move."

"And I got just the one! Let's see if this work…use your Unite Move, Gawain!" Mark called out.

"Use his what move?" Evice questioned as Gawain charged the Cipher Admin's two Pokémon, unleashing three slashing blows that caused both of them to faint.

"Huh, so they do work outside of Unite Battles! Good to know." Mark nodded in approval.

"You rotten…heh…well…guess it's time to bring out the big guns! Go! Slaking! Tyranitar!" Evice said sending out both, with Tyranitar showing off its shadow aura.

"Tyranitar is the Shadow Pokémon!" Penny said.

"It's the Pesudo Legendary of Johto, right?" Mark asked. "I don't suppose you want this one?"

Penny gave her team boss a flat look. "...Not really."

"Right, I'll take this one then…" Mark said as the two sent their Pokémon back and sent out Asura and Sylveon. "We're gonna need the big guns for this one."

"Gotcha, big bro." Penny said as the two used their Tera Orbs, Terastallizing their Links. "Terastallize and shine bright like the starry sky to become who you want to be!"

Both Breloom and Sylveon gained their respective Tera Crowns as they faced down Slaking and Shadow Tyranitar.

"Slaking, attack that Breloom with Aerial Ace! Tyranitar, Shadow Rush on Sylveon!" Evice commanded his two pokemon.

"Sylveon, Moon Blast on Tyranitar!" Penny said.

Asura charged towards the enemy while Sylveon powered up before unleashing a strong Moon Blast against Tyranitar, knocking it back as Asura rushed Slaking and took it out.

"Ugh…knew I should have used Slaking first…then I could have gotten rid of that stupid ability it has." Evice growled.

"Sucks to be you then, old man." Mark said. "And now…" Mark said, tossing an Ultra Ball over to Shadow Tyranitar, catching it. "It's really over, Evice."

"You fools. You think beating me changes anything? The true master of Cipher will-!" Evice started before Penny walked over to the small man and stomped on his foot. "YEOW! You little brat-!" he yelled, hopping on one foot before Penny then kicked him in the groin, the Cipher Admin slumping to the ground, moaning in pain.

"...Man, I am such a bad influence on you." Mark smirked as Penny dusted her hands off.

"Yeah…but after what he did? It felt good." Penny replied.

It didn't take long for the Team Star leaders to get cured as the Cipher Grunts and Evice were being escorted out by the International Police.

"Well…that must have been…something." Giacomo said. "Not that I can recall much from this."

"Ugh, look at all this…" Mela said, seeing all the Team Star propaganda around. "I can't believe they had us do all this."

"Oh this is gonna take awhile to clean up." Ortega said.

"Tis not our finest moment." Atticus said.

"Least you all saved us. Thank you." Eri said.

"No thanks necessary. I'm just glad you guys are okay." Penny said.

"You all call us if something like this happens again, okay?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, sure thing." Giacomo replied.

"Well, glad that little war is over. Now all that's left is finding Cipher's main base!" Eddy declared.

"It would have to be somewhere in Orre." Al said.

"Yeah but…" Jexi said as his Zikan phone was going nuts.

"What is that?" Hope said.

"It's an SOS from…David? Something must have happened on the S.S. Libra." Jexi said.

"We need to get over there then." Hope said.

It only took a brief ride on the Galaxy King before they found the wreck of the cargo ship known as the S.S. Libra, sitting in the middle of Orre's vast desert.

They departed as they entered the old ship before they saw David lying in the captain's cabin.

"David!" Sectonia cried out as she rushed over to him.

"Dude? What…what happened?" Rainbow asked.

"Well…all was going fine. I stumbled on some Cipher thugs and beat them down and sent them running off. But then I got ambushed. As I was about to leave, three weirdos came outta nowhere. I was about to battle but…one of them hits me with sleep powder and takes everything from me. My snag machine, my Pokémon, all my weapons…" David said.

"So they played dirty?" Hope asked.

"Not all villains play fair. Some use dirty tricks. Do you remember what they looked like?" Twilight asked.

"All I remember were those stupid red vests." David said.

"Wait…stupid red….ugh." Aria groaned in frustration. "I've got a good idea about who pulled this…Team Snagem."

"Those guys?" Hope asked.

"Yeah. They must have heard about our mission and was trying to ambush one of us." Aria said. "Course considering how they were left, they must be desperate if they're picking for scraps out here."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah…I know where their hideout is. I'm gonna go there and kick my old boss's ass and get all of Ishihara's stuff back." Aria said.

"Won't you need any backup?" Emo asked.

"Nuh uh. This is personal. You guys can come but…I want the boss all to myself." Aria said. "Its time I settled the score once and for all."