A girl seemed to be roaming around Dewford Town. She was wearing a sleeveless and short orange tunic with a black collar along with black bike shorts.
Suddenly, she seemed to have noticed something ringing inside her green waist-pack, as she hurriedly opened it and took out her Pokégear before answering the call.
"What's up?"
A teenage male's voice was heard from the Pokégear, [It's been a while. Still going well with your research?]
"Of course! I've been hardworking at all times." The girl boasted.
[...Sure.] It did not seem that the teenage boy bought what she said, [Then tell me, what are you doing in Dewford?]
"How did you even know I'm in Dewford?"
[...Miss, I don't see any other place in the region with scenery like this. Besides, your father didn't seem to know anything about you going out of Hoenn, unless you snuck out on your own.]
"Ahahaha... Good eye, Brendan!" She tried to laugh it off.
[Thank you very much. Now, why go to Dewford?] He was not going to let her off that easily.
"Uh... research?"
[I don't think I've ever heard from anyone about Dewford needing more research.]
"S-So what?" Her face turned slightly red, "What's with you asking me questions all of a sudden?! You have no relations with me whatsoever!"
[I'm your friend, but whatever you say.] He sighed, [Anyways, that's not really why I called you.]
"Spit it out, fast!"
[Do you want to watch the upcoming Ever Grande League matches with me?]
"...Eh?!" She was surprised. Brendan would usually be busy during that time to even watch the matches himself.
[I've gotten more experience managing this stuff over the years, so I should have time for this year.] It was like he read her mind.
"You don't need me for that..." May chuckled and gave him a wink, hiding her slight embarrassment, "Just tell me that you want to spend time with me!"
[Whatever... Are you joining me or not? If not, I'm perfectly fine on my own-]
"Sure! I should have time during the league." She quickly answered.
[That's good then. See you then, and talk to you soon.]
"Yup!" With that, she ended the call with him.
She looked into the sky and smiled, before her face turned slightly serious.
Sorry for keeping it a secret from you...
But for now, this is something I need to do on my own.
She fixed the green bandana on her head before her grin returned.
"Now, the search continues."
Upon finishing packing up, I was ready to head out of the PokéCentre to get to the next destination of my journey.
I was not too anxious to rush my leave in Dewford, however, so I lazily sat on the small couch as I watched television, which was currently airing a show talking about the latest controversial events in the Pokémon Trainer scene.
"In today's show, we bring you the news coming from the latest Indigo League, involving Summer Scorcher from the Junior Division. She was one of the hot picks for the winner, but unfortunately had to face Weldon Leland, who eventually proceeded to win the rest of his matches in the division."
"However, that was not the main issue. During the match, one of Summer's Pokémon, Blaze the Blaziken was in an injured condition when sent out for the final battle. Summer ended up having to forfeit the match due to the conditions, and received backlash and hate from the audience. It only died down after the winner, Weldon Leland, who seemed to have knowledge about the backstory, clarified the situation along with his winning speech."
People come to conclusions way too early in this world nowadays... Arceus knows how hard it was for her to make such a decision.
"There seems to be news that Summer is currently in Orange Islands for the Orange League. We wish her the best of luck over there!"
The Orange Islands... I heard the league there focuses more than just battle-based Gyms. I don't have any plans to head there, but it seems cool.
With the show ending, I was ready to leave my room until my Pokégear rang. It was a notification for a new message, sent by Steven.
I checked the message, "I heard that you're currently in Dewford. If you don't mind, can you visit the Granite Cave at the northwest of the town? I need you to help me check for any suspicious movement around the area. I'll be there as soon as possible."
As I mentioned, I was not planning to leave in a hurry, so I replied, "I'll head there. Will update you if I notice anything."
"Thank you, and apologies for troubling you in advance." He replied.
I checked out in the PokéCentre before leaving the red building. After a few minutes of walking along the path, I found myself in front of the entrance of Granite Cave. I could already sense the darkness contrast between inside and outside the cave, so I took out my flashlight before entering as I knew I would definitely need it.
With that, I got ready, turned on the flashlight, and entered the cave filled with darkness.
...Who even explores around this cave?
Although I could feel myself being in the deeper parts of the cave, the weak light coming from my flashlight being my only source did make me feel a little anxious. Not to mention, I always had a terrible sense of direction.
I'll have to hope for Steven to arrive soon...
As I got further into my exploration, I started to doubt whether anyone would even be silly enough to even get close to the cave, let alone explore there.
"Oh wait, that's me." I lightly facepalmed.
I guess there's no turning back from here. Even if I want to, I can't.
As I took a deep breath to stabilize my mentality before I kept going, I heard actual footsteps near me. At first, I thought it was Steven arriving to assist me, but when listened closely, the footsteps sounded way different compared to how Steven walked; He was usually well-mannered even in his movements during the times I met him, but these footsteps were loud and hasty, as if someone was in a hurry.
My guess seemed to be correct the moment another light source appeared in my sight: it revealed two people, a man and a woman. Before they could notice me, I anxiously searched for cover before my flashlight eventually shone towards a boulder big enough for me to hide at its back. Afterwards, I tried to observe every detail of the two with the weak light around them. I could not get much out of my observations, but I definitely recognized the "W" letters in their outfits.
They're people from Willpower! What are they here for?
I tried to get a closer look, and saw the man holding a device. It looked quite new and was emitting sounds that I would usually hear from some detection device.
I swear this device looks familiar... I don't remember seeing it from any trainers, though.
...Where have I seen this before?
I tried my best to recall the only time I saw something like that, and eventually, fragments of my memory combined together to provide me a proper flashback.
"Wow... technology is astounding. It'd be nice to have a look of it."
"You did save the parcel from getting stolen from Willpower, so I trust you. I don't think you would understand too much of it, anyway." He said as he took out one of the blueprints and unfolded it, revealing the design of a modern looking device.
"Looks cool! How does it work?"
"Well... we're still in the planning stages. But how it's supposed to work is through detecting real-time weather patterns in areas around the region. Legendary Pokémon here move around between different habitats, one of the signs implying so is the unusual droughts and rainstorms caused by their migration in different areas. Once we are able to detect their migration patterns, it will be easier for us to check on their conditions to make sure they don't cause chaos due to another villain team like Team Willpower again."
Realization hit me, oh yeah... The design in the blueprint looks exactly the same as the device this guy's holding!
How did such a device fall in the hands of someone in Willpower?
As I was confused about the situation at that moment, I remembered that I should update Steven about it so he can take action towards them. However, before I could do that, a somewhat strong light shone towards me.
Crap.
Just as I thought, I noticed the two people spotting me and knew I had to do something to get out of the sticky situation I was in.
I took out a Pokéball and threw it, sending out Surfer. The two people did not hesitate to send out their Pokémon as well.
"Spectre, destroy that Wartortle!"
"Hector, help Spectre out as well!"
The woman's Pokémon was a purple, ghost-like Pokémon. It had a round head with elaborate tufts resembling a witch's hat atop it. Three, elliptical red spheres surround the upper portion of its body. Meanwhile, the man had a Pokémon with a roundish gray body with two stubby legs. It had two wispy, light gray growths coming out of its shoulders and one on top of its head.
One thing I noticed was that not only the Pokémon looked tough, the expressions they had shown seemed like they were willing to battle for their trainers, unlike some grunts' Pokémon, who obviously did not have a bond with any of them.
This might be tough.
The battle got even rougher as the two suddenly turned off their flashlights, making the light around the three Pokémon even weaker, the only source being my own flashlight. However, the catch was while Surfer could not even find a target to attack, the two opponents can due to their typing advantage. It was further proven when Surfer started taking some hits from the two.
This is basically sending Surfer out for him to do nothing but faint...
"Surfer, return!" I sent out Surfer, and tried to run away from the scene, hoping for some miracle to rescue me. That attempt did not go too far though, as I bumped into what seemed like a wall, and a dead end.
As the duo's footsteps neared me, I was holding my breath in fear, knowing the chance of me getting out was close to zero...
Until someone from a distance yelled, "Tad, use Flash!"
The area around us was suddenly surrounded by a stronger light. While not becoming completely bright, it was definitely much better for me to actually get a good look of my surroundings.
The same voice then said, "Chic, attack Spectre with Blaze Kick!"
I looked to my right, and saw a girl wearing a green bandana with her Blaziken, as the end of the Blaziken's leg blazed in flames as it leaped towards the purple, ghost-like Pokémon and kicked it. That did a toll onto it, but it was not out of the battle just yet.
The Blaziken seemed strong, but a one-on-two situation still seemed rough for the Blaziken. Knowing I should do something, I sent out Surfer, "Help Chic out, Surfer!"
Despite facing two larger opponents in front of him, my starter looked at the Blaziken standing beside him as they nodded at each other.
"That Wartortle was already drained from the earlier attacks! Let's take it down first." The woman suggested.
"Good point. Hector, Shadow Ball at Surfer!" The man commanded.
"Spectre, follow up with Psywave!"
As the gray Pokémon released the shadowy blob towards Surfer, the purple, ghost-like Pokémon's eyes became surrounded in multicolored energy and it fired a multicolored beam towards Surfer.
"Your Pokémon's getting targeted, trainer. Gotta get yourself out of that situation while we end this battle fast." The teenage girl advised.
I nodded and quickly commanded, "Surfer, cancel out Shadow Ball with Water Pulse, then dodge Psywave!"
Surfer released the blue ball of energy right towards the Shadow Ball attack as both collided with one another before breaking each other's energy apart. Afterwards, Surfer quickly tried to escape from the Psychic type move. Although he did not end up scatheless, he did reduce the damage the most he could.
"I got the perfect move for this... we can't make this battle last for too long." The teenage girl said, "Chic, use Blast Burn, full power!"
The Blaziken's eyes turned red as it held out its arms and released a powerful stream of fire from its wrists at the two opponents facing it. The power of the strong attack was proven when even the two strong Pokémon collapsed upon getting hit by Blast Burn.
"...Seems like you're still as strong... no, should I say... you got even stronger the last time we saw each other, May." The man said.
"You two as well, Kyla, Stone." May replied.
"There's no point having a chat with each other, knowing we now currently have different goals to pursue." Kyla said as both of them returned their Pokémon, "Let's retreat, Stone."
Instead of being the sore losers like some grunts, the two were oddly calm upon reaching defeat as Stone said, "...Till next time, I guess."
Then, they left the scene in a hurry. I knew chasing after them would be a waste of time, and the teenage girl beside me did not seem to have plans doing so, anyway.
The teenage girl eventually broke out of her thoughts and gave me a smile, "Hope you're alright after all of that, trainer!"
"I'm alright. Thank you for your help." I replied.
Before she could continue the conversation, she noticed someone running towards us and waved her hand, "Steven!"
The ice-blue haired man reached us just shortly and asked, "Apologies for arriving late. I assumed something had just happened here?"
"You'd be right! Two people from Willpower were just here."
"One of them was also holding a device." I added.
"Just as I thought." Steven said, "In Devon, it was reported that the blueprints of our upcoming product for the Weather Institute was leaked to another party due to spies in the company. I assume one of the two was tall and had spiky blonde hair, while the other was a girl with brown hair and two pigtails?"
"You're absolutely correct, Steven." May replied.
"It seems like the guesses were right. They are definitely the spies working in Devon." Steven said, "Normally, if it's any other product, Devon wouldn't be so worried about it, but this involves some potential danger in the Pokémon World."
"...It's a Legendary Pokémon tracker." I said.
"I guess you already know about that from someone." Steven nodded, "I was scared that they might've gotten ahead in finding at least one of the Legendaries, but I think they were still in search. This isn't one of the locations where the Legendaries currently reside."
"What makes you so sure about that?" May asked.
"Usually, the weather conditions would be changed drastically upon a Legendary Pokémon's residence around the area. To add up, there would also be some instability around the areas, such as small earthquakes for Groudon, minor rise in sea levels for Kyogre and windstorms for Rayquaza. Has any of the conditions happened around Dewford so far?"
"Nope." I lightly shook my head.
"Then it's safe to say none of them are currently here for now." Steven grinned, "We still have time to try and get rid of Team Willpower before something bad happens, but it's going to need more force."
"I'll try to contact Brendan about the issue, and see what the PLA members can do about it." May said.
"Thank you, May. I'll be assisting them as much as I can as well." Steven nodded, "Speaking of Brendan, how is he doing right now?"
"Just being a nerd about battling and managing PLA stuff all the time. I just wish he can take a break sometimes." May replied.
"Being busy is better than not doing anything productive." Steven smiled, "Anyways, before we are able to stop Team Willpower, we can just hope the device has some errors that would delay their search, since from what I heard, the device is just an imperfect prototype as of now."
"I guess." May shrugged.
"Once again, I thank you two for your help. I'll be going to start pursuing the solutions I have in mind right now." Steven said, "See you soon, Lows, May."
We bid farewell and saw him running away from our sight. May crossed her arms and said, "I guess the Pokémon World can't just have peace all the time."
"Yeah..." I said, "May, it seems like you know the two people we battled earlier."
"Oh, them? Yeah, I know them for a good while now. They're my seniors in Trainer School, and they helped me a lot during my school days." She replied.
"I could tell they were trainers. Their Pokémon were different from the Pokémon others grunts used. It just seemed like they actually wanted to battle for their trainers." I expressed.
"You got a good eye. Stone and Kyla's Pokémon had been with that ever since they started studying in Trainer School. Although what they're doing right now is definitely in the wrong... their Pokémon stayed with them due to loyalty."
"What happened to them? Why are they working for Willpower now?"
"They had to join Willpower... due to personal reasons." May sighed, "I know deep down... they still have good hearts. They're just forced to do what they are doing right now."
"I... don't really understand." What would make aspiring trainers like them join such a team?
"It's alright." May said, "Before Team Willpower disbands once and for all... what I can do right now, is to prevent them from doing more wrong so they can leave the team clean when the time has come."
"That's why you were so desperate to stop them from hurting me?"
"That's one of the reasons, anyway. I wanted to help someone in need as well!" May scratched the back of her head.
"Thanks for earlier again." I nodded.
"It's nothing. Anyways, let's get out of here."
Both of us then eventually left Granite Cave with the help of Flash. We then exchanged Pokégear numbers before I eventually boarded a ship to head back to Petalburg, knowing I have reached the requirement for the Gym Challenge there.
But it was another tiring day, and it also ended up being later than I hoped when I finally left Dewford.
I need sleep.
I went to my cabin on the ship, and laid down on my bed for a quick nap.
I desperately needed it.
May was also boarding another ship, but for another place as her destination. Arceus knows where she was planning to go next.
On the way, she called Brendan and it was quickly answered, [Hmm? What's up, May?]
"The sky is up, Brendan." May joked.
[You're not funny. I'm ending the call.]
"Just kidding. For real though, there's something important that I need to talk to you about...
It's time for us to save the Pokémon World from potential danger again."
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male) Jolly Nature, Moves: Bite, Water Gun, Water Pulse, Sand Tomb
Ziggs (Linoone, Male) Naive Nature, Moves: Dig, Headbutt, Swift, Facade
Grace (Kirlia, Female) Calm Nature, Moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Shadow Ball, Psybeam
Woody (Grovyle, Male) Lonely Nature, Moves: Pursuit, Leaf Blade, Bullet Seed, Rock Tomb
Power (Machop, Male) Timid Nature, Moves: Fling, Karate Chop, Low Kick, Seismic Toss