We saw a WMG on TV Tropes that said "Giacomo is Larry's son." We thought it made so much sense, we decided to add it into the story.
For the first time ever, Team Star's bases were being opened to the public and used to serve the whole community. No one was as excited for the big day as the bosses were. That's why they held essential meetings in the Segin Squad base one day before it happened to make sure everything was perfect. Before the grunts arrived in the next hour, the bosses needed to have their own meeting and were waiting on the big boss herself. If only they hadn't been waiting for her for the past twenty minutes.
"What's taking her so long?" Ortega groaned as he leaned his head back in his chair.
Mela rolled her eyes. "She's probably just nervous. Do you think she would speak to us exclusively by phone if she was any good with public speaking? That's why Giacomo's waiting by his phone in case she decides to video chat instead."
"About that..." Giacomo started, getting everyone's attention. "She just texted me saying that her friend Florian asked her to help with something important, and we can meet without her. Also, I seriously doubt that she would blow us off unless it was important."
"If that," Eri agreed.
"Yeah, there's nothing more important than a make-out session with her boyfriend," Mela laughed as she teasingly brought her index fingers and thumbs together and made smooching noises.
"Not cool, Mela. If he was that close to her, don't you think we would have met him at least once by now?"
Atticus gave Giacomo a quizzical look. "You do realize that we each talked to Florian at least once, right?" As he looked around, he couldn't help but notice the crimson on each of his friends' faces. "You know, the guy who was with Lady Juliana when she faced us?"
"Director Clavell?" Eri asked. "I thought his name was 'Clive'. And he's super old."
"No, the younger one. The student."
"The faceless orb!" Ortega exclaimed as it came back to him.
"Right!" Mela agreed. "I liked the orb. We should talk to him more."
Eri nodded "Seconded."
"Alright, with that out of the way," Giacomo started with an awkward cough, "I call this Team Star Boss meeting to order. Our first item on the agenda: whether or not we should keep our boss outfits."
"Of course we should," Atticus said immediately. "They art a symbol of our status as leaders."
Giacomo sighed. "Well, you're biased. But seriously, we're on thin ice with Clavell as it is, and it's partially because we altered the school uniforms."
"Yes," Ortega nodded. "But we have new uniforms for class and school projects. However, this is more of a community project. We should be allowed to wear our Team Star uniforms for this project."
"But Clavell assigned this as a school punishment," Eri objected. "If we get in trouble, this might end as soon as it begins."
With the current stalemate, he turned to the currently quietest member of the group. "Mela, what do you think?"
"I think a more valuable discussion would be how we keep wild Pokémon out."
"We don't have a wild Pokémon problem."
She pointed directly behind herself. "There is literally a wild Delibird over there."
The others looked in her direction, and some were confused as to how or why a Delibird wandered there. But there it was regardless, although the more they stared at it, the more it somehow seemed...metallic?
"Penguin!" Eri shouted in excitement as she rushed over to the creature, stopped in front of it, and bent down to meet its eyes. "Hi, little guy. Where did you come from?"
The "Delibird" stared at her with a blank expression.
Eri stared back with wondering eyes.
The bird slapped her, retaining its emotionless expression.
"You little-!" Eri angrily exclaimed before moving to grab it. But it jumped up just before her arms could wrap around it, bounced off her head, and landed behind her as her face met the dirt.
Everyone got up on their feet after processing what just happened. "After that penguin!" Ortega shouted, ready to treat this bird the same way he would anything else that would hurt his friends.
After several minutes of chasing the bird around, they were finally able to surround it with their bodies. The bird's eyes flashed, its head slowly spun around, and its beak opened to let out a shrill shriek as if it was raising an alarm. This only stopped when Mela dropped a large trash bin over it and laid on top of it. "What kind of Delibird is this?" she said, panting from exhaustion.
Just then, a white light appeared, and a strange Misdreavus floated out of it just before it disappeared. The Pokémon roared at them and floated away.
"That raises more questions than answers!"
"I've been doing the math on this for almost fifteen years," Turo said as the rest of the Greendale residents were crowded around the table he was standing on, holding nothing but a pair of shoes and a potato chip. "The time machine we created was based around a space-time rift that we discovered and contained in Area Zero. The idea was to reach into it like a pocket and pull out whatever Pokémon we desired. But we didn't account for what would happen if the machine destabilized." He held the left shoe up in the air. "Let's say that this is the past-"
"That's a shoe," said a short, balding man with glasses in a monotone voice.
Turo sighed. "Yes, Greg, but this is a metaphor. This shoe is being used to represent the past."
"That's a shoe," Greg repeated all the same.
"... Right." Turo tucked the first shoe under his arm and replaced it with the right shoe. "And let's say this represents the future."
Greg raised his hand again.
"Greg, if you're about to say that this is a shoe and not a concept of time, you are not getting my Jello squares!"
Greg lowered his hand.
After tucking the shoe under his arm again, he raised the chip for all to see. "And this represents the present." A little maneuvering later, he had a shoe on each hand, and a potato chip between them. "Normally, the past would push the present away, and the future would pull it closer, thus, the present is fleeting. But as pressure builds on the space-time rift, the past and future are forced closer together. And all the pressure is exhausted on the present until..." The chip shattered as the soles of the shoes were brought together. "And that's us. That's the end, forward and backward."
Many went on with their lunch after that, but the rest stayed. Some were impressed by his demonstration as they tried to understand the possibility of ceasing to exist, others were shocked to hear him talk so seriously for once, but the rest only saw another tirade from an established madman.
"That's wonderful," said the tired man standing closest to him. "But may I please have my shoes back?"
Turo held them close to his chest. "No, they're mine now."
"Turo!" said a familiar and very angry psychiatrist. "In my office now."
"But my session isn't for a few more hours."
"Now."
Without any further argument, he walked into the office where the door was closed behind him. "Sit." Turo complied. "Turo, I'm at the end of my rope with you. I came here to help you with your belief in time machines and laughing toasters, but not only do you hold on to these delusions, now you're purposely scaring everyone. Not to mention that you just stole Stanley's shoes."
"They're nice shoes."
The psychiatrist didn't even blink. "Do you know that we were ready to sign your release forms many times?"
Turo's eyes widened, learning this for the first time. "What?"
"Yes. Your file says that your violent episodes have been gone for years, any medication you need can be easily prescribed, and your behavior has mostly returned to normal. Well, not normal, but as close to it as I'm sure you ever were. Take your meds and see a therapist regularly, and you would have been fine. But then you do this stuff, and we're set back seventy steps. Turo, you are still the toughest case I've ever had, but I am determined to cure you."
Turo dropped the shoes, inspired by a new sense of hope. "I will do whatever it takes if I can finally get out of here."
"Good. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath." Turo did as he was instructed. "Repeat after me. It is all in my... my... mind?" The good doctor trailed off as a white light appeared outside his office window and an abnormal Salamence flew out of it and hovered in front of it, looking him in the eyes.
"Is it working?" Turo asked with his eyes still closed. "Am I being cured?"
For once, the psychiatrist wasn't listening, his focus being on his raised arm mirrored by the dragon. Then the beast roared and flew into the horizon.
"That was an uncomfortably familiar roar..." said Turo, eyes still closed.
The doctor returned to his seat, pressing two fingers to each temple. "It is all in my mind..." he said to himself. "It is all in my mind..."
"Art thou certain of this?" Atticus asked as he looked over Giacomo's shoulder and at the sheet of paper he was writing on.
"The microscope doesn't lie," he said, looking into the lens again. It had been almost three hours since they caught their angry robotic prisoner, and two hours since the grunts arrived for the meeting. However, Giacomo spent all that time in his tent/garage studying a sample of one of the bird's "feathers" under a microscope. "Have you read any Sonic the Hedgehog comics?"
"A few."
"My theory is that it works like the metal virus or something similar. But it had to have been at least a few generations ago."
That was when Ortega and Eri walked in, the latter carrying a trash bin with the lid taped on it to keep the angry creature kicking inside of it from running away.
"What did you find out?" Ortega asked.
"It has cells," Giacomo said with a grin. "This is some kind of organic Pokémon. Whatever it's made of, I swear it's centuries ahead of our time. Maybe even a few millennia."
The smaller boy paled at the thought. "Oh no..."
"Look, I know it's been nothing but a pain the whole time it's been here, but they're going to have to give us a Nobel Prize just for finding this thing."
"If it's from the future, and that ghost came from when I think it did, then we have a problem. We need to tell the others now."
Without any hesitation, the four bosses went straight to the platform where Mela was trying to steady the restless crowd, and Ortega silently commanded their attention with a wave of his staff. "People, we have a crisis on our hands. After finding visitors from the distant past and future, I did a little research and came across a research proposal by Professor Turo about how time can crumble like a broken potato chip if it folds in on itself from both directions. It's not in many copies of his thesis because it was shared by Professor Sada, who replaced it with the line 'No worries, we all chill, bro' and somehow got away with it."
"So is time going to explode?" asked a worried grunt in the back of the crowd.
"Only if the math is correct, but these time-displaced Pokémon all have something in common. They're in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by unfamiliar faces and creatures they can't quite trust. Fight or flight will kick in, and hostility is more than likely. If these rifts get any worse, the whole region could be ravaged by them."
"How will we know when things get worse?" asked another grunt in the front of the crowd.
At that precise moment, the entire area around them was covered in bright rifts in the fabric of space and time.
"I think we'll know..." Mela gulped.
"Alright, everyone," said the now much more relaxed psychiatrist to Greendale's art room. "Let's see what you've got." While most were excited to show their work, Turo was the most nervous. And when his doctor saw his painting, he immediately understood why.
His painting was of a civilization burning in a fire, surrounded by robotic and prehistoric Pokémon. And in the center of it all was a self-portrait where he was imitating The Scream as best he could.
"Turo," said a very disappointed therapist, "does this look like the work of a man who's ready to reenter society?"
"No, sir, it does not," he answered honestly. "But this morning-"
"Is not proof. While I don't deny the incident happened, your theory is only one of many possible explanations and has yet to be proven. I'm even sure that there are more probable explanations for it, but that's not what's important right now. You need to understand that nothing from beyond our time is out to get you."
"I know they're not out to get me. They attack indiscriminately."
Whatever the therapist was about to say, he never got the chance. Everyone rushed to the windows when the entire outdoors was littered with white lights. All except one, who continued to look straight ahead from his chair with his arms folded in front of him.
"Told you so," said a surprisingly calm Turo.
Everyone else, staff, patient, and Pokémon alike, were too busy looking through the window with wild worry.
"Are those the rifts the professor was talking about?"
"Something's coming out of them!"
"They look like robots."
"I see dinosaurs."
"Hit the floor!" a nurse shouted, and they all obeyed just before a robotic "Hydreigon" shot a Hyper Beam through the biggest window and eighteen inches from an unmoving and unblinking Turo.
"Told you so."
"We're all gonna die!" someone shouted, and mass panic broke out.
"Told you so."
Director Clavell dropped his glass when he saw it. He hadn't moved for several minutes as he just stared blankly at the invasion. Pokémon were spawning left and right, from the land, sea, and sky, and it is likely to spread beyond Paldea soon. "She's actually doing it..." he muttered to himself in astonishment. "She threatened it decades ago, and she's doing it. I should have taken it seriously when I had the chance to stop her, but I didn't. She's taking over the world. I thought if she hadn't done it by now, then either she gave up, or Raifort would beat her to the punch."
Clavell was pulled out of his thoughts when his Rotom phone rang, and it automatically answered. "Director," Tyme said on the other end. "Salvatore, Raifort, Hassel, and I got all the students in the school to the basement and Miriam is tending to the Pokémon that aren't in their balls, but Hassel's joining Jacq, Dendra, and Saguaro outside to minimize the damage. He's worried about the students who weren't on campus."
"As am I. But we can only hope that they made it to safety before this all started. Tell Hassel that he can be the most helpful at the Segin Star base on our new map. All of Team Star is currently holding a meeting there. Chairwoman Geeta has declared Mesagoza the safe place for everyone to evacuate to, so expect a crowd. She's using all of the league's resources to secure the city against these invaders. It seems they attack anything on sight. I'll call Mr. Giacomo as soon as we end our call. Keep me updated as needed."
"Will do." With that, she ended the call, and the Rotom was already dialing Giacomo's number.
"Director!" said the dark-haired boy on the other end of the phone. "Things are bad here."
"I don't wanna be a potato chip!" Atticus cried.
"We're actually in the potato chip," Ortega corrected, but Eri's stare told him that this wasn't the time.
Clavell didn't understand the metaphor, but there were more important things than that. "Is everyone in Team Star with you, and are you all safe?"
"Our walls are made of desks, we take shelter in tents, and they come from literally anywhere!" Mela shouted.
Giacomo, however, tried to remain calm. "Everyone's here except for Penny. She wanted to help Florian with something."
Clavell gasped as a scary thought came to his mind. "They didn't..."
"She's still not picking up," said a worried Ortega.
Some of the others, of course, assumed the worst. "By the pristine white coat of Arceus, they hath killed Penny!" Atticus screamed in anguish.
"Those dastards!" Mela shouted, seeing more red than usual. "Vendetta!"
"Don't do anything rash," Clavell ordered. "Stay where you are. Mr. Hassel's coming to guide you to Mesagoza along with any students he finds along the way."
"What do you mean by 'finds'?" Eri shakily asked.
Clavell gave a heavy sigh. "With the treasure hunt in progress, many students are scattered around the region. We don't know where they all are yet. We're doing our best."
"Is Youssef with you?" asked a worried Atticus.
"I don't know yet. I'm heading down there right now. Stay put and wait for Hassel." The call ended after that, but that didn't sit well with any of them.
Still, they had to address the worries of the rest of the team, so they returned to the platform. But instead of speaking to the grunts immediately, they huddled together first and stayed there until they all nodded in agreement. "Good news," Eri began. "There's someone on their way to help you evacuate to Mesagoza. But the five of us won't be joining you."
The others gasped at this and murmured amongst themselves until Ortega took over. "We have some friends who, along with many other students, haven't been accounted for yet, and we're not leaving anyone behind. But we have a whole region to search through, so we're splitting up, starting from our bases, and making our way to Mesagoza. Hopefully, we'll be able to meet up there with everyone else from the Academy."
"But none of you will make it alone," one grunt objected.
"We can't leave the boss to face a whole disorganized army on her own."
"Aren't we an army?" Carmen asked, getting several nods in response.
"Out of the question!" Mela snapped. "You're staying where it's safe!"
"That's right," said Giacomo as he put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "We won't make you fight these things."
"You're not making us do anything," said another stubborn grunt. "When I first joined, you said that we might need to challenge your rules and authority if it's for the greater good. I'm sorry, boss, but we won't let you keep us from helping you."
Giacomo sighed as he remembered how stubborn some team members were. Especially since 'no man left behind' was one of his rules. But he smirked as an idea came to him: "Okay, anyone can come with us if they want, but only if we stick together and work as a team. Our numbers are our strength. But before we go, we have to know..."
His Rotom phone floated up and connected to nearby speakers to play a very familiar tune.
"Are you in or out?" He sang before Mela stepped up to join in.
"We have to know without a doubt.
Will you fight with us?
Show us you've got guts."
"Even though this situation's nuts," Ortega added.
"Are you with us, friends?" Atticus continued.
"Fight with us until the end."
Eri stepped forward. "If you want to be heroes, then give us a shout."
"So, what's it gonna be?"
"You can count on me," the rest of the team sang together, sharing a confident smile.
"Are you in
or
out?"
They finished the song together, signing off with the Team Star salute.
"The one day Larry doesn't eat here," the Treasure Eatery's manager angrily grumbled as he barricaded the door to keep the hungry and rampaging Great Tusk from getting in, cursing the League Meeting that took him away from Medali. But it was hungry and smelled food, so it kept pushing through, only to stop to try backing up, morphing into a wheel, and charging at the door.
However, its progress was stopped when it was hit from the side with a powerful Liquidation and sent tumbling back to the ground. It looked up to see a Cetitan looking down at it. Its gaze then focused on the young man in a heavy coat walking up to it and pointing a yellow and green water pistol at its face without a hint of emotion.
"You made me leave my mountain," Grusha said before spraying the beast in the face with water, which was apparently all that was needed to finish the job. "And threatened Paldea," he added with a hand to his forehead. "I should have led with that."
Hearing the commotion, the manager slowly and cautiously opened his door. "Who are you?"
"Music to my ears," Grusha said under his breath before extending his hand to him. "Come with me to Mesagoza. You'll be safe there."
Eri rode up one of the large hills at full speed on her Starmobile like a giant ramp, flew in the air for a few seconds, and came speeding down the hill the same way.
"Eri, maybe we won't do that again," said Carmen, who, like all the others, was hanging on for dear life.
"No time for helicopter assistance. We've got a lot of ground to cover."
"Tent in the distance at two o'clock!" a grunt in the front exclaimed. "There's a trainer fighting some big robots! School uniform!"
"I see them!" Eri said before she turned straight for them.
The student girl was scared as her Wingull fainted to the Iron Thorns in front of her, and she was out of usable Pokémon. The Iron Hands next to it balled his hand into a fist and drew it back before it was hit by the Starmobile's Combat Torque.
"Get in the car!" Eri ordered, and the girl obeyed but still cried.
"My friends went Terra Raiding," she said, pointing to her right. "They went in that cave and haven't come back yet."
"We're on it," a group of grunts said before jumping out of the car and heading for the cave.
Eri jumped out too and stared the two Pokémon down. "I'll keep these guys busy for ya," she said before releasing her Annihilape.
But before she could call an attack, a Primeape attacked the Iron Thorns with a super-effective hit. "You're not fighting these alone," Carmen said, taking a fighting stance.
"Carmen, go help the others. I'll be fine."
"But I need to help you."
"For the last time, you don't owe me anything."
"This isn't about any debt!" Carmen shouted, getting stunned silence from Eri, before she started to tear up. "You were the first real friend I ever made here, and I can't lose you."
As she lifted her goggles to wipe her eyes, the taller girl put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You won't lose me. Especially if we fight together."
They both gave each other an affirmative nod before returning to their fighting stances, ready to face the machines.
"Well, this is a fine mess," said Mr. Harrington, who was unable to leave his car as it was surrounded by four Slither Wings on all sides, treating the metal contraption as a wild Pokémon.
Suddenly, the Ruchbah Starmobile pulled up in front of them, carrying the entire squad as well as many people they found along the way. Ortega would recognize the car from anywhere. "You leave him alone!" he shouted before the entire squad jumped in to save their friend. The bugs never stood a chance.
"Master Ortega?" Harrington said in surprise as he opened the now-dented door of his car.
"Harrington!" Ortega shouted as he went to hug him, something that surprised even him. "What were you doing out here?"
"When I heard that you weren't at the academy, I assumed you were in trouble, so I came to help you. But it looks like it was the other way around."
"Get in the car. We're heading to Mesagoza."
"Thank you, Young Master Ortega," he said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You've grown into a fine young man. I'm proud of you."
Ortega couldn't help but smile at that. "Thank you, Sir."
In the woods, a group of kids in the Naranja Academy uniform were running from the aggressive new Pokémon when they suddenly came face-to-face with an Iron Valiant. Most of the kids stepped back from it, but one boy walked up and sent out his Shroodle. "Leave my friends alone, you meanie!" Youssef said, trying to control his fear. "I-I am a mighty ninja!"
The robotic Pokémon attacked first with a Psycho Cut, and the Shroodle was down. The Iron Valiant lightly pressed its foot onto it to prevent escape and raised its blade high.
"Sucker Puch!" Atticus ordered his Skuntank, who made sure to strike its opponent first and send it off of the Shroodle. "Art thou alright?" he asked the children.
"Atticus," Youssef started through frightened tears.
"Young ninja," he said, kneeling to the boy's level. "I hath an important mission to give. Thou must guide these children to safety in the base. My friends be-eth readying the Starmobile for transport to Mesagoza."
"Atticus, I..." Youssef didn't say anything as he was stunned into silence when Atticus removed his mask and draped it over the child's head.
"Thou art brave and strong."
The boy's visible eye narrowed in newfound determination. "To the Starmobile!" he shouted, leading his friends down the path that Team Star had just cleared.
Atticus's attention was brought back to the Iron Valiant, which had just taken out his Skuntank. He dashed to a nearby pile of rocks and began throwing them at the creature as it used its weapon to deflect them to its right, left, and above it repeatedly in that order until it seemed that he had run out of ammo.
Atticus smirked. "That be-eth not the attack..." he said, grateful that the Pokémon didn't notice that his last projectile was a red and white ball.
Curious, the metallic Pokémon looked up where it sent the last 'stone' and was horrified to see a mass of purple slime come down from the trees.
"MUK!"
Mushrooms. Four teens were sure they could handle anything but were going to die at the hands of walking mushrooms. The small group of students was surrounded by a massive number of Brute Bonnets that were inching closer to them, and currently out of usable Pokémon. The kids got closer together, preparing themselves to face the end.
At least they were before a Blazing Torque struck five of the Pokémon at once and all of the Schedar Squad members jumped out and prepared to fight. "Now this is a party," one grunt said as he tossed out his Arcanine.
Their leader, after forcing their car through the ring of Pokémon, stood in the center and sent out a Torkoal. One of the girls in the group squinted at her until she realized where she had seen her before. "Mousey Mela?" she gasped in shock.
For the first time, Mela didn't growl at the name. Something else earned her ire. "Get in the car," she ordered, and they obeyed.
But before she called an attack, a familiar Charcadet rushed in, jumped, and punched one of the beasts in the face without relying on a move.
"Charlos?" Mela said in astonishment. "You should go. My friends and I got this."
The small Pokémon stomped his foot in defiance, and Mela understood. "Right. You're my friend too." Mela gave the creatures in front of her a cocky grin. "Alright, little buddy," she said before picking him up by the back, and he knowingly curled up into a ball. "Dodge-mon!"
Ryme had just led the people of Montenevera through the city's limits. Larry was worried that the furthest city from Mesagoza had made it, but there was still no sign of Hassel, Giacomo, or the boy's friends anywhere. He was too busy with the rest of the Pokémon League and many of the champion-rank trainers, keeping the invaders out of the city and kicking out the ones that spawned inside of it. But no matter what his orders were, he couldn't stop thinking about it. The best he could do was take out his anger on the tall Magneton.
Or at least that was the plan.
He regretted leaving his gym team in his PC, but his Elite team was usually stronger. But he began to sweat as his Staraptor fainted against the Sandy Shocks. It roared and several sparks came out of its body in celebration, but it eventually stopped when it saw that Larry was smiling a little now.
"Go ahead and laugh," he said in his monotone. "Karma will deal with you."
The creature was noticeably confused. "Kzrt?"
The Segin Starmobile used Run Over. It was super effective.
"Is that thing going to be okay?" one grunt asked, staring at the unconscious Pokémon.
"I don't care right now," Giacomo said too honestly as everyone started to get out of the car.
"Thanks again for the assistance," Hassel said as he led the students of the group out of the car. "Who knew that the weird Misdreavus was a Fairy-type?"
"No prob, Mr. Hassel. We were just-" Giacomo was interrupted by a surprising hug from Larry, which was rather tight. The boy wasn't used to his father hugging him spontaneously like this. All hugs usually had to be scheduled at least five hours in advance to ensure that they adhered to everyone's business schedules. The kingdom of bureaucracy had ruined his family.
"You really scared me, son," Larry said in a deeply emotional voice, although it sounded just like his regular voice to people who didn't know him too well. "If you ever do that again, you will be grounded until you die."
Giacomo was so wrapped up in the moment, that he almost didn't notice when his friends pulled up in their rides as well. At least, not until Eri spoke up. "Did anyone find Penny?"
"I just updated our headcount with Director Clavell over the phone," Hassel said with a worried look on his face. "We're still missing five. Penny..."
"No!" Eri cried.
"Nemona..."
"Her too?" Giacomo gasped.
"Juliana..."
"Oh, man," said a worried Mela.
"Florian..."
"Makes sense," Atticus said in a hushed tone, remembering that he was supposed to be with Penny.
"And Arven."
"Who?" Ortega bluntly asked.
"For some reason, the director thinks this relates to Area Zero and that there's someone in a place called Greendale in Levincia who knows what's going on and how to deal with it. I'm going to find Geeta and ask her to pick him up because she has the best chance of getting there and back."
"Levincia still hasn't evacuated yet?" asked a confused Larry.
"As far as I know, they hit their own apocalypse when a Pokémon, presumably a Jigglypuff, chewed through a primary internet cable and took the internet out. They've been panicking for hours, and I don't think they've noticed the invaders yet. Anyway, Brassius and I are going to start our search for the children at their homes and other likely places they would have gone. You guide these kids to the academy and..."
Larry looked behind him and noticed that five people were missing from the group. "Grounded until you die!" he said, but Giacomo didn't hear him.
They had to give everyone else the slip. The rest of the team's Pokémon were too weak to keep fighting, but they still would have followed them outside. They didn't even plan to leave together. They just all had the same idea. Not that they were complaining about the extra help. Although the path showed a group of threatening Pokémon, many in combat either with normal Pokémon or each other, they were determined to brave the storm to save their friends.
"Come on, guys!" Ortega shouted as they came closer to a fighting Iron Jugulis and Roaring Moon that turned their attention towards them. "Let's show these Pokémon who's boss!"
Just then, the largest rift yet opened in front of them, and a metallic purple Cyclizar floated out of it on its jet-like back legs.
The Roaring Moon charged, but the Miraidon grabbed it by the neck, swung it around, and threw it into the Iron Jugulis, knocking them both out. The other Pokémon froze in awe and respect at the sight and bowed in respect when Miraidon gave a mighty roar.
"Guys..." Atticus started, mostly frozen in fear along with his friends. "I think he's the boss..."
The dragon glared at them over its shoulder, almost as if it was deciding whether or not to consider them food.
"They follow an alpha..." Ortega said in realization. "If we catch this thing, or at least earn its respect, we can use it to quell these Pokémon and find Penny right away."
Giacomo scratched his head. "Will that work?"
"Only one way to find out!" Eri declared as she sent out her Toxicroak. With that, her friends followed by sending out a Hatterene, Coalossal, Dragalge, and Krookodile.
The dragon accepted the challenge and roared as it sent out a pulse of electric energy that affected the terrain. It immediately followed with a Charge. Krookodile struck first with a Dragon Claw, but Hatterene was hit by a Hyper Beam. But Dragalge and Coalossal took advantage of this and used Dragon Pulse and Earthquake respectively. Miraidon decided to take the risk and use its most powerful move again on Toxicroak, but it countered with an Ice Punch and Hatterene's Dazzling Gleam was enough to finish the job.
With five against one, the dragon fainted, and the other Pokémon, in a display of fickle loyalty, cheered for the new "alphas" of the land. But the group had more important things to worry about. "Come on," Mela pleaded as she tried to use a revive on the Miraidon. "Wake up and help us find Penny."
That was the moment when the sky turned red and a rift the size of Paldea stretched along the scarlet background with an audible crack.
"I don't want to sound too pessimistic here," Giacomo said with his face flushed. "But I'm not sure how much that matters anymore."