"So, Gunka, was the extraction a success?" Fafnir inquired through the connection orb.

The skelederge stood on his hind legs, holding up his connection orb, "Yessir! We got your spacial key right here!" Holding up the Spacial Key, it gleamed, brimming with power.

"Excellent. Return to Northrun. I will have one of my men give you a lift."

Gunka placed the key back in his satchel and let his form drop back to all fours. Hera, Arin and Therian all swarmed the connection orb as it fell back to the ground.

"Be sure to be on your best behavior. The leader is coming to pay us a visit for all our exploits. Don't disappoint."

The connection orb lost its glow, indicating the end of the conversation. The four pokemon looked between each other in silent conversation. "Well guys, what's next for us after this?" Hera stated.

"We continue serving the boss, but pray we don't do this again. Doing this crud is Shashie's thing…" Gunka chided.

- Chapter 4: A new Beginning -

~ Windlass Plains - Path to Hakari Village ~

"This is the furthest we can take you without going too far out of the way. Thank you for using the Metagross Trolley Service!" The Metagross bookended.

Kroto, Traximus, Kruler and Palla exited the trolley. Kruler looked back and gave a hand back to the trolley operator. A cloud of dust was kicked upward by the trolley speeding off into the distance.

"It was sure nice of them to give us directions back home," Kruler sarcastically mentioned, "Now how do we get back?"

Traximus responded, "I've been here before. There's a trail that can take us back, avoiding all of the mystery dungeons. Follow me."

With Traximus leading the way, the group found themselves on a trail made of dirt, a stark contrast to the grassy field that surrounds it. The group traversed the great hills of the massive plains' expanse in a tense silence. Finding the silence to be debilitating, Kruler began whistling a song, catching the attention of Kroto.

"Nice tune. Where'd you learn it?"

"Learned it through my uncle." She responded, "Can't stand this silence though." The Totodile turned to Palla, "Hey Tusks, how are you holding up?"

"M-Me? I'm okay. Just a little shaken, that's all…" Palla shuddered, "How are you all?"

"Peachy," Kroto growled, "Just lost my chance at becoming a bounty hunter for good because of some bums who wanna play god."

"I second that." Kruler joked, "But for real, this sucks. Having our time there cut short really pisses me off. Hey, Hardhat, I gotta let off some steam, where are some weaker ferals?"

Traximus brought himself to a halt, leading the others to stop with him. "Hardhat? Really?"

"What? I need consistency. If one of you got a name, then you all get one."

"Whatever." Traximus resumed his walking, though Palla remained to his right side.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a few seconds, "You've been-"

"I don't wanna talk about it right now." The Bagon snapped, "Let's keep moving."

Feeling the wave of unease, the Axew relented but kept in mind that he may still be stressed. Moving onward, they came across an expansive meadow. Flowers lined the terrain, creating a colorful expanse that lasted quite a while.

"What's with all these wild flowers?" Kroto asked.

Kruler rolled her eyes, "It's getting to that time of year where some grass pokemon races across the land. Or something like that, I don't exactly know how the story goes."

Palla leaned over and picked one of the flowers growing in the grass. She held a large red-petaled flower in her hand that had bright yellow stamen. "Any idea what kind of flower this is?" She asked, "It looks kind of pretty." Everybody else looking on shrugged.

"Maybe we can get the elder to look at it?" Kruler suggested, "He's into all that lore stuff."

"We're here." Traximus deadpanned.

The bridge to the village expanded over the big blue river, leading to a ridge that housed a settlement of a host of pokemon. Crossing it, they found the air to be cleaner than the meadow they just passed through. The dirt road transitioned into a paved one, leading directly into the town square.

"Okay," Traximus began, "Let's start by not bringing too much attention to ourselves. I don't want my mom spooked."

"I think a group of four pokemon banded together is bound to get the attention of somebody…" Kroto responded, tilting his head in the direction of the ridge.

Unfortunately for Traximus, Kroto was proven correct when a Charizard on the top of the ridge immediately spotted him. "Traximus?!" She shouted.

"Welp! So much for the stealth mission!" Kruler commented, putting her arms behind her back.

"Everybody! Traximus is back! And he brought Kruler and two others as well!"

Traximus felt his stomach lurch up into his throat. 'That was Nel's mom! What do I tell her!? She's gonna ask about him-gods!' The green Bagon turned around, shut his eyes, and tapped his nubs together. 'If I tell her, she'll likely grill us all! But if I don't tell her, she's going to eventually find out her son was taken by the government because he turned into… a… thing! So I have to…'

"Hardhat… You thinking what I'm thinking?" Kruler asked, hands still on her head.

"We have to…"

"...Tell them the truth?"

Kruler and Traximus exchanged looks and then nodded.

Moving to the fountain in the center of the village, they found that their arrival drew a lot of eyes to their party. Pokemon came from out of their homes to greet the incoming team, although some were quick to notice that there was something off about their arrival. Murmurs and talks rang out in the background, but all of Team Nova managed to will them out.

"Think this'll go well?" Kruler asked.

Kroto rolled his neck. "Only one way to find out." He said apprehensively, "But I can't do the talking. As much as I like to explain things, I think this is a conversation better left to you guys."

"I think so too," Palla added, "Me and Kroto don't live here, so it'd be weird to have us address your guys' home."

Team Nova found that there was a crowd forming around them once they had reached the fountain. Kruler managed to line up some crates that she found just lying around the scene.

"Then Hardhat and I'll take the lead," Kruler gestured to Traximus, "You good with that?"

The green Bagon nodded at her, "Yeah. Let's get this over with."

Turning back to the crowd that seemed to be growing ever so quickly, Traximus cleared his throat and commanded the attention of everybody around.

"Okay everybody, we're ready. Gather 'round!" Traximus called out.

Pokemon of all kinds gathered in the village square. Encircling the fountain in the dead center. Kroto and Palla stood back, allowing the Bagon and Totodile to take center stage. Standing on the crates, Traximus found his voice rather commanding, yet still apprehensive.

"I-I guess we ought to introduce our friends first. This is Kroto and Palla, our two friends from the university," Traximus explained, "We were having a pretty good time adjusting to our life there, but somehow, things just couldn't go our way."

Kruler crossed her arms, "Yeah. Kroto and I fought off an alpha, but-"

"You fought an ALPHA?!" The Feraligatr in the crowd piped up, "That's my baby girl!" Kruler fought hard to stave off a blush.

A cough from Traximus brought Kruler back to reality. "But we were beat. My arms got pretty screwed up back there," She outlined, raising her slightly purple arms, bringing some in the crowd to cringe. "I'm a bit better now, but then it felt like I was going to die…"

"That's all fine and well, but what about you, Passimian?" A Swapmert in the crowd asked.

Kroto perked his head up and pointed to his implant, "I got some lung damage. Thankfully, the doctors were able to save me using this. It's pretty heavy, but it helps me breathe better."

Some of the children in the audience gave a glance at Kroto in awe. Even some of the adults couldn't help but have their gazes drawn to it.

"Uh-huh," The Swampert relented, and turned back to Traximus, "I'm glad they're okay, but what happened to you? You look like you got in quite the scuffle."

"That's the other thing. A few days later, one of my roommates had a strange package, which had an Eterna Orb inside it."

"WHAT?!"

Chatter erupted in the audience. With so many voices ringing out at once, Traximus's head began to spin. Just as it did, it just as quickly died.

As a Gabite approached, she asked, "So… What happened next?"

"Me, My roommate, Neltharios and Palla were all sucked into an Eternarift. Inside, we fought strange looking Growlithe, Poliwag and even a Gyarados named Euno who seemed to be suffering from something," Traximus explained, "Along the way, we also found one of our classmates, who was also sucked in as well."

One of the children, a Torchic, looked up at his mother and asked, "Mommy, what's an Eternarift?"

"Yeah, what is an Eternarift?" The Blaziken mother parroted.

"They're artificial mystery dungeons," Kruler deadpanned, "Something about being hand-made by other pokemon."

Murmurs seeped out from the crowd. Somebody then asked, "How did you get out? Is that why you're back so soon?"

Traximus shook his head, "We got some help from an Alakazam who I think knows something about this. He managed to warp me to the doctor and get my wounds patched up." The green Bagon then turned to his Totodile companion, "I'll let Kruler answer why we're here so soon."

"We're back so soon because some jerkfaces decided to play Arceus-pretend and turn the entire school into a feral playground." Kruler chided, "We barely escaped before the university went up in smoke."

The comment caused the crowd to descend into madness. Pokemon left and right began chattering amongst themselves. However, one pokemon amongst them all stood out. The Charizard, from earlier.

"Wait! Where's Neltharios?! Didn't he leave with you?"

There it was. The question that Traximus so desperately wanted to evade. Internally, he knew it was coming, and yet couldn't prepare to answer it. 'Well Traximus, this is it. Can't get cold feet now…' He thought to himself, shutting his eyes.

"Well? Where is he," The Charizard inquired, taking note of the Bagon's hesitance, "He has to be with you, right?"

"Mrs. Lucia," Traximus sputtered, taking a deep breath afterwards, "Neltharios…Didn't make it back with us…"

"W-What?"

"He was taken by the GCIB. There was an incident…and…and…"

The Charizard lunged at the Bagon, fangs bared and claws at the ready, "And what? You're telling me my baby boy got swiped up by the government…and you did NOTHING?!"

"But! But! There was nothing we could do! They threatened us too!"

The situation was getting tense. He couldn't say that he didn't expect this kind of reaction, but it truly tested how much he could stomach. 'Come on Traximus! Say something! Anything!' Much like the incident with Neltharios, he found himself opening his mouth, but nothing came out. Sweat trickled down his face, as he shut his eyes in fear.

"Sister Lucia! You will stand down this instant!" A voice rang out.

Splitting the crowd in half, an elderly Golduck appeared with a familiar Salamence following beside him. His staff shook about with ornaments on the top jingling a soothing sound. The red cloth covering his eyes and most of his body acted as an indicator of his condition.

"Mom!" Traximus screamed.

"But, My-my son!" Lucia stammered, tears forming in her eyes, "I need to know where my son is! He must know! He has to!" She turned to the Salamence, snarling, "Haruka! Back me up here!"

"Lucy…" The Salamence began, "I'm not going to act like I know what you're going through, but you must leave my son and his friends alone. They're tired, and hurt by all of this as well."

"I heard what they said!" The Charizard sputtered, fire welling up in her maw.

"Then surely you realize that these young ones clearly don't have all the answers," The elder explained, "If the government has your son, then obviously it is for a reason." The Golduck then turns his attention to the Bagon behind Lucia, "Young ones, tell us what happened to young Neltharios before being taken by the government."

"Uh…" Traximus began, "He… He…"

"He turned into a feral."

All eyes befell onto Kruler. Numerous gasps briefly overtook the silence that the audience went through. "A feral?! You're certain about this?" The elder asked, voice indicating panic beginning to overtake his composure.

"Saw it with our own eyes." Kruler relented, putting her arms behind her back, "Red eyes, blinding flash of light, strange markings all over his body."

The crowd descended into nonsensical chatter. Many voices clamored on at the same time, stirring up fear with each sentence spoken. Citizens of the village, for seemingly the first time, felt threatened. Traximus himself found his head spinning from all the voices, and with the images of his friend repeating themselves internally, he doubled over and blacked out.

~ Somewhere, in Talgeria ~

The walls of a laboratory were adorned with various boards. Along the boards were notes about a project of some sort. At the south end of the room, there was a scientist, working on a looplet with numerous tools aligned in parallel along the table. During his work, a connection orb on the table began glowing. The pokemon working on the looplet picked up the looplet with his open hand and imbued it.

"Yes, what is it?" The pokemon asked.

"We secured it. The Spacial Key. We're delivering it to you on your arrival." Fafnir spoke from the orb.

"Good. How goes the search for the other keys?"

"Scouts in Pokemon Square located the Marine and Lands Keys, but we have no word on if they're successful in retrieving them or not. Scouts in Treasure Town have learned of the Temporal Key, but have no access to transportation to get them to it. That's all the information I have on my end."

"I see, and what of the Alakazam?" He asked, switching to tinkering with an Eterna orb.

"Alcryst was unsuccessful in stopping our plans, but still remains a sizable threat. According to our sleeper agents, he's now working with the Gullverian government and may be using their resources to directly counter our progress."

"Hmm. A fool. He could have just stayed in the hole he made for himself, but he just had to rear his ugly head again. Make sure that your men are on alert. If I have a repeat of what happened at Kira University the first time, your head is on the pike."

"Understood. It won't happen again."

"I will meet you in Northrun in several hours. I expect an uninterrupted delivery."

The connection orb was disconnected, leaving the orb to return to its native color. Another moment passed, and with a sigh of the scientist, he flicked his mane to the side. He fiddled around some more with the Eterna orb before returning to work on the looplet.

"Just another day… Gullveria and Talgeria continue their days as usual. Little do they know that my conquest is just about to begin!" The pokemon moved to the westward wall and tapped a section of the map titled Lively Town.

"And I know just the ferals to grab for a start…"

The scientist began to pack up some things in the room, starting with the looplet he was messing with. Then, some reviver seeds, some vitamins, rations and other such resources. Afterwards, he returned to his desk and grabbed his Eterna orb. He then slipped out an Entercard from the pocket of his cloak, placing it on the floor and invoking its power.

A bright yellow gleam of light appeared on the ground with swirling red chain-like apparatuses floating about it. The pokemon stepped into it, engulfing his body in the glow. "King Basillo… Prepare to become your town's downfall!"

When the lights faded, the lab was left devoid of any life forms.