Leaves danced through the forest. Shadows danced under the canopy as the trees rustled. The branches swayed.
Koga stood atop such a branch, moving in tune with the forest. A part of it. This position met his needs. It allowed him to assess the area without compromising himself or casting his body into profile. The work of a ninja was ever-evolving and competing with security measures. From his position, no long-range observers or cameras would be able to see him, nor would any aerial observers.He dropped and darted further into the trees. He'd stayed in one position long enough to get what he needed, and now he needed to move on. He moved eight trees to the south before reassessing his surroundings.Wind swept through the forest, and Koga paused as the shadows shifted. Pokemon moved about, unaware of his presence. Koga observed them carefully. None were acting oddly, acting or otherwise. They were as they appeared, merely young Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, and the occasional Hoothoot poking their heads out from hidden alcoves.Koga moved on, unseen by the denizens of the forest.After another three sites and observations, he returned to his starting position."There is a null zone of roughly four hundred metres around the base," Koga said to the shadows."Hmph! Amateurs!" sniffed the shadows before Agatha stepped through them. She paused on the edge of the branch and sighed. "Urgh, getting old is a terrible curse, wouldn't you agree?""It comes with knowledge and experience," Koga said as he bounced low from a branch before kicking off another to land with only the smallest rustle of leaves. If anyone had been around to see it, they would have assumed it was a Sentret darting through the trees and not a man.Agatha sighed forlornly before stepping back to allow the shadows to devour her. Then the shadows ghosted down to the ground, and Agatha stepped out of them without a hair out of place. "You know, I think I like having experience!" cackled Agatha."When you were younger, you were more careful with your life than you are now," Koga commented as he squatted down."I made the most of my youth, now I'm making the most of my age and not letting it stop me!" she said primly.Koga nodded before gesturing towards the base that was just out of sight. "Did you ever spend any time out of the Viridian base?"Agatha sniffed. "No, I spent time in the western Pallet Town base and the Northern Pewter base but not Viridian. The Viridian base was a supply depot or a fallback position if we lost the front-line bases."Koga inclined his head. "I pulled the records, and the base was listed as a standard setup." Koga shifted. "Blaine was never the commander either, so it should have remained that way as none of his…" He considered his options for a moment before continuing, "Quirks of changing up the layout or traps should have occurred.""He has been in cahoots with Giovanni however…" Agatha said.In truth, they'd had this conversation a number of times, but well-trained habits that were used in the field didn't die with their practitioner because they didn't die.Most of the time."Assume nothing," Agatha said before nodding to Koga as he shut his eyes and knelt on his heels, and inhaled. When he opened them, his eyes were mild, and Agatha found herself almost overlooking the man before her. It was a clever trick that she had some theories about but wasn't ever going to ask about.Let the man have his mysteries.By their age, you were bound to have a few built up after all. Her shadow rose up and peered at the man curiously. "He's still there, Gengy, calm yourself." Her shadow retreated back to the ground, eyeing the… ah, he'd moved. Agatha tilted forward. To another, it would look like she'd gone tottering over. She didn't fall to the ground though.Instead, she fell into her shadow once more.The world became a confusing mess of darkness and sensations as she felt a vague sensation of movement occurring. Hands brushed along her, imploring her and entreating her all at once. All she had to do to join them was shut her eyes and… let go. She didn't, and they laughed madly like they always did. They loved her, truly, they did. They would never part with her if they had their way.The world continued to shift as ghostly echoes of laughter tickled her ears, and hands held her steady while she journeyed and remained still at the same time.And then, without any warning, she was spat out at the edge of a long metal corridor. Agatha looked down the tunnel, with its corroded metal grills and dripping water. The air barely stirred, and a fetid smell hung about the room.Agatha approved. It was the perfect entry point for a Ghost mistress. "Come, my pretties, come, my darlings, we have a hunt to begin," she crooned seemingly to herself.The tunnel continued to drip a moment longer before her hair stirred against the wind and her shadow stretched hugely, dwarfing her.From her hair, a pair of Misdreavous appeared, while a Mismagius shimmered into being at her crown. They giggled at her as her shadow split and formed into three Haunters that all eyed each other ravenously.Two Gengar appeared and nodded back at her shadow which eyed the other ghosts lazily before shutting its eyes. As the ghosts swirled around her, Agatha counted in her head. Koga and her had run through enough bases in the past to know how long it would take each other to reach a security checkpoint. Thankfully, they didn't just have to rely on precise timing alone anymore. A click on her transceiver told her it was time to act.Agatha stretched out her hand and accepted Banette's help as she strode down the tunnels. "You know your games! Be about them! Slash their eyes and break their voices!" Agatha snapped her fingers and pointed to one of her pokemon. "Gengar, seek out the secondary security site that should be in that direction!" She pointed a boney hand where she wanted Gengar to look. "Take out the guard!" she ordered coldly.Gengar's grin split its face and its eyes glowed malevolently before it threw itself through the wall. Agatha knew that Koga would see to the other site. Both would need to be taken out within a certain time of each other lest the guards send out a warning. She sent back a 'poke' to Koga through the 'messenger app' that she'd had installed as she continued to walk along.Technology was a wonderful thing… when it worked properly!At her side, a Froslass hovered subserviently, ready to assist should Agatha require it.Agatha had laughed long and hard when she'd discovered Pryce's little problem in his hometown. It felt so good to have one of these little beauties, like she was young and thumbing her nose at the man all over again. The damn fool had no idea such pokemon were even possible, much less under his nose! Oh, when he learnt about the Ghost-ice type haunting his mountains she was looking forward to floating her own Froslass past him!She cackled to herself as she moved. Overhead, the lights flickered, and the tunnels shuddered. A faint scream echoed ahead of her.Ah, her dears were enjoying themselves.One of the Misdreavus floated in front of Agatha in a zigzag pattern. It would occasionally pause at a seemingly innocent patch of wall. Then its eyes would glow, and a slow pulse of Hypnosis would shoot into the wall.This was repeated a few more times along Agatha's walk down the tunnel.Agatha knew these to be the points in the tunnel where Voltorb and Electrode could be stored. If Agatha was careless in her entry or if the alarms sounded out, the walls would come alive with furious pokemon that were more than ready to blow themselves up.This had been one of the features that Agatha and Koga had been waiting to have dialled back. A sensitive Voltorb was bad enough. Electrode, if you didn't neutralise them, were known to roll after you and with their speed, that was a significant threat. Still, even if one of them did wake up and seek to explode, Agatha had answers to that threat.At her back, another pokemon hovered.It remained an exact distance from her at all times while rotating like a sentry. Shedninja were strange pokemon that she knew Oak had spent an entire month examining, only to toss his hands up and declare them the product of ghost energies. Agatha stared into the dull eyes of the pokemon and saw the multitude of shadows move within.She'd never spoken up about what was actually at work with this particular pokemon… but then again, every old person had their secrets.When she came to the end of the tunnel, a number of cameras were damaged and the doors leading into the facility were cracked open. A shame that the cameras couldn't be left operational. Agatha did so love looking straight into them and smiling. Instead, she contented herself with looking over the shivering and broken forms of the Rocket grunts that had been acting as the security detail for this particular entrance.One of them tried to muster up the strength to glare at her. "Y-you w-won't get aw-away with th-th-this!" They stuttered through shivering lips."I think you'll find I already have dearie," She pointed at them. "Hypnosis." Her Haunter's eyes glowed and waves of psychic energy radiated out causing the man to slumber. "No more Dram eater on this one dears, we'll put him to Sabrina to see if has any information for us about other facilities."Agatha ran a hand over the wall as she walked into the base proper. It was a large cavernous building with plenty of room for troops. A glance to the side saw two guards that were surging to their feet as they realised that Agatha did not belong here. Hands swept out of the walls and wrapped around their mouths, dragging them back and silencing them. Other hands plucked pokeballs from their belts to stop them from releasing them.Their eyes bulged as a Gengar formed up in front of them and held a finger to its mouth in mockery. "Gen-gar!" it cried as its mouth split open and loomed, causing them to scream into the hands holding them only for Gengar to snap its mouth shut in their faces.Agatha walked past them, unbothered by the smell of liquid now trickling down onto the floor as her pokemon knocked them out. A girl rounded the corner and hissed in surprise.Hands shot from the ground to grasp her, only for the girl to have good instincts.She dodged to the side and swiped her hand across her pokebelt."Arbok! Zubat! Raticate! Out and figh—" said the girl as the pokemon emerged only for Froslass to shoot forth and sweep a dainty arm forward. Icy Wind swept forward, and the various pokemon hunkered down in the face of the arctic assault."Bok!?" cried the Arbok as it took a face full of chilling wind. It stiffened and began to become iced over while the Zubat countered with a Whirlwind of its own that made Agatha raise an eyebrow.It was interesting to see a pokemon fight on despite not being ordered. Was it a well-trained pokemon, or disobedience? The freeze that occurred on Arbok was unfortunate for the girl, though and should make this easier for Agatha.Raticate inhaled only to exhale a gout of fire that had Agatha nodding in approval. It seemed this particular girl was skilled, or had skilled pokemon."Block it," Agatha ordered, causing a pair of Haunter to appear before her with their hands held up as though to ward off the oncoming firestorm. The firestorm charged them down, only to slow to a stop in front of them.The wall of flame split into two balls that each Haunter held above their heads. The girl and her pokemon blanched in fear at the use of Psychic."I believe this is yours, dearie!" said Agatha in a matronly way. Both Haunters hurled the attacks straight back."PROTECT!" screamed the girl causing her Raticate to leap to the front and for hexagons to form up. Agatha nodded. A good move if this was simply three-on-three or even standard match."Zubat use Super—" her pokemon screeched as Gengar shot out of the roof and bit down on the flying pokemon. Then another materialised behind the girl. Froslass floated up to the Raticate and when the Protect shell faded she leaned in like she was going to kiss Raticate only to open her mouth and bite with down with Ice Fang.The girl whipped her head around and swallowed. "I-I I surrender?" said the girl.Agatha snorted and walked up to her. "Were this a different time I would say it's too late for that dearie… but then again, I've learnt to be surprised from what one might learn from an observant young woman.""I am so observant!" said the girl immediately, instantly understanding what Agatha meant.
Agatha nodded in approval. "Good. For now, sleep." She tapped the girl on the head, and instantly the girl crumbled to the ground. The Arbok, which had been thawing out, suddenly twitched violently, showering the space around it in ice as it lunged for Agatha with a screech of rage."Foolish," Agatha said as her shadow opened a singe eye before launching a fist up into the striking snake's jaw, sending it careening away. "Utterly foolish." The snake reared back and Glared at her shadow and her, causing Gengy to rise up and smirk at the Arbok."The girl is fine, young snake, merely knocked out. Return yourself to your pokeball and we will return to question her soon. She will not come under harm in our care. This I promise you as Agatha of Lavender Town." She made sure to feed her energy into her voice so the pokemon could hear the intent in her words.The Arbok calmed, but didn't return itself to its pokeball. Instead, it slithered up to the downed girl to curl itself around her. Agatha raised a brow but didn't comment. Sometimes you found the strangest things in the strangest places.She gave the girl and her pokemon a lingering look before continuing onward into the facility. When she reached an intersection she turned right. If things were as they should have been then this… She opened a door and smiled at the knocked-out people in the security room.Two of her Gengar smiled back at her. She looked at the console and noticed that the alarm switch hadn't been activated. In front of her, a wall of screens depicted the base. She could see the guards she'd knocked out, along with a few other areas that were occupied currently with Rocket grunts.The mess hall had the most, with people lingering there and talking but there also appeared to be a few researchers tapping away at computers or working on samples in their labs.Agatha always assigned them a higher threat rating than the normal Grunts. She'd spent too long around men such as Blaine and Samuel to ever think lesser of men that used their minds.She nodded at her pokemon. "Seal the room and make sure none wake up until we're ready to detain them." The single Gengar that remained in the room nodded seriously before plopping down in the guards chair and kicking up its feet onto the table.Agatha proceeded to move on. As she did, she swept through the facility, detaining men and women as she encountered them. The labs only saw one hiccup when one of the researchers flicked out a Voltorb. "Explosi—hrk!" he started to shout, only for Koga to appear and chop him in the windpipe."I have detained seventeen so far," Koga reported stoically."Thirteen by my count. Executives, or shall we proceed to the mess?""... The mess. The security around the executives' rooms are significant." Agatha raised an eyebrow at that.So, Koga had already probed the area? Koga nodded at the unasked question. "Standard method," Koga said before he vanished.Agatha nodded to herself and walked towards the large mess hall that every old base had. It was invariably where people would congregate unless kept busy. The lure of food, conversation, and more importantly, coffee, making it the place to spend time in old war bases such as this.In Agatha's time, there used to be a sergeant that would be assigned to keep people rotating through or busy enough that they couldn't linger. But then again, this was a criminal organisation. If they wanted to make it easier to take themselves down by grouping up, that worked for her.She walked into the room. She wasn't immediately noticed, which made her click her tongue in annoyance.Sloppy.All that work they must have put in to claim this site and keep it hidden, and they were going to lose it thanks to sloppiness. It grated Agatha's senses for such incompetence to be present in a war base.It didn't matter that she'd had nothing to do with this war base! It was the principle of the thing.She made her way to the coffee machine and inspected their selection. "Oh, these are quite nice!" she said aloud as she made one for herself."I know right! I'm glad the…" The closest grunt started to say, only to pause as they recognised that Agatha didn't belong. He was up and reaching for his pokeball a moment later.Agatha raised her mug and smiled as the room exploded into chaos. People were all turning towards her. Her pokemon were already forming up and Licking, or snatching trainers up and throwing them about to sow more chaos. Crazed laughter rang out, and the fastest on the draw had pokemon out of their pokeballs to defend themselves.Agatha grinned at the room filling up with pokemon such as Houndoom, Growlithe, Golbat, Arbok, Venomoth and even a Rhydon to face off against her. Her shadow stretched large behind her and Gengy emerged fully. This was enough to wake him up and get him moving."GEN!" he shouted in glee before the air in front of his distorted.Agatha swept her hand out. "Misdreavus! Sweep through them! Mismagius! Disable! Haunter! Continue to Lick! Froslass! Sing your song!"The groups of pokemon found themselves twisted and turned as no true battle line formed. Instead, they were turned about and had to scuffle, occasionally they tripped over themselves, or some pokemon even struck others.A Weezing, Charmeleon, Machop, and a Muk joined the fray, and more pokemon were taken out in 'friendly fire'.The ones closest to Agatha turned and directed their pokemon against her, seeing her as a safer target."Gunk Shot!" shouted one trainer only for Gengy to inhale and swallow the attack before spitting it back out twice as hard."Use Flamethrower!" shouted another only for Gengy to catch it with Psychic and throw it back. This time, he did so by weakening the attack and spreading it out so that it splashed across a host of people. They threw themselves to the ground and rolled as parts of their uniforms caught alight."Ah! I'm on fire! Help me!" shouted one man as he ran about, panicking instead of stopping and rolling. Agatha left him to run around. He made for a wonderful distraction as a Venomoth knocked out a Golbat.Froslass continued to sing, and one of the trainers gasped. "Is that Perish Song? Quick, stop that pokemon!" But only a few pokemon reacted.Others hurriedly shouted at others to change their targets. Agatha grinned as more and more trainers stared around helplessly. Fights broke out as trainers got in each other's faces over the amount of friendly fire incidents. Soon only the Weezing, Muk, Venomoth, Arbok, Machop, and a Charmeleon were still up and scowling amoung themselves."Eh? Who's Arbok is that?" shouted one of the Grunts."Who cares? Most of them are shared pokemon anyway! Arbok use—"The Arbok turned and Glared at the man while the Charmeleon sauntered up to the Machop before suddenly punching it in the gut. The Rocket Grunts all turned in shock. "Eh? Hey! That Charmeleon? Who's is that one?"Before an answer could be gained, all the still-conscious pokemon formed a line and locked eyes on the humans."Eh? Traitor pokemon?" said one man."Spy pokemon?!" said another.Agatha cackled as her pokemon proceeded to knock out everyone, leaving the Grunts guessing. She then turned her head. "I wasn't aware you had a Charmeleon."Koga stepped out from behind his Arbok. "I keep him around. He has proven to be an adapt hand at learning the shinobi way." The Charmeleon bowed towards Koga before it began to frisk the humans for any pokeballs. Koga frowned before snapping his head around to the side.A click of heels preceded the emergence of what could only be a pair of Executive Rockets. "Like I said Ariana, I knew I detected that something was wrong," said a pale-haired girl with her hair pulled into a number of spikey pigtails. With how chalky her skin was, it looked like she hadn't seen the sun and should have been sickly, but despite this, there was a coiled strength in her frame that only required you to look at her to know she was dangerous.At her side, a much softer-looking woman sighed and nodded in concession. "So you were Sird, so you were. I didn't think we'd have warranted a trip from a retiring Elite Four and soon-to-be Elite Four member though." Ariana tilted her head and a playful smirk flitted across her lips. "Does that make you a single Elite Four between you both?"From both of their belts a trio of pokemon emerged. Sird had a Persian, Starmie and Banette which were all in good condition with glints in their eyes. They all shared a look with their owner as though they relished the upcoming violence.On Ariana's side she had an Arbok, Vileplume, and a Honchkrow.Agatha snorted. "And what do you hope to do with those pathetic pokemon?"Ariana opened her mouth, only for Sird to raise a hand. "They are baiting you Ariana."Ariana's mouth clicked shut, and she huffed. "I knew that!"Agatha cackled. "Oh you think it will make a difference! Go Misdreavus, Froslass, and Haunter! Go!"Agatha's pokemon soared forward. Ariana swept her hand only for Sird to once more hold up a hand in warning. "Keep your Arbok close." Instead of watching the upcoming fight, Sird was glancing about her eyes questing for where Koga had vanished to.Agatha almost whistled. The girl had noticed Koga slipping away?Observant, as well as potentially dangerous. Sird flicked a single finger in front of herself and her Persian lopped forward with ghostly energy on its claws. "Watch the Shadow Claw!" Agatha cried out to her pokemon who nodded and started to spit fire at the Normal type pokemon.Agatha turned her attention back to Sird only to narrow her eyes. Where had the Starmie gone? The Banette was firing off Shadow Balls to keep distance from Koga's Arbok and Venomoth.A flicker of movement had Agatha snapping her head to the side to discover two Hydro Pumps blasts barreling towards her. The Starmie was revealed in that moment by the shimmer of light over its form before it blended into its surroundings."Tch! Camouflage?" Agatha said, turning her head to give Sird a nod.Sird grinned as the Hydro Pumps continued on only for Gengy to appear in front of Agatha and slash his arms through them and knock them away. "Good work Gengy.""Tch!" said Sird. She then stiffened as Arbok broke off fighting Banette to disgorge a cloud of poisonous fumes that revealed Starmie as it writhed in pain."Rapid spin out of ther—" Sird began to shout, only for Venomoth to suddenly appear behind it. Its wings swept forward and slashed at the Starmie to put it down. Sird clicked her tongue and raised a pokeball to return her pokemon, stepping back as she did. Her eyes continued to search for Koga."We need to back up Ariana!" she called.Ariana nodded and whistled sharply, causing her pokemon to leap backwards only for the Honchkrow to be blasted from the air by a Thunder. Arianna recalled it and Agatha advanced."I think it is time for you to concede," said Koga from further behind them.Sird and Ariana whirled around but couldn't see him. Both cursed as the Arbok scented the air and Glared into the passageway.Agatha stood still, not squinting, and joined the women in their search for Koga. Agatha held in a derisive snort.Even odds were he wasn't actually in the passageway but was instead throwing his voice and tricking them all."Do not think of teleporting out. We will stop you." Koga appeared in the passageway with his arms crossed and his scarf blowing theatrically.Or not, thought Agatha. At his side, Charmeleon appeared from his pokeball snorting with his fists raised. Muk, likewise appeared and blocked the women's escape.Sird scowled. "You're Koga and Agatha of the old guard… Have you ever come to this base before?"Koga raised a singularly unimpressed eyebrow.Ariana swallowed and looked at Sird. "Think we kept them busy for long enough yet?"As though answering Ariana, a wind blew through the passageway and everyone but Agatha had to brace themselves. Gengy took the burst of wind and stood stoically in front of Agatha allowing her to remain standing.Debris that had littered the old base was swept past, and Agatha squinted. What had caused this sudden rush of wind? The base was underground! The only reason there could be wind was if something had exploded further back in the base… or something had just broken into the base. She felt more than saw two flashes of light fill the room.When the wind died down, she leaned around Gengy's sizeable form to see what had happened.The first thing she noticed was that both her Misdreavus had been knocked out, they oozed out of the craters from where they'd impacted. Agatha returned them and turned her attention to what had caused them to be knocked out with seemingly barely any effort.Something new had appeared behind Koga.If it had been standing, it would have been as tall as a man, except it levitated slightly, making it look down on everyone. The metal visor glinted as it surveyed them.Koga had retreated back to the wall and was eying the arrival carefully.The newcomer was armoured so much that Agatha wasn't sure what it was. Was this a failed experiment? Armour had been tried on pokemon in the early days of the war, but it had been deemed a waste. Most pokemon naturally had strong enough defences to not need it, otherwise, they needed to be unfettered.What did it say then about this pokemon?The psychic pressure she could feel emanating from it let her know it was powerful. A long bulbous tail languidly flicked from side to side as the helmeted head inspected the tableau before it.It did so with a slow sweep of its head before coming to rest on the Rocket Executives."You are to withdraw immediately," said an echoing tone.If Agatha wasn't so familiar with Psychic types and their tricks, she wouldn't have picked up that it had spoken telepathically.Ariana and Sird nodded before walking to an innocuous section of the wall and laying their hands against it to reveal another room that had never been included in the original layouts of the bases. All of their pokemon were returned as they stepped into a different pod.Agatha clicked her tongue as Ariana shot her a wink. "Till next time, we're blasting off," she said as the door shut and a deep whoomp shook the ground.Escape pods built into the facility? That was new.Agatha, much like Koga, didn't move to stop either woman. Or rather, they couldn't. They knew that moving would draw the being's attention. Agatha narrowed her eyes."What are you?" she asked.The helmeted head rose to look straight at her, and Gengy raised a hand as psychic energy spiked from the being's mere attention. Koga chose that moment to make a move."Evasion!" he hissed to his Charmeleon, causing it to spew out a Smokescreen that would obstruct the new pokemon's vision. The pokemon merely tilted its head as smoke filled the passageway. Koga appeared across from Agatha, maintaining a distance."That thing is powerful Agatha!" he shouted. She merely nodded.A flicker of light was all the warning they got before a ball of heavily condensed psychic energy blew through the air and slammed into the wall behind them. Agatha stumbled even as her Shedninja raised a Barrier.Agatha shot the Rocket members that had been piled up near that wall a look. That attack just no apparently hadn't been for Koga or herself.She turned her head away from the corpses, her face tight with displeasure. It seemed they were done with the baby gloves.Agatha glowered. "Limits off team! Match it with Shadow Ball!" All of her pokemon charged up and fired off a barrage of Shadow Balls between those and the Psychic attack the Smokescreen was ripped apart to reveal Agatha, Koga, and their foe.In response to the attacks, it raised a three-fingered hand that opened and shut to take control of the Shadow Balls and send them back."Dodge!" shouted to her team. "Gengy! Catch one and send it back!"Her starter shot into the air, eyes gleaming with focus as it caught one of the stray Shadow Balls. Then it channelled more power into it before unleashing it straight back at the other pokemon.This time the armoured pokemon had to use two hands to catch the attack. It locked eyes with Gengy and then fired the attack straight back. It came on so fast that the air screamed. Gengy was still caught in the throwing action and stunned by the speed of the reply.Agatha almost tensed up, almost forgot herself. Almost watched her partner die.But she was made of sterner stuff. "Protect!!" she barked and Gengy reacted. The attack still knocked him back, and when his protective shell hit the ground, it did so like shattered glass. Gengy gingerly got to his feet, and Agatha had to give the new pokemon a higher danger rating."Hypnosis!" she shouted, and a beam of energy erupted. The speck slowly reformed into Koga's Muk. The armoured form curled in on itself as the attacks soared towards it. Then it snapped itself outward, and a shockwave of force blew the attacks away.Agatha felt her stomach drop as the psychic power the pokemon before her was emitting increased to a level she'd never felt before. She felt a pressure begin to exert itself on her. She grit her teeth and flexed her aura allowing her to move normally."Pin Missile!" said Koga from another angle, joining in the attack. "Muk! Hyper Beam!"From a tiny speck on the ground, Muk blossomed into a huge mess of goop.Then the pokemon formed another ball, only this time it unleashed an arcing beam that cut through the room.Agatha fell to the side and let shadowy hands catch her. Froslass and two of the Haunters took hits from thrown debris, causing them to crumble.Agatha tapped their pokeballs and returned them, even as her Mismagius appeared from the air around the foe and tried peppering him from all sides. Agatha's Gengars joined the attack, only for the being to sweep a single arm out and the air to ripple with Psychic might.The wall was dented even as her pokemon were tossed aside, causing more dust to sweep through the room. Agatha lost sight of Koga in the dust as more blasts rang out and the sounds of hissing preceding gurgling noses. Then another arcing Psybeam was unleashed, cutting through the dust and room once more.Gengy dragged Agatha out of the way with a hiss. Koga's Arbok returned fire with a Gunk Shot of its own only to be smacked when a section of wall swatted it aside.The roof groaned, causing Agatha to look up and see that the attacks had caused it to weaken.Koga appeared at her side, his hands affixing a pair of pokeballs from his downed pokemon as his Venomoth clung to him like wings on his back. Was that how he moved so quickly? "We need to get out of here!" he shouted over the sound of the groaning structure.They ran out of the now broken mess into the passage they had entered from. The pokemon floated after them.Agatha and Koga raced through the halls they'd only minutes ago so proudly conquered, dodging away from blasts of Psychic that chased them. They got through three hallways before the pokemon tired of their game. The hallway in front of them bent shut.It would have bent shut on the girl and the Arbok curled around her protectively if the Arbok hadn't grabbed the young girl and thrown themselves out of the way.The Arbok rose, spitting fury and venom, only for the armoured pokemon to flick a hand and dispatch the snake.Agatha tightened her jaw and flicked her eyes about. They were trapped.The base would have Dark emitters that would restrict her ability to phase through the walls. Most of the walls were broken now, but she wasn't game to try that with such a powerful psychic right on top of her. She'd be shredded if she tried.That, and she didn't want to abandon Koga.Koga was likewise searching the walls, only for his eyes to narrow on a section. "Muk! Minimize into that section and open the wall panel for us!" he ordered sharply.Agatha turned and glared back at the pokemon that had hunted her like a rattata. "Gengar! Use Destiny Bond!" Then she snapped her fingers. "Gengy use Night Shade!" Instantly the room shifted, like it was all part of some horrifying dreamscape. It warped and twisted before snapping together against their foe.The other pokemon flinched before shaking its head. Then it fired off a Psybeam that one of the Gengar leapt into. It fainted, and Agatha leaned forward intently to see the foe drop. A dark purple energy shot from her Gengar straight into the armoured foe. It stumbled, causing Agatha to lean forward. This might have even turned their fortun—The pokemon curled up on itself and glowed as it used Recover.Agatha felt her breath hitch. In all her years, she'd never seen a pokemon heal through a Destiny Bond link. That should have knocked it out. The pokemon straightened after a moment, pristine and ready to continue. Agatha knew then and there she was running out of options."All of you! Bring the night!" shouted Agatha. Her pokemon grasped the air in front of them, and the world broke as every ghost in her team attempted to shatter reality. Cracks formed in the air and an ethereal wind that came from nowhere and everywhere swept through the passageway. Agatha leaned forward and stabbed her fingers out, linking her ghost energy into her pokemon to further empower them.The helmeted pokemon snapped his hands out and clenched the air in front of itself to counter the attack. Reality reasserted itself, and Agatha stared as her pokemon wilted from the effort of fighting against their foe."Muk! Expand!" Koga ordered. His pokemon expanded and the wall panel shrieked as it was popped open to reveal an escape pod like that which the Executive Rockets had used. Not that their foe was going to simply let them leave. It charged up another of its Psychic Bomb attacks.Her Gengar groaned pathetically as it charged up. "Now! Disable it!" Her Gengar dropped their faked weakness to grin as one sank into the ground before launching up to attack the armoured pokemon. Another flashed with Disable to stop the Psychic attack only for a light to flash off the armoured pokemon. Had that pokemon just… resisted Disable? Impossible!Sadly, the facts were in front of her.The ball of psychic energy continued to form, albeit slower than before. This allowed Gengy to charge and counter with a Shadow Ball of his own with Agatha throwing all of her energy into the single attack.The attack screamed as it rocketed forward towards their caught off-guard foe. It paused for a moment before matching the attack.Both attacks slammed into each other, and an explosion rocked the room. Agatha felt her vision darken as she struggled to stay upright. Her hand clasped on something soft, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. At her back, she felt something speaking to her, tempting her with the void.To lay down and sleep.Sleep for the rest of time.She knew what it was. She'd always known."Shedninja… advance," she said as an understanding of her situation won through her fatigue.Koga appeared at her side. "We need to go now! Muk! Assist me!" Muk surged under them and carried them into the escape pod. Agatha glanced back in time to see a Psybeam lance out and slam one of her Gengar into the wall where it went limp. Gengy struggled to his feet only for Agatha to recall some of her pokemon.Koga grunted. Before cursing under his breath. He understood what she'd done, along with the meaning behind it. She certainly wasn't giving up. "Use my pokemon," he said.He released an old, rotten-smelling Weezing. It had sickly pustules leaking out of its body, and the gas it exuded was particularly putrid. Hazy cataracts stood out as it looked out at a world that seemed so dark and full of pain. Its eyes, however, gleamed as it understood what was about to happen."Self-Destruct," Koga choked out as his Weezing's old eyes looked straight into him and smiled. Agatha stumbled as the void called for Weezing. It resisted, however. It had a final mission for a warrior of old.Agatha blinked as the Weezing started to glow. Her head turned towards where her final stray pokemon was. "Ally Switch," she ordered. A moment later the glowing Weezing vanished and Shedninja appeared.It wilted sadly as Koga turned and slammed his fist onto the eject button. The doors slammed shut as their foe turned on the glowing Weezing with grasping hands to stop it. Then their escape pod was rocketing away from the explosion.Koga shut his eyes and groaned as aches he'd been ignoring announced themselves. Agatha shuddered, and Koga turned his attention to her. He took her face in his hands and inspected her eyes. He cursed when both pupils contracted and dilated."Why did you drag the Rocket Grunt with us?""What are you talking about?" Agatha said with a slow blink.Koga slowly turned her head to let her look at where her hand was. It was still clasping onto the girl that the Arbok had been protecting.Agatha blinked and wet her lips. Why had she? "Seemed a waste…" she said before passing out."Tch! Don't White out on me!" He snapped his fingers under her nose before flicking her on the nose like an unruly child. When that failed to elicit a response, Koga cursed."Wonderful. I'm injured, with a wounded teammate, an enemy that would be grief-stricken and angry when they awoke, and to top it off, I am behind enemy lines with a Legendary pokemon possibly hunting us!" He shook his head.He chuckled as he patted his Muk. He shut his eyes and got ready to move the second the escape pod hit the ground."Well, this is just like old times isn't it?" he said to himself as Agatha felt herself fall into slumber. No ghostly hands caressed and implored her now. It almost felt wrong.
125
Sabrina stayed with me that night. She knew precisely how to stop me from brooding. She leaned in with a little smile and a touch, and before long we were in bed enjoying ourselves.She certainly made me think of more important things for the rest of the night.When I got up, she glared at my alarm clock but rose when I did and levitated herself out after me. Ralts, having been collected after our nighttime activities, remained in bed after having warbled her discontent at being awoken so early. She was more than happy to resume her slumber. Sabrina left her with Alakazam, who levitated into a meditation pose.Missy perked up when she saw me enter the reserve, only to blink when she saw Sabrina hovering behind me. "Hm? Good morning, Gym Leader…s?" she said hesitantly."Hey Missy. Ready for your training session, I take it?" I dropped into a quick stretch for my legs before standing and pumping my arms and rolling my shoulders.Missy nodded seriously. "Yes! I got my work done, and I have the others all set with feeding!"I gave her an amused look. "Hmmm, as long as they asked, otherwise they might get annoyed with you stepping in on them like that. While you're a more senior trainer, it is only a month difference."She blushed and offered a quick nod. Sabrina yawned. "She wasn't doing anything wrong," she said, casually letting me know she'd looked into it. That, or Missy had been projecting her thoughts."Alright, let's do some training then!" I said, leading the girls around to the training area. I played the usual Sonata of Awakening and chuckled when Don was first out of the cave. He circled and screeched his challenge to the morning, only to stop when he noticed Sabrina."Scree!" he dropped into a dive, landing before us and making a racket. Sabrina ignored him as he snorted, huffed, and growled."Hmmm you want to fight one of Sabrina's pokemon?" I said. Don perked up only to snarl when he noticed I was looking towards Missy. I'd known he'd react this way but appeasement wasn't a policy you wanted to employ much with any pokemon with draconic tendencies.Don flapped his wings but I didn't even pay any attention to him. I didn't need to be a psychic to know precisely who he wanted to fight."Starmie?" I suggested to Sabrina, Missy got a thoughtful look at this as she ran through tactics she'd be able to use. Sabrina considered that before agreeing.As the rest of my team emerged I took a moment to take them in.Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Steelix, Aggron, Kabutops, Kleavor, Alolan Golem, Aerodactyl, Lunatone, Swampert, Lapras, Poliwrath, and my Noctowl. These were all pokemon that were currently ready and able to fight for me at the Elite level. I was much more confident in my skill with Hypnotoad of late, having left her with another. The same was true of Tide.At my feet, the newest hopeful sat waiting with Clefairy. I rubbed my chin and considered the other ancient pokemon I had as options.Cranidos seemed too simple and straightforward, but that didn't mean he couldn't become a powerhouse.Anorith would also be interesting. But I would need to get a better feel for them and for Tir—"Tirt!" said a soft voice as scraping sounded out to the side. I turned to find Tirtouga sliding his way along the ground to the training field of my Elite. I raised an eyebrow. Interesting. Had he heard my pokemon waking up and decided to join in?If so, he was greatly overestimating himself.Instead of sliding up to one of my pokemon though, he slid up a slight rise where he settled in to watch my pokemon fight. He took a special interest in any of the water-typed pokemon and how they fought."Huh," I said while rubbing my chin. "That Tirtouga has a very sharp mind it seems."Sabrina nodded. "He's taking in a lot of what your pokemon are doing." I hummed before turning away from Tirtouga. It was good to see such a proactive pokemon. He wasn't getting involved right now, but there was interest there. Serious interest.I started the usual jog with Sabrina, then Missy joined in, and we performed a quick lap around the fence.Then we broke off and went through our training exercises, with Sabrina pairing off to fight against Missy with her Starmie. I caught glimpses of Missy being put through her paces with the match. Sabrina took it easy on her, with the match dragging out for a few minutes and a number of areas to work on outlined, before Sabrina turned to me and joined my training. I cycled through my pokemon so they'd get some more experience fighting against a psychic specialist for an hour.When we were wrapping things up, Yolanda wandered out with Terra bumbling along after her. Both of them looked a little sleepy, but Yolanda had a determined look. "Right! Training starts now!" she shouted.I paused, ready to point out that it was still too early for Terra, only for her to pick up Terra and deposit her in a baby pouch that was like a backpack. Yolanda then jogged off. "Woof, it's a bit different trying to run with you in my arms, girl!" Yolanda said to her starter as Terra cheered her to go faster. I knew the instant Titan caught sight of them, as a rumble ran through the ground and suddenly Yolanda had a Tyranitar jogging at her side.Then Bertha joined in. This led to Gawain and Jormungandr following… and before long Yolanda was sprinting just to stay ahead of my Elite Team and a few Onix she'd picked up circling the reserve.I bit my lip before raising a hesitant finger. "I feel like I should step in…"Sabrina watched Yolanda run. "It will be good for her. Educational even.""As long as she stays ahead of her cheer squad." Missy pointed out."Well, she's going to be motivated at least?" I offered as she sprinted past."Help! I've made a mistake! Call them off! Call them off!" she wailed as she sprinted straight at me.I chuckled, and as she closed in on me, I held up a hand. "Alright, that's enough gang!" I called out.Everyone stopped on a dime. Before the resulting dust cloud could sweep over us Sabrina raised a hand and swept it to the side, causing the dust to be blown away. Yolanda stared at the pokemon that had just been chasing her."Eh?!" she said as she gasped for breath. "W-what? Wh-at was that?""Lar! Tar! Larv!" cheered Terra, having thoroughly enjoyed the run."You weren't in any danger. If you'd tripped, Titan or Bertha would have caught you and carried you. They just wanted to play with you, that's all." She stared at me incredulously, sweat dripping down her face. I shrugged. "They're big softies at heart." I looked them over. "They look like they had fun.""I d-did not find that fun!" she said. I just patted her on the head. "They did. If you're not willing to exercise with the pokemon then you should probably stick to the gym." I raised a finger, old instincts making me want to point out she shouldn't lift the weights, only to glance at Terra. A pokemon that was known to average in at seventy-two kilograms. "Make sure you train for endurance," I said quickly.I then about-faced and marched home to go through the usual breakfast chaos. Flint had taken over nicely though, and I barely had to step into the kitchen these days, except on the odd day a week. It was more often than not that I was coming home to cooked meals, the kids' lunches already packed at breakfast time, and my own time preserved.It was a nice change for me and allowed me just a little more time for other tasks or even some personal time.Personal time, which today I used to check in with Karen.She answered quickly. "Hey Brock," she said without her usual smirk. I also noticed the slight redness in her eyes and the way there were gray bags under her eyes. She hadn't slept, or if she had, she'd done so poorly."Hey, I thought I'd check in with you on Agatha," I said.The screen turned to reveal Agatha laid out on a medical bed that wouldn't stand out from any other hospital bed in either of my lives. The machines whirred, ticked, and beeped at a slow, constant cadence. I noted that they had an IV line in her hand and a number of wires slunk into her gown through gaps."They're monitoring her pulse and heart rate?" I asked."Yeah. She whited out from having too many pokemon faint while overdrawing on her own energy reserves. A young person would be up and about by now but as an old hag…" Karen trailed off."It's certainly weird to see her like this," I said, staring at her still features as her chest rose and fell in time with a number of beeps."I'll say! I keep expecting her to launch out of her bed or walk in from behind me and tell me it was a trick…"I stayed silent. It was a rare insight into their dynamic. Theirs was obviously not a normal grandmother-to-granddaughter bond but then again, who could claim such a thing? There are certainly not many in this world.Karen huffed. "If she drops dead and reforms as a ghastly like I know she thinks she will, I'm so going to use a standard pokeball to capture her!" she said loudly while glaring at Agatha. I got the impression it was something tossed out occasionally to agitate Agatha.Agatha merely continued to rest."Tch!" Karen said before turning back to me. "If you send flowers, make sure to send her some lilies. She loves them," she said in a manner that I knew was setting me up."Don't lilies let off a certain smell after a day or two in a closed-in room?" I asked carefully. My memories reminding me of that little fact."Tch! Urgh stop being so reasonable, Brock! Now's the time to get back at her and teach her a lesson! I should so draw on her face!" Karen snarked as she folded her arms together and glared at Agatha, as though daring her to sit up and argue with her.I chuckled. "I'm sure she's touched that you care so much."Karen glowered impotently at me before huffing. She sighed. "Urgh, I need to get up and go deal with the stupid little foundling she picked up during her raid! Make sure she's being handled with Mareep wool!" she said."Foundling?" I asked."She rescued some rocket bitch from that pokemon while it was wrecking the Rocket base. She's all pissy because Agatha didn't save one of her pokemon while they got out and is trying not to tell us anything.""I'm .." I wanted to say that I was surprised that she was showing such restraint, and it must have shown on my face as Karen snorted."This isn't the first time she's found little wayward girls that she thinks are worth something." For half a second I thought I saw Karen's tired, grouchy expression soften as she glanced at Agatha. Then it snapped back into place, and she grunted. "Or wayward little shits that she thinks are precocious little boys!" For some reason, Karen shot me a grin that I wasn't sure what to make heads or tails of. She huffed. "Anything else you need to check in with me about Brock?""No… Are you alright?" I asked."I'm fine!" she said with a roll of her eyes."You look tired," I said honestly.Karen looked at me, a strange expression flickering over her face before it settled into amusement. "Dangerous words, those."At my confused expression, she waved a hand at me. "Talk to your little friend Erika about saying things like that. Anyway, later, Brock!" She then signed off, leaving me curious.What was so dangerous about those words? I rose from my office and headed out to the Gym only for Alexa to intercept me."Brock I came across a rather interesting challenger today while I was reviewing the notes," she said in greeting, hustling up to me with a clipboard with a number of folders on it."Alright then, good morning as well. What's his name and story?" I said accepting a folder. I opened it and instantly felt like I knew, or should know this trainer. "A.J.?""It's his preferred name. His actual name on his trainer license application is Alexander Junior.""What's his last name?" I asked reflexively."Junior," said Alexa."Ah," I said, as his choice of abbreviating it to A.J. suddenly made a lot more sense. It would quickly get annoying having to explain that all the time. I paused and tapped my finger on the badges listed and the challenge he was making against the Gym. "He's challenging for the fourth-tier fight without ever having earned another badge?"Alexa bobbed her head up and down. "Yes, and it is also his first official year. It's rather odd, no?"I nodded slowly. "Yes… but not that odd. Perhaps he has trained up his pokemon enough to feel confident in challenging me for the higher badge level. If so, good for him. He'd win a lot more money if so."Alexa hummed and shrugged before moving on to the next item of business. By the time it came time for A.J.'s match against me, I had almost forgotten him.And then he stepped forward.He did so with his shoulders slightly curled in and a coiled tightness to his frame that instantly had me on edge. Green spikey hair stood limply and there was a slight tiredness to him. Once again, memories rose up. I knew this kid, despite having never met him before in this life.Here was a kid who, in the anime, had been one of Ash's first rivals.A trainer that used strict methods and had a very powerful Sandshrew very early into Ash's travels. He was a trainer who had remained in place until he had built up one hundred victories. Specifically without losing a single match. An impressive feat considering how type matchups, especially in the early stages, should have dominated the fights.I'd always been disappointed when they never showed him again in the anime series beyond a flashback.But here he stood, not at all the confident, strict trainer I knew him to be.If anything, he looked brittle and unsure of himself. If any of my brothers or sisters had come home looking like that I would have gone on the hunt for what had made them feel this… Ah, perhaps the answer to such a cause in children might be the same for A.J.In the anime, he'd been able to accrue one hundred wins and advance. That was on a regular circuit, however. The new circuit would bring with it many more experienced trainers and pokemon from afar with vastly different fighting and training styles.A.J.'s training had been impressive at the start of the anime, but others would have eaten him for breakfast in the later seasons.Perhaps he had gained an idea of how large the world was with three major regions open to the 'world' right now."And now! Challenging the Gym at the fourth-tier gauntlet level! Give it up for Challenger A.J!" announced Rachel. The crowd whooped with A.J. jolting in surprise at their cheers. Hmmm, he wasn't used to fighting in front of large crowds.Rachel announced Yolanda, and the first match of the gauntlet played out with Yolanda using a Graveler against one of A.J.'s Rattata. It had a good set of moves with Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Tail Whip to see Graveler down. But it didn't have the legs to last against Yolanda tossing out an Onix to batter him down.A.J. replied with another Rattata, which had similar moves but had me tilting my head. Why did he have multiple of the same pokemon?My confusion only grew as he won against Yolanda and her Onix. He then healed up his Rattata between matches before advancing to face Dennis, who brutalised his Rattata with an Alolan Graveler. Only for A.J. to release another rattata.Three rattata on his team? Had he really had that on his pokemon roster? I rubbed my chin as I watched his pokemon work through Dennis' pokemon, but only barely.I descended from the dais, and the crowd cheered for me and for A.J., urging him on. He fumbled with his potion, distracted by the crowd, before locking eyes with me as I jumped over to the opposite podium.I nodded in greeting. "Your pokemon are tired… Are you sure you're ready to face me at this level A.J.?" I said as I enlarged a pokeball with a leaf symbol on it."I can do this!" A.J growled.I sighed. To me, it sounded like he was speaking to himself more than to me. Like he was desperate to prove himself. "Very well," I said. "Go Lileep!""Go…" he paused at my choice before flicking out another pokeball. "Go Beedrill!"A few of the local bug catchers crowed in delight, and I hummed in appreciation. I'd read a number of bug trainer manuals and spoken with some of the local kids for Scyther—now Kleavor, aka Gawain— and picked up some knowledge regarding the bug pokemon type.A.J.'s Beedrill was a beauty. Strong stingers on its arms and thorax, wings that buzzed like chainsaws but that also deftly controlled its positioning without too much overcorrection, and gem-like eyes. All of this indicated a very healthy Beedrill.I nodded to Salvadore, who was today's ref, and he raised the flags.When he dropped them A.J. was quick off the mark. "Go Beedrill! Use Pin Missile!""Astonish into Ingrain!" I said quickly.Lileep curled in on itself and had all of a moment before Beedrill was upon it with stingers scything forwards to stab it multiple times. Once, twice— Then Lileep unfurled violently and knocked Beedrill away, causing it to flinch in surprise.This gave Lileep more than enough time to embed its roots and wiggle in contentment."Rock Throw!" I said."Double Team!" A.J countered, causing my pokemon's attacks to whiff. I merely hummed, content to give Lileep more time to recover.A.J realised this as my pokemon squirmed more energetically. "Beedrill, go in for Pin Missile again!""Astonish into Rock Blast!" I countered, causing Lileep to once again take a barrage of blows before knocking Beedrill away angrily, only to smash a small cluster of rocks into the flinching pokemon."Urgh! Fight through Beedrill! Remember your training!" A.J barked."Stealth Rock!" I ordered, causing my pokemon to raise up a trio of small rocks that floated off to the corners to wait. A.J. clicked his tongue."Attack, only this time come in for two hits before fading back!""Astonish into Rock Blast!" I ordered again.This time Beedrill came in, stabbed twice, and got out before my pokemon could cause it to flinch. I sighed and flicked my hand out. "Sunny Day," I said, deciding to do a bit more set-up.A.J. used that chance to have his pokemon nail Lileep once more and this time Lileep fell. I glanced over the field and nodded. This will do. Now it was time to turn up the heat on A.J."Go Quirina!" I said announcing one of the strongest pokemon I had access to in the fourth-tier. A.J. paused as my Solrock levitated up."Fire Spin!" I said, not willing to wait. Quirina levelled himself out and whirled into a blazing inferno thanks to the empowerment of Sunny Day."Tch! Fight through Beedrill!" A.J. said, and amazingly enough, his pokemon did just that, pushing through the Fire Spin to land a trio of strong hits with Pin Missile, only to stagger and fall to the ground.A.J. grimaced before inclining his head in a jerk that might charitably be called a nod. "Well done! Go Butterfree!" he said. "Use Quiver—"The Stealth Rock that Lileep had set up early rose and slammed into his pokemon stopping it from getting off its first move.I planned to not let it have another. "Quirina! Use Flamethrower!""Match it with Psybeam!" A.J. urged, causing both pokemon to release their attacks at the same time. My pokemon unleashed a hot stream of fire while Butterfree fired off a beam of psychic energy.Both attacks met in the middle, and I was impressed that he managed to hold Quirina's attack off for two seconds before the Psybeam faltered and Butterfree was awash with fire. It screeched in pain, only for A.J. to clench his fists. "Butterfree! I need this. Use Bug Buzz!"I stared at the burnt Butterfree as it did just that, unleashing a final attack against Quirina that I had him dodge to the side. Perhaps if they'd been able to set that up, that might have been a threat, but with his Butterfree's energy spent, it didn't work.A.J. recalled his pokemon before it could be any more hurt, and I nodded in agreement. His pokemon were strong enough to not be permanently injured from this fight, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that this match was one-sided.A.J. clenched his fists and leaned forward. He exhaled and shook his head like a wild man. "No, no no! Don't let it get to you!" he said to himself, his head still shaking causing his green hair to shimmer in the light. When he looked up, he did so with a determined glint in his eyes."Go Rattata! Go straight into Dig to avoid the Stealth Rock!" he ordered, releasing his pokemon into the air and allowing it to dive into the ground. I nodded, appreciating the method of avoiding the field trap."Quirina, use Rock Polish," I said as my pokemon spun once more, only to stop as a shine overtook his rocky form. I could just imagine the 'shing' of the light hitting him sounding out as he posed under the stadium lights."Emerge and take it out with Crunch!" A.J ordered. His pokemon launched out from a spot to the side. I hummed, I hadn't chosen to move Quirina, but I easily could have made his Dig highly ineffective with a simple order. I marked that down as another thing to teach him in the future."Dodge it and use Stone Edge." My pokemon ducked to the side, and Rattata sailed through where Quirina had been, only for my pokemon to turn on the spot and unleash a powerful Stone Edge right into Rattata as he came down.It must have hit something hard as his Rattata curled in on itself. It shuddered as it stood and tried to mount a defiant last stand. Once more A.J. slumped and returned it."Don't give up kid! Find a way through!" "Yeah, fight on!" A few in the crowd could see he was getting down, so they called out to him.A.J. worked his jaw for a moment before sighing and selecting his last pokemon. "Go! Sandshrew! Dive into the earth like Rattata and avoid the Stealth Rock!"I hummed. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, eh?"Rock Polish," I said once more as I leaned forward, knowing what was about to come.Sure enough, a moment later A.J. squared his shoulders and punched forward. "Fissure!" His pokemon flipped out of the earth and spun rapidly over the earth before descending with a single clawed finger pointing downward. The tip of the claw hit the ground, and the arena erupted as a split broke through the floor."Use—" my order was practically overcome by the noise of stone breaking throughout the arena, but I saw Quirina twitch in readiness as the earth beneath him broke into two halves and then swept upwards to clap onto him like the jaws of a trap. The crowd screamed in shock, with some throwing around accusations of cheating and juicing up. I locked eyes with A.J.That hadn't been juicing. That had been raw talent given attention and dedication to see it brought out properly. I nodded in recognition of a beautiful move. A.J. smiled and relaxed, only for the dust to fade away and a hexagonal shell to reveal itself around Quirina."No!" A.J. shouted in shock.I hummed. It seemed the world was much too big for him right now if he wasn't used to people stopping his one-hit K.O.s from landing. There were a ton of ways to block, deny, or endure such hits. I probably had a few to learn about myself."Quirina," I said as I glanced up to see the last of the Sunny Day dying away. "Use Energy Ball," I said, causing a ball of green energy to be built up before it slammed home into his Sandshrew, ending his last chance at victory.A.J. slumped to the ground as his pokemon collapsed. I just barely caught his whispered 'no' over the crowd roaring their approval at my beating the 'cheating jerk'. I held up a hand as the podiums lowered."I would like to clarify something!" I said, causing the speakers to boom for a second as my voice filled the arena. "I would like to state that A.J. did not boost his pokemon before the fight." A.J.'s head snapped up, and he glanced at the crowd, only now realising what they had been shouting at him.He glared up and rose only to stagger and almost collapse."Woah there A.J.," I said as I raced up to steady him. "You alright? You used up all your pokemon there so you're at risk of whiting out.""Y-yeah, I know." His voice came through weakly, and his body shook. A murmur of concern rose through the crowd. I lifted A.J. up so he was standing, albeit leaning on me."He's alright, everyone! He's not whiting out on us here today!" They all sighed in relief, but some of them gained confused looks. I could tell they were confused, as a number of his pokemon were merely too injured to fight, and not knocked out. Others were murmuring, wondering about my earlier comment.I spoke up once more to clear the air. "Challenger A.J. has a magnificent pokemon in his Sandshrew! That Fissure just now would have to be the new textbook example of Fissure if I ever saw one! I know for a fact that my Bertha will love seeing that when I show her the video of today's match! I can see that you have a lot of skill!"A.J. nodded in thanks. His head was still bowed."I sadly cannot vouch for you to earn your badge this day through commendation. You made some good calls out there, but there are also a number of areas you need to shore up. If this were a lower-tier challenge, I'd let those slide, but that is not the case." I squeezed his shoulder."You're a really good trainer A.J—"A.J. grabbed a letter from his vest and presented it to me. I paused. The seal on the letter wasn't one that I recognised. The feeling of ghostly energy laced into it however, meant it could only be from one person."I didn't want to need to use this…" he said quietly. "But… I'm not making any progress… Please, can you help me like she said you might be able to?" he said.I took the letter. Opened and read it. It was exactly as I expected. This was a letter of introduction for one Alexander Junior and a recommendation that I take him under my wing for training with his pokemon and his skills as a trainer. Not once did it ever mention aura.It implied it however. The signature at the bottom was something familiar to me.This was a letter from Agatha.A.J. had been the boy that had Agatha's interest? I glanced over the shattered arena. "How long have you had your Sandshrew?" I asked, buying myself time to think.A.J. blinks slowly. "Two years?" he said sluggishly."Ah, that's impressive." I waved the letter in front of him. "Do you want this? To spend time training with me and learning what I can teach you?""I want to be the best," he said, his gaze sharpening. "I didn't think I needed it before, but now… I've seen how dumb I was." He bowed his head and almost fell as his body gave up on him. His frame shook, and I noted some damp spots appearing on the ground beneath his face."Please, I want to be strong," he choked out.I squeezed his shoulder once more. "I accept and will take you on as a trainer. Sleep for now A.J.; we'll talk when you're up and ready."He wiped his face quickly before looking up at me. Gratitude shone in his eyes. "Thank you," he said. Then he went limp, his eyes fluttering shut and I caught him fully and lowered him to the ground.I swore, damn, he must have been more tired than I had realised. I raised a hand. "Got a white out! Stretcher!" I called to the side.A pair of Graveler bustled out of the medbay with Chansey at their side. She inspected A.J. before testing him with a soft Wake Up slap. When he didn't respond, she infused some pink healing energy into him and gestured for the Graveler crew to lift him up and take him to the medical wing.I watched them go and hummed before looking down at the letter from Agatha.I had to agree with her. This kid had a lot of potential. I wonder what would have happened to him if things had played out like normal. Dennis approached me carefully."Kid was pretty good," he said while his eyes flicked to the letter. He was too professional to ask about its contents but I could tell he was interested. I offered it to him, and he read it through before whistling. I noticed he flexed his hand as though it was suddenly cold."Wow, a recommendation from one of the Elite Four? Damn! I've only ever seen Gym trainers give out recommendations before." He glanced back at the destroyed field. "What're you going to teach him?""Everything he's willing to learn," I said.Dennis raised an eyebrow at this, and I elaborated. "It seemed like he wanted to do this on his own. He's a proud kid and has been beaten down to the point he feels that his hand has been forced. He's a lone wolf who has run into a wall he doesn't know how to get around. There's going to be some growing pains, I should assume. If he asks for it, I'll give as much help as I can, but I think I know what I need to focus on the most."Dennis grunted at that, saying, "Well, I'll get one of the trainers to watch over him while he rests.""Thanks, Dennis. He probably won't say thanks, but no kid wants to wake up in an unfamiliar place without someone to explain things." Dennis nodded at that. I turned back to the crowd and waved only for the transceiver on my wrist to begin blaring out a warning noise.I frowned at it and slapped a button. "What the?" I said as I inspected it. Was it broken or something? I stopped when an urgent alert was projected for me to read.It read;Emergency. Code Red! All Rangers and Ranger Support staff report to Pewter base!Multiple explosions have occurred within the Mt Silver Range!Extreme danger and violent Pokemon reactions are expected!Report immediately with full pokemon rosters!I swore. First Agatha, and now this.It seemed that when it rained, it poured.[/hr]Giovanni swirled a glass of fine whiskey and smiled at the screen on display that multiple cameras from his Fearow flock were displaying. No other Executives were in the room for this. This was for him to observe alone. Not even Madame Bossue would have a true accounting of all of the assets Giovanni planned to use. Let her focus on the disruption and capture of rare and powerful pokemon on the outskirts. Let profits blind her.Giovanni was going to aim his sights elsewhere.Operation Burning Mountain was a go. He toyed with the idea of picking up a red phone and hitting a number that connected him to a very specific communication channel with only one listener on the other side. He held back, however.First, he needed to see just how many big fish he could reel in.He sipped his drink and waited to see who would bite first.Would it be Brock or Lance?Both would serve as suitable targets, depending on how things played out.Then he could correct some slights.