Chapter 26 Networking

  As the group of five trainers left the ranch, Ian stayed silent, his mind racing over all of the possibilities of Colress' true loyalties and the implications of what the revelation of his true intentions meant. It wasn't until the Pele Hills began shaping up in front of them that Plumeria made her way over to him, her voice far more caring and soothing than usual.

  "Rough loss?" Plumeria asked.

  Ian shook his head. "That seems like nothing compared to what happened with Colress."

  "Oh… You want to talk about it?" Plumeria said. "Coogz?"

  Ian shrugged. "I don't think I should. It's like I might have been given forbidden knowledge that puts anyone else who knows in danger."

  Plumeria rolled her eyes. "C'mon Ian, you already have forbidden knowledge. It's worse than that?"

  Ian tittered. "I think so, unfortunately."

  "So what isn't the 'forbidden knowledge' of yours?" Plumeria asked.

  "So Colress definitely came here on purpose, and he's looking for some things," Ian said. "Remember how I told you about the Pokemon Cosmog, the one that evolves into Lunala?"

  "Yeah?" Plumeria asked.

  "He said if I found it he'd reward me 'beyond my wildest dreams' or something like that," Ian explained.

  "Maybe he's trying to find a way to fix the Ultra Rift," Plumeria suggested.

  Ian shook his head. "The way he explained things to me, it felt like a monster finally taking off its mask."

  "But it also had to do with the forbidden knowledge thing?" Plumeria asked.

  Ian nodded. "You gotta trust me on that thing. I got a bad feeling about it."

  Plumeria put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Ian, I told you I trust you, and I meant it." Plumeria gave a reluctant smile. "Even though I really want to know. But that pinky promise I swore to you is supposed to be sacred, right?"

  Ian chuckled lightly. "Yeah, something like that…"

  "I'll have the others give you some time, okay?" Plumeria said, patting him encouragingly on the back before speeding up to the rest of the party.

  Thanks Big Sis.

  ***

  They needed to go a bit deeper into the Pele Hills until they heard the thundering of hooves, meaning the hills' protectors had arrived. This time it was no group of five and a Driftwood Guild member, this was over a dozen, maybe even twenty riders on the back of Mudsdale. A show of force? Are we fucked?

  "Stay calm everyone," Plumeria ordered as the group thundered down a hill lying ahead of them, kicking up a massive dust cloud as they did.

  Ian half-expected to be encircled by the large cavalry grouping, but instead most came to a stop in a line, or the closest a group of almost twenty Mudsdale could manage, with two riders heading out in front, one was Ted Beaumont on his Alpha Mudsdale whose eyes glowed with a burning red, while the other was clad in the black of a biker and a silver cowboy hat. The rider on the smaller Mudsdale had an especially sinister look about him, and as the duo closed in, Ian noticed a couple prominent scars on his right cheek.

  "Greetings friends!" Ted greeted robustly. "Allow me to introduce the co-captain of the Rough Raiders, Alton Davies." Ted indicated to the man on the smaller Mudsdale.

  "Team Skull? Good to finally meet you crazy fucks," Alton said, his gravelly voice becoming very apparent.

  Plumeria tensed, but Alton laughed brashly at his own joke. "Don't worry, I'm a fellow outlaw too," Alton explained. "You probably saw my wanted posters, the useless fucks in the Alolan government call me 'Silver Eyes' on those wastes of paper." Alton rode his Mudsdale closer to the group, seemingly peering glaring at each member individually until he made eye contact with Ian, and his gray eyes lingered on Ian noticeably longer than the other group members.

  "I've heard of you," Plumeria said.

  "Of course you have, all us outlaws gotta be a bit notorious," Alton said with his gravelly voice. "To basically be enemies by the ASF is a badge of honor in my book, y'all have my respect."

  "Thank you, Alton," Plumeria said calmly.

  "Just Al's fine," the outlaw said before taking a last piercing look at Ian and smacking his Mudsdale to lurch it into motion, riding back to Ted.

  Plumeria took the aged Silph Bag off her back and presented it to the Rough Raiders cadre. "Wanna get this over with? We got a long way to go."

  "Of course," Ted said. "And about that-"

  "Not yet, goods first," Al said, interrupted his co-captain. Ted gave Al an annoyed look, but relented.

  A Mudsdale began trotting forward from the line of Mudsdale in the background, with Ian noticing its rider wasn't dressed like the other Rough Raiders, instead this rider had the green shirt and brown vest of the Driftwood Guilt, but Ian didn't recognize the man approaching.

  "Hold your horses there, Driftwood," Al said authoritatively. "Ready when you are, Plumeria."

  Plumeria began swiping on the Silph Bag's governing computer until certain objects started appearing out of the Silph Bag, some being water pipes and a couple filtration units. Alton got off his Mudsdale and began de-manifesting the items Plumeria had freshly manifested.

  "Did you get any flak for getting us these?" Ted asked.

  "Major Anabel was there and seemed a bit suspicious," Plumeria said.

  "Fuckin' cunt," Al spat. Sounds like someone got an ass whooping from her.

  "She's one of the few competent officers the ASF has on the island, of course we have to end up hating her," Ted said with a chuckle, trying to de-escalate. "But did she trouble you beyond the initial suspicion?"

  Plumeria shook her head. "She did say something about certain things being the opposites of each other, but I said we were experimenting with multiple methods and would figure it out one way or another," she explained. "It seemed to chill her out."

  "I suppose that's the best we could ask for," Ted said. "We'll have to be a bit sneakier next time."

  "Hopefully we don't need to come this way for more supplies," Plumeria said.

  "You really think all this will be over by next year?" Ted asked. "Stuff wears out, mishaps happen…"

  Plumeria grimaced. "We just have to keep surviving one day at a time."

  Ted grimaced. "Not all of us have a blessed stag around to keep us fed."

  "Which is why we're very grateful to him," Plumeria said with a smirk, turning to Ian for a moment. "So are we good here?"

  "Yes we are, but I have one more thing to add," Ted said. "You've proven yourselves to be reliable partners, and I'd like to bring up a conversation we once had many months ago."

  Plumeria eyed him expectantly. "Yes?"

  "In the early days of the Ultra Rift, we weren't sure who to trust, so we were very protective of what we had. Time has passed, and so has that stance. Considering we are in an ongoing conflict with Breon and Haina Town, we'd like to offer our support if you were to ever engage in conflict with him again," Ted announced. "This isn't a call to war, but an offering of an alliance."

  Plumeria nodded. "While I don't have the authority to officially accept the offer, I would assume Guzma would accept this."

  "Good, once you arrive back in Po Town, send a Driftwood Guild member our way to finalize things," Ted said. "Is that agreeable?"

  Plumeria took a quick glance at the Driftwood Guild member who had been in between the main group of Rough Raiders and the cadre and turned her attention back to Ted. "I suppose there's little choice, so yes."

  "Wonderful," Ted said, getting down from his Alpha Mudsdale with some difficulty. He didn't appear to be very flexible, and he actually went airborne in order to get off the Alpha Musdale whose body towered over the ground. Ted lightly winced with pain as he hit the ground, one of his hands instinctively reaching for his knees before he walked over weakly to Plumeria and extended his hand, which Plumeria shook. "Not official yet, but to new friends."

  Plumeria nodded.

  "We brought some extra Mudsdale for you to ride through the hills. Should plop you out by the desert well before nightfall," Ted explained. "I'll have Zack Tatum escort you the rest of the way. Also Elel mentioned there's some news you ought to know."

  Elel? Oh, the Driftwood guy.

  The in-between rider finally moved his Mudsdale unsteadily and approached Plumeria and the Team Skull group. "Hello all, I'm Elel," he greeted. "Earlier today I was in Makamae Town with your companion, Hyde."

  Plumeria facepalmed. "What'd he do this time?"

  "Oh, no he's fine," Elel said. "But Breon's thugs did conduct a raid against Makamae Town, and some even got close enough to the town to damage the guest house."

  Plumeria's jaw dropped. "But Hyde's fine?" Dammit, got my hopes up for a bit.

  "He and I were evacuated to the town hall," Elel said. "Aside from his healing ankle, he's okay."

  "Is it not safe to go up the mountain?" Plumeria croaked.

  "From what we can tell, Breon's forces have withdrawn," Elel explained. "But we'll have more information for you come tomorrow."

  Plumeria folded her arms. "You guys knowing where we're headed is bad enough already, we don't need you to give Breon the exact time we'll be by, we've already had one of our girls abducted by his goons."

  Elel put his hands up defensively. "But Plumeria, we wouldn't give Breon any information on your whereabouts-"

  "You're not going to convince me," Plumeria spat, turning away from Elel. Elel saw the battle was un-winnable and turned his Mudsdale around.

  Ian noticed some of the Rough Raiders watched on, some curious and some concerned. He made his way to Plumeria and got in close. "What was up with that?"

  Plumeria looked behind her to make sure Elel was out of earshot. "They basically set you up to defect last time we came through here, and they know our travel plans."

  "If they're trying to set me up to be the next Kahuna-"

  Plumeria held her hand to stop him. "They care about you and Sawsbuck, not the rest of us."

  "Shit, you're right," Ian said with a grimace. "So what's the plan?"

  "I have an idea," Plumeria said, a mischievous smirk in her eyes before dashing over to Ted. "Hey Mr. Beaumont, can we talk real quick?"

  ***

  Major Anabel Towers sighed as she made her way through the endless hallways of the ASF Central Command: Ula'Ula building. She only felt a light sense of dread, as General Vetra was unlikely to be too angry with the news she brought. That's probably what angers me more, he SHOULD take it very seriously.

  The uniformed ASF guards eyed Anabel's ID card for a brief moment before trying to hand it back to the major. "Scan it," Anabel ordered seriously.

  "Y-yes ma'am…" The paunchy private in a tight uniform said, holding the ID card up to the scanner now, which elicited a high pitch tone indicating a successful scan.

  It feels like the longer General Vetra's been in charge, the less disciplined most of Ula'Ula's ASF soldiers have become. Anabel re-focused on a bank of doors at the end of the hallway and focused on the door directly ahead, emblazoned with the words Commander In-Chief's Office. Anabel took a deep breath before opening the door, hoping to make eye contact with his aide behind her desk, but instead saw a familiar male face sitting in the waiting area to the right. He wore a pair of thickly rimmed glasses below his dark blonde hair.

  "Major Anabel, good to see you," Molayne said, getting out of his chair and extending his hand with a smile.

  "No need to get out of your chair, Colonel," Anabel said, cracking a grin.

  "I just wanted to greet a friend is all. Remember, I wasn't always a military man," Molayne, the head of the island's engineering and logistics command said with an amused grin.

  "Fine," Anabel said, letting out an exhale. "I suppose you're next?"

  "No, your report takes priority," Molayne said.

  "I wish I could promise it wouldn't be long…"

  Molayne shook his head. "Oh no worries Major, judging by how excitedly Ms. Barazaki spoke of the initial report you gave, you must have some important news."

  Anabel rolled her eyes and hushed her voice. "She's in there?"

  "Unfortunately," Molayne replied with a whisper.

  Anabel took another exhale, a sudden feeling of dread pouring into her chest. She went to the general's office door and knocked before hearing General Vetra's voice call: "Come in!"

  Anabel rigidly marched to the red point across from the center of the desk, stopped, and turned to the desk, seeing General Eric Vetra leaning back too casually in his office chair for Anabel's liking. The general had light brown skin and a shaved head, along with a seasoned face. He looked to be in his late forties.

  Standing next to him with her hand on his shoulder and slightly over him was Warrant Officer Barazaki. She had a pale face for someone of Kanto origin, and her black hair was done in a tight bun behind her head. She had a perfectly elegant smile, but something in her dark, mysterious eyes held a subtle hint of mischief. The overly strong smell of freshly used air freshener hit Anabel's nostrils first. The Major then noticed a crystal decanter half full of liquor and her heart sank as she noticed the top was still off. Don't tell me he's already drunk.

  "Good afternoon Major," Warrant Officer Barazaki said overly-sweetly.

  Greeting me first in the general's office no less? The audacity of this bitch. "Good afternoon General Vetra, Warrant Officer Barazaki."

  "Y-yes, good to see you, Major," General Vetra said, his tongue stumbling over the first word. Yup, he's drunk. If I ever want to get off this island I just need to call him out about drinking on the job. It'd have to be worth the court-martial though.

  "Your report was beyond fascinating, Major," Ms. Barazaki said. "We were hoping to hear a more detailed version in person."

  Anabel cleared her throat. "With all due respect sir, ma'am, I believe I provided as much detail as I could in my initial report."

  "We-I had some questions about it," General Vetra blurted out.

  "May I ask what specifically?" Anabel asked, keeping her anger in check.

  General Vetra opened his mouth to answer but Warrant Officer Barazaki took the lead, silencing him with her soft, elegant words. "A number of things. General Vetra has read quite a few reports from the front, it's hard to keep track of it all, considering how busy he is."

  Anabel noticed the all too familiar pill bottle on the side of the desk with the bright red letters of a popular erectile dysfunction medication emblazoned on it. Oh he's been busy alright. No wonder we haven't made any progress against Surge, Breon, Sinclair, or the Rough Raiders since you took over, General. "I suppose it would involve Suzy-Marie's opponent in her practice battle?"

  "Yes…" Ms. Barazaki said, her tender voice practically slithering out of her mouth. She then pulled a folder from the desk that had been tossed chaotically to the side, and Anabel realized what position the assistant and the General Vetra had been boinking in for who knows how long before Anabel got in. Very busy. Ms. Barazaki quickly opened to the front page of the folder and squinted. "...this Ian Cougar. You said he has some sort of relation to Suzy-Marie's ex-boyfriend?"

  A court-martial might be worth getting out of here. "Allegedly he's an alternate universe version of her ex-boyfriend, but in his universe she cheated on him instead of the other way around."

  "Very confusing, thank you for clarifying," Ms. Barazaki said sweetly. "Which means he's from a world like Suzy-Marie's?"

  Anabel cleared her throat, looking at the general expectantly. "Yes-"

  "A world like hers?" General Vetra asked in confusion.

  Anabel saw her chance and opened her mouth quickly. "Sir-"

  Warrant Officer Barazaki turned her head to face the general directly, and Anabel noticed the same flowery rainbow accessory Suzy-Marie had begun wearing recently, placed casually on the back of the warrant officer's bun. It's one thing to have something cute for the office, but Suzy-Marie having something that goes against the uniform rules so blatantly makes me look bad every time I encounter other ASF members. "It's something Suzy-Marie would like to keep among us ladies. After all, you are so understanding of the needs of your female subordinates."

  General Vetra smiled nervously. "Well, if you insist Eri- I mean, Ms. Barazaki."

  Anabel resisted the urge to purge her stomach of its meager contents and held her tongue, remembering the last officer who'd gone above the chain of command to describe the unprofessional behavior of the general. They hadn't been heard from again. That's when the rumors of central command being in this duo's pocket had begun.

  "So Major, what Pokemon did this 'Ian' have with him?" Ms. Barazaki asked.

  This was in the second paragraph of my report's summary, which you're still holding in your hand. "He had a Pyroar, a Wartortle, and an Alolan Sandshrew," Anabel stated.

  Ms. Barazaki scoffed, handing the report's folder to General Vetra. "That's all? Why is he of any concern?"

  Anabel grimaced. "Suzy-Marie nearly lost, Warrant Officer. She even used Zygarde-"

  The woman's jaw dropped in shock. "You allowed her to use it in front of future adversaries?"

  "I explicitly forbade her, but I guess she wanted to humiliate her ex-boyfriend," Anabel explained defensively. "I was going to ask the general about disciplining her lightly-"

  "No need, I'll talk to her," Ms. Barazaki said dismissively.

  "Okay dear," General Vetra said.

  "But wait, he almost defeated her? With those Pokemon?" Ms. Barazaki asked.

  "Yes," Anabel replied. "It surprised me as well."

  "He didn't even have any special Pokemon or Legendary?" Ms. Barazaki asked seriously.

  "I suspect he had something of note," Anabel said. "One of his teammates hinted that he had something special that could've taken down Suzy-Marie's Lucario."

  "Now that's interesting…" Ms. Barazaki said.

  General Vetra finally spoke up. "Did you not think of apprehending him, Major?"

  Anabel rolled her eyes. "Yes sir, but you've ordered us not to disrupt the neutrality of Craig Palmer's ranch unless absolutely necessary. We get lots of information on our opponents' doings and needs, as well as their shortcomings from the receipts Craig provides us. I figured a suspicion of a powerful Pokemon did not warrant us destroying that veil of neutrality, only hard evidence."

  "Which was a good move now that I consider it," Ms. Barazaki said. "Considering the type of Faller this 'Ian' is, he may become strong enough to oppose Surge one day."

  "That's quite an assumption, Ms. Barazaki," Anabel replied.

  Ms. Barazaki gave a short, dignified chitter. "If he can take my Suzy-Marie to the breaking point with such simple Pokemon, once he has a fully realized team…" Ms. Barazaki's voice trailed off as she eyed the map of Ula'Ula Island behind the general, revealing her rainbow-pedaled hair accessory to Anabel once more. "...he may be able to stand against Surge long enough for us to hit the observatory."

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  "Defeat Surge?" Anabel asked.

  Ms. Barazaki shook her head with dignity. "Not at all, just keep him distracted long enough for us to conduct a raid on the mountaintop."

  "And what good would a raid do if we can't compete with his air supremacy, if I may ask?" Anabel replied, anger leaking into her voice.

  "Surge is protecting something on top of the mountain, if we can take that from him, it'll force him into the open," Ms. Barazaki explained.

  "Are you sharing classified information with me, Barazaki?" Anabel almost demanded.

  Ms. Barazaki scoffed. "You wish. This is something easily inferred. Even in major engagements with us, he rarely stays on the battlefield for long, and our spotters have kept strict times on him. He never leaves for more than thirty minutes, which is the approximate time it would take for our personnel carriers to get a company of trainers up the mountain before he returns. Not even mentioning Surge has left Sinclair wide open this entire time, who's completely vulnerable to a Zapdos attack. Sinclair steals shipments of aid sometimes meant for Surge, and even though our intelligence says the island's resident pirate pays tribute to Surge, it's the message that act sends that likely counts to Surge more. Yet Sinclair's free to keep his idiotic piracy campaign going."

  She sure knows an awful lot about Surge. "Well, is there anything else you wanted me to share?"

  General Vetra had Anabel's report open in his hands now and gasped. "You found a Faller Colress?"

  "Yes, he's being vetted and processed downstairs like a normal Faller would be," Anabel said as she caught a triumphant grin on Warrant Officer Barazaki's usually perfectly dignified face.

  "Another Colress you say?" Ms. Barazaki said. "The knowledge one from an alternate universe could provide should be invaluable to us. We can't let Driftwood or the rest of the island know of him," she then swooped onto General Vetra's chair quickly, revealing her rainbow-pedaled accessory to Anabel once more. "Put him under the same secret protocol I'm under. No one outside of the higher ups of the ASF should know of him."

  "Okay honey," General Vetra said.

  Anabel watched the two make out with their eyes alone and winced. When I heard you were taking over Ula'Ula's command, Eric, I was skeptical that a barely Ace-level trainer from Poni Island could handle it, and I hoped you'd prove me wrong. Unfortunately the only thing you've proven is the cynics in our ranks who thought you only got the job because you have a Flygon to counter Surge's Zapdos were right. "Am I done here, General?" Anabel asked, unable to hide her frustration anymore.

  "Yes, you may go, Major," General Vetra replied.

  Anabel gave a subtle sigh of relief and exited the office quickly. I knew something was wrong with that other Colress, but if Warrant Officer Barazaki is that crazy over him, he must be dangerous.

  ***

  The moon shone just brightly enough over the sands of the Haina Desert in the nighttime sky as five Mudsdale and one blessed Sawsbuck along with their riders soldiered on. Selene's Inkay's head glowed faintly to help give a more thorough illumination of the immediate area as it hovered about the group of trainers. "Big Sis, we are never doing something like this again!" Rapp complained bitterly. "I'm so sleepy, and hungry, and thirsty-"

  "We all are," Plumeria said frustratedly. "We're not very far away from the waterfall we made camp at last time, we'll stop there and get some rest."

  "Good, cuz the Mudsdale won't be able to go much further tonight anyways," Zack Tatum, their Rough Raider guide said ominously.

  Plumeria's caution over the Driftwood Guild's general neutrality over the island had culminated in her plan to act like they were setting up camp at the border of the Pele Hills but actually just keep riding across the desert at night to avoid any suspicion. Inkay had been instructed not to point its glowing head south, which the levitating squid Pokemon hadn't appeared too happy about, but begrudgingly did as instructed. Ted had okayed the idea, but only if Zack agreed to make the trek to Makamae Town with them before getting teleported back by the Driftwood Guild.

  Although I thought it was a bit overboard, we're almost out of the desert and we've had no incidents. Tough to argue with that. When the sound of water crashing onto itself hit the party's ears, the entire group sighed with relief. "Finally yo!" Tupp said loudly.

  "Okay, just a quick setup and let's get some shut-eye everyone," Plumeria said. "We've all earned it." After everyone got a good drink of water, especially the exhausted Mudsdale, the groups barely set up their tents before going to sleep for the night.

  The next morning, Plumeria woke up Ian by putting a finger over his mouth. "Don't wake up anyone else yet," Plumeria whispered.

  Ian wiped the sleep from his eyes and stayed silent as Plumeria helped him up and took him outside of the tent.It was maybe ninety minutes after dawn, and while Ian felt incredibly groggy, Plumeria had a very pensive look in her eyes.

  "So Ian… an Ultra Storm's forming up close by, and while I want to get on the road soon, I did want to stop by there…" Plumeria said. "You think it's a good idea to check it out before going up Mt. Lana'Kila again?"

  Ian shrugged. "You're the boss here, but if you want my two cents-"

  "What?" Plumeria asked in confusion.

  "Sorry, it's an expression from back home," Ian said with a grin. "But considering we'll have the Mudsdale to ride up the mountain, we can spare some time checking out an Ultra Storm," Ian explained, then his grin widened as he peered into Plumeria's amber eyes. "And who knows? Maybe we'll run into a team member's long lost relative or something."

  Plumeria gave him a knowing grin, saying thank you with her eyes. "Okay, just wanted some back up in case I got any push back."

  Ian turned to the horizon, seeing the Ultra Storm was barely a mile north along the foothills of the mountain. "Happy to be of service."

  Zack Tatum seemed insistent on sticking around and looking for some food for the Mudsdale, and while Tupp, Rapp, and Selene grumbled, they still came along with Ian and Plumeria to the Ultra Storm.

  Upon their arrival, Plumeria put Ian and Tupp together, while she put herself with Selene and Rapp. The Ultra Storm began by flashing yellow before its signature BOOM hit. Ian and Tupp rushed in, Ian with Pyroar and Tupp with Golbat. It wasn't too eventful, other than shards appearing, and Ian did spot what he remembered was a Wattrel and debated chasing after it, but suddenly a large Ultra Wormhole began to manifest not too far off. The Alpha. "Get ready Tupp!" Ian ordered.

  Out of the Ultra Wormhole manifested a reddish feline with a white mane that seemed to curl into balls under its chin, but it roared loudly, its red eyes showing brightly. That's a Hisuian Growlithe!

  "Bro, what is that?" Tupp asked. "Looks kinda like a Growlithe, yo."

  "It's a Hisuian Growlithe," Ian said. Wait, it might have a different name now, wasn't in in the Violet DLC?

  "Bro, this gonna be weird, but any chance you can help me catch it? Maybe it'll help me get closer to Selene," Tupp asked.

  Growlithe spotted a Pokemon in the opposite direction and roared menacingly. Ian remembered some vague concept Colress had explained about training Alphas, that the trainer who defeated them in the wild was almost always the only one it would obey. "If you want it, you gotta battle it alone," Ian explained. But wait, doesn't beating Alphas in an Ultra Storm yield an EXP Candy? But then it disappears… Tyrunt didn't disappear, but it wasn't during its Ultra Storm. Maybe if we just lure it outside of the Ultra Storm it can be caught.

  "Tupp, lure it out of the Ultra Storm, I'll tell Plumeria what's up!" Ian said, pointing Tupp to the wall of fog that had become the de-facto border.

  "Gotchu bro!" Tupp said. "Golbat, get its attention with an Air Cutter!"

  Ian dashed a good twenty feet to where Plumeria and the other two girls were and waved frantically. "Tupp and I are luring the Alpha out of the Ultra Storm! He wants to catch it!"

  "What!?" Plumeria demanded. "Dammit!"

  "I'll be watching over him, it'll be okay!" Ian promised as he turned back, seeing the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe had in fact taken the bait and was charging at Golbat engulfed in Electric Type Energy. Wild Charge I reckon. That recoil damage should help Tupp out though.

  Ian and Pyroar approached the battle with caution, making sure they didn't draw the Alpha's attention too much. Golbat artfully dodged Growlithe's Wild Charge, and Ian watched as the Alpha crashed onto the ground with a force that shook the very earth. Ian smiled for a moment before he realized the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe bounced up like nothing had happened. What? No recoil- OH! That's Rock Head!

  With that, Growlithe, Golbat, and Tupp disappeared behind the foggy barrier and Ian and Pyroar approached, still cautious, going out wide a bit. "No interfering with this one Pyroar," Ian instructed his lion, who gave him a questioning growl. "Tupp's gotta prove himself for this one."

  Ian stuck his head out of the translucent barrier and saw Golbat falling to the ground, surrounded by falling rocks as well. Rock Slide. "Hey Tupp, that thing's Fire and Rock Type! Vibrava would be really good against it!"

  Tupp tensed up as he recalled Golbat. He pulled out a Poke Ball, but decided against it and tossed out Vibrava's Great Ball, his fluttering insectoid Pokemon manifesting with a fierce screech. "Alright Vibrava, Sand Tomb!" Tupp ordered.

  Vibrava glowed with a light brown Type Energy in midair as the surrounding sand engulfed the Alpha, who quickly roared its Alpha roar and made the sand dissipate, as well as force Ian and Pyroar to recoil as the sound hit their ears.

  Vibrava seemed shaken but regained its composure. The Growlithe charged Vibrava with another Wild Charge, sparkling with Electric Type Energy as it did. "Vibrava, dodge!" Tupp ordered.

  Ian facepalmed. Vibrava's immune to that attack, dammit. Vibrava dodged well, but didn't have time to fire back a response as Growlithe hit the sand with a thud, but bounced out of it like nothing happened.

  Stones suddenly manifested around Growlithe and got launched upwards into the sky as they stopped glowing with Rock Type Energy, instead falling with pure kinetic energy. That's definitely Rock Slide. Vibrava side stepped a couple rocks in free-fall before getting smacked with one, which took Vibrava to the ground with it. "Vibrava, Mud Slap!" Tupp ordered.

  Ian watched on, a growing sense of unease in his mind. Be patient, have a little faith in the guy. He's your best friend after all. Growlithe was already charging forward as Vibrava fired a muddy missile right at Growlithe's eyes, covering with the Alpha's ferocious red-colored eyes with mud before scuttling out of the way and taking flight once more. "Dragon Breath now!" Tupp commanded.

  Vibrava fired a dark blue stream of energy at Growlithe, who howled in pain before turning around, red energy beginning to spark around its eyes. Growlithe then charged, glowing with white, Normal Type Energy.

  "Dig!" Tupp called out.

  Vibrava dove into the sand, disappearing in just a couple of seconds, just in time for the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe to miss its Take Down attack. Growlithe gave a bewildered yelp before Vibrava burst from the sand beneath the Alpha engulfed in Ground Type Energy. Growlithe howled in pain, and Vibrava stabilized its flight about twenty feet above its foe.

  Growlithe then leapt into the air and Roared, not stunning Vibrava, but causing it to suddenly glow in the red light like it was being recalled into its Great Ball, and suddenly Vibrava de-manifested, retreating into its Great Ball. Suddenly, out another flash of red light, with Sobble taking the field, very bewildered of the situation. "Shit!" Ian called out, looking to see if Pyroar was ready to intervene.

  Growlithe landed from its aerial Roar with another thud in the sand before bouncing right back up, looking only slightly worse for wear. "Tupp, I don't think Sobble's gonna do well out there!" Ian called out in fear. Now I know how a nervous parent feels.

  Tupp shook his head. "Naw man, Sobble's got this," Tupp aid, brimming with confidence. I hope you know what you're doing… "Focus Energy!" Tupp called out.

  Sobble went from shivering with fear to suddenly calming itself and glowing with Normal TE. The Alpha Hisuian Growlithe charged ferociously with another Take Down, and Sobble stopped glowing at the last second before leaping to the side. Growlithe crashed into Sobble's former position, and Sobble pelted the Alpha with a Water Gun right on the back of its neck.

  Growlithe howled in pain as the highly pressured Water TE seemed to devastate it. Growlithe finally rolled out of the position and growled angrily. It then lit up with Electric TE and launched itself at Sobble, who scurried out of its path, its tail barely escaping the shocking wake of Growlithe's move. Oh yeah, Mud Slap fucked up its accuracy a good bit. Not bad, Tupp. But you're not out of the woods yet.

  Sobble fired another Water Gun, the thin but highly concentrated stream of Water TE blasting the Alpha in the back once more, causing it to yelp even more painfully. It won't be able to take much more of that. Pyroar gave a slight yawn as it watched the match, fiery intensity in its eyes. "I think something big's about to happen," Ian said, daring to hope.

  Growlithe rewound itself and dashed at Sobble, taking a unique path this time as it glowed with another Take Down. Sobble went to dodge like before, but Growlithe accelerated at a time it hadn't before and smacked into a part of Sobble's body., causing the little lizard to yelp in pain, nursing an injured leg.

  Dang it! Growlithe regained momentum as it turned around, Wild Charge already sparking with Electric TE, and Growlithe's red eyes seemed no longer obscured by Mud Slap. "Tupp, get Sobble outta there!" Ian yelled in concern as Pyroar leapt into action. This could seriously mess up the little guy.

  Tupp fumbled for Sobble's Poke Ball and it fell into the sand. Tupp reached down, his attention divided with the battle and as Growlithe closed in with its Wild Charge and Tupp shouted: "Sobble, NO!"

  Suddenly Sobble began to glow with a bright white light, and the light suddenly took off into the sky, well out of the charging Alpha's area of effect. Ian watched in stunned disbelief as the blinding light stayed still for what could've been two seconds or an eon, until the light faded and in Sobble's place fell a larger, bluer lizard with a weird fin-like design on its head. Drizzile? What an entrance.

  Growlithe had already begun recovering from its errant Wild Charge and began charging at the position where Drizzile had fallen back onto the sand. Drizzle surprised Ian and likely Tupp as it actually dashed toward the charging Alpha and then leapt up, somersaulting as it did until it had cleared the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe. It then chased the Alpha down and stretched out its thin hands, manifesting rings of Water Type Energy, and firing them at near point blank range at the still recovering Growlithe. Ian barely saw the rings go forward until a cloud of sand and Water TE burst into the air. Ian finally looked back at Tupp who was still bent over, still positioned to be reaching for Sobble's Poke Ball but with a hand over his jaw in pure disbelief.

  Ian looked back at Drizzile who crossed its arms triumphantly and gave a proud cry, with the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe clearly knocked out in the background. Holy shit Tupp, you and Drizzile did it!

  "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!!!!" Tupp roared in sheer elation. Drizzile cheered with its trainer and charged him as Tupp did too. Ian trotted over to Tupp, Pyroar looking to join the party as well. Ian remembered he had an extra ball handy, and it would likely take more than a Poke Ball to capture the Alpha.

  "Bro, you fucking did it!" Ian shouted happily as tackled Tupp and Drizzile who were embracing tightly.

  "Yeah! Fuck yeah Sobble!" Tupp called out. "What... what is this Pokemon?"

  "Drizzile," Ian said, still smacking Tupp in elation as they rolled in the sand.

  "Drizzile? That was fucking badass!" Tupp shouted. Ian swore he saw Tupp's eyes welling with tears of joy. Pyroar gave a light roar, drawing and Tupp's attention to the fallen adversary.

  "Bro, you gotta catch it," Ian said, handing Tupp the Ultra Ball.

  "What? U-Ultra Ball? That's for you bro-"

  "Not anymore!" Ian said. "Now catch it before it wakes back up!" Ian demanded.

  "Y-yeah…" Tupp scrambled from the ground and threw the Ultra Ball at the Alpha Hisuian Growlithe. The ball connected and took in the fallen foe, shaking just once before going still.

  "Holy shit bro! You did it!" Ian cheered as he got up and gave Tupp a big hug.

  "Yo… this was… this was so awesome bro…" Tupp said, emotions starting to overcome him. "Drizzile… this Growlithe…" Tupp turned to Ian, a euphoric tear streaming down his face. "I never do this without your help, yo."

  Ian smiled. "And I wouldn't be alive without you bro."

  "Bro… thank you…" Tupp said, wiping a second tear from coming down his cheek.

  "You're so fucking welcome bro," Ian said, putting his arm around his best friend as they started walking back to the Ultra Storm where the others were.

  "Bro, I'm glad you're happy again," Tupp said. "I thought that loss to that bitch Suzy messed you up a bit."

  "It wasn't that," Ian said wistfully.

  "I wanted you to kick her ass so bad yo," Tupp said.

  Ian shook his head, seeing Plumeria, Rapp, and Selene appearing out of the Ultra Storm, Team Skull uniforms contrasting against the surrounding sands. "So did I man… But my mom had this favorite song of hers from a while back, and I'm starting to see the meaning of some of the words."

  "What were the words, yo?" Tupp asked.

  Ian smirked as the chorus echoed in his mind. Who knew I'd be who knows how many universes away thinking about The Rolling Stones, but here we are. "You can't always get what you want…" Ian paused slightly, almost reverently as he heard his mom's voice echoing the words back to him.

  "That's all?" Tupp asked.

  "...but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need." Ian felt his eyes watering more and he wiped the tears from his eyes as something about all of the bullshit he'd dealt with on the expedition seemed to really start lining up for him. Tupp then broke free from Ian's arm and dashed to the girls, hooting and hollering excitedly.

  "Sobble did it! Sobble evolved!" Tupp shouted excitedly as Drizzile dashed after him just as euphorically.

  "And he caught the fucking Alpha!" Ian chimed in loudly, a proud smile on his face. Do the most good you can… A thought suddenly came to Ian's mind as he watched the girls each give Tupp a big hug and congratulating him. You know, later today as we're going up, I'm telling him. I'm telling him where I'm really from. He deserves to know.