Pokémon Prince of Po Town

[Oceanside Lowlife]

(Dark content warning)

Chapter 56 The Edge

"Okay Tyrunt, let's give the new move a real go!" Ian called out excitedly. Tyrunt bared her teeth threateningly at the large Alpha Skorupi facing them, Grimsley standing behind the scorpion Pokemon with a confident smirk. The purple Bug-Poison Type's appearance was nearly as unsettling as Tyrunt's had been the first few times he'd tried feeding it. The scorpion Pokemon's legs lifted its body a foot off the ground, and its extremely hard exoskeleton took up another few feet, to where the top of its shoulders stood nearly four feet off the ground, with its stinger hanging ominously above it, reaching even higher than Tyrunt did standing at its tallest.

"That's if you can catch her!" Grimsley shouted out. "You think we're just going to let you tee off on us?"

Part of Ian felt a twinge of annoyance, as this was supposed to be the first use in a battle, even if it was a practice one. But on the other hand, Tyrunt loves the thrill of the hunt, and she's earned enjoying the crap out of this. "Wouldn't have it any other way!" Ian fired back just as confidently.

Grimsley beamed with pride. "That's my student!"

"Bite!" Ian commanded. Tyrunt charged forward with a savage cry, only for Skorupi to scuttle backwards, its stinger quickly aglow with light green energy. Then a wave of glowing light green pins shot forth from the stinger.

Tyrunt charged through, yelping in pain as the Pin Missile barrages landed, but Tyrunt quickly closed in on the kiting Pokemon and leapt, its mouth aglow with dark energies as it snapped, only for Skorupi to maneuver out of the way. It then began scuttling further back.

"Rock Tomb!" Ian ordered.

"Protect!" Grimsley responded.

Tyrunt gave a fierce cry, and the ground underneath Skorupi quickly erupted with small stone spires, only to be met with the impenetrable resistance of Skorupi's glowing exoskeleton as Protect's effects took hold. While the spires didn't do any damage, they still managed to hamper Skorupi's mobility just enough.

Here's our opening, big gal. "Ancient Fangs!" Ian declared.

Tyrunt leaned forward a bit, its jaws open and its dozens of teeth turning into glow, jagged, blades of sorts. Tyrunt sped off, and while the opposing Alpha Skorupi was able to break free of its stony prison, Tyrunt was upon it before the scorpion could do anything about it. Tyrunt's mouth latched just to the left of Skorupi's head. The scorpion Pokemon froze for a moment before letting out a pained cry, but then Tyrunt let go for a second and dug in even more, this time with Ian hearing an audible crack. Skorupi shrieked in horrified agony until Tyrunt released it, making bluish-purple liquid begin oozing from the wound. Grimsley, quickly recalled the huge, shrieking Skorupi with a cringe on his face.

Tyrunt gave a victorious call, and turned to Ian with an offputting smile as more of Skorupi's inner fluids dripped down the sides of its mouth. "Tyrunt, if that wasn't so disturbing I'd be cheering so loud for you right now," Ian said, still a mix between excited and nauseous from the display.

"Well I see why more people don't have the stomach to try to teach their Tyrunt a biting attack like that," Grimsley said, slightly troubled. "I'm gonna need to go see whoever's at your Pokemon Center after that one."

"Yeah…" Ian said, uneasy about someone as experienced as Grimsley being worried about their Pokemon so seriously. "Sorry, I didn't think it'd be that, uh…"

Grimsley shook his head. "I know you didn't intend that," Grimsley said, glancing at the triumphant Tyrunt. "What's crazier to me is Skorupi has the Battle Armor ability which reduces a lot of the real hurt from enemy attacks, especially physical ones like Ancient Fangs. With the attack being Rock Type, it gets the Same Type Attack Boost-"

"I know what STAB is Grimsley," Ian grumbled.

"Yeah okay, but it still gets the boost from Strong Jaw cuz it's a biting attack," Grimsley continued. "So even if the attack is barely stronger than a Bite, it's devastating."

Ian nodded in agreement. "I can definitely see that."

Grimsley took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, eyeing the celebratory Tyrunt. "And I just forgot, it didn't even have its Alpha Eyes going. Do you understand how powerful that thing's gonna be when that happens? Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Oh shit, yeah. And that's not even mentioning if it evolves into a Tyrantrum.

Grimsley shook his head. "Well, no more of my Pokemon are going to be that thing's chew toy. You mind walking me to your Pokemon Center?"

Ian nodded, remembering Grimsley needed to be accompanied to enter Po Town, even if he was a good friend of his and Ingo's. As teacher and student made for the road that wormed around Elk Grove, they noticed a familiar white van heading their way.

"Looks like Surge is finally ready to talk," Grimsley observed.

Finally. Ian tensed at the sight. It had been three days since word had traveled back to Po Town that trucks of supplies had been seen heading into Haina Town. While harvesting had continued, Po Town did stop allowing Outrigger's trucks into their territory in the meantime.

The white van zoomed by, and Ian managed to see Leilani at the wheel with Gregory in a middle seat.

"They gonna want you in the meeting?" Grimsley asked.

Ian shrugged. "Probably. But I'll stick with you until Skorupi's looked at."

"Thanks," Grimsley said.

The two trudged through Po Town's gate and up The Spine. A number of Team Skull members and even some Pearl Clanners had started making their way to City Hall to check out the visitors. The Pokemon Center lobby was thankfully empty except for Rapp, who was doodling aimlessly. "Morning Rapp," Ian greeted. "Grimsley's Skorupi got messed up pretty badly and he needs it healed up."

Rapp yawned as she lazily looked up at them. "First your Pyroar and now this?" She asked.

Ian grimaced. Doc did mention she wanted to keep Pyroar here for a few days. That snap from Buzzwole must've done a real number if it's taken this long to recover. "This one's a bit different."

Rapp shrugged. "It's all the same to her."

Her being Doc. Ian had been able to steer rather clear of the elderly woman in recent weeks. She was usually annoyed with him about something. She's good to Rapp though, and always good to my Pokemon so if someone's gotta be her scratching post, at least it's me.

Grimsley handed Rapp the Great Ball containing Alpha Skorupi and his squadmate scampered to the back where the PRU (Pokemon Restoration Unit) was housed. Less than a minute later Doc appeared from the PRU room, her face twisted with disapproval.

"Mr. Dumb-dumb back for Pyroar? You no visit for three days!" Doc reprimanded in her broken English.

"I didn't know that was an option," Ian protested. "I didn't want to bother you."

"How you know Pyroar fed? How Pyroar feel no see you for three days?" Doc said angrily.

"I'm sorry Doc, I must've misunderstood. Pyroar's one of my fiercest team members and has been with me since my third day. I'll make it up to him," Ian explained. "But Surge's envoy's here and I gotta get going-"

Doc shook her head, tapping her index finger on the counter next to Pyroar's Poke Ball. "No! You listen to me. Pyroar body hurt, but good now. Pyroar heart…" Doc then tapped. "...no heal. Not yet."

Ian grimaced, his eyes drooping to Pyroar's Poke Ball. I got Pyroar messed up for what? Some Beast Ball that ended up being pointless? Thanks for nothing, Colress. "Thank you for telling me, Doc. And thank you for taking such good care of Pyroar-"

"How you know 'such good care?'" Doc mocked. "No lie to me, Mr. Dumb-dumb."

"I was just trying to be nice, fuck!" Ian fired back, swiping Pyroar's Poke Ball angrily and turning his back on Doc, getting partway to the exit before he remembered he needed to stay with Grimsley. Ian stayed close to the door for another few minutes before Doc and Rapp returned with the Great Ball and gave Grimsley some instructions before he was free to go.

"Quite the tongue lashing," Grimsley observed once the Pokemon Center door shut behind them.

"Tell me about it," Ian said. "I wonder if the meeting already started?"

City Hall wasn't too far of a walk from the Pokemon Center, and a small crowd had gathered. Ian was surprised to see Gregory, Leilani, and the Driftwood Guild higher up named Lono already appearing walk back in the van.

"The hell?" Ian asked.

"Well that's not good," Grimsley observed.

Lono pointed at Grimsley. "Get in the van Grimsley, we're leaving. Your training sessions are on hold until food shipments resume."

"Really?" Grimsley asked. "You all get in an argument or something?"

"Basically," Lono said, rolling his eyes. Dammit Doc, I should've been here sooner.

"Well my bike's by Elk Grove so we'll need to stop and get it," Grimsley explained.

Ian sighed, turning to Grimsley. "So this is it for a while?"

Grimsley shrugged. "I guess so. Good thing we got that move down though, right?"

Ian smiled. "Yeah…"

"Well, it's been fun, Prince of Po Town," Grimsley admitted before embracing Ian. "Good luck. Hopefully this crap gets sorted out and I'll be back here soon."

Ian nodded. "Agreed."

"Until then, don't go dying on me. I don't know how else I'll be able to pay back Driftwood," Grimsley teased.

"No promises!" Ian teased.

Grimsley ended up climbing in the shotgun position next to Leilani and the van quickly started and made its way out of the small parking lot. Plumeria stood at the top of City Hall's steps, arms folded and an annoyed scowl on her face. Ian made his way up quickly, and Plumeria exhaled loudly.

"So did Guzma throw a tantrum?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, but they're playing dumb, saying the trucks aren't theirs," Plumeria said. "We already have physical descriptions from the Rough Raider scouts, and it can't be anyone else because the road ASF trucks would need to take has a checkpoint in Surge territory."

Ian shook his head, now his own matching scowl across his face. "So what now?"

"We have to ID them ourselves," Plumeria answered. "We've all got rideable mounts for an occasion like this so get your stuff packed. We're going to the desert."

"Alrighty then," Ian said. What would I need to get ready, honestly? Sawsbuck's kind of a self contained food supply… I guess I should get some berries for my team to hold. I really should get in the habit of just having them available. What else though… Ian thought for a few moments before remembering something that had crossed his mind in the days prior. If we're going to a desert, it could be an excuse to get Blastoise a Dive Ball. Grimsley had noted that Blastoise always seemed grumpy except when in water, and Dive Balls helped simulate the experience. After everything Blastoise has done, whether it was the Huntail catastrophe or an Ultra Storm, it's the least I could do for him.

Ian made his way to Tom's warehouse, daring to crack a grin at the prospect of improving Blastoise's mood. There was no line for the service window, so he made his way up to it and tapped the little counter sticking out underneath it. A feminine face he recognized appeared on the other side of the glass. Her name's Betty, right? He only remembered because her black hair made him think of a certain catchy song from back home.

"What you here for, Prince of Po Town?" Betty asked.

"I was wondering if I could swap my Blastoise's Poke Ball for a Dive Ball," Ian said. "Going to the desert and figured he's earned a little luxury."

"Yeah, we got one left," Betty replied and disappeared from view behind the window. While he waited, Ian eyed the sky and was thankful there were no storm clouds on the horizon. Although that won't matter in the desert. Ian's feeling of gratitude quickly wilted as he remembered what route they'd likely be taking: the Awakea Ridge between the mountains, which meant seeing someone very specific. Hyde.

Ian's fists instantly tensed as the thought crossed his mind, not to mention replaying all of the bullshit Hyde had put him through. The reminder that Hyde had freed him and returned his Pokemon to him did little to soften the red hot hatred in Ian's veins.

"Sorry about the wait," Betty said. "Turns out we don't have the one I was thinking of. Apparently Guzma asked for it in the past couple weeks. Not sure what he wanted with a Dive Ball, but he's the boss so no questions asked I guess."

"Fair enough," Ian said with a shrug. "Thanks for checking though."

"Good luck out there!" Betty said.

***

The ride down The Straightaway was bearable even though Lian had to hold onto the other front side of Plumeria's Revavroom with Ian on the other. The wagon held Tupp, Selene, and Rapp rather uncomfortably. Within mere moments of riding, Ian remembered he had forgotten to ask Driftwood about acquiring goggles.

It didn't take long to get to the ranger station on the northern outskirts of the Akua Jungle, and they made a quick stop to open the gate to the road Ian remembered led to the Lake of the Sunne. "I thought you told me to never go on this road," Ian recalled.

Plumeria rolled her eyes. "Not that you ever listened. There's a dirt path we'll be going off on a few minutes in."

Ian nodded. "Got it."

If he'd thought the ride down was less than perfect, he quickly regretted it once they got on the uphill dirt road. Revavroom didn't really have any sort of good suspension, so every large pebble jerked the engine Pokemon's passengers around, and there were a lot of them on the little used dirt road. When Ian wasn't trying to prepare himself for large bumps, it was a pretty view of Ula'Ula Island's two anchoring mountains. To his left, Mount Hokulani, and once they were high enough he swore he could see the remnants of the Gap Bridge, and eventually even the small outline of the Lake of the Sunne temple structure. To his right, Mount Lanakila loomed large over them with its snowcapped peak and rugged terrain going all of the way up. Ahead were more highlands as they were in what Plumeria described as the "Awakea Saddle," the lifted ground in between the twin mountains.

After a good forty five minutes of slow going on the uphill dirt road, they finally got to the top of the highlands and were able to look down upon the Haina Desert up ahead. Plumeria ordered Revavroom to come to a stop and she began scanning the area. "There!" Plumeria announced, pointing down south where three weathered tents rested.

"Shouldn't it be concerning that we basically snuck up on them?" Ian asked aloud.

"No, because they're supposed to be watching the desert," Plumeria replied sourly. "Everyone off Revavroom. I want to give it a rest before it needs to refuel and we get back on the road."

Each member had some sort of aches and pains from the uncomfortable journey, so walking across the dry, rocky terrain was more of an exercise than he'd anticipated. But eventually they came upon the camp and a couple Team Skull grunts were sitting around what would be the campfire site.

"Recon team, what's up?" One of them called out.

"Yo Snappa, Plumeria's here!" Another shouted.

Out from one of the tents came a tanned man maybe a couple years older than Ian in a customary Team Skull tank top. "Good to see you, Big Sis," Snappa greeted.

Plumeria scoffed. "Even though I'm younger than you."

"Never mattered to me," Snappa answered.

Another tent flap opened and out came Hyde, looking tanner with longer, unkempt hair sticking out of his beanie. Ian tensed with disgust as he laid eyes on him.

Hyde took a moment to see Ian, but once he did, his eyes were locked in on Ian as well.

"Hyde," Plumeria acknowledged, doing little to hide the disgust in her voice.

"Plumeria," Hyde said. Ian noticed there was still bruising underneath the eye where Tupp had punched the living shit out of him. Been two weeks and it's still messed up? Serves him right.

Tupp sniggered. "I guess you don't be needin' any reminders."

Hyde's frown twisted into a scowl. "I don't have any ointments or shit to heal it."

"Good, serves as a nice reminder for anyone who'd think about trusting you," Plumeria spat.

Hyde rolled his eyes in disgust. "You remember who set Ian free when Sinclair's men got inside Po Town?"

"That doesn't cancel out that you put him there after he saved your life," Plumeria said damningly.

Hyde sighed. "Whatever." Hyde then turned to face Ian. "You wanna be civil? I need to talk to you about something."

Ian studied Hyde's eyes, and Plumeria stepped beside him. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she whispered as Ian leaned in.

Ian shook his head and redirected his attention to Hyde. "There's something I want to talk to you about too, actually."

Ian ignored the sounds of surprise as he began walking away from the camp, mirroring Hyde but staying a good ten feet apart. Once they got to where they were out of earshot from the camp, but were still visible, they both stopped.

"So what'd you want to talk about?" Hyde asked.

"You first," Ian said.

Hyde rolled his eyes, but relented. "When do the effects of the alpha poop wear off?"

"Effects like…?"

"My Pokemon still don't listen to me," Hyde explained. "I figured it'd take a bit, but it's been two and a half weeks and they're still as unruly as ever."

Ian shrugged, unable to help himself from smiling. "No idea if they ever wear off, I only give my Pokemon one every couple weeks, sometimes even longer in between. You might just be stuck with 'em being angry like that."

Hyde tensed. "Fuck… How'd you know about them in the first place?"

"They matched the description of something I'd read about before," Ian said. "I asked Grimsley to see what was up with them and he told me a bit."

"So what is it? I know it ain't just 'Alpha Poop' like you keep saying," Hyde said.

Ian shrugged. I don't think anyone besides me calls it Ultra Candy, so he won't be able to learn more about it if he looks it up. "I call it Ultra Candy."

"Candy?" Hyde asked.

"That's just what I call it since it seems different from the stuff I thought it was similar to," Ian said.

"So what's that stuff then?"

"I don't have to tell you shit on that one," Ian answered bluntly.

Hyde grunted in frustration. "I got what might be the strongest group of Pokemon in Po Town now, but they won't fucking listen to me."

Ian shrugged, no hint of mercy in his demeanor. "Maybe don't steal from people."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "So what's your question then?"

"Not a question necessarily," Ian answered. "Did you hear how the war with Haina Town started?"

"Yeah, some chick escaped from Haina Town and crashed the meeting you guys were having?" Hyde said. "At least that's what I heard."

Ian nodded. "That's the long and the short of it, but there was something kind of suspicious about the timing, and just how perfectly it went in setting up the conflict between us and Haina Town."

"Why you say that?" Hyde asked bluntly.

"Because apparently the Unova Marines have started taking a more active role in this island's politics, and working out an agreement with Haina Town would've been the biggest step to a united front against the ASF. Surge's envoy even said they'd try to turn the remaining factions against each other, and this did that," Ian explained.

"It's kinda obvious…" Hyde observed.

"But there's something else bothering me. It's a bit of a longshot, but the girl who did this looks kind of familiar to me. Where I'm from, she was an actress. I had Neroli look her up and she didn't find anything initially, but she was credited with a role in a movie. The credit was erased, re-added, then erased and locked by the admins-"

"Which only happens around suspicious Striaton Institute stuff," Hyde finished. "I've seen that screencap."

Ian nodded. "Yeah… If she's a Unovan plant-"

"It makes too much sense," Hyde said.

"I brought it up to Plumeria and she thinks it's really flimsy," Ian said. "The more I think about it though it fits. But would the Unova Marines really send one of their own to go bang Breon for who knows how long, then perfectly destroy the chance of an alliance?"

Hyde nodded. "They do crazy shit man. They've even changed people's skin colors to help them blend in and not be recognized by people in their home regions so they can spy. I wouldn't put it past the Unovans, not for a damn second. You hear how long she was one of Breon's chicks?"

The gears in Ian's mind turned, going back to the night that started it all. A lot had happened, but the deeper into his memories he got, it finally hit him. "Seth said something about her not even being around a week."

Hyde scoffed. "Damn near certain then. She got an accent?"

Ian shrugged. "I'm not very good at picking up accents."

Hyde grunted in frustration. "You tell Guzma yet?"

"Yeah, he said he'd do his own personal investigation," Ian replied bleakly.

"As long as he's got his friends with benefits girls he won't try and fuck her," Hyde said dismissively.

Ian grimaced. "Pretty sure both of 'em are done with him as of pretty recently."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Well let him know when y'all get back. If she gets her claws into him, she's gonna try to wreck all the shit Po Town's done. That's what the Unova Marines and their cronies do to groups they don't like."

Ian sighed. "Will do."

Hyde eyed Ian expectantly. "Anything else?"

Ian shook his head. "You got anything?"

Hyde put his hand up to his chin, thinking of something but shook his head.

"What were you gonna say?" Ian asked.

"Something that was happening when we were the border guards against Surge, but it ain't important right now," Hyde said.

Ian nodded. "Okay… Other than your Pokemon not listening to you, how's being up here?"

Hyde shrugged. "It's shitty, but so would being in Po Town watching everyone gargle on your dick after beating Sinclair, so I'll take it."

Ian let out a laugh. "Fair." Ian then turned and began making his way back to the camp.

"Wait, one more thing," Hyde called out.

"Yeah, what?" Ian asked, still grinning with amusement.

"Just cuz that chick might be a Unova Marine plant, doesn't mean I'll stop thinking you're one," Hyde warned.

Ian's smile died. Just when I thought we were going somewhere. "Fuck you too, Hyde," Ian said bluntly and casually went back to camp.

Upon Ian's return, Plumeria and Revavroom were nowhere to be found as they'd gone hunting for rocks to use as fuel for the desert journey. Ian joined Tupp as they followed Spool, who Ian recognized from the doomed Alpha Huntail encounter in Mahiki Bay to the nearest water source. The group had a quick snack of berries before Plumeria had them all reassemble. Ian looked out to the vast Haina Desert below, a sense of growing unease forming inside him as he remembered what had occurred before. We're going to be much further north than we were before though.

Plumeria released Revavroom and took out a digital camera from her bag. "We need photographic evidence the trucks are the ones from Outrigger that pick up food shipments from us, who knows the trucks best?"

Selene raised her hand. "I do!" She said cheerfully. "Malamar helps load them each on most of the shipping days."

The answer was acceptable enough for Plumeria, who handed over the digital camera.

Snappa then stepped up. "The Rough Raider scouts say they haven't seen any activity today. Haina Town used to send a squad or two to patrol the desert, but ever since they lost so many at the Battle of the Howling Wood, they don't go out much. I think it's just been one."

That's a relief.

"What's your watch say?" Snappa asked Hyde.

"2:36," Hyde said quickly before putting his shiny watch-adorned wrist by his side.

"Usually the convoy's seen rolling by the scouts a little before four o' clock, so it'll be probably ten to fifteen minutes this far north. You got some time, but you can't sit around and jerk off while you're out there," Snappa said.

"We weren't planning on that," Plumeria said sourly.

"So just head a little southeast from here to avoid that nasty Alpha Krookodile's territory and then just go straight east from there past Alola's Fist. The road they're using is about four miles from that," Snappa explained. "Good luck out there and stay safe."

Plumeria's squad took their positions, with Ian getting on Plumeria's left before Revavroom got its engine going. "Alola's Fist?" Ian asked.

Plumeria smirked. "This rock formation on the northern side of the desert. We were too far south of it to see it when we came through the first time, but it's really cool, even from a distance. It's where Guzma and Seth hashed out the peace deal the first time around."

"Cool," Ian said before the roar of Revavroom's engine hit his ears.

***

Because of the soft sand, Revavroom could only max out at fifteen to twenty miles per hour. It made the lack of goggles more bearable, but they did kick up a considerable amount of dust. Luckily we're so far north we don't have to worry about that giving us away. From Revavroom's side, Ian was able to admire the natural beauty of the Haina Desert. Early on they saw some Sandile and Krokorok, but once they veered completely east there were no signs of them. There'd be a few spinning Baltoy and Vibrava fluttering overhead, but Ian didn't think much of it.

He did keep checking the southern horizon just to be sure no enemies rolled up on them, but there was nothing of note until he laid eyes on a green, cactus-like figure that Ian only acknowledged once it moved. "Is that a Maractus?" Ian asked.

Plumeria checked nonchalantly and nodded. "Yeah."

"I didn't think they were around in Alola," Ian said.

Plumeria shook her head. "Not supposed to be."

Ian grimaced. I wonder if LB's gonna ask me to hunt this one down if it causes too much trouble… Sounds like an "after the war" sort of thing though. Plumeria pointed north when she got a glimpse of Alola's Fist, and due to the distance Ian wasn't able to get a good look at it. Next time I'm out here I'll have to check it out.

It took a total of thirty five minutes before the worn highway came into view, and the group dismounted and started looking for anything that could be used as cover.

"Selene, you'll have to get kinda close so you get good pictures," Plumeria explained.

Tupp then raised his hand. "And I'll make sure she's okay."

"Shouldn't be necessary, but okay," Plumeria said. "That rock could be useful, maybe we can find a tumble weed or something…"

After a few minutes of scrounging up some dry shrubs from nearby, they made a makeshift hidey-hole against a small boulder where Selene and Tupp would be mostly shielded from visibility. The set up was about forty feet from the highway, while Ian and the rest of the squad hid a hundred and fifty feet out behind various dry shrubs. Lian's Alolan Dugtrio helped cover their tracks just to be extra stealthy.

Ian wasn't sure how long they spent lying down and baking under the sun. Even though he'd definitely felt plenty more intensely hot days in his time, something about the sand just made everything feel dryer and more severe.

"Hey!" Plumeria called from behind the bush about fifteen feet away. "Trucks coming!"

"Finally," Ian croaked as he tightened up his position so as to not be too obvious to the traffic passing by. It's not your job to look, so don't potentially fuck it up. The low hum of distant vehicles hit Ian's ears as he laid low, not even wanting to look as if it'd somehow incriminate him. He slowed his breathing, trying to be absolutely still, reminding himself this was likely the least dangerous interaction they'd do with Surge's or Breon's faction period. That did manage to help mellow things out for the moment.

"Oh shit!" Plumeria called out.

"What?" Ian asked.

"The fucking flash is on!" Plumeria poked her head above the bush. "Selene, stop!"
Instinct made Ian forget about staying hidden, and he looked to Tupp and Selene's position, only to see Selene taking another photo with a very visible flash.

"Selene, I'm fucking serious!" Plumeria roared.

"It's too late anyways!" Selene shouted back. "I'll get the shots and we get out of here!"

"Uh, squad?" Rapp called out from a nearby bush. "We got company."

Ian followed Rapp pointing to where the trucks were heading and his heart sank as four police cars were speeding up the highway.

Ian got up as Plumeria shouted a loud curse. The cars had already turned off the highway and onto the sand, now speeding toward the group as quickly as the unsteady ground beneath them would allow. They're not just gonna stop and let their guys out. They're going to run us over. The four cars split in two, one pair going to Tupp and Selene's position while the other two made a mad dash towards Ian, Plumeria, Rapp, and Lian.

"Plumeria, to me!" Ian shouted, grabbing the Premier Ball from his belt and moments later Alolan Sandslash was in front of Ian as Plumeria got beside Ian. "Sandslash, gonna need the biggest Snowscape you've ever made, okay?"

Sandslash nodded, then it took a deep breath before its arms glowed brighter with more icy energy than he'd seen, not including a Z-Move. Sandslash gave a loud cry and ice, frost, snow, and slush covered the sandy domain of the desert around them. Plumeria's Haunter manifested beside Ian and Plumeria as the cars charged forward recklessly.

The moment the police cars hit the Snowscape they both swerved erratically, one police car's nose crashed right into the other's side, forcing the other one of its original path. The car careening forward then rolled on its side, metal crashing against the sand as it did.

"Iron-" Ian shouted desperately, realizing in an instant he'd been too late so he tried to get Plumeria to take cover with him on the ground, which ended up being much more of a clothesline wrestling move than he'd intended, and the two hit the sand while the car crashed. To his surprise, metal shrieked loudly. Glass shattered and Ian found himself on top of Plumeria, shielding the squad leader as he felt a dozen bits of tiny, glassy debris hit the back of his body.

Ian took a moment before he turned to face the situation, and smiled as Sandslash stood proudly in front of the completely crumpled front of a car.

"Ian, get off me," Plumeria growled underneath him. Ian quickly rolled off his squad leader.

"Sorry for the clothesline…"

Plumeria shook her head. "Prolly saved my life, so I'll allow it," Plumeria said. "Haunter, Poison Gas those murderous fucks!"

Haunter quickly manifested just outside of the passenger cabin already glowing with purple energy before expelling a cloud of nauseous fumes right at the dazed occupants of the car.

Sandslash had already pivoted to the other car, which had spun out of the Snowscape, its occupants wisely choosing not to go on the terrain anymore. Except now four Pokemon stood on the outer limits of Snowscape: A Granbull, Absol, Nosepass, and Houndoom.

Nearby, Lian and Rapp began heading their way. Plumeria waved them off. "Help Selene and Tupp!" She ordered. Ian looked over at their comrades who'd been closer to the road. The police cars hadn't tried to run them over, but the trainers had gotten out and were surrounding them, with Tupp and Selene's Arcanines out looking as threatening as possible. They'll need the help more than we do.

Granbull and Absol charged first, with Houndoom firing a stream of flaming energy. Sandslash deftly skated around Houndoom's attack, only for a Rock Tomb to erupt from the ground on its course. Sandslash unsteadily managed to skate around it on one foot, barely keeping its balance before refocusing on the approaching Pokemon with another Iron Head at the ready.

Absol disappeared in a flash, re-appearing right in front of Haunter. Haunter manifested for a moment before Ian recognized it use Confuse Ray on the attacking absol. Sandslash's body had gone aglow with Steel TE once more, and Sandslash crashed into the charging Granbull like a bowling ball, blasting the beast backwards and right into Houndoom.

"Drill Run on Nosepass!" Ian shouted as he noticed Nosepass had started taking aim at him and Plumeria. Electric TE began amassing at its magnetic like nose until Sandslash crashed into it, spinning like a drill and causing lots of rocky debris to become dislodged from Nosepass' body.

Sandslash adeptly landed back on its Snowscape, which had begun to noticeably fade. Houndoom finally had gotten up from underneath Granbull's fainted body and sent out another Flamethrower at Sandslash. The skating rodent managed to barely dodge it, but the stream of flaming energy revealed only sand underneath it.

"Dig!" Ian commanded. Sandslash quickly drilled into the slushy sand, disappearing from view while Ian focused on what was going on around him. Haunter had fired off another Venoshock against an unsteady, poisoned Absol, finishing off the Pokemon.

Houndoom fired a Dark Pulse right at Ian and Plumeria, and suddenly Haunter manifested in front of them, tanking the devastating Dark Type attack before falling back to the ground.

Plumeria recalled Haunter and sent out Salazzle, while Ian smiled proudly as Sandslash burst from the sands under Houndoom's belly, sending the hellhound flying before landing with a brutal smack. Ian's joy could only last so long, as a Magmar had joined the fray and began fired a point blank Fire Blast at Sandslash. Well that's not good.

"Get Blastoise out," Plumeria urged as Salazzle let forth a stream of flames at an Alolan Dugtrio.

Ian released Blastoise for its ball and snagged his smoking Sandslash from afar with his Premier Ball's beam. Salazzle then took shelter behind Blastoise's shell as it let out a Sludge Bomb at the enemy position.

"Flash Cannon!" Ian urged, seeing Nosepass using Lock On once more. Blastoise let out two cannon balls of silver energy, one connecting with Nosepass in a loud blast, while the other connected in the vicinity where the opposing trainers had seeked refuge. If you didn't want to get hit, you shouldn't have tried to run us over with a damn car.

"Behind us," Plumeria uttered.

Ian turned to see crumpled up car's denizens stumbling out. Two were on the ground heaving, while two others stood up weather feebly as two Pokemon manifested in front of them: a Turtonator and a Lickylicky. Both tanky Pokemon that are gonna delay us. Fuck!

"You know about Turtonator's Shell Trap?" Plumeria asked.

"Yeah, no physical moves," Ian said. "Blastoise, rotate!"

Ian followed Plumeria as the two got on the other side of Blastoise, Ian silently thankful the four adversaries they'd been dealing with appeared to be falling back. Or at least still reeling from that Flash Cannon.

"Salazzle, Toxic that Lickylicky!"

"Hydro Pump that Turtonator!" Ian commanded.

Salazzle crawled up Blastoise's shell and spat a hunk of potent ooze, hitting the Lickylicky right in its open mouth. The massive tongue Pokemon recoiled in disgust while Turtonator fired off a Dragon Pulse in response, causing a steamy explosion between it and Blastoise that made seeing through the battlefield basically impossible.

"Protect!" Ian shouted. Out from the steam came Lickylicky's long, green glowing tongue that smacked onto Blastoise's shell loudly, only for Blastoise to croak it off casually as the steam cloud parted.

"Venoshock!" Plumeria ordered. Salazzle fired off long, stringy bolts of potent Poison TE, striking Lickylicky all over its body, making the adversary keel over in pain.

A bright, fiery mass came out of the steam coming right for them and Ian leapt behind Blastoise, only to crash into Plumeria as she'd done the same. Ian had no time to apologize as Turtonator's shell detonated in a horrendously loud sound. A surge of heat came over Ian which quickly faded. Blastoise had somehow remained stalwartly in front of them, tanking the blast with its shell. Turtonator really jumped in midair and used Shell Trap? Asshole. On the other hand, Blastoise you already know this, but you're a fucking hero.

Ian could faintly hear Plumeria had spoken some words but his ears still rang from the blast; he couldn't tell what they were. Salazzle then leapt from Blastoise's shell with purpose, and Ian realized Blastoise had started firing off a Hydro Pump at point blank range. Ian leaned against Blastoise's shell to get back to his feet as he still had a hard time hearing anything. Plumeria had started getting up as well, and suddenly Blastoise croaked loudly in pain. A Power Whip must've connected.

"Turtonator's poisoned," Plumeria shouted, although Ian heard it as a whisper. He gave a thumbs up, only for Salazzle to be sent into his field of vision as an Alolan Dugtrio was ramming into it, glowing with Ground TE. That's not good.

"Blastoise, rotate!" Ian shouted as loudly as he could. Blastoise spun and momentarily withdrew its legs, enabling a quick about face. Blastoise needed no command as it fired a Hydro Pump at the assailing Dugtrio, erasing it from view instantly. Ian noticed a couple of the opposing trainers from the car that had started approaching once more. Can't you guys just quit? "Hydro Pump again!" Ian shouted.

Blastoise fired two powerful stream of Water TE. The opposing Magmar had tried to dodge, only to be knocked off balance when the attack landed and sent it directly into its trainer. The other stream landed on Claydol smacking it backwards into its trainer as well. Hope you learned your lesson, asshats.

Blastoise gurgled with pain once more as what Ian figured was another Power Whip connected. At least it's on the back of his shell.

Salazzle unsteadily got up and crawled around Blastoise quickly, letting out another Venoshock while Blastoise's shell covered its main body. Venoshock landed, but a stream of Dragon Pulse had been Salazzle's reward for exposing itself. We don't have time for this! Ian poked his head from behind Blastoise's shell, only to see Lian and Rapp having been forced to retreat from their positions. He then turned to Tupp and Selene, only to see Tupp on his back unable to move, while Breon's goons were running back to their cars. Ian's heart froze as he realized the group retreating was carrying Selene's lifeless body back with them.

"They have Selene!" Ian roared.

Plumeria turned to him in horror, not wanting to believe his words. "Blastoise, finish these fuckers off!" Ian shouted fiercely.

Blastoise fired off another Hydro Pump with a sound so loud it made his ears flare with pain again. When he poked his head out from behind Blastoise's mighty shell, Turtonator and Lickylicky had both been blasted away, fainted and being recalled. Ian jumped into a sprint run, only to be met with a floating, metallic red bug and a floating metal trio of magnets. Scizor's right pincer glowed with Steel TE and before he knew it, he was on his ass with a terrible pain just above his stomach and below his chest.

He heard some blast behind him and he couldn't be bothered to look due to the overwhelming pain. A crackle of electricity brought Ian's attention back to the situation at hand, and Ian watched as Blastoise tanked a powerful Thunder attack, its limbs still exposed before Blastoise fell on its side. Ian shifted his body to ready another Pokemon but the pain in his ribs flared up once more. "Shit…" He cursed before forcing the motion through the pain, getting Pyroar's Poke Ball out and using only his arm muscles to toss it in the air and recalling Blastoise immediately.

He turned his head to Pyroar, who stood in front of Scizor and Magneton. "Flamethrower," he grunted as more pain, flaring up like a white hot knife being stabbed into his ribs hit him.

Ian watched Pyroar expectantly, figuring a molten stream of Fire TE would come roaring out of the lion's mouth. Instead, Scizor was upon him suddenly, smacking the frozen Pyroar with another Bullet Punch into the ground beside Ian. "Pyroar, what the fuck?" Ian said, cursing as more pain shot through his body. "We need to get Selene…" He pleaded, pain clouding his mind.

Ian's pleading was met with another crackle of electricity, this time in the form of a Thunder Bolt as Pyroar roared in agony, not caring to move. "Pyroar!" Ian shouted, more pain flaring up in his body. Then he remembered.

Doc was saying… The memories of Pyroar's horrible encounter with Buzzwole came flooding back to the forefront of Ian's mind. And I didn't even go visit him in the Pokemon Center… "Pyroar…" Ian whined. Pyroar turned its head to its trainer, not with the usual proud fury it usually sported. That had been replaced with anxious fear in the majestic lion's eyes. Oh no… Ian's heart tensed with guilt and dread.

Pyroar was then bludgeoned once more by Scizor, and Ian knew he had to get the lion out of the battle. "Sawsbuck…" Ian growled as he sent Sawsbuck's Heal Ball out with as little movement as possible from his torso. He recalled his dispirited Pyroar, guilt and pain overwhelming Ian's senses.

Sawsbuck needed no directions, as it flared up with Ground TE and launched itself like a rocket across the sands. Ian felt tears pouring out of his eyes, partially from pain, but also from the terrible situation at hand. Pyroar, I…

"Ian, watch out!" Plumeria screamed desperately. Ian turned his head up to see Scizor's right pincer aglow with Steel TE again. I might be done for.

Suddenly right in front of a huge crash unfolded, with Scizor being rammed into by Sawsbuck, its antlers aglow with Dark TE, a Throat Chop completely thwarting the Scizor's attack.

"Ian, are you okay?" Plumeria shouted desperately as knelt beside him. She put her hands on his back and he grunted with pain.

"I think I cracked a rib," Ian responded.

"Shit," Plumeria cursed. "But they're leaving. The two cars are already gone, and the one car that didn't crash is leaving too."

"But they have Selene!" Ian growled.

"I know that!" Plumeria shouted angrily, and Ian finally turned his head to see Plumeria looking over him, tears streaming down her face, the agony of the events that had just transpired present in her tortured amber eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ian whimpered, causing more tears to drip down his own cheeks. "If I'd just… with Pyroar…"

Plumeria shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, it was mine," Plumeria admitted. "I should've checked the fucking flash…"

Ian's mind drifted back to the outbreak, and he remembered the cars had been nearby anyways. How'd they know? Don't tell me Surge was doing something? "No, I don't think it was us…" Ian paused. But who then? First thing I think of is Gregory, but would he really put us in danger like that? Supplying Haina Town to keep the confederation idea alive is one thing, but to actively aid our enemies in a military situation? Ian growled angrily, only for the tensing of his torso to cause his ribs to flare up in searing pain again. "Dammit…"

"Rapp's coming, she'll get you healed up," Plumeria said, getting back off her knees.

Rapp and her Galarian Rapidash arrived moments later and Ian bore the brunt of the pain of flipping over onto his back and lifting his shirt up. "Yeah, you fucked that up good," Rapp commented. Rapidash's lone horn suddenly glowed with Psychic TE and Ian felt something snap into place in his chest, causing him to recoil in terrible pain and curse a legion of profanities until Healing Pulse began doing its work.

"How's Tupp?" Ian asked shakily.

"He's asleep, but he's okay. Hypnosis got him," Rapp answered.

"Aren't you gonna…" Ian didn't even finish the sentence, expecting it to be so obvious.

Rapp shook her head. "You think I'm gonna wake him up?"

Ian shut his eyes as the realization that Tupp was going to have to find out what happened from them sank in. How could I have let this happen?

***

It took a good ten minutes before Ian felt good enough to stand again. Galarian Rapidash's ability to heal injuries was something magical, although his rib was still incredibly sore, and Rapp mentioned there'd probably be a scar.

Plumeria and Lian had rounded up the prisoners. The four trainers who'd been poisoned were vomiting still and barely functioning, having handed over their Poke Balls once they'd been abandoned. One of the Haina Town goons had died from getting too close to Lian's Kleavor, while another had broken his leg and had been left behind by his comrades. Lian had already got his Dugtro to digging an informal grave. Yet they took Selene instead of helping their own. Dickheads.

Ian felt himself looking over to Tupp, who'd been left unceremoniously unconscious by the road. No one wanted to break the terrible quiet that hung over the group or have to explain to Tupp what had happened.

Ian made his way over to the prisoner with the broken leg and realized he'd seen the young man before. He was the guy with the Driflloon that got Rapp last time, and who tried a sneak attack on me with his Manectric. I did leave him with a little promise last time too… "Hey there," Ian said with a scowl on his face. "You're the guy who put Rapp to sleep last time. You pull the same shit with my buddy's girl just now?"

The young man shook his head, fear in his eyes. "N-no, Ian C-Cougar."

"Hey Ian," the voice of Lian said as he made his way over. "Once we took his belt away, I figured I didn't need to tie him up since he can't move with that leg."

Ian took a quick glance at the leg, noticing something seemed off about it. "Lian, did you catch who put Selene and Tupp to sleep?" Ian asked.

Lian nodded. "This bastard right here with his Drifblim. Got Selene first, and Tupp got hit after when he tried to protect her."

Ian took a deep exhale, trying to calm the anger pulsing through his veins. "So you're a liar and a kidnapper who preys on girls. I have a use for you." Ian then grabbed the young man by his broken leg and began dragging him across the sand as Breon's goon cried out in pain. Ian dragged him over to where the quarantined, poisoned prisoners were kneeling in the sand, ropes restraining their hands as puddles of foul smelling liquids dotted the areas around them. Ian threw the leg down in the sand, causing a fresh whimper from the wounded prisoner. "I'll be back."

Ian then made his way over to Tupp's asleep body, with Plumeria and Rapp following quickly. "I'm waking him up," Ian declared, realizing his anger had begun to outweigh his guilt. No one stopped Ian as he began tapping Tupp on the forehead.

It took a few seconds, but Tupp stirred, and finally jolted awake. "Selene!" He cried out frantically. "Selene, where are you?" Tupp up and looked around erratically. "No, no, nooo!" Tupp froze up as the realization hit him, and he fell to his knees. "No…" He begged as he began to sob.

Ian's voice got choked up as he watched his devastated best friend. Ian turned to Plumeria and Rapp, who both had fresh tears on their faces.

"I couldn't protect her…" Tupp whimpered. "It's all my fault. I couldn't protect her…"

Plumeria found her courage. "Tupp, there were too many-"

"I couldn't protect her! Me!" Tupp fired back, pounding his fists into the dirt. "It was my fault. She was the best thing that ever happened to me!" Tupp shouted, every word seemingly torturing him more than the last. "And I…" Tupp paused as he broke down, unable to keep the words coming. He pounded his fists in the dirt as he sobbed uncontrollably, wailing desperately as he shoved his face in the dirt.

Ian had only seen such a display once, and it had been on some movie where a parent had been informed their child had died. Ian's eyes began to water as another thought crossed his mind. What if mom did this when I couldn't be found? The thought put even more guilt and shame on his heart than he was willing to bear, and before he knew it he was on his knees with his arm around Tupp, doing everything he could to comfort his friend, screaming in agony.

Tupp finally stopped his wailing a minute later, and Ian figured it was more because he needed to catch his breath more than anything. Ian was sure to not move his arm which stayed locked on his buddy's shoulder, trying to let him know the whole world hadn't fallen apart. Tupp remained silent for another minute at least, catching his breath as Ian could tell the tears had stopped. The guilt was slowly being overcome by rage, and when every breath quickened, Ian released his grip on Tupp's shoulder.

"You know what, Ian?" Tupp growled lowly. "I'm gonna get her. I'm gonna go fucking get her."

Ian couldn't respond, unsure of what to say.

"I'm gonna fucking get her!" Tupp declared. Tupp then rose to his feet and began stomping angrily to the road the cars had retreated on.

"Tupp, no!" Plumeria said. "They got the whole town-"

"I don't give a fuck!" Tupp roared. "I'm getting her back no matter WHAT!" Tupp turned back around and continued his stomping to the road.

Plumeria ran after him. "Tupp, I know you're hurting-"

Tupp's fists clenched and he shook his head. "You don't know this. The guilt's gonna kill me if Breon's goons don't. So I don't care if I have to do it alone. I am getting. Her. Back!"

Plumeria stood in stunned disbelief, unable to formulate a response.

"Tupp," Ian croaked as he stepped toward his best friend. "You're not doing it alone."

Tupp's scowl gave way to slight surprise.

"Ian, what?" Plumeria demanded.

Ian took Tupp's side, unable to stomach what had just unfolded. Not without doing anything at least. Ian then turned to Tupp and pointed at the tattoo on his upper arm. "Bros for life," Ian said simply.

Tupp nodded, giving Ian the most genuine fist bump he'd ever received. They both turned to Plumeria expectantly. C'mon Plumeria, do the strategic calculation. If I'm involved…

"This isn't the best idea but you've forced my hand. We'll do it," Plumeria admitted. "But we are going to do it the right way, okay?"

Tupp nodded. "Yeah Big Sis."

Plumeria turned to Rapp. "You and Lian don't have to-"

"I'm coming," Rapp said, tears in her eyes.

"Me too," Lian said, tipping his hat.

Tupp bowed his head reverently. "Thank you."

"So Big Sis, what's the first step of 'doing it right?'" Rapp asked.

Ian smirked. "Interrogation," he said bluntly and began making his way over to the prisoners, Ultra Ball in hand. Anger that had been simmering began pumping through his veins like a flame. Every fiber of his being felt ready to explode. I haven't felt this locked in since the battle with Sinclair. Ian's muscles shook with an almost sort of excitement as he locked eyes with the prisoner with the broken leg, the one who's Drifblim had put both Tupp and Selene to sleep.

"Alright you fuckhead!" Ian roared. "The last time your ass got kicked in the desert, I told you that if I ever caught you trying to kidnap any Team Skull girls again, I was gonna feed you to my Alpha Tyrunt. And guess what? I'm a man of my word!" Ian declared, then tossed the Ultra Ball, manifesting the baby tyrannosaur that stood as tall as he did, eyes glowing red with savage fury.

"No, please, I can tell you-"

"Before you die, tell me your name," Ian bellowed.

"It's-"

"It doesn't matter what your name is!" Ian fired back. "It's lunch now!" Tyrunt gave a savage roar and charged at the wounded man.

Ian turned his attention to the four poisoned prisoners, a cold calmness taking over him as the sounds of Tyrunt having its way with its meal filled the air. "When I came to Alola and became a Pokemon trainer, I told myself I wasn't going to kill people," Ian began. "But that has changed." Ian then pointed behind him. "So I'm gonna give you two options right now. You can either end up dino-chow like your fuckface friend here…" Ian then paused to allow the sounds of the man's struggle to suddenly stop. "...or you can tell us everything we need to know and you can walk your way up north."