The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 2 Epilogue 1: Evil

Spoiler:

Chapter 1
Jon had hoped to never be sitting in this room again. The last time was shortly before the New Year’s Eve before last, where Daniel, his father, asked him to advocate for release on parole.

The visitors room at the Johto Regional Medium Security Prison was still cold, even though the spring weather was starting to warm up as April came. In the corner of the room was a TV, muted with captions so people could follow along. Jon noticed on screen footage of a reporter speaking to the camera outside of the Eon Academy gates, recognizing it as a replay of the news the evening before, when it was made public that the hearing that would decide the fate of the Eon Academy would take place on the 30th of April, four weeks from now.

The months since the acquisition letter arrived in the mail had been stressful to say the least. Naturally, Jon appealed the order, and with some favours from Steven, had the hearing date pushed back as late as they could push it. The closer to the regional election in Hoenn, the more pressure it would put on their opposition, and the better their chances were. On the flip side, the more time it took, the more time their opposition had to build a case and cover their own tracks. It was risky, however trying to rush the process was even riskier.

One of the effects of the acquisition order was that improvements to the property were not allowed to be made whilst the order was in effect. This was to prevent Jon from taking measures to drive up the value of it, and get more money out of the Department of Defence, seeing as normally he’d have no choice. However given the circumstances, this had taken a large toll on the property. Given the fact that only a few weeks earlier, there was the incident with Deoxys, the property had received moderate damage. Most notably, Dylan’s car being destroyed, half of the windows of the lodges being smashed in by a telekinetic blast, a window to the guest lodge being smashed by Charlotte to get in, as well as the door to the Pokemon store-room being knocked in, in addition to a Latios shaped hole in Jon’s western fence, as well as seven other fences in the properties west of the Eon Academy, breaking Latios’ S.S. Wishmaker record.

Due to Jon not having the finances to get all the windows fixed immediately, without leaving themselves short on cash in the event of an emergency, and the debate about who should be responsible for funding repairs, the windows were still broken when the order came through, only sealed with thick plastic taped to the frames, and Jon forbidden by the acquisition order from getting them repaired. Because of this, moisture had gotten into most of the rooms during winter, leaving the carpets damp and causing mould to grow in them, meaning that all of them needed to be replaced. It took days of angry phone calls for Jon to even be allowed to remove the burnt out wreck of Dylan’s car from the property without violating the order, resulting in Jon letting the government worker know he was recording the call himself, so that when someone injures themself as a result of the wreck, the government can take responsibility.

On the brighter side, the half of their plan that relied on rallying support for the Eon Academy was going better than expected. Abbee had the most social media influence by far, given her late father’s battling fame, with Chris and Charlotte tied behind her, both having dominated the junior battling circuits for years, and Justin having reached followers in the thousands due to he and Regieleki’s involvement in stopping both the meteor and Deoxys last summer. #SaveTheEonAcademy had been trending, even by those who were vocal about their dislike for Jon online, having to admit that if not for his Academy and training, Mossdeep would have had its fair share of disaster last summer.

Contrary to this attention though, Jon, as well as his five interns, had been avoiding TV and radio interviews, as well as most print media, citing the hearing as the reason for privacy, however accepting the odd digital interview, where they were emailed a set of questions that they could take time to answer, making sure not to do any harm to their cause with what they say, compared to answering a question asked on the spot, and accidentally saying too much.

Jon was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a metal door sliding open, which indicated an inmate was being brought into the visitors area. Jon looked up, and saw for the first time since the infirmary on the S.S. Wishmaker, the disgraced ex-Indigo League Champion, Lance.

Lance’s fall from grace stemmed from a sense of pride, which was shattered at the defeat by Jarena Farrell, who was relatively unknown at the time, in the years prior to the S.S. Wishmaker incident. Upon it coming to light that the Diamond Ladies had been using witchcraft to cheat, and them handing themselves in, Lance wanted to see them punished as much as the law would allow, whilst Jon, who convinced Steven and Cynthia of this, wanted their crimes to remain hidden from the public, as to avoid others attempting the same thing, which resulted in a short, unbeknownst to the public, ban, masquerading as a hiatus or retirement and no other consequences as to not raise questions. After an argument with Jon, Lance took action himself, attempting to kill Violet Radcliffe and Jarena Farrell during Cassandra Silvers’ battle against Avery Miller, with the plan being to frame Jon and Latios for the attack.

Jon had gotten wind of the conspiracy and intervened, beating Lance, however losing his cool and hospitalizing the Indigo Champion. The next day when Jon’s proposed cover-up plan was ruined by Lance leaking information, Jon had sought him out in the infirmary, antagonizing him and rubbing salt in his wounds. Which other than a brief visit to confirm he hadn’t made use of an unforeseen opportunity to escape, was the last time Jon had seen him, a little under three years earlier.

In his first year running the Eon Academy, Christopher Kingswood, now one of Jon’s interns, and a legendary battler for his age, attended, and after an attack on the Academy, solicited by Lance from prison, using his own Pokemon, revealed to Jon that Lance was in fact Chris’ cousin.

Jon didn’t think he’d ever find himself making the effort to see Lance in prison. He knew if the Diamond Ladies knew that he was doing this, they wouldn’t approve, and he didn’t blame them. However, since the attack, Jon found himself understanding two things. The first was that he went too far with how he handled Lance on the S.S. Wishmaker. Between brutalizing Lance when he intervened, instead of simply incapacitating him, and going out of his way to mock a deranged man with a shattered ego, Jon had acted in a way he wasn’t proud of. The second being that he told the Diamond Ladies he believed in giving people the chance to try and make amends for their crimes, and moving past them. That was the reason for not handing them over to the League and wiping his hands of the matter like was expected to, instead deciding to get personally involved to help them move forward. And as deranged as Lance was, Jon couldn’t say he honestly believed his own reasoning, if Lance wasn’t given the opportunity to try and get it together as well.

Lance was walked to the metal table where Jon sat, wearing orange prison overalls and cuffed at both his wrists and ankles. Once he sat down, the handcuffs binding his wrists were secured to the table, so he couldn’t attempt anything dangerous.

He sat, staring at Jon, who stared back, neither of the proud men wanting to be the first to speak. Eventually, Lance spoke first.

“Why the hell are you here Jon?” Lance asked, sounding irritated and mildly exasperated.

“You make it sound like you have better options for your time…” Jon retorted. “What, are you making license plates today?”

Whilst Jon regretted the excessiveness of his past actions, he wasn’t going to let Lance think that his backbone had gone.

“If I were, I would have sharpened one in the bathroom after I got told you were here, and brought it with me…” Lance said, as a nearby guard heard the comment, and started walking towards them, causing Lance to call out to him. “It’s a joke, a**hole! What the f**k am I going to be able to do, with my hands chained anyway?”

“It’s fine…” Jon said to the guard before turning back to Lance, who stared venom into Jon.

“You didn’t answer the question…” Lance said intently, not taking his eyes off Jon. “Why are you here?”

“I came here to apologize for how I treated you back on the S.S. Wishmaker…”

Lance was silent, though his expression shifted ever so slightly, showing the shock at hearing that.

“I’m not apologizing for going against you after the Diamond Ladies were apprehended, or stopping you from hurting Violet and Jarena. And I haven’t forgiven you for trying to kill them, and frame Latios and I for it…” Jon explained. “But I was wrong to go as far as I did when I stopped you. I could have done it without landing you in the infirmary. And showing up there the next day, just to gloat, and rub your face in the dirt, was f**ked up. So for that, I am sorry…”

Lance didn’t move a muscle, though it was obvious that the rage was building in his eyes.

“You think I want your pity, a**hole?” Lance asked, before spitting on Jon. The guard made his way towards them, though Jon lifted a hand to stop him, unsure if the guard would have actually obliged had Jon not been somewhat famous, or the fact that most people had seen the video of Jon beating Lance senseless. “You sit in your little school, your ivory f**king tower, and you think to yourself ’Hey, I might go grace that insect Lance with my presence?’ Do your good deed for the day?”

Lance expected some wise-crack answer from Jon, however was taken aback by the seriousness of his tone.

“Did you know Chris was at the Academy when you sent those guys to attack?” he asked as he wiped the spit from his face. “That the threats that were made to me, my family and my students, were made to him as well?”

“I didn’t, but if he were willing to associate with you, he’s a lost cause…”

“And when your family found out Chris was put in danger to feed your appetite for revenge, they probably thought the same about you…”

“Shut the f**k up!” Lance shouted, however Jon shouted back.

“No, you shut up and listen for once!”

Jon took a breath, making sure that his words were purely for doing what he knew was right, not stroking his own ego.

“Seriously, what did you think would happen when you sent those idiots after me? We knew from the start it was you, and I know you aren’t that stupid to think we wouldn’t pin this on you from the get-go…” Jon said loudly. “You stood nothing to gain, except more years to your sentence, and if I decided to go public with that, more shame. It was the same on the S.S. Wishmaker. We had a plan that wasn’t perfect, but would have ended up with you getting your title back, and things going back to the way they were. But that wasn’t enough, because you couldn’t get revenge! So you threw away everything just to get even with them! ’Lance may be a murderer, but at least he didn’t lose a fair fight to Jarena’!”

“Go f**k yourself!” Lance yelled, pulling at his handcuffs as the guard came over, and began unlocking his handcuffs from the table to escort him away.

“You used to be great, Lance. One of the strongest. Adored by fans all over the world. And now, for the sake of your pride, you’re rotting in here,” Jon said, as Lance calmed himself, knowing that the walk back to his cell would be less than comfortable if his guard thought he was likely to cause problems. “I really hope that you can actually make a life for yourself. Even with their s**ty pasts, the Diamond Ladies tried, and now they’re dead. It’s a shame really. All this potential between the four of you, now gone.”

“Focus on not losing that f**king school of yours,” Lance called out antagonistically as the guard started to walk away. “I don’t need your f**king sympathy!”

“I’ve never lost a damn thing Lance…”

Jon left the building, where Dylan waited out the front from him, minding he and Jon’s bags.

“How’d it go?” Dylan asked when Jon returned.

“About as s**t as anyone would expect…” Jon retorted with a sigh. “I don’t know what I expected to be honest. I sure as hell didn’t think he’d take kindly to me showing up. But beyond that, it was all unknown…”

Jon recalled his thoughts, before turning to Dylan.

“Any luck finding this burger joint that Chris was talking about?” Jon asked, remembering Dylan was trying to figure out where the six of them would be meeting.

“After a while, yeah. He conveniently didn’t realize that Chrissy’s Burger House is actually a franchise, and there are like six of them in Goldenrod City…” Dylan answered. “Then he wouldn’t answer his damn phone. Ended up calling Abbee to get a hold of him.”

Jon scoffed a little at Dylan’s adventure to find out where they were meeting. Chris and Abbee weren’t exactly a pair he had seen coming, but he had noticed them getting close during the last summer, so wasn’t all that surprised when it became obvious they were an item.

“Do me a favour though, don’t mention to Chris that we came here…” Jon said. “He still can barely look me in the eye whenever the topic of Lance comes up, and he’s worked pretty hard to pull this together…”

Dylan nodded, as the pair made their way to the nearby bus-stop that would take them from the outskirts of the prison on Route 35, south into Goldenrod City. It wasn’t too long before the bus arrived, and the pair found themselves seeing the Goldenrod cityscape growing larger in their vision.

“I’ve come here that many times since I was a kid, and it still feels weird…” Jon said, before looking out the other window. “I wonder if I’d even be able to find my old house, if I wanted to…”

It was easy for Dylan to forget that Jon grew up in Goldenrod City. Considering how vocal Jon was about his love for Hoenn, and how involved he was with Steven, one would think he spent his entire life there.

“Abbee lives around here somewhere,” Dylan commented, having visited her the New Year’s Eve before last. “Couldn’t tell you where though. It’s all just familiar…”

It was another half hour before they got off the bus, and walked for fifteen minutes, following the instructions on Dylan’s phone, before finding the retro style diner. Through the window, they saw Charlotte, Justin, Chris and Abbee all sitting at a table. Abbee was the first to notice them, before waving, as they rounded the building, finding the front door.

“Now if we rocked up late to a class or something…” Chris began, before Jon called back.

“I would differentiate between the six different classrooms, smarta**,” Jon retorted, causing Justin to laugh. Charlotte and Justin moved aside in their booth, allowing Jon to sit on the end, whilst Dylan sat on the other side when Abbee and Chris made space.

“Well it’s no big deal,” Chris explained. “I picked up the keys on my way here, and it’ll be waiting for us once we finish our lunch.”

Jon was about to ask what sort of rental company would hand over keys to a seventeen year old, regardless of whether they were licensed or not, before Justin answered his question.

“You mean you tagged along while I picked up the keys…” Justin remarked, having turned eighteen towards the end of last year, with Charlotte’s eighteenth birthday being a week or so before the hearing.

“Whatever,” Chris said. “Point is, we have it…”

It was Chris’ idea to get together at least once before the trial. He had said at the end of last summer that he didn’t want the next time everyone saw each other to be whatever trial the Eon Academy had to sit through in order for the property to not be seized by the Department of Defence. And upon realizing that rental companies change their prices based on the time of year and how busy they are, he realized that between the six of them, a unique weekend away was actually quite affordable. Especially during April, between the New Year and Summer rushes, when nobody wants to rent a houseboat for a weekend…

“So where are we going this weekend?” Jon asked, knowing only that Chris wanted the group to rent a houseboat, but not exactly what he wanted to do with it.

“Taking a tour of the Whirl Islands, due west of Goldenrod.”

“You want to rent a houseboat that is costing each of us a day's wages to borrow for three nights, and sail it right into whirlpools?” Charlotte noted. “Am I the only one who sees a problem here?”

“Cut me some slack, I’m not that clueless…” Chris explained. “It’s a common tour for people renting from this company. The islands are largely connected by land bridges. Really, it’s a single island, and the south side of it is clear of any whirlpools. So really, you can dock on the south side of the island, and explore all of it on foot.”

“So why the boat?” Dylan asked. “I’m sure it’ll be great, but couldn’t we have just rented a cheap boat to get there, and stayed in tents?”

“Because then we’d be carrying our weight worth of camping gear to the hire depot, and having to set up camp. Plus, it gets freezing there, and the houseboat is heated. I don’t know if any of you have nearly died of hypothermia, but I have, and honestly, I don’t recommend it…”

“Yeah, I camped in the cold enough when I caught Regieleki,” Justin added. “I’m all for the houseboat…”

“And you’ve got a boat license?” Jon asked Chris.

“The Dragon’s Den that my family maintains has a boat so you don’t freeze your a** off in winter having a Pokemon carry you over, and I’ve been operating it since I was a kid. I only got my license so that the insurance company wouldn’t have a fit,” Chris explained, before ending the discussion before more questions came. “Seriously, it’s all good! Can we please just enjoy ourselves? Next time we see each other, we might not be able to as much…”

The mood darkened a little at the mention of the hearing. Whilst the interns wanted to have faith they could win, and the Eon Academy survives, they didn’t want to get their hopes up ridiculously high either. Sensing the awkwardness, Jon changed the subject.

“So why the Whirl Islands?”

“I’ve never been, and I take it none of you have?” Chris asked. “Clair told me they are pretty incredible, and…”

Chris looked around making sure nobody on nearby tables could overhear.

“They say that Lugia occasionally live in the caves there…”

Charlotte groaned.

“We barely survived one fight with a Legendary Pokemon, and you want to track down another?”

“Abbee has Victini, Justin has Regieleki, and once Jon convinces the courts that the military are a**holes, you will probably have Deoxys,” Chris said mouthing the last word in case someone was listening in. “Dylan doesn’t care too much about battling, so I don’t expect him to go chasing after a Legendary Pokemon. Just leaves me…”

There was a collective groan, before Chris spoke up again.

“I’m kidding, Lugia hasn’t been sighted in the area in years, and considering the size of it, they’d be pretty hard to miss…” Chris said, before continuing when he realized the others were unconvinced. “Besides, I’d rather catch a Dragon instead…”


Chapter 2
“I swear to God, if you hit an iceberg…” Justin said to Chris, as he captained the houseboat they had picked up a few hours earlier.

“I’m not going to sink the ship,” Chris retorted, rolling his eyes. “I’ve been driving these things since I was a kid…”

“Last time I was on a boat that wasn’t the ferry, I had to try and not get turned into a Dunsparce,” Jon laughed, as Victini rolled his eyes at him. “So far this is perfect.”

Jon lounged on the couch, as Chris stood by the ship’s wheel and engine controls, operating the boat, as Justin watched, somewhat curious about how he did it, and also making sure Chris wasn’t going to steer the boat into the side of an island. Dylan, Abbee and Charlotte sat at the dining table, playing cards with Victini, whom they had to keep an eye on, with his telepathy giving him a massive edge in whatever game they were playing.

“Justin, relax,” Jon said, before making his way to the fridge, grabbing himself a beer. “Want a beer?”

Slightly surprised at the offer, Justin accepted, before Jon tossed a can across the room to him, before grabbing three more, handing one to Dylan, and letting Latios out of his Pokeball to have one, much to Abbee’s amusement. As he opened one for himself, Chris spoke up.

“After we dock, can I have one?” Chris asked.

“Are you eighteen yet?” Jon asked, knowing the answer.

“No…”

“There’s your answer…” Jon said with a smug grin. “You can have one when you’re eighteen.”

“I can captain a rented boat, but I can’t have a single can of beer?” Chris retorted.

“I don’t write the rules,” Jon answered. “I just make the most of them. Now focus on the road, or the water. Whatever lingo you boat people use…”

Justin laughed at the exchange, as he sipped the beer, before realizing how much he disliked the taste, and noticing Latios, who had already finished his, looking towards him the same way his Houndoom used to when he was eating dinner.

“All yours,” Justin said, passing Latios the can.

“Last one,” Jon said sternly to Latios. “I counted how many are in the fridge, and know exactly how many there are. If any are unaccounted for, I will assume it’s you…”

Latios cried out, sounding irritated at Jon’s lecturing, as Abbee snorted in laughter at the exchange.

”Does Latios not have any self-respect?” Victini asked Abbee telepathically.

”As much as you do when ice-cream is involved…” Abbee thought back to her Legendary partner, who took the point, and didn’t argue further...

Before they picked up the boat, the group had bought groceries for the trip, planning on arriving in the late afternoon and early evening, and having a small party between them during the evening, before beginning their exploration of the Whirl Islands in the morning.

“How’s uni been Justin?” Jon asked, before adding jokingly. “Think you could represent me in the hearing?”

Chris barked out in laughter as Justin’s face turned white.

“I’m kidding…” Jon confirmed. “But how’s it going?”

“It’s going well,” Justin explained. “Classes are over for the year, I just have a couple of assignments to hand in during May, but I don’t think it’ll be too difficult.”

“Is that a humble-brag?” Charlotte asked, before attempting to impersonate Justin. “’I’m doing a Law Degree at one of the best universities in the world, and have assignments due, but I don’t think it’ll be too difficult…’”

“Well I got into one of the best Law programs in the world, partially because I helped discover an undiscovered Legendary Pokemon,” Justin began. “So if I can’t brag a little, nobody can…”

“He’s got a point,” Jon said to Charlotte, before taking another sip of his beer, enjoying stirring the pot a little. “Any response to this Charlotte?”

“No response,” Charlotte replied. “Just wanted clarification.”

“I mean, I understand. It’s not like you’re in one of the best Law Programs in the world,” Justin retorted with a grin. “You know, like I am…?”

Jon burst into laughter, as Charlotte made a face at Justin.

“Careful, you don’t know anyone else in Jubilife, and if I get sick of you, you might find yourself stuck at home every weekend…” Charlotte commented.

“What’s Charlotte like at home?” Chris called out. “Any different?”

“Well…” Justin began.

“Watch it!” Charlotte said sharply to Justin.

“She’s pretty much the same. Maybe a bit less uptight without you there to keep from saying something stupid,” Justin said to Chris, earning a grin from Charlotte.

“I can relate to that…” Abbee said, jokingly exasperated.

Dylan accidentally spat out his beer at the comment, causing everyone to laugh, as Dylan tried to clean up the mess.

“How’s Candice doing?” Jon asked. “I saw her #SaveTheEonAcademy posts…”

“She’s doing well. The Gym’s quieter now that she is the eighth badge,” Justin explained. “So I’ve been able to see her a bit. A lot easier for her to make a trip to Jubilife for a day, than coming out to Kalos. I was at Snowpoint City with her last Christmas, which was nice.”

“When you weren’t avoiding paparazzi?” Abbee asked, remembering seeing one of the gossip magazine’s posting a photo of Justin, who now had his own fame, seen holding hands in Snowpoint City during Christmas with Candice.

Justin groaned.

“You guys remember what you did to my inbox when I mentioned a Gym Leader?” Justin asked. “Imagine that, but with four and a half thousand followers?! I swear, I got another five hundred followers after that picture got published, all from Candice fan-pages…”

Jon laughed, as Abbee tried to console him.

“It was a really sweet photo,” Abbee remarked.

“You see this is why I avoided the media for as long as I did,” Jon explained. “Or at least part of it. Then I had to go and win a goddamn High Seas Tournament…”

“It’s so hard being famous, isn’t it?” Dylan said sarcastically, shocking the other four teenagers, though Jon didn’t seem surprised.

“Oh totally,” Jon answered equally sarcastically. “I get more and more people signing up for the Academy every year! You know how many more rooms I am gonna have to build at this rate?”


The Whirl Islands came into view as the sun began setting in the west, and when it did, Chris called the rest of them over. The islands themselves were a mix of pale-blue and grey, illuminated by the orange and pinks of the sun setting over the horizon behind them.

“I gotta say Chris, I think you’ve done well…” Jon said, as he took in the view. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t need something like before things get intense…”

“Is it looking that bad?” Chris asked, talking about the situation with the Academy. The others didn’t speak, as it was what was on everyone’s mind. Public support was certainly on their side, however public opinion very rarely had much sway.

“It depends on how confident the government is that they can get re-elected. If they are confident they can do that without sacking Hill, then it depends on whether they get back in or not,” Jon explained. “We need to come up with an attack on Hill that’s heavy enough that it’s going to stick. He’s been doing dodgy s**t for years, but it’s always been in small amounts, and he’s been able to bulls**t his way out of it. Even what happened with Deoxys. We’re finding out what we can about Hill, and poking around, but we gotta find something that will stick. Once that sticks, and people see the truth about him, everything else should stick as well…”

“What does your lawyer think of it all?” Justin asked.

“What lawyer?” Jon asked. “Seriously, nobody is willing to touch this case. Appealing acquisition orders is almost a guaranteed loss anyway, but throw in the fact that the amount of money I owe on the property, and the fact that it’s value has dropped since I can’t fix the damage from the attack, and the property is deteriorating, and I might as well be walking into a lawyers office with a danger sign. They’re worried that I will lose the case, be forced to sell the property significantly under-value, and not be able to pay them when I pay off the debt on the property itself…”

“Won’t the court appoint you a lawyer if you ask?” Charlotte asked.

“Sure, but a lawyer forced into a case is more likely than not going to half a** it, and settle for less,” Jon explained. “Their idea of a good outcome would be the property being sold based on the value it had before the attack…”

Dylan sighed, before Jon figured enough was enough.

“Steven and I are working on it. And we’ll figure it out,” Jon reassured. “Hill is an arrogant son of a b***h, and until recently he has been sloppy. We will catch him out…”

It was shortly after when the boat arrived by the wooden pier on the southernmost of the Whirl Islands, and after a few more attempts than Chris would have liked for, he managed to throw the rope from the boat onto one of the large wooden poles, securing it loosely, before taking better measures to secure it properly. As he did, he noticed something in his peripheral vision. A light from a boat in the darkening distance around the west side of the islands. Thinking nothing of it, he continued securing the boat, before climbing back aboard the boardwalk.

“So Alyssa was fine with you two leaving to go gallivanting across Johto for a weekend?” Chris asked Jon and Dylan, as everyone ate dinner, which was a curry prepared by Dylan.

“Not sure why you’re including me in this?” Dylan retorted. “She’s not my wife? I was coming regardless...”

“I’ll let her know how much you value her opinion then,” Jon commented jokingly, as Dylan rolled his eyes. “Alyssa was fine with it. I’ve barely had a weekend off since the Deoxys incident, and she pretty much forced me out the door when the opportunity for a few days off came up…”

“Other than the obvious, what’s been keeping you busy?” Charlotte asked. “Are you still able to do the normal stuff the Academy does during the year?”

“Only a small amount,” Jon explained. “A few local schools have come in for day trips, but with the site being in the state it’s in, we can’t have people staying on site. So I’ve been doing a bit of work at the gym, filling in as a Gym Trainer there. Dylan’s also working at the Pokefood shop he used to work at when he was younger, since things are quiet right now…”

“It’s good you’ve got work,” Justin said. “But isn’t being a Gym Trainer a bit beneath you?”

Chris shot Justin a glare, which he noticed.

“What? It’s the truth…” Justin said, exasperatedly. “Jon should be filling in for an Elite Four member at his skill level…”

“It’s fine Justin,” Abbee answered, before turning to Chris and repeating herself to make sure he understood. “It’s fine…”

“What’s going on?” Justin asked, realizing Abbee was the reason for Chris’ reaction, though not knowing why…

“I’ve got a job lined up for after this summer,” Abbee said. “Now that I’ve finished high school, I applied for a Gym Trainer position, thanks to Candice’s advice last year, and found out a few days back that I got the job…”

“Congratulations!” Jon said, suddenly sounding a bit more upbeat, thankful for some good news. “Which gym?”

“Nimbasa City, under Elesa,” Abbee explained. “So I’ll be moving to Unova in September, and need to catch myself another electric Pokemon and get it ready before then. Preferably something native to Unova. I’m thinking maybe an Electabuzz…”

“And all of this is so you can eventually replace Elesa?” Justin asked, having heard from Candice the advice she gave Abbee. Abbee went red, before stuttering slightly.

“I mean, that isn’t the only reason why I chose Nimbasa City! It’s a great place, and Elesa seems really great to work for!” Abbee began trying to reason. “But if she decided to leave, I’d definitely try and get her job!”

“It’s fine Abbee,” Charlotte said. “You’re allowed to have ambitions…”

“How do you think I got an extra hundred grand for winning the High Seas Tournament,” Jon laughed. “I offered to tank my reputation and take the fall, but only if I got the fourth place prize that was now going to nobody with the truth about Cassandra coming out. Even if the plan didn’t work, I’d kept my end of the deal, and started tanking my reputation so I got an extra hundred thousand to buy the Academy…”

“Well, yeah…” Abbee said. “I’d like to be a Gym Leader, and Nimbasa City seems like my best bet for that…”

“And you’re looking forward to it?” Jon asked, it seeming like a dumb question, but wanting to make sure Abbee wasn’t signing up for a job she was going to hate, seeing it as a necessity to reach her goals.

“Oh of course!” Abbee explained. “I’m looking forward to living in Nimbasa City, and want to be challenged by more than the five of you. And I can take summers off without any issue, so I can still come to Hoenn for the Academy.”

“Sounds great,” Jon answered, before looking over to Chris. “What’re you going to do now that you’ve finished school?”

“Get ready to compete in the open league when I turn eighteen,” Chris answered. “Six more months. Charlotte will be able to compete by the end of the month, and has had the last eight odd months to prepare without worrying about school, and might even have a crazy powerful Legendary Pokemon before I can compete. So I need to catch up…”

“Even if the courts decide I can keep Deoxys, it will take a long time before any insurance company will consider covering me using it, or the league lets me use it in an official battle…” Charlotte retorted. “I wouldn’t count that too highly in your plans.”

“I will account for it anyway,” Chris answered. “That way if you are right and I’ve overprepared, beating you will be that much easier…”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, but she was right about Deoxys.

Steven still held onto the Pokeball, having stored it somewhere where only he could find it, as to appease the government enough to not seize it themselves. When Jon had spoken to Charlotte about her being Deoxys trainer, he had anticipated the military trying to take it, and them having a legal fight on their hands for Charlotte to keep the Pokemon. The plan that Steven suggested was to appeal the order to hand Deoxys over so it ends up in court, and use Jon’s own exceptional training on Latios (though hoping enough time had passed since the S.S. Wishmaker incident) as reason to believe that Jon could help Charlotte train Deoxys to the point where it is safe to be let out of its Pokeball around other people, with Steven vouching for Jon having a secret, isolated location for training dangerous Pokemon. The original plan was for that process to take a month or two at most, and Charlotte actually live at the Academy, sharing the old lodge with Dylan, and accompanying Jon each weekend to his secret training ground, the relatively unknown and deserted Southern Island, to train Deoxys there.

However, the Department of Defence setting their sights on the Eon Academy itself, whilst also demanding Deoxys, caused the fate of the two to be entwined together. With the Eon Academy’s chances of survival being better the longer it took for the hearing to happen, where both of the Department of Defence’s orders would be addressed, Steven had to hold onto Deoxys for the entire time, it appeasing the government that until a more final resolution was found, the Hoenn Champion was in possession of the Pokeball. Assuming that the courts even allowed the Eon Academy to possess Deoxys, until it was trained enough for Charlotte to take ownership, it would have been nine months between Deoxys being forced into the Master Ball by Latios’ Mach 2 impact, and it being allowed out again, with Steven not taking the risk of going to Southern Island himself, and being followed by someone under Hill’s orders, effectively preventing Jon from training Rayquaza there after.


The group stayed up for a few more hours after dinner, chatting, laughing, and those who were over eighteen, having a couple of drinks, before everyone went to sleep, Jon and Dylan bunking in one room, Chris and Justin in another, and Abbee and Charlotte in the third. Whilst the teenagers all slept relatively peacefully, Jon struggled, as he continued to ponder the information they had about Hill and the incident with Deoxys, trying to think of some angle he hadn’t considered, that would guarantee them a win…

Chapter 3
It was shortly before 8am when the six trainers, alongside Victini and Latios, found themselves hiking along the trail from the pier where their rented boat was docked, heading towards one of the many natural land-bridges that connected the outer island they were on, to one of the many islands in the center of the Whirl Islands, containing caves, whirlpools, and other odd natural formations. However, the slight hope that the trainers were holding to, was the slight chance of seeing Lugia…

“Wait, I thought Lugia was usually seen around Ecruteak City?” Jon asked, an hour and a half or so after they left, remembering vaguely his conversation with Cassandra in Sky Pillar. “Something to do with the towers?”

“Are you that old? Maybe a hundred and fifty years ago...” Abbee replied, as Chris laughed.

“Ecruteak City has two towers. One is standing, and one burned down,” Chris explained. “Lugia and Ho-Oh were known to perch atop these towers, until a hundred and fifty years ago, when the one Lugia perched on was struck by lightning and burned down.”

“Both Pokemon flew away, and neither has been seen there since,” Abbee explained. “Ho-Oh has a tendency to fly all across Johto and Kanto, and nobody knows where it lands these days.”

“Lugia on the other hand is a little harder to plot, since it can swim deep underwater as well as fly,” Chris answered. “But it’s been sighted here more than any other place in recorded history, so this place must have some significance to it.”

“And you’re sure you’re not here to just try and catch a Legendary Pokemon, and use us as fodder?” Charlotte asked Chris, as Justin laughed at the comment.

“You guys know I’m more comfortable with Dragon types,” Chris answered. “Really, I just want to see a Lugia, that’s it.”

“What known Dragon Type Legendaries are there?” Charlotte asked, as she tried to think. “Jon has Latios, and there is Latias as well…”

“As far as I know, Latios is the only one in Hoenn,” Jon explained. “Steven mentioned a Pokeball registered to a trainer in Hoenn somewhere that has caught Latias, though I don’t know if there are others…”

“Sinnoh mythology seems to indicate that Dialga, Palkia and Giratina are all partially Dragon Types, though there are no recorded sightings of them, and they could all just be myths…” Charlotte explained, trying to think it over.

“The other statue at the temple where I caught Regieleki was for a Pokemon called Regidrago, which I wouldn’t be stupid in assuming is a Dragon Type,” Justin added. “Still, that’s only three Legendary Dragons that we actually know for sure exist…”

“Four actually,” Charlotte replied. “Remember a few years back, Rayquaza was on the news for causing a plane to have to land? What if you captured Rayquaza?”

Jon had been drinking from his water bottle when Charlotte spoke, and choked on his drink in shock at hearing Charlotte mention the Rayquaza so casually. Whilst she knew Jon had a Legendary Pokemon that was kept on the down-low, she hadn’t asked what Pokemon this was, and wasn’t aware that anyone but Dylan knew. Justin however was completely in the dark that Jon had a seventh Pokemon.

“You good there?” Justin asked Jon, who was trying to recover from accidentally inhaling his water.

“Fine,” Jon croaked. “Just went down the wrong way…”

“So Rayquaza,” Charlotte said to Chris as they walked. “Could you see yourself ever capturing that?”

“Umm, yeah…” Chris said, trying to sound convincing, not wanting Charlotte to ask more questions about it.

Like Deoxys, Rayquaza’s Pokeball had been in Steven’s possession, with Jon being under military scrutiny, and because of that, Rayquaza hadn’t left its Pokeball since August of the year before, eight months ago. As much as it was proven that Pokemon could survive up to a year in their Pokeballs without negative psychological effects, though it wasn’t recommended, Jon was concerned at the potential backwards steps in Rayquaza’s training that such a long time in the Pokeball could cause. He even considered releasing Rayquaza when he realized that such a long time in the Pokeball was a likely possibility, however with the election coming up, and Jon and Steven doing everything they can to discredit Mark Hill, Jon was worried Hill would set his sights on Rayquaza again to win back voter confidence.

”Smooth Jon…” said Victini’s voice in Jon’s head, as Jon looked towards where Abbee walked, carrying Victini, and the mythical Pokemon flashing Jon a sarcastic thumbs up…

Chris quickly changed the subject, asking Justin if Lauren, the researcher who had discovered Regieleki, had any leads on where they could capture Regidrago, as the statue in the temple where Regieleki was captured seemed to be completely deactivated with Regieleki being captured instead. This then turned to Justin talking more about his trip to Galar a bit over a year earlier.

Whilst they had below average phone service where the boat was docked from the mainland, allowing them to use their phones if they needed to, but being abysmal enough to make using it too frustratingly long winded for them to want to use their phones, it had disappeared very quickly as they got further from the boat, occasionally returning for a few seconds, but largely making their phones useless. Hence the surprise when Jon’s phone rang an hour after the talk of Legendary Dragons.

“Alyssa?” Dylan asked when he saw Jon pull out his vibrating phone.

“No, Steven…” Jon answered, before answering the phone. “Steven, what’s going on?”


”J̩͕̦ͤ̅͑̒͌͒̑ŏ̺͈̟̠̩̣̣̌͆͐̉̇n͊͒ͨ,̴̠̝̙̠͉̤̭ͯ ̱̪͑̔̃ͨd̖͉͍̘̠̖o͙͎̝ ͪ̆͛̀y̻͈̿̀͒͑o̬̣͓̬̙̩͟ű͉̤̲̜̮͝ ̼̠̹̥ͧͯ̔ͭḫ̼͉̥͐̃̎̽͞ͅa̛̒v̠̫͉̂̈́̓̈́̃̅̿e̫͔̰̺̘̓̃̈ͦ̾ ̮͇̞̣̳̓́à̠͇̝̰̙̥͉ͥ͗̾͛ͣ͟ ̙̫̥̗̜͙̑ͤͩ̾ͥͨ͟m̹̤̞̹̝̃ͅḭ̤̭͔̹͑ͦͭͤ͌̿͡n͕̲͇ͦ͊̏ụͫͨ̃ͤ̊͂t ̤̙̫̯̤̣̿̍è̞ͤ̿̂̈?̝͈̝̐ͬ̍̚ ̶̣̹̹͌̇ͧͨ͂ͬI̬͂͐̊ͪ̽̕'͏̯͕v̟͖̝̭͇͇ͣͅe̱̼̔̎̉ͭ̿ͮ ̫͙̗̤͈ͨ͊̒ͪ̉̆ͅğ̪̊̋̓̉o̞̺͌̚t̨̤͕͔̬̊̍ͨͅ ̱͇̬̩̓͆ͪ͂͢á̴͉̗̀̔ͥn̮͓̯̮͓͚̒́͐͆͂̾ ̜̠̖̻̜̒̀̀̉̇u̠͔̙̗̭̘̓̔̅͋͊̑p̢̲̥̙̻̔̑̐̍̂d͉̻̭͈ͥ͛̋̀ͪͫ̚a̡͒̄ ̞͔̼͖ť̡͓̣̱̜̓̃̊ͮe̤̖̰̘̅̓̓̌͋̉͑ ͖̩̱͖̘͚͚͡o̼̞̰̱ͥ̿͜n̘͚̺̖̯͇͆ͬ͒̅ ̪̥̘̠̙̹̄̔ͧo̟͎̜͉̮̞ͤͫ͆u͇̅̉̆̒́r̨̞ͬ̈́̔ ̜̞̗̱̹̦̃͠c̶̬̯̻a̵̒͒šͥ̽͗͡e̵̝̲͚͓̳̘.̮̗̲͑̊ͩ̓̏͛͟ͅ”


The signal was cutting in and out, and Jon found himself unable to understand Steven at all, though managed to hear the two last words. Our case. Before Jon could reply, the signal dropped, as Jon slowed down to a stop, the others noticing and doing the same.

“I can’t get a good enough signal here, but he mentioned the hearing,” Jon explained, looking at his watch, and thinking it over. “What time did we have to turn back to get to the boat before nightfall?”

“About 1pm,” Chris answered. “We should be able to cover the eastern half of the islands today in that time, and then the western side tomorrow.”

Jon considered it. He’d be getting back to the ship about that time if he were to turn back now.

“Normally, I’d say Steven can wait, but this might be something important,” Jon explained. “So I might head back to the boat now and see what he has for me.”

The mood dampened a little, as the group realized there was now a chance they’d see Lugia, and Jon not be there to witness it with them because of the hearing.

“I’ll make it up to you and get a head start on dinner,” Jon explained. “You guys will be back at the boat, and dinner will be waiting for you.”

“Couldn’t Latios just fly you back real quick?” Chris asked. “You’d be gone an hour at most…”

“Steven’s found something, and if it’s something bad that we need to do damage control on, I could be stuck on the phone all afternoon, especially with the s**ty reception here,” Jon explained. “And besides, I’d rather Latios stay with you, that way if there’s an emergency, he can help you. Be it finding someone who gets separated, or come and find me…”

Whilst they didn’t like that Jon would be missing out, they knew his logic was sound.

“If we see Lugia, we’re coming back tomorrow with you, regardless.” Charlotte said, as Jon grinned.

“I’m surprised you’re not thinking of trying to catch it just to show me,” Jon laughed, as Chris grinned, having not considered it. “Don’t do that…”

Chris laughed when he realized the comment was directed at him, before Jon told them to be careful, and turned back himself.

It was a little after noon when Jon saw the houseboat come into sight as he passed the last outcropping of rock that blocked it from view. Checking his phone, he decided to take a chance and call Steven. The phone rang for a few seconds before Steven answered.

“Whirl Islands have terrible reception or something?” Steven asked, after he answered the phone, sounding much clearer than he did before.

“Something like that,” Jon answered. “If I miss a Lugia sighting, I’m blaming you…”

“Surely you’ve seen enough Legendary Pokemon for the novelty to have worn off?”

“I have, but the other’s still get a kick out of it, and wanted me there for it,” Jon explained. “But I figured you wouldn’t call unless you have a good reason. What’s up?”

“Remember when the army began their cleanup of the Space Center, and tried to salvage what they could? About a week after the acquisition order arrived?” Steven asked, not waiting for an answer. “Hill has been a pain in the a**, making sure I can’t get my hands on any information. But I finally made some progress…”

“What did they find?” Jon asked.

“The harddrive of the computer that the researchers were keeping their data on,” Steven explained. “I am certain that all of that data was accessible to Hill from his office in Slateport, and any changes made to files in the Space Center PCs would automatically be reflected in his copies of the files. It’s the twenty-first century, and most of the government’s systems run that way…”

“But naturally, Hill told everyone that those files were only kept on site, so that the researchers who were allegedly researching Deoxys against his orders wouldn’t get caught, whilst he had a digital shredding party…” Jon answered. “So now Hill has access to the information that was on the harddrive without it incriminating him…”

”Exactly,” Steven confirmed. “But now it is on the government server, where it has to be. He has tried to store it somewhere that you wouldn’t expect to find it, but now I know it’s there, it didn’t take long to find the files. I’ve forwarded them to you through our usual channel…”

Their usual communication channel was the system used on the S.S. Wishmaker, where Steven communicated with Jon when they needed somewhere secure. Whilst it was technically a government system, having been created by the League, it hadn’t been used in nearly three years, and Steven was certain Hill wouldn’t have access to it, or even think to look there.

“I’ll check them out soon,” Jon answered, as the ship came closer in view. “Thanks. This could be good…”

”I really hope so…”

Jon hung up, before making his way to the boat. Whilst he could have downloaded the files and read them on his phone, the reception, as bad as it was, was still better on the boat, and he had his tablet there where he could read the files a little easier.

He climbed aboard the boat, as the wind blew hard against it outside, and caused the door to slam behind him as he entered the main area that contained the kitchen and dining area. He grabbed his tablet from the counter where he left it, opening it, and downloading the files, which were thankfully not overly large, and downloaded within twenty or so seconds. He opened the first, which was a general file about the meteorite.

The first section of text was the history of the item, which Jon largely knew. It was found after the meteor was struck down by Dylan and Justin’s Metagross and Regieleki, and Latios used its telepathic empathy to determine it was most likely a Pokemon, before it was handed over to the Space Center by Steven Stone for research. The next section however made Jon sick.

The report detailed that first they attempted to break it, by both sharp and blunt trauma, however they couldn’t pierce the meteorite. After that, they attempted to see if there was any sort of response by heating it. Their equipment detected a telepathic response from the meteorite in response, and from there, they put it through various forms of stress. After that was putting electricity through it, freezing it, even attempting to boil it. And whenever there was a response, something telepathic detected, they’d increase what they were doing to trigger another response.

“They were torturing it, and when it cried out, they tortured it more…” Jon muttered, feeling sick, as he remembered Charlotte’s nightmares, realizing Deoxys must have reached out to her because she was the one who found it, and tried to keep it safe… “No wonder it was so angry…”

The next section was largely information Jon didn’t understand about the DNA, and how it was different to anything they had seen before, with the recommended next step to expose it to radiation, in order to damage the DNA, and see if that triggers a protective response from the Pokemon. That was the last recorded bit of data.

Jon locked the tablet, putting it down as he thought over what he read. There were other files Steven had sent through, but that one on its own was enough for the time being.

Feeling thirsty, Jon made his way to the fridge to get a bottle of water. He grabbed the bottle, not thinking much of it, before closing the door, however realizing something a second later. He opened the door, and looked at the two shelves that contained the beer Jon had brought.

Jon had bought two cases, figuring between the four of them who were having beer over two nights, they would get through one of the cases at least, and Jon could take the rest home. The evening before, Jon had three, Dylan had two, Justin had one which he gave to Latios, and Latios had one of his own early in the evening and one later. Eight beers between the four of them. One case remained unopened on the bottom shelf, and the one that was opened the night before was on the shelf above. One six pack was gone, the carton being binned when it was emptied, and two full ones remained. One however was exactly half full, with three cans in it. Which meant nine cans had been consumed…

Jon quickly began trying to figure out if Dylan or Justin grabbed another that he didn’t see, before he considered whether Latios took an extra one. However Latios had been in his Pokeball after he had his second, third when counting Justin’s can, and hadn’t been let out until they were on the path that morning. And Jon remembered getting his water bottle from the fridge that morning, and seeing four cans in the partially emptied six pack…

Jon heard a sound from one of the bunk rooms, and went to grab a Pokeball from his belt, before feeling a crack of pain across the back of his head as something hard was slammed into it, and his vision flashed white, taking a few seconds to readjust.

“Don’t move, or I’ll blow your f**king head off…”

Jon raised his hands in the air, showing he was unarmed, before slowly turning around to find himself looking down the barrel of a sawn off shotgun...

Chapter 4
“What the hell do you want?” Jon asked, as he was walked down the pier, feeling the end of the shortened shotgun jabbing into his back.


“Shut up!” the man said, before stopping, and getting Jon to do the same. As they did, Jon watched as two other men left the houseboat, both having most likely been hiding in the bunk rooms when the door slamming behind Jon tipped them off he was there. One carried a bolt action rifle.

All three men were dressed in fairly casual clothing, albeit dirty and worn, with varying degrees of buzzed hair, each looking like they did each other's.

As the two men arrived, the man with the shotgun ordered Jon to hand over his Pokemon to the unarmed man, who carried a backpack with him. Jon began unclipping his Pokeballs, begrudgingly placing them in the bag. Whilst the man with the shotgun could potentially be overpowered on his own, with the right distraction, the fact his friend had a rifle made Jon’s chances of surviving any sort of fight far too slim.

“The belt too,” Shotgun ordered, waving the gun down towards Jon’s waist.

“My pants won’t stay up without it,” Jon retorted. “You really wanna walk wherever we are going with a great view of my a**?”

“I said the belt!”

“We don’t have time for this,” Rifle said to Shotgun angrily. “We shouldn’t even be taking hostages. Too many loose ends…”

“There’s too many places to hide on this damn island,” Shotgun retorted. “And if Latios gets close enough to this a**hole, it will be tipped off, so we can’t just wait on their boat…”

“You think the captain will get him to talk?” Backpack asked.

“If he can, we can still ambush the others…” Shotgun answered.

Jon remained silent, knowing that if he spoke, they might realize he is hearing too much and stop giving away all this information. For the time being he knew that these guys were after the others, though he wasn’t sure if they knew who the others were, and that they thought he could help them find and ambush the others, so they weren’t going to kill him yet. They also weren’t going to take him off the island, though there was the slight chance that they could send his Pokemon off the island. However, he also knew that these guys knew exactly who he was, and had a very good idea of Latios’ capabilities.

Jon was walked towards the west, where the path was much more difficult, getting very close to the water to round a rocky outcrop. However, as they got to the tip of the outcrop, Jon had one question answered for him. How these guys got to the Whirl Islands, and where they were taking him.

Practically invisible to the pier, blocked from sight by the rocky outcrops on the western edge of the island, was a natural cove, and inside it, was a ship. It was larger than the boat Jon and the others had arrived on, looked to be more of a workboat, with a relatively small hull, but a large and elaborate cabin area with two levels.

“Nice place,” Jon said, though all three men remained silent, as they walked him towards a rocky ledge that contained the board to cross onto the ship. He was led across the deck by Rifle, with Shotgun still poking his namesake into Jon’s back, towards the building in the center. As they entered, Jon noticed the room was a large communal area, with a kitchen, tables and a small lounge in one corner. There were doorways off to other rooms, which Jon guessed were bathrooms and sleeping quarters. At the table was a smaller man, who wasn’t as well built as the three holding him hostage, who sat behind a laptop. His hair was shoulder length, and pulled into a bun. His eyes widened when he noticed Jon.

“What’s he doing here?!” Man-Bun asked. “If he has seen the ship, he’s going to have to be dealt with…”

“He came back to their boat alone,” Shotgun explained. “One of these idiots tripped and gave us away, so he knew we were there…”

“Still, you couldn’t interrogate him on the ship?” Man-Bun asked. “At least then we don’t have to kill him, and have the attention of being the ones who killed Jon Drake…”

“Your computer says that Latios was able to communicate with him from opposite sides of the S.S. Wishmaker, right?” Shotgun asked Man-Bun, leaving Jon shocked. These people had the report from the S.S. Wishmaker incident…

“Yes…”

“Does it say how far Latios can communicate with him from?”

“No, I don’t know…” Man-Bun admitted.

“For all we know, Laitos has already made contact with him, and is preparing the others for a fight…” Shotgun answered. “We have the home field advantage here if we do wind up in a fight…”

Man-Bun went silent as they continued escorting Jon towards a doorway at the back of the room. The door was opened, as Jon was escorted into what looked like a storeroom by Backpack and Shotgun, whilst Rifle came in a few moments later with a chair and some plastic cable ties.

“Sit…” Shotgun said, gesturing at the chair. Jon sat, placing his arms on the armrests, as Rifle began securing them with the cable-ties. As he did, Jon tensed his wrists, holding them tense until Rifle had secured both his hands, as he had been taught during the training for his first League operation with Steven, years ago. The room was dimly lit, and when the attention was off his wrists, Jon relaxed, feeling the cable-ties loosen slightly. Thankfully they left his legs unsecured, though he wasn’t going to give that advantage away by trying to kick them.

“Get the captain,” Shotgun said to Backpack, who left the room. There was an awkward silence as Rifle and Shotgun waited for Backpack to return, whilst Jon tried to make a point of subtly taking in what he could of the room around him. In the corner was a CCTV camera, watching him closely, and Jon noticed a light flicker on for a few minutes, which seemed to indicate it was active. Perhaps Man-Bun was wanting to see what was going on?

In the opposite corner of the room was a trough, like that which belonged in a laundry or even a garage, with a cupboard underneath it. However, in the trough was a black tub, and from it, Jon recognized the glint of something glossy black, and spherical.

Before Jon could take in anymore, he noticed the light on the camera had flickered off, before the door to the room opened, and they were joined by Man-Bun and another man who seemed to have them all on edge. The Captain.

“Jon Drake…” The Captain said, with a smug grin. “The last thing I was expecting to hear when we were resupplying in Goldenrod was that you had made the trip from Hoenn. Then when your friend with Regieleki also came through Goldenrod Airport, we thought it was our lucky day…”

Something wasn’t right for Jon. First these guys knew information from the S.S. Wishmaker Mission Report, and now they knew when Jon and Justin had entered Goldenrod?

“We thought for sure we’d need to work hard to find the pair of you, only to see you boarding that little boat of yours from the docks with all your little friends…” The Captain continued. “We were truly blessed, and couldn’t let such an opportunity pass. Do you know who we are?”

“Poachers?” Jon asked, nodding towards the tub full of unregistered Pokeballs in the trough. “No other profession could make use of so many illegal Pokeballs.”

“He’s a smart one!” The Captain said emphatically to Shotgun, who remained silent, whilst Jon quickly tried to process the information. They were poachers, and whilst Jon’s Pokemon that they had already taken were common, they were also championship trained, and would be too much hassle to be the main target. The amount of risk they presented, considering how little money they would actually sell for, made them not worth the effort. Latios on the other hand, as well as Regieleki and Victini, whilst all risky, would also fetch high prices.

“Hopefully he is smart enough to answer our questions…” The Captain continued, before addressing Jon directly. “Justin Collins and Abbee Strauss. Where are they? Latios too for that matter...”

This confirmed Jon’s suspicion. They were after the Legendary Pokemon.

Jon remained silent, staring at the Captain, who grinned, before punching Jon across the face. Jon grunted, as his face stung, and he accidentally bit his tongue, causing it to bleed. He spat the blood out of his mouth onto the ground.

“My two year old daughter hits harder than that…” Jon sneered, before taking another blow, this time to the other side of the face. Preparing for it, he clenched his teeth, so he didn’t accidentally bite his tongue, though this time, the shock rattled his entire skull.

“Keep thinking about her,” The Captain said. “The thought of seeing her again might get you thinking a little clearer…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was 1pm before the interns had reached the northernmost part of the Islands, having stopped by a few shallow caves to look around. They had gone along the eastern side, following the trail that was already there, and whilst they could theoretically return to the houseboat going around the western edge, they didn’t know the terrain at all, and didn’t want to potentially be fumbling around the rocky outcrops west of the boat in the dark. Needing to turn back to not be getting back to the boat too late, they began their return journey, thankful that the sun would eventually be obscured by the western side of the islands, and the rocky structures that they housed.

“What were we having for dinner tonight again?” Justin asked, about an hour after turning back.

“I made a lasagne the other day, and froze it,” Abbee answered. “Jon’s just gotta heat it up in the oven, so it should be easy…”

“Does the houseboat have a gas or electric oven?” Dylan asked Chris.

“I’m not sure…” Chris asked. “Why?”

“We weren’t expecting anyone to be on the boat between eight and six, so almost no electricity is being used,” Dylan explained. “But Jon would have gotten there at around 1, and has probably been using power. And if the oven’s electric…”

“The battery will be dead…” Chris said, realizing why Dylan was asking.

“There’s a generator, isn’t there?” Justin asked. “The guy who showed us around the boat showed us. To charge the battery if it gets low?”

“There is, but it’s not exactly easy to get running…” Chris said, remembering the slightly long winded process on the older boat.

“Good luck getting a call through here…” Charlotte said, with everyone well aware of how bad the phone service was this far from the mainland.

“We don’t need cellular…” Abbee remarked, before nodding towards Latios, who was floating above them, looking around a nearby rocky peak. “Latios could get within range within ten minutes, and tell Jon how to start the generator…”

Realizing it was a stroke of genius, and next to no risk, since they were going down a familiar path, the group had a consensus, before calling out to Latios to join them down on the ground.

“Latios, do you mind passing a message on to Jon?” Chris asked. “He’s probably going to need to run the generator and recharge the battery on the boat, but doesn’t know how to…”

Latios nodded, before Chris felt Latios’ presence in his head, which felt slightly simpler, but less sarcastic than Victini’s that he was used to.

”Focus on exactly how to do it. Picture it…”

Closing his eyes, Chris pictured the moments when he and Justin were being shown how to start the generator by the employee of the rental company, focusing on every little detail. If Latios could show Jon that, he could get the generator running, and prevent them losing power…

”Got it…”

Chris opened his eyes, before Latios left, flying upwards and southward, towards the ship, at a reasonable pace, though nothing compared to the breakneck speeds he flew at during the battle against Deoxys.

It took ten minutes for the houseboat to come into view at the speed Latios was flying at. He let his mind wander towards the houseboat, trying to detect Jon, who should have been in range. However, Latios felt no familiar presence at the boat, only the unfamiliar minds of the Water-type Pokemon swimming in the water beneath it.

Knowing how cautious Jon was, and wanting him to be, Latios turned invisible, before flying silently towards the boat, and looking in the windows. Jon’s phone and tablet both sat on the table in the dining area, however Jon was nowhere to be found. Floating above the houseboat, Latios looked back towards the Whirl Islands themselves. There were only two paths Jon could have taken. To the east, where Latios came from, and would have noticed him, or to the west, which seemed a much harder path.

Cautiously, Latios flew towards the west, rounding the rocky outcrop that blocked their view, and saw what nobody had noticed the evening before. A well hidden cove, containing a large ship. As Latios got within range, he let his mind wander again, detecting the minds of six people, though only one he recognized.

”Jon?” Latios asked as he touched Jon’s mind, ”What’s going on?”

Before Jon could answer, Latios felt a sharp sensation of pain through their telepathic link, as Jon took another blow. Alarmed, Latios concentrated, trying to block out his own senses, and focus purely on Jon’s, a roundabout method allowing him to view what Jon saw, granted nowhere near as easy as Latios could show Jon his own vision.

Jon sat tied to a chair, as a man in front of him rubbed his knuckles, having been the one to punch Jon, though Latios didn’t know how many times. Feeling the rage building up in Latios, Jon focused his thoughts.

”Latios, don’t…” Jon thought. ”Poachers. Five that I’m aware of, two of them at least with guns. Lots of unregistered Pokeballs. After you, Justin and Abbee…”

”Jon…” Latios replied, not wanting to leave his trainer behind.

”I’ll handle myself…” Jon replied, though Latios wasn’t convinced. ”They need to be prepared. Warn them…”

“Not so smart now?” The Captain sneered, as Jon remained silent, focusing on trying to get the message out to Latios. The pain he was in, and the splitting headache from the constant blows made it impossible for Jon to focus on thoughts for Latios whilst also talking like he was. The Captain’s eyes widened, as he realized what was going on. “I think Latios has contacted him! Go out and find it!”

”Warn the others!” Jon thought intently. ”That’s an order!”

Latios went to flee, but in the second before he left, reached out to the mind of The Captain.

”You’re dead…”

“Latios is here!” The Captain shouted to Rifle, who was gathering supplies, including a few unregistered Pokeballs. “Don’t let him get away.”

“He’s invisible you stupid motherf**ker…” Jon said quietly, ignoring the pain in his face. “And he has his orders. He’s long gone…”

The Captain hit Jon hard in the head, and whilst it wasn’t enough to knock him out, Jon fell limp, feigning unconsciousness.

“Good, I was sick of listening to him…” Man-Bun said, sounding a lot more certain of himself than he did earlier, to Jon’s amusement.

“We couldn’t see Latios outside of the ship,” Shotgun interjected as he walked back into the room.

“Latios is invisible, so tracking him will be difficult, but not impossible…” The Captain answered. “Latios will be warning the others, so if we find him we will find them. Did you get a scent sample from the boat?”

“Got one of the girl's beanies…” Rifle replied.

“Take Slurpuff,” The Captain said. “Arcanine and Rapidash too. You should be able to find them…”

“Got it,” Shotgun answered, before he and Rifle left the room.

Whilst Jon wasn’t too familiar with Slurpuff, he could put together what they were doing. Slurpuff must be able to track their scents, if given a sample, with Arcanine and Rapidash both being strong and fast forms of transport for Shotgun and Rifle.

”Do as you're told, all of you…” Jon thought to himself, though intending that thought for Latios and the others. ”Don’t do anything dumb…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It had taken Latios longer to come back than they had expected, however the speed he returned indicated to Dylan something wasn’t right.

“Jon take a while to learn how to use the generator?” Chris teased, before Dylan brushed past him to Latios. “Hey, watch it!”

“What’s going on Latios?” Dylan asked, as the others began to realize something was wrong.

”Poachers…” Latios answered, projecting his telepathy to all in the group. “They have Jon…”

Chris’ eyes widened as he remembered the ship he saw the night before, and thought nothing of.

”They’re after me, and Justin and Abbee, which means they want Regieleki and Victini…” Latios explained, causing Justin to ask a question.

“How did they know to follow us here? That we were even on that boat?” Justin asked. “It seems too convenient that they happened to arrive on the island after we left this morning…”

Before Latios could answer, Chris spoke up.

“They’re docked to the west aren’t they?” Chris asked Latios. “I saw another ship in the distance last night, but didn’t think anything of it…”

”There’s a cove that we can’t see from our boat. It’s blocked by the rocks,” Latios explained. ”They’re docked in there…”

“Is Jon okay?” Abbee asked.

”No… He’s tied up and they were beating him. Trying to get him to tell them where you are…” Latios explained. ”Jon told me to warn you all. To tell you to be prepared…”

“Be prepared for what?” Charlotte asked. “Surely we take them on?”

“No…” Dylan answered, as his hands curled into fist. “That’s the last thing Jon would want us to do right now…”

”Five of them. They have weapons, and unregistered Pokeballs,” Latios explained. ”They would know we’re coming from a mile away, and the three strongest Pokemon we have would all be captured, and you guys shot…”

“Then what the hell do we do?” Chris asked angrily.

“He said be prepared…” Dylan explained. “They’re trying to beat information out of him which means they don’t know where we are, but we don’t know much about them. Jon would want us to find somewhere where we’d have an advantage in a fight, and let them come to us. That way we fight them on our terms…”

“You mean hide until they find us?” Chris asked. “That could take days!”

“That would actually be good!” Justin retorted. “Think about it! We gotta return our boat the day after tomorrow, and have people expecting us home not too long after. If we all went missing, and it was known we were out here, this would be the first place that would be searched…”

“But what if they just cut their losses, and decide to kill Jon and leave?” Charlotte asked. “Eliminate any witnesses…”

“Latios saw their ship, and is more capable of tracking it down later than anyone is…” Dylan answered. “They’re going to assume that Latios has told us everything by now, and they aren’t going to shoot a hostage and leave so many loose ends to catch them out. They either let Jon go, or they get rid of all loose ends. And the fact they have already captured him and beaten him up, means they are going to try and see this through…”

“So they’ll come for us…” Abbee said, realizing Dylan was right.

“So what do we do then?” Chris asked, irritated they were going on the defensive, but knowing that they weren’t in a position yet to launch a full scale assault.

“It took us five hours to get this far on foot, and I don’t think these guys would do the same. They’d come via Pokemon. Be it land or skies. So we gotta get off the trail, and get undercover,” Dylan explained. “Find somewhere that we can fight back when these guys catch up to us, and then wait until we can ambush them…”

“Do you think we can take on five by ourselves?” Abbee asked. “Without Victini, Regieleki and Latios being at risk?”

“They won’t send all five after us. They’d want someone keeping an eye on Jon in case he gets loose. And if we play our cards right, the element of surprise, as well as a home field advantage will be all we need..”

“Where’s our homefield then?” Justin asked.

“The Whirl Islands are a popular spot for trainers to visit, as well as tourists, and there are caves and tunnels everywhere…” Dylan explained. “The Johto government is well aware of this, and the fact that everything here seems untouched, with no fences blocking sections of the island off, or patrols preventing people from coming here means the island itself must be relatively safe. I’d guess that when this place started getting popular, they had any dead ends in the tunnels excavated to the surface, to prevent people getting lost."

"That's a big assumption…" Charlotte commented.

"We will still take measures to not get lost if I'm wrong…" Dylan answered. "But let's check the tunnels and find somewhere safe to wait out for them to reveal themselves, and try and get the upper hand on them…"

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

The trail that they had spent the afternoon walking along was well separated from the large caves and tunnels by natural rock formations that made getting from the trail to the caves themselves difficult, though not impossible.

The first few caves they found themselves in were extremely short, with the light from the other end of the tunnel visible from the end they entered via. Afterwards, they managed to find a few longer, more complex cave systems, however the issue they faced was that these systems had five or six entrances which made it hard to cover all entrances and plan accordingly. It was an hour before sunset when Chris noticed something. In one of the darkest caverns, though one of the largest on the island, illuminated by the flickering flame of his Charizard's tail.

"Hey guys," Chris called out. "I think there's a ledge up there…"

The rest of the group caught up to Chris, who climbed onto Charizard's back. Charizard leapt from the ground, carrying Chris up to the ledge ten meters up the cavern wall. Whilst the ledge seemed small, the darkness of the tunnel added to that illusion, covering the small opening into another, hidden tunnel, surprisingly tall considering how near invisible it was. Dylan followed on Flygon, with Latios carrying Abbee and Charlotte. Flygon returned to get Justin.

"I think this could be it…" Dylan said, before they made their way into the darkening tunnel. "Depending on what is on the other end…”

As the group walked through the large tunnel, heading mostly downhill, Chris had a thought, as he considered the size of the tunnel they had been in before, and now this one, high up and out of the way.

“We haven’t seen many tunnels this size, have we?” Chris asked, as he tried to guess how a certain Pokemon would go moving through it.

“Few and far between…” Charlotte replied. “Why?”

“A big Pokemon would need a big tunnel to get to its den…”

Abbee was the first to realize what Chris was implying.

“You think Lugia might use this tunnel?” Abbee asked, looking at the walls she could see under the dim light Charizard produced to look for signs.

“I think this is one of the few that a Lugia could fit into…”

“Let’s hope it’s friendly…” Dylan answered. “Or at least, can be convinced to fight off the poachers…”

“If the poachers see a Lugia, I think they may just add it to their list, and consider it their lucky day…” Justin said solemnly.

It took half an hour for the group to reach the exit of the tunnel, which at a distance, seemed to open up into an extremely large cavern, where echoes of some wild Pokemon could be heard. A rock crushed under Charizard’s foot, causing a crack to resonate through the tunnel, and a small flock of Zubat to fly out of the cavern ahead, passing over them with their high pitched cries. As they reached the entrance to the cavern, the flame from Charizard seemed to do little, so Abbee called out her Ampharos, whose tail began to light up brightly, casting light through the large cavern. To their left was a large pool of water that Dylan presumed would lead out to the surface. However, something else took their attention. Something large and white, with massive wings, a long tail, and a long neck.

“Is that…” Abbee asked.

“Dead…” Dylan answered somberly, identifying the skeleton that lay at the opposite end of the room as the same Pokemon everyone else had. Lugia…

“Lugia’s… Dead?” Chris asked, shocked at the thought. There hadn’t been a Lugia sighting in years, but in the area of Legendary Pokemon, that was hardly uncommon. However this Lugia had died long enough ago that it’s body had completely decomposed, leaving it only as a skeleton.

Dylan walked over towards the skeleton, as Abbee and Ampharos followed, illuminating the skeleton more.

“I wonder what killed it…” Dylan said. “It doesn’t appear to have any broken bones that would prevent it from leaving this place…”

“Why does it matter what killed it?” Chris asked irritably, obviously disturbed by the sight.

“Because if this was killed by something, I’d like to know if it has the chance of reappearing,” Dylan explained, nodding towards the pool of water. “Some of the largest Pokemon known to mankind are sea-dwelling Pokemon…”

Realizing that Dylan made a good point, and he was being harsh, Chris joined Dylan by the skeletal corpse.

“So what do you think killed it?” Chris asked.

“I don’t think it died in a fight. The way the skeleton sits, seems almost like it died in its sleep, and it has no broken bones. If Lugia weren’t rumored to travel along the ocean floor, I’d consider hypothermia, but that seems unlikely…” Dylan answered. “Maybe illness?”

”I have a theory, but it’s not one I want to share unless it is confirmed…” Victini said, surprising everyone with his sombre tone in his telepathic message.

Looking around, and checking her watch under the Ampharos-light, Charlotte spoke up.

“It’s nearly sundown, and honestly, I don’t think we will find somewhere better to hole up for the night…” Charlotte said. “I think we’re safest here. Only one way in, and if we post a sentry, we should be able to see anyone coming, and not be caught off guard.”

“What about the water?” Dylan asked. “The fact it's here means that it leads somewhere outside…”

“What else do we do then?” Charlotte asked.

Hearing this Latios cried out, before encasing itself in a spherical telekinetic bubble.

“What are you doing?” Dylan asked, before Latios flew to the water, and dove in, retaining its bubble. A second later, Dylan felt his vision shift, as he was now seeing from Latios’ perspective, as the Eon Pokemon glided through the water in his air bubble, navigating the large winding tunnel, until eventually, a flicker of light could be seen in the distance. As Latios got closer, Dylan realized he had found the mouth of the tunnel, before exiting it, and gliding upwards to the surface to replenish his air. The scenery around him seemed dull and unexceptional when compared to the rest of it, and as Latios looked down, Dylan realized that the tunnel entrance Latios had left a minute earlier was practically invisible from the surface.

Latios rose up slightly, creating another air bubble, before descending, finding the tunnel and returning.

“The only visitors we are likely to get from the water are the Pokemon that live around here…” Dylan explained. “The tunnel is too long and too hard to spot for the poachers to use it to sneak up on us, even if they knew we were here…”

“So we’re safe staying here then?” Justin asked.

“Safer than anywhere else right now…” Dylan answered, as Latios emerged from the pool of water. “We spend the night here, and if we get to morning without incident, we will try to lure the poachers into the tunnel, and ambush them from the ledge…”

“And what if they find us during the night?” Abbee asked.

“Then we use the tunnel in here as a bottleneck and fight them off there,” Dylan explained. “Metagross, Latios, Alakazam and Victini will make telekinetic barriers to protect us from gunfire, like they did with Deoxys. And then we still have other Pokemon to fight back. We will have the advantage…”

Before anyone could comment, their attention was drawn to the pool of water, where the sound of water splashing pierced the chamber, and the wet thud of a relatively heavy Pokemon landing on the stone ground next to the pool. All of the trainers turned quickly, and found themselves even more shocked at what just emerged from the pool than they were about the Lugia skeleton.

”My theory was right…” Victini said, noticing the newcomer, who looked at them with naive curiosity.

Measuring at roughly six feet from nose to tail, much shorter than the skeleton that inhabited the cavern alongside them, was a small, young looking Lugia…

Chapter 5
The young Lugia stared at them curiously. Abbee cautiously took a step forward, causing Lugia to shuffle back towards the pool of water. Before it could go much further however, Latios glided towards it, stopping a few feet shy, looking at the Pokemon himself. Its curiosity now focused on Latios, Lugia stopped, looking up at Latios, and sniffing the air, before crying out gently.

Latios rose up, and began flying in circles at the top of the room, much slower than the trainers knew it was capable of flying, before Lugia cried out excitedly, and began flapping its own wings, attempting to fly to the height Latios was flying at, and fly alongside the Eon Pokemon.

”Do you know why Legendary Pokemon are so incredibly rare?” Victini asked the group. ”Why there is very rarely more than one of a given species?”


“No?” Chris asked, looking up at the two flying psychic Pokemon who seemed to have bonded already.

”On the odd occasion that a Legendary Pokemon capable of reproducing can find another of its species to breed with, reproduction takes a major toll on the body of both parents. Most of the time the mother dies shortly after producing an egg…” Victini explained. ”Very few legendary Pokemon are born with their mother still living. Most hatch near the skeleton of their parent…”

“S**t…” Charlotte muttered as she realized. The Lugia that had died here, died to create its offspring…


”This isn’t something many people know at all, and is largely kept a secret…” Victini explained. ”As sad as this may be, this is the way the ecosystem has worked for millenia, and well meaning humans would see it as a problem that needs to be fixed. However, too many of the same Legendary Pokemon existing at the same time would mean disaster for the world. We understand this. So we keep this secret…”

“We won’t tell anyone…” Abbee answered on behalf of the group, understanding the level of trust Victini held for them to be able to reveal that truth.

Latios descended, with Lugia following eagerly behind him, landing on the ground a few meters away from the group. Having an idea, Chris spoke up, addressing Dylan.

“Would chocolate be bad for Lugia?”

“Doubt it,” Dylan replied. “At worst, Lugia may become less independent for food.”

Not listening beyond doubt it, Chris opened his bag, and pulled out a bar of chocolate he had been saving as a snack.

“But it seems like that isn’t going to be a big deal with what you’re thinking…” Dylan added, as Abbee chuckled at the implication. She didn’t blame Chris for deep down, wanting to bring the young Lugia with him. The fact was that Lugia was alone until then, living with the skeleton of its mother, and they unknowingly had discovered its home, and were likely luring poachers towards it. Lugia was most likely not safe here anymore…

“We need someone at the end of the tunnel, by the ledge, to keep watch in case anyone enters,” Dylan explained. “Sentries, doing two and a half hour shifts.”

“What do we do if we spot them?” Justin asked.

“Quietly, send your fastest Pokemon back here to warn us. And if you’re spotted, or they find the ledge, get back here as quickly as possible, and we prepare for a fight…” Dylan explained, though trying not to show he was making this all up as he went along. “If we get to dawn, and it seems like they haven’t found us, maybe Latios could make contact with Jon again and try to figure out what’s happening? Chances are they will stay out all night, hoping to catch us off guard, but they have to sleep eventually. That could be our opportunity to fight back with a bit more intel…”

They knew they were in for a rough night. With the exception of individual snacks and water they had brought, there was no dinner packed in any of their bags, with the plan being to eat dinner on the boat. Additionally, nobody expected to spend the night in a cold cave, relying on their backpacks to act as a pillow, and whatever top layer they were wearing to be blankets. They were thankful that between the five of them, they had four Fire Type Pokemon who could also take shifts staying awake and keeping a fire going to keep them warm, and that the tunnel that led them into that cavern was long enough that the fire didn’t give away their position on the other side.

Dylan had volunteered to take first watch, before Charlotte, Abbee, Chris, then Justin. The four trainers that were left after Dylan had gone, sat around the fire, trying to keep warm in the cold cavern. Lugia intentionally kept its distance, watching them, though Latios, and occasionally Victini, kept the young Pokemon company, attempting to learn its story, though struggling as its own telepathic abilities were still significantly undeveloped.

“I wonder if Jon’s okay…” Charlotte said quietly, not knowing how well the noise transferred down the tunnel to where Dylan was keeping watch. “At least as okay as he can be.”

“You mean if he’s still alive?” Chris asked bluntly, as Abbee gave him a gentle nudge to think before he spoke. “Sorry, I shouldn’t say that…”

“He’s alive. They’d be stupid to do anything more…” Justin said. “They want our Pokemon, and they know that we aren’t going to hand them over willingly. It gives them two options. Take them by force, or force us to hand them over. By killing Jon, they’d eliminate one of those options for themselves…”

“I hope so…” Abbee said.

It was nearly 9pm when Charlotte left the campfire to go down the tunnel and relieve Dylan of sentry. At that time, those remaining in the cavern decided that there was little they could do but sleep. Staying awake reminded them of how hungry and uncomfortable they were, and by some miracle, all of them were asleep before Dylan returned, roughly an hour later.

It was almost 1:50am when Chris found himself stirring, due to something causing his bag to move under his head. At first it was subtle, however the movement became more obvious, and caused him to open his eyes. He rolled onto his side to find himself face to face with Lugia.

“F**k!” Chris called out in shock, before realizing everyone else was trying to sleep, and a loud enough shout might create an echo through the tunnel. Lugia darted backwards at the sudden noise, as Chris sat up, looking at the young Legendary Pokemon, and hearing a strange laughter behind him. One he had become all too accustomed to since spending more time with Abbee after she became his girlfriend. Victini…

”I didn’t know what I was hoping for, but that was better…”

Victini had been left by Abbee to keep the fire burning whilst she was on her shift for sentry. Chris’ alarm would have been waking him up in a little under ten minutes anyway, for him to go and relieve her so she could get some sleep.

Chris looked at his bag under the firelight, and saw that the zip had been opened, and some of his belongings were hanging out, as Lugia looked to Chris with a slight hint of guilt.

”He wants chocolate…” Victini explained. Chris tapped his temple so Victini would know to listen there, though knew Victini wouldn’t have waited for the permission.

”He opened the zip on his own?” Chris asked, slightly impressed.

”No, I saw him trying, so used telekinesis to open it for him…”

”And why would you do that?” Chris replied.

”I wanted to see how much it took to wake you up…” Victini responded.

”Why?”

”Reasons…”

Feeling a little bad that Victini was manipulating Lugia to appease his own twisted sense of humor, Chris got the rest of the chocolate bar he had before, and gave it to Lugia. Lugia crept over, gently taking the rest of it, as Chris scratched it’s hide behind the large blue spikes that partially covered its eyes. Checking his phone, Chris realized his alarm was minutes from going off, and remembering how Abbee’s had disturbed him earlier in the evening, quickly turned it off so the others would get some sleep.

Chris stood, as Lugia watched him from where he stood next to Chris’ makeshift bed, and let Charizard out of the Pokeball, very quickly instructing the large Fire Type to let the others rest undisturbed and keep the fire going for them, before making his way towards the tunnel, noticing Lugia watching him, and considering following him for a minute, before deciding against it. Whilst Lugia’s company would have amused Chris, he knew it was for the best, the young Pokemon being too unpredictable, and being an easy target for the poachers.

It took roughly half an hour for Chris to see the outline of Abbee in the light from his phone’s torch. Whilst nobody else should be coming from that direction, he saw Abbee tense up a little, while she sat on the ground, her back resting against the tunnel wall.

“Only me…” Chris said quietly, as he sat next to her, and put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder as he turned off the light, not wanting to give away their position if someone entered the perpendicular tunnel beneath them.

“It feels like we can’t catch a break, doesn’t it…” Abbee said quietly. “Our first summer, Dad died, and Dylan had things get worse with his stepdad. Last summer Justin got his nose broken, there was the incident with Deoxys, and then the acquisition order. Now this…”

“It’d make for a pretty boring story if everything went according to plan…” Chris remarked quietly, though Abbee knew he was only joking. “But you’re right. It’s never easy…”

“Do you think Jon’s alright?” Abbee asked. “Really. Don’t sugarcoat it…”

“I don’t know…” Chris answered. “I think he’s in a pretty s**ty position, and most people would check out at that point. But I know that he wouldn’t give in. Not with us out here, and Alyssa and Amelia back home…”

“Oh God…” Abbee said quietly, not having thought of Jon’s family back home, before going silent. “What if something happens to him? What if Amelia ends up losing her dad...”

“Go get some sleep…” Chris said quietly. Abbee had been up since seven the morning before, and had managed to get a little over two hours sleep before her half hour walk, and two and a half hour sentry shift, before another half hour walk back. The lack of sleep was getting to her. “We’ll do what we need to tomorrow…”

Abbee kissed him on the cheek, before cautiously standing, and turning on the light on her phone to guide her back to the tunnel.

“If anything happens, be careful…”

“Will do…” Chris replied, as Abbee made her way into the dark tunnel, leaving Chris sitting by the ledge in total darkness.

Chris’ shift was from 2:30 to 5am, with Justin expected to wake at 4:30 and relieve Chris when he arrived half an hour later. Feeling fatigued, both from the hard day of travel the day before, and the lack of good food and sleep, it was a struggle to stay awake. He considered using his phone, finding some game, but he then was likely to risk draining the battery, and whilst he wasn’t certain that nobody had packed a battery pack for the day, he wasn’t going to risk walking back to the site, or potentially running, if the ledge was spotted, in the pitch black with no light.

It was sheer willpower that kept him awake. The thought of what would happen to Abbee, and his friends, if he slept on shift. And it wasn’t until a little after 4:30 when Chris thought he saw something. A faint glow in the distance in the tunnel below, and faint voices. He quickly shuffled to his feet, as silently as he could, before turning into the tunnel towards their campsite, hiding behind the wall out of sight, and trying to remain silent. As he poked his head slowly around the corner, he saw a dim glow of a few odd bunches of flame. As it got closer however, it became apparent. A Rapidash, with someone on it’s back, and next to it, unidentifiable in the glow, was a bulkier Pokemon that stood slightly taller.

“I thought Slurpuff had the best sense of smell?” said one voice.

“It does. Better than any other Pokemon…” replied another.

“Then why the hell is it nearly 5am and we still haven’t caught up to them?” asked the first.

“Mostly the salt air,” replied the second. “Whatever scent is on this chick’s beanie, will probably not be the same as what she currently smells like. The salt air will change her scent, as well as blow any traces of it off the trail. That’s why it’s taking so damn long. Because the scent is changing and hard to follow here…”

“So now that we’ve been out of the open for a while, with no salt air?”

“Then finding her should be a lot easier…”

It took Chris a moment to realize what was going on. They were being tracked by scent. Whilst he was supposed to send his fastest Pokemon, his Ninetales, to go warn the others, the light of the Pokeball could give him away, and he knew that chances are, if they actually had a Slurpuff sniffing them out, they would find them anyway.

Chris turned back the way he had come, and slowly crept towards the campsite. Once he had covered enough distance, he quickly flicked on his light, and began the risky sprint back towards the campsite. After running for about fifteen minutes, he saw the outline in the darkness ahead of him of someone walking towards him. Justin, coming to relieve him. Justin stopped, seeing the light getting closer.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked, as Chris shushed him.

“They have a Slurpuff, sniffing us out…” Chris whispered. “We need to get back and wake up the others…”

Realizing just how close they were probably being followed, Justin turned, following Chris as the pair ran back to the campsite where Chris’ Charizard sat by the fire, being watched intently by Lugia, who had never seen a Charizard before.

Chris quickly ran to Abbee to wake her up, as Justin woke Dylan, and then Charlotte.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked groggily, as Chris shushed her and put out the fire.

“They’re tracking our scents,” Chris hissed, returning Charizard to the Pokeball, knowing that Charizard’s tail would give off too much light and give them away. “They have a Slurpuff sniffing us, and at least a Rapidash and some else that is big. And if they can get up here, probably some sort of flying Pokemon.”

Realizing they had a fight on their hands, Abbee put Victini, much to his dismay, into his Pokeball to prevent him being captured.

“Psychic types, now…” Dylan said quietly, as he called out Metagross, whilst Justin sent out Alakazam. The five trainers stood behind the two psychic types as well as Latios, whilst Abbee sent out Ampharos, who kept the light on its tail off, as well as Ariados, whilst Justin sent out Greninja. Charlotte sent out her Roserade, whilst Chris sent out Ninetales.

“Latios will let us know when they’re in range…” Dylan whispered. “When they are, Alakazam and Ampharos need to use Flash to blind them. That’s the signal to give them hell…”

The group remained silent, whilst Chris hoped that Lugia would understand the need for silence, and not give them away, unaware that Latios had already, as well as he could, told Lugia to be quiet.

In the silence, they could hear footsteps, most obviously Rapidash, though the soft padded footsteps of whatever Pokemon was walking alongside it. However due to the tunnel's echo-chamber effect, they weren’t sure if they were close enough yet.

”Wait for it…” Latios said to the group, detecting their minds, and roughly speaking where they were.

A few more minutes passed, until they heard Latios’ voice again.

”Now!”

Ampharos and Alakazam both used a Flash attack, causing the entire tunnel to be filled for a moment with a flash of bright light, revealing the two men, riding a Rapidash, and an Arcanine with a Slurpuff sitting on the Arcanine’s head.

“F**k!” one of them shouted as he covered his eyes. “We’re under attack!”

“Grassy Terrain!” Charlotte called out, as Roserade launched a barrage of seeds, which upon contact with the ground beneath their foes, exploded into lush, spectral grass, providing a dim green glow, making their opponents a little more visible. However, Charlotte had trained Roserade to use Grassy Terrain with a little more kick to it…

Thick thorny vines erupted from the grass, entangling themselves around Arcanine and Rapidash. Arcanine encased itself in flames, breaking free and escaping the glowing patch of grass, though Rapidash wasn’t as quick to react.

“Confuse Ray!” Chris called out. Ninetales cried out as a grey orb of ghostly energy shot from its jaws, launching towards Rapidash.

“Water Shuriken!” Justin commanded Greninja, who obeyed, launch three liquid throwing stars, which struck Arcanine, causing the Fire Type to recoil.

“You’re outnumbered and outclassed!” Chris called out. “Give up, a**holes!”

The response was a gunshot, however the projectile launched was blocked by Metagross and Alakazam’s barrier. Latios darted forward, though invisible and undetectable to the two fire-types and their trainers, ripping the gun from the grip of the trainer who held it, before folding the barrel of the rifle with his telekinesis, making it useless as it flew past.

By the time Latios realized he hadn’t accounted for the third Pokemon present, it was too late. Detecting Latios’ scent, Slurpuff launched a Dazzling Gleam attack, taking Latios by surprise when it made contact. Whilst a single attack from a Pokemon untrained for battle was hardly a threat to Latios, he was weak to the Fairy Type attack, and it had taken him by surprise.

“Latios!” one of the men called out, as the other pulled an unregistered Pokeball from his pocket, throwing it at Latios, which the Eon Pokemon caught with telekinesis, before ripping it apart, much to the anger of the poacher who had thrown it. This distraction however gave Slurpuff time to act. The Pokemon used Cotton Spore, slowing down Latios, before Arcanine turned to attack. At the same time, the poacher readied another unregistered Pokeball.

With the enemy between Latios and the others, there was little they could do to assist the Pokemon. They tried to charge forward, however the other poacher, who remained focused on them, instead called out another Pokemon, a Corviknight, which alongside Rapidash who had shaken off it’s confusion and entangling vines, acted as a barrier.

Chris grabbed Charizard and Dragonite’s Pokeball, ready to have one keep Corviknight busy, whilst the other assisted Latios. Charizard was sent out, and following orders, ruthlessly attacking Corviknight with its fiery breath, however before Chris could send out Dragonite, he noticed a silver blur fly overhead, dodging Corviknight and Charizard, attempting to help Latios.

“No, get back!” Chris called out, knowing it was fruitless, as Lugia dived towards Arcanine, hitting it with a Psychic attack, as Latios deflected another Pokeball, whilst taking another Fairy Type attack from Slurpuff.

Latios watched in horror as the poacher realized what the silver Pokemon was, and began setting up an aim for Lugia with another Pokeball.

Latios focused on Slurpuff, attacking the Pokemon with a Luster Purge attack, hoping to act quick enough to block the Pokeball aimed at Lugia. However the Cotton Spore had taken effect, and whilst Latios managed to knock out Slurpuff, it wasn’t fast enough to prevent Arcanine, being much more experienced in battle, from pouncing on Lugia as it dove towards it, trapping it, and allowing the Pokeball to hit it.

“Motherf**ker!” Chris shouted, seeing Lugia disappear in front of his eyes. Dylan found himself enraged by what had happened as much as Chris did, though didn’t let this blind him.

“Get Latios out of there!” Dylan said to Justin, who nodded, before turning to Alakazam.

“Teleport!”

In a moment, Alakazam teleported to Latios’ side, grabbing the Eon Pokemon’s paw, before teleporting the pair back behind Metagross’ telekinetic barrier.

“Now!” Dylan called out to Metagross. “Steel Beam!”

Metagross cried out as a silvery orb appeared in front of it, before blasting forward into a beam of steely light. Whilst the attack dealt little damage, it was enough of a distraction.

“Lugia is safe in the Pokeball!” Dylan called out, confusing the others at first. “It won’t be hurt by anything you do!”

Realizing what Dylan was wanting, Abbee was the first to act.

“Zap Cannon, Ampharos!”

“Leaf Storm!” Charlotte commanded.

“Hydro Pump!” Justin called out to Greninja.

“Blizzard, Nintales!” Chris added.

“We gotta get out of here!” the poacher shouted. “Cut our losses!”

“Arcanine!” the other shouted. “Bulldoze!”

Arcanine cried out, before stomping on the ground underneath it, causing jagged pieces of earth to erupt from the ground between the two opposing forces. Content they couldn’t be easily followed, both trainers mounted their Pokemon, which took off back the way they came.

Latios roared in anger, a sound the interns were shocked to hear, before attempting to give chase, able to fly over the obstruction with ease.

“Don’t!” Dylan yelled, grabbing Latios’ arm. “You’re still slowed down, and they outnumber you!”

Latios growled, however didn’t use his telepathy, which surprised Dylan a little. However, as annoyed as it made him, Latios obliged, stopping, as Metagross began smashing down the obstacles in their path.

“We will get Lugia back,” Dylan said to the equally angry Chris and Latios. “But I think we need to go on the offensive…”

“What happened to waiting for them to find us and ambushing them?” Justin asked.

“We didn’t know what we were up against. We just had Jon’s warning to be prepared. We knew they were after three Legendary Pokemon, all of which are with us, and figured they’d send in their best,” Dylan explained. “Well, I saw some thirteen year olds last summer who could beat these guys. We know what we’re dealing with, and no matter where we hide, that Slurpuff will find us. Let’s take the fight to them…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

As the hours passed with Jon tied to his chair in the storeroom of the poacher's ship, he was partially thankful for something Steven had inadvertently taught him. When Steven was detained during the Rayquaza incident, he didn’t act out, or pick fights. He didn’t yell and scream, even though that’s what he wanted to do. Because he knew that if they thought there was no point keeping a close eye on him, they would become slack, and make escape that much easier.

It was 5am, give or take. Jon had been tied up since about 2pm the day before, taking a beating from The Captain, and feigning being knocked out for a few hours to buy himself some relief, but also lull them into a false sense of security. It was 5pm when Jon came to and the last twelve hours were spent waiting, trying not to focus on the fact that he had gone at this point fifteen hours without using a bathroom. Granted, he had shortly before he was captured, and having not been given anything to eat or drink in that time, not even moving from his sitting position, he was coping far better than he should have been. Granted, he knew he couldn’t leave it much longer…

Shotgun and Rifle had left the afternoon before, and Jon hadn’t heard them return. Whilst the ship went near silent at about 1am, Jon did hear more people leaving the ship at roughly 3, he figured to potentially meet with Shotgun and Rifle, to relieve them of their search and let them sleep. Whilst Jon had kept an eye on the light on the camera, it had been off since about 1am, and he figured this would be the best chance, having waited for the right opportunity.

He wriggled his abdomen, slowly, as to not make heaps of noise, before contorting his arm so he could get his hands within reach of his belt. Once he got a grip, he began pulling on it, attempting to rotate it around his waist, like he had been taught during the first League Operation Training, and get to the buckle with his tied hand, struggling to pull it through the belt loops on his pants. When the buckle was finally in reach, he undid it, careful not to drop the belt, before looping it through the space between the cable tie binding his right hand to the arm rest, and leaning forward, holding part of the belt in his mouth, buckling it up. He slowly shuffled the belt so that it was under the arm rest, before lifting his right foot, and lining it up with the belt. Preparing for a moment of pain, Jon slammed his foot down, into the looped belt that hung from the cable tie, pulling down the cable tie with enough force to snap it.

There was a small amount of noise made in the attempt, which Jon accounted for by kicking the belt under his seat, and sitting as if he were still fully bound, keeping an eye on the light of the security camera, and listening for footsteps in the next room over. When he was content nobody had heard him he repeated the process with his left hand, now much easier with his freed right hand. Within minutes, Jon was standing, stretching his legs, and resisting the greater urge to find a bathroom, for the time being.

Jon quickly looked around the storeroom, taking note of what he had available to him. Whilst there weren’t any weapons in the storeroom, like he would have hoped, he did find in the cupboard under the trough containing the unregistered Pokeballs, a large bottle of bleach. Remembering that Rifle and Shotgun had stocked up from that tub before going out, Jon was certain enough they were empty, though opened one to make sure there weren’t Pokemon inside, hoping for the sake of the noise they would make that they were indeed empty. Upon confirming this, he quickly began emptying the bottle of bleach into the tub.

He continued his search around the room, hoping to find matches, or a weapon, but instead found a packet of cable ties, the same used to bind him. He pocketed them, before quietly opening the door and creeping out of the storeroom.

The large main room was empty, and Jon made his way towards the doors into the other rooms that he had noticed earlier. Placing his ear against each one, he listened, trying to figure out if any of them were occupied. He could hear breathing from one room, but figured that chances are, if there were weapons, they would be kept nearby whoever was responsible for them. Slowly he opened the door.

There was a dim safety light, illuminating a room with a series of bunks, more than Jon was aware there were even crew members. However only one bed was occupied, with a man that Jon immediately recognized as Man-Bun.

As Jon walked towards Man-Bun’s bed, he passed another, and noticed something at the foot of it. A familiar backpack. The one he last saw his Pokeballs being placed in. Every so quietly, he opened the backpack, reaching in, and hoping to find them…

“Motherf**ker…” Jon whispered quietly to himself when he didn’t feel the familiar and comfortable shape. Instead, he felt something else. Something small, and cold. Pulling it out, he realized it was a spring-loaded flick knife, as Jon groaned, wishing he had a better alternative for a weapon. There was one more thing in the bag though that caught his attention. A cigarette lighter.

Taking the bag that contained both items, and adding his cable ties to the contents, Jon made his way towards Man-Bun, and saw hanging on the bedpost exactly what he was after. A belt holding a holster, inside of which, was a pistol. Jon discreetly unhooked it, before standing tall, and pointing the gun at Man-Bun, pulling back the slide. The sound was enough to cause Man-Bun to stir, which Jon helped along.

“Wakey Wakey…” Jon said quietly, as Man-Bun’s eyes started to open. “Tell me where to find my Pokemon, a**hole…”

Man-Bun, realizing the situation he was in, scrambled backwards, however Jon kept the gun trained on him.

“I’m not telling you s**t!” Man-Bun yelled, though his voice seemed to lack the conviction he intended in the statement.

“So I have no reason not to take out my recently f**ked up face on you?” Jon asked, before flicking off the safety. “I won’t waste my time taking a prisoner then…”

“Wait!” Man-Bun shouted, realizing that Jon had called his bluff. “I haven’t got them! The Captain wanted to hold them himself! And he’s looking for your friends!”

If true, this meant Jon was well and truly able to torch the ship with little to no consequences. However, that could be a convenient lie to buy time…

“There are security cameras on the ship,” Jon stated. “Show me the footage of your friend giving the Captain my Pokemon, and leaving the ship!”

“Why would I lie to you?” Man-Bun asked desperately.

“Because you want to live, and for some reason, you aren’t fully aware that telling me the truth and doing what I tell you is your best bet…”

Man-Bun stood slowly, before leading Jon out of the bunkroom to the table he sat at in the main room where Jon saw him for the first time the afternoon before. There sat a laptop.

“No funny business,” Jon said. “Calling for help or anything. I’m not in the mood.”

As Man-Bun navigated the laptop, Jon noticed a shortcut in the corner.

Pokemon League Trainer Database.

Man-Bun opened the archived footage, which showed Jon being taken onto the ship and into the storeroom, and Backpack emerging from the storeroom, greeting The Captain who had just emerged from his quarters. Backpack handed the Pokeballs to the Captain who clipped them to his own belt, wanting to keep them in sight the entire time. Man-Bun skipped the footage forward, showing The Captain leaving the ship with Backpack, both armed, at around 3am, Pokeballs still clipped.

Content, Jon grabbed three cable ties, handing two to Man-Bun.

“One around one wrist, the other through and around the other wrist,” Jon ordered. “Do as much as you can by yourself and I’ll tighten it up for you…”

Man-Bun hesitated, before Jon slipped the safety on, and smacked him across the head with the pistol. Not hard enough to injure him or knock him out, but hard enough to sting.

“Now!” Jon said. “Before I realize taking a prisoner is more trouble than it’s worth…”

Man-Bun obliged, with Jon tightening the second cable tie, before leading him to a leg of the table, and using the third to cable tie his wrists to the leg, which was bolted to the floor to prevent it from moving during rough seas. He then grabbed the laptop, closing it and placing it in his liberated backpack.

Jon left Man-Bun to figure out what was going on, before finding a bathroom before he exploded, and then making his way back to the storeroom. He grabbed the lighter, spinning the flint to ignite it, and threw it into the tub containing the bleach-soaked unregistered Pokeballs. Quickly, he left the room, making his way back into the main room, and running to the kitchenette, turning on the gas from all the hotplates on the stove.

“What the hell are you doing?” Man-Bun yelled, as Jon made his way to him, cutting the cable tie that held his bound hands to the table leg.

“If you want to survive the blast, I suggest you shut the f**k up and get moving before I decide to leave you behind…”

Jon grabbed Man-Bun by the arm, lifting him to his feet before shoving him towards the door. Whilst they had some time, Jon wasn’t sure how long it would take the fire to spread from the store-room into the main room, and didn’t want to be close to the ship when he found out.

When they were off the boat, Jon led Man-Bun towards one of the rocky outcrops, and found a large, thin section of rock, almost reminiscent of a stalagmite.

Loop your arms around it, like you’re hugging it,” Jon explained. “Now sit, and wrap your legs around it.”

Man-Bun at this point had given up on any resistance, and Jon easily cable tied his ankles together, before cable tying them to his bound wrists.

“Be good, and I might make sure someone comes to get you…” Jon said to the poacher.

“F**k off…” Man-Bun muttered as Jon made his way towards the rocky outcrop that hid this cove from his own boat. Whilst phone signal on the island was terrible, his phone and tablet were on the boat, and the signal was adequate enough to possibly send a distress call from there.

Jon rounded the outcrop, before his attention was pulled by the sound of an explosion in the cove behind him. He turned around to see that the ship that had held him prisoner the last day and a half was now a flaming wreck.

“That’s what you get, a**holes…” Jon muttered, as he rounded the corner, not even looking ahead, until he heard the unmistakable harsh click of a shotgun being cocked.

“Drop the gun Jon…” The Captain said, as he pointed the sawn off shotgun directly at Jon…

Chapter 6
The sun had started to rise in the east by the time the interns left the cave.

“So what’s the plan?” Charlotte asked Dylan. He had been thinking this over as they travelled through the dark tunnels.

“Firstly, we find their ship, and we sabotage it so that they can’t leave. Then we do the same to ours, though something that we can undo later. Steal the ignition leads or something,” Dylan answered. “As far as we know, we outnumber them, and outclass them with Pokemon. The only advantage they have are guns, but we can defend against them…”

“What if they spot us from behind?” Justin asked. “I don’t particularly want a bullet in my back. Or worse…”

“Latios will be invisible and scouting from above,” Dylan answered. “That way not even Slurpuff stands a chance of locating him, and we can’t be surprised.”

Nodding in agreement, Latios disappeared into thin air, before ascending above them, able to see them, and the area around them as well as…

“Then we focus on busting Jon out, and taking these guys down one by one…” Dylan concluded. “They had the element of surprise, and now that’s gone, we have the upper hand.”

”I think Jon may have taken care of himself…” said Latios voice in the minds of the five trainers, before their vision flickered, being replaced by Latios’ own sight. In the distance, they could see the cove that Latios had described, however instead of the ship they had been made aware of, there was a burning wreck, slowly falling apart into the water.

“S**t…” Abbee said. “I hope Jon was clear of it when it went up…”

“And I hope they weren’t…” Chris muttered, surprising everyone a little with how bloodthirsty he was.

“This changes things…” Dylan said, sounding a little less sure.

“This changes nothing,” Charlotte corrected. “You said step one was to sabotage their ship so they can’t leave, short of flying to the mainland on whatever flying Pokemon they have. That is done. Step two was to temporarily disable our own boat so they can’t steal it and leave us stranded. And step three was to find Jon?”

“Without Latios, Jon stands a snowball’s chance in hell of finding us on the island, and he knows that,” Justin added. “And he also knows that with their ship destroyed, our own boat is the best way off the island. So he’d go there…”

“And so would whoever wasn’t on the ship…” Dylan realized. “Okay then, we head to the ship…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“I’m going to enjoy pulling the trigger,” The Captain sneered as he directed Jon back towards the houseboat, where Jon could see Backpack waiting for them onboard. “The only reason I haven’t for that little stunt is the fact you are still useful to me…”

“Do you seriously think holding me hostage will get you what you want?” Jon asked, almost laughing. “You seriously haven’t got a clue what they’re capable of, if you seriously think a p**sant with a gun is enough to scare them into complying…”

The Captain remained silent, not wanting to give Jon the satisfaction of a reaction. However Jon continued to talk, wanting to rattle him.

“I mean it’s obvious you underestimated them, sending only two guys to deal with five of them, and leaving two here in case they returned. These guys fought of Deoxys for f**k’s sake, and you think sending in a dynamic duo was a good idea?” Jon asked. “I mean, you underestimated me, and now your ship f**ked, and you’re short a man…”

“Was he on the ship?” The Captain asked, not knowing what had happened to Man-Bun and not wanting Jon to have the upper hand in anything over him, even knowledge.

“No, he’s retrained somewhere where he won’t be a pain,” Jon said casually, as the pair boarded the ship. “But still, there are four of you, and five of them. Six when you include me, though they really don’t need me to screw you guys over…”

“Will you just shut the f**k up already?!” The Captain yelled, before his attention was taken by Backpack calling out.

“I’ve got eyes on Cooper and Lewis!” Backpack called out, Jon realizing that Cooper and Lewis were Shotgun and Rifle, or vice-versa. “They’re coming from the west, and moving quickly…”

“Probably admiring your handiwork…” The Captain muttered, placing the shortened shotgun on the small dining table, and using the pistol instead to keep Jon in check, as Backpack descended from the deck above them, converging in the main room as Shotgun and Rifle arrived.

“Did you get them?” The Captain asked irritably, “Latios, Victini and Regieleki?”

“No sir, we didn’t, but-”

“Then why the f**k are you back here?!” The Captain shouted, causing Jon to grin at how much of a joke their operation was, and how the only reason they had gotten that far was the presence of a gun when Shotgun first revealed himself, and the element of surprise at that point.

“Because we found something else, and if we stayed, we’d have risked losing that…” Shotgun said, trying to sound confident in himself, but obviously shaken by the verbal abuse.

“What, pray tell, was so f**king important that you’d disobey orders and abandon the f**king mission I sent you on?!”

“We captured an infant Lugia…”

Jon’s eyes widened hearing this, it being the last thing he had even considered. He had forgotten about Lugia, and it’s connections to this place after the gun was pointed in his face the first time.

“They were holed up in a cave with only one entry, and used it as a choke point,” Rifle explained. “They must have posted a sentry to watch for us because they knew we were coming, and had a coordinated defense. We didn’t stand a chance, but they must have found the Lugia and were trying to protect it, and when we came close to capturing Latios, the Lugia tried to fight us and broke formation.”

“If we didn’t cut our losses, we would have walked out empty handed…” Shotgun added.

The Captain’s rage subsided at the idea of an infant Lugia, and Jon understood why. Lugia were rumoured to be among the most powerful Legendary Pokemon, on par with Rayquaza. And Legendary or not, infant Pokemon were the easiest to train and control. If someone wanted to buy a powerful Legendary Pokemon, without the risk of it going rogue, they would pay top dollar for something like an infant Lugia.

“You did the right thing bringing it back to me,” The Captain said. “But the job’s not over. Give me the Lugia, and get back out there. All of you. You know they will be coming for it and this a**hole, so use their own tactics against them…”

“What will you do?” Backpack asked The Captain.

“Handing over Lugia. I’ll take this boat, and get Lugia to the drop point, then come back for you three and Williams. By the time I return, you better have all three of those Pokemon captured.”

“Did you get any of the unmarked Pokeballs off the ship before it was torched?” Shotgun asked. “I’ve only got two left, and Lewis has three.”

“I still have my four,” Backpack interjected. The Captain groaned as Jon barked out in laughter.

“If you can’t catch those three Pokemon with the nine you have, then you’re beyond useless…” The Captain said. “I have none. Those nine are all we have left…”

The three men left the boat, making their way down the pier as The Captain turned to face Jon.

“Start the boat, and follow my directions…” The Captain said, sliding off the safety. “Otherwise I kill you now, and captain the boat myself without worrying about you acting out…”

Jon made his way to the controls, turning the key that sat in the ignition. However the boat didn’t start. He could hear the clicking of a starter motor, but the engine wasn’t roaring to life like it should.

“Stop f**king around!” The Captain shouted, before Jon turned his head over his shoulder.

“I’m not,” Jon said back irritably. “You think I’d try something as stupid as faking the boat not starting?”

Jon turned, so that he was side on between the controls and The Captain, giving his captor a clear view. He very intentionally turned the key all the way, which should have let the boat start, however in this scenario, did nothing.

“What the f**k…” The Captain muttered, as he walked past Jon, to try and turn the key himself, moving the gun away from Jon for a second. Knowing this was the only opportunity he would have, Jon slipped behind The Captain as he walked past, grabbing The Captain’s right wrist. The Captain tried to train the handgun back onto Jon, realizing his mistake, however Jon forced the barrel of the gun to be pointing towards the window pointing out to the pier, as The Captain let off three shots, shattering it. Suddenly the gun was ripped from the Captain’s hand by an invisible force, and thrown through the opposite window, smashing it and the gun landing somewhere in the ocean…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

When the boat was within Latios’ range, he could see Jon, bruised and battered, being held at gunpoint by the person who had beaten him on the other ship the day before, with the pair talking to the two men who had captured Lugia in the tunnels earlier that morning. He showed Dylan his vision of what was happening, as the group made their way by air towards the ship. Chris’ Dragonite carried himself and Justin, his Charizard carrying Charlotte and Abbee, and Dylan on the back of his Flygon.

”I won’t be able to get to the motor without being seen…” Dylan said to Latios, who was listening to his thoughts as he shared his sight. ”Get to the motor, and I’ll tell you what to do…”

Latios, who was still invisible, increased his speed, flying towards the boat, giving Dylan a terrifying falling sensation, made worse by the fact he was too high in the air to survive a fall if he fell off Flygon.

Latios slowed as he made his way to the rear of the boat, where the engine was, in its sealed casing.

“Handing over Lugia now. I’ll take this boat, and get Lugia to the drop point, then come back for you three and Williams. By the time I return, you better have all three of those Pokemon captured,” Dylan heard an unfamiliar voice say from seemingly above and in front of him, which was what Latios could hear being said.

Latios removed the panel that Dylan explained to him, and after a minute of looking around, the bright blue, well insulated cable that provided power to the spark-plug was visible. Latios yanked it out, leaving it in the sealed compartment, before placing the cover back in order to keep water out of the enclosure securing the motor. Whilst there was the chance that someone could come down here and fix it quite quickly, Latios knew a fight was imminent, and that would occupy their attention. A few seconds later, Jon tried to start the boat, with no success, before trying again. Latios slowly floated up, peering through the window, as Jon stood aside to let his captor attempt to start the boat, before slipping behind him, and getting a grip on his wrist, pointing the gun towards the window, before it was blasted out by a trio of bullets.

Latios telekinetically reached out, ripping the gun from The Captain’s hand, and throwing it out the window he was peering through, passing him and landing in the water.

”Now!” Latios said to the others as they rounded the last peak stopping them from being spotted by the poachers.

“We have contact!” Shotgun shouted, being the first to spot the airborne assault. Dragonite began a dive, as Chris tossed down Garchomp’s Pokeball, and Justin responded with Alakazam and Lucario’s. Whilst the three Pokemon drew the attention of the poachers, who sent out a Sandslash, Crobat and Machamp, the three flying Pokemon landed, allowing the five trainers to dismount, before Magmortar, Ampharos and Metagross were sent out.

“Latios!” Jon shouted as he heard the commotion, knowing his Legendary Partner was nearby. “I got this a**hole! Help them!”

Latios obeyed, flying over the ship, and joining the battle that was taking place near the shore of the island.

Slowed by his own aches from yesterday's beating, and the lack of sleep, Jon was slow to react, when The Captain threw a punch, moving aside only enough for the punch to scrape the side of his head, instead of hitting him directly. He staggered back a little, however instead of using the opportunity to get the upper hand on Jon, he did something else.

“Cooper!” The Captain shouted. “Catch!”

As Jon realized what he was doing, The Captain pelted the unregistered Pokeball containing Lugia, which Shotgun, adjusting his position accordingly, managed to catch.

“Get it to the drop point!”

Shotgun obliged, letting out a Pidgeot, and climbing onto it’s back before it took off.

“Don’t even think about it, a**hole!” Chris shouted, before climbing onto Charizard’s back, and taking off.

“Don’t go alone!” Dylan shouted out, before Abbee interjected.

“I’m going too!” she said, before calling out to Latios, before climbing onto his back. “Flygon won’t be able to catch up with them, and we’ll be better with you down here!”

“Be careful…” Dylan said, as Latios quickly took off, carrying Abbee towards the battle for Lugia that was about to begin.

With The Captain using precious moments to get Shotgun’s attention and throw him the Pokeball, Jon darted towards The Captain, throwing a right hook at him, which he blocked at the last second. Whilst Jon’s every instinct was to get the sawn off shotgun from the table behind him, he knew getting it, cocking it, and aiming would take too much time, and possibly draw the Captain’s attention to it if he had forgotten about it being there. He knew that given enough time, his students could beat the three on the ground, and unless The Captain had a weapon stashed somewhere that Jon wasn’t aware of, the safest course of action would be to keep him occupied until backup arrived.

The Captain headbutted Jon, causing him to stumble back, before the Captain rushed at him, grabbing him by the collar, and throwing him into the fridge. Jon hit the fridge hard, before falling to the ground. He felt a shock of pain flow through his body as he hit the ground hard, however fought through it, instead, using the fridge as an anchor for the top half of his body, kicked his leg out, hitting the Captain’s ankle with the heel of his foot, which broke with an audible crack, as the Captain swore in pain.

In the air above the island, Shotgun sat upon the back of his Pidgeot, noticing first the Charizard, and very soon after, the Latios that were in pursuit. Shotgun grabbed one of his own Pokeballs, letting out another flying Pokemon, Noivern. The Pokemon roared out in anger.

“Dragon Dance, Charizard…” Chris said. Charizard’s attack power and speed increased a little, helping it close the gap between itself and Pidgeot, as Noivern set its sights on him.

“We’ll handle Noivern!” Abbee called out from behind him, where Latios flew. “You get Lugia back!”

Chris nodded, as Charizard began to ascend, planning on dropping into Pidgeot from above. Noivern went to follow, before Latios unleashed a Dragon Pulse attack, which hit the Pokemon directly. Noivern set its sights on Latios, who then swung wide, accelerating enough to keep Noivern from getting too close, and enough to slowly be able to cut off Pidgeot.

“Why are you going wide?” Abbee asked, unsure of what Latios had planned. “Shouldn’t we just catch up to it?!”

Latios didn’t answer, and Abbee was forced to trust Latios had good reasoning for the trajectory, as Latios continued on his course.

From above, Charizard had shortened the gap between itself and Pidgeot, having used another Dragon Dance, and Chris was ready to attack.

“Now!” Chris called out. “Dragon Claw!”

Charizard folded its wings, before diving sharply down, putting itself on a collision course with Pidgeot, who darted to the left, shifting its path by a few degrees to avoid the attack, as Charizard let out its wings, and pulled out of the dive, beginning to ascend again. Before Pidgeot could correct its course, Latios darted in front of it from it’s right side, forcing it to adjust even more to the left to not get hit, as Noivern followed in pursuit. Suddenly Abbee realized.

“You’re trying to keep them near the island…” Abbee said, as Latios cried out in confirmation, slightly surprising her that he wasn’t telepathically answering her, though she began to guess why.

On the shore, the battle was largely going in favour of the Eon Academy students, with the three Pokemon initially sent out by the poachers now unconscious. The poachers were onto their next Pokemon, which weren’t faring much better against the highly trained Pokemon that Dylan, Charlotte and Justin used against them, with Chris’ Garchomp causing havoc without the need to follow orders, and Abbee’s Ampharos providing cover from the rear. However as the next Pokemon fell, and more were sent out, Dylan began to realize something he hadn’t accounted for…

“They have unregistered Pokeballs, so they can have as many Pokemon as they want!” he called out to Charlotte and Justin, who swore at the realization. “This is going to be an endurance match!”

In the houseboat, Jon barely avoided another hit, however was taken by surprise when The Captain followed up by grabbing the plastic chopping board that was used the night before from the kitchen bench, and slamming it flat across Jon’s bruised and stinging face. The large surface area dazed Jon for a moment, making contact with most of his face, which was all the time the Captain needed to kick Jon’s legs out from underneath him, at the cost of hurting his already broken ankle, and causing Jon to drop. The Captain slipped around him, dropping to a half sitting position himself to take the weight of his broken ankle, before placing his arm around Jon’s neck, putting him in a choke hold. Seeing what The Captain was trying to do, Jon placed both hands up to his neck, acting as a buffer between The Captain’s forearm and elbow, and his own neck, attempting to push outwards.

Knowing he couldn’t do this forever, Jon looked around for anything, and saw in the scuffle, the sawn-off shotgun had been knocked from the table, and lay on the floor a matter of inches from his feet. If he tried, he could possibly reach it with his shoe, and pull it towards him, however The Captain would see that, and Jon wouldn’t get the opportunity to make use of the weapon.

In the back of his mind, Jon felt a familiar presence. Latios. There, but not quite. The connection was there, but not being actively used. As if Latios were just listening in. By some miracle, the Eon Pokemon was still in telepathic range.

”I’m going to give you a window,” said Latios’ voice. ”Wait for my call…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Through a mixture of intentional flight patterns and interception tactics, Latios had made it difficult for Pidgeot to fly in a straight line for more than a few meters, feigning attacks that would force it to change its course, causing it to now fly near perpendicular to the original trajectory it was flying at. All of this was to keep the battle in range of the houseboat, to still be telepathically connected to Jon, forgoing telepathy with all others, in order to keep their minds connected. However, Jon’s circumstances were getting worse by the second, and Latios knew he needed to intervene. At the same time, his goal was to help Chris and Abbee get Lugia back, and he knew he couldn’t help Jon, rescue Lugia, and keep Noivern from getting in the way, effectively leading it in a grand chase, all at the same time. Latios had an idea that would effectively help Jon beat The Captain, and help Chris and Abbee get Lugia back, however he couldn’t do that with Noivern on his tail.

Whilst Latios wanted more than anything to just knock Noivern unconscious, he knew that it would require too much finesse and time, which he couldn’t afford either of, if he wanted to help his friends. With a heavy heart, Latios let Noivern get close, before descending slightly, and slowing down as fast as he could without risking harm to Abbee. Noivern darted past Latios, now within sight, as Latios used his telekinesis to get a grip on the Pokemon, and twist its head, snapping its neck, and killing it before it could fight against the telekinetic grip. Just like Jon had commanded if Jirachi attempted to harm Alyssa, back on the S.S. Wishmaker.

“Latios!” Abbee cried out, shocked at the killing she just saw Latios perform on their pursuer. Latios grimaced, before crying out and accelerating.

”I’m going to give you a window…” Latios said telepathically to Jon. ”Wait for my call…”

Latios went wide again with his flight path, flying faster than before. This time, instead of intercepting Pidgeot, and going past at an angle to force it to turn, Latios positioned himself to be facing Pidgeot head on. He wanted to warn Abbee, Chris and Charizard to close their eyes, however doing that risked breaking the already difficult telepathic connection he had with Jon, and this plan would fail without that.

”Now!”

Latios said the word to Jon, before instantly shifting his telekinetic link to the person closest to Jon. The Captain. He activated his sight sharing, before looking at Pidgeot, and using Flash…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

When told that Latios would give him a warning, Jon struggled against The Captain, but in a way to slowly get his foot closer to the sawn off shotgun. It was in place, when Jon got the call.

”Now!”

Suddenly, Latios’ presence was gone from his head, and whilst Jon had no clue what the Eon Pokemon was thinking, he had faith that this was intentional, and Latios had just bought him a few seconds. He stretched his leg out, hooking his ankle over the shotgun and kicking it towards him, as The Captain screamed in pain, loosening his grip for a moment, as Jon grabbed the Shotgun, and awkwardly cocked it.

“What’s that f**king light?!” The Captain yelled, his eyes closed tight, but still painfully blinded by something. His arm hadn’t moved, and with Jon’s hands now providing no resistance, he regained composure, still somehow blinded, but putting pressure on Jon’s windpipe.

“The end of the tunnel,” Jon croaked, as air struggled to enter his lungs. He clumsily pointed the sawn off shotgun to where he expected The Captain’s head to be until he found the morbid resistance of the end of it making contact with something. “A**hole…”

Jon pulled the trigger, deafened by the sound of the firearm firing right next to his ears, however felt the arm that was squeezing his neck loosen, and the vibrations in the floor beneath him of a limp body falling over behind him. He gasped for breath, taking a few seconds to fill his lungs, before standing, avoiding looking at the body of the man he just killed, and cocking the shotgun again, as an empty shell was ejected from it.

He limped out the door, making his way down the pier, where twenty meters ahead of him, Rifle and Backpack all had their backs turned, as they commanded their Pokemon, and Rifle aimed his namesake towards the three trainers, preparing to fire.

Jon put Rifle in his sights, being the only armed one of the three men, and aimed the gun at his calf, before pulling the trigger. Jon assumed the man screamed in pain, based on what he saw, with his hearing impaired from the gunshot in the enclosed cabin of the boat.

“Your Captain is dead!” Jon shouted to Backpack, who remained standing. “Surrender now and you won’t be harmed!”

“Where was my warning, a**hole?!” Rifle shouted as he gripped his calf, which the slug had grazed, tearing through the muscle, and leaving it in a pretty messed up state. The question was wasted on Jon however, who barely heard anything more than a high pitched ringing.

Backpack called back the Pokemon, before raising his hands in surrender.

“Dylan, come grab this…” Jon called out, gesturing to the gun. “I can’t hear s**t, so go along with it…”

Justin snorted at the comment, as Dylan made his way towards Jon, cautiously grabbing the gun, as Metagross followed, remaining on the other side of the two surrendering poaches.

Not wanting the students to see the mess left in the houseboat, Jon grabbed the backpack that contained the cable ties, knife and laptop he had stolen from the ship, and also unclipped his Pokeballs from the belt of the now deceased captain, trying not to look at where the gun had fired, before returning, and binding the two hostages.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Latios, what the hell?!” Chris shouted as his vision came back to him.

”I had to…” Latios said to both Chris and Abbee, though his tone sounding broken. ”I’ll explain later…”

With the advantage of numbers now in their favour, Charizard launched a Flamethrower on Pidgeot, not even intending to hit it, but instead, cause it to change course. As it did, Latios launched a Psychic attack near where it was moving, creating a telekinetic blast, knocking Pidgeot through the air, and nearly throwing Shotgun off Pidgeot’s back. Shotgun retained his balance, and held onto Pidgeot, however his grip on the Pokeball slipped, causing it to drop.

“I’ve got it!” Chris called out, leaning forward, as Charizard dived towards the ocean beneath them, closing in on the falling Pokeball. Shotgun called out for Pidgeot to use Tailwind, increasing its speed as it began to dive itself.

“Nice try a**hole!” Abbee shouted. “Latios, Zen Headbutt!”

Latios became encased in a telekinetic barrier, before darting forward at high speed, colliding with Pidgeot who cried out in pain, as it was knocked off course.

“Come on!” Chris shouted, as Charizard dived down at an angle, getting closer to the Pokeball which was getting closer to the water beneath. Charizard increased the angle of its dive, before pulling out at the last second, and flying parallel to the ocean beneath them a matter of meters above it. Chris leaned back, outstretching his right arm behind him, and tilting his head back to keen the Pokeball in his view. In his outstretched hand, he grabbed the black Pokeball out of the air, gripping it tightly, before letting out a cheer.

“Don’t celebrate yet!” Abbee yelled out. “Back to the island!”

Charizard turned, so that the island was in view, as Latios changed his own course to follow him, with Shotgun and his Pidgeot, attempting to pursue them. The island came into view, and whilst they expected to see an all out battle, they were surprised to see that both Rifle and Backpack had stopped fighting, instead, sitting with their arms bound behind them by cable ties, on the shore of the island, and their ankles bound together. Jon stood guard over them, holding a shotgun, and whilst Jon had mentioned five poachers, leaving two unaccounted for, they could see there wasn’t much urgency for the people on the beach.

Shotgun however, had put the pieces together. The last time he saw the firearm Jon was holding was in the houseboat where Jon and The Captain were. Jon was outside with the gun. Rifle and Backpack were both tied up, and Man-Bun hadn’t been seen since before the ship blew up. Realizing they had lost, Shotgun ordered Pidgeot to turn around and flee, leaving his captured teammates to their fate.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It was only 7am by the time that the fighting had stopped, and the members of the Eon Academy were relatively safe. Jon spoke to Latios, and realized what the Eon Pokemon had done. How ruthlessly he had killed the Noivern that pursued them, and how he managed to buy Jon some time, knowing that Jon had no idea what had happened.

When Jon’s hearing returned, he told the interns to stay off the boat, not wanting them to see what had happened there, as they compiled their stories, each finding out details of what happened to the others, from Jon explaining his capture, and subsequent escape, to Chris and Abbee explaining Latios’ erratic behaviour, and Jon filling them in as to why Latios was trying to keep Shotgun from straying too far from the island, ignoring them, killing Noivern so brutally, and even blinding all of them with an uncommunicated Flash attack. Upon understanding his actions, Chris and Abbee both apologized profusely to Latios, who accepted the apology, though didn’t respond telepathically, still trying to come to terms with what he had done. Jon understood, partially wishing he had the luxury of time to come to terms with it, but knowing that it just wasn’t in the cards. More than that though, Latios was in the mind of a man who seconds later, was killed. Latios through that telepathic connection, almost felt what it felt like for someone to die, and this seemed to weigh on him.

Dylan flew on the back of Flygon away from the island, trying to get close enough to the mainland to have enough signal to call the authorities. Given the remote nature of the island, it took two hours for them to arrive, however when they did, they wasted no time apprehending the three poachers who remained on the island, gathering the belongings from the houseboat so that those who hadn’t seen extent of Jon’s actions wouldn’t have to, and evacuating them from the island so those with injuries, mostly Jon, could be examined by a doctor, and all could ideally get some rest.

Before they left the island, Chris let Lugia out of the unregistered Pokeball, handing the Pokeball over to the authorities. He was slightly surprised however when Lugia didn’t leave. Instead of flying away, escaping from what was probably a terrifying experience for a young Pokemon, it stayed where it was, watching Chris, and when he went to leave, following him towards the boat that was going to take them all back to the mainland.

“I think he wants to come with you…” Jon said, groggily as he watched, kind of wishing Lugia would make that clear himself so they could leave the goddamned islands and get some rest.

Chris went towards Lugia, who didn’t flee, instead watched with curiosity, before giving it a scratch behind the horns that protected its eyes.

“You want to come with me?” Chris asked, to which Lugia cried out happily. Chris got one of his own Pokeballs from his bag, and pressed it against Lugia, causing the young Pokemon to be converted into light, and absorbed into the Pokeball.

Chapter 7
The next week was one full of appointments and bureaucracy. Immediately, all six trainers were taken to a police station, where they were made to give statements. Whilst the questions were intense for the five teenagers, given the fact that they had been the targets of, and fought off poachers, it seemed appropriate. Jon was placed under the most scrutiny, given that The Captain died at his hands, though it was quickly established Jon acted in self defence, and even with the window that Latios had given him, had he not acted the way he did, he was nearly certain to have been killed himself.

The laptop itself was taken as evidence, however when Jon had the opportunity, he got in touch with Steven, and after the initial shock of hearing what had happened at the Whirl Islands had worn off, Jon explained his concerns to him. This laptop had access to the Pokemon League Trainer Database, and these poachers had it. Wanting to look into it personally, Steven sent some emails, throwing his weight as Champion of Hoenn around a little to take the laptop itself into custody, allowing a copy of the data stored on it to remain in police custody, so that the League could investigate themselves exactly how such sensitive information got into the hands of criminals, much to the dismay of the Johto Police Department.

It was nearly a week before those involved in the Whirl Islands incident were allowed to leave Goldenrod. Abbee, living in Goldenrod herself, had the five other trainers stay at her house until the police decided it was okay for them to leave Johto. The last time the house had been as lively as it was that week, granted everyone was either exhausted, injured, or just ready to go home, was her fathers funeral, and welcomed the big house seeming a little more alive, even if just for a week.

Justin was the first to leave, returning to Kalos to spend some time with his family before ideally returning to Hoenn for summer, then Sinnoh for his second year of university, and Charlotte leaving not long after him, returning home to Jubilife City.

Chris planned on spending a few more days with Abbee before he returned to his home in Blackthorn City himself, and the day after Charlotte left, Jon and Dylan said their goodbyes, Jon congratulating Chris on capturing a Legendary Pokemon, and thanking him for organizing the trip, even if it did go pear shaped within twenty-four hours…

The first stop after leaving Abbee’s however, wasn’t the airport. Instead, it was the first place that Jon and Dylan had visited after arriving in Johto a week or so earlier.

The visitors room of the Johto Regional Medium Security Prison was just as cold as it was when Jon was there last time. He sat at the same table, dressed in almost the same clothes, given he only packed enough for a weekend, as Lance was escorted into the room by a guard, wearing his orange prison overalls, and his hands cuffed together. He was sat at the table, which his hands were then secured to. Like last time both men stared each other down, and again, Lance was the first to speak. This time however, was slightly different.

“I owe whoever messed your face up a beer…” Lance sneered, nodding towards the swelling, cuts and bruises that were only now just beginning to heal.

“Pity he’s dead…” Jon replied. “But if you want, I guess you could consider us even now…”

“I don’t…”

There was silence, before Lance spoke.

“Why are you here Jon?” Lance asked, though unlike last time, sounding less irritated and more exhausted.

“I don’t know…” Jon admitted. “Maybe I’m just hoping to have a reason to believe that things may be better than they actually are…”

“That’s a joke right?” Lance asked angrily, letting out an irritated sigh. “What, you think ’Hey, it could be worse, and I’ll remind myself of that by seeing Lance in prison’?”

“Surprisingly, no…” Jon answered, thinking over how best to explain what he was thinking to a volatile, angry and arrogant psychopath.

“By the time I got off the S.S. Wishmaker, when I thought of the worst of people, I thought of you…” Jon said, noticing Lance’s gaze sharpen. “But since then, this last year in particular, I could easily say I’ve seen worse…”

“Like?” Lance asked, his tone still aggressive, but unable to hide the slight curiosity.

“The poachers who tried to steal four very powerful Pokemon, mostly from a group of teenagers, and would have killed them, for the sake of making a buck and not getting caught. Who would have sold these Pokemon that can virtually be weapons in their own right, but are also living, breathing beings, to the highest bidder, with no conscience about what the buyer will do with them after the transaction is finished,” Jon answered. “Or Mark Hill. Someone who is in a job that is supposed to be serving the people of Hoenn, yet is so power-hungry that he would risk the lives of those same people just to get more power. Whose decision resulted in people's properties and homes being damaged, and instead of taking responsibility, shifts the blame onto someone dead, and leaves everyone put out by his department, hanging out to dry. And that’s before he gets himself involved in a p**sing contest because someone bruised his ego…”

“That someone being you?”

“What do you think?” Jon asked, confirming Lance’s suspicions.

“So why come here then?” Lance asked abrasively.

“I guess, as f**ked up as what you did, or tried to do, was, I don’t think you were being a completely selfish piece of s**t by doing it. In your eyes, I was some stuck-up a**hole who wanted to essentially let three people off the hook who had cheated the league out of millions, dozens of people out of titles that were rightfully theirs, yours included, and essentially forgive turning what, seven people, into Pokemon, when chances are if they weren’t caught, those people would have gone the rest of their lives like that?” Jon said. “I still think that 95% of your reasoning for acting the way you did was for the sake of your ego, and I am not justifying that in any way. But I guess that remaining 5% is what sets you apart from the pieces of s**t I have dealt with since…”

“I guess I hoped that by actually talking to you, I could see some sort of hope that things can get better. That people who act the wrong way for even the smallest of right reasons, are different from those who do everything for the wrong reasons. And people can grow from it,” Jon continued. “That the Diamond Ladies aren’t the only ones in this world full of f**ked up people that can change for the better…”

Jon expected Lance to spit in his face, or yell, or threaten. His gaze didn’t change. He continued to stare intently at Jon, his expression indicating irritation at Jon’s very existence.

“If I hadn’t met Mark Hill myself, I’d think you were s**ting me saying you think he is worse than me…” Lance said. “I don’t know how Steven lets filth like that have any sort of power in his region…”

“You’ve met him?” Jon asked. He knew that the Department of Defence had been in contact with Lance to make some sort of arrangement during the incident with Rayquaza. However he had presumed it would be in writing, or someone speaking on Hill’s behalf.

“Christmas, a few years ago. The a**hole arrived here out of nowhere wanting to speak to me. Like you’ve gotten into the annoying habit of doing. He then starts blowing smoke up my a**. Telling me how great of a Champion I was, and how I was unfairly punished for what happened on the S.S. Wishmaker. That I can see the big picture, and Steven can’t. Laying it on that thick, that it’s just f**king patronizing, and this stuck up p***k was too arrogant to see that,” Lance explained. “This a**hole then tells me, whilst doing everything he can to avoid mentioning it was his department's fault, that Rayquaza, the Legendary Dragon, was p**sed off, and lashing out at aircraft. And whilst it wasn’t going to be returning to its resting place for another few weeks, they were wanting to set up an ambush, and have me and my Dragon Types lure it back, so they can kill it…”

Jon was beyond shocked to hear Lance telling this story. Granted, he had no doubt this wasn’t out of any sort of admiration or obligation to Jon, but simply, Hill was someone he hated even more than he hated Jon.

“He then tells me they could drastically reduce my sentence if I do it, which I knew was bulls**t. He’s the Hoenn Minister for Defence. It comes with some clout, but not enough to get a high profile inmate out of a Johto prison. But I went along with it…”

“Why go along with it if you’re so fond of Dragons, and knew they were lying by promising a pardon?” Jon asked, as a concerning grin formed on Lance’s face.

“I think you already know…”

He was right. Jon knew, but it wasn’t him who thought of it first. It was Cassandra, that night in the main building of the Academy, back when it was an old church, with Steven. Lance was going to try and capture Rayquaza himself, and if he accomplished that, the chances of him going back to prison were astronomical…

“So they go to the effort of getting me a temporary transfer. I’m taken from here, and still watched nearly every second I’m out. A week later we get to this old crumbling tower in the south of Hoenn, and get dropped off at the top, with ungodly amounts of weapons. And we wait,” Lance continued. “Four days, I froze my a** off on top of that tower, and nothing happened. Then all of a sudden, they start going on about Rayquaza being sighted travelling away from Hoenn. And since then, it hasn’t even been seen near Hoenn. And suddenly, Hill’s patronizing a**-kissing is gone, and he is taking out his frustration at the plan that failed on account of a Pokemon migrating, on me…”

Somehow, Lance’s gaze became more intense.

“If you’re going to war with this a**hole, then let everyone in on that dirty little secret. The public will freak when they hear their Minister for Defence was the reason that a Legendary Pokemon, which is the pride of Hoenn, was attacking aircraft, and was trying to cover it up by having a convicted attempted murderer try to help them kill it, on the false promise of a pardon, whilst the Hoenn Champion was locked up because he disagreed with the plan…”

Jon was surprised that Lance’s hatred of Hill was enough to consider helping Jon, if it meant taking Hill down. And honestly, Jon wished that would work. He had suggested to Steven that he reveal this, however Steven had made a pretty good point about it. His detainment, both with the Rayquaza and Deoxys incident, hinged around extremely classified information, and if he were to bring that up in a public hearing, he would be reprimanded for sharing classified information, whilst also having the hearing moved to be a private, internal hearing, in which Hill would have every advantage.

Jon sighed.

“Steven’s got a few stories similar to that. The problem is that they are all classified information, and Steven would be reprimanded heavily for disclosing it in a public hearing. That and they’d make it private the moment classified information was revealed, and so far a lot of our plan for dealing with Hill revolves around turning the public against him…” Jon said, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake revealing this to Lance. He took comfort in the fact that whilst admiration and loyalty can be easily faked, the hatred shown by Lance towards Hill was not.

Lanced groaned, leaning back, though not very far due to his wrists cuffed to the table. Jon stood, having seen enough.

“But for what it’s worth, thanks for telling me that,” Jon said. “Maybe it will help deal with this a**hole…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

It took three days after Jon returned to Mossdeep for Alyssa to let him and Dylan out of her sight for long enough for Jon to speak to Steven. The pair sat in the dining room of Jon and Alyssa’s house, where Steven had the laptop that he had managed to get from the Johto Police Department.

“What can you tell me about this laptop?” Jon asked. “How did they get access to the League Database?”

“They didn’t get access to the Database on its own…” Steven explained. “They got access to this laptop, which already had access to the database…”

“What’s the difference?”

“Any government computer, be it regional government, Pokemon League or military, is ordered from the one provider that they are contracted to. And this provider sends the computer to whoever in government requested it, with access to all League servers and Databases, such as the Pokemon Trainer Database that this has, there, ready to go. From there, the computer is sent through to the government’s IT department, who disable access to anything not needed on a given computer. Like, if you work in the tax department, and don’t need access to the Trainer Database, your computer will be imaged with access to everything, then IT will remove access to the Trainer Database,” Steven explained. “Every serial number for every computer is recorded, with its intended purpose, and what access it has.”

“So was this one stolen?” Jon asked, looking at the laptop that didn’t seem very special at first glance.

“Doubt it. It would be noticed if it went missing from some government department, and from there it would be marked as missing, and it’s MAC address would be removed from the whitelist of accessing government servers,” Steven explained. “The serial number on this one isn’t listed as missing, so it still has access. Here’s the kicker though. The serial number isn’t in the current database of computers…”

“Wait, why not?” Jon asked. “Has the manufacturer been making extras on the side to sell on the black market?”

“That’s one possibility but I doubt it,” Steven explained, starting to sound excited. “I did some digging into the changelog of the database, and found that between the request for this laptop being made to the manufacturer, and about half an hour after it was delivered, there was an entry for this serial number which has since been removed. Even if a computer stops working, it isn’t removed from the database. We only remove them if there is a data entry error, like a typo.”

“So this was ordered, and then removed from records to imply it doesn’t exist, so it doesn’t lose access to whatever information it gets?”

“Exactly…” Steven said, his enthusiasm growing. “Twenty dollars says you can guess which department ordered this laptop?”

“Department of Defence?”

“Bingo…” Steven answered. “This laptop, and eleven others…”

“Wait, you mean to tell me there are a dozen of these things out there for anyone to have access to that information?” Jon asked. “Why the hell are you so excited?”

“The servers use a whitelist system, so I have since removed all of the MAC addresses of those laptops that were removed from the whitelist. They are now all barred from accessing any of the servers that they originally could, so are now no better or worse than any other stolen laptop,” Steven explained. “But there are two other things I discovered. Firstly, there is an extremely short list of people who can modify the list of computers, and any guesses who is one of those people?”

“Hill…”

“Secondly, this laptop had access to more than it was sent from IT with…” Steven explained. “The reason we image the computers with access to everything and remove individual accesses is because the way the system works, it is easier to remove access to individual servers than grant them. But it isn’t impossible, if someone knows what they are doing to give themselves access to servers that have since had access revoked. The twelve missing computers were all ordered by someone in the Department of Defence, with access only to the Pokemon Trainer Database, which confirms in my mind that these were ordered specifically to be removed from the list, and sold to the highest bidder. This one is special, because whoever had it, was able to undo the revokes that were done by IT, and grant themselves access to other servers. Quite a few actually. And one of them is the Department of Defence’s server.”

Jon began to understand what Steven was getting towards, as his eyes widened. Man-Bun had been busy indeed.

“The guy who had this, the one you took hostage. He’s done a lot to it since he got it, including creating access to a server of his own, with the laptop programmed to copy everything it detects as new in the Department of Defence’s server over to this private one he set up, probably to keep an eye on if they are catching up to them. And in that private server, I found some familiar files.

Steven double clicked something on the laptop, opening a document that Jon recognized as the data sheet on Deoxys, that was allegedly recovered from a hard drive in the wreck of the Mossdeep Space Center. Steven closed it, before clicking on the file and opening the properties.

“Have a look at when the file was created…”

Jon peered at the date, which was the evening before Deoxys attacked Mossdeep the year before. He had a rough idea of what all this meant, but the sheer information overload was getting to him.

“So this means that someone high up in the military, likely Hill himself, has been ordering extra computers with access to classified information, to sell illegally for some extra cash on the side,” Jon explained. “Man-Bun who had this before, managed to do some computer wizard stuff to get access to the Department of Defence’s server, and have any changes copied to his own. And on his own server, copied from the Department of Defence’s server, is a file about a project Hill claims he knew nothing about, dated before Hill allegedly first got access to said file?”

“Exactly…”

Jon couldn’t help but grin.

“We’ve got him…”