hey hey im back

this is a rather heavy chapter im not sure if i did it alright tho im not good at writing heavy stuff

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“An incident happened at Rootwill?”

Sooyoung leans back against her chair, pen poised in the air, ready to continue signing papers and scribbling down…whatever she needs to scribble down. Her laptop goes into hibernation mode. She swivels her chair and turns to her desk-mate, Wendy Son.

“Well, yes,” Wendy nods. “According to Sehun, apparently. Didn’t you hear Irene grumbling on the way out?”

Sooyoung revives her laptop and continues typing. “No, can’t say I did.”

“Honestly, I feel bad for Stratuseon’s leader. They’re in charge of so many towns. I’ve only got Snowberry under my belt.”

“And Twilight Town.”

“Oh right, forgot,” Wendy grins.

“We’re going off topic,” Sooyoung points out. “What happened at Rootwill?”

“You know that incident from, like, seven years ago?”

“Uh…huh?” Sooyoung nods. She hears the whirring of the printing machine from just down the hallway. “The Lockdown.”

“That’s right,” Wendy nods. “You know that terrorist group that was behind that? Sehun said that one of their officers saw it. Like, he was being suspicious and all, but get this. According to the officer, he had the logo of that terrorist group behind it.”

“Huh,” Sooyoung nods, saving her document and sending it for printing. Having a communal printer saved costs (considering the League is on a tight budget right now) but it’s quite inconvenient for her to walk to the end of the hallway every time she needed to print something. “A little dumb, don’t you think? Going out wearing that hoodie with the logo.”

“The group’s been inactive since the Lockdown. Maybe he thought no one would recognize it anymore.”

Sooyoung got up from her seat and reaches for her cup of iced Komala brew. She stares at the milky blackness for a few seconds and then downs what’s left of it in one gulp. “Anyways, he might be an ex-member. We don’t know for sure.”

“Or maybe he just wanted some publicity.”

“Or maybe”—a third voice booms from the entrance of their cubicles, scaring the out of the both of them—“the two of you can stop gossiping and start working.” Sooyoung and Wendy look at the newcomer, who just so happens to be none other than Song Jieun, head of the SECRET task force. Her Bellossom is at her feet, running over to Sooyoung and lifting its arms for a hug, grass skirt flouncing around its hips.

“I swear it likes you more than me,” Jieun sighs, shaking her head. “Irene said she wanted that report done by…one today?”

“Oh, good luck with that,” Sooyoung nods at Wendy’s nearly-blank document. “It’s almost nine.”

“Relax, I still have four hours,” Wendy says. “Anyways, Jieun, what brings you here?”

“Playing messenger,” Jieun says, leaning against Sooyoung’s desk, the owner of said desk hugging Bellossom as if her life depends on it. Bellossom reciprocates the hug with extreme fierceness. She turns to Sooyoung. “Irene told me to tell you that we have a challenger scheduled at ten today.”

“ing hell…she couldn’t have told us earlier? And she just left for Tapu’s sake!”

“Yeah, I know, right?” Jieun says. “And why couldn’t she have used her phone?”

“But Irene’s a good leader,” Wendy pipes up. “Even if we can’t stand her at times.”

“That’s true,” Sooyoung nods. “I don’t know where the League would be now if it weren’t for her. Remember when she was that scrawny thirteen-year-old?”

“You were eight.”

“Eight and an Elite Four. Not bad, heh?” Sooyoung grins. “She murdered my that year. With that Scizor, I swear. That thing is bloodthirsty.”

“Anyways, I’m getting out of here. Need some fresh air once in a while. Toodles.”

“You did not just say toodles.”

“I did, and I will continue saying it for the rest of my life if it pisses you off,” Jieun says with a flourish. “Goodbye. Come on, Bell!”

Bellossom gives a cry and Sooyoung puts it down, the little Grass-type Pokemon running after its Trainer. Once more, the office is plunged into silence. The other Gym Leaders are either patrolling their territories or are battling challengers. Yixing is asleep at his desk, hunched over some papers, his head resting on the table. And nobody knows where Baekhyun and Junmyeon have gone off to.

“Alright, I’m going to take a break,” Sooyoung says. The printer beeps, indicating that it’s finished the print job. “Want anything?”  

Wendy eyes her mug. “Uh…Miltank Macchiato with Vanillite cream.”

Sooyoung gives her an “OK” sign and walks out of the cubicle.

Meanwhile, Wendy goes back to typing on her laptop.

*

Route 3 connects Rootwill and Stratuseon. Daehyun notes that their adventure is going somewhat smoothly, discounting the near-death experience he’s just had with Sharpedo.

Adventure comes in many different forms. For some, it means the physical act of going through trials and tribulations just to reach their goal. For others, it means the joy of tackling a new day, with determination and resilience.

For a specific few others…it means both.

Adventure for Jung Daehyun and company comes in the form of being surrounded by a hungry pack of Poochyena and Mightyena.

“Uh…” Youngjae begins eloquently.

They’ve been fighting wild Pokemon for training ever since they’ve entered Route 3, healing up with Himchan’s healing items whenever they need to. Their Pokemon have levelled up a great deal, learned new moves, reflexes have gotten sharper…but Daehyun isn’t sure they can get out of this totally unscathed.

“We’re hopelessly trapped,” Youngjae finishes. “Hey, Uppie, you got a plan?”

“…I wasn’t the one who disturbed their breeding grounds.”

Beside them, Junhong coughs.

“I’d never want to see that again. Pokemon ing is just something I never wanted to see. No wonder the news always says that no one has ever seen how an egg is pr—holy ing !”

Junhong ducks just as a MIghtyena springs at him, claws missing him by inches and nearly lands on Yongguk, if not for said man’s quick reflexes. Spinarak slings an Infestation attack at it, biting hard into Mightyena’s flank.

What can be considered to be the Third Pokemon War breaks out when the Poochyena and Mightyena start attacking at once. Every single human has at least two Pokemon out to defend themselves.

“Disarming Voice!”

Himchan’s voice is loud and easily heard over the chaos as Ralts lets out a shriek, the sound waves hitting the two Poochyena in front of them, instantly knocking them out.

Another Poochyena dives at Ralts, but is thrown away by a hit square to its flank.

“Confu—”

“Not going to work!” Daehyun grabs Himchan’s shoulder. “Psychic moves don’t affect Dark-types!” He shoves his Pokedex screen in front of Himchan’s face to prove his point. Himchan’s vision is assaulted with the suddenly-too-bright screen of the Pokedex displaying all information on the Poochyena.

Poochyena. Level 9-12. Type: Dark. Ability: Run Away (will always be able to flee from battle)/Quick Feet (increases Speed if it has a status ailment). A Pokémon with a persistent nature, it chases its chosen prey until the prey becomes exhausted. 

“It doesn’t scan for moves,” Himchan muses.

“Well, yeah, each Poochyena probably has different movesets,” Daehyun says, whipping the Pokedex closer to himself and stuffing it into his pocket. “Fairy Wind!”

Cottonee lets out a blast of sparkling wind that hits a Poochyena and a Mightyena. The Poochyena collapses but the Mightyena is perfectly fine. It throws a quick glance at its felled cub and roars menacingly.

An angry mother is a menace.

The Mightyena does not let up on its attacks, even when Cottonee hits it with another bout of Fairy Wind. It delivers a severe gash to Cottonee’s side, claws scrabbling against the fluffy cotton as Cottonee desperately tries to avoid its attacks.

“Sleep Powder!”

A burst of grey spores come from Petilil’s direction, raining on the attacking Mightyena, and instantly, the foe falls asleep, collapsing to the ground.

“Thanks,” Daehyun says, back hitting Youngjae’s. It feels like that time…when they were fighting back-to-back as well, like trusted partners.

“Mega Drain!”

Both shout the command at the same time, and Petilil and Cottonee begin their double assault on the pack. One by one, the Poochyena and Mightyena fall victim to the combined Mega Drain attack. Beside them, Jongup and Yongguk are about finished as well, Snivy batting away a Mightyena with its Vine Whip attack and Rufflet slapping away a Poochyena with its wing.

“Phew,” Daehyun wipes sweat from his brow as he surveys the area around him. Well, no trees were harmed in the fighting of this pack of Mightyena and Poochyena.

“My Pokemon ought to have gained a few levels,” Junhong mutters.

Still, it feels…off. Like there’s something missing, but they don’t know what.

Then, a feral growl. Daehyun turns to find a larger-than-normal Mightyena standing over them on its very own Pride Rock, hackles raised, black fur with highlights of silver glimmering beautifully in the midday sun.

There is a split second before the Mightyena pounces on the group. Yongguk is quick to react, commanding Rufflet to strike it with a Wing Attack. Rufflet violently slaps the Mightyena away, cawing loudly. The Mightyena lands easily on the ground and kicks off again, this time aiming at the one who looks the most helpless.

Well, that just so happens to be Himchan.

Well, Himchan is really that helpless. He lets out a yelp and instantly ducks the moment the Mightyena sails through the air towards him.

“Bellsprout, Vine Whip!”

A vine appears out of nowhere, smacking harshly into Mightyena’s flank and this time, it sends the MIghtyena sprawling to the ground. It wobbles as it staggers to its feet, clearly hurt and worn out. There’s something suspicious about this Mightyena’s behaviour.

“Sleep Powder.”

Petilil spreads a blanket of grey spores all over Mightyena. Immediately, the Pokemon dozes off, collapsing to the ground.

“Huh, I wonder what’s got it so riled up like that. Can’t be ’cause we were peeking in on their mating ritual or anything, right?” Junhong walks over to the fallen Mightyena. “I mean, plus it was only one guy. It wouldn’t hav—”

“No, there’s definitely something wrong. Look at this,” Youngjae opens his Pokedex and it displays information on this particular Mightyena.

Mightyena. Level 63. Type: Dark. Moves learned: Play Rough, er Punch, Take Down, Yawn. Ability: Moxie (increase attacking power when it fells an opposing Pokemon). It chases down prey in a pack of around ten. They defeat foes with perfectly coordinated teamwork.

“For one, perfectly-coordinated teamwork. It won’t attack us by itself, means that something must have spurred it on to do so,” Youngjae reasons. “Secondly, it’s level 63. A Vine Whip from a level 16 Bellsprout and a Wing Attack from a level 14 Rufflet isn’t going to harm it too badly, so why is it so tired after only taking two attacks?”

As if to answer their question, there is the sound of a roar, seemingly from nearby, as well as a yell. Then another roar.

“What’s that—?” Himchan barely has time to speak when the ground starts shaking. It begins to crack along the hardened soil, before splitting into crevices.

“Whoa !” Junhong falls backwards and nearly lands into a crevice.

“Earthquake,” Yongguk says. “A Pokemon is using Earthquake.”

Must be the owner of the roar from earlier.

“Move!” Yongguk shouts authoritatively.

The first one to spring up is Jongup, quick reflexes managing to take him across the plots of land breaking up before their very eyes.

Daehyun yelps when a tremor rocks through the earth as he tries to stand. He loses his footing and would have gone tumbling down into the abyss if not for Chimchar’s quick reflexes, three- hand curled around his wrist and pulling him up. While Daehyun feels like his arm would have gotten dislocated, he’s surprisingly fine as he starts to rush through the splitting ground, Jongup and Youngjae right by his side.

Daehyun does a little victory dance in his head when he reaches solid ground, dropping to his knees and panting his heart out, Chimchar on his back and Bagon by his side. Youngjae reaches right behind him, having tripped and fallen face-first into the dirt. The others have made it safely as well. It was a close call.

“Is everyone alright?” Youngjae calls.

There are words of affirmation thrown around. Daehyun picks himself up to stare at the aftermath of that Earthquake. Trees have fallen, the fence flanking the road has also been crushed and the path decimated. Well, there’s no way they can return to Rootwill, that’s for sure.

Thankfully, the defeated Mightyena and Poochyena have scurried off while the quake hit, so it’s not like there are any casualties.

Daehyun hopes.

“Let’s get a move on before we get hit again,” Himchan suggests, sense of authority in his tone that Daehyun just manages to pick up. He watches as Himchan boldly strides forward, the rest of the team behind him.

Save for Jongup, that is. He stands with Daehyun, eyes on the boy, then they follow Himchan, almost as if nudging at Daehyun to, well, move. Riolu’s face remains impassive.

If the situation is any less dire, Daehyun will have stood his ground and stared back at Jongup, but because another Earthquake may very well send them plunging into the abyss of the earth, he begins walking.

The ground shakes again, and the yelling gets louder. This time, there are no life-threatening earthly phenomena, and Daehyun is grateful for that. Nearly falling into a crevice once is enough—he doesn’t need a second time.

“What the do you think you’re doing?!”

Daehyun catches up with the group just in time to see Youngjae slug a man across the face.

*

Youngjae may be a little hot-blooded at times, but he’s one of the more rational people Daehyun knows. If anything, he’d have expected Himchan or Junhong to be the one responding in that manner.

But, well, Youngjae is the one he finds physically punching at the dude.

“Stealing an Egg from a Pokemon? You should be ashamed of yourselves!”

The man is wearing a hoodie, with an unrecognizable logo near his (though it looks sort of familiar…) as well as a tattoo across his arm that’s curled around a whitish-grey egg, the other around a passed-out Poochyena. He catches Youngjae’s arm with his other hand the next time the latter tries to hit him again.

“Youngjae!” Junhong cries out. His eyes flit to the man’s Pokemon, a Purrloin. “Totodile, Water Gun!”

The Water Gun hits the Purrloin like a slap to the face as the Purrloin darts forward, about to sink its claws into Youngjae. The cat Pokemon is forced back and Junhong rushes forward just as the man is about to land a fist on Youngjae. He grabs the man’s arm and twists it with deft moves, until he hears a scream and he man releases Youngjae.

“Y-You’ll pay for this!” the man shouts. “Purrloin!”

Purrloin yowls and kicks up some sand into Totodile’s eyes in a Sand-Attack, rendering the latter being unable to see.

Purrloin. Level 19. Type: Dark. Moves learned: Sand-Attack, Torment, Fury Swipes, Pursuit. Ability: Limber (prevents paralysis). They steal from people for fun, but their victims can't help but forgive them. Their deceptively cute act is perfect.  

“Seviper!”

Out of nowhere, a snake appears from the bushes, much larger than any of them, and it s itself over the man’s head in a rather dramatic fashion, landing right in front of them, razor-sharp tail raised, dripping with what looks to be poison.

Seviper. Level 20. Type: Poison. Moves learned: 

One a second passed when it strikes like a snake in the grass (literally, minus the grass), grabbing Youngjae in one move and raising its poisonous tail to his neck.

“Holy ,” Youngjae breathes. He can feel the thing centimetres away from his flesh.

“Nobody moves, and no one gets hurt,” the man says, eyeing them warily. “I-I’ll hurt people if I have to!”

Huh, what a funny thing to say. Youngjae glances at his friends, as if pleading for them to just destroy the guy where he stands, no need to care about him, but none of them move, even as the man begins to move away.

Hold on a minute…there appears to be someone missing.

Yongguk, Himchan, Daehyun, Jong—

There is a resounding crash behind them as a shrill sound rings out through the area, and Seviper loosens its hold, as if getting hit with an attack.

“W-What?!” The man shouts. Junhong dives from the branches, giving the man a second’s grace before he’s falling backwards, arms flailing as vines shoot out from the trees, wrapping themselves around the man’s arms and legs, pinning them to his body.

Both Poochyena and the Egg fly out of his hands, the Poochyena landing on Himchan, the egg onto Cottonee’s puffed-out body. The Pokemon cradles it and watches as the man flops to the ground like a mannequin. 

“Whew,” Junhong puffs out his chest proudly. “That took a lot of effort.”

Youngjae turns to see scratches and cuts all over the other boy. Must be from the ninja tree-climbing he did just now. Youngjae hadn’t even noticed when he’d disappeared.

“Who are you?”

Yongguk is the one who’s crouching over the whimpering man. Seviper has already been dealt with with that Confusion attack earlier, and Purrloin is currently being disposed of by Treecko. By now, everyone save Himchan has gathered around that man.

“I-I don’t know! I’m sorry! I—!”

Yongguk grabs a fistful of his hair and yanks his head up, so that his face is inches from the blubbering man’s.

“What is this logo?” Yongguk flips him over such that he’s lying on his back, and gestures to the logo on the man’s hoodie.

“T-This is—!”

“What’s going on here?”

The sound of wings beating has all of them turned towards the source. A Noivern lands, and a boy no older than Youngjae gets off its back, by his side, a Jumpluff.

“A-Aren’t you…aren’t you Stratuseon’s Gym Leader?” Youngjae stares.

“Yeah, that I am,” the boy nods. He has a beanie on, but Youngjae can see a few locks of red peeking out from under that hat. The Stratuseon Gym leader had just retired about a year ago, replaced by his grandson, this sprightly spring chicken also known as Oh Sehun. “Route 4 is under me. Uh…so, who’s that guy?” He points to the incapacitated man on the ground.

“He stole a Pokemon Egg, as well as a Poochyena,” Youngjae says.

“And he caused that too?” Sehun jabs a thumb in the direction of the impassable route.

“Uh, no, that was…come to think of it, we don’t know what caused that,” Youngjae glances back at his team. "Probably the mother of the egg..."

“Aura.” A soft voice speaks up from behind them. Youngjae turns around to find Jongup stepping up, Riolu with him. “Riolu can sense auras. It should be able to match the aura of the egg with an aura in the surroundings, and we can follow it.”

“Huh,” Sehun grunts. “Sounds fishy to me.”

“Believe it if you want,” Jongup shrugs. “Riolu.”

Riolu’s ear-like appendages begin to quiver, then rise until they are parallel to the ground. It emanates a sort of orange-like aura, then points past the man’s body, through the woods where he had supposedly gone to. Jongup follows Riolu, and Daehyun, Junhong and Yongguk after him. After a sigh, Sehun wanders off after them with Jumpluff, having kept Noivern in its Pokeball.

Something nudges at Youngjae’s leg. He looks down to see Cottonee, the egg still on its body. Youngjae takes the egg from the Pokemon and Cottonee rushes after Daehyun, leaving only Youngjae and Himchan left sitting in the middle of Route 4.

“You’re not going to go after them?” Himchan asks.

“Yeah, maybe. I mean I have this egg with me,” Youngjae says. In Himchan’s arms is the Poochyena, all healed up and is kind of slobbering over Himchan’s arm.

“I need to return Poochyena to its pack, in any case,” Himchan says, feeding the slobbering Poochyena another blue berry, an Oran berry.

“So you’ll be staying out here?” Youngjae throws Himchan a worried glance. Poochyena attempts to bite Flabebe, who floats away in mild horror. At Himchan’s nod, he continues, “If you need us, holler.”
With that, Youngjae, Petilil and Buneary make their way into the foliage, where the group has went.

*

“There it is.”

A lone Pokemon lying on the ground, entire body a dark purple. It’s poison. Jongup can smell the stench of Seviper toxins from here. The Pokemon, sad to say, is not going to make it, if it hasn’t keeled over already. He gets down onto one knee and feels for a pulse.

None.

The Pokemon is dead.

He tells as much to the group.

“Oh…” Junhong shuffles uncertainly as he lets out a small whine, his voice trailing off.

“It must have tried to protect the Egg till its dying breath…” Yongguk says, voice soft.

There isn’t much else to see there. Sehun confirms that this Pokemon, a Marowak, is one of the stronger Pokemon reported to be living on Route 4, pointing at the brown band fastened around its leg.

According to Sehun, any Pokemon at least twenty levels higher than the average level of the Pokemon living in that area is registered and has a band attached to it. The bands are usually of the same colour as that of its predominant body colour.

“H-Hey, sorry I’m late!” Youngjae is the one who tumbles out of the bushes, having tripped on a stray branch, nearly falling over, egg in his arms. “Did you find the—” His expression morphs into one of horror. “Is it…?” The question hangs in the air.

“Yeah,” Junhong nods.

“Then the egg…?” Youngjae looks at it. It looks so small, and innocent…and is that a crack he sees? He nearly drops the egg as the egg begins to tremble. The cracks are becoming more prominent now, against the grey of the egg’s shell.

And just like that, the egg bursts open in an explosion of egg shell shards raining to the ground.

While Youngjae must admit his eye has nearly gotten stabbed by one of the shards, in his arms sits a tiny Pokemon. Its head is white, eyes poking out from behind a skull-like helmet. In its arms it holds a splintered bone (okay, that there is a little creepier than Youngjae had imagined) and its tail is curled around its body as if trying to keep warm.

The Pokemon makes slight whining noises (similar to how Daehyun does) and reaches for Youngjae. Youngjae holds the Pokemon close despite all the icky egg liquid stuck to it, figuring it probably needs warmth.

Cubone. Level 1. Type: Ground. Moves learned: Growl. Ability: Battle Armour (prevents critical hits from opposing Pokemon). The skull it wears on its head is that of its dead mother. According to some, it will evolve when it comes to terms with the pain of her death.

The entry itself is just downright depressing.

“I’ll alert the League of this,” Sehun finally announces, tapping on his phone. “If it’s that guy who did this, then he must be pretty powerful.”

On the walk back, as Youngjae cradles Cubone to his chest, watching as the little thing at his clothes.

As if Youngjae is its mother.

Youngjae looks down at the tiny Cubone, and the image of the Marowak that was poisoned to death floats back into his mind.

He’s going to keep its little kid safe.

*

Jongup stands over the Marowak’s grave. The others should already be on the way back to the main path of Route 4. Helioptile, Riolu, Dewpider and Snivy had helped dig the grave and move the mother’s body into the hole, before covering it up with the loosened soil. Taking the Marowak’s bone club (which had landed a few inches from the Marowak’s body), Jongup stabs the ground with it, marking the grave.

His eyes slide over to behind Marowak’s body. He sees the panicked footsteps, can see the sheer terror in those imprints in the soil as the mother probably battled for her children as hard as she could. It was her last egg.

Because where Jongup can see, there is a nest hidden in the undergrowth, with at least five broken greyish eggs, yolk seeping into the soil, no doubt damage that the man had caused.

With a hum, Jongup turns his back and begins the trek back to the main path.

*

“Here, boy, don’t go too far.”

Himchan sighs exasperatedly as the Poochyena, with its tongue out, pads over to a Silcoon that has parked itself at the side of the path. The Poochyena must be a newborn—it’s curious about everything around it.

Still, the disappearance of the pack is worrisome.

He huffs as the Poochyena barks after getting poked by Silcoon’s thorny body, and the Silcoon can only watch as the Poochyena hides behind Himchan’s legs. Himchan scoops it up into his arms and Poochyena begins to slobber all over his arm again.

“I’m going to have to ask you to hand that Poochyena over to me.”

Himchan turns around, and sees a boy wearing a black hoodie with a logo on his left , just like the one the other guy was wearing, but this boy seems…different. Perched on his shoulder is a Natu, the green bird staring straight ahead, as if seeing into Himchan’s soul. Behind the boy is a Zubat, the bat Pokemon flapping its wings furiously, mouth open as if in a grin, fangs glinting in the sunlight.

“Who are you?” Himchan hugs Poochyena closer to him, sizing the boy up. Unlike the man from earlier, this boy is more casual about revealing his face, because his hood is thrown back, he has a lip ring and a pair of hideous sunglasses (worn the wrong way, by the way. The frames are behind his head). His hais is a light brown.

“That’s not important,” the boy says, cocking his head to one side. “Now hand me that Poochyena.”

“What the , no,” Himchan shakes his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Flabebe, Ralts and Popplio edging forward, preparing for battle.

The boy laughs. It’s a melodic laugh, if not for the fact that it sounds downright evil. “Are you being serious right now? You have a puny team serving a punier Trainer.”

, where are Yongguk and the others when you need them? Himchan has almost never fought a battle in his life. Flabebe and Ralts have nearly no battling experience, damn it! He can either try to buy time…or…

“This is taking way too long,” the boy scratches his head. “Zubat, Confuse Ray.”

Zubat shrieks happily and sends a ball of ghostly energy darting its way towards Himchan, almost like a spectre itself. Himchan knows he’s got to act. He’s got to move, just command his Pokemon to do somethi—

Ralts acts, launching a Confusion attack, dissipating the Confuse Ray while it was halfway to its target. Popplio then sends a jet of water straight into Zubat’s face, catching the bat Pokemon off guard and it is pushed back.

“Don’t make it harder than it has to be,” the boy threatens, looking serious now. “Natu, take out the Ralts! Ominous Wind!”

Natu caws and Himchan feels a draft pick up. The surroundings are turning purple, and Ralts is buckling under the attack. He can feel a dizzy spell coming on. The boy throws a hand out, “Wing Attack!”

Zubat recovers from the initial Water Gun and now rushes forward, wings at the ready. Himchan braces himself, squeezing his eyes shut, but something barks and leaps out and...the impact doesn’t come. He cracks an eye open and sees Poochyena ripping off one of Zubat’s wings, sending the Pokemon crashing to the ground, the other wing flapping uselessly.

“,” the boy utters rather loudly. “Teleport!”

Before Poochyena can bite Zubat once more, it’s met with Natu’s green body, stunning the Pokemon for a while as Natu grabs Zubat by its talons, before teleporting back to where the boy is, depositing the Zubat in the boy’s arms.

“Anyhow, I would finish you off, but that…thing,” he glares at the Poochyena standing in front of Himchan, growling, teeth bared. “I’m not contending with it. Adios!”

“Wait, who are you?” Himchan bends down to pick Ralts up.

The boy laughs as his form begins to flicker in a pink light. The Natu is preparing to Teleport them away.

“Name’s Kim Taehyung,” the boy grins, a boxy smile. “Part of Team BTS. Don’t you go forgetting that.”

Unable to do anything, Himchan watches as they disappear completely. Then, he hears Taehyung’s voice again, but this time, in his mind. It must be the work of that Natu.

“By the way, the pack’s dead. No need to look for them.”

The voice message ends with another one of his unnerving laughs, and Himchan can almost see that boxy grin in his mind.

The pack’s dead?

What does that mean? He looks down at the Poochyena, which has calmed down somewhat, and now has its tongue out, staring up at him. Himchan swallows uncomfortably.

At this moment, there is a rustling of bushes and Himchan tenses for a second, before noticing that it’s Yongguk who’s stepping out from the shrubbery, followed by Daehyun, then Sehun, then Junhong then Youngjae. It feels as if someone’s missing…ah, it must be Jongup. For such a quiet boy he certainly has such a great presence.

“Where’s Jongup?” is the first thing he asks.

Yongguk turns his head. Rufflet perches on his shoulder. “I thought he was behind…?”

As if on cue, said boy emerges from the path, Helioptile and Snivy faithfully by his side. Himchan instantly notices the soil on his hands, but says nothing. As if noticing Himchan’s staring, Jongup stuffs his hands into his pockets.

“You look pretty shaken. What happened?” Yongguk asks.

Himchan lets out a shuddering breath that indeed does betray him. He hadn’t wanted to appear weak. Especially not in front of Yongguk.

So, he told them. About the boy, about his attack, how his Pokemon fought back, how the boy had said that the pack is dead. The pack that the Poochyena belonged to. Yongguk nods solemnly, and Sehun said that he’d investigate for himself and file a report to the League. It is at this moment that Himchan notices the Cubone cradled in Youngjae’s arms. Yongguk fills him in on their side of the story.

“So, two Pokemon lost their parents the same day,” Himchan says quietly.

Yongguk nods.

“Team…BTS, was it? Is that what you said?” Sehun confirms with Himchan, and the latter affirms it, swallowing audibly. “Thanks.” Sehun then tells them to head on over to Stratuseon City—just up ahead—and he would return to the Gym the next day, if they were challengers.

Himchan watches as Poochyena darts ahead, little paws prodding at the ground. The Pokemon is quickly joined by Popplio and even Daehyun’s outgoing Pokemon Chimchar. Youngjae still has Cubone close to him, the Pokemon asleep in his arms.

With heavy hearts in their chests, they continue on towards the fashion city of Stratuseon.

*

“Huh, that’s funny.”

“What’s funny?”

Do Kyungsoo crouches down and inspects the torn-up earth. The impact is huge—construction workers have barricaded the place, to prevent people from injuring themselves—and surely, Pokemon have been hurt.

Park Chanyeol’s tall form looms over Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo angles his head to look up at him.

“It was a Marowak that caused this, Sehun’s report said.”

“Technically, his report said that someone else said that the Marowak caused it,” Chanyeol rests his weight on his left leg.

“That’s the funny part.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol shakes his head. “You gotta elaborate, Soo.” He leans against his Rapidash’s warm body, careful not to touch its fiery mane.

“Well, this definitely shows residues of the Earthquake move but…here’s the thing. Marowak can’t learn Earthquake naturally.”

“Huh,” Chanyeol repeats, this time nuzzling his face into Rapidash’s fur. The Pokemon neighs. “That means the Marowak couldn’t have caused it then.”

“But what could have? The only other casualty to this whole thing is that pack of Mightyena and Poochyena we found,” Kyungsoo says, standing up. “And they’re not capable of using Earthquake.”

“Then what could have caused it?”

Kyungsoo shoots him a look, then looks up at the sky, at the clouds floating peacefully above.

Somehow, something tells him that this peace won’t last for long.

*

Pokedex entries gathered:

-Poochyena 

​​​​​​-Mightyena 

-Purrloin 

-Seviper 

-Cubone

-Natu

-Zubat 

*

Cameo appearances: 

-Bellossom (Jieun's Pokemon)

-Marowak (the mother of the egg)

-Silcoon (the Pokemon that Poochyena approached)

-Jumpluff (Sehun's Pokemon)

-Noivern (Sehun's Pokemon)

-Rapidash (Chanyeol's Pokemon)

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

Daehyun's Pokemon:

-Cottonee. Level 15. Type: Grass/Fairy. Moves: Leech Seed, Fairy Wind, Mega Drain, Stun Spore. Male.
-Chimchar. Level 14. Type: Fire. Moves: Ember, Scratch, Leer, Taunt. Male
-Bagon. Level 13. Type: Dragon. Moves: Rage, Leer, Bite, Ember. Male.

Youngjae's Pokemon:

-Petilil. Level 16. Type: Grass. Moves: Mega Drain, Growth, Leech Seed, Sleep Powder. Female.
-Buneary. Level 14. Type: Normal. Moves: Pound, Baby-Doll Eyes, Frustration, Endure. Male.
-Fennekin. Level 12. Type: Fire. Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Flame Charge, Howl. Female.
-Cubone. Level 1. Type: Ground. Moves: Growl. Male

Jongup's Pokemon:

-Helioptile. Level 17. Type: Electric/Normal. Moves: Quick Attack, Charge, Mud-Slap, Shock Wave. Female.
-Riolu. Level 19. Type: Fighting. Moves: Feint, Copycat, Foresight, Force Palm. Male.
-Dewpider. Level 17. Type: Bug/Water. Moves: Bubblebeam, Spider Web, Water Sport, Bug Bite. Female.
-Snivy. Level 15. Type: Grass. Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip, Growth, Wrap. Male

Junhong's Pokemon:

-Cleffa. Level 15. Type: Fairy. Moves: Sweet Kiss, Copycat, Magical Leaf, Pound. Female.
-Bellsprout. Level 16. Type: Grass/Poison. Moves: Vine Whip, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Wrap. Male
-Meditite. Level 16. Type: Psychic/Fighting. Moves: Detect, Confusion, Endure, Meditate. Female.
-Totodile. Level 9. Type: Water. Moves: Scratch, Leer, Water Gun, Rage. Male.

Yongguk's Pokemon:

-Rufflet. Level 14. Type: Normal/Flying. Moves: Hone Claws, Leer, Fury Attack, Wing Attack. Male.
-Houndour. Level 16. Type: Dark/Fire. Moves: Roar, Ember, Bite, Howl. Female.
-Spinarak. Level 14. Type: Bug/Poison. Moves: Infestation, Absorb, Night Shade, Scary Face. Male
-Treecko. Level 12. Type: Grass. Moves: Pound, Leer, Absorb, Quick Attack. Male.

Himchan's Pokemon:

-Flabebe. Level 12. Type: Fairy. Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip, Fairy Wind, Lucky Chant. Female.
-Ralts. Level 14. Type: Fairy/Psychic. Moves: Confusion, Disarming Voice, Double Team, Lucky Chant. Female.
-Popplio. Level 12. Type: Water. Moves: Pound, Baby-Doll Eyes, Water Gun, Disarming Voice. Female.
-Poochyena. Level 9. Type: Dark. Moves: Tackle, Sand-Attack, Howl. Female.