//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 – Sleep Tight, Bedbugs Bite // Story: Pokémon Eclipse // by moviemaster8510 //------------------------------// Kaj inserted the card key into the slot in her room’s door at the end of a hotel hallway, opening it up and about to go inside. She then turned to face Sam, Alice, and Gladion. “Well, this is me. I just have to say, thank you so much for letting me tag along with you guys today. Oh, and thanks for dinner, Sam. Everything was delicious.” “It was a pleasure to have you,” Alice said. “And thanks for being our fourth trainer.” Kaj smiled warmly as she began to dig through her bag, quickly pulling out three folded red bands and handing one out to them. “Here. Now you can have a Focus Sash too. Just be sure to use it wisely, because, you know… it’s only good for one use.” Sam unfolded his and ran his thumb and finger through it, admiring the smooth, yet durable material it was made of. “Thank you. I’m certain this will come in handy down the road.” “We should get some rest now,” Gladion said as he put Kaj’s gift into his hoodie pocket. “Not to mention, our other friends are still waiting outside.” “Okay! I’ll let you go now, but first!” Kaj leapt over and gave Gladion a hug. Before he could understand what she did, she got off of him and gave an equally quick farewell embrace to Sam and Alice. “Okay, bye now!” She turned to go inside, only to find the door closed again. “Ehehe… whoops.” “We’ll leave you to that. Have a good night, Kaj.” Gladion turned around and went back down the hall, Sam and Alice following him as Kaj put her keycard back into the slot. Gladion opened up the door for Sam and Alice to walk into, both of them marveling over the sheer size of the room. Turning left, Sam saw a kitchen with a pristine six-burner stove and oven, large fridge, and an island sink in the center. Alice continued into the room, going up a wide winding staircase that brought her up to a large bedroom with three king-sized beds against the three walls with two large dressers, perfect for the nine of them. Sam then passed beneath the staircase to spot a large dining room with large windows looking out over the beach below and Heahea City off in the distance. Alice came back down the stairs to spot an enormous couch facing a massive TV hung on the wall, ignoring the office and desk placed in the corner. “Holy shit, Gladion!” Alice gasped. “This place is huge!” “It is the presidential suite,” he said matter-of-factly. “Sam? Did you send the signal?” “On it.” Sam pulled a flashlight from his bag and turned it on and off as he pointed it down toward the beach. He continued doing this until a loud, crackly poof was heard behind him. Turning around and walking back toward the kitchen, he saw as Starlight, Lady, Fluttershy, Comfey, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were now standing at the foot of the stairs to the bedrooms. Immediately, the ponies started to enjoy their surroundings. “Oh, wow!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “I can throw one heck of a party in here!” Rainbow Dash went out to the windows to the right of the kitchen, looking out over a golf course that appeared tiny from her vantage, sighing contently at the height. “Just like home.” “This place is incredible!” Starlight then turned to Gladion. “I sure hope this isn’t costing you too much.” “Never mind how much this costs me.” Gladion began to go up the stairs, shedding his hoodie off his body and unbuckling his belt. “We have some walking to do tomorrow, and it’s been a long, busy day for all of us. We should get some rest now, but first, let’s sort out our sleeping arrangements.” As if hypnotized, Sam and Alice felt the full force of the ache in their muscles and the weight on their eyelids, almost as if they were agreeing with Gladion. “You know,” Sam yawned, “sleep sounds like the absolute best thing right now.” “You said it.” Alice and Sam sluggishly made their way up the stairs, leaving the ponies to have a little more time to appreciate the view they were granted for the evening. Spike slept alone in bed, mildly tossing and turning over whatever dream was playing in his head. Twilight, standing at the bedside, reached over and gave the dragon a gentle shove on his side. “Spike,” she whispered, pushing him twice. “Spike!” Spike lucidly rolled to sit up, rubbing his eyelids with his balled fists. “Ugh… what time is it?” “It’s pretty close to midnight.” “So… why did you wake me?” “We’re getting out of here. Come on.” Spike was suddenly lifted up out of bed and placed to ride on her back, serving to surprise him even more. “Twilight? What are you–” “SHH! I wanted to wait until it was dark and most of the people here were asleep. That’s why I didn’t tell you until just now.” “Where are we even going?” “To Akala Island, where the rest of our friends are.” “And you know where they are?” “When Lillie let us talk to them, they looked to be at a beach near a large hotel. That’s our best clue. Now, let’s get going!” “Wait!” “Shh! What is it, Spike?” “What about Noah and Amy? We never even had a chance to say goodbye.” Twilight’s act suddenly hit her, and it suddenly became much harder to even think about walking out that door and to the exit. Spike was right. They had just one thing to do before they could go. “We do now. Come on, let’s make a quick stop.” Twilight put her hoof on the pad beside the door, allowing it to slide open to the hallway. As they stepped out, they didn’t notice the person sitting with her back to the wall to the right of the door, but with the sound of it opening, Lillie stirred awake, the rustling of her clothes making her presence known. “Lillie?” Twilight asked, not quite able to make her out in the dark. “What were you doing here?” “Twilight.” Lillie stood and stepped forward even closer to them. “Please… don’t do this.” “She knows!” Spike hissed with widened eyes. “She knows! We have to abort this mission!” “Lillie…” Twilight looked in her eyes, ignoring Spike. “Please go back to your room. We don’t want any trouble.” “I’m sorry, Twilight. I just had a terrible feeling that you and Spike were going to try and run away after seeing Starlight and Fluttershy, so I stayed outside your door so I could ensure that you wouldn’t.” Twilight’s lip quivered over this clear betrayal of trust between the both of them. “Twilight, Spike, please, as your friend… I… am your friend, right?” Lillie’s voice choked with oncoming cries. “Of course you are, Lillie, and as your friend, you know we can’t stay here while our friends are so close to us now. So… please…” Twilight’s eyes also began to tear up. “Don’t make me have to get past you…” “You don’t understand. I want to help you leave!” Lillie’s statement surprised both her and Spike out of sadness. “Wha…” they both stammered. “I could never forgive myself if I let you leave here alone and I could have helped but didn’t. It may be late, but Team Prism may still be out there. You’ll need a trainer to help you escape if they end up finding you. So please, let me be your trainer. Let me be your friend.” Twilight, feeling even more terrible about what she had attempted, let two tears fall down her face and approached Lillie, who knelt down and allowed Twilight to give her a consoling hug. Spike climbed off Twilight and embraced Lillie’s leg. “I’m so sorry, Lillie,” Twilight silently sobbed. “I didn’t want to do this to you.” “I know.” Twilight’s soft fur, warm body, and tight grip of her arms around Lillie’s back was comforting enough to keep her from weeping. “I completely understand.” Twilight and Spike finally backed away and Lillie stood to face them again, their allegiance restored and renewed. “So,” Lillie said. “Did you manage to say your goodbyes to the children yet?” Spike and Twilight both forced a grateful smile to her. Lillie stood outside the doorway, periodically glancing left and right down the hall to check on any approaching employees that may have been passing. She then looked back into the room to see Twilight and Spike standing before Noah and Amy in their pajamas, finishing her explanation to both of them. Both children were clearly tired, but Lillie was happy to see that rather than be overwhelmed with sadness, they instead looked proud of their strange, new friends. Finally, Lillie let out a shuddering breath as Twilight and Spike leaned forward to give the two children one last hug goodbye. Lillie smiled, glad to have let Twilight and Spike have this. Twilight, Spike, and Lillie both exited the sliding doors of the front of the Aether House, facing the path to the Tapu Village and the southern ocean. Despite the sudden change of the size of their world, Twilight and Spike happily breathed in the first breath of fresh, salty air they had received in days. Lillie lead the way down the House steps, pulling out a Ride Pager from her coat pocket. “What’s that thing?” Spike asked. “Our way out of here.” She already began scanning through the device for a Charizard. “Twilight, I assume you can let Spike ride on you, but I’ll need a flying mount as well, so I’m going to call on–” “Lillie, watch out!” Lillie felt a tingling sensation pull her hard to the right, throwing her left arm holding her Ride Pager out as she spotted a faint pulse of yellow sparks fly out and strike her hand. The Ride Pager was tossed out of her grasp as she turned back to watch it sparkle before a loud hiss and a small puff of smoke signaled its destruction. Twilight nervously scanned the area to find their attacker as Spike ran to Lillie’s aid. “Lillie! Are you okay?” Lillie lifted her left arm, scared to see it barely twitch as she tried to flex it. “My hand! I think it was hit with a–” Without warning, Twilight and Spike were thrown up into the air screaming by a glimmering magenta aura. Twilight grunted and moaned loudly as she tried to fight the hold on her, but felt the aura on her horn quickly dim away. Lillie looked up to the two of them and then out in front of her, shocked to suddenly see two grunts, a young pale man with ponytailed brown hair and middle aged woman with darker skin and short white hair, standing beside a Kadabra and an Espeon that kept Twilight and Spike afloat. Lillie whined as she tried to dig into her coat pocket for her Pokédex. “Kadabra,” the ponytailed man commanded, “use Thunder Wave!” Swinging its spoon at Lillie, a faint, sparkling bolt shot out to her. With no other time to react, she let go of the Pokédex right where the bolt would hit, the brunt of the attack frying her Pokédex but merely throwing her back with a yelp. The white-haired grunt smirked and snapped her fingers, her Espeon relinquishing its hold over Twilight and Spike and dropping them to the floor, where they weakly stood to their feet. “Looks like you’re stuck here,” the ponytailed grunt told them. Lillie spun around to run back inside, only to see the bald, muscular grunt from Melemele standing in front of the Aether House entrance with his Oranguru. “Like we said…” Lillie turned back to face the white-haired grunt, who stepped forward towards Twilight and Spike, the former of whom flared her wings open and arched herself back to attack. “No!” Lillie stepped directly in front of her two friends, blocking her from the grunt’s path with a determined scowl on her face. “I won’t let you!” “Oh? Little Lillie wants to have a go? The girl who repelled herself all over Alola to serve as Sun’s cheerleader while he went off to become Champion?” “I’m not the same girl from a decade ago, and you’re going to have to try much harder than that to psych me out of beating you!” “Oh, Lillie, adorable as ever! Well then? Come on, then! Show me how much you think you’ve grown!” “Only because you asked nicely.” Lillie flicked the right bottom part of her jacket to the side to reveal five Poké Balls hooked to her belt there, quickly removing it and throwing it out. “Rapidash, use Megahorn!” Leaping out from her Poké Ball was a large, creamy-yellow unicorn stallion whose mane and tail were a literal inferno that blew in the wind. Going right into a gallop, Rapidash kept its head down and aimed its horn right at the Espeon, striking it in the upper chest with a brilliant flash of bright-green light shining from the impact. Twilight and Spike’s mouths and eyes shot open at the sheer strength of the hit as the Espeon was blasted backwards. The white-haired grunt gasped as her Pokémon rolled limply to her feet, unable to continue battling. “You… you bitch!” “That’s more like it,” Lillie hissed. As the white-haired grunt returned her Pokémon to its ball and hid behind the ponytailed grunt, the cocoa-skinned grunt with spiky hair from Akala ran out from a hill toward the beach, sprinting between her and the ponytailed grunt with his Bruxish by his side. Sliding to a stop, he crossed his arms before his face, revealing the Waterium Z inside his Z-Ring. After throwing his arms down and crossing his arms back out, the grunt then swayed his arms in a wave-like motion and swung them back to the right in a wide stance. Twilight and Spike fearfully looked on as dark red Z-Power shot out from the grunt and was absorbed into his Bruxish. “Lillie?” Spike continued looking at the fish as its body was aflame with the energy. “What did he just do?” “Just watch!” The grunt aimed his pointed hand out at Lillie’s Rapidash. “I’m about to destroy your friend’s Pokémon! Now, Bruxish! Use Hydro Vortex!” Bruxish swam out at Rapidash, a wall of water erupting up from the ground beneath where it swam. It then began to swim in a rapid spiral around Rapidash, the water rising up to form a large whirlpool whose walls began to close in on the scared horse. Finally, the tip of the cone hit the Rapidash in the front hoof, tripping it up and dragging it inside the twister. Spike clutched his cheeks with his claws, Twilight’s mouth shooting open. “Oh no!” she cried. Inside, Bruxish swam even faster than Rapidash was spun helplessly about, each time tackling into it with each new lap. Lillie, Twilight, and Spike could only watch helplessly as Rapidash was whipped and spun around by the whirlpool. Finally, Bruxish checked Rapidash into the outer edge of the twister, flinging it out. With one final cry as it hit the ground, the Rapidash fainted and slid to a stop far from its terrified trainer and the equally petrified alicorn and dragon, who didn’t appear to notice the painful sparks left on the Bruxish’s body. “Hmph.” The bald grunt crossed his arms. “That was easy. Oranguru, let’s bring our prize back.” Lillie’s breath caught in her throat as she looked behind her, seeing Oranguru hold its arms and hands up where they began to glow. “No! Blissey, stop him!” With her still-usable hand, she tossed another Poké Ball from her belt behind her, just as quickly taking her Rapidash’s ball in the same hand and returning her downed Pokémon into it. Popping out from the ball between the Oranguru and Twilight and Spike was a rather stout, egg-shaped half-pink half-white Pokémon with a large egg inside of a pouch on its stomach, curled pink fur on both sides of its head, and white, wing-like frills on its midsection and shoulders. The Blissey was suddenly covered in the psychic aura, grunting as it felt the attack affecting its mind. The ponytailed grunt pointed his hand out. “While its being held, hit Blissey with Psyshock!” “Bruxish!” The cocoa-skinned grunt shouted. “Attack Blissey with Waterfall!” The Kadabra thrust its spoon out, shooting bolts of black that glowed deep purple on the outsides. The Bruxish swam closer to her Blissey, an aquatic cone forming around it as it sped forward. Twilight and Spike ran behind Lillie to let the Pokémon and their attacks pass. The Kadabra’s Psyshock hit it first, the sparks running across its body making it shout out in pain. Next, the Bruxish swam at Blissey, jutting upwards to strike it beneath the chin, throwing it into the air, crying out with the added sting. “Blissey, please, fight it!” Hearing Lillie’s words, Blissey threw its arms out and fell feet first back to the ground, landing perfectly with little sign of injury. “Yes! Nice job, Blissey!” Her Pokémon mewed happily at Lillie’s support. “Hit the Bruxish with Charge Beam!” Twisiting its body to face the Bruxish as it rejoined by its trainer, Blissey began to rub its arms together, the static growing until they were covered in plasma that danced from the tips of its arms to its shoulders. It then clapped its hands hard and threw a shot of electricity at the fish that launched it back into its trainer’s grasp. Turning it over, the cocoa-skinned grunt looked into the Bruxish’s face to see that it had fainted. Both Spike and Twilight couldn’t help but make a small chuckle and smirk to see Lillie and her team doing well. The ponytailed grunt could tell from his comrade’s frustrated hiss that they were losing to her, only serving to anger him too. “Hit her again with another Psyshock!” The grunt’s Kadabra hurled another blast of black and purple bolts at Lillie’s Pokémon, who screamed again as it shifted to the ground to weather through. “Oranguru,” the bald grunt shouted, “finish her off with Brick Break!” The Oranguru charged down the stairs on all fours at Blissey, who continued to be assaulted by Kadabra’s Psyshock. With a leap, the Oranguru balled its fist and reeled back, aiming for the exposed back of its head. Lillie dove out of the ape’s way and rolled over to face her Blissey. “Watch out!” Halfway through turning its head, Blissey was clocked below one of its curls and bowled out and towards the grunts, who looked deviously eager to catch it as it came near them. “Don’t you dare!” Lillie aimed a Poké Ball at Blissey, returning it inside before the ponytailed grunt could kick it. She then reattached the ball to her belt and took out another. “Let’s go, Parasect!” Lillie’s large mushroom bug leapt out of its ball, landing on the tips of its legs and skittering out into the battle. “Not a smart choice there,” the ponytailed grunt huffed. “Kadabra, hit it with Flamethrower!” “Parasect, dodge it!” Pressing its hand on the bottom of the bowl of its spoon, a plume of fire shot out from the other side at Lillie’s Pokémon. Bending the joints of its legs, Parasect leapt over the flames and away from the heat. The bald grunt breathed loudly through his teeth, incensed over his comrade’s wasted sure shot. “Oranguru, catch it with Psychic!” An easy target. Oranguru put its glowing hands up, keeping the Parasect held in the air and struggling to break free. “Now,” the bald grunt continued, “slam it into the fire!” With Kadabra visibly struggling to hold its attack longer, Oranguru slapped both palms to the ground, leading Parasect to be quickly brought down in the path of the streaming fire. Once it saw the flames snake around its target, Kadabra doubled over, supporting itself with its hands on its knees. The fires dissipated, replaced by a plume of dirt and smoke. Neither the grunts, their Pokémon, nor Lillie nor Twilight and Spike could see through it to see if Parasect had survived. Lillie grunted, unsure if her next move would work. “Parasect, use X-Scissor on Kadabra!” The ponytailed grunt laughed loudly. “You think your Bug and Grass-type Pokémon survived a Flamethrower and a Psychic? Just call it back and send out your–” Parasect shot out from the smoke at the unprepared Kadabra, its two large claws raised up as it got closer. The Kadabra couldn’t even put its arms up fast enough as Parasect threw its claws down, crossing the points over the Kadabra’s chest and throwing it back to the ponytailed grunt’s feet. “Kadabra!” The Kadabra’s grunt was near instantly relieved to see his Pokémon stirring, slowly rolling over to get to its feet. Lillie winced, but her Parasect ran its claws against each other, ready for another go. “It’s okay, Lillie!” Spike shouted out. “You got this!” “Oh no she doesn’t!” Twilight and Spike were shocked by the unfamiliar voice, turning to the source to see a female grunt with short, mahogany-colored hair run up the hill to join the ponytailed grunt by his side, a Pa’u Style Oricorio flying beside her. “Oricorio, use Air Slash!” Oricorio swooped forwards and threw its wings out, producing two blades of air that both threatened to strike Parasect. Lillie threw her arm up and out at the space above her Pokémon. “Parasect, avoid it again!” Parasect did as told, jumping high up to let the blades pass beneath it. “Gotcha now.” The ponytailed grunt pointed up at the Parasect. “Kadabra, Flamethrower!” Kadabra aimed its spoon up at the airbound bug, the fires shooting out from its spoon and hitting its target right at the apex of its jump. Once the Kadabra was certain that it hit its target, it quickly rescinded its attack and watched with triumph as the Parasect fell from the puff of smoke that formed and landed on its back, its legs splayed down. The ponytailed grunt and the mahogany-haired grunt shared a look and nod, acknowledging their teamwork. Lillie hissed as she returned her Parasect to its ball. “It’s okay. You did wonderful!” “How much more are we going to have to put up with?” the mahogany-haired grunt shouted out. “We’re getting bored!” Lillie put Parasect’s Poké Ball back and placed her hand on her penultimate one, breathing in meditatively. “This is it. This has to be the one. Go, Starmie!” From the ball, Lillie’s purple ten-pointed starfish spun out and spiraled smoothly to a stop down by Lillie’s feet. “So that’s what you decide to send out next?” the bald grunt behind her shouted. “I expected more fight from the daughter of Lusamine, but this is getting sad!” The harsh laughing erupting all around her by the four grunts surrounding her began to take its demoralizing toll on Twilight and Spike. Twilight tried to charge her horn again, but even getting a full aura on it proved too much for her to handle, making her pant in anxiety. Lillie, seeing this from the corner of her eyes, turned them back to her foes’ Pokémon. “You know what’s sad?” The grunts forced themselves out of their laughing fit to hear her out. “While I’m trying to protect these ponies from harm, you terrorize them and their friends, and laugh while you do it! If that isn’t the textbook definition of sad or pathetic, I can’t even begin to imagine what could be!” Starmie flexed itself outward in reinforcement of its trainer’s words, the gem in its center producing a sudden gleam that instantly unnerved the three remaining Pokémon. “Okay, Starmie, let’s just show them how sad we must be! Use Blizzard!” On Lillie’s command, Starmie’s gem began to glow bright, the gold bands holding it in frosting over. Finally, a blast of chilly, snowy gales erupted out, barreling toward all three Pokémon. Even their trainers were too mesmerized by the strength of the attack to call on their Pokémon to flee. The Kadabra, Oranguru, and Oricorio were all swept away at once and pelted with clumps of snow and chunks of ice. The freezing wall of wind then struck the three grunts standing there, sliding them back on their feet along with their Pokémon. Twilight and Spike stepped around Lillie on either side to observe the spectacle as Lillie’s Starmie continued its snowstorm. Finally, the Starmie quickly stopped, unable to sustain the attack. The three grunts looked out to find their Pokémon buried in the snow, the only one among them able to move being the bald grunt’s Oranguru, the other two still and lazy-eyed. The ponytailed grunt and mahogany-haired grunt returned their fainted Kadabra and Oricorio into their balls. As the Oranguru charged out from the mound of snow that had been made, the bald grunt behind her seethed with fury. “You still have me! And you’re not getting out of this easily!” Lillie then saw as the Oranguru crossed its wrists before its face, a spark lighting its body aglow. Lillie, Twilight, and Spike turned around fearfully to see the bald grunt put his arms down and cross them back out. He then held his hands up and threw his upper body forward, letting it and his arms hang down. He then raised his wrists and his body back up as if picked up by a phantom marionette before pushing his body and arms forward, shouting out for good measure. His red Z-Power arced over Lillie, Twilight, and Spike from his body into his Oranguru’s, enfusing him with the dark energy. The three of them turned back to the Oranguru, who ground a fist into his palm threateningly. “You actually came close at the end there,” the bald grunt said. “I’ll be man enough to admit that I’m impressed. But you got your free hit. Now, I’m the one who gets to end this. Now go, Oranguru! Finish Starmie with Black Hole Eclipse!” “Black hole?!” Twilight and Spike both shouted. Oranguru formed a triangle with the spaces between his index fingers and thumbs, a pure black sphere forming and expanding there. Just before it the sphere could reach the borders of the finger frame, Oranguru threw its arms out, sending its creation out over Starmie, where it began to expand even more quickly and a sudden sensation of pulling was felt by all present. “Are you crazy?!” Twilight shrieked out toward the bald grunt. “You seriously made a black hole?” “You’ll be fine," the grunt responded. "Just watch.” Lillie saw as her Starmie, along with chunks of the path and the ground around them, began to get sucked in, fighting it as well as it could. “Starmie, just hold on! Let me think!” Starmie shook its body in frustration, losing inches with each second. Lillie breathed heavily and put her hands over her heart nervously. At once, she thought of something. “Starmie! Slingshot around the black hole and use Swift!” The bald grunt gasped at the absurd order. Starmie stopped struggling, letting the gravity of the black hole throw itself towards it. It then shifted to the side of it and resumed to push away, forming a tight orbit around the hole before it swung around and down at the Oranguru. “No way!” the bald grunt spat. With its gem glowing, Starmie shot a barrage of bright star-shaped rays that torrented down on Oranguru, who held its arm up in a futile attempt to shield itself. Stray stars landed on the ground, blasting dirt all around that was quickly pulled into the black hole before it began to quickly deform and fall apart, Oranguru unable to hold its form. Once the last of the Z-Move had disappeared, Oranguru’s sparkling arm limply fell to its side as it tipped over and fell on its stomach, no longer able to battle. “No…” The bald grunt held his Pokémon’s ball with a trembling hand, the red beam bringing it back inside. The three grunts before Lillie were also stunned by her strength, unable to move a muscle as she and her Starmie glared them down. “Wow…” Twilight’s breathing began to calm down. “Very nice job, Lillie.” Lillie turned back to the bald grunt, making her way towards him up the stairs with Starmie floating by her side and Twilight and Spike quick to tag along. “Let us through. Now!” The bald grunt, looking fearful, appeared to see something over Lillie’s shoulder, smiling as he realized what it was. Lillie, Twilight, and Spike didn’t know what he could be seeing that would make him grin like he was, only to hear a familiar chime of a Z-Ring’s activation. Turning back, they saw with immediate fear as a fifth, sixth, and seventh grunt stood where the other three did. The fifth and center grunt, a young man with a long head and spiky-black hair, stood beside his Kadabra, throwing his crossed arms to his side and crossing them back out. He and his Kadabra then twisted to the right and reached their arms as far to the right as they could. Twisting back to the left, they then knelt slightly on their left knees and bent their arms so they formed the shape of a lightning bolt. As Lillie gasped, seeing the yellow gem in his Z-Ring, the grunt’s Z-Power shot out from him and went into his Kadabra. “You thought you had us.” The bald grunt went unnoticed by Lillie, Twilight, and Spike. “Like we’d let a single trainer make fools of us.” Twilight glanced behind her. “You faced us seven on one, and you want to pretend that you all aren’t a bunch of fools?” “Regardless, with this attack, your protector will be down to her last Pokémon, and you two will be ours!” “Damn straight!” The spiky haired grunt threw his arm out. “Kadabra, attack her Starmie with Gigavolt Havoc!” Kadabra pushed against the bottom of the bowl of his spoon, which it aimed at Starmie and Lillie. The spoon began to glow yellow with sparks of plasma racing along it as a spear made of lightning began to recede out from the inside of the bowl. Starmie, sensing the danger, leapt out and soared at the Kadabra, surprising Twilight and Spike. Kadabra then pushed his hand and the spoon forward, sending the sparking lightning bolt at the fast-approaching Starmie. Upon colliding, the bolt exploded into a mushroom cloud of thousands of smaller sparks and volts that Starmie was trapped inside. Lillie could only stare blankly as it saw Starmie violently tremor inside the explosion before the electricity began to fizzle out. Even before the last of the sparks could disappear, Starmie, the light in its gem completely dead, fell to the ground and clattered on the hard dirt path. “Nice one!” A female grunt with medium-length, ice blonde hair reached out and gave the narrow-headed grunt a high-five, followed by another from his comrade, a fatter tan-skinned man with short, curly brown hair, on his other side. Neither of them seemed to care as Kadabra tensed all of its muscles and clutched its stomach as the sparks of the Z-Power took its toll on it, something Twilight found incredibly disturbing. Lillie trembled as she returned Starmie inside her ball, bowing her head in despair. “Lillie!” Twilight’s voice didn’t appear to stir Lillie out of her slump. “You said you have another Pokémon! Send it out!” As the six other grunts and the Kadabra began to approach him and Twilght, Spike began pulling on Lillie’s coat anxiously. “Hurry, Lillie! They’re coming!” Lillie put her hand on her last Poké Ball, and the grunts all stopped their advance. Lillie stared them in the eyes, gripping her ball tighter. At this rate, she knew victory was impossible, and all she could do now was to keep the grunts at bay before they realized she could not send her last Pokémon out. The bald grunt, reading Lillie’s bluff, began to walk down the stairs, going at a tauntingly trepid pace toward Twilight and Spike, who turned to keep their eyes on him. Twilight whined as she tried to charge her horn, only for it to short out each time. “Lillie!!” She shut her eyes tight, unsure what to do now. “First Impression!” Instantly recognizing the voice, Lillie shot her eyes open right as the sound of a Poké Ball popping open sounded far off behind the other six grunts. Appearing from it and leaping over the grunts and the Kadabra was a Golisopod. Landing before the Kadabra, it turned to face it and swung its right claws into its ribs at an unfathomable speed, sending it flying and blasting into a rock wall. Spike breathed in hard and beamed, ecstatic over who he realized was saving them. The six grunts looked to see Kadabra stuck inside it, clearly with no strength to remove itself or continue fighting. “Hey!” The six grunts heard the voice again behind them, turning and parting to reveal Guzma standing there with his arms crossed and his posture slouched. “Perhaps you forgot that raising hell around these parts is my job!” “Guzma!” Spike and Twilight cried happily. The fat grunt and the ice-blonde grunt each took out their Poké Balls. “Stupid geezer!” the fat grunt hissed. “Let’s go, Hypno!” “Let’s do this, Metang!” From each of their balls, a Hypno and Metang emerged from them at the same time, both facing a quite eager Golisopod. Guzma smirked. “You know, you’re not the only ones who brought their own posse!” “Huh?” There really appeared to be no one else around him. “Phantom Force!” Twilight’s eyes shot open at the other familiar voice, but was surprised once again when a thin purple portal appeared directly behind Hypno, a large brown, rusty anchor and a wooden-and-gold ship’s wheel held together by seaweed shot out of it, striking Hypno in the back of the head and throwing it onto its stomach. Lillie, Twilight, Spike, and each grunt were so preoccupied by the anthropomorphic anchor that they only realized its trainer was standing beside Guzma when it flew back to her, staring at them all with its single compass eye. Twilight could instantly recognize her from her buzzed hair. “Acerola!” “That’s not all!” Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle over this new, helpful voice. “Reuniclus, use Shadow Ball!” Twilight and Spike saw as Professor Burnet leapt down to the westbound path from a ledge in the rock with her Pokémon floating beside her. Forming a dark, purple orb in its hands, Burnet’s Reuniclus shot it out into the Metang, sending it flying into its trainer, both knocked out cold from their hits. The bald grunt looked out nervously as Guzma, Acerola, and Burnet kept his other comrades at bay while Lillie, Twilight, and Spike suddenly had the courage to face him once again. “Are there any more?” Twilight aimed her horn at the grunt, which began to light up back to life. He threw his arms up. “N– N… No!” “Good…” Lillie detached her last Poké Ball. “I’ve done a lot of talking today, but I’ll be glad to fit a little bit more of my time for you.” As the three of them stepped towards the bald grunt, an Alakazam suddenly appeared beside him, grabbing his arm and whisking him and itself away in a quick flash of light. “What?” Lillie turned back and ran down the stairs to see the bald grunt and the Alakazam with the other six grunts and their fainted Pokémon, though a fully robed and hooded figure stood between her and Twilight and Spike. As they looked in each other eyes, a larger, slower flash of light enveloped the entire group from Alakazam’s spoons before they all vanished with it, leaving no trace of them save for the remnants of the battle they left behind. Lillie, Twilight and Spike ran out to where they stood, unsure if their eyes tricked them or they were hiding someplace, looking out in all directions, panting heavily. “Lillie, Lillie, relax!” Guzma stepped forward and fanned the air at her in a calming motion. “I think they’re done for the night.” Nonetheless, they continued looking for a few more moments before they accepted that they were gone. Lillie sunk to her knees and dug the bases of her hands into them, breathing heavily. Twilight’s breathing also got heavy as she struggled to keep from crying. Acerola, Guzma, and Burnet all returned their Pokémon, then turning to see the fragile state of the ones they had barely managed to save. “Oh man, are you guys okay?!” Acerola ran forward to her friends, weaving around Guzma close enough to nearly check him to the ground. Twilight, seeing her come close, mustered the strength to get up onto her hind legs and let Acerola catch her and give her a hug that she so badly needed right now. Acerola could hear and feel Twilight’s sobs escaping her mouth and eyes and heaving out from her lungs. “Shh. It’s okay, we’re here now.” Guzma then approached Spike, who stood by Lillie’s side as she continued calming herself, kneeling to his level. “You good?” Spike stepped to Guzma and fell tiredly into his chest, Guzma grabbing hold of him and standing up to let Spike hug onto his neck. “Yep. You’re good.” Burnet walked up to Lillie, whose breaths were more controlled and silent. “Need a hand?” Lillie looked up to see Burnet offering both hands to her, taking only one of them with her right and letting her pull her up before she wiped her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her coat. “What in God’s name were you even doing out here with them this late at night?” Twilight stepped around Acerola and came up to Burnet, her eyes still wet and irritated. “Please, she’s not at fault here! I am.” Burnet looked rather amazed. “Twilight…” “I wanted to run away to Akala Island where my other friends are, and Lillie only agreed to come with so that we wouldn’t be attacked by Prism if they… well.” “How did you even get to us?” Lillie wondered. “My Ride Pager and Pokédex were both fried by one of their Kadabra’s Thunder Waves.” “Well, you see…” Burnet pointed out to the east, waiting for Twilight and Lillie to follow her finger’s direction. “There’s a motel not too far from here, but I could hear your battle all the way from there. Knowing the House was over there and fearing the worst, I immediately called Acerola, Guzma, and Nanu to help.” Lillie sighed with relief. “Well, I’m very happy that you did. Thank you, Burnet.” Burnet, suddenly suspicious, picked up Lillie’s left arm, feeling a slight tingle coming from the top of her hand. “Oh, Lillie, did that Thunder Wave get you too?” “Oh… only my hand…” “Let’s get back inside and fix this up, though I can probably think of a dozen more reasons why we shouldn’t be staying out here.” Burnet escorted Lillie back toward the Aether House with Twilight and Spike following alongside, Guzma and Acerola tagging behind them. As they went up the stairs, Twilight tilted her head to Lillie, getting her attention. “Hey, for what it was worth… you did very well back there. Thank you, Lillie.” As badly as Lillie wanted to admit her incompetence, she could not bear to let Twilight’s thoughtful praises go to waste, smiling back to her instead. Upon reaching the door, Lillie typed in the passcode on the keypad, opening it and allowing the six of them back inside where it would be safe again.