Chương 163: Chapter 158

"Alex. Wake up. We have a situation on our hands." My peaceful dream of a walk through a forest was interrupted by a voice with a harsh tone. I shifted around with a groan, pushing a few sheets off my body and opening my eyes to see who had talked. Ninetales, at my feet, raised her head as well. Seeing a hooded figure at the base of my bed caused me to immediately wake up. It was a nightmarish sight to see someone standing almost perfectly still in an otherwise darkened room.

Thankfully, I was able to push through my delirious state to recognize that it was Phoebe.

"Here." Phoebe tossed forward a duplicate cloak into my fumbling arms.

"Get dressed. There's an emergency happening outside of Rustboro. All hands on deck." I quickly got ready. Pants were thrown on, the cloak was pushed over the long shirt I used to sleep in. The rest of my team slowly came to in the meantime, stretching and yawning to prepare themselves for a potential battle.

"Teleport will be here in thirty. Ask away," Phoebe said.

"What's going on?"

"Poachers. Big group of them that have been harassing the local wild Pokémon have finally been surrounded. Rangers are taking care of the main group, but there are stragglers fleeing all over the place."

"You said big. Like Team Magma?"

"No. Smaller than that. Still organized, though." I still had the same team with me that I had when I first entered Hoenn. Ninetales, Florges, Rapidash, and Gardevoir were positioned around their room, waking up from their rest, and Togepi rode on Rapidash's back while Tinkatink moved away from where she was fiddling with a lamp. Gardevoir stiffened for a moment, but his posture slacked when the Alakazam that teleported into the room didn't immediately react.

With Phoebe and her Ghosts here, I doubted the Pokémon would have been able to get in without her permission.

"Return your team, and we'll be off," Phoebe said. I nodded before retrieving my backpack and returning my Pokémon. I would be leaving a few sparse items behind, but that didn't matter when compared to the healing items I had stored away as well as my team's Pokéballs. Practically the moment I grabbed everything needed, everything flashed, and Phoebe and I were in a dense forest. Phoebe didn't talk. Ace Trainers had a set of handsigns to communicate silently.

She waved a few signals, and after taking a moment to scan through my memory to translate them into words, my eyes went wide. I was in charge. That meant, despite the current circumstances, this was a test. I went over the little information I had about the situation, putting the pieces together. From what she told me, the main group of poachers would have been handled, but likely, we were called in to ensure no one split off and escaped. This was less about direct combat and more to hunt people down.

We needed to be stealthy to keep them off guard, and we needed to be skilled to ensure a fast takedown. I eyed Phoebe's shadow briefly. She kept her face perfectly level. I started to clumsily give handsigns to tell her to send her ghosts off, but she shook her head and pointed to me. Ah. This really is a test. I'll only have my team to rely on for this. Weighing my options, I sent out two Pokémon: Ninetales and Gardevoir.

Ninetales would be capable of covering large distances and could distract people with Confuse Ray if needed, and Gardevoir could detect nearby minds while also being capable of teleportation. Arguably, Rapidash would have been a decent option here too, but the forest we appeared in meant the much more agile Ninetales could move more silently than him. Gardevoir was worse at sensing than he was, but Gardevoir was less obvious.

"Ninetales, keep a perimeter and try to signal us if you find any poachers. Gardevoir, keep track of her and teleport us if there's danger. Our goal is capture, and if not that, tracking any stragglers so more experienced Ace Trainers can capture them for us. Got it?" My commands were too complicated to share with my poor mastery over the League's handsigns, so I was forced to whisper. I spoke fast and concisely, and both the Pokémon I sent out nodded. Phoebe nodded in approval next to me.

Ninetales was off leaping into the woods within seconds, her soft paws hardly making any noise on the fallen leaves and twigs of this environment. I moved a bit closer to Gardevoir to let him lead, as I couldn't see very well with how little moonlight was coming through the canopy above. Gardevoir looked mad. He was scowling. I could tell the very idea of poachers disgusted him at a deep level.

A Pokémon being captured against their will was the inverse of what he had gone through, but I got the sense he sympathized all the same. We weren't quiet as we walked. Stealth wasn't something we had really practiced. I tried my best to step lightly, but it was hard to avoid the sounds of my footsteps crunching over the forest floor. At least Gardevoir's steps weren't as loud as mine. What was terrifying was that Phoebe was completely silent. I wasn't sure how long we crept forward.

I honestly had no clue where we were. The moon was high in the sky between the few gaps of the leaves, and there was little noise around us. It bothered me how few Pokémon were in this section of the woods.

"Garde." Gardevoir held out a hand with a whisper. I stopped, and he closed his eyes. He held up a hand to signal three, then waved to imply uncertainty. He paused, then used his second hand to signify four and five. That meant there were at least five targets ahead.

"Take us," I whispered. We reappeared behind a large tree next to Ninetales. There was a dirt path through these woods, one that looked only to be rarely tread. Three men in dark clothes and tan combat vests jogged down their way. Above them, a pair of Dustox kept pace. At their backs, a dozen Mightyena. I frowned. That was a bad sign.

Ace Trainer guidelines state it's best to try to incapacitate the trainers in this kind of scenario, but in this case, having so many Pokémon out means they might go wild without anyone commanding them. Not just that, but those Mightyena look mistreated. Matted fur and thin bodies. We have to take them out as well. The only Pokémon in that group that looked like they might stand down were the Dustox. The pair was healthy and seemed to be well trained, but it was dangerous to make assumptions.

We needed to be quick, and we had to take everyone out at once. If Dedenne was here, he'd be perfect for that. My options were far more limited. The group was already getting away. I came to a decision quickly.

"Ninetales. Swing around to the side. Gardevoir—" I took out Florges's and Rapidash's Pokéballs.

"To the front of the group." Gardevoir and Ninetales shared a nervous look, but neither of them objected to my orders. We waited for just a moment as Ninetales used Agility to get away, and I gave Phoebe an uncomfortable glance to see if she would approve. Her expression was perfectly level. I hoped that as a member of the Elite Four, she wouldn't let the criminals get away if I messed up. Then, Gardevoir teleported again, and I sent out my other two Pokémon on the road.

"Halt! You three are under—""Psybeam!"

"Poison Sting!" A wave of Psychic Type energy and numerous sharp, poisoned stingers were shot at our small group. Gardevoir was quick to bring up a Reflect to stop the Poison Sting, and Rapidash countered the Psybeam with his own.

"Hounds! Sic' em!" The pack of Dark Types rushed past the three poachers. We were vastly outnumbered, but my Pokémon's strength far outmatched their own.

"Florges, Misty Dance," I ordered. She smiled, and a wave of mist pulsed out of her. The area around us in a circle became tinted pink. The edge of it only reached where the Mightyena had encircled us, causing them to stay back, wary, and snarl and snap at the air. Soon after, Florges lifted up her arms and commanded hundreds of petals to start rapidly leaving her mane, but it seemed the dogs were about to leap in. Thankfully that assault never came to be.

"Howl! All of you!" The dogs' feet scrambled to a stop as orders from their trainers forced them to raise their heads to let out an ominous howl. The pack of Mightyena screamed into the night sky, and I glanced over to the woods to see where Ninetales was. Her eyes glowed in the darkness. From her position, I tracked her line of sight to see her staring at the three trainers, if they could be called that, still on the road. All three of them had their eyes glazed over. She got off the Confuse Ray in time.

Our distraction worked. The Mightyena's howling continued, the shared pack mentality boosting their attack. However, this gave Florges enough time to finish creating her absolute wave of a Petal Dance that rushed out and consumed the Dark Types around us. I would say they collapsed one by one, but it was pretty synchronized how quickly the move caused them to faint.

The two Dustox weren't given any orders to move in, but a combined Psychic from Rapidash and Gardevoir held them in place to ensure they could do nothing. Then finally, when the Petal Dance soon ended and the Misty Terrain prevented Florges's confusion, she used Grass Knot to tie the three hypnotized men to the ground.

"Good job, Alex. I have a few points to discuss, but overall, a decent take down." Phoebe walked out of the woods. As she did, dozens of red eyes appeared in the woods around us. A few Dusclops raised from the ground to bring the poachers into shadow. I shivered when the three of them disappeared.

"How many Ghost Types do you even have?" I asked. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Phoebe smiled.

"Why, six, of course." And then the Alakazam appeared, I returned my Pokémon, and we returned to the hotel room.

"Overall, your biggest error was getting the Mightyena to Howl. It was a decent decision, but you had no way of knowing if League forces or other criminal stragglers would appear around you."

"You said they were stragglers. I assumed that there were only a few of them, and that there were other Ace Trainers in the area hunting them down."

"A decent assumption, but still an assumption," Phoebe said.

"There are a few more mistakes I'll point out, but only once I'm done handling the reports for this operation. There's a lot to do." I sighed then fell back on my bed. Feeling coarse cloth under me, I stripped off the cloak as Ninetales let herself out of her Premier Ball, and I sent out the rest of my team. They all stretched and returned to their positions. Tinkatink looked a little annoyed that all that happened and she had nothing to show for it.

"So, are you going to give me a better explanation for what just happened?" I asked.

"Sure. Rangers noted missing wild Pokémon in the area, we had our Ace Trainers step in to assist them, and we managed to track down a poacher base in the woods. Most were captured, but they had escape tunnels built in to let a few of them escape. This was a perfect chance for you to train, so I—""You would really risk them getting away if I failed?"

"No. There was no risk." Phoebe's voice sounded unnaturally cold.

"The point of bringing you into this was to give you a chance to see what Ace Trainers deal with outside of reading about it in a book. Not every major event is fighting against some insane criminal element going after a Legendary Pokémon. I wanted you to see the mundane side of criminality."

"So you had me participate in a major poacher bust." Phoebe sighed, and she sat down on the bed next to me. Shadows warped under her feet in a way that I would almost describe as an attempt to comfort her. She rubbed the side of her head.

"It's been hard, recently," she said. I sat up.

"We don't want organizations like Team Magma and Team Aqua out there, but they do make crime less common. Without them, poaching has been on the rise lately, as well as petty thievery. The reinstatement of Steven has stalled that out, as he's generally seen as stronger than Wallace."

"The Champion makes that big of a deal?"

"As well as the Elite Four," Phoebe said.

"Having strong trainers that everyone knows about is a great crime deterrent. No one wants to be beat down by a Champion or even just a Gym Leader." I snorted when she said "just a Gym Leader." She snorted, too.

"When your new role properly kicks in, you'll be expected to be able to live up to that expectation," Phoebe continued.

"This was a way to introduce you to that reality. I hope you understand." I did. It was a heavier responsibility than I expected. With my meta-knowledge, I'd been focused on the big picture elements, like the terrorist organizations that plagued entire regions. There were still smaller groups of criminals out there, smaller groups I might run into. Gaining this experience was good for me. I'd imagine if something like this came up again, I'd likely be out to deal with it as I had now.

"I get it. Thank you Phoebe." She smiled and stood up from the bed. With a stretch, she walked to the door.

"That's it for tonight then, Alex. Make sure you rest well. We've been training for long enough. Your interview with Devon is tomorrow, after all." I stared at her blankly as she cackled and closed the door. I checked the time, too. Three o'clock. I had to wake up in only a few hours, and this mission had been in the middle of the night. Well, at least exhaustion might help add to my disguise. An ID card hung on a lanyard around my neck as I strode into a courtyard behind Devon's towering skyscraper.

It stated 'my' name, Avery, and it identified me as an interviewee for the offered role. Fields were set up in rows, and about thirty trainers were out here stretching. Most of them were dressed in casual clothes, so I was in the minority. I wore a blazer, dress pants, and high-heeled shoes. The shoes were inspired by my persona of Robin, allowing me to stand with an increased height.

Not only was this outfit completely unlike anything I would wear, but I had on attachments to my face to shift my proportions, and I wore extensions in my hair to give me a ponytail. I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror. I imagined no one else could, either. My stride was cocky and arrogant as I found a free spot. Seeing that everyone else had sent out their teams, I did not hesitate in the slightest to do the same.

I would have preferred to wait and gather information, but I was playing a character as much as I was applying for this job. If I had an impulse to act a certain way, I would need to do the opposite instead. Three Pokémon hit the ground, appearing from their Pokéballs. The first was Tinkatink, who looked around until she noticed the skyscraper and gazed up at it with almost a greedy glint in her eye. At her side, Togepi chirped and smiled when she saw all the potential new friends around her.

The last wasn't my Pokémon. Instead, Phoebe had handed me his ball and given me a "good luck!" before I headed over here. He coalesced from a puddle of a shadow on the floor, and he emerged with his limbs hanging limp, as if he was nothing more than a doll. A clawed hand raised up to unzip his mouth, and red eyes stared out at the crowd with an uncomfortably malicious glint. Despite him being a ghost, I couldn't help but smile. If it wasn't for my false identity, I would have happily greeted Banette once again.

"Wow! That's a Fairy Type, isn't it?" Instead of blinking in surprise, I kept a calm smirk on my face as one of the trainers here rushed over. He had a mop of red hair hanging from his head, and he knelt down in front of Togepi and Tinkatink. At his side, a Seedot, and behind him, a Shiftry.

"Incredible! Togepi are extremely rare, so I've never seen one in person. And that's... it's from Paldea, right? I think I read about it before, but I don't remember what it's called."

"Tinkatink," I said, walking over.

"She's called Tinkatink. I received her as a gift recently, and she gets along with Togepi pretty well." Tinkatink responded by rolling her eyes, but Togepi suddenly grabbed her hand and raised it in the air. Tinkatink stiffened from the sudden grab, but she quickly adapted and pretended to smile. She looked like she didn't want to be here. But, I knew we'd be battling soon enough.

"Avery," I said to introduce myself.

"Sam," the other trainer responded. He was young, but he wasn't as young as other trainers I'd seen. At most, he was nineteen, and at least seventeen. He had a smile on his face not unlike Ash or Wally, and with me now having approached, he stood up and rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Oh, um, sorry about that. I saw the Fairy Types and got surprised. I really want to train one. Ever since..."

"Yeah?" Sam looked around. Seedot moved a bit closer to him.

"I'm actually from Mossdeep," he said.

"I want to get the funds to start my journey, so I'm applying for this job. I never really thought I'd start one, but then that mess happened a few years ago." I nodded. A sinking feeling settled into my stomach.

"There was a trainer there. Helped fight off Team Magma when Kyogre was pushed back. I can still remember how their team fought off a Pokémon way stronger than them, and that Cottonee? Oh man, that thing managed to land an Encore at just the right time! I've always thought Fairy Types were so cool since then. I want to train one of my own." He gave me a brilliant smile, which I did my best to return. He was talking about me, and my battle against Courtney.

The fact someone from there was now here was an incredible coincidence, but given his story, I wasn't surprised it had happened.

"You say you want to start your journey, but your Shiftry looks strong. Haven't you been out already?"

"What? Ol' Shiftry?" Sam said. Thankfully, he took my rapid change of topic in stride.

"Oh, he's my dad's Pokémon. He's retired, but he said he'd help me apply for this job. Otherwise, Seedot is my starter for when I have enough saved to head out." He smiled and picked up his Pokémon. Seedot happily wiggled in his arms. We chatted a bit, mostly to keep up appearances. I did my best to not react to his love for Fairy Types that kept coming up. He kept trying to return to that topic, but I couldn't afford to let that go on for too long.

I felt heat rush to my face when he tried to bring up my fight against Tobias. Apparently, he had tuned in just for me. I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact I was talking so directly to a fan. Thankfully, after a few more trainers filed in, a pair of Devon Corporation employees walked out of the building. One was a tired man overfocusing on a thick clipboard. Next to him, a shorter woman glanced over all the trainers here, red eyes focusing on each person individually. A Whismur trailed by her side.

I made a note that neither of them were smiling.

"Alright. Let's get this over with," the man sighed. What a way to welcome people applying to a job.

"Congratulations on making it to the final round of the recruitment process. As you know, we're looking for trainers to help test out a few inventions we have in the works. We need trainers that have Pokémon of multiple skill levels, so if any of you only have strong teams on you, please leave." One guy hung his head and walked out of the courtyard. He had a Tyranitar, Metagross, and Skarmory follow him.

"We'll start with battles between the weakest members of your team. Pair up, and we'll walk around to take notes. Be ready to answer any questions when we ask them." Immediately, trainers started to animatedly challenge one another to matches. I looked to Sam, and he had a grin on his face.

"I challenge you to—""I accept. Let's get in there." With the way this courtyard was set up, there weren't enough battlefields to support everyone. But, since this only dealt with lower level Pokémon, it was quickly set that battling pairs would fight using only half the field, going width wise. I faced Sam, and he sent out Seedot. The acorn Pokémon waddled forward, and I called out for Tinkatink to do the same. Togepi and Banette stood at the side.

Banette silently moved up behind Togepi, as if to scare her, but she turned and smiled at him before looking back to the field. He blinked, then sighed in quiet acceptance. On our half field, Tinkatink gripped her mallet tighter in anticipation. Seedot shook itself, making a rattling noise.

"You have the first move," I said.

"Great! Seedot, use Bide!" I was silent at Sam's command. His relative inexperience as a trainer was showing here. Bide was a move that had a Pokémon store damage it took to inflict it back on its opponent. Calling it out so obviously like that meant I could just have Tinkatink not attack to avoid it. Tinkatink bounced on her feet and started to rush in. I sighed, having forgotten Tinkatink was somewhat new to this, herself.

"Astonish," I said. She stumbled briefly before glancing back at me, a little annoyed. Astonish was one of her only moves that didn't use her hammer. As her hammer was her preferred method of attack, this command was almost sacrilegious. But still, Tinkatink followed through. She rushed forward right up to Seedot and lifted her weapon high above her head. It seemed like she was about to swing down, but then she shouted a loud "Tink!" right into Seedot's face. The Grass Type stiffened and flinched from surprise.

The focus it had gained from Bide faded away now that Tinkatink used that move.

"You're out. Recall your Pokémon and leave the building." The nearby voice shocked me from the battle, and my head snapped towards that tired man. For a moment, I thought that was it for me and this infiltration, but he was talking to a different trainer on the other side of the field. That trainer tried to protest, but the man simply shook his head and walked off. The trainer returned his Pokémon and stomped off out past the building. There were stakes to this. I couldn't forget.

"Ice Hammer!" I yelled.

"Bide again!" Now that was a good use of Bide, but it wouldn't mean much if Seedot fainted. Ice grew over Tinkatink's weapon, doubling its length and making it far more dangerous than it seemed before. Seedot's eyes widened in shock as it pushed itself downward and braced itself for impact. The move smashed into its face. Super effective Ice Type damage crashed against Seedot's Grass Type body. It was knocked to its back, but it wasn't enough.

Seedot fought almost solely through its defense, and it seemed the relatively untrained Tinkatink just wasn't strong enough. Light blasted outwards. I winced from my own mistake. When the unleashed energy from the Bide cleared, Tinkatink was on the ground, fainted.

"Good. Both of you." I jumped from the sound. The woman from before stood at my side. She was as quiet as Phoebe. I returned Tinkatink, knowing I'd need to make this up to her somehow. As I did, the woman remained.

"You have an interesting team there... Avery," she said, pausing long enough to read my name off my ID.

"Two Fairy Types not common to the region. How'd you get them?"

"Gifts, mostly. They're both new to my team. My true ace is Banette. With just him, we managed to win three badges!" The woman's eyebrows raised. Cropped black hair half obscured her eyes. That was our background story, as suggested by Phoebe. It wasn't common, but a few trainers did take on the Gym Circuit with only one Pokémon on their team. It was how we planned to explain Banette's power despite my team's relative lack of size.

"He must be impressive, then," she said.

"Let's see it."

"Excuse me?"

"Trainers!" The woman suddenly shouted. I covered my ears.

"Switch to battles with your strongest Pokémon!" The sound of dozens of Pokéballs activating rang out. Sam called his Seedot back. I waved a hand to motion Banette to come to the field. Uncomfortably, I stood there as the woman stayed at my side to watch.

"Begin," she said.

"Shiftry, Leaf Blade!"

"Sh-shadow Sneak!" My order came out less confident than I wanted. I wasn't too familiar with Banette's moveset, only having a moderate idea of what he was capable of. In an ideal situation, I would have been able to ease myself into this. I wasn't expecting an interviewer to take such a sudden interest in me. With our commands given, our Pokémon moved out. The leaves on Shiftry's hands glowed and stiffened, and Banette sunk into the floor. A swipe of its arm carved a chunk out of the dirt.

Banette shifted around it to raise itself behind Shiftry's back.

"Whirlwind!"

"Night Shade!" That command was a guess, but I was glad when it worked. Shiftry took a stance and snapped its arms outwards, creating a burst of air all around it. Banette responded by turning the space to darkness, only letting us see the silhouettes of the Pokémon within. Huh. That Night Shade is weaker than I expected. Is Banette holding back? Thanks to Night Shade allowing Banette to control the local area, Whirlwind didn't knock him back. He latched onto Shiftry's white hair and bit down with his mouth.

He tore something ethereal out of Shiftry's body and bit down and swallowed. I heard a hum of interest next to me. I rushed to explain.

"That was... Grudge," I rushed to explain.

"Weakens Shiftry on a spiritual basis."

"Do you train Fairy Types often, Avery?" the woman asked. She turned to face me. My expression was one of utter confusion.

"What? What makes you ask that?" She blinked at my surprise, and her own expression shifted away from confusion and into utter indifference. On the field itself, Shiftry was trying desperately to get Banette off its back, but Banette just held on and merrily laughed.

"Razor Wind!" The Normal Type move did nothing to the Ghost Type Banette. To the utter surprise of everyone here, the male interviewer suddenly called out "That's enough!" The battles occurring around this space ceased in favor of looking over to the man in charge. I did hear the splash of water from one Pelipper, though. It seemed to have been preparing a Hydro Pump and hadn't been able to stop it in time.

"We've seen what we needed to see for this. This round of interviews are over. You'll get the results tonight." His declaration was met with stunned silence. Someone yelled out "That's it?" A few others nodded in agreement.

"Look," the man sighed and rubbed his temples, "this was a test of not strength, but mettle and willingness to follow orders. I didn't even need to be here, everyone observing are in the skyscraper above. It's over. Go home. If your team works for us, you'll know if you've been hired tonight." People slowly started to return their Pokémon. Sam recalled his Shiftry, looking sullen at how poorly it had matched up. Banette sunk into the ground to meld with my shadow.

"Don't worry about it, Sam. You did good. Seedot was excellent against Tinkatink, and Banette just wasn't the right opponent for Shiftry." Sam let out a sad sigh, but he still tried his best to meet my words with a smile.

"Thanks, but I'm still nervous. I've only applied for a few jobs before this, and well," he chuckled, "I'm here." He started to walk off, and the woman next to me had already left as well. I glanced over to Togepi only to see that she was chatting animatedly with the woman's Whismur. Both of them were smiling happily with Togepi's merry chirrups echoing out. I turned around to alert the woman to her missing Pokémon, but she had already noticed it missing.

"Come on Aster," she yelled.

"We're leaving." I froze. The Whismur, Aster, waved goodbye to Togepi and scurried off after the woman. My eyes tracked her leaving, and as soon as she was gone, I scooped up Togepi and did my best to casually run out of the courtyard. The second I was out of view, I grabbed my Holo Caster to give Phoebe a call. It was voice only, as she didn't have a compatible device. I heard a tense "Hello?" on the other side.

"Phoebe," I said.

"Alex?" she asked.

"I know who the infiltrator is."