Their room in the Pokemon Center was quiet for a moment as Rotom finished the explanation.

  A Shadow broke that silence. “You said that you were not affiliated with Galactic, but based on what you just told us, it sounds more like you were with them for a considerable period of time, even after they’d taken on that moniker. Explain.”

  An electronic huff was let out of the possessed television’s speakers. “Rotom left when it was clear what Cyrus planned to do with Galactic. He’d started many businesses before that, all of them having various things wrong with them. Rotom hadn’t thought it would be any different from the rest of them. When that did become apparent, Rotom left.”

  “You truly believe that you can ‘save’ your old companion, even at this point?” Another Shadow asked.

  “Yes. Rotom refuses to give up on Cyrus. If not for Cyrus, Rotom would be…” The Electric type trailed off.

  “Regardless of past allegiances, do you really think it wise to align yourself with a man who, by your own words, is set on destroying the universe?” The third asked.

  “Rotom will stop him. Rotom will make him see reason. If Cyrus does not destroy the universe, then there is no need for him to pay for that crime.”

  “That’s dumb.” Mawile interjected. “Even if you are friends, a good friend can’t just let their friends get away with crazy stuff like that! Not being good at messed up stuff doesn’t mean that he’s good.”

  Rotom scoffed. “What would you know about friendship? You’ve been alone in a cave for most of your life. You’ve only just recently left your island and interacted with the outside world.”

  “I have lots of friends!” Mawile defended. “Marowak is my friend, right Marowak?!”

  “Y-yes!” the Fire type agreed.

  “Let’s jus’ back up a minute, ‘ere, shall we?” Mimikyu cut off the argument. “Ya say that Cyrus ‘n’ Galactic plan on destroyin’ the universe ‘n’ makin’ a new one or whatever, but I ‘aven’ exactly heard any details on ‘ow that’s gonna ‘appen. The Red Chain’ll help him control whatever Legend he goes after, he’ll use Dialga or Palkia or both of ‘em ta do it, but… how does that work, exactly? Does he just go ‘oh, Legends of Sinnoh, use yer power ta recreate the world without Spirit’ ‘n’ then bam it happens? I’m lost on the logistics of this plan.”

  Rotom hesitated. “That is… Rotom is not exactly aware of the details, either. Cyrus is very close lipped about the specifics, as you can well imagine. The average grunt in Galactic knows basically nothing, and honestly Rotom isn’t sure how many in the organization do know. Peeking in on any random meeting is one thing, but getting close to important meetings, the kind where they might discuss that sort of thing, would mean opening Rotom up to detection from Cyrus’ team. That is something Rotom has avoided for obvious reasons.”

  “What Pokemon are on his team? I am unfamiliar with the ones you mentioned,” a Shadow probed.

  “The last that Rotom was able to check, it seemed as if Cyrus had Sneasel, Murkrow, and a Golbat.”

  Mawile frowned. “He’s obsessed with power and his team isn’t even fully evolved?”

  Mimikyu shook his false Pikachu head. “Those Pokemon aren’t the type ta evolve with jus’ an increase in strength. Murkrow requires a Dusk stone, Sneasel requires a Razor Claw, ‘n’ Golbat requires a high level of friendship. It could be that he jus’ hansn’ acquired that stuff yet… or, if he really is obsessed with power, it could be that he’s lookin’ ta ‘ave ‘em learn certain moves before evolvin’. A lot of Pokemon can s’posedly learn new attacks sooner than they would if they’d evolved.”

  N found himself zoning out of the conversation at that point as the rest of the group discussed the intricacies of what Rotom had revealed to them and what this “Cyrus” guy’s plans supposedly were.

  In a way, what Rotom had told them of Cyrus reminded N of himself. It sounded as if Cyrus had been lacking in human companionship for most of his life, and N… well, until father had come for him and introduced him to his sisters, he’d spent a considerable amount of time living with wild Pokemon, with no human interaction to speak of at all. There was also the way in which both of them seemed to be at the heads of organizations lurking in the shadows of the world the League had built up, waiting for opportune moments to strike out at such a horrible place. They both wanted to get rid of unnecessary suffering…

  N shook his head, ignoring the way that Mimikyu gave him an odd look before joining back in on the greater discussion.

  He couldn’t be comparing himself to a man like this. Making Cyrus seem more relatable was only going to make it harder to deal with what was obviously a mad man. N could fully understand wanting to ease the pain of those who suffered, but there was a world of difference in wanting to separate Pokemon from the abuses of humanity and wanting to entirely erase “spirit”, whatever that was even supposed to mean. What exactly was “spirit”, anyway? It was such a vague term, one he’d heard used in a plethora of different ways, so knowing what Cyrus was specifically referring to was difficult to comprehend. And on top of that, to go as far as to have a Legend destroy the world and have a new one built in its place… of course, his understanding of the situation was reliant on Rotom’s retelling of events, but he trusted Rotom enough to believe that the Pokemon wouldn’t lead them astray in that regard. Despite whatever care Rotom may have for the man, the Ghost type was still painting Cyrus as clearly having gone mad to some degree. How many Pokemon would suffer if Galactic’s plan came to pass? How many would be killed in the destruction of this world? Would a lack of this “spirit” that Cyrus talked about harm them? Pokemon varied in all sorts of mysterious ways, and for all that N knew, a lack of this “spirit” may well spell ruin for some species.

  The differences between Cyrus and himself were greater than the similarities. N was moving towards a better world, whereas Cyrus was just insane. Yes, that made much more sense than trying to sympathize simply because Rotom likes the man…

  N took a steadying breath. With the information now made clear to them, it was more apparent than before that Galactic needed to be stopped. N could hardly hope to mobilize much of Plasma’s forces in a foreign region where Galactic already had a foothold in the League, but even a small group like the one already here, the Shadows and himself, could potentially make a world of difference in ruining their plans.

  They could start a more proactive approach by dealing with that bomb situation.

  “That grunt muttering about the bomb, was he still standing around outside?” He suddenly asked, not much caring for what conversation he was interrupting.

  Rotom shot him an annoyed look, but one of the Shadows bowed his head instantly. “The last we checked, yes. It is possible he has moved during our meeting, however.”

  “I think it’s time we go have a little chat with him.”

  “...jus’ ta clarify, yer sayin’ ya wanna directly confront a lunatic who may well ‘ave explosives on ‘im?”

  “No. He was waiting for the explosives, correct? We’ll confront him before they arrive, and see if we can set up a trap for whoever is actually delivering them afterwards.”

  A Shadow sighed. “We better hurry over there if that’s the plan of action you want to take…”

  And so, they did.

  There were protests from Mimikyu, Rotom, and even a few mutterings from the Shadows that N supposed he wasn’t meant to overhear, but he was certain that this was the correct choice.

  What good would waiting around do when Galactic was planning something with a bomb? Sometimes it was better to be the first to strike. He had, unfortunately, been witness to enough Pokemon battles to know that speed was an important factor in deciding the outcome of a conflict.

  A slight problem arose, however, when they made their way towards the observatory building and there was no Galactic grunt in sight.

  “...this is where he was waiting, wasn’t it?” N quietly asked the Shadows.

  “I’m sure of it, he must have moved somewhere else,” one responded.

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  “Does this mean the delivery took place while we were meeting…?” Another questioned.

  “Perhaps, but it could just as easily mean something as simple as a bathroom break or wandering off because he was tired of waiting around. Grunts like this aren’t exactly known for discipline,” the third suggested.

  “Oh noooo, ‘ow horrible…” Mimikyu cried out in the most put-upon flat and deadpan voice N had heard in a while. “I guess we don’ get ta put ourselves next ta some bombs, this is jus’ terrible…”

  “Weren’t you the one who prompted N to investigate Galactic in Veilstone?” Rotom probed, suspicion lacing the Electric type’s voice.

  “Yeah, but there’s a diff’rence between that and bombs!” Mimikyu hissed back.

  “Excuse me, a moment of your time, if you would?” A voice spoke up from behind them.

  The Shadows turned on a dime, clearly unsettled by something, which made N put his guard up.

  He wasn’t sure why, however. The person who had stopped them appeared to be just a normal, average citizen of Pastoria. Shaggy blonde hair, a baggy shirt with a Croagunk printed on it, blue pants. Nothing about him stood out to N.

  “We’re kind of in the middle of something…” N tried to brush the man off quickly.

  “Ah, yes, I had noticed. You are investigating Galactic, yes?”

  …perhaps they’d been a bit too loud when discussing something like that… Who was this man, then? Some supporter of theirs? A grunt out of outfit?

  …wait, no. They had been speaking in Unovan, and so was this man. For someone from the League regions to so naturally pick up on their topic of conversation and interject…

  He didn’t give them a moment to respond to his question. “You see, I am thinking we could assist each other! A good eye for talent, I am a man said to have such a thing!”

  N spared a look towards the Shadows, noticing how one gave him a barely perceptible nod.

  “...assist each other how, exactly?”

  The man spun with a flourish, and his blonde hair went flying. A wig? N was getting more confused by this stranger with every passing second.

  When the man stopped, Mimikyu quietly gasped on his shoulder.

  “You see, I am the one known as Looker. I am also investigating Galactic and their activities here in Pastoria! How would you feel about being temporary recruits for Interpol?”

  He lost.

  Win after win after win, nothing he’d come up against through his journey had posed a serious threat to him outside a small handful of challenging matchups, and then when he gets to the Gym that his team should have an amazing matchup against, he loses.

  Lucas idly noted his travelling companions making their way towards the observatory as he shuffled his way back to the Pokemon Center, but didn’t make any effort to catch their attention. Even if he was the type to speak much, he wouldn’t know what to say to them right now, even looking past the problems with Rotom and Porygon2.

  This was…

  This sucked.

  Was this how other trainers felt?

  How many trainers had he defeated now? Dozens, maybe? He didn’t exactly keep track. How many had he made feel like this? How many win streaks had he ruined?

  He quietly handed his pokeballs over to Nurse Joy after entering the Pokemon Center, and she gave him a knowing, somewhat reassuring smile. She must be used to seeing faces like this, working in a city with a Gym.

  Taking a seat on a chair in the waiting area, Lucas slumped back, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what had gone wrong.

  “You seem to be taking this rather poorly, but it is my understanding that losing to Gym Leaders is quite a common occurrence. It’s unreasonable to think that you would win every match you ever found yourself in.”

  Lucas scowled at his Pokedex.

  Yeah, sure, maybe that was true. That didn’t mean he had to like it, though!

  He’d thought… he’d thought that he was good at this whole battle thing, and what should have been one of the easiest matchups in his whole League run turned out like this…

  “Hmm. It is sometimes said that setbacks are what allow people and Pokemon to grow. Take a look at me, for example. For a period, I was at the whims of a horrid organization like Galactic, and now not only am I free of that rot, I am stronger. Though maybe that doesn’t quite equate to the same thing, given that my advancement was due to outside influence rather than my own personal struggles against hardship… I’m sure you understand the point that I’m getting at, however. Perhaps you should take this as a learning opportunity? Let’s see… that Barry fellow! You seem to have a long and storied relationship with him, correct?”

  Lucas wasn’t sure where Porgyon2 was going with that, but he nodded in agreement. This sounded like the start of some advice that his mom would try to give him…

  “Given available data, I presume that where you chose Turtwig, he chose Chimchar. He had the type advantage over you from the start. And yet, had the battle not been interrupted, it is my analysis that you would have ended up as the victor. Is this not similar to your situation with Gym Leader Wake? It’s a matter of preparedness, and time put into training. He had a point when he mentioned that they’re made Gym Leaders for a reason. Publicly available data points towards Gym Leader Wake having been training for longer than you have been alive, Lucas. It only makes sense that if he is seriously intent on defeating you, that he would be able to do so. In my humble opinion, that you were able to take out even one of his Pokemon is a testament to your ability as a trainer, given the team you went into that battle with.”

  Lucas’ frown morphed into something more thoughtful. Porygon2 was right that type matchups weren’t everything, but…

  What was the problem, then? He liked his team, he thought they were pretty great, even if the training they’d received hadn’t exactly been…

  Hm….

  Maybe that was the problem.

  It wasn’t like he’d never thought of it before. He’d noticed the disparity in their strength a good while ago, really. It was just… well, when Torterra was so far ahead of everyone, and he came up against an opponent that would be, or should be, rather, easy to defeat with him, it was hard to bring himself to think about using anyone else on his team.

  Normal wasn’t super effective against anything, after all.

  He’d tried getting his weaker team members some experience before they’d reached Lake Valor, but so many of those Graveler had just used Explosion on them, plus there was the fact that they were always on the move…

  Had he ever just taken some time and dedicated it to training his team?

  He couldn’t think of a time that he had.

  He had sort of been planning to do some sort of training on the way to Snowpoint, given Torterra’s huge weakness to the Gym’s typing there, but… that would have just been more sporadic training, wouldn’t it? Fighting whoever shows up in his path, hoping it makes his team stronger.

  Thinking back on his battle with Wake, there were a few areas that obviously needed some work. Things he knew he could do something about, probably in the short term, if he really tried for it.

  Togepi, for example, needed something other than Metronome. The move had saved his Gym Battles on more than one occasion, but it was ultimately a luck based move, and his seemed to have run out.

  Bibarel could probably use some sort of coverage move… Getting so hard countered by Gastrodon probably wasn’t something that was likely to happen again, but that didn’t mean a different Pokemon couldn’t achieve similar results.

  Eevee… that was a case he’d have to give some serious thought. Really, there was one very obvious thing to do with the little guy that would give him a big leg up.

  Evolution.

  But into what? With Eevee, he was spoiled for choice. Or, Eevee was, anyway.

  He hadn’t really gotten any idea that Eevee wanted to evolve, but… would Eevee think to ask for that? He wasn’t sure if Eevee knew he had basically any evolution stone he could ask for.

  Maybe he should offer up the Fire and Thunder Stones he had in his bag, see if Eevee wanted either of them. The path to becoming a Glaceon was also something necessary for the next Gym, but that didn’t help with this one, so he kind of hoped that Eevee wasn’t hoping to become an Ice type…

  They’d figure something out.

  The egg that Lucario and Riley had given him still hadn’t hatched yet, so he wouldn’t be getting anywhere with whatever came out of that any time soon.

  Then, well…

  He grabbed his Pokedex, scrolling through the data before settling on an entry he’d briefly seen before.

  “Oh? Interested in me, are you?” Porygon2 asked as Lucas looked through the information relevant to battle. “I must admit, my current movepool is nothing terribly impressive, and I presently lack anything that would be terribly effective against Gym Leader Wake’s team. However… you do seem to have quite the collection of TMs. I wouldn’t dare tell you how to allocate them, but in the interest of helping you, I think you would do well to be aware that I am capable of learning a decent number of Electric type moves. Not so helpful against the Gastrodon, or even the Ludicolo, I admit, but there is Wake’s third Pokemon to consider. He tends to use three in Gym battles, according to the information I’m able to find on him.”

  Lucas still wasn’t sure how wise it was to consider using Porygon2 in a Gym Battle, but if Crasher Wake was really going to be this much of a challenge… it didn’t hurt to have options.

  Porygon2 should be able to learn Signal Beam soon… he had a TM for Shock Wave somewhere in his bag… it wouldn’t be much, but it would be something.

  And Gardenia had given him Grass Knot, hadn’t she? That should be useful against Gastrodon…

  As ideas for how to counter Crasher Wake’s team started flowing through his mind, Lucas pulled up his map.

  He needed an area where he wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone, and that would allow him to get some serious training in.

  He wasn’t going to let Crasher Wake win again.

  This ended up being more of a transition-y chapter? Not a ton actually happening but necessary before stepping into what happens next and too much to fit all of it into a single week’s worth of writing.

  But anyway, Looker shenanigans inbound! Lucas ACTUALLY doing some training!

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)