Welcome to Gaia! ::

Monique found herself teleported to the tiny quarters of the Kalos office of Team Snagem, some comparatively forgotten executive suite on an upper floor of a Lumiose City office building. Just one person worked in Kalos full-time for Snagem, mostly as a receptionist and liaison.

“Excuse me, I’ve been told that a Poké Ball shipment was supposed to arrive here but didn’t make it?”

The receptionist nodded, shuffling his papers. A squid Pokémon floated behind him, maybe his companion. Monique recognized this one, as there were some populations of Inkay back on Aether Island.

“I was told it could be one of three places. Have you been to Lumiose?”

Monique shook her head.

“It was delivered to either the Poké Ball Factory on Autumnal, the Magenta Plaza Pokémon Center, or the PR Video Studio on the Boulevard South,” he explained, pulling out a map of the city. “This building is on North Boulevard, so you can go down the city in the order I gave you and hit up all three if you have to. There’s a Gogoat Shuttle that ferries people around the Boulevard, so if you do get it there, you can ride back up this way.”

“Well, thank you.” Monique looked at the map and all the streets and alleys. Lumiose made even Mauville look simple to navigate. “Can I take that map with me?”

“Sure.”

Monique took the map. “Thank you.” She stepped out of the building into a hallway and descended the elevator to the lobby, moving past its doors and seeing North Boulevard for the first time. It was a very wide cobblestone thoroughfare with a lot of foot traffic. All the buildings on her side of the street were taller office and commercial buildings, while inside the boulevard was the “old city” of tightly packed cafes, shops, and residences.

She pulled out the map again. So I turn right and go down for a short distance… Monique began to walk, looking at the facilities on both sides of the street: a dizzying array of shops, small cafes, and other retail businesses. There was so much to—

“Excuse me!” a man cried out. The sheriff quickly stepped aside to see, moments later, a large horned Pokémon plodding through the street where she was standing, with someone riding it. Gogoat. The Mount Pokémon. They inhabit mountainous regions of Kalos. The leader of the herd… She recognized the name and realized that must be the shuttle the receptionist was talking about.

Monique gathered herself on the sidewalk until coming to a large junction with another street. A sign proclaimed this was Autumnal Avenue. She turned left and began to proceed down the road, where she made eye contact for the first time with the Prism Tower, a massive glass and steel structure that sat at the heart of the city. Her jaw dropped. She’d heard of Lumiose—after all, it was one of the largest cities in the Pokémon world—but by the time she’d come around, of course, it had succumbed to the Smog, its memory consigned to pictures and trinkets. She could not help but feel like she was in a historical reenactment. Seemingly every day, the fact that she was 49 years in the past hit her square in the face; today, it slammed her with the force of a Gogoat.

***

The Poké Ball Boutique on Autumnal was Kalos’s outlet for high-end Poké Balls. The Factory in Laverre City owned the outlet in part as a showcase for what it could do at the pinnacle of innovation. There were models of old Poké Ball examples, displays touting the Poké Ball Company of Kalos’s own designs as well as models invented in other regions… It was dizzying to see this level of diversity and a bit nauseating for Monique to see all this stuff.

“Welcome in, how can we help you?” a woman chirped as soon as she saw Monique. It was clear this was mostly a luxury establishment.

“Hi… I was told there might be a delivery for me here?”

She tilted her head and started walking toward the customer service counter, a bit perplexed. Monique followed. “Do you know the name?” the associate asked.

“Snagem of Kalos, I believe.”

The associate let out a pained sigh. “Ugh, you guys.” She went in a back room and emerged a minute later empty-handed. “I’m afraid it didn’t come here, ma’am.”

Monique sighed. “Well, thank you anyway.”

“Have a nice day,” she chirped, clearly trying to put on a face, as the Zoroark hybrid walked out. Once outside, she pulled out her map again, noting she needed to walk further down the bustling road and take one of the side paths to Magenta Plaza, walking past the Lysandre Café (that name seemed familiar, but Monique didn’t quite remember why) and to a small circle with decorative patches of grass on top of the canal. Also facing the plaza was a Pokémon Center, which she entered.

Unlike the Mead House in Lacunosa, the Pokémon Center here was typical, corporate, and standardized: the nurse’s desk, conversational areas, some changing rooms and restrooms off to one side, and a Poké Mart. (It was also insanely busy.) Next to the Mart was a small information desk, though nobody was there. She saw several people waiting in line at the nurse’s station, so she walked over to the information desk and rang the bell for service. A moment later, an attendant appeared behind the small window.

“Hi, what can I assist you with?”

“I was wondering if a package might have been shipped here by mistake. It would have been addressed to Snagem of Kalos,” she explained.

“Let me look here… We get packages all the time. People think we’re La Poste when we’re not,” the employee sighed before rummaging in the back. She returned with two large cardboard boxes, one in each arm. “This should be it.” Monique took the boxes and sighed. She had to walk all the way back to North Boulevard with these under her arms. This was…not very good. And that cardboard was so wasteful!

She started walking back up the streets of Lumiose. As she passed through the path connecting Magenta Plaza to Autumnal Avenue, she suddenly felt the presence of a nearby Dark-type Pokémon, but she could not act before it jumped on her back and snatched one of the boxes from her with sharp claws.

Sneasel. Dark/Ice. The Sharp Claw Pokémon. It has a cunning yet savage disposition… Monique started to run after it and shouting. “Get back here!” What sort of Pokémon is this!? The chase wound across Autumnal through another plaza back to a vacant storefront in some alleyway, leaving Monique—still holding the other box—a bit out of breath.

“Nice work…” a man called out to the Sneasel in front of the building as it set down its precious cargo. The guy had a teal mohawk and wore a dark jacket with ripped jeans and black boots.

“You call that work!?” Monique growled. “You’re a thief! And that…that Sneasel!”

“And who do you think you are, shaggy punk?” He crossed his arms. “Get outta here!”

“Sir, I’m law enforcement. I don’t ‘get out of here’ easily!” She grabbed a Poké Ball as the Sneasel positioned itself next to its Trainer.

“Since when is a hybrid like you ‘law enforcement’?” he sneered. “Metal Claw! Put this chick out of her misery!”

Sneasel started moving at Monique (and the other box) with its claws, knocking the Poké Ball out of her hands and releasing Lua Pele into the narrow cobblestone street. The Camerupt’s heft shook the ground and shocked the gang member. It also seemed to get Sneasel off of her for the time being.

“You say you’re law enforcement with a fawkin’ Shadow?”

“Lava Plume!” Monique snarled. A large column of fire erupted from under the Sneasel, sending a wave of heat through the alley and knocking the thief into the air. “Shadow Pokémon don’t purify themselves, you know.” I hope Lumiose has a good immunizer system, she thought.

“Ey, look! This hybrid punk’s got a Shadow Pokémon! And I’ve never seen it, either!” he called out to an unknown audience, presumably in the building. From the floor above, several windows opened.

“Screw you!” This was clearly some sort of criminal operation. Three girls looked out from above, giving Monique an unexpected audience. They all had really brightly colored hair in pink, teal, and yellow.

“This dude here tried to steal my stuff! And by the way… You might wanna check on that Sneasel of yours.”

Behind him, Sneasel was knocked out, having suffered a super-effective blow. He turned and looked at his fallen Pokémon in shock. “What did you do to ‘im?”

“I used a Fire-type move. You think you’re cool and you don’t realize that he’s an Ice-type?” For the first time in a while, Monique felt in her element. This was an encounter she could have had on the streets of New Po, but here she had it with a Shadow Pokémon. “I ain’t afraid of you,” she barked, looking up.

“Eh, try this!” one shouted. Two of the three people tossed Poké Balls down at Monique on the street. Out came a small Pokémon that looked like a crocodile and a striped raccoon. Even before GRAY started speaking, she knew she was staring at two Dark types—and one Shadow Pokémon.

Sandile. Ground/Dark. Zigzagoon, Galarian. Dark/Normal. Two loud beeps indicated the Zigzagoon was a Shadow.

“If you feel like a Double Battle, so do I!” She grabbed a second Poké Ball, and out came Noio the Murkrow, making its battle debut (and shocked to find itself so, so far from home). She tapped her earpiece twice, as she was still unaware of its moves. GRAY responded by informing her the moves were Pursuit, Haze, Wing Attack, and Snarl.

“Camerupt! Shadow Rave on Sandile! Murkrow! Wing Attack on Zigzagoon!” Spikes of chi erupted from the ground moments before Sandile was about to execute a Bite; Murkrow’s attack was beaten to the punch by an apparently uncommanded Shadow Blitz from the Zigzagoon, a super-effective move on a non-Shadow Pokémon, but Noio went for it moments later, visibly panting from the exertion.

Camerupt. Shadow Meter. 4, Monique heard from her earpiece.

The Sandile was still upright, which surprised Monique. She needed to get that pest out of the way to focus on the Shadow Pokémon. Suddenly, it hit her.

“Lava Plume again!”

This time, the column of fire erupted in the middle, singing Noio in the process as it sent a surge of piping hot liquid out from the floor. It blew back the Sandile despite being a move at a type disadvantage, the Desert Croc Pokémon lying on its pink belly. The Zigzagoon wobbled.

Thinking quickly, Monique partially opened one of the cardboard boxes to find it contained a shipment of Ultra Balls. She clasped one to her glove and tossed it toward the Zigzagoon.

“What do you think you’re doing?” one of the women shouted from atop the balcony as the ball moved toward the Shadow Pokémon, wobbling.

“Honey, I’m ensuring there’s one less Shadow Pokémon in the world.” A few seconds later, she heard a characteristic “click” from the Ball. Picking it up to place in her bag and recalling Camerupt, she picked up one of the boxes and walked over to the man, glaring.

“Give me that, or you’re gonna be sent…” Monique was about to say “to the wasteland”, but these people had no clue what that was—or would be—or might be. “Somewhere not as nice as here.”

Defeated and stunned, the man handed the box, small holes in the sides marking where Sneasel’s sharp claws had gripped the parcel.

“Thank you.”

Monique tucked the boxes under her arm and began to walk back toward the plaza, still utterly lost and needing to get back to the office building. She realized it might help her to cast an illusion of her human self, something that had not entered her mind before.

“Hey GRAY… Tell me about Zigzagoon,” she asked the voice assistant.

“Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon,” it began. “There are two variations. The Dark-type is the Galarian version, and there is a Normal-type found in the wild in Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos. The Hoennian variant evolved from the one you caught and is more docile. You see, some Pokémon have drastic differences by region.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Did you know that your Marowak is one of them?”

She tilted her head. “Oh?”

“Marowak outside of Alola are Ground-type. But they both evolve from Cubone.”

That seemed so alien to imagine a version of Marowak without a flame to light her way.

“How many Pokémon are like this?”

“37 are known, 18 of them relating to Alola, and recent academic research suggests there may be another 20 or more. You’d know about this if you read the International Journal of Pokémon Dimorphism.”

This world is so big, Monique thought. She’d made her way back to North Boulevard, and helpfully, she could see the office building she’d left what already seemed like an eternity ago. Hauling the boxes up the elevator and setting them on a table in the lobby, she sighed at the receptionist.

“Ever dealt with a Sneasel trying to snatch your stuff?” She crossed her arms in triumph and sighed in relief. “Oh, and you’re one Ball short...since I had to snag a shadow Zigzagoon.”

Monique found herself casting a human Illusion, walking the beach in quaint little Dewford Town, a village sprawled along a sandy beach with forested rocky hills looming above it. She’d been enjoying the air and trying to figure out where she should go to get a lead.

She’d been told that some Team Aqua grunt had stolen a whole bunch of fishing rods from a local fisherman who crafted simple, sustainable gear using local materials. That appeal to environmental sustainability failed to convince Aqua, who really didn’t like fishing much, and some jerk took the rods. Gee, they’ve come a long way for that, she thought. This place was remote; the fact that it had a Pokémon Gym, perched up on one of the hilltops, was something of a miracle. Slateport City was a much larger urban center and somehow didn’t have one. Heck, Hoenn’s two largest cities weren’t home to Gyms.

Eventually, she came to a small little building where it seemed like there was a bustle of activity—the village hall, with its blue tile roof and tropical architecture. Was Aether Island once like this? she thought to herself. She lingered for a moment, looking at the scene. The crowd inside seemed to be mostly older people. Figuring they might know something, she slipped inside.

A few heads turned at the sight of a newcomer as she entered. A TV was on, playing cartoons to an audience of a few kids; several older men were playing chess, and women were sitting on sofas and talking to each other, a couple of them snacking on some sort of candy. One could easily imagine this place having been the only real place to be before the modern world reached Dewford.

Monique sidled up to one of the couches. “Excuse me, ladies… Have you heard anything about a fisherman who had his fishing rods stolen? I’m here from out of town to try and learn what I can…”

“Y…yeah!” an older woman piped up, raising her hand in some excitement. “Roddy Rod. He’s crushed… He hasn’t left his home in days. Normally you’d see him up on the beach.” She shook her head. “Apparently Aqua did it… Do they not understand that he’s not harming anything?”

“Where does he live?”

“Well, we don’t know where the Aqua guy is. You mean Roddy Rod?” another asked, tilting her head as her earrings dangled. Monique nodded. “He lives down off the coast… Not far from the cable car to the Gym.”

“Well, thank you for that. Hope you have a nice day.” She walked back out and, noticing just how nice it was, opted to bring Aopua’a out for a walk. The Castform floated by her side as she made her way the short distance to the main intersection along the beach. To one side was the pier, where fishing boats were anchored and the ferry to Rustboro and Slateport docked twice each day. The other side had a road up to a station for a funicular up the slope to the Pokémon Gym. Sitting on the plaza were a Pokémon Center, complete with a mural depicting dolphins and sea Pokémon, and a small house with a sign nearby.

Roddy Rod’s Fishing Equipment Company

She approached the small shop building and found a handwritten notice taped to the door, which was shut.

CLOSED - OUT OF STOCK
If you know who stole my stuff,
Call Dewford Police

She knocked on the door and waited a moment, wondering if Roddy would even answer it. She had nothing to go on without him, and if—

To the sheriff’s relief, the door creaked open, revealing an older, bearded man wearing a brightly patterned shirt.

“Hi, miss… I’m out of stock.”

“I know that, sir. I’m with Team Snagem. I was sent to try and get your stolen property back.”

He expressed surprise. “Snagem, eh? Didn’t think they’d send someone all this way to go after the Aqua dude…” He smiled. “Hey, at least some of the best in the world are on my case!”

“Do you have any clue where the guy ran off to, sir?”

He shook his head. “You could check up on the hilltop… That’s where the Gym is. If you keep going past me, you’ll come to a little shrine with a forest, so he might be there too. And down off the other edge of town is the entrance to Granite Cave.”

Monique looked around at the setting, getting her bearings. She turned to face Roddy Rod. “Well, I’m going to go looking, and I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Alright… You take care out there. Thank you so much, dear.”

Monique politely nodded and walked toward the funicular station. Two tram cars, one on each end, simultaneously traveled across the grade—one up, one down—toward the Gym. A handful of people were waiting at the base, checking their phones as one of the vehicles glided to its landing spot and a few passengers exited. There seemed to be Pokémon Trainers here, most of all—some quiet, sulking after failing the gym and needing to ride down to the Pokémon Center at the base, and others eager to make the climb and try their mettle. Monique took in the scenery. The whole place felt quite peaceful, if at least not completely shut in from the outside world. Guess it’s nice not to have a dome around your island, she chuckled to herself.

The waiting passengers shuffled into the car, which closed and glided up the hill. She looked out at the forested hills and the moving sea. It felt sort of like home but not…not that that was a bad thing. Castform also seemed to like her surroundings, slowly floating around Monique. Moments later, the short trip ended, and she stepped out of the car to find a small plaza in front of a modest stadium-type structure. Off to the side was a construction zone, with signs draped on the fence proclaiming Poké Mart! Coming Soon and Pokémon hauling materials. (If she stepped much closer, her SNAG was about to tell her about Timburr and Makuhita.) There were a few homes and businesses lining streets that proceeded past the Gym, but most of Dewford. With nothing to go on, she decided to ask around at the Gym lobby, but nobody knew much of anything. A bit disappointed, Monique returned to coast level and walked toward the shrine, on the far edges, past where the shops and restaurants turned into modest homes, ever more sparse. There, framed by the last two dolphin-themed lamp posts on the boardwalk, was a bright red torii leading into a small patch of sacred forest with a stone shrine in the middle.

The Zoroark hybrid walked around for a moment, wondering if she was going to happen upon him here. It was peaceful, but it was also sacred space. Monique understood that and was not going to start a battle in this place—

Her attention was immediately grabbed by a man wearing a prominent blue bandana walking the other direction, out of the forest. He either looked lost, confused, or trying to hide; his movements were clearly furtive. It was a look she had seen before. This has to be him. She noticed he was wearing some kind of backpack.

Monique, not wanting to cause a scene, waited a few seconds and turned around, slowly tailing him, but he was clearly nervous. She wondered if he’d realize he was being followed as he headed back toward town. For a few moments, she was able to continue, but he turned straight behind and came face-to-face with his pursuer.

“Whaddya want!?” he asked in frustration.

“I think you well know.” She scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You ain’t getting these things back from me without a fight, missy.”

“Then let’s settle this, no matter how stupid your reasoning. I’m not afraid of a battle, as long as we don’t do it on the boardwalk.” She gestured to the beach and stepped off the boardwalk and onto the sand. He reached for two Poké Balls from his bag and summoned a small, dog-like Pokémon and, for once, a creature she recognized: Carvanha, a small but speedy and rough fish.

Poochyena. Dark. The Bite Pokémon. Poochyena is an omnivore…

Alongside Castform, Monique pulled out a random Poké Ball and out appeared Noio, her chatty Murkrow. She could feel the confluence of Dark types on the battlefield.

“Aqua Jet! Bite!” the Aqua grunt called out. Before Monique could even specify her first calls, Carvanha was cruising over to Castform and Poochyena was trying to munch on Murkrow.

Monique looked at the field and decided to have Aopua’a use Rain Dance. A small cloud formed above the four Pokémon and their Trainers, producing a steady drizzle. Murkrow then used Wing Attack on the Carvanha, but it was clearly a bit hurt by the action, having come into contact with the Rough Skin of the opposing Savage Pokémon.

Carvanha used Aqua Jet again, this time on Noio. The Murkrow was becoming a bit of a punching bag, and Monique could tell that it was getting weak. However, with Rain Dance in play, Monique was able to use Weather Ball to slam Poochyena with a blast of water, souped up by the weather, the typing, and the mere fact that Weather Ball was twice as powerful when used in any weather conditions. Despite being a blob of water, Poochyena was slammed by its force and spent a moment in the newly wet sand before returning to its feet.

Realizing that her resources would be better spent on eliminating a Pokémon than sacrificing Noio to chip at Carvanha, she commanded the Murkrow to use Wing Attack on Poochyena. It was enough to take the first Pokémon out before it could use another move.

The Aqua grunt reached into his bag again, fumbling for another Poké Ball, and out came a Zubat, a smaller version of the Crobat that thrived in Resolution Cave. Before Monique could ask for a move to be used, though, Carvanha’s Aqua Jet slammed into Murkrow and sent the bird crashing lifelessly to the ground. It had fainted.

Monique sighed and recalled Noio to her Poké Ball, reaching for another and summoning Weuweu the Pansage for the first time. This is gonna be tough for him, she thought to herself. Pansage wouldn’t be able to fight this turn, but Aopua’a dialed up another Weather Ball to take on Zubat. The bat Pokémon responded by dishing out a Poison Fang, purple liquid seeping from the bite, though Monique was relieved to hear that the Castform wasn’t badly poisoned by the attack.

“Weuweu! Vine Whip! Aopua’a! Weather Ball!” The Castform’s third straight Weather Ball had enough oomph to take the Zubat out of the running after two turns before it could move again. The grunt changed tactics with Carvanha and used Bite against the Grass-type, which took a hit and responded in kind with Vine Whip, a super effective move but one that was relatively weak from the small monkey Pokémon. To replace the fallen Zubat, the grunt summoned a red crab Pokémon, one Monique recognized from the small population in Vast Poni Canyon.

Corphish. Water. The Ruffian Pokémon. Its hardy vitality enables it to adapt…

For the fourth turn—and the last of Rain Dance—Aopua’a dialed up one more Weather Ball, this time on Carvanha. It wasn’t very effective, but it was at least novel in targeting the Carvanha for the first time. The grunt, realizing that it was Castform who was inflicting the most damage on his unit, finally decided to have Carvanha use Bite on the Forecast Pokémon, which—for the first time all battle—dipped below 50 percent health. Corphish delivered a Night Slash to Pansage before it could attack, ending the day for the Grass Monkey Pokémon and knocking him flat on his back.

Monique sighed as the low clouds parted. She did not have any Water types, nor did she have many moves that were good against them. Note to self: Get an Electric-type? To replace Weuweu, she brought out Akala, her new Audino caught in the Crown Tundra. Akala wasn’t much of an attacker, but she still had the capability, and that alone was going to come in handy.

“Aopua’a! Weather Ball! Akala! Hyper Voice!”

The Audino surprisingly went first, emitting a high-pitched screech that sent both opposing Pokémon recoiling and their Trainer scrambling to cover his ears. The Weather Ball—a vanilla Normal-type—followed. Monique was surprised to see that the move knocked Carvanha back and even more surprised to see it motionless on the ground. What a time for a critical hit, she thought to herself.

All the grunt had left was Corphish. A thought formed in Monique’s head. This guy is as inept as they come… Maybe he could… She tried to hide the forming smile. First, she had to make one more move.

A Zen Headbutt and a Weather Ball left the Ruffian Pokémon moving slowly, but it still brought out a Bubble Beam that sent Castform down to low HP.

Time to act. She reached for an empty Poké Ball, clasped it to her glove, and tossed it in the direction of Corphish. A beam of light scooped up the Aqua grunt’s last Pokémon.

“What do you think you—”

“Admit it. What in the world do you think you’re doing?” The Poké Ball sat on the ground and started to shake. He lunged for it, prompting Monique to pounce on him with her Zoroark abilities, her Illusion fading.

“Putting this ill-advised plan out of its misery. I don’t take other people’s Pokémon unless they truly, truly deserve it.” The reassuring click told Monique that Corphish was now hers.

“Wha—”

“I’m not letting you get up without giving me your bag so I can take those fishing rods back to their rightful owner.”

“But fishing will cause damage to—”

“Roddy Rod is very conscious of the environment. You’re just conscious of causing aimless mischief.”

“And who do you think you are to say that?”

“Monique Ka’ana’ana. Sheriff of New Po Town. Member of Team Snagem.”

***

With one more filled Poké Ball in her bag and a second bag full of precious cargo, Monique walked back to Roddy Rod’s house and knocked on the door again. She realized she needed to put on her Illusion again before he saw her in her hybrid form and was just about to do so when the door creaked open.

“Whaddya—” He tilted his head. “What’s that?” Zoroark weren’t native to Hoenn, so the sight surprised him.

“Oh… Excuse me. Maybe you’d recognize me like this?” A moment later, she appeared in her typical human form.

“Oh, it’s you.”

She held up the bag. “I have something for you.”

“Are those the rods?”

“I think so. The guy was just walking about aimlessly. He looked like the most inept bad guy in town…and I’ve seen a few like that.” She unzipped the large compartment to reveal a stack of eight or nine rods.

“Oh… Oh my…” The sight was overwhelming. “...My livelihood is back! I… I know these are simple rods, but they’re made with things found here, not in some far-off factory. That matters to me.” He smiled. “Keep one of them, miss. As my token of thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

Roddy Rod was noddy-nodding his head. “Karma. It goes around. It comes around. It’s why I make things that don’t take what nature can’t replace.”

“...I appreciate it,” Monique acquiesced, realizing there was no way he was not going to insist on her keeping one. “Please let us know if you need anything. We’re here to help.”

“Thank you… What was your name? I never caught it the first time.”

“Monique.”

“Very, very pretty, like you. Thank you, dear.”

Monique walked across the plaza to the Pokémon Center, healed her Pokémon, and summoned GRAY to teleport her home, the Aqua backpack coming along for the ride.

Way of the Samurai(?)

Those annoying teens and man children are at it again. I am of course talking about Team Samurai, the self proclaimed "team of honor, truth, and justice" that has taken it upon themselves to dispense what they call "justice". This time it seems they've decided to declare Goldenrod City under their "jurisdiction" and are now charging people for various crimes, tying them up and leaving them literally hanging to wait for the police to come, like some sort of comic book hero.

I want you to go to Goldenrod City and find their base in the city and just trash the place, show them how a real team works, and make sure their meddling isn't appreciated. It might be good to find one of their members in the city and trail them back. Either way, make sure they see how dangerous their actions can be, especially when someone considers them a threat.

Objective:
---Send a warning to Team Samurai, scare them.

Opposition:
---Team Samurai members, they are a group of wannabe samurais, and as such dress like it. They use Pokemon such as Farfetch'd, Scyther, Scizor, Skarmory, Ninjask, Zangoose, Heracross, Accelgor, Absol, Dustox, Toxicroak, Nuzleaf, Sandslash, Marowak, Gliscor, Frogadier, and Dewott.
---You'll probably meet their leader, the red scarf wearing sixteen year old samurai, Tsuki. He has a team consisting of Ninjask, Zangoose, Dewott, and Scizor.

Pokemon:
---You may snag one Pokemon.

Rewards:
---6x Snag Coins and varies from there.

——————

“As you can see, this is a busy place,” the public information officer for the Goldenrod City Police Department explained, showing Monique the command center for the city’s 110 and surveillance camera systems. There were angles of busy intersections, metro stations, parks, and building lobbies. “Just one problem… Some people, in trying to make our life easier, are actually making it harder. Heard of Team Samurai?” The sheriff shook her head. “It’s a bunch of kids going around and doing things like tying pickpockets to lampposts and shackling robbers. But they don’t bother to tell us. So people are left on the street for minutes, even hours before police show up. We’ve had to take some people to the hospital because of it."

“That ain’t justice,” Monique growled. “That’s stupidity.”

He nodded. “That’s why we sent for you. To infiltrate their operation and show them who’s boss. And maybe get them to actually work for us, not against us.”

The sheriff stared at the bank of camera displays in wonder, though she was creeped out. Flower City probably had a system like this, and Flower City was known for having a repressive force, particularly if you rubbed King Faba the wrong way. “So, how is this going to work?"

“Well, we’re staging a crime by Goldenrod Station. We know Samurai folks love lingering around there because it’s so high-visibility.” She nodded as she listened to the PIO. “One of our guys will have his wallet picked up, and another guy will be the mark.” That should get their attention. We’ll take care of freeing him. You just tail them to wherever they are and handle them… Your Ability should help you on this. You’ve got this, right?"

“Yes, sir."

***

On the plaza outside the bustling Goldenrod Station complex, a plainclothes police officer paced the pavement, walking as if he was leaving the station. Monique sat on a nearby bench, Illusion engaged, reading a newspaper—useful cover.

“GET HIM!” Someone’s shouting pierced the din. A man was running away, clutching something in his hand, and two figures in black garb were running after him. One held him on the arm and led him to a nearby lamppost, where the other quickly tied him up. The two figures then walked away as if simply filing off a train.

Monique set down the paper and began trailing them at a distance, walking down the streets of Goldenrod as they slowly narrowed. She used the distance to adjust her Illusion to match the Samurai uniform she had seen and slowly began to catch up, keeping a safe distance. She did not want to be seen quite yet, which was fitting for someone who looked like a ninja. Though it seemed half their goal was to *be* seen.

Goldenrod’s scale was something to behold. Heading north from the station, the two “samurai” proceeded through a warren’s nest of back alleyways. There were more vending machines than Monique had ever seen in her life. Little houses dwarfed by high-rises. The sheriff kept her distance until—

One of them turned to look behind in a shaded alley. “Wait, why are you following us?"

“…I’m heading back to headquarters?” Monique explained, hoping the response was convincing.

“But where did you come from?” _Oh snap._ Monique had to try and remember any other features of Goldenrod from her reading.

“Uhh… the Radio Tower? Waterfront area?”

One of the samurai, a little surprised, didn’t seem to have much to say, though. He continued and actually struck up a conversation. “Uhh…okay… You new around here? We’ve been adding a lot of new folks lately."

“I just joined. New in town, saw one of your posters… Honor, truth and justice sounded good, so here I am!” They turned left and walked up a set of stairs next to a convenience store. One of them entered a number in a PIN lock on the door, and it opened to reveal a rather dumpy little space that had apparently been intended as an office. There were some beds shoved off to the corner, random scrolls on the wall and tatami mats on the floor… And was that a slurpee machine in the corner? _Calling this a fly-by-night operation is an insult to Murkrow._

It was time to take on a different appearance. As the two self-described ninja looked away, they would not have noticed that the third ninja to enter was casting an Illusion. And it was changing. Moments later, they would see someone different. A stylish young woman in a body-hugging patterned dress, cascading black hair, makeup that looked effortless. She contrasted with her shabby surroundings.

“Gyah!” one of the Team Samurai members shouted, looking back and seeing the visage of Monique Ka’ana’ana instead of a getup that looked like it was bought at Costumes R Us (it was).

“Hey bitches. It’s ya girl Monique, Sheriff of New Po. Time to show you how a real law enforcement operation is run.” She reached for her Poké Balls and brought out Stantler and Corphish. The two ninja-wannabes each summoned one Poké Ball, filling out a Double Battle with Pokémon Monique had never seen.

_Dustox. Bug/Poison. The Poison Moth Pokémon._ _Frogadier. Water. The Bubble Frog Pokémon._

“Kia, Psyshield Bash to Dustox! Mo’ala, Night Slash the Frogadier!"

But it was the Frogadier that moved first because it used Water Pulse, its blast hitting Kia before it rammed the Dustox and got a defensive boost. The Dustox reeled a bit from the super effective move before using Venoshock on the Corphish. _Perhaps they don’t realize Stantler is a Normal-type, given the Psychic energy in that move?_ Monique noted they had decent Pokémon but didn’t quite have their act together—sounds about right given what she had seen. Corphish moved last, its Night Slash striking the Frogadier.

In the second turn, the two battlers decided to focus their attention on the Corphish. Frogadier started the assault with Quick Attack, but Dustox used Venoshock. While this move was enough to take Corphish out of the running, Dustox would find itself fainting shortly thereafter thanks to a second Psyshield Bash.

The Dustox was replaced on the battlefield by a Normal-type Pokémon, Zangoose, while Monique selected Halena the Pichu to take Corphish’s place. Monique decided to focus on Frogadier. Pichu used Quick Attack, which it countered with Round, followed by Stantler using Psyshield Bash. Not only was this enough to cause Frogadier to faint, its defensive statistics had gone up three total stages from Monique’s heavy use of the move. Zangoose used Slash, a move from which the Pichu was slow to get off the mat.

Just when she was contemplating how to use Halena effectively against the next Pokémon, a Ground-type took Frogadier’s place. One she sort of knew. *Marowak (Kanto). Ground. The Bone Keeper Pokémon.* It was the local—and more common—variety of Marowak. She knew from reading books about the species that many Ground-type Marowak had an Ability called Lightning Rod which drew all Electric-type moves their way and neutralized them.

Thus, Monique used Pichu as a sacrificial lamb, leaving it out for one more Quick Attack. As she predicted, the first touch of a Ground-type move—Bonemerang—was enough to make it faint. Zangoose attempted to use Crush Claw but missed the Stantler, while Kalama—Monique’s Alolan Marowak—joined its Kantonian counterpart in the battle. Its presence also seemed to register with the Samurai grunts, who looked at its spinning, flaming bone in awe. “That’s cool!”She also saw a third person, another teenaged “samurai” with a distinguishing red scarf, walk out behind the two of them and watch the battle.

“If only you knew how important it is to me,” their adversary replied, smiling and thinking about how long Kalama had been with her. “And how important it is to get yours out of the way. Ice Beam!"

For the second straight mission, Monique got to surprise her opponent by using the Fire/Ghost-type to summon an Ice-type move. The Ground-type Marowak reeled as the super-effective ice caused its earthy body to expand unnaturally and painfully. To their shock, it fainted, leaving the two fake samurai staring again and allowing for another Psyshield Bash on Zangoose—the last Pokémon of four they had between the two of them. It responded by using Slash, which was the equivalent of waving the white flag against a Pokémon with jacked-up defense and a Ghost-type that couldn’t be hit by Normal moves. One Bonemerang later, the Zangoose was history, and so too was Monique’s first challenge.

“What the?” The boy in the scarfed outfit was stunned. “How did an intruder get in here and how is she beating you?” Monique quickly deduced that he must pass for a leader around these parts.

“She… She didn’t look like that when we saw her…” One of the members panicked.

“Boo, I’m here to send a message. And that is that what you’re doing out there ain’t helping no one.” Monique folded her arms across her chest.

“So what? Team Samurai is about honor, truth, and justice. And you lied. So it’s time for us to mete out some justice! My name is Tsuki, and I shall be your end!” he declared with the sort of act that could have passed only in the worst of Z-movies (and not Z-Moves). Before Monique could ask about the “we” part, he summoned two Pokémon of his own to join Stantler, which the Pokédex identified as a Bug/Flying type named Ninjask and another Water-type, Dewott.

Monique immediately had two tracks with which to work. Ninjask went first with Silver Wind, a Bug-type move that left Monique feeling a little coated in icky powder and did little damage to the opposing Pokémon, but after that, it was Flamethrower on Ninjask and Psyshield Bash on Dewitt. Unsurprisingly, the Bug-type faded fast, fainting after one hit of the super-effective Fire-type move. The Unovan Water-type was steadier on its feet, and it used Razor Shell after, connecting for fairly significant damage on Kalama. Tsuki replaced Ninjask with a Zangoose of his own, but Monique’s priority was removing Dewott from the field of play. She did that by focusing Psyshield Bash and Shadow Bone on it, a combination that—added to the earlier Stantler move—sent it fainting.

Tsuki sighed. _This girl is good._ He nervously reached for a fourth Poké Ball. “They said this Pokémon was special. Guess I should see how special it is.” No sooner had the Pokémon begun to emerge than Monique’s SNAG began beeping loudly. That could only mean one thing.

“You have a ******** Shadow Pokémon!? You who claim to be about honor and justice?” Monique exploded. She was confident Goldenrod had an Immunizer network deployed—it was the largest city in Johto, after all. “That thing could do a lot of damage to you and to other Pokémon!"

As if to prove the point, it wasted no time flitting about and using X-Scissor on the Stantler. While its highly increased Defense blunted the force of Scyther’s sharp blade-arms, it was still enough to make the Pokémon wince.

Now Monique’s blood was boiling. She wanted to avoid infection of any Pokémon from this speed machine, and if this Zangoose was like the last, its moves were poorly suited for the Pokémon it was facing anyway. Luckily, she had the tools in front of her to do so. She called for Flamethrower and Psyshield Bash. The Stantler hit first, agitated by the surprise X-Scissor of a moment ago, followed by a searing wave of heat. Meanwhile, the sheriff fumbled through her bag looking for something. The only Poké Ball she had. A Nest Ball.

“What do you think you’re doing!?"

She clasped it to her glove. The other samurai looked like they wanted to tackle her to the ground, but they had already lost to her. That would not be honorable.

“My name is Monique Ka’ana’ana, and let me show you a real team in action—Team Snagem!” With a loud harrumph, the Snag Ball was sent hurling toward Scyther. The Shadow Pokémon in its cloud of vile chi was sucked inside as the Ball shook.

“RUDE b***h!” he shouted. “That’s not how things work!” The Ball was convulsing on the floor as the Team Samurai leader protested.

“You know? Tying people up in broad daylight on city streets ain’t how things work, eith—“ A loud click came from the Nest Ball, which Monique put in her pocket. “I will take that."

There was still business to be finished. Namely, a Zangoose. It used Slash again, its options dwindling. The next turn was its last, between Confusion and another Flamethrower. Tsuki was done for.

He looked around the room, nervous, his audience of two of his lackeys impressed by Monique and unimpressed by their leader.

“You see what you’ve done wrong?” She recalled her Pokémon, standing alone again in the dimly lit office. “In trying to be so honorable and swift, you instead are harming innocent people and raising a Shadow Pokémon. I get it, police ain’t always great, but you can’t go around doing this.”

“Is there something that motivates you?” Monique suddenly had an idea—one that her conversation with Tsuki would bear out.

***

Monique left, like an actual ninja, but not before sending two messages.

One was to the Goldenrod police department. Samurai had been told a lesson.

The other was to the city’s social services unit. So the kids in Samurai—at least one of whom was kicked out of their home—could get the help they needed.

She was a sheriff, yes. But sometimes the way police acted in this time…irked her. They were too close to Flower City-esque ways. Too close to privileging folks who didn’t look like her in more ways than one. Too close to making communities worse.

*In places like that, rather a creche than a captain.*

# Tampered Balls

As you know, wild Pokemon are extremely in the Orre region as such Pokemon are highly valuable and sought after in the region. A group of thugs in Pyrite Town though have come up with a scheme to get a whole bunch of Pokemon quickly. They have started to sell 'Luxury Balls' in Pyrite at an extremely cheap price, which a lot of people have cashed in on this awesome deal, some even buying them in bulk in hopes of selling them high somewhere else. However these are actually just regular Pokeballs painted to look like Luxury Balls, and they hide an even more sinister purpose.

The Luxury Balls have been tampered with and those who capture Pokemon with them find that the next time they go to release the Pokemon they're gone! The Luxury Balls are actually sending the Pokemon to a PC completely off the grid for the thugs to later take out for themselves. Now these thugs are too stupid and poor to have created such a plot, and as such I have a feeling someone else in the region is helping them.

Put a stop to these thugs' scam, destroy their stock of fake Luxury Balls and free the Pokemon they have contained in their bootleg PC. Also, try and find out who has been helping them, I have a feeling we both know who it is.

Objective:
---Find the thugs' hideout, destroy their stockpile of fake Luxury Balls, and free the stolen Pokemon.
---Try to figure out who is helping them.

Opposition:
---Thugs, they use Pokemon like Zangoose, Seviper, Exploud, Manetric, Cacturne, Sableye, Vigoroth, Hariyama, Granbull, Gliscor, Tauros, and Dodrio.
---???, you might have to face whoever is helping them.

Pokemon:
---You may snag one Pokemon.

Rewards:
---7x Snag Coins and varies from there.

# Mission

There it stood, like a lonely sentinel on the dusty road before it wound through the crimson cliffs. A battered hand-painted wooden sign.

“Welcome to Pyrite, City of Rogues and Ruffians"

Monique had read up a bit on her Orre history. But she was shocked to see the state of Pyrite. There were a few sturdy buildings and a seemingly endless vista of tin shacks. There was a building with a sign that said “ONBS”, whatever that meant. A handful of the buildings that stood had clearly been bombed out and awaited little more than a reasonable wrecking ball. Off in the distance, the culminating vista for the whole place, was a large, clearly damaged dome. Speaking of domes, the sight in front of her made Monique half expect to be under a big one again.

Orre was a shambles. The Reconstruction Force had promised a domestic Poké Ball factory. But construction was going to take two years. That meant every Poké Ball sold in this place was imported. And that’s where the "Luxury Ball" trade came in. Some group of thugs was selling these desirable Balls at a discount. But the Pokémon put in them were going missing. They were counterfeits. They were sending the Pokémon out somewhere.

Ever since reading the brief, Monique had an idea. She wanted to use a tracer Pokémon, a Porygon. The idea occurred to her because she knew two things. One, there was no way that a Poké Ball could transmit information to a computer that wasn’t connected to anything. It had to be on a network somewhere, but hidden. Two, Porygon could entirely be converted into data and had the ability to validate data on a computer network. Flower City’s AetherNet used them, mostly to enforce the lèse-majesté laws of King Faba. So she borrowed a Porygon from the team to use as a tracer in hopes it could eventually lead to wherever the real masterminds of this operation were located.

The first step in getting the packet sniffer moving was finding one of these questionable Balls. Monique started to walk into town. It was lively but desolate. There were people, there were a couple of construction sites with big “Orre Reconstruction Force” signs outside them, and—

“Hey!” A low male voice cut through Monique’s observations. “Pretty lady, sure you ain’t lost?"

She looked at the source, a youngish man wearing a blue shirt and khakis. “Pyrite ain’t for tourists. Our Colosseum ain’t a beauty pageant.” Monique made note of how out-of-place she looked; she’d have to fix that as soon as she got out of eyesight— “But I know what I wanna do!"

He clutched two Poké Balls and started a battle right there on the street with Zangoose and Seviper. Monique responded by summoning two Pokémon as fast as possible—which ended up being her Pichu, Halena, and her newly evolved Wyrdeer.

“What’s that thing? Ain’t ever seen it. You must be from way far away.” Monique grumbled. This guy was a creep. He needed to be defeated ASAP. To that end, she focused on eliminating the Seviper since she had a type advantage on it. Wyrdeer readied a Psyshield Bash, which connected for super effective damage, but before she could get Pichu moving, Zangoose Slashed at it. And it would regret it; the contact with the Static-emitting Tiny Mouse Pokémon shocked it and induced paralysis. Seviper used Bite, which was super effective on the Wyrdeer but blunted slightly by the increased defense, while Pichu simply used Spark.

For the next turn, Monique used Quick Attack from Pichu to finish off the Seviper, which allowed her to turn her attention to Zangoose with Psyshield Bash.

“Slash!” the Trainer called out, but the Zangoose’s paralysis left it with no further move that turn, and one more Spark was enough to wear it out. He shook his head. “Used to have more Pokémon but one of those ********’ counterfeit Poké Balls stole my Loudred."

That hit Monique’s ears. “Got a question for you then. Is there a quiet place we can talk?”

---

Armed with some new information and a new, more Aether Island-esque visage, Monique found herself standing outside what could only be described as a shack, which in turn sat in front of the damaged Poké Mart. (Or was that shop sign being damaged always a thing?) A scruffy-looking woman looked back at her. “How many you want?"

“One."

“Ya sure you don’t want more? We got the cheapest Balls in town."

Monique nodded. “One is fine. I don’t have that many Pokémon."

A few coins later, Monique was holding the instrument that had lured her to this dusty, desolate, wartorn place. It had clearly been painted, though some effort was done: the gold and red band had some shine to it.

She walked off, careful not to draw much attention, in search of a quiet space. She found herself between two desolate-looking construction sites, hoping nobody challenged her to a battle. She brought out the Porygon, its blue-and-pink faceted body hovering in front of her. _GRAY, trace this Pokémon,_ she asked the Snagem AI before she recalled it into the tampered Poké Ball. To confirm, she tried to release the top and bring Porygon out. The Ball wouldn’t budge.

“Dayum.” It really did that. The only upside was that now, amidst however many Pokémon that had been harvested was a piece of traceable data: a Porygon with known encryption constants and checksums.

---

Monique was quite surprised to see that Pyrite Town had a police station. _Sure ain’t doing much of a job._ There were only two people inside when she walked into the small structure, one of several to have survived the war: a tall, thin officer talking to an older man, seated at a desk. Both were wearing police uniforms.

“Welcome welcome welcome!” the younger man greeted her with a sigh. “My oh my, what do we have here?”

“Johnson,” the older man growled. “You’d be one step away from going in that jail if you weren’t my only help.” He pointed to a hallway down which Monique could see a series of cells. “Apologies. Welcome to the police station. Chief Sherles. How may I assist?”

“Good morning. My name is Monique, I’m investigating reports of tampered Poké Balls.” She wasn’t sure whether to disclose her Snagem affiliation.

“Tampered, eh?” Johnson made a motion as if trying to tamper with Monique’s chest. She stared at him. _What a creep._

“Well…” He sighed at the pile of papers on his desk. “It’s been a big problem. You know that this town’s a mess, and…well, someone’s capitalizing on it.”

“You know who?”

“We don’t have all that many leads, miss, but it appears to be a fairly small group, two or three people. We haven’t seen the lost Pokémon here in Pyrite, and we think there might be more than 200.”

“200… That’s a big number!” Johnson chirped. Monique glared. If she had better control over her Pokémon moves, she might have used Night Daze on him.

“Who would want that many Pokémon?”

“Pokémon smuggling is big business here in Orre. Like everything else, most Pokémon have to come from outside. The war really disrupted our ability to get stuff in or out.”

“That’s a shame.” Monique dimly recalled there had recently been a war at this point in history but frankly did not know that much about it. The police department had no leads, it seemed; it was going to fall to her Snagem resources. “Well, I’ll do my best to figure out what’s been going on and tell you if I find something.”

The frustrated sheriff of New Po walked out the front door. The Pyrite police department needed reinforcements, and that Johnson guy needed to be sent somewhere. Monique looked out at the rest of town. The Colosseum dominated the far end view, next to a poorly kept-up building which sat on the other side of what looked like a chasm. A giant chasm.

Slipping into a less trafficked area, Monique tapped her SNAG headset again. “GRAY, trace the Pokémon.”

_Porygon last located on IP address 182.204.266.36. Location: The Under, Orre._

“The Under what?”

_The Under is a town deep in the chasm that runs under Pyrite Town. It is crime-ridden but has survived the war with little damage and is fanatical about Pokémon battling. Access is by two mine shafts: one in the gang-controlled Pyrite Building and another in the desert near Pyrite Town._

“You mean there’s a town under there!?” Monique had certainly seen her share of oddities since leaving the Dome, but that was a new one.

_Yes. It was created when the mine here was active._

Monique couldn’t believe it. She was gonna have to leave Pyrite for some underground town all to chase a Porygon. What was she doing?

---

After making her way on hoverboard to the Monique stepped nervously into the rusty elevator and engaged it. The thing was loud and rickety, sometimes feeling like it might buckle if she moved the wrong way. The noise of pulleys being pulled across aged, timeworn gears abated as the elevator cabin eased down the shaft at surprising pace. It then eased to a halt at its destination, in a corner of what appeared to be a lobby. A mural of the sky—clouds and all—was on the ceiling. A couple of people looked over at her, but she walked past them, hoping they would not ask questions.

The lobby led out to a massive expanse carved into the ground, something that reminded her of the Super Training Room except without all its bells and whistles, large enough to contain several one- and two-story buildings on the far side. It did, however, have one feature that the STR could not approximate. The massive shaft—the chasm from above—continued deep into the ground. And the only way to cross it was some sort of floating vehicle. As Monique hit the button to summon the UFO to ferry her to the other side of The Under, she thought back to her Flower City days.

At 19, to make more money for her family and the New Po police operation, she began working weekends as a dancer in Flower City’s Roots—the lower tiers. These were dim places, not unlike The Under though not quite so tall, dependent on artificial light. Many people did not make their way to the upper tiers that were more open to the reduced light that filtered past the Dome. Given how few entrances and exits there were, she could only imagine that not many people—

“You an outsider?” someone sneered, another kinda creepy-looking man, as she got off the UFO. _At least Sakura and Sub Rosa were pretty much all women,_ Monique thought to herself. Because of how many men had died in building Aether Island, there were a lot of lesbians, including Miss Ka’ana’ana.

“So?” she chirped as she walked past. She did not want to fight, but she got the impression that she did not have much time to do what she needed to do here. The other side of The Under was full of little crowded streets with neon signs: a junk shop, a Grand Hotel (_wonder what passes for grand by Orre standards_), several bars and other establishments where Monique might have found herself plying her former trade, and more. All she knew was that, down here, there was a server that was the last known location of a Porygon. She was lost hundreds of feet below the ground in a place that felt simultaneously incredibly unfamiliar and all _too_ familiar.

Trying to figure out a lead, the sheriff’s attention was brought to a small junk shop that called itself Stones ’n’ Stuff. _Curious name._ She walked inside to find the proprietor, an old woman. “Welcome, my dear. Perhaps what the miners didn’t like then will tempt you now.” No one else was in the shop, which featured all manner of rocks. “Copper paid the bills. One of the Five Cs of the Orrean economy. The word ’stone’ doesn’t start with a C, I’m afraid."

Her eyes widened when she saw that among the rocks on display was one with a particularly eyecatching amethyst color. Only recently, Monique had read about the Dusk Stone, which one of her Pokémon could use—her little Murkrow. In fact, there were definitely several more evolution stones here. Were there so few Pokémon in Orre that they didn’t know what half of this stuff was for?

---

After paying for the Dusk Stone and evolving her Murkrow into a Honchkrow in the bathroom, Monique was about to go into a bar and start collecting intelligence when she received a message on her SNAG formulated by GRAY.

> Monique,
> A message was received here from our friends at the Kids Grid. They appear to have information on the Pokémon distribution ring. They are located in the ONBS bureau by the UFO plaza. Look for the big dish. Tell the front desk you are GRAY’s friend.

Monique found herself wondering what ONBS and the Kids Grid even were, but thankfully she was not too far from the entry point to The Under. And there was no other building that had a massive satellite dish on it and a neon sign with the letters ONBS. She walked inside to find the building brightly lit—there was a lobby and wall art that clarified what ONBS was. Another TV station. A TV played whatever program was on the air, and there were a few award statuettes.

“Hello, welcome to ONBS of The Under, what brings you here today?” asked a chipper receptionist. Her clothing wasn’t as shabby as the few people she had seen in The Under or Pyrite.

“Hi, I’m a friend of GRAY?” Monique asked.

Those words caught her attention as if they were a safe word. “Yes, ma’am. If you wait here, I’ll get someone to take you up to the second floor.” As the receptionist placed some sort of phone call, Monique sat in one of the chairs in the reception area, wondering why in the world GRAY had sent her to a TV station. Her suspicions were further aroused when, to her surprise, a young girl walked down the stairs, cradling a Shroomish.

“You must be Monique!” the girl declared. “We’re friends of Team Snagem here. Let me bring you upstairs.” Monique was whisked up into a room that contained several racks of miscellaneous computing and communications equipment. “Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Megg, and I’m part of the Kids Grid."

“Kids what?"

“Kids Grid. …Oh, you must be new to Snagem. The Kids Grid helped Snagem once before with stuff here.”

“This is my first time in Orre, Megg. It’s…a place."

She sighed. “No kidding. It’s been through a lot. The Under took less damage but… It has a lot of criminals. And Pyrite needs help a lot."

“It’s baaaaad. And I come from somewhere like it. Anyway, I was told you have information on the Pokémon ring?”

Megg nodded. “So those Poké Balls have custom firmware. They are sending the Pokémon inside to a server at The Under Colosseum and distributing them to winners down here cuz they have none to give away. Some are being made into Shadow Pokémon.”

Monique’s face tightened. That was a wrinkle. “The Colosseum, huh?”

“Half the town lives for the Colosseum. Most of the outsiders that come here come to battle. Very few find their way to the town side. Occasionally misbehaving outsiders get jailed.” The sheriff felt lucky to have escaped in the way she did. “So I’m assuming you have one of those Poké Balls?” Monique nodded and presented the tampered Luxury Ball to Megg. “I can flash the right firmware on this to make it work correctly.” She placed it in some sort of cradle and began tapping away at a computer, clicking through some sort of software program. “When we saw the Porygon, we kind of figured it might be a test. They are unusual down here alright. So we contacted Snagem, figuring you were on the case.” She flexed a muscle. “Like superheroes.”

“I’m just trying to do what’s right. I used to work in police… I’m actually part-Zoroark. What you see isn’t my real form, but sometimes it’s just safer to be a pretty chick. _Sometimes._”

Megg nodded, focused on flashing the correct firmware to the painted Poké Ball. “I sure hope they can get a proper Poké Ball factory here. It’d really help clamp down on bad guys doing things like this.”

“I bet. This place needs a lotta help.”

“We actually helped found ONBS in part to help bring the region together,” she explained with a smile. “The first big story here was when they wanted to fill in The Under. The locals here resisted cuz there weren’t places for them to go… Some people had been down here all their lives cuz there isn’t a lot of traffic between here and Pyrite.” Megg took the Poké Ball out of the cradle and handed it back to Monique. “Should be brand new…except for that whole paint job.”

“So there’s a Porygon floating around here. How do I get it back? How do I stop this?”

“You’re gonna have to fight in the Colosseum. Confront ‘em. Make ‘em angry. You’re a Snagem… You can do it!” Another big grin.

“Well, I’m appreciative of all you’re doing. Thank you so much, Megg."

---

After another trip on the UFO (and apparently some luck that the last disk used was an F-Disk, whatever that meant), Monique found herself back at the Under Colosseum. She’d altered her team, too, to be all her heavy hitters: Camerupt. Marowak. Crawdaunt. Honchkrow. Castform. Wyrdeer. The attendant stared at the sight in front of her. The woman was not wearing the same outfit she’d came down in (not that they’d really noticed her entrance), now clad in a blue crop top and a short flared skirt.

“Welcome to the Under Colosseum! Are you here to participate in our challenge? You’ll get a fabulous prize.” Her demeanor, too, seemed out of place for this environment.

Monique smiled. “Yes I am."

“Your name?"

Monique knew that if she used her real name, it might get weird, and fast—not like The Under had a taste for the weird, though. “…Missy. Missy Queen Boo."

“Alright, Missy. Do you have your Pokémon ready?"

She nodded.

“Right this way, please.” Past a maze of hallways she was led before walking out onto the Colosseum floor. The Colosseum was another surprisingly expansive cylindrical volume, festooned with neon signs of all descriptions and with multiple levels of openings for spectators to watch. _My goodness._

Out walked a young man in an olive drab getup. The two Trainers brought their Pokémon out at the same time: Monique led with Wyrdeer and Marowak, while a Qwilfish and Lombre were her opponent’s opening salvo.

The sight of two Water-types was a bit worrisome, especially given how many Fire-type Pokémon she had. That Qwilfish looked like it was gonna poison anything that touched it, which shaped her strategy. She called for Psychic from Wyrdeer on Qwilfish and Shadow Bone from Marowak on the Lombre, but the latter move never took place because of a Fake Out by the Jolly Pokémon.

The sight of Monique’s two very non-native Pokémon was already stirring unusual whispers. “Who is this woman?” she thought she heard from the crowd. In a region where Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Pokémon were most common, her roster was unfamiliar. Nobody had ever seen a Wyrdeer out here. _Heck, they probably hadn’t even seen a Mimikyu._ And they were common sights even in post-apocalyptic Alola.

Qwilfish used Toxic on the deer Pokémon, poisoning it. _Qwilfish has to go,_ Monique thought. She used Psychic again on the next turn to knock it out and was able to get Shadow Bone off from Kalama on Lombre. The Hunter replaced Qwilfish with a Clamperl. She looked up at the scoreboard, a model that even in this time looked like it belonged in the past with its dot-matrix display. These were Hunter Korm’s last two Pokémon. Monique was really unfamiliar with having this many people watch her at once, and the crowd had a rowdy energy that felt like it could eventually explode on her if she made one misstep.

Monique opted to replace the poisoned Wyrdeer with Honchkrow, using the turn to execute another Shadow Bone on Lombre. Even though it wasn’t a move that hit particularly hard on a Water/Grass-type, it was enough to send Lombre’s lilypad head keeling over. Now she could turn all her attention to Clamperl, which turned its attention to the Fire-type with Water Gun. Kalama screeched in pain even at the comparatively soft Water-type move.

With one target, Monique made quick work of the Clamperl, between Foul Play and another Shadow Bone. Hunter Korm had no Pokémon left. He walked off and back into the hallway in a huff.

“The winner is…Missy Queen Boooooo!” an announcer bellowed. Someone ran out to heal all of Monique’s Pokémon before the next round, something she did not expect.

A few moments later, a second contender walked out, three Pokémon in tow again. She was announced as Rider Silverhawk, the “Cooking Mama". _Strange names down here,_ she thought to herself as the Rider summoned her first two Pokémon: Vigoroth and Seadra.

Monique had not changed her team substantially and led with Marowak and Wyrdeer again. That combination was starting to catch the eye of the Under Colosseum crowd. Someone started a chant of “Thwack Thwack Marowak” that worked its way around the arena in no time flat. This crowd was a lot to handle. Monique had never fought in an environment like this, and the pressure was hard to keep at bay.

Of the two Pokémon in front of her, Seadra worried her more because it would have more Water-type moves, so Monique targeted it first. Though she called for Shadow Bone and Psyshield Bash, Seadra moved first and used another Water Gun, only adding to the pressure to knock it out. The crowd roared when Shadow Bone surprisingly landed a critical hit, knocking the Dragon Pokémon out cold. That allowed the Psyshield Bash to go against Vigoroth, which managed to withstand the blow.

To replace Seadra, Hesle called on a Sealeo, an Ice/Water Pokémon new to Monique. _What’s with all the Water types?_ Monique asked herself. _Do these people wanna drown?_

Monique decided to keep the same strategy as before with the new Pokémon in play, using Shadow Bone on Sealeo and Psyshield Bash on Vigoroth. Vigoroth was able to move first and use Reversal, which took the Wyrdeer out of play. Marowak still got its hit in on Sealeo, which for some reason decided to use Encore and make the Bone Keeper Pokémon repeat the move.

To replace Wyrdeer, the sheriff decided on Honchkrow, which made its post-evolution battle debut by using Foul Play to send the Wild Monkey Pokémon packing. Shadow Bone struck the Sealeo once again, and Monique had completed her second battle, Hesle walking out with her head hung low.

“The winner is…Missy Queen Boooooo!” The crowd was in a frenzy. Whoever this chick was, she had Pokémon that they hadn’t seen before. Monique was putting on a show even if the Under Colosseum lacked a suitable pole. She looked around. This felt good. But this also felt unsafe. _You’re here for Porygon,_ she reminded herself.

“And now…for Missy’s third and final challenger… He was a 27-year employee of the Pyrite Mining Corporation, and they say he’s the craziest in the nation. Give it up for The Under’s ooooooown…. RAVING RABBIT!"

This news sent the spectators into another uproar. Meanwhile, a man in a full-body rabbit costume, once white but made dirty by age, walked out onto the stage. Monique’s jaw dropped. Her descent into madness in The Under was proving to contain something new seemingly every minute. How was this possible? He brought out two Pokémon, both rabbits.

_Bunnelby. Normal/Ground. The Digging Pokémon._

_Cinderace. Fire. The Striker Pokémon._

What struck Monique as she reached for Poké Balls was that neither of these were Pokémon from Johto or Hoenn, which tended to predominate in Orre. Needing a different strategy, Monique summoned a pair of Hoenn’s own: Castform and Crawdaunt, also making its first appearance since evolving.

“Rain Dance! Crabhammer!”

“Take Down! High Jump Kick!"

As the Castform summoned five turns of rain, the Cinderace went to work on what its Trainer hoped would be the move to knock Crawdaunt out in one Fighting-type blow. Monique watched as it jumped and—

“Oh my goodness it slipped!” the announcer bellowed as the crowd let out a roar at Cinderace’s hard fall onto the concrete. “The wet surface must have caused it to miss!” The Pokémon limped back, hurt, to its position. That opened the door for the Rogue Pokémon to strike, its pincers crushing the Fire-type in water chi. With Rain Dance in play and a type weakness, it did not stand a chance. While Diggersby used a Take Down on Castform, Raving Rabbit sent out another bunny Pokémon—Lopunny, a Normal-type with very fluffy ears. *It does not like the wetness much*, she gathered, knowing now firsthand how matted fur sucked.

For the next turn, Monique aimed to take out the type-effective Diggersby, but before either of them could deliver a hit, Lopunny struck with a special move: Thunder Punch, connecting with Castform and knocking it out instantly. _I didn’t see that coming!_ Crawdaunt survived a Take Down attempt before it could attack with Razor Shell on Lopunny. The Weather Ball move that Castform was to have used never came, and Diggersby stayed alive for another turn.

To replace Castform, Monique went with Honchkrow. She needed Lopunny to turn its attention elsewhere or else she’d get another Thunder Punch to the gut. But in Rain Dance, Hurricane—another move it picked up after evolving—became a 100-percent accurate move. It was a call she’d use to her advantage. With Crawdaunt attacking Diggersby, Hurricane could hit Lopunny for big-time damage.

Lopunny had another idea. She wound up, her fists surging with electric chi, but—

“Whoa!” Honchkrow had managed to evade. The crowd roared. “Against a rabbit man and rabbit Pokémon, our challenger is pulling rabbits out of her hat!” And that was the beginning of the end for Raving Rabbit as Honchkrow and Crawdaunt each connected with their moves. The three Pokémon of the old miner were gone. Monique withdrew Crawdaunt, but she kept Honchkrow out to receive an ovation from the crowd. It had earned it.

Soaked in his costume, Raving Rabbit sullenly walked away. The rain clouds parted, with no battle in progress. Monique could see the cheering fans of the Under Colosseum. And they were cheering for one woman. “MIS-SY! MIS-SY!”

The appearance of someone walking onto the stage snapped her out of her reverie. She had something in tow. A pink-and-blue floating bird Pokémon.

_The Porygon you traced has been detected._ The SNAG was also beeping—the telltale sign of a Shadow Pokémon in the area. _Oh no!_

“What a thrilling performance! And now, it’s tiiiiime to make our Missy Queen Boo a Shadow Queen of The Under!” the announcer began. "Here to present her with her prize is our attendant Neith!"

Monique looked dead ahead. She reached for the painted Poké Ball, its firmware fixed, and clasped it to her glove, holding it behind her hand. The attendant and Porygon got closer. She looked back at Honchkrow.

Suddenly, she threw it out. The Snag Ball sucked Porygon inside. Monique picked it up and began running out of the Colosseum, Honchkrow in tow.

“GET HER!” she heard echo over the PA system as she bolted out of the arena area and through the lobby. There was no way she was going to be able to escape through the Colosseum if they were whipping that crowd into a mob to assault her, and the other entrance was in a shady building. So the only way out was up. She hopped on Honchkrow, still clutching the Porygon in its crudely painted Poké Ball.

“Up! Up! Up!" she commanded the Big Boss Pokémon with urgency. Behind her, she could see several people starting to rush out of the Colosseum. They wanted her—and for nothing good. The bird Pokémon furiously flapped, working overtime to lift Monique up and out of town.

“The U-Disk! The U-Disk!" she heard someone scream out of the din which echoed off the concrete walls of the city.

“Up! Up! Up!” Monique urged her Pokémon. “Get us out of here!” Sunlight. Encouragement. “Go! Go! Go!” She started to hear a whirring noise behind her and looked for a split second. The UFO was moving up the chasm, and someone was riding it! But Monique was far enough ahead that she was able to lead her bird up to the chasm just outside Pyrite Colosseum. The UFO would ride to the base of the Pyrite windmill, but unable to pursue the sheriff of New Po, its occupant simply rode back down, ensuring that The Under would at least not be cut off.

Rarely had Pyrite Town looked so good to anyone. And she knew exactly where to go to put this all to bed.

---

“Tonight on ONBS News at 5, breaking news, some of the biggest in Orre this year. Armed with a tip, ONBS News helped destroy a Pokémon smuggling ring that moved Pyrite Town Pokémon to the colosseum in The Under. At least some of them were turned into Shadow Pokémon and distributed as prizes to contestant winners.” Footage of Monique’s battle was replayed as B-roll. “Hacked Poké Ball firmware was being used to send the Pokémon to a server in The Under, where the Pokémon were then downloaded and in some cases made into highly dangerous Shadow Pokémon. Pyrite Town and ORF police arrested 13 individuals involved in the ring, including the president of Under Colosseum, several technicians, and a woman who ran the store selling the adulterated equipment to unsuspecting Pyrite denizens.”

“This shows the need for a proper Poké Ball factory in this region,” said Duking, head of the Pyrite Colosseum. “People here love Pokémon. They love battling. But we don’t have enough of anything.”

"Authorities note that the event led to the first escape by bird of The Under since the late 1980s. Footage of its climb up the chasm has made rounds online and has led at least one businessman to consider a flying taxi service for the two cities, which could also reduce crime and foster economic growth. More on that story in a moment."

---

Monique was still a bit upset. She had led to one more Shadow Pokémon existing in the world—a Porygon she would now have to purify. One that technically was the team’s. But in doing what she had done, she had become a Queen of The Under; evolved her Murkrow; won battles in front of the biggest crowds she’d seen in her life; and visited two new towns, in addition to saving and leading to the return of dozens of Pokémon to their rightful Trainers.

She wondered what respect she would—or wouldn’t—command if she returned. But she knew that if she ever returned, she’d be Missy Queen Boo. A legend like Raving Rabbit, with a style all her own.

# Rock-a-bye Trainer

A beautiful young woman with a trio of singing Pokemon has been robbing trainers just after they get through Viridian Forest, their Pokemon too weak from the experience to fight back. She greets the trainers as they reach the halfway point of the forest and promises to heal their Pokemon with her own but instead she lulls them all to sleep, trainer included, and steal all their valuables. The trainers then wake up hours later back at the beginning of Viridian Forest, penniless and their Pokemon too weak to make it back through. Go to Viridian Forest and pretend to be a passing trainer. When she offers to heal your Pokemon attack her and make her pay for her thieving ways! I would say return the cash you find on her when you beat her but I say bring it back with you. To the winner go the spoils after all. Either way make sure she stops this criminal mischief.

Objective:
---Defeat the Beauty and kick her out of Viridian Forest.

Opposition:
---Wild Pokemon including Caterpie, Weedle, Pidgey, and Spearow.
---The Beauty, she has a Cleffa, Igglybuff, and Smoochum.

Pokemon:
---You may catch a wild Pokemon or snag one from the Beauty.

Rewards:
---3x Snag Coins and varies from there.

# Mission

Monique found herself staring down at her own Illusion, a little unnerved. To look like a credible passing trainer amid Kanto’s big pilgrimage meant casting the youngest look she had ever donned since becoming a Zoroark. She felt like she should be at the little schoolhouse in New Po, though a Kanto school uniform was far nicer than what she had to wear back then.

Viridian Forest was a maze, the canopy shading the high sun. A few others were ahead of her, young Trainers with their starter Pokémon fighting the forest natives. A couple of Bug Catchers waited ahead for them, angling for a fight. Monique was figuring out how to—

“Pidge pidge!” A Pidgey hopped up and pecked Monique on the foot.

“Ow!” She glared at the little bird and wasted no time sending out a Pokémon to face it: her Shadow Zigzagoon, Kaha. The Pidgey was first to move with a little Peck. The Shadow Pokémon did not take kindly to this and Headbutted the Pidgey, using enough force to knock it out. _Thank goodness that wasn’t Shadow Blitz,_ she realized soberingly before turning the corner.

“Hey young missy!” one of the Bug Catchers chirped, overly eager. “Careful you don’t step wrong!” He took two Poké Balls and sent one of the Pokémon out, revealing a Kakuna. *Bug/Poison. The Cocoon Pokémon.* Monique sent out Castform, which caused the Bug Catcher to tilt his head. “What sort of Pokémon is that?"

“You’ve never seen a Castform?” Monique hoped that her high voice was good enough to match her appearance.

“I can’t say I’ve seen a young’un like you with one…"

“Sunny Day!” A bright beam of sunlight began to shine on the battlefield. Castform transformed into its Sunny Form, its gray visage exchanged for red and orange.

“Uhh… Bug Bite?” The little bite was not much of an attack against the Forecast Pokémon in its Fire-type form. But Weather Ball was. The ball of flame sent hurtling toward Kakuna was enough to char it to a crisp in one go. Nervously, and knowing his next Pokémon would meet the same fate, the Bug Catcher introduced Monique to Metapod, a similar Bug-type that looked little more than a lump of clay with eyes. Another supercharged, Fire-type Weather Ball was sufficient to take it down and leave its cocoon with burn marks.

“You’re not…” She did not want to get into a fight with a Bug Catcher and have her Illusion broken. That was not what she was here for. She hastily made her way past him and through another winding stretch of forest, a thicket where Kaha and Lolo the Shadow Porygon took turns beating down the Pidgey, Caterpie, and Spearow on the route with the occasional Shadow Blitz (one apiece).

Monique could understand how someone with only a handful of Pokémon or a starter would struggle here. The forest was long and full of constant battles, though she had just entered a small clearing. It was only a matter of time before—

“Hey dear,” a female voice cut through Monique’s thoughts through her right ear. She whipped around to see a stylish young woman with long blonde locks and wearing a light blue sundress. A little pink ball of fluff with two ears was cradled in one of her arms. “I know the forest can be tough. Would you like me to heal your Pokémon for you?” _Cleffa. Fairy. The Star Shape Pokémon._

Monique locked eyes with her, a bit unsure how to react to her. She was actually cute. You felt like you could trust her. Monique wanted to get fashion tips from her, not—

“What do you say?"

“Uh, hang on.” Monique faked fumbling in her bag for a Poké Ball, looking for a specific one. After reading up on the mission, Monique figured out that she probably hadn’t planned for an eventuality that would ruin her plans. She released Kalama the Marowak. The Beauty didn’t know her Alolan Pokémon. But she suspected something.

“What’s *that*?” She tapped nervously at Cleffa, staring at the Bone Keeper.

“It’s the end to your little scheme, sweetie.” As Monique shed her Illusion and revealed her Zoroark hybrid self, the terrified Beauty gave an order. “Sing! Sing!"

The little Fairy-type began to sing, trying to lull Monique and hopefully her Pokémon to sleep. Monique yawned, trying to get away as fast as possible while leaving Kalama there. She could feel the drowsiness coursing through her as she held her hands up to her ears, a fair distance away from the singing Pokémon.

The Beauty looked alarmed. *What was this foreign Marowak and why wasn’t it sleeping?* It hit her all at once. “This is a trap, you b***h! Disarming Voice!” Cleffa let out a loud cry instead of her singing, which did some damage to the opposing Alolan Marowak.

“Shadow Bone!” Monique yawned again. She could just go to sleep right here and now, but that would be terrible. She didn’t wanna move much, though, that was for sure. The Marowak’s bone attack was a lot for the baby Pokémon to take, and it easily fainted. The Beauty’s calm demeanor had gone, replaced with a frazzled Trainer who was facing a Pokémon she had never seen. Looking around and clearly strung out, she sent out another little pink fluffball—*Igglybuff. Normal/Fairy. The Balloon Pokémon.* Now Monique was really feeling sleepy. “Flaaaame…” She couldn’t even call out a move without yawning. “Flamethrower.” Kalama at least understood through all the yawns and sent a stream of her green fire toward the little Igglybuff, which was no match.

The Beauty scrambled to summon her last Pokémon, Smoochum. But as Kalama looked back toward Monique, she would find her companion dozing on the forest floor, head propped up against a tree trunk. She had indeed succumbed to the singing from a few moments ago. If the Beauty had noticed, she might have had her easy mark. But she was panicking. A Pokémon she had never seen in her life was taking out her team one by one. And those ghastly flames...

“Why did you have to come and ruin all this?” she cried in vain, no response coming from the bird Pokémon chattering in the trees. There was no response from the sleeping Zoroark hybrid. “So I’ll ruin you! Ice Punch!” The little Smoochum channeled icy chi into her hand and struck Marowak. To the Beauty’s astonishment, Ice Punch froze the Marowak in place, an icy judder leaving the Bone Keeper Pokémon unable to move. It was the first good thing that had happened to her all afternoon—in actuality, it was the first lick she had been able to get in on Kalama. But it wasn’t lasting long. The flames were slowly melting the ice as the Smoochum’s Trainer hurried to inflict more damage.

“Maro!” Suddenly, the remaining ice cracked, and an angry Kalama slammed into the Smoochum, Shadow Bone delivering super-effective damage on the Psychic type.

---

Monique opened her eyes to find the light of day was slowly fading. It had been midday when she started her trip. Now it was—

“Where is Kalama?!” She bolted upright and looked for her Pokémon. Why was she sleeping in the middle of the forest? She got to her feet and went back to where the Beauty was. There awaited her a truly stunning sight. The Beauty was asleep, Kalama twirling her bone to and fro in front of her face. Her jaw dropped. It had been years since she had seen Kalama use her bone to hypnotize someone. (Or was that it was years before she’d see it again? Time travel was weird.)

“Kalama! You can stop now.” She recalled the Pokémon and pulled the Beauty’s bag over by herself, moving the money and a few other odd valuables into her own, before sitting down next to her, an arm around her shoulder, gently waking the bandit.

“Miss?"

“G-guhhh!” she uttered with a startle.

“I want to talk with you.”

“W-what-it’s over, I’m done, I’m..."

“Well, yes, your days of robbing young Trainers are over. I’ll see to that."

“What’s a chick who needs money and doesn’t have a home to do? At least here there are Berries and plenty of weak Trainers."

“Well, boo, you’re really pretty. Ever thought about beauty work? Makeup tips? I know something about pretty girls cuz there are lots of them where I came from.” Monique smiled at the thought of Aether Island. “Actually… Ever since I joined Team Snagem, I’ve needed an assistant. I’m a pretty face, and I’ve been getting lots of messages about using my appearances. Those Girls of Snagem calendars don’t just come out of thin air, you know."

“What are you saying, miss?"

“Would you want to be my—our personal assistant? It’d be more constructive than taking Trainers’ money. You’d take calls, be a pretty face, get me some more moolah, and you’d get a cut."

There was silence. The Beauty was eyeing her.

“Oh, and I’m a Zoroark hybrid. I can look like any pretty girl you want.” She demonstrated this by casting an Illusion of the Beauty. “Never thought you’d stare at yourself, huhhh~?"

Her eyes widened. “Sure thing."

“You got it. Just no robbing people. What’s your name?"

“…Naomi. Yours?"

“I’m Monique Ka’ana’ana. Nice to meet you."

The two took off from the forest riding Monique’s Honchkrow, with a new assistant ready to make Snagem’s chicks even more marketable than they already were.

# Energy War

Fire and electricity are two forms of energy widely used through out the world. In Virbank City of Unova they burn gas at the Virbank Complex to supply power. Because of the burning of gas and the production of electricity, two species of Pokemon have made the Virbank Complex their home, Magby and Elekid. For whatever reason these two groups of Pokemon have formed a rivalry in the area and are constantly fighting. Their fighting has made it dangerous for the local workers and now they are asking someone to come in and calm them down.

Go to Virbank Complex and get the Elekid and Magby gangs to stop their fighting. Be careful as they are sure to attack you as well. Furthermore some of the local wild Pokemon are on edge from all the fighting and might be hostile as well.

Objective:
---Get the Elekid and Magby to calm down.

Opposition:
---Wild Elekid and Magby, many of them. You may also encounter Magnemite, Pidove, Patrat, Growlithe, and Koffing.

Pokemon:
---You may catch one wild Pokemon.

Rewards:
---3x Snag Coins and varies from there.

# Mission

> June 23, 2012. The Unoco Virbank Refinery in Virbank City, Unova. Three workers were fatally injured when a tank of butane gas exploded, launching large steel fragments into the Jersey River. The Chemical Safety Board investigated and found that the plant’s Pokémon access controls were lacking, causing Magby and Elekid to infiltrate the facility’s deasphalting unit; the investigation determined that a move used by either a Magby or an Elekid was the ignition source. And the CSB found that Unoco recognized that its controls were inadequate to prevent the Pokémon from congregating and fighting at the facility.

Monique sat in the office, watching the safety video and making note of how Magby and Elekid had caused a catastrophic incident. She shook her head. Ever since stepping onto the grounds of what was locally called the Virbank Complex, Monique had an uneasy feeling. The massive refinery was Unova’s primary source of fuels. Fuels like gasoline and natural gas. The fuels whose proliferation contaminated the air of her world.

“We have had our worst Magby and Elekid infestation since then,” plant manager Fernando noted somberly, sitting across from her in the otherwise empty conference room. “At this juncture, if we have another accident like that, there may not be a Virbank Complex much longer. More than 400 people work here and they get double the average wage in southwestern Unova. And as it is, if this keeps up, the supply of important petroleum products in Unova is going to diminish. All eyes are on us. We need your help. Now,” he urged in his voice with a definite Lentimas or even Stow-on-Side accent. And he talked *quickly* when he was excited.

The manager definitely wanted to get this out of the public spotlight. She could feel his anxiety to rid himself of what could rapidly become a meddlesome problem in this environment. Of course, the meddlesome problem was the Complex’s existence, but that was not why Snagem had been hired.

“Yes,” Monique sighed. *All eyes are on you. But not for the reason you think.*

---

Monique emerged from the women’s restroom feeling like she was putting on a suit of shame. Oil? Gas? These were the things that had indirectly killed off Unova by her time, yet here she was, having donned a hybrid-size hard hat, PPE that were definitely not made for a woman of her cup size, and other paraphernalia that were rather hot when worn over fur. She was about to save a refinery, and with this getup, she felt like she might as well be bathing in hydrocarbons soon. *How disgusting.*

Fernando had told her the rules. There were to be no Fire- or Electric-type Pokémon or moves because ignition sources were banned within the fence line. That meant that her lone Ground-type, Camerupt, was off limits, as was Kalama. Instead, she had Kia, her Wyrdeer. To quell the Magby, there was her Crawdaunt, though it would be vulnerable to Elekid’s moves. The manager also had some Pokémon on him, though the only sign of that was the series of Poké Balls on his belt.

Monique walked with the manager, clutching Kia’s Poké Ball, through the mazelike refinery. To her, it seemed like there were more pipes in this facility than in Flower City.

“The Virbank Complex produces a wide variety of fuels for distribution throughout Unova,” Fernando explained, trying to impress his guest with knowledge of everything the plant did. “See that tall vessel over there?” He pointed at one particular vessel. “It is a distillation column where we separate the different types of fuel we produce. In that column, in different levels, are things like butane, gasoline, and diesel. We are the primary manufacturer of jet fuel for the airports in Unova, like Castelia–Nimbasa and Mistralton.” A nearly endless series of reaction vessels, heat exchangers, and pipe bridges provided equally numerous opportunities for the manager to talk up what they did, Monique listening and rolling her eyes. “That drum contains the catalyst for this reaction, the highly toxic hydrofluoric—Oh cake.” The manager stopped. “Koffing. How did they get this far into the facility?” He then started muttering. “I told Keith the Pokémon detection system’s broken..."

Not familiar with the Pokémon he was mentioning, Monique turned to find a floating purple ball bobbing among the pipes. “That? That’s not a Magby or Elekid.”

“If you see Koffing, it usually means that there could be a leak. They love bad gases. And worse…” Monique’s Pokédex finished the thought as the manager stopped speaking. _…, so it can cause massive explosions._

“It must be defeated. *Now,*” he urged his guest. "One hit. It cannot explode. Here, I’ll help.” He brought out a Pokémon identified as Wooper, a Water/Ground type. “Many of us carry Wooper or Quagsire around because they can have the ability Damp. That means that Koffing can’t use explosive moves. However, in recent years, some Koffing have been found to carry an ability that prevents this one from working, so we cannot be too careful,” he added with concern. Monique brought out Kia the Wyrdeer. “What’s that? I’ve never seen it before,” the plant manager interjected, marveling at the Big Horn Pokémon.

“Wyrdeer…dear. I don’t think it’s from here.” *Like me,* she finished to herself. “Anyway… Zen Headbutt!” Psychic chi flowed into the Pokémon’s horns as it rammed the floating ball of gases, which was knocked back several feet and fell motionless. The manager captured it in a Poké Ball with the Unoco logo on it.

“Good work, then.” Fernando smiled. “Although I will have to write up this unit and have them inspect for leaks… That’ll probably lead to a shutdown.” He sighed, torn between the negative possibilities of reducing supply and a possible PR catastrophe. He radioed the control room and asked for an inspection of the area where the Koffing was sighted.

“So, where are we headed?"

“The deasphalting unit, again."

“What does that do?"

“We use a solvent to separate the asphalt residue from the crude oil,” the manager explained, the Wooper following him. “It’s actually quite efficient… We reconfigured the unit a few years ago to use the latest methods." Monique vaguely got the concept, but having come from a reality where crude oil had been consigned to the history books, the same unease continued to permeate her like a vapor cloud of doubt. “The latest methods” to her might as well have been “the latest methods of driving the planet to the brink of doom”. They turned the corner and found a sight that made Fernando’s eyes bulge. “Oh no, there’s like 20 of them. And they’re fighting!” The manager’s voice raised as he thought of what happened last time.

He was there the night Tyson failed to come home, killed in the explosion.

He was there when it was all hands on deck to control the fire and defeat the ignition sources.

He was there when they took James to the hospital. He spent three days there and three months recovering.

“Do something do something do something!” He fumbled with one of his Poké Balls and produced a Marowak—the non-Alolan variety—while Monique sent out her Crawdaunt. The Wooper hopped on Fernando’s shoulder, avoiding contact from the fighting Baby Pokémon while continuing to negate explosive potential within a certain distance.

The Elekid started using Thunder Shock, but even though there were a dozen Elekid, their attacks were drawn to Fernando’s Marowak, electricity harmlessly passing into it. Monique started to have the Crawdaunt use Razor Shell to slice through the group of Magby, which started to work. One or two Magby of the pack—ultimately 11 Magby in all—fainted. But one Magby managed to strike a non-damaging blow that set Monique’s efforts back. It used Confuse Ray, its dazzling light sending Mo’ala spinning in circles and occasionally slashing at itself.

“Help me here! They’re confusing my Crawdaunt!” Fernando, who was having Marowak use Bonemerang constantly to throw Ground-type chi at the Elekid. Worse yet, when Crawdaunt did use Crabhammer successfully on one of the Magby, it was burned, dramatically reducing the ferocity of its attack.

Monique had been thrown for a loop—or, to use the language of the safety video, a *process deviation*. The most suited Pokémon for this task were unavailable. Suddenly, though, she had an idea. She reached for another Poké Ball and brought out Aopuaʻa, her little but crafty Castform.

“Rain Dance!” She called for rain, and the Forecast Pokémon’s move generated low clouds that hung just over the height of the two Pokémon Trainers. A light mist fell, perturbing some of the Magby, as the Crawdaunt tried to snap out of its confusion. Some of the Magby sent little Ember spitfires toward the Castform, though only a handful connected, and the Castform was able to shrug them off, producing little sizzles of steam as they contacted the aqueous body. Monique had Castform use Weather Ball to send blobs of water onto the opposing Magby.

“Oh no! Marowak is paralyzed!” Fernando suddenly cried out, stunned that this could happen without the use of a move. Monique didn’t know this either, but Static worked even on Ground-types. The Bone Keeper Pokémon was holding on, but it was going to make it take longer to defeat this group of Elekid. Normally, smart Pokémon might switch to Normal-type moves, but these Elekid wanted to zap the Magby out of their Live Coal Pokémon minds…and that usually led to Electric-type attacks.

“Craw craw!” There was good news from Crawdaunt, however: it had finally snapped out of its confusion, meaning that—despite its burn—it could continue attempting to do things to Magby. This allowed Monique to redirect Weather Ball to taking out Elekid for a moment, relieving Fernando, whose Marowak was now liable to not being able to attack much. But the respite didn’t last long. Crawdaunt had been burned too long and succumbed. All she had on the field now was a Castform, which had managed enough damage with its barrage of Weather Balls to end the threat from the Elekid. All that were left were the Magby.

But instead of bringing out another Pokémon to provide a ferocious attack—which she could easily have done with Noio the Honchkrow—Monique brought out her Audino, Akala. She had it use Hyper Voice, staying at a distance from the Magby and their use of Ember, pairing nicely with the continued aerial assault from Castform. As a bonus, Audino had the Ability Healer, which allowed Marowak to be cured of its paralysis and eventually strike the last blow itself with Bonemerang.

The clouds parted, revealing the scene that surveillance cameras would also capture. The bodies of fainted Magby and Elekid littered the unit. Fernando called for help, and workers from other units of the refinery swarmed in to capture the Pokémon and place them in containers.

He looked on at the employees, relieved. He wasn’t going to lose someone else today. And Snagem was to thank for that. But first, he needed to check on that leak near the HF drum.

***

> June 25, 2023. The Unoco Virbank Refinery in Virbank City, Unova. Groups of Pokémon, primarily Magby and Elekid, swarmed near units of the refinery. While there was no damage to refinery units and no one was hurt, the Chemical Safety Board investigated, concerned at the number of Pokémon—nearly 25—that had breached the plant’s security system. It found the system to be so faulty that a Koffing—a Pokémon known for a habit of causing explosions—was spotted near the plant’s hydrofluoric acid storage system in a separate incident.
>
> CSB CHAIR BRUCE JOVI: “The incident at the Virbank Refinery is considered a serious near-miss. Had plant employees and contracted emergency responders not responded, there could have been a number of catastrophic events risking life and property. The failing security system nearly caused the refinery to be out of commission for an extended period."

Mushroom Picking

We have a rather unusual mission this time, one given to us by the famous, sometimes infamous, Gym Leader of Ballonlea of Galar, Opal. As an octogenarian Opal has numerous health problems, most visible in her difficult moving. The Gym Leader has turned to herbal and folk remedies as of late and wishes to try mushrooms found in Glimwood Tangle, and only ones found there, to treat her rheumatism. She has specifically requested our services to find the mushrooms, impressed by our actions in the news, and believing we have ‘the pink’, whatever that means.

Your mission is simple, journey to Ballonlea of Galar and then head into the Glimwood Tangle and go mushroom picking, Opal wants a good quantity of high quality mushrooms so be warned that she could turn some away and send you back, she’s picky. Do your best though because she has offered to pay the team handsomely, way more than the mushrooms are worth.

Now the mission sounds simple but be warned that the Glimwood Tangle is a dark confusing maze of trees. No sunlight breaches the tangle’s canopy, the only light coming from strange dimly glowing mushrooms and the locals swear the tangle itself moves, altering its paths when one isn’t looking. The other problem are the local Pokemon, many mischievous creatures, particularly the local Impidimp and Morgrem who are known to ambush, steal, and cause problems in general for travelers. To stop it off Team Yell is known to cause problems in the tangle as well, claiming to be looking for rare Pokemon for their idol, Marnie.

Good luck, you got a lot of annoyances to deal with.

-Objective:
—Collect enough high quality mushrooms to please Opal.

-Opposition:
—The wild Pokemon of Glimwood Tangle.
—Team Yell may get a little too worked up and try to battle you. They use any of the following Pokemon: Galarian Zigzagoon, Nickit, Sableye, Pancham, Stunky, Scraggy, Purrloin and Sneasel.
—Opal…that is trying to please her is a battle in itself. May Arceus have mercy on you.
—There are no requirements for any amount of battles, Pokemon or trainer.

-Rewards:
—5x Snag Coins
—1x Tiny Mushroom
—Varies from there, this is largely a story heavy mission.  

——————

The moment Monique walked into Opal’s cottage, she knew she was in for something. And that was by the standards of Ballonlea, a place that had to have a protected area just for Flying Taxis to ascend and descend from its giant overgrowth. The town was overwhelming in a way that was totally different from the Dome. Here, it felt like nature could swallow you up and turn you into a five-inch-tall pixie.

The whole place was drenched in pink. Someone could have caused a Swirlix or an Alomomola to explode and spill all their innards and it wouldn’t quite result in this. It caused the sheriff to gawk.

“Impressive, huh?” The woman who had requested the Snagem’s presence beckoned her guest to sit; at her age, she was not going to be moving much. “I know, you’re not used to this.”

“Girl, I’m not used to any of this.” The sheriff of New Po continued to gawk at all the artifacts. The strong Fairy-type energy of this place made her Dark-type fur instinctively crawl. “Where I…will come from, Galar’s already gone to the Smog. But that’s a story for another time and place.” Better not be this one.

“Your job is simple. I want the best, freshest, highest-quality mushrooms from the Tangle. And I will accept nothing less than perfection. So I decided to call on the services of people that are just as demanding.”

“Well, to start,” Monique hesitatingly asked, “what am I looking for?” She sounds like that one TV chef…

“Good mushroom picking is about more than looking. It’s about smelling. It’s about embracing the variety of the Tangle. And, of course, it’s about finding pink mushrooms too. Every color is great, but…” She gestured to the monochromatic decor of her living room. “This is the best.”

“…I heard the Tangle is dangerous.”

“Oh yes. Impidimp, Morgrem… It is a stern test for those who come to challenge the Gym, dark and befuddling. Though,” she sighed reluctantly, “Flying Taxis have made it a lot easier for tourists and challengers alike. But I remember back in the fifties when the old Mushroom Ground was almost all terraced seating. Then came the Turffield disaster in ’89…”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but I don’t have any idea of what you’re talking about.”

“Back when I became Gym Leader in ’49, most stadiums had standing sections. And the visiting fans when there were Gym Leader exhibitions often were penned in. Turffield versus Hulbury. Oh, that was almost the darkest day…” A deep and reverent pause, as if her words held a second meaning unknown to the sheriff. “Ninety-seven people lost their lives that day. That’s why nearly every stadium in Galar was rebuilt. Well, except Spikemuth, but that ain’t a bloody stadium.” Monique’s head was spinning, in part because she didn’t know what to say and to think that her Gym Leader tenure had been longer than her timeskip.

Opal sighed, beckoning Monique out of her chair and toward her host to hand the sheriff Monique a sack. “Go out there and collect all the mushrooms you can. Then come back when you think you have enough. I wish you the best. And the pink.”

***

The soft glow of the Mushroom City faded behind Monique as she walked with the sack into Glimwood Tangle. It was dim, even to her Zoroark eyes which—she’d found—were superior in pitch black conditions. Opal had mentioned that many of the mushrooms let off a little glow if you touched them, which was the traditional aid in wayfinding.

Scarcely had Monique stepped off the pathway and to the even dimmer edges did she start seeing some mushrooms. They were every color imaginable: blue, green, yellow, purple, and—most importantly—pink. The sheriff bent down low to the ground and began plucking them to put into her satchel, inspecting them and sniffing a few. A couple seemed off or damaged, so she left them in place or tossed them. Monique was moments away from moving on to another area when she felt a thwacking at her legs. She let go of the bag for a moment to look at the source.

Hattrem. Psychic. The Serene Pokémon. The moment this Pokémon finds someone who's emitting strong emotions, it will pummel them senseless with its braids to silence them.

She did not want to be pummeled senseless, and that alone led her to bring out a Pokémon. She didn’t need to catch a Hattrem—she already had enough Psychic-types. Out came Noio, her Honchkrow.

“Foul Play!” The bird cloaked itself in Dark-type chi and pecked at Hattrem, which winced in pain from hearing its own agony in emotional form. However, Hattrem was not a physical attacker and managed to hang on for one hit. She chose to use Disarming Voice, a move that was weak but super-effective and induced that same crawling feeling from the Zoroark hybrid that the Fairy energy in Opal’s house gave her.

One Air Slash was enough to dispatch the intruding Hattrem. Lesson learned for next time. However, the moment she turned to grab the sack of mushrooms, she found it missing. “What!?” Monique shouted in frustration. She needed it! She began looking everywhere but was having no luck. Suddenly, Noio zoomed off past a few rocks and squawked. Monique could understand the Dark-type Pokémon’s call. Come here, oyabun! She didn’t know the word, but she knew she was being summoned. She waded through the woods, lit only by scattered luminescent fungi, to find two Pokémon with the sack, with red-green bodies and black hair. One of them was standing up and munching on a green mushroom. The other seemed to be on all fours in a passage of contrition.

Morgrem. Dark/Fairy. The Devious Pokémon. When it gets down on all fours as if to beg for forgiveness, it's trying to lure opponents in so that it can stab them with its spear-like hair. Suddenly, Monique looked back at the prostate Morgrem with concern. She could hear bits of their thoughts, drenched in evil. Wahahaha we have ‘em cornered! Two on one! She needed to stay back and fight. “Air Slash!” With a command from its trainer, Honchkrow’s tendency to let others do its bidding flipped as it began to cut through the air, the Morgrem wincing. Their moves were mostly Dark-type and had little effect on the Dark-type Honchkrow. After a couple of minutes, they were dispatched (cause: death of a few dozen cuts by Air Slash). Monique took back the sack, which was slightly lighter than it had been, and made her way out of the thick woods to continue foraging. She was not going to let that thing out of her sights.

For the next thirty minutes or so, Monique foraged the Tangle for mushrooms, the sack swelling and getting heavier as new fungi were added. The bag even appeared to glow faintly with all the mushrooms inside of it. All the while, her Pokédex was ringing off the hook with species she had never encountered.

Ponyta, Galarian. Psychic. The Unique Horn Pokémon. Its small horn hides a healing power. With a few rubs from this Pokémon's horn, any slight wound you have will be healed.

Shiinotic. Grass/Fairy. The Illuminating Pokémon. Its flickering spores lure in prey and put them to sleep. Once this Pokémon has its prey snoozing, it drains their vitality with its fingertips.

Sinistea. Ghost. The Black Tea Pokémon. This Pokémon is said to have been born when a lonely spirit possessed a cold, leftover cup of tea.

Satisfied with the quality of mushrooms she had gathered, Monique trudged back, struggling to carry the sack all the way to Ballonlea while shooing away any Impidimp; luckily, Honchkrow seemed to detect them pretty easily. The sheriff hefted the sack onto a table in the adjacent dining room, and Opal sat down and began examining each. and. every. mushroom.

Monique could only watch for an hour or retreat to the living room as Opal sifted through the haul, separating the mushrooms into two buckets. She refused to talk to the sheriff, scrupulously inspecting each mushroom before deciding whether to keep it or reject it. All her guest could do was stare at the room, a monument to a seven-decade career. There were photos of a younger Opal alongside countless Pokémon Trainers, the fashions changing with the decade. Not all were in Galar; there was a picture of her in front of the Witching Clock in Laverre. She could tell the dedication that she had poured into her work over all the many years. In fact—

“Come here, Monique.” Opal was done sifting. The sheriff made her way back to the dining room, where she saw that one bucket had twice as many mushrooms as the other. “For every mushroom I found acceptable, there were two that weren’t. It’s a start, but you need a little more pink. Some of the mushrooms are gnawed on, so clearly some of the Pokémon there are dining on these too.” She sighed and thought of the Morgrem who wanted to ambush her. “Go back out and get another sack like this.”

Monique sighed, taking back the empty sack and returning to the Tangle. She was a tough customer, Monique observed. She noticed that the bucket of acceptable specimens contained a little more pink, though every color was represented. That was a sign.

***

This time, Monique took a different route down from Ballonlea. This road seemed to contain more mushrooms, but it was also darker—requiring the constant use of the larger lamp mushrooms plus Kalama’s bone and testing her Zoroark eyes—and well-populated. And the Impidimp were on her case incessantly. She’d bend down and feel a tug at her long mane, a scratch on her leg, a yank of the sack. She had to occasionally pull mushrooms out and throw them just to distract the little goblins from raiding the whole stash.

Her frustration built, slowly but surely, even as the mushrooms were added. Why did Opal need to be so demanding? Why is it so dark here? Why… However, Monique had forgotten what the Pokédex entries should all have indicated. The forest was full of Pokémon that were incredibly sensitive to emotion. As her emotions rose, Hatenna, Hattrem, and Indeedee started to gather around. To these Pokémon, the Tangle’s brightness or loudness depended on the emotion shown by those passing through. Angry Trainers. People on leisurely walks. Once upon a time, Opal, when she was able to move around more easily.

The sheriff of New Po couldn’t help but think about the dark places she had been in her life, figuratively and literally, beautiful and ugly. There was learning about how the world was before the Great Leap and the Dome, which seemed so idyllic growing up in the 2050s but was a little less romantic now that she was experiencing it herself. Sub Rosa, lit mostly by synthetic neon lights but also by the passion of all the women there. The caves of Mt. Silver, where she fought Blacephalon and was pushed so close to her limit she used a Pokémon move for the first time. The night sky of Hisui, unmarred by air pollution, when there was no certainty in returning home. Sometimes, she expected a constellation of evenly placed soft lights in the sky when she looked up, like the Dome had come to Galar with her.

Foraging meant that Monique lost any sense of direction, particularly in the Tangle, which blotted out almost all sunlight. By the time the burlap bag was ready to spill its contents, Monique realized that she did not know how to get back. She could not simply fly out of here; the canopy was too dense for that. She clutched the bag awkwardly, Noio the Honchkrow and Kalama alongside her as guards for her precious cargo, trying to retrace her steps. Instead, she found herself on the other side of the Tangle, blinded by the full-force sun.

Welcome to Stow-on-Side, The Mural City, a wooden sign announced, though Mural had been crossed out in visible red paint. The sign told her Lentimas in Unova was a sister city, that it was a member of the International Association of Market Towns, and that it was home to a Pokémon Gym, but this was not her destination. She sighed. Was she going to really have to do this? She set the bag down, a few mushrooms spilling out as its contents shifted.

She recalled Kalama, clutched the bag again, and asked Noio to fly her over the Tangle and back to Ballonlea, Opal’s mushroom delivery in hand. Noio, not used to the added weight, was slower and cautious. At least I’m not trying to fly out of The Under, she thought to herself, remembering another literal dark moment. That city was creepier than Flower City, and the fact that it had Ein sympathizers creeped her out more. Monique looked down, the Tangle invisible under what looked like one big, thick bush encircling the clearing that was Ballonlea.

Noio dipped, clearly not able to take Monique and the heavy sack of mushrooms much longer, and managed to avoid crashing, her wings clipping a few trees at the edges of Ballonlea. She was going to finally make—

“Stop!” A man and a woman in black, pink, and silver getup sprung from either side to block her path. “You’re not going anywhere!”

Monique growled and narrowed her eyes, exhausted and above all peeved. “Who do you think you are? You look like you came outta the wastelands in that getup.” She then realized they had no idea of what she was talking.

“Yeah, we saw you.” The man had a thick Galarian accent. “You tryin’ to collect mushrooms to get ready for the Gym battle while our Marnie is there? You tryin’ to scare Pokémon off while we catch ‘er a Hatterene? Whatcha doin’ then?”

“I’m foraging for mushrooms for a client,” Monique added, almost yelling. “And if you want to block me, then I have no choice but to battle you.” They each drew a Poké Ball, setting up a Double Battle, while Monique grabbed the first two Poké Balls out of her bag. To her surprise, dismay, and concern, they were two Shadow Pokémon: Scyther and Porygon. They better have installed an Immunizer here like they did in Circhester, she thought to herself as they drew their Pokémon. Scraggy. Dark/Fighting. The Shedding Pokémon. She at least recognized Sableye, but not this Pokémon with what looked like baggy pants.

Scarcely had the field been set did Scyther opt to attack on its own, without its Trainer’s consent. It rammed into Scraggy with a full-bore Shadow Rush, which sent it reeling and caused it to lay on its back for a few moments before standing on its own feet. Scyther—Shadow Meter—3, recited the automated voice in her SNAG as the Scyther winced a bit, feeling a little recoil. The opponents, whatever organization they belonged to, did not seem to recognize that it was a Shadow move. However, they were surprised that it attacked without a command. Monique, meanwhile, was really nervous. If there were no Immunizer in town, she might just have infected a Pokémon. This is why Scyther stays in its Poké Ball, she rued. Finally I get a chance to get it out in its element and it might have done a number…

Seeking a speed advantage, the woman called for the Sableye to use Shadow Sneak. However, here, she evinced a lack of knowledge about a different kind of Shadow move. Shadow Sneak is Ghost-type, and when Sableye tried to hit the Porygon, it found its attack went right through it without causing harm. Scraggy used Beat Up, which inflicted two different Dark-type hits as the Sableye was finally able to join the fun.

“Tri Attack!” The Porygon shot out three beams, of electric, fire, and ice energy, which converged on Scraggy, knocking it back with enough force to send it on its back. It would not be doing any more battling, at least until the Team Yell people visited the Pokémon Center visible down the path. The man recalled the fainted Scraggy, while Monique decided to recall Scyther in case it decided on another serving of dastardly chi. Best to keep that to the Super Training Room.

Monique almost called for another Tri Attack before changing to Thunder Shock, but the Virtual Pokémon seemed not to listen at all and went with the first move, Tri Attack. This time, the beams harmlessly passed Sableye by, making the sheriff sigh in frustration. Sableye then gave it a smacking with Knock Off.

“Thunder Shock!” Right now, she did not want to use Shadow moves if she could help it. The jolt of electricity connected and paralyzed the Sableye, who was unable to make the next move before one more Thunder Shock was enough to zap it fainted.

The man and woman looked at her. “Give us those mushrooms for our girl Marnie, eh?” the former stated.

“Run off, will ya?” A woman, moving slowly, came into view. It was none other than Opal. “Ya Team Yell lot need to stop all this. Marnie’s just like us, ya know…” They ran off instead of receiving a chewing out from the elder of Ballonlea, having at least sense enough to recognize it would not end well for them. She turned to Monique. “Come with me.” She picked up the sack of mushrooms, relieved nobody had made off with it, and made her way back to Opal’s place.

***

“I must admit, young lady… Most of the mushrooms you gave me the first time were good. But it’s the Opal way to make things harder and show everyone’s true character. When you pull back the wounds, the masks, what do you see? The pink. The real character in someone. And that’s not just because I love the color pink, mind you. It’s the way my Gym Challenges have worked for years, and my mom’s before them. I want to see a person’s true character.” Monique could only nod. “The Fairy type is one of trickery and artifice, but my style is more direct than that. Deception and magic are fun on Pokémon, but at the end of the day… You need to see the pink in people. And the fact you were willing to go back out for me and put up with the Tangle? And to fight those hooligans? That impressed me. You are a very strong woman, and I know something about strong women.” She smiled and pointed to a portrait of her mother—and predecessor as Ballonlea’s Gym Leader—hanging on the wall. “When they were developing Wyndon, they wanted to put a Gym there, and they wanted to replace us with Wyndon. In ’94, they gave us the notice. They wanted to relegate us. Every resident of Ballonlea showed up to the hearing. This town is still alive, still a place because the people here made it so.”

The sheriff was pleased and not quite sure what to say. She could only think of the strong women she had in her life. Her sisters. Mamas Sachi, Sonya, and Kehla. Even Krasha Wake.

“Well, I am not a Fairy-type specialist, but I suppose I’m charmed. Technically, my age is negative!”

Opal bust out into satisfied laughter. Monique had the pink. That enough was certain.