I woke up comfortably late in the morning after catching Swablu, feeling well-rested and satisfied that I had a new member of my team. Marill had already returned herself to her Dive Ball, having finished some minor strength training and not wanting to bother waiting around until breakfast. Floette sat on top of the tent, holding her flower high in the air to let it catch the sun, and Vulpix woke up with me. The only member of our team left unaccounted for was Swablu.

I searched the campsite and couldn’t find him. I was about to panic that Swablu had run away, but I noticed that my hat had shifted during the night. Lifting it off the ground, I found Swablu still asleep underneath it. The tiny blue bird had used it as a blanket, the curved shape of the hat perfect to cover his body.

I folded my tent far smaller than possible due to its Pokéball technology and put away all of my loose items. I wanted to reach Meteor Falls today, which required passing through the entire forest. I had only skimmed the edges so far, so I was nervous about fully entering it. It wasn't a large territory but my travel speed would be slowed down as I still needed to avoid Zangoose and Seviper.

I woke up Swablu so I could put on my hat. He chirruped unhappily and hopped out. I set out breakfast for everyone, but still needed to leave soon to preserve daylight. I took the free moment I had when washing the bowls after eating to check on Swablu's battle capabilities.

"So what moves do you know?" I asked Swablu.

Swablu, hopping around in random directions to entertain himself, stopped mid jump, pulled his legs into chest, and landed in a seated position facing me. It was an impressive sudden reaction. However, rather than showing off any moves, he chirped once then shook his head.

It took me a moment to fully comprehend what that meant before the dread sunk in.

"You... you don't know any moves?" I asked in shock.

Swablu nodded excitedly and then returned to happily hopping about.

I was stuck in a daze as I processed the information.

No moves? He isn't a young Swablu, but he isn't old either. Did he just never bother to learn any? I suppose it was unnecessary when he was part of a flock, but none? Really? A blank slate is still a slate, just means we have extra training to do.

Lost to my musings, I hadn't noticed I already absentmindedly returned everyone else and was following Vulpix as she led me through the forest. Vulpix's sense of smell, while not the most incredible, far surpassed mine and could steer us clear of any hostile Pokémon. While not needed for other routes, it was important here to keep us safe while we made our way onwards.

With her help, we reached Meteor Falls within only a few hours. The main path in the forest was purposely the shortest stretch since the League didn’t want people staying in potentially dangerous territory for too long. We had a bit of hiking to do as the public entrance for the caverns of Meteor Falls was at a higher elevation, but the area around it would be flat enough to camp outside. We would run the risk of a flock of Zubat disturbing us when they left the cave to feed, but staying in my tent would keep us safe.

Reaching the cavern was pretty uneventful other than the one time Vulpix easily led us away from a pack of Zangoose. Travel felt strange since I encountered no other trainers along the path to Meteor Falls. I hadn’t seen anyone else along this route in two days, which was the longest stretch of time that I hadn't seen another person since the season started.

I wished that I could expand my team in Meteor Falls since I actually had enough money to do so, but the two Fairy Types in this area weren’t easily available to catch. Clefairy was present within Meteor Falls itself but was located far too deep within the caverns to reach safely. Also, its population was too small so the League classified it as an endangered Pokémon within Hoenn. As part of that classification, it was illegal to catch or even approach one, crushing my hopes for obtaining a strong Fairy Type like Clefable.

Jigglypuff also lived outside the western portion of the falls, but was also too dangerous to reach. I would either have to maneuver through the ocean on treacherous waters filled with spiky rocks just to reach the closest beach, or I would have to travel straight through Bagon territory where there was a large chance to be hunted down by a wild Salamence.

Ignoring the allure of catching a new Fairy Type, my planned path was to follow the safest route: using the pathway within the largest cavern of Meteor Falls regularly patrolled by League Rangers. The chances of me needing to run from an angry Salamence or suffering through dangerous terrain were extremely low, and therefore safe enough to travel.

After camping outside for the night, the next morning I walked through the pale stone cave of Meteor Falls with Vulpix at my side. Vulpix was comfortable walking alongside me within the cave since she grew up in her own cave system before I caught her. Also with me was Swablu, who was perched on my head as I walked.

The only light source at my disposal was the light of the screen of my Pokégear, which I used to light up my way. The ground was moist so I had to take careful steps not to slip on the slimy surface. I was already sore from falling a few times already.

Vulpix had better low light vision than me, but I had no clue why Swablu wanted to be out for this. I could barely see a few feet in front of me and I doubted that the diurnal Swablu could see any better. Regardless, we pushed onwards and did our best to stay safe in the perpetual darkness of the wet cave.

That is, until my light brushed over a patch of white fur.

Vulpix immediately jumped forward and lowered her head aggressively. I took a few quick steps backwards and shone my Pokégear screen light ahead of me. The white-furred Pokémon was lit up and I held back a gasp.

It was a tall, dog-like Pokémon with a black face and a scythe-like horn coming out of its head. In the past, people thought that it brought destruction, but it was merely a harbinger that warned people of danger. Absol should not be present within Meteor Falls. To see one here on its own meant that it was most likely trying to warn me of a disaster soon to happen.

Which was not good news for my heart.

Its face was barely illuminated in the dark as it locked its eyes with mine. It shifted its head back and casually walked away, trying to signal me to follow. Not one to ignore the directions of a Pokémon that could predict catastrophes, I followed without questioning it. Vulpix let out a confused whine but jumped to catch up with us as well. Swablu didn’t even react and stayed on my head.

The Absol led us off the main path, to a small alcove near the closer side of the water that flowed through the cave. As we approached, I noticed light coming out from the opening. Turning the corner past the stone wall, we emerged into a small room filled with trainers that wore red jackets that signified them as Ace Trainers employed by the League. In the back, going over what looked to be a collection of battle plans, was a familiar trainer with a mohawk-like tuft of red hair at the front of his otherwise bald head.

“Shit, how’d you get here?” Sidney, Hoenn Elite Four member and Dark Type specialist, asked me.

“Um, Absol led me here?” I replied.

“Ugh, no I know that. I can see. I’m talking about Meteor Falls. Our Psychics were supposed to lead everyone away from this place.”

I blinked.

“What? Is that why I saw no other trainers on the route?”

Sidney rubbed his face.

“...no other trainers... Listen, next time you’re ever on a route and can’t find another trainer around you, you should run. Either there’s a dangerous Pokémon or something’s going on that you shouldn’t be around for.”

Sidney put the papers down and looked around the room before pointing to one trainer with slicked back black hair wearing a set of sunglasses despite being inside of a cave.

“Thomas! This’ll be good practice for you. Send your Murkrow out to escort this fool to the south entrance. Be quick. Things’ll be starting soon.”

The dark haired trainer saluted Sidney and sent out a black crow-like Pokémon that flew over and landed on the ground in front of me. Absol returned to Sidney’s side and the Elite Four member absentmindedly petted it. Thomas approached me as instructed.

“Follow Murkrow and listen to any instructions he gives you,” Thomas ordered, “I can’t go into details, but you need to leave as quickly as possible to not be caught up in the fighting. The main path should be the fastest way back. Please stay safe and run from any dangerous situations.”

Thomas bent down to rub Murkrow’s back before his Pokémon took off and began to fly out of the room. I immediately started to follow the bird and held up my Pokégear to shine light to see it. I was about to leave when Sidney called out to me.

“Are you kidding me? You call yourself a Pokémon Trainer and you don’t have a flashlight? Man, someone give them one of our spares.”

An Ace Trainer opened their backpack and jogged over to hand me one. I thanked them and turned it on before finally heading out with Murkrow leading and Vulpix at my side. Swablu had stayed on my head through that entire process.

I ran after Murkrow who flew through the air at such a fast speed I couldn’t keep up by just walking. It never paused its flight to laugh at me, nor did it lead me over difficult terrain to make me trip. It was trained well enough to not perform any cruel pranks typical of Dark Types.

We had only been traveling for a few minutes before the shaking started.

At first, I thought the shaking was an earthquake, and was momentarily worried about the cavern collapsing.

As it persisted, my worry increased but I brushed it aside and assumed it was just whatever the Ace Trainers were doing far away from me.

I started to feel genuine fear when roars and screams echoed through the cavern, and then became terrified as the sounds slowly started to get closer. Murkrow picked up its pace and I did the same, more than happy to get away as fast as possible.

It wasn't until a massive beam of white-orange energy shot through the air and promptly exploded the rock pillar in front of me that I fully comprehended the danger I was in.

Swablu let out a surprised squawk while Murkrow flapped its wings to create a large gust of wind to knock the shrapnel away. Vulpix used Icy Wind to blow back the few spare rocks that got past Murkrow’s defense. Murkrow looked around before changing our path, the main road now blocked off by large boulders from the destroyed pillar.

The massive cavern lit up as stray attacks were launched into the area. It wasn't a consistent light, rather it was a series of frequent flashes that lit everything at once before suddenly fading away as the moves sailed through the air.

We were moving down the slope of the cave when a sharp gust of wind passed over my head. Three Golbat suddenly flew at and attacked Murkrow. Murkrow screeched and tried to fight them off, but before it got too caught up in the battle it managed to signal to me to run southwards without it. It stayed behind to distract the bats to prevent them from attacking me.

I followed its directions and sprinted away as fast as possible. Vulpix stayed at my side and I was forced to grab Swablu in my arms against my chest to stop him from falling off my head. The sounds of numerous Pokémon growling and fighting filled the cavern as dark figures appeared in the air above me.

I was able to make out what the figures were when the room was lit up by an attack once more. They were people in red uniforms with large decorative M’s on their front, carried by massive Golbat out and away from entrances that connected deeper into the cave.

Team Magma! They were supposed to have been defeated by now! Why are they here?

With the cavern lit up by moves, I noticed the large waterfall where the namesake of the cave came from. The majority of the fleeing Magma grunts looked to be leaving from the tunnel on top of it.

I barely jumped out of the way of a falling stalactite and Vulpix somehow redirected another one to the side with Icy Wind.

A shout rang out from behind me that echoed throughout the entire cavern. I recognized it as the voice of Sidney from before.

“Stand down, Team Magma! We have the exits blocked off! There’s nowhere to run!”

Almost in reaction to his demands, a massive amount of glowing beams and globs of sludge were launched towards where Sidney shouted from. A massive pulse of black energy consumed and knocked back the incoming attacks as the sounds of battle picked up and intensified.

Vulpix screamed at me and I skidded to a stop, barely avoiding a massive purple ball of slime that splat into the ground mere feet ahead of me. The substance rose up into a black and purple blob with a large yellow mustache and it opened its mouth and inhaled. I grabbed Vulpix in one arm and continued to hold Swablu in the other as I braced my legs against a rock to prevent Swalot from sucking us in.

I held up Vulpix and pointed her towards the Poison Type.

"Extrasensory!"

Vulpix's eyes glowed blue and the space around Swalot twisted over itself violently. It writhed in pain and the suction ceased. The poison blob inflated and its mouth started to fill with some unknown substance in preparation for its next attack before a massive green insect with goggle-like red eyes flew over and picked it up. The new Pokémon, a Flygon, carried the Swalot over to the river in the cave and dropped it in. I put Vulpix back down and we continued to run as the battles raged on around us.

From my right, where the central waterfall was now relative to me, I heard the sounds of rocks shattering followed by a loud string of swear words.

I turned to see who and what made that noise. A massive blue-skinned, red-winged dragon rose from the ruined stalagmites that it had just been thrown through. On its back was a man in a torn navy blue coat and a bright white sailor cap. He was an old man with a large gray mustache, and from what little flashes I could see of him I recognized who he was. He was Drake, Dragon Type master and another member of the Elite Four.

Three massive globs of molten lava shot out from above the waterfall and headed towards him. His Salamence opened its mouth and rapidly shot out a trio of Hyper Beams to destroy the attacks before they even got close.

It didn't even pause to recover between those Hyper Beams! What kind of insane power is that?!

From atop the waterfall, a massive hulk of a camel slowly came into view. It had red fur and two stony volcanoes on its back, identifying it as a Camerupt. To its side was a woman whose presence nearly made my heart stop in fear.

She wore a dark red and black uniform decorated with stylized black M's. She had short purple hair that poked out from underneath a red hood that had two small yellow horns on its side. Emotionless, calculating eyes took in the state of the current battlefield and decided on her next course of action with cold, hard logic. I recognized her as well. She was Team Magma Admin Courtney, one of the three leaders of Team Magma.

This doesn't make sense! Why is she here?! The leaders of the teams were supposed to have been captured!

I both wanted to watch the battle and run for my life, but I much preferred to live rather than see a single fight. If I stayed here, my death would be guaranteed. I turned to run but my brief pause to observe was a mistake.

A tired and wounded Team Magma grunt blocked the side path I was running on. He carried a black baton that he held in the air threateningly while a small yellow and green camel, a Numel, stood angrily at his side.

"It's your unlucky day. Give up your Pokémon," he growled at me.

I panicked and snapped back at him, immediately regretting how my words seemed to only anger him.

"You're in the middle of a major battle and you stop to rob a random person?! How dumb are you?!"

"Wrong answer." The Team Magma thug charged forward and raised his baton in the air while Numel's mouth sparked with flame.

Struggling with the idea of using my Pokémon to attack a trainer, the thug was able to get in close to me.

"Numel, unleash!" He yelled.

Numel's mouth opened up and from both its head and its hump a burst of flames shot out. The flames impacted Vulpix as the Fire Type Flame Burst caused her significant damage. While Vulpix was stunned by the pain, the grunt swung down the baton. I turned around to prevent it from hitting Swablu, who was still in my arms. The baton smashed into the left side of my back and a surge of pain shot out from where it impacted. I fell to my knees, hunched over Swablu.

"Vulpix... Icy Wind... both of them."

I barely managed to grunt out a command to Vulpix as the Magma grunt raised his baton for another swing. The cool wind blew over both of our aggressors, Numel remaining relatively unaffected but its trainer locked up and dropped his baton due to a sudden reaction from the cold running over his wounds. I fell forward and tried to crawl away, Swablu still in one arm and chirping worriedly. Vulpix continued her assault on human and Pokémon alike, trying her best to defend me.

I wasn’t happy that Vulpix was forced to attack a person, but I’d deal with that moral conundrum later. We needed to get out of here.

I was suddenly yanked back and I dropped Swablu on the ground. The Magma grunt lifted me up so I could look him in the eyes.

"Should've handed over your Pokémon when you had the chance."

Vulpix was still caught up with dodging the fire from Numel as the grunt pulled his fist back to punch me. I was unable to act, frozen like a deer in headlights. As the fist shot towards my head, his punch was interrupted by a flash of blue that slammed into his face. Swablu tore into the man, preventing his punch and attacking the grunt to defend me. The man was unable to react as Swablu pecked with his beak, scratched with his talons, and beat him with his wings.

Swablu may not have known any moves, but all Pokémon innately knew how to Struggle.

Caught off guard and already wounded from prior battles, the grunt dropped to his back and tried to pull Swablu off of him. I picked up his baton and slammed it down into his stomach, knocking the air out of him and causing him to clutch it in pain. I re-grabbed Swablu off his face and pocketed the baton. I turned around to see if I could help Vulpix against Numel, but found she had knocked it out with Extrasensory at the same time I had hit the Team Magma grunt.

Vulpix, a bit charred and panting, returned to me and whined. She briefly nuzzled my leg before we continued to run. I spoke out loud to process my thoughts.

"We can’t delay, we have to get out of here. We’re barely strong enough to defend ourselves and the entire cavern’s full of them."

Unhappy about our situation but determined to protect me, Vulpix yipped in agreement. However, our escape immediately stopped as we froze when the entire room lit up at once.

Rather than a flash from a stray move from a fighting Pokémon, everything was illuminated in a pulsating rainbow light. I turned around in fear to confirm my sudden suspicions.

Courtney's Camerupt was different. Rather than two small stone volcanoes on its back, it had one massive one that was actively dripping lava. Its fur had thickened and its coat was denser, now obscuring its legs from view. Its eyes were crazed as it rapidly glanced around the room, all while Courtney stood calmly next to it, not even bothered by its manic mood.

How did she just Mega-Evolve her Camerupt?! You have to have a close bond and she's a villain! Not only that, but how did she get a Mega Stone in the first place?!

I turned back around and booked it as fast as possible, somehow reaching speeds I had never reached before. A rush of wind blew through the cavern as Drake ordered his Salamence to create a meteor out of Dragon Type energy. I did not want to be anywhere near that Draco Meteor.

A Koffing was knocked back and slowed down in the air ahead of me. Not noticing my presence, a toxic black Smog rolled off its body. It looked to be preparing a more powerful move but blades of wind shot out from behind a nearby rock and dispersed the gas. Koffing was hit dead on with one of the blades and slammed into a stalagmite before falling unconscious.

A flash of white fur appeared in my periphery and I looked over to check for a potential new enemy. Ahead of me, a familiar Pokémon stood alert, perched on top of a large boulder. It was an Absol, the same one as before.

It stared at me with its red eyes then jumped off the rock it was on. It landed on the same side path we had been traveling down, and I flinched reflexively. Vulpix was panting but still tried to take a defensive stance just in case. Swablu didn't pay attention to it since he was dealing with his own injuries after using Struggle. Absol took us all in before flicking its head in a "follow me" motion. It ran away and I followed it once more. Thankfully it slowed down enough that I could just barely keep pace with it.

There was a screech and another Golbalt swooped down from above. The Absol's scythe-horn glowed white and it swung its head, sending a massive white wave towards the Golbat. The wave impacted the bat and carried it far off into the distance.

I followed Absol, putting my trust in a Pokémon trained by an Elite Four member to defend me. Several more Pokémon appeared while we ran, but each time it easily defended us with that same Razor Wind attack.

Adrenaline kept me going, barely feeling the strain in my muscles and pain in my back as I struggled to breath. At several points it felt like I was about to slip on the moist stone, but each time I somehow found stable footing soon after. I glanced at the Absol and saw that its horn faintly glowed whenever I lost balance.

Is that from its Super Luck ability?

It wasn't long until the noises of fighting faded behind us and I saw light that wasn’t created by powerful stray moves from the battle. I ran towards the cave exit, Vulpix still at my side and Swablu still in my arms.

Right when I was about to exit, a powerful roaring sound echoed throughout the cave. It wasn't the roar of a Pokémon, but one similar to running water.

Feeling like I was going to regret this decision, I turned around one last time to see what it was.

The glowing light of molten stone made it easy to see even from this far away. Where Courtney and her Mega-Camerupt once were, there was now a massive hole in the ceiling. It was dripping with molten rock and I saw a large number of Team Magma grunts being carried up and out through the hole by their Golbats. Drake on his Salamence and other large flying Pokémon engaged with several of the enemy fliers, but the majority of Team Magma successfully escaped.

Not willing to risk myself to any last minute retaliation, I finally stepped out and left Meteor Falls, emerging into the brilliant light of early afternoon. I blinked several times to adjust my eyes that were used to seeing in the dark.

Absol was already gone, leaving me alone right outside the exit. Or, I would have been alone if it wasn't for the several dozen Ace Trainers holding back a crowd of amateur trainers and reporters. Off to the side, a nurse and her Pokémon worked within a large tent filled with injured patients.

Reporters mixed into the crowd began to shout and yell questions at me, but before I could even say "Hippopotas" an Ace Trainer moved me to the large medical tent where Audino and Chansey started to treat both me and my Pokémon.

I was not questioned nor was I asked how I was involved, but they made sure I was okay anyway. I was thankful for the expediency of Pokémon medical professionals, and because of that, what would have been a large ugly bruise on my back already started to fade after a salve was rubbed on my skin.

Once the treatment was done, my condition was briefly checked over by a Chansey before I was patted on the arm and led out of the tent to make room for newly arriving patients.

I walked to a nearby emergency vehicle and sat on its bumper. I tried to relax and process the fact that I had somehow managed to narrowly escape death again. Vulpix jumped up next to me and nuzzled my arm. She was eating a Poffin she got from someone and I saw that Swablu, who had landed on my head without me even noticing, also got a Poffin. I never saw who gave them the treats but I'm glad they had something tasty to distract them.

After a few minutes of sitting on the back of the vehicle and ignoring the shouts of the crowd and the reporters, I was finally able to organize my thoughts to be coherent once more.

That was a major League operation against Team Magma. Team Magma is still around. Courtney and the rest escaped. The timeline isn’t as set as I thought.

I quietly contemplated existence, and was very thankful that everyone else was too busy to bother me. I occasionally saw Ace Trainers enter and leave Meteor Falls, sometimes pushing stretchers with injured Pokémon on them and other times escorting out cuffed Team Magma grunts.

The shouting of the crowd suddenly grew deafening and I looked towards the exit to Meteor Falls. Standing tall with both a large Flygon and Salamence beside him was Drake, looking completely uninjured after his battle with Courtney. He stood with his arms crossed and scanned the crowd before moving behind the divided off area, obscuring him from the view of the public. He strode towards the medical tent where the nurse and her pink Pokémon were hard at work.

I let out a thankful sigh as he ignored me. I was still stressed about the League members going after me after meeting both Steven and Wattson, and I definitely did not want to deal with that right now. I just went through an entirely unexpected encounter with a terrorist organization and needed to recover my mental faculties.

Unfortunately, sighing was the wrong move because he glanced my way after I made that noise. He stopped in his stride, turned to face me, and boldly moved towards my position instead.

He was in front of me in moments. I looked up at him from my seated position. He was easily over 6, maybe even 7 feet tall. He stared down at me with his stern gaze while also somehow looking frustrated. His shirtless body under his jacket was surprisingly buff for his age, which significantly added to his intimidation factor.

"Tell me," He said, his voice deep and commanding.

I gulped, terrified of what he might say next.

"Flygon. Can it Mega-Evolve?"

I blinked, too tired and too confused to be able to think of an impromptu lie.

"Um, no. Sorry."

Drake looked away from me, frowning. His eyes swept over the medical area and took in the number of injured people and Pokémon.

"Shame," he said stoically.

And just like that, Drake left. Somehow, I was more caught off guard by my interaction with him than the entire operation I just ran through.