Aggron and Stuart stopped in the main lobby. No sounds permeated the facility and nothing was seen. Stuart sighed. A particularly troublesome Pokemon was watching them.

“Which of the three is it?” he asked.

Stuart had been a Ranger for a long time. In his experience there were generally only three types of Pokemon that were gifted enough to hide from him and Aggron, with certain notable exceptions of course.

The three types being Ghost, Dark, and Psychic. Three of the five main types that were hardest to deal with, and the hardest to train. Fairy and Dragon Types were also difficult, but didn’t usually have the stealth factor that they were currently faced with.

Dark Types clung to the shadows, going by unnoticed, while Ghost Types could disappear and reappear at will. They were even able to phase through solid substances, making them the most troublesome to deal with. Psychic Types did not have any physical ways to hide. Instead they clouded their location and used their Energy to watch from afar.

Stuart glanced at Aggron as she lifted and brought down her front right foot, signaling which of the Types it was.

Stuart groaned. “Ahh, a Ghost type. How strong?”

Stuart and Aggron had pre planned signals to communicate broad things. If instead she motioned with her front left foot, it would have been a Psychic type, or the back left for a Dark Type. Their two final signals were the back right for Fairy, and Aggron’s head nod for Dragon.

Any presentable threats could be easily read if not one of the small group of five.

Aggron shook her head to indicate it was no threat to them, even if Ghost Types were the most troublesome of the three to deal with.

Taking that into consideration, however, did not mean they could capture and interrogate the wild Ghost with ease. Caution would have to be shown. Aggron had no moves that prevented Pokemon from fleeing.

Those types of moves were the most sought after T.M. if a Pokemon could not learn it naturally

“Let's coax it out.” he said.

With that, Aggron laid out in the middle of the foyer. She tried to appear less threatening. Stuart grabbed his right wrist as he shot out his Styler in no particular direction.

The small metal disk circled the room. It sent out Psychic signals meant to calm the wild Ghost as Stuart reached into his Ranger Bag. Goggles connected to a headset appear in his hand.

The Silph Scope, an Item made by Silph Co. that allowed humans to see Ghost Type Pokemon. An item that Stuart had no inkling on how it functioned. That was alright, because he knew how to use the Item.

Their main downside was how fragile and expensive they were. Any competent Ghost could easily break them if they wished. That left a weird niche because it only worked on low Star Ghosts.

Stuart placed the Item atop his head. Straps connected, securing it in place. Once done, Stuart spun in place. He watched the sides of the room as he scanned the area. After multiple loops, a small shimmer of air appeared. From that shimmer appeared a small light. A candle floated in the air. Instead of the color red, the flame took on a more purple quality.

“Litwick! Litwick!” The wild Litwick spun nervously through the air.

The small Pokemon was a floating candle.

Stuart guided the Styler towards Litwick. The metal disk vibrated through the air as it inched towards Litwick.

Stuart could then convey to Litwick that he needed help. Ghost Pokemon were much more territorial, and if anyone had seen someone move through this town, it would be Litwick. This proved the ideal Pokemon for information.

Soothing waves were sent towards him. Litwick proved to not be very aggressive. After a few rotations around it, the Styler glowed. This signified a Capture, or a connection to the Pokemon so they could then communicate.

Not all Pokemon allowed the connection. Sometimes a Ranger had to force a temporary connection to list a set of demands. This proved not to be the case.

Litwick floated above the disk. Stuart sent his feelings towards it. He was looking for someone. That person had traveled through here days ago. He wanted to know what direction they went.

Stuart was unsure what exactly Litwick would receive, but understood the message.

The wild Ghost practically paled in fear. It was so strong a feeling that Aggron could feel it through Stuart. That almost never happened. That was weird, and also bad. Someone had to be really strong to evoke such fear in a Ghost.

Stuart shot back what Pokemon it had seen with the person.

Litwick spun in circles, as if to say no. there were no other Pokemon.

“How could you be afraid of someone without a Pokemon?” Stuart was genuinely concerned.

Only people at the Elite level could produce such a reaction to a newborn.

Pokeballs and Stylers worked in almost the exact same way. They created connections between Pokemon and people. The constant connection helped to physically strengthen the person, while the Pokemon’s mind was strengthened and became smarter. The symbiotic relationship was the whole reason wild Pokemon allowed themselves to be caught.

The only difference between the Styler and Pokeball was that the Styler had the option to only temporarily connect. This allowed them to not disturb natural habitats and move over larger distances. The only downside was that each Ranger could only have one Pokemon, their Partner.

Litwick described its experience.

Stuart felt its annoyance at the intruder, and how it tried to scare them off but failed. He experienced how Litwick did not want to show itself, so it tried touching the intruder's mind. He felt the raw feeling of fear when trying to warp their perception. Nothing seemed able to touch the Darkness that lay beneath.

“They don't pay me enough for this shit.” Stuart facepalmed.

“There are only two things that fit that description, someone on Grimsley’s Level, or…” he stopped

Stuart became lost in thought.

“Aggron” Aggron nudged Stuart.

“Your right, what direction did this person go in?” he re-asked Aggrons question.

Fed up with the interrogation, Litwick acquiesced and then floated away.

“Over the rocks…” Stuart paused. “Alright let's go.”

Their secondary objective had been found. Something much more dangerous than initially thought. The two had no more reason to stay in Buoy Town; their objective had not stayed put. A third rumble shook the ground. This time it was noticeably stronger.

Aggron and Stuart left the storage facility.

The two had a new general direction to head. More Pokemon could be questioned on the way. They walked down the well paved road. Stuart thought back to Litwick. He had a bad feeling about all of this.

Soon, the rumbling woke him from his contemplations. It could be ignored no longer. Before The duo could start their climb, another obstacle blocked their path.

“Aghh, just our luck.” The ground came to a crescendo.

In front of them sat the entrance to the town’s mining operation. And out of said building crawled an Onix. The large rock snakes were extremely territorial and usually attacked all intruders. It was a blessing that most wild Onix couldn’t find a Metal Coat to evolve into a Steelix.

‘Talk about a real nightmare.’ Stuart thought.

The ground continued to rumble as Onix’s full body came into view. It lifted its head off the ground and stared down at Aggron. Onix let out a bellowing challenge.

“Rahhhhh” dust and dirt were sent flying.

Aggron came to a halt to let Stuart off. While Stuart's body had been reinforced due to their connection, this battle would get messy. Best be far from the aftermath.

“Let's finish this off fast. I’m thinking an A3 formation will do.” Stuart called out his battle plans.

Aggron noded and crouched down. With a general strategy, Aggron charged forward. Silver light gathered on her helmet-like head. Her charge slowly morphed into a full-on sprint as Aggron barreled forwards. Seeing this, Onix twisted its body, sending its tail towards the charging monstrosity.

The Iron Tail side swipe met Aggron’s charging Iron Head. Despite the size difference, Aggron’s comparatively tiny body drove straight through her opponent. Onix was sent flying backwards. It crashed into the side of the plateau, sending rock and dirt everywhere.

“AGG!” Aggron enjoyed herself. Battles were when she felt most alive.

She watched the dust spin in the air. Using the natural smokescreen, Onix gathered a powerful attack. Gray energy spun as Onix threw its entire weight behind its next attack. Onix charged out of the cloud. Double-Edge met with Aggron's Iron Defense. Most of the Attack was mitigated due to the defensive Energy around her.

“Watch out, it's also got Rock Head.” Stuart shouted. Onix’s Ability let it shrug off recoil from reckless all-out Attacks.

“Agg!” Aggron let out a battle cry. Sometimes Aggron enjoyed battling a little too much.

Onix swept the ground with its tail. A gash in the ground formed as Aggron jumped into the air to avoid the blow. She aimed right above Onix as Heavy Slam sent her falling straight down, right towards Onix. Her weight increased as gravity pulled her towards her opponent.

Aggron flattened her opponent to the ground.

Onix’s body was almost pinned to the dirt. The only reason it shook off the impact was Onix’s large size. Onix spun its opponent off its body. Aggron jumped backward.

“Autotomize, let's finish this.” Stuart called out impatiently.

Metal plates fell to the ground around Aggron with a thud. She cast aside defense for speed and power.

Stuart stood far behind, but mimicked the moves Aggron performed. He dodged right as she did. Aggron swung right as Stuart did. It was unclear if one controlled the other or vice versa.

In truth, the two had been together so long that one knew the other's next move without even having to think. That was how in sync they were with each other. That was what made Stuart and Aggron such a good team.

A walnut brown color stained Aggron's head. The ability Rock Head allowed Aggron to act much more aggressive than other Aggron without the Ability. Attacks like Head Smash, a reckless attack using the attacker's full force to ram their head into the opponent.

Aggron unleashed her finishing move. Onix was unable to dodge. Her head connected with its tail, leaving nothing but crumbling rock. Onix fell to the ground inert.