Panicked, Valerie raised her arms high in surrender as Sybil threw herself in front of her protectively, her wings spread wide, “H-Huh?! Wait! What's going on?!”

  Giovanni looked just as shocked by the appearance of a gang of what seemed like police officers, “League Enforcement?! InterPol?!” His head whirled towards the Champion, sitting in the bleachers, “Blackthorn, is this your doing?! What is this?! Explain yourself!”

  The Champion casually rose from his seat in the bleachers before stepping over the railing separating the arena and bleachers and dropping down onto the court. His Dragonite supports him during the drop with ease, and he continues walking into the arena, his cape billowing behind him.

  He met the man in the trench coat in the middle, before shaking hands with him. The two men weren’t equipped with microphones, but Valerie was still able to hear their entire conversation from her location. She caught the champion chastise the secret agent under his breath, “You were not supposed to charge the arena until all civilians were gone.”

  The man scratched the back of his head apologetically, “Apologies, Champion. We made good progress, and the boys were getting antsy without any more commands from you.”

  Lance could only sigh, “I assume everything else has gone well so far, then?”

  “Indeed, it has, Champion Blackthorn. Though we are still waiting on a signal from Team Four, we have no reason to doubt their success.”

  “I see,” He nodded along, “we did choose a fortunate day for this, it seems.” Murmurs spread through the crowds, everyone now fearful of the group of armored men entering the arena, “It's not optimal, but I say we finish this now rather than later.”

  “Blackthorn! Explain yourself!” Giovanni roared out, anger clear on his face.

  Champion Blackthorn sauntered up to Valerie with an apologetic grin before picking the clip-on microphone from her shirt, “Sorry, I’ll be needing this.”

  “U-Um…” Before she can even agree, the man was already back in the middle of the battling court with his Dragonite.

  “People of Viridian City and the Kanto Region as a whole who are watching this broadcast. I am Champion Lance Blackthorn, and I am here today to announce the arrest of Gym Leader Giovanni of the Viridian Gym.” His tone was powerful and clear over the gym's speaker system with a commanding edge he hadn’t worn before. Gasps of shock emanate from the crowd at the announcement.

  “Gym Leader Giovanni has lived a double life, as both Gym Leader and head of a crime syndicate called Team Rocket. His syndicate's crimes include, but are not limited to, racketeering, Pokemon kidnapping and trafficking, extortion, and Pokemon cruelty.” More gasps and murmurs spread throughout the small crowd present as worried glances are exchanged.

  One of the Champions' arms swept over the troupe of armed forces, one of which was in the process of putting the referee in handcuffs, “Thanks to a joint task force consisting of Ace Trainers, InterPol Agents, League Enforcement, and the courage of one newly-minted Trainer,” He sent a wink back towards Valerie, “justice has prevailed.”

  Sybil calms at that, lowering her wings as the full weight of what she’s just done drops onto Valerie, ‘Did…Did I just help take down Team Rocket?!’

  “You will be immediately taken into custody and face the full legal proceedings of the Indigo League and InterPol. Please give yourself up peacefully and don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.” His Dragonite stepped forward with the last sentence, illustrating the strength of the Champion.

  Up inside his Throne Box, Giovanni’s face morphed between shock, understanding, and finally what seemed like resignation, his head was held low. A low laugh emanated from the gym's speakers as Giovanni's head rose, “Hahaha… I see…”

  ‘And now he’s…happy?’

  “What a surprising turn of events at the start of the League year.” He smirked as he adjusted his footing, “I won’t stand here and deny your accusations. I doubt you’re short on evidence. Instead, I have just one question for you. Do you think you’ve won, Champion Blackthorn?”

  Lance quirked an eyebrow at the Gym Leader's tone before he continued, “Even with my supposed arrest, Team Rocket is bigger than me, bigger than the Viridian Gym, bigger than Kanto, no, Indigo! It's not some gang of criminals, but an idea, an ideology. The idea of absolute, untouchable power, tamed for our convenience.” The man balled a fist, enraptured by his own speech, “The power of Pokemon, right in our grasp.”

  The Gym Leader wore a confident grin, far more reprehensible and evil than the ones before.

  He gazed over the assembly of armed forces in his Gym, “So, I ask you, do you really think this is it? You’ve secured yourself a small victory on the back of a child, Blackthorn. You’ve arrested the staff of my Gym, but you think you’ve cornered me, defeated me? Haha…This battle is far from over.”

  …RUMBLE…

  “Hahaha… I have been preparing for this…”

  The gym's interior shook, and the stage light momentarily flickered as yelps escaped the crowd of viewers, “I have my final insurance policy. You sought to dismantle my work, Blackthorn? You sought to protect the world from my ambition using the League's authority? Let me show you the ultimate authority. The pinnacle of Team Rockets' absolute, untouchable power!”

  RRRUUMMBLE!

  The compacted earth beneath the gym's arena bulged upwards as the armed forces fled away from it. Lance and the trenchcoated man were pulled to the safety of Valerie’s battling box at the other end of the court by the Champion's Dragonite as screams began to emanate from the stands.

  “You said all teams would likely complete their jobs successfully!” Lance hissed under his breath at the trench-coated agent as they were set down next to Valerie.

  The secret agent man rubbed the back of his neck as his amphibious Pokemon returned to his side, “We still haven’t heard back from Team Four, It seems our estimations of Team Rocket were off, unfortunately, Champion Blackthorn. For that, I am sorry.”

  Lance put the microphone back up to his mouth, addressing the crowds in the stands, “Dear spectators! Please evacuate at the designated emergency exits and leave the Gym using the escape routes. We’ll be dealing with the situation here!”

  The crowd didn’t need to be told twice, already standing by the time the rumbles began. With their smaller size, the crowd was quickly evacuated. Valerie was only able to share a concerned glance with her family and Matthias before they disappeared from the arena.

  Lance put a finger to his ear, now only allowing her to notice an earpiece, and whispered a quiet, “All of the teams present in the arena, fall back and let me deal with this.”

  The leader of the group of armored police and military officers nodded in the distance and made a few complicated hand gestures to his subordinates, and the entire group followed after him.

  “W-W-What is going on?!” Valerie could only keep her eyes on the slowly bulging, battling court.

  RRRRUUUMMBLE…

  Lance turned back to her, a reassuring smile on his face, “Don’t worry, let me deal with this, whatever is going on here.”

  The cracks from Nidoqueens' earthquake splintered further until a hole was suddenly pulled apart in the middle of the court. Through the hole floated a lavender and purple Pokemon in a gunmetal grey metallic suit of armor. It looked like a bipedal creature with lavender skin and a long purple tail, which swoops upwards behind its back. Sporting two-pronged legs and three-pronged hands, the creature seemed to be around the height of a tall adult. Valerie could only stare at the sight, ‘What…What Pokemon is that?’

  ‘But…Why is it wearing armor?’ The armor seems to attach to the back of the Pokemon, with heavy gauntlets around its arms and legs. Over its shoulders, two large horn-like joints swoop over the Pokemon’s shoulders, while on its back, eight sharp spines seem to jut outwards awkwardly, looking akin to a spider's legs.

  Valerie looked up the floating Pokemon with shock, ‘It just destroyed the entire arena without a thought…’ Passing a glance over to the Champion and his Dragonite, Valerie saw that even both of them were wearing serious expressions now, ‘Just how powerful is it?’

  The bulging stopped, and the entire battling court dropped back down to the floor with a loud BOOOM! like the Pokemon had just pushed a pin through a piece of fabric. Collapsing in on itself, the court came apart in large chunks of earth, dropping downward into what looked like some sort of high-tech laboratory down below.

  In front of her, Sybil shuddered at the mere sight of the Pokemon, her eyes glued to the armored Pokemon in clear fear as she shook her head, “Xaaaa...tu…tu…”

  Behind the mysterious Pokemon, Giovanni laughed, a loud and manic uproarious laughter as he spread his arms out wide, “Ahahaha…AhahaHAHAHAAAAA! Now, you will see the true breadth of Team Rocket's power!” He pointed towards the trio of her, the Champion, and the trench-coated secret agent, “Mewtwo, dispose of them!”

  The armored Pokemon looked over the trio of humans, all of whom were staring back at it with fear, before turning its head back towards Giovanni. The Gym Leader's face contorted in pain for a short second before he looked up at the Pokemon in anger, “Well, of course you will! You are a Pokemon, Pokemon are used for human purposes. They live for humans' sake!”

  For a short second, the armored Pokemon halted at those words, its head turning down to its body before it faced back up to Giovanni, looking towards the man with its tail beginning to sway, clearly irritated.

  ‘It's not attacking us, what are they doing?’

  After another exchange, Giovanni scoffed at the powerful armored Pokemon floating in the middle of his Gym, “Logically, what other value could you have? Now, kill them!”

  ‘Kill?!’ Sybils' wings shot up again, as a shockwave of energy began to emanate from the Pokemon.

  “What are they doing?” The trench-coated man whispered towards the Champion, who answered in a similarly hushed tone.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Whatever Pokemon that is, it seems to be a Psychic-Type, they are arguing telepathically.” He supplied.

  ‘The argument doesn’t seem to be going well…’ Valerie notes worriedly, watching Giovanni's face contort in anger at the Pokemon's action.

  “You dare to defy humans?!” Pulling a small remote from his pocket, Giovanni presses the button on its top, “Take this!”

  The armor of the Pokemon seems to come to life, its arms and legs magnetically joining together in an attempt to restrain the Pokemon before the horn-like shoulder joints and spines from its back swing forward to envelop the Pokemon, caging it in its armor as it begins to glow with an ominous red energy.

  The Pokemon struggles momentarily before beginning to envelop itself with its own glow of purple and pink energy. It rose slowly, as the eyes behind its visored face began to glow. The restraints of its armor broke off its body, and as the armor began to fail, the Pokemon’s energies continually glowed brighter.

  ‘T-This is bad!’ Valerie hid deeper behind Sybil in fear as the noisescape of the energies emitted by the Pokemon kept growing.

  SNAP!

  BOOM!

  Finally, the armor explodes off of the Pokemon's body entirely, splintering every which way in the Gym without a Psychic barrier to protect them. A piece of gunmetal grey metal even lodges itself in the walls just above the trio.

  “EVERYONE! GET BEHIND ME!” Lance roared out in front of her, “Protect!”

  Her ears still ringing, Valerie stepped behind the champion with Sybil in front of her. She peered out behind Sybil to see Dragonite erecting a large Protect Barrier directly in front of them. Up above, the mysterious Pokemon, now unarmored, glowed so bright it hurt to look at as more and more energy seemed to accumulate around it.

  ‘More?!’ She hunched back down behind Sybil in just the right moment, as a powerful wave of energy exploded outwards from the Pokemon and crashed over the entirety of the Gym's arena and into them.

  BOOOOOOOOM!

  The explosion was so powerful that it managed to push even Lance’s Dragonite back a few steps, its feet skidding along the Gym Arena dirt before its Protect suddenly CRACKED! in front of them. The following shockwave of the attack launched both Valerie and Sybil in front of her onto the ground harshly, “Oof!”

  …

  Sprawled out on her back with her ears ringing, Valerie nursed a headache as she wrenched her eyes back open, “Uuugh…What…” On her back, she spots the giant hole in the middle of the Gym arena's domed roof, presumably made by the mysterious Pokemon when it escaped.

  “Koff! Koff! Are you alright?” The secret agent kneels next to Valerie, covering his mouth with his hand as the dust and debris from the ceiling crash into the collapsed arena.

  “I’m…ok…” A hand on her head, Valerie rises from the ground, still dazed, “Ughh…What…was that…”

  Lance also nurses his head as he gazes up at the hole with a serious expression, “It's a Pokemon, that’s for sure. Luckily, it fled.”

  The agent patted his trench coat free of dust as he looked towards the Champion, “So that was Team Rocket's secret weapon, I assume. I caught it fleeing westward. Should we give chase?”

  “We’ve got bigger priorities, Looker. Firstly,” His gaze turned towards Valerie behind him, Sybil next to her, “Get Miss Riston out of here, her Pokemon to a Center and her herself back to her family,” He tapped his Dragonite, and the dragon allowed him to hop onto its back, “In the meantime, I’ll go and look for Giovanni, he couldn’t have gone far.”

  “U-Um! Thank you for protecting us!” Valerie called out towards the Champion as he took off.

  The man turned back to her with a smile, “Naturally. Oh, and congratulations on your first badge and evolution, Miss Riston. Apologies from the League that we rained on your win like this.”

  “Right.” The agent, called Looker, nodded along, already turning to Valerie with his amphibian in tow, an arm outstretched, “Agent Looker of the International Police. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Riston.”

  Valerie shook his hand, “Valerie Riston, l-likewise.”

  “Let us talk as we walk. I want to get you back as quickly as possible.” The man pointed towards the escape routes the spectators had taken, guiding Valerie up into the bleachers as he began talking, “I do have to apologize…I doubt much of this would’ve happened if I had kept my cool and let my Team lie low instead of charging into the arena like that…” The man gave a casual bow of the head toward Valerie, “For that, I am sorry.”

  “Y-You don’t have to worry…I accept your apology.” Valerie excused the man just like that, not one for grudges, “I don’t have any idea of complicated police raids. I doubt it's that easy and…I doubt Champion Lance will let you off the hook easily either…”

  “...You are probably correct…” Looker agreed with a hard swallow.

  The two walked through a corridor, used to allow spectators to reach their seats easily from the reception, “It is safe to say, this operation turned into quite the messy situation. The goal was to corner Giovanni after you had left, using the time between Gym matches to quickly dispose of the Gym Leader. But as you just witnessed, our reports of Team Rocket's strength were underestimated. I hope Team Four is alright…"

  Valerie just couldn’t stop herself from letting her mind wander and asked a question back, “What Pokemon was that? Giovanni called it Mewtwo…”

  “Your guess is as good as ours. The most the League knew about it was a boast by Giovanni made during meetings early in the year. He talked about a new, powerful Pokemon under his command at his Gym, presumably he intended to use the Pokemon as a trump card during his Gym Battles.” The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “Though, it seems his trump card blew up in his face when he asked too much of it.”

  “I see…” She answered, the memory of what Giovanni had insulted the Pokemon with still fresh in her mind, “I hope Mewtwo will be happier free from Team Rocket…Wherever it is now…”

  “I doubt the League and InterPol will be happy to see a Pokemon like it roam free... Let's just hope it isn't intent on plotting revenge.” Looker's gaze stopped momentarily before he seemingly remembered something, “Oh, and also, my congratulations for beating the Viridian Gym.” He patted her and Sybil on the back.

  “T-Thank you…”

  “Xa…” Sybil had remained remarkably quiet throughout the entire ordeal. Valerie had become better at guessing the blank-eyed Psychic-Types' emotions during their time together, but she seemed to be stewing over something in her mind.

  Looker cut through her thoughts as they entered the reception, “Now, let us get you reunited with your family and then finally get your Pokemon into the local Center to get looked over.”

  …

  The outside of the gym was home to a large number of people. Various types of Police enforcement, League enforcement, InterPol, and so on. Outsiders like Gym spectators, Viridian City pedestrians who’d come running after hearing the commotion were also present. All to watch a large gathering of handcuffed individuals, ranging from simple Gym Employees to seedy-looking men in damning Team Rocket outfits, get guided into the back of various transport vehicles.

  Matt is nowhere to be seen in the crowd of people, but Valerie spots Michelle and Gustav quite easily in the crowd.

  If it weren’t for the large explosion that had rocked the Gym and the powerful Pokemon following after that had fled through the Gym’s roof, Valerie’s mother might’ve been far less concerned when Valerie was returned to her. At this point, it was practically a given for her daughter to get caught in all sorts of messes. But the mother still enveloped her daughter in a hug when Agent Looker returned with her from inside the gym.

  “I am so glad you’re ok, Valerie!” She patted her on the back before looking her over for any scratches or other injuries, “This time I can’t even blame you, can I? You didn’t get hurt?

  “I’m fine, just a bit rattled…” Valerie smiled back weakly, Sybil next to her, agreeing with the assessment, “Champion Lance protected me and Agent Looker here before going ahead to chase after Giovanni.”

  Stewing in anger, Michelle let loose a rare curse before measuring herself, “That fucking…and to think I thought he was a good person…”

  Oh, yeah! We saw something fly out of the Gym…” Michelles question was pointed at Looker behind her, “What happened in there, Mister…”

  Flipping open a leather badge case, Looker introduced himself, “Agent Looker from the International Police, I’m a detective, and what your daughter saw is highly confidential, unfortunately. I doubt Miss Riston here will come away without needing to sign an NDA about what happened, so we unfortunately can’t tell you.”

  “U-Understood.” Both Michelle and her Husband nodded at that, “We’ll keep quiet. It’s just…a mother worries…”

  “Indeed, they do.” The agent smiled, “To remedy that, let’s switch topics. I think your daughter has just done something amazing, hasn’t she?”

  “Of course!” Michelle's smile lit up at that again, enveloping Valerie into another crushing hug, “You just beat the Viridian Gym, didn’t you?! That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

  “Yes, congratulations to you, Valerie!” Gustav added on, too shy to hug his step-daughter.

  “Mmph-thanks!” Valerie muttered.

  “You said you didn’t even plan to do this, didn’t you? What happened?” Her mother asked worriedly, “Something went down, but I’m not enough of a trainer to know the details.”

  “Giovanni said something regarding his team being tampered with, did he not?” Gustav mentioned, glancing at Agent Looker, but the man simply shrugged.

  “I am as clueless as you, unfortunately. I was busy acting out a police raid, as you might be able to assume. It was none of our doing.”

  The man's eyebrows rose, pressing a finger against his earpiece, seemingly receiving a message, “Yes!... I see, unfortunate…Understood”

  His focus back on Valerie, Looker quickly patted her on the back, “I’m sorry to say, but more business has appeared for the League and InterPol to deal with, and I need to go.” Fishing around his pocket, the man produces a business card which he handed Valerie, “You seem to get into quite a lot of trouble from what I’ve read about you, so here. If any more evildoers connected to Team Rocket or not show themselves, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

  Already speed-walking back into the Gym, Looker gave a final wave to the family, “Goodbye! Looker, to the Winds!”

  Looking after the man as the gym's automatic doors whirr open and closed, Michelle couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself, “He has a catchphrase?”

  …

  The rest of the day was a whirlwind of different League officials leading Valerie once again through the breathtaking world of legislature. She’d gone through this before, so she knew the fastest way through was to smile and bear it.

  Luckily, this time she had an adult sitting next to her to bear it with her. Both Larry and Sybil were handed over to the Viridian Pokemon Center before Valerie was taken along to sign any documents to protect her safety by her mother's side.

  Without a Pokeball on her person, Valerie felt like something was missing, ‘I just really wish Larry or Sybil were here with me…’ She’d forgotten how used to their company she’d gotten.

  So once all the paperwork was done and through with late in the evening, Valerie made a plea to her mother, “Mom, do you mind if I wait at the Center to get Larry and Sybil back?”

  “But Gustav already went home to make some food as a celebration for your win, don’t you want to celebrate a bit and then come back tomorrow to get them?”

  Michelle saw the pleading look on Valerie’s face and simply smiled, “You know what? Gustav’s such a good cook, the food's going to taste just as good tomorrow. Go wait for them.”

  Finally smiling again, Valerie nodded before speeding off, “I'll do that! Thanks, Mom! See you later!”

  …

  “V-Valerie! The entire internet knows about what happened! The League won’t be able to cover this one up!” In her police-addeled evening, Valerie had forgotten to look at her phone and only now saw that she’d received a wall of text from Matt. Instead of reading through the verbal assault, she called him instead, where he’d immediately confessed to her about how he’d apparently recorded the entire battle on his phone and posted it on Chatter, including what happened at the end before they fled.

  “I know, Matt, they record and broadcast all the Gym Battles.” She countered, “Where’d you go anyway?”

  Over the call, Matt’s voice seemed to lose its nervous edge, he was clearly far more comfortable not in the presence of others. “I knew this was going to be big news, so I edited together a little video in my room instead of sitting around and doing nothing. Your upset victory will have all kinds of heads turning, Valerie!” He warned, “You were already a big thing on Chatter because you had a rare Pokemon, but this is the type of thing you see on the news during the League Year!”

  “I’ve already been on the news, though, technically.” She answered, “I was interviewed after the thing at Mt. Silver.”

  “That doesn’t matter now,” Matt spoke hurriedly, “Something happened at the end there, right? Everyone saw something fly out of the roof of the Gym. The League's Video of your battle was cut after your win, but I got a grainy video from outside of that thing when it happened! What was that Pokemon?! Give me the scoop!”

  “I can’t say, sorry…” Valerie apologized.

  “Damn! And I thought I had the perfect source!”

  “Yeah, I would love to have someone to talk about it, but I can’t,” Valerie mentioned disappointingly.

  “N-No, it's alright.” Matt quickly added on. “What are you up to now, then?”

  “Currently picking up my Pokemon from the Center, quick sitrep, and after that, Bed.”

  “Alright, you go do that.” Matt agreed, “I’ll edit down this Vlog and then I’ll meet you tomorrow, alright? This will make numbers…”

  “Sure thing, bye.”