Tanya's teeth gnashed together as her fingernails sunk into her palms.

Saying she was pissed would be an understatement. Still, only an animal governed by emotions would lash out at this moment. As a rational individual, she tempered her actions and sought to solidify her understanding.

"Are you telling me." She paused, bottling some of the frustration that had threatened to leak out. "This was some fucked up mating ritual?"

Gabite made a face before stomping her foot in anger.

"Ga, bi-" The words got stuck in her throat as Tanya leveled a glare towards her.

"I wasn't talking to you." The dragon looked to want to consider challenging that before her eyes traveled to Mawile's expectant eyes. "Wait your turn. We're hearing from Flygon now."

The green Pokemon was remarkably red as he tried to look anywhere but Gabite's or Tanya's direction.

Tanya snapped her fingers, forcing his attention on her. When he didn't immediately launch into an explanation, her good foot started tapping impatiently.

"Fly…" He muttered, and one of the Vibrava, who escaped with minor injuries, tapped him on the side with encouragement. "Gon, fly, gon."

This was unfathomably stupid.

"Did you know about this?" Tanya addressed Gabite. "Why were you acting like your life was on the line?"

Gabite reared her head back, wincing as some of her wounds opened.

"Bite, gab, bite." She shook her head, retching into the ground before looking at Flygon. "Gabit, ite."

Flygon collapsed onto the dirt, writhing as if on death's door.

It was appropriate, considering Tanya had a mind to finish the job.

"Brav, vibrava," the Vibrava tried to cheer up its boss. It had little effect.

Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose, looking up at the starry sky. What had she done to deserve this?

Well, she supposed it beat a trench.

"Okay, so you." She pointed towards Flygon, who was still wallowing in self-pity. "Had a secret crush on Gabite and thought the best plan of action was to jump her with your friends."

She acknowledged that humans could court in strange ways, but most of them grew out of the 'bullying' angle at a young age.

How old even was Flygon? His evolution was allegedly one of the triggers for him to seek out Gabite, so it must have been recent. But she really didn't know enough about the life cycle of the Flygon line to make a determination.

"Brava, vib." One of the Vibrava confirmed the side of the story for their boss before elaborating further. "Brav, vibra."

It might have been an excuse, but if Mawile's Taunt really had goaded them into committing far more than they planned for, then some of the fault lay on her side.

Flygon could have also simply flown away, leaving his underlings for dead. Instead, he'd returned and begged clemency for them. Albeit, far more whiney than she thought necessary. She didn't appreciate her jacket being covered in snot.

All things considered, he was still a moron in her book.

He wasn't alone in there either.

"And you," Tanya focused back on their guide. "Thought this was what? A beating and loss of reputation."

The dragon nodded gravely.

Tanya stalked toward it. Now that her adrenaline was fading, she knew her ankle to be in a less than optimal state. She'd have to bandage and assess the damage after this.

"Next time," Tanya warned through grit teeth. "You act like it's life and death; it better be life or death. And I swear, if you say they're the same, I'll ship you to Garchomp piece by piece. If you have the option of saving your hide or getting a medal, you save your hide every time. Got it?"

Honor or pride was nowhere near the value of life. They were incomparable. Although she'd known her fair share of idiots who thought they were. Perhaps that's what had gotten her so riled up.

Her eyes held Gabite's, daring for the dragon to speak in defiance. The Pokemon lowered its snout in what Tanya took as an act of submission.

Good.

She was going to have to extort more concessions out of Garchomp the next time they met. Babysitting was not on her list of to-dos, and she certainly wasn't doing it for free.

Flygon stirred. He reached his full height and puffed out his chest before addressing her with indignation.

"Gon, fly, gon!"

Was this imbecile serious?

She was about to order Mawile and Mimikyu to teach this lizard a lesson when a knife slammed into its foot, earning a yelp.

"Enough," she ordered. It was by far the least of its injuries. Flygon looked at her unhappily and she continued. "If you attack in force, you cannot blame me for responding in kind. You can't expect me to know you didn't mean it." She spat the words.

He was lucky they were all still breathing.

"Bite…" Gabite muttered, and Tanya zoned in on the dragon, who suddenly found the ground very interesting.

"Too far?" She was beginning to think she hadn't gone far enough. "I saw an upcoming threat and moved to neutralize it before it could bring harm to my team."

After all, she needed their help if there was any hope of tackling the Team Flare problem.

"You two." She moved her eyes between the pair of dragons. "Need to grow up. The world isn't as peaceful as you think."

They shared a look between themselves. There looked to be a silent conversation between the two, but that wasn't Tanya's concern.

"We're moving out," she announced to the group. "Gabite, lead us to the nearest place we can rest. After that, we can see to your injuries."

They didn't look too serious, but they would have to be treated.

Flygon began to slink away, carrying the two more injured members of his party before starting to levitate in the air.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tanya's words caused his ascent to freeze. "I didn't say you could go."

With the trouble he gave her, she was getting some work out of him.

----------------------------------------

The sun peaked over the horizon, indicating a new day was at hand.

"Stop moving so much," Tanya berated the squirming Pokemon. "It's making it hard to apply."

They were in a carved-out cave, having made their way here via Air-Flygon.

Given her team's, mainly Mawile's, lack of foresight in getting rest the day before, she opted to just spend the rest of the night letting them recuperate.

The watch shifts had to be adjusted to cover for their irresponsible members, and she spent much of the night keeping a wary eye on Flygon and his pack.

The thought of dealing with them permanently came to mind, but she was hampered by social conventions. Not that she hadn't tried to subtly float the idea with Gabite.

With her limited medical supplies, Carbink had been seen to the night before. The potions she'd stolen from that Flare grunt who suffered an accidental fall were not as effective as she'd liked.

It was a problem she knew would come up eventually. She'd tried to source more from the pawnshop, but that was one of the few areas where the man was lacking. Apparently, they were heavily regulated by the league. The shopkeeper did receive shipments of them, but they sold out quickly with the below-market prices he liked to set.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Fortunately, Pokeballs worked well for keeping injuries from worsening. Carbink was in no danger; it just meant it would be better to have him sit inside until she secured him more treatment.

Mawile was her current problem.

"Don't hide your injuries," she chided while applying what was left of her potions. "These are just bruises, but I need to know in case it turns out to be something worse."

The stubborn Pokemon had hidden them behind her coat. She'd be fine soon enough, but this was the sort of thing you didn't hide from your commanding officer. If any of her team were not operating at full combat ability, she would have to plan around it.

"I didn't hear an okay."

Tanya applied more pressure than she should have, receiving a satisfying wince in return.

"Ma, ma," the Pokemon said while rolling her eyes.

Humph.

She was lucky she was so valuable.

'Mama? Check?'

A sense of pride was accompanied by it, and she turned to the source.

Ralts stood with a smile on her face and a needle in her hand. Behind her, attempting to make itself as small as possible, was one of the Vibrava.

Tanya walked over stiffly, her foot having an improvised brace. She made sure not to show any discomfort and stopped in front of the Pokemon.

Placing a hand on Ralts, she stroked her hair while looking at the new stitches adorning the slashed wing.

Textbook work.

"Good work, Ralts," she complimented on a job well done. That type of skill would be useful if any of them received similar injuries. It was a bit of a missed opportunity to only have two of them to practice on, but she couldn't just go slashing Pokemon for more training dummies. "We'll have to see about getting anesthetics or numbing agents. Those might be easier to find."

Ralts had operated without either. Tanya supposed the Vibrava deserved some praise for remaining so still; even now it looked to barely be breathing.

Deciding a verbal compliment was too much for one of the ones responsible for this mess, she simply gave it a firm nod before moving her gaze to the last patient.

Well, former patient. Gabite had recovered with startling ease. It made her suspect something else was at play, but the Pokemon claimed ignorance.

"Gon?"

Right, she knew she was forgetting something. The chief idiot of the day, Flygon. He sported his fair share of ugly bruises, but he'd have to recover on his own.

"I'll need your cooperation to get closer to the city. After that, you and your underlings can go."

It was exceedingly generous on her part, but the Pokemon did make a good transport. That alone was enough to tempt her into recruiting him.

Then she'd remembered he was a dragon. Not only would the cost of feed skyrocket, but he was likely to cause more trouble than even Mawile.

That made it a flat no. Though she did not rule out conscripting him for transport in the future.

Tanya's gaze turned to the horizon. It was the same rugged terrain as far as she could see, but she knew Lumiose City sat just beyond, having seen the lights the night before.

"Did you bury it?" Tanya asked Gabite.

"Ite." She pointed North, and Tanya nodded.

With their illicit goods safely tucked away, it was time to assess the damage.

She set herself down against one of the cave's walls, right next to Mimikyu. Ralts soon wormed her way onto her lap, and with trepidation, she turned on her phone.

There was no frantic buzzing as messages poured in, which gave her some relief. Though part of that was because she had long since muted Marie. She'd have to undo that, but for now, she typed in Coumarine.

It did not take long to find a recently posted piece, and her eyes absorbed it ravenously.

Two nights ago, our peaceful seaside paradise was rocked with an outrageous display. The Meurice, famous for being the first luxury hotel in Coumarine, was engulfed in a raging inferno that saw two floors of the controversial landmark heavily damaged. Thankfully, due to the timely intervention of our brave first responders, no humans or Pokemon were harmed in the blaze.

The same could not be said for those who attempted to bring the culprit into custody. Our sources refused to comment on the severity of injuries, but they have confirmed nearly a quarter of the Coumarine Police Department were admitted, throwing the beleaguered Pokemon Center into chaos.

Who, or what, were they chasing? That, dear readers, is the million PokeDollar question. We here at the Coumarine Gazette have worked tirelessly the past couple of days to bring you the answers our fine supporters deserve, but prepare yourself for the truth is as clear as a Grimer's outhouse.

What we know for certain is the existence of two assailants. One of which is, allegedly, responsible for the fire and attempted murder of a visiting businessman whose identity will be concealed for privacy reasons.

Yes, you read that correctly; a man was violently thrown out of the twelfth floor. While it is possible for him to have survived the fall, albeit with injuries, we believe the intentions of the assailant to be anything but benign.

Fortunately, recently promoted Ace Trainer Veronica was on the scene to rescue the victim.

The culprit then walked out of the shattered window and plummeted to the street below, destroying part of the building's iconic facade on their descent.

After landing, they then disregarded a provocation from an overeager Blastoise and fled the scene on foot.

Due to the lack of cooperation from our local officers, the following is not confirmed, but we believe their accomplice managed to steal a Courmarine PD motorcycle and then rendezvous with the attempted murderer.

In a shocking demonstration of poor judgment, local officers determined the best course of action was to chase the pair through the busy streets, endangering the property and lives of citizens. This risky behavior proved fruitless, as the entirety of the pursuit was summarily dealt with in one massive attack of unknown origin.

Local observers noted an increase in the volume of flying-type Pokemon in the skies preceding the event, but this has been debated, with one citizen going as far as to say, "The birds aren't real."

Clarifications to that statement were not received.

At this time, both individuals are at large. Our local Officer Jenny had this to say: "We are doing everything in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice. League officials have been informed of the nature of the crime, and we are reaching out to our colleagues in the Ranger department to search the outskirts of the city for any sign of the crimminal activity. Should you have any information, we urge you to contact your local station."

She refused any further questions as to the embarrassment that was her department's performance.

When our reporters requested a description of both assailants, they were unhelpfully informed that it was still being collated.

Unsatisfied with that response, we have used all resources available to us to better inform and protect the public of this new danger.

Based on interviews with multiple witnesses and stills from bystander footage, we have confirmed both assailants to be short in stature. We can also assert that the attempted murderer possesses either purple or blue eyes. Unfortunately, due to this being an act of premeditation, they took great care in hiding their other features.

With the facts laid bare, we would like to offer some speculation as to what brought on this act of extreme violence.

In our humble opinion, this was not a random event.

Terrorism has found its way to Kalos.

We recognize some may call this sensationalism, but allow us to plead our case. Until now, we have yet to reveal a key detail of the case.

This was partially a theft. What was stolen, you may ask? A priceless artifact? A fossil of unknown origin? A Mega Stone?

No.

It was a Gible.

The Ground/Dragon type dragon is certainly prized among trainers, but these were both highly trained individuals.

The driver alone stunned onlookers with their tremendous skill, with observers all the way in Paldea complimenting their motor skills. Should they have wished to purchase a Gible through legal or illegal means, we have no doubt they could have accomplished such.

So why? Let's review.

The location, the Meurice, was purposely set ablaze and then further defaced in front of countless onlookers.

The target, a visiting businessman, was callously thrown at over a hundred feet.

The theft, a Gible, was immediately displayed to evacuees on the street.

The escape, done on a police bike, covered half the city before the assailants decided to deal with their pursuers.

With all this fanfare, we think it clear that this was a blatant provocation to the citizens of Kalos and the league's inability to defend them.

These disgruntled actors sought to sow fear among us, showing that even our most protected are vulnerable to attack. Their true goal? To destabilize Kalos and implement their, no doubt, deranged ideology.

We urge our readers to keep a level head and look at these events as they are—the actions of lone radicals.

As an aside, harsh criticism has been leveled against Veronica for failing to personally apprehend the culprit, instead only sending her Skarmory, who is now in the intensive care unit. After reviewing the events, we here at the Gazette would like to express our support for her actions and decry any calls for her promotion to be re-evaluated. It is our opinion that prioritizing the evacuation of the guest and staff to have been the mark of a mature trainer. We would also like to highlight the impressive restraint Skarmory showed; apart from a single Air Slash released early on, he left the work to the police and only interfered again when the culprits were out of inhabited areas. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Editors Note: In response to our story, a source in the department revealed that a boot print was recovered from the scene.

Tanya looked mournfully at her feet. Her boots, her hard-earned boots—was she going to have to lose them?

And terrorist? How was she a terrorist?!? She didn't give a crap about any of that stuff!

She was just trying to expose Team Flare. When did she become some crazy political activist?

Sure, the government could do with some downsizing, but she wasn't looking to topple anything!

There was movement as Ralts raised a hand. A piece of rock floated over, stopping at her foot and beginning to rub up and down.

Tanya blinked; that was poor form on her part. While she was there complaining about the injustice of the world, Ralts was already taking action by sanding down her boot treads.

She focused on the good news; it didn't sound like they had a positive ID on her. That meant, with some caution, they could visit the city and be lost in a sea of faces.

First, she'd see to Carbink's health, and after? She was visiting that damn cafe again.

Their operation in Coumarine, despite devolving into an utter farce, had shown that the majority of her team was able to act in a professional manner. With those assurances, she was willing to at least entertain the idea of moving on, what was likely, the center of Team Flare's Lumiose City operations.

Through her hazy memories, before she fell into unconsciousness from the spiked coffee, there was far more construction equipment there than any usual shop would require.

With the way their other facility was built, she was betting on there being a subterranean level.

If she could breach it, she might finally hit paydirt.

She just needed to make sure not to do anything that might cause them to relocate. Based on the article, she was hopeful Gible's 'theft' and her supposed ideology would be a big enough red herring to throw them off her scent.

All she had to do was make sure they didn't start a fuss in the city.

Footsteps stopped in front of her, and her head slowly craned up to see Gabite. She stood straight, staring at Tanya with determination in her eyes.

"Bite, ga, bite."

Tanya's heart sank. Gabite wanted to go into the city.

Why her?