Pansage had heard Lilith's call for help and rushed to his friend's side. He swung from tree to tree using Vine Whip. Pansage’s momentum carried him faster and further than each consecutive swing. He continued down the path towards the disturbance.

A loud scream resounded out once more. “No!!!”

Pansage angled off to his right. His power drove him forward. Lilith came into sight. Across from her stood his Rival. He and Craogunk had fought more times than Pansage could remember. Neither could finish the other off.

While Pansage had never initiated the conflicts, he was equally invested in the outcome. Their rivalry had started small. Pansage usually hung around the forest, while Croagunk the lake. Pansage went looking for food along the southern front, and was caught by Croagunk. That drove Croagunk to attack him whenever he saw the small monkey. Larger threats had to be avoided, but Pansage wasn’t strong enough to deter Croagunk.

Pansage had been helped by Lilith, and she had helped him. The two had resided together multiple times. His scent still lingered on Lilith.

She had even saved Pansage from one of their previous brawls.

Croagunk made the connection from the clues he had. A friend of his enemy was also his enemy.

One final Vine Whip connected with the branch above the chase. Pansage calculated the curve. All of Pansage’s built up force drove him forward, straight into Croagunks face.

Pansage had arrived.

Both Pokemon were sent flying. The pair sailed through the air. Then, they both crashed onto the ground. They rolled several meters before they came to a halt. Both only received minimal damage.

The first to get up was Pansage, quickly followed by Croagunk. While the impact had been hard, it wasn’t enough for a K.O. Croagunk’s damage was less than Pansage's.

Both raised their fists ready for a fight. One to defend, the other to vanquish his enemy.

Croagunk went on the offensive, sending out quick jabs left and right. Energy formed around his body as Attacks launched out in quick succession. Pansage took up a more defensive position. He was unable to look back at Lilith’s position.

Poison Type attacks hurt his Grass body. Each attack would strike with double the power, the Type Energy overloading his tiny body. Hits had to be dodged, or the damage would quickly overwhelm him.

Few attacks landed. Pansage parried all the attacks he could. Not all attacks could be stopped. Once there was a decisive blow, Pansage would give up on Defence and launch Attacks of his own, trading blow for blow. Gray razor sharp claws would Scratch at Croagunk’s arms.

Pansage’s mobility was practically crippled. He took up a position with Lilith on his back. Croagunk Attacked aggressively as he also tried to push past Pansage. Due to this, Pansage’s Moves became predictable.

Despite Pansage’s opening move, he was losing.

Croagunk thrust forward. Pansage stepped aside and pushed his arms where Croagunk’s arm should have been.

He fell for Croakgunk’s feint. Purple needles formed on his foot as they met with Pansage’s chest. Pansage stumbled backwards. Pansage would be unable to fight for much longer.

Before the fight could come to a conclusion. Their Duel was interrupted once more. Both paused as a large amount of Energy arose off in the distance.

A tyrannical Roar blasted through the forest, sending most Pokemon who head it fleeing. It sounded close. Trees cracked as the rumbling ground became more apparent.

A large Pokemon was moving towards them.

***

Many Hours Earlier - Desolate Lands - Unknown Location.

“Are we there yet?” Ranger Stuart whined.

Aggron and her Partner had been traveling for days, almost nonstop. The only time they rested was to fall asleep for the night.

Stuart had become increasingly bored. Stuart rode on top of Aggron in a special harness. This only increased his boredom. Aggron moved surprisingly fast for her size. Ride Pokemon were not uncommon for long-distance travel, leading to Stuart’s current predicament.

Detours had to be made to dodge known hotspots for dangerous Pokemon, increasing their travel distance. Stuart wasn’t surprised, this was a constant in the Desolate Lands. Strong Pokemon were scattered everywhere.

The Desolate Lands were huge. They dwarfed all Regions in the area in a 2:1 ratio. His only comfort was the changing landscape.

“Agggg” Aggron shook her harness.

“Whoa girl!” Ranger Stuart shouted after almost falling off. Aggron didn’t appreciate the childish joke.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I was just messing with you!” Stuart laughed.

The Ranger brought his Hollow Castor to his face. A few buttons were clicked, and a rough map of the area appeared into view.

Stuart scoured the map. He tried orienting the map in different directions. Seconds later, he started tilting his head around the map. Dots and lines covered the page. Blues greens and browns were scattered over the painting, creating a collage of colors. One big red dot marked Buoy Town. He, however, could not read it.

Confusion overtook him.

“How do people read these things…” Stuart tried deciphering the map before him. Sadly, Aggron was the better map reader.

She skid to a halt. Stuart climbed off the black colored harness and showed the map to her. Aggron studied the area on the map. She knew they were close.

Next Aggron shifted her attention to the surrounding area. The terrain had shifted to become increasingly woodland areas. Mountains dotted the horizon, growing larger in the distance.

After going back and forth between the two for a while, Aggron felt satisfied. She nudged Stuart who looked like he was about to fall asleep, and then pointed to a spot on the map. Their location.

Stuart scrutinized the location before turning to her.

“Soooo, which way are we supposed to go?”

Aggron knocked one arm on her head. Metal clashed, making an eerie sound. Aggron did her own version of facepalming. With the other hand, she pointed slightly off course. In front of them to the left stood a large outcrop of rocks that shot into the sky.

Their journey continued.

***

Hours Later - Buoy Town.

Stuart and Aggron went into mission mode. Stuart’s usual goofiness was gone. They stuck to the outskirts of town. After a comprehensive search, their worst fears proved untrue.

If Team Plasma were to use the facility, it would most definitely be overrun with Grunts. Not only were there no Grunts, there were no People at all. That was not a surprise. It was either one person or a large organization. This time it proved to be the latter.

“Why the hell did they assign us this mission? We break stuff, we don’t sneak around.” Stuart complained.

If Aggron had eyebrows, they would have been raised.

Stuart then raised his hand.

“All in favor of storming the town! Say I!”

Aggron slammed the ground and let out a cry.

“It's unanimous!” Stuart cheered.

Foregoing any stealth, the duo walked right into town. They walked down the main road and inspected their surroundings.

“Man, This place is way too small for a town.”

Nothing confronted them, so the Ranger decided to check out the Pokemon Center. No Pomp was needed, they simply strolled up to the front door and entered. Stuart turned to Aggron.

“Anything?”

Aggron shook her head. Despite being a Pokemon specializing in defensive fighting, she could still feel other Pokemon or People if they were close.

Occasional rumblings could be felt, but they were otherwise ignored.

Despite that, neither dropped their guard. Upon inspection, dusty footprints littered the ground. The shoes were on the small side, but there was only one pair of tracks.

“Some random passerby?” Stuart stroked his chin in thought.

Items were tossed aside, as if someone was looking for something. Empty boxes lined the shelves. The back rooms were completely empty, exactly like the front. Their search proved unfruitful.

Stuart tapped upon the closed door. The one room that was locked.

“This is the place.”

Aggron’s hand morphed into a metal gauntlet. The frame fell apart from her advances. The door was then unceremoniously ripped from its hinges and thrown aside.

“That was a little excessive.” Stuart commented.

Aggron punched his arm in return.

Amidst their banter, Stuart navigated to the control panel just inside the room. He pulled up his mission log and hit the buttons on the control panel the log corresponded to. The electrical hum slowly receded as the generator shut down.

“Objective one! Complete!” There was no reason to stay any longer.

Stuart and Aggron exited the Pokemon Center. The ground shuddered once more.

“So we have one unidentified person, the only thing we have on them is a shoe print that looks days old.” he spoke aloud.

Stuart hummed.

“The question is, how do we find said person. Any thoughts?” he asked.

Aggron scoured the street. They walked to the center of the street before she answered.

“Agg”

“Ahh, but who knows what's out there, last time we pulled that, we had a horde of Noctowl on our ass.” Stuart chuckled.

Their tried and true method of dealing with problems was to enter a new location and beat down the strongest Pokemon they could find. That local Pokemon would then lead them to their required objective. This sometimes backfired however, leading to day-long chases.

To be blunt, the Aggreon-Stuart duo was much more a hammer than a scalpel. They acted according to their skill set.

Energy flickers appeared from across the street.

“Aggron!” She fell onto her front legs.

Before the motion was even completed, Ranger Stuart’s Styler was already in his hands. Their coordination was flawless. This signified that something was watching them.

The Ranger Styler was an Item created by Psychics to help Pokemon and People communicate. Not without words, but feelings and images of what they wanted to convey through Psychic connections.

Aggron stared at the Storage facility across the street. Stuart followed her line of sight.

Seconds passed with no movement. Aggron decided to advance on their watcher. On all fours, she approached the building cautiously. The Energy signature was small, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Stuart followed behind as the feeling of being watched grew.

The duo followed the feeling and entered the facility.