Lilith walked out into the bustling night.

People maneuvered left and right, with small cars zipping across the road. She couldn’t help but stop to take in a breath of fresh air. The cities she had visited thus far were practically void of fowl air, nothing like the ones she was used to. Time marched onward and the sun had set while inside.

The trip had been productive but short. The best kind of combination. Lilith wasn’t a super shopper, but getting her new upgrades felt great.

“Hmm, Hmm hmm mhmm.”

Even with all the commotion, she couldn’t help but flip open her Pokedex as she hummed a tune. The general direction was checked before changing over to its intended function. Her path was set.

It had been a long while since she last checked the surrounding areas for dark type Pokemon. At one point she had just given up hope, having to wait until Castelia to have access to something other than Purrloin and Alolan Ratatta.

Lilith was sure she could train them into great Pokemon, but their starting point and natural strength were just too low. She had standards for what she wanted on her team and they just didn’t make the cut. Sableye had been a spur of the moment decision, and one she commended herself on. He wouldn’t be one of her main Pokemon, but served as one of the few support Pokemon she would settle for.

Virbank was tapped once more, looking for an update. There had been a disturbance months ago, with an unidentified Pokemon wreaking havoc on young Trainers. There had been no new reports on the incident, with the latest going back just under a week ago.

“Come on… I was hoping for a surprise in Virbank…” She mumbled.

The surrounding Trainer’s strength had probably caught up to the wild Pokemon, being unable to ambush them any more. That, or the incident was already taken care of. But with no identifiers of the perpetrator, it would be impossible to identify if they were still active.

‘Something to look out for.’ She thought.

If it was indeed a good Pokemon, then she would have to capture them at all costs. Her best bet was to visit the previous locations where people were attacked. But with the Pokemon not targeting humans, then the situation would have been resolved. Other Pokemon were knocked out, with no escalating behavior.

‘I could be bait.’

Dark Pokemon were naturally drawn to her. Many Purrloin had stalked them, along with her other encounters which led her to believe that if she walked around enough, then the Pokemon would simply come to her.

‘How do you even get attacked without knowing what attacked you?’ She wondered, thinking less of those specific Trainers.

The reported attacks had happened at night, but it wasn’t like there was total darkness. It was an interesting thought. With that, Lilith made her way over to the central Pokemon Center. It was an odd concept to grasp at first given her prior knowledge. The only other City in the games to have more than one Center was Lumiose in Kalos. The more she thought about it though, the more it made sense.

The areas she went to were much larger, sometimes even multiplied by the thousands. There was no way a single Pokemon Center could cater to all those people. She glanced back and forth at her screen, noticing she was getting close. Lilith lifted her head and glanced around.

‘How could I miss that?’ She admonished herself.

The Pokemon Center was well marked, having flashing neon lights. The large Pokeball was easy to spot and was positioned right above the door. The traffic was steady, but not enough to create a line. Lilith headed inside and turned right. The Pokemart were all in the same spot and her steps brought her confidently to the store's entrance. At that point, it was just a matter of finding the right personnel.

“Hello, I purchased an item from the western Pokemart on my way into town. I was told I could pick it up here.” She explained.

There was no line, given the late hour. Lilith was able to walk right up to the register and ask for her order.

“Swipe your card here please.” A bored looking employee instructed.

Lilith did as she was told with some reservations. The man was nothing like the one she had just experienced.

The machine dinged so he leaned in and scrutinized the screen before him.

“I’ll be right back.” He said while getting up.

The comment was directed more at the air than her. Lilith tried her best to wait patiently but the impulse to sneak into their back rooms steadily increased. It took all her willpower and the reminder that she had been caught last time to reign herself in. Cheren had been forgiving once, but she couldn’t expect everyone to be so accommodating.

‘Get stronger so no one will catch you…’ She thought mischievously.

It took a few minutes until the familiar blue uniform came into view. Tucked under his arm lay her box. The front cover had the Eject buttons image along with the company who made it. The actual name was irrelevant, having never heard their name. Considering the game never explored the economic nuances of a fantasy world it wasn't much of a surprise.

With the package in tow, she could get down to business.

A sudden feeling overwhelmed her body. It was like buying a brand new videogame, but then putting it on the shelf and waiting to rip open its contents or uncover its hidden secrets.

Only one place could hold her focus.

The space had big open domes where assembly lines used to be. Fields of grass covered the ground, making it an ideal spot for wild Pokemon. Virbank Complex was an industrial zone that had been shut down years ago and only recently opened to the public. Pokemon were brought from abroad and allowed to flourish on the inside to create a unique environment.

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Trainers new and old benefited from the exchange zone. A small security fence covered the southern side of the city to protect the inhabitants. It didn’t matter who anyone was, they could all gain access to the area. Security guards were only positioned to keep wild pokemon from running wild in the city.

‘Some security guards they are, letting people and Pokemon get attacked…’ She thought.

It didn't take long to find the main entrance, having road signs all around.

The area initially looked like any other Route. It had a large road down the center with dilapidated buildings on either side. The setup reminded her of a highway, with small offramps to get to different parts of the zone. Grass sprouted up from the road, with giant potholes in some places. The area hadn't been cared for in a long while.

With her initial inspection done, she noticed the distinct lack of people. It was already late and people probably didn’t sleep in the area considering they were right next to the city. It wasn’t too surprising she was the only one out and about.

Lilith stood in the center and chose a direction at random. With the route planned, the surroundings became more clear. The buildings were only about a meter apart from each other and rough gravel stood in between. She picked one of the through ways and followed the path until it opened up somewhere else.

The new space was about 20 meters wide and looked like an open courtyard. Picnic tables sat apart from one another in even intervals, with two doors leading in the adjacent buildings. Small patches of grass covered the outer edges and the ambiance was that of a relaxation area.

‘How cute.” She thought.

Lilith liked the little plaza and decided it was a good place to get to work. The T.M. was pulled from her bag with the item box right after. She was unsure what to expect from either so it took only a few seconds to consider. A new move was much more flashy than the item, so it was tossed aside.

“What fancy packaging!” She marveled while inspecting the box.

Before she went any further, Sableye and Absol were released from their balls. Neither joined her inspection, finding the new space more interesting.

The box was methodically unraveled until the disk could be lifted from the box. She pulled the round object out with care and sat at one of the nearby tables.

“Hmm.” Her brows scrunched.

Shirley had gone over what they did, but never how to actually use them. The game was simple, just push a button and instant gratification, but reality was different. Only the instructions would be helpful now. A small packet of papers clung to the inside of the box.

It took some time to read over the information before trying to digest it. The learning process was relatively straightforward. A small circular stand held the disk while a small round triangle poked through the hole in the center of the T.M. The next step was to hit a button and the disk would spin, feeding energy from the surrounding area into the disk. Sableye would then have to get close and feel the waves of energy given off. It wasn’t an exact science, but the move usually just clicked after a while.

She threw the packaging aside and placed the stand on the ground.

“Sableye!” She called out.

The disk was ready. At her call, both Pokemon returned to see what was going on. The team formed a triangle around the strange object, giving it strange looks. Lilith reached down and pressed the switch on the side. The revolution was slow to start and left the unanswered question if it was working.

“The instructions just say to feel the energy. If you grasp it once, you are then able to use the new move independently.” She encouraged her Pokemon, explaining what the Technical Machine was supposed to do..

Absol lay down on the ground, seemingly uninterested, while the small Darkness creature huddled up to the spinning contraption. He reached out into the air trying to feel the energy coming off it but found nothing. The group sat around patiently while Sableye reached out once more. It took a few more tries, but purple flares formed around his hands suddenly. Before getting going, the attempt sputtered out before he could do anything with them.

The sudden flare caught Absol’s attention.

“Ah! You almost had it!” Lilith cheered.

He was on the right track. Sableye tried once more, reaching out to the ghostly purple flames. Lilith watched in wonder as the small gathering stabilized into a circular form.

“Was that it?” She asked.

Previous attempts had disappeared into nothingness, but each time they grew stronger. Sableye said nothing and instead stepped back. He closed his eyes and held out his hands in concentration. A few awkward seconds later and nothing happened. Just as Lilith was about to say something, a bright flash filled their tiny alcove.

“Ahh!” Lilith yipped

Both spectators jumped back in surprise, neither wanting to be burned.

It took a second to collect themselves, noticing that the flames weren’t hot. Neither reached out to touch them, but the air remained the same. Sableye jumped around in victory as the flames pooled together into an orb. It functioned almost exactly like his Confuse ray, as he quickly got used to the feeling. The only difference was that the flames couldn’t disappear. They were rather striking, making it hard to hide.

With that, the T.M. was useless.

“Sol!” Absol.

Before she could shut the device off, Absol expressed interest. She got up off the ground and stared at the disk as it rotated, having felt something when Sableye had gotten the move to click.

‘It would be great if she could learn it too…’ She thought hopefully.

Sableye and Lilith left her at the disk and gave her space. They moved to a different section of the yard, ready to practice his new move. The air was buzzing with excitement.

“Let’s start with how fast you can activate the move.” She said, pulling out her notebook.

Her Pokedex was ready to time his progress. She expected it to be just as fast as Confuse Ray, given that his Ability was Prankster. The innate talent gave him a huge boost to his activation speed when utilizing status moves, or Priority as the game called it.

Sableye indicating his first attempt. Lilith in turn hit the start button as he tried pulling on his new move. His hands were held out like he was asking for something until the flames circled into his open palms. Lilith watched as he fling the orb towards a stray board they had set up previously. She hit the stop button on the watch when the target burst into flames.

With such a flashy move, both couldn’t help but scramble over and see the damage the move had caused. Lilith moved her hand over the faint scorch mark, being the only proof that it was hit. The energy had dissipated quickly.

Lilith looked back to her stopwatch. 12 seconds had gone by from start to finish. She wasn't sure how good that was, considering how fast he had caught up on his previous moves. They had a baseline.

“Once more!” Lilith cheered.

The duo reattempted the move over and over, trying to go a little bit faster than previous. Considering how slow the move was, it wasn’t battle ready. She wanted it usable by the time they challenged the Gym, but they still had plenty of time.

By their final attempt, Sableye had gotten down to 11 seconds. It wasn’t an incredible improvement, but things took time. The Power Point limit had been reached, signaling the end of their short practice.

The duo turned just in time to see ghostly flames converge around their neglected team member. Absol’s red body and white fur glowed as the light scattered off her. She too had learned Will-O-Wisp.