There's a lot of reasons that one can't get to sleep. You aren't tired enough, or you took a nap during the day, and that threw off the whole sleep schedule.

For me, though, the times I couldn't get to sleep have always been because I've gone to bed emotionally charged. Whether that be frustration, or anger, or in this case, sadness, my brain is just too full of emotion for me to fall asleep.

If you live alone, you can get away with it, but tossing and turning and getting up every few minutes isn't exactly the best way to get in your roommate's good graces.

"Will you stop that!" Ursula snaps grumpily, because I've no doubt been waking her up all night with my constant movement.

"I'm sorry," I apologize robotically. "Maybe I should have anticipated this, and set up my tent outside and slept in there instead."

"No, it's fine," she says, in a much softer voice. "You can sleep in here. But, maybe going outside and clearing your mind isn't the worst thing. Considering, you know…"

She doesn't want to say it, but I understand completely. "I think you're right. Is there anywhere good to walk around midnight, though?"

"The meteorite park is open twenty-four seven," she mumbles sleepily, turning away. I do my best to change my clothes and gather my things without making too much noise, which is difficult, because I'm in the dark, but I panic when I get to my Pokéballs.

Charmeleon is still with the Pokémon Center, but I'm down two instead of one! It's only after several minutes of searching in the dark that my heart sinks as I realize that I only have four total, now.

The city is very well lit, and since my Pokémon are with me, I don't have to be afraid of anything. In addition, the park is pretty close to the Pokémon Center, so it doesn't take me that long to get there.

A total of four meteorites landed around Veilstone City, however many hundreds or thousands of years ago. I'm most surprised that nobody took them and tried to create something out of the meteorites back in the day. I, for one, would want a weapon made out of space stone or metal.

Good thing the people of the past didn't, though, or this would be a rather ordinary park. As it is, at least they have little signs giving information about meteorites, like some sort of museum. Did you know that the original asteroid, or meteor, or whatever this was, was way bigger, and that its size reduced as it burned up through the atmosphere?

Yeah, being from space doesn't make it that cool. It's still a rock, at the end of the day. I'm not Steven, champion of Hoenn. I can't force myself to be interested in this.

Ah, well. I'm still not tired, so I move onto the next one. When I get there, I find out that someone had the same idea as me tonight.

I tap Lucas on the opposite shoulder from where I'am actually standing behind him, and giggle as he turns the wrong way. "Gotcha."

"Very funny," he says sarcastically, when he sees who it was, but then his tone changes. "Couldn't sleep?" he asks carefully.

"No," I respond, gesturing at him. "You too?"

"Well, something caught my eye today, reminding me of these meteorites, so I came back here," he deflects lamely, directing his gaze anywhere but at my face. I think I know why.

He yelps as I poke him between the ribs. "If it's related to Vivillon, you can say it. You and Ursula don't need to dance around me like I'm some kind of delicate flower, you know. This rose has plenty of thorns."

"Ouch!" He rubs his midsection as I poke him again. "More like a Cacnea flower," he mumbles, twisting away from my third poke, before putting his hands up in defeat. "Fine. I thought when all the bug Pokémon took off, it looked a little like a shooting star. Hence, coming here."

"I thought the same thing, actually." I look up at the sky, where there are stars, though none of them are falling. "Did you make a wish? I couldn't think of one during that moment."

"Yes," Lucas says ashamedly.

"I give him a shoulder nudge. "Well? What was it?"

He sighs before answering. "I was wishing for something to latch onto, I guess. I"m the only one who isn't making any 's got her ribbon and ticket to the Grand Festival. You've just conquered another gym. And I'm making progress with Stantler on Zen Headbutt. It's not exactly the same."

Lucas cuts me off before I can refute him. "Everything's slowed down for me, I guess. I knew this would be a long process, but I was so motivated when I first started, and I was wishing for some more inspiration that can help me on this path."

"And this was your attempt at getting it? Because scientists believe that the Pokémon Deoxys was once a space virus that came to this world via a meteor?" I read aloud from the sign on the second space rock.

"Something like that," Lucas replies, giving me a sad smile. We move on to the next meteorite in the park, but before I can come up with anything to cheer him up, we have to duck and hide, because there are more people out for a midnight stroll, and this time, they aren't any friends of mine.

Even in the dark, Team Galactic's ridiculous uniforms stick out like sore thumbs. They didn't spot us, which is good, because they are continuing to talk quite loudly. Unfortunately, I am trying my very best not to laugh out loud at their ridiculous conversation.

"So, all we have to do is bring back the meteorite, right?" I mentally dub the first one to speak as grunt one, as usual.

"That's right," his partner confirms.

"Well, come on! We're two fairly strong, buff, good-looking guys!" I can't help but stifle a snort in my sleeve at that one. No one looks good in a toothpaste colored bowl cut and metal pants. "We can lift this thing no problem.

Grunt one steps over the rope that you're not supposed to cross and puts his arms around the meteorite. "Hnnnnngh!" he groans, trying his damndest to lift it up. After not budging it one inch, he glares at his partner angrily.

"Are you going to help me, or what?"

The second grunt shrugs. "Not if you're going to do it like that, I'm not."

Does this guy actually have a brain? Are they going to use a Pokémon to lift it instead of their bare hands?

Not quite. "You need to lift with your legs, not your back," Grunt two explains. "It's healthier that way, and besides, your leg muscles are a lot stronger than your back, especially when you take into account that you have two of each of them. Didn't you pay attention during safety training?"

He gets on the opposite side to his partner, and demonstrates. "You need to squat, and then stand up." They both get into position, with the proper technique this time, and try again.

"Are we going to do anything?" Lucas asks me, as we watch them manage to budge the meteorite a few inches off the ground this time.

I shush him. "Wait. We don't have enough information yet!"

"You just like seeing them make fools of themselves," he mutters. You're not wrong there, my friend.

At this point, the two grunts are panting and wheezing, having been defeated by a rock. "Maybe, we should work out more," grunt two says, breathing hard between every word.

"We can't go back to the commander empty-handed!" grunt one exclaims.

And that's why we listen first and don't rush in. A galactic commander is here. I turn to Lucas and speak in a hushed tone. "The grunts aren't very good, but the commander is. We probably need backup. I'll send Vivillon to go get some-"

I screech to a halt when I remember. Lucas takes pity on me when I freeze. "I'll send Rockruff," he offers, bringing his puppy out. "Go to Ursula, and make her bring us some assistance. The police, the gym leader, or even Reggie, any of them will do."

I think Rockruff understands him, but she looks like she's considering whether to listen or not. Lucas and I know that all Rockruff eventually get to a point where they think they have outgrown their trainer, and that creates a lot of trouble, but this time, at least, she barks in affirmative before racing off.

Another issue that's going to be added on Lucas's plate, it seems. For now, the Galactic grunts are continuing their hilarious discussion.

"Do you have a sledgehammer to break this meteorite into pieces? We can bring back a smaller rock, right? It's all the same, isn't it?" grunt one asks his partner.

"No? Who the heck carries a sledgehammer around? Did you pick out a Fighting-type for this mission?"

"No?"

They look at each other. "What should we do?"

Grunt two smacks his fist into his open palm triumphantly. "We can get a bigger rock, and smash it into this one to break it!" His partner makes a dubious face.

"But how are we supposed to lift a bigger rock if we can't lift this one?"

"Oh, right…"

Time to step in before dumb and dumber get any more bright ideas. "Hey, you guys can't destroy a piece of protected history, you know," I say, stepping into their vision, Lucas right behind me.

"Yeah?" Grunt one challenges us. "Who's gonna stop us? We'll send you crying back to your mommies!"

"This is much more exciting than trying to figure out how to carry a rock!" Grunt two adds. "We'll beat you down two-on-two! Go, Magneton!"

His partner sends out a Golbat to flap alongside the hovering three-headed living magnet, and that at least explains why they didn't use their Pokémon to help lift the meteorite. Neither of them have any arms!

"Come on out, Glaceon!"

"Let's do this, Porygon!"

Our opponents are quite happy to strike first.

"Air Slash!"

"Thunder Wave!"

Golbat sends out a large blade of air, at Glaceon, while Magneton discharges a weak electric current. Flinching plus paralysis? Whose job is it to teach grunts battle strategy, anyways? Alone, I'd be susceptible to this, but thankfully, I'm not.

"Intercept that!" Lucas orders. His Porygon changes to Electric-type to make itself immune to the Thunder Wave, which means all we have to deal with is Air Slash.

"Armor, Glaceon!" She douses herself with Water Pulse and freezes it solid over herself, so she's encased in ice, and the Air Slash bounces off us.

"Heat Wave!" grunt one orders, pointing again at Glaceon. Grunt two is busy trying to hit Porygon with Tri-attack, which Lucas is matching with his own.

"Ice Shard!" I say calmly. Before Golbat can even get a chance to start flapping superheated air at us, Glaceon shatters her armor and sends it screaming at the bat Pokémon, who can't dodge in time at the blindly fast attack.

It screeches in pain as our powerful Ice Shard bashes into it, and drops to a much lower height. "Flash Frost! The frozen Water Pulse knocks Golbat out, and we can turn our attention to Magneton, who is struggling to make any sort of progress against Porygon, as grunt one gawks at his quick defeat.

"Shadow Ball!" I order, trying to help Lucas out. Unfortunately, the Ghost-type attack Glaceon creates still isn't very strong, and Magneton blows through it easily with a Mirror Shot that we have to hastily dodge.

"Seriously, bro? You already lost?" Grunt two asks, peeved off.

His partner shrugs. "We always work on perfecting that first strategy. I dunno what to do after it fails!" Grunt two can't admonish him any more, because Lucas and I are pounding away at Magneton.

It takes a while, because most of our attacks are resisted, other than Water Pulse, but it too eventually goes down. Finally, we have a chance. "You two boys are coming with us to answer some questions," I threaten.

"That's what you think!" grunt two refutes me. "We have backup coming. In fact, they're right behind you!"

Lucas, me, and our Pokémon turn around to confront this new challenger, but we see only air. When we spin back, both grunts are already making a run for it.

I can't believe we fell for that, but no one comments on the shameful fact that we've been outsmarted by two morons, and we take off after them.

They're headed to the fourth meteorite, and it quickly becomes apparent that they're not alone. Five more galactic grunts are here, taking samples of the rock, along with a tall woman that I almost think is Fantina for a second. She's tall, composed, and has purple hair in buns like the gym leader, but it's in a different style.

Commander Jupiter doesn't even bother to look our way, when her two minions race in, yelling about people interfering with our mission. "You and you," she points out two of her subordinates, one man and one woman. "Deal with them, please."

"Right away, Commander Jupiter!" The grunts look eager to please, stepping up to us and throwing out their Pokéballs.

"Go, Golbat!

"Go, Gumshoos!"

Another Golbat. One day I'll find out why these things are the preferred Pokémon of villainous teams everywhere, but it shouldn't be any harder to deal with than the previous one.

The other Pokémon is some sort of weasel with an absolutely terrible haircut. It's probably some region's version of Raticate. I'm not exactly worried.

"Whirlwind!" The female grunt shouts. Glaceon gets lifted off her feet for a second, and Gumshoos gets a gleam in its eye.

"Body Slam!" It puts its whole weight into the attack, and if Glaceon wasn't quick enough to roll out of the way, she would have gotten pancaked, because that attack left a crate not unlike the one a meteorite might leave.

Raticate can't do that.

"Whirlwind!"

"Body Slam!"

This time Porygon is the target, but they were better off attacking Glaceon and I. Lucas has Porygon change to Ghost-type and Gumshoos passes straight through it with its Body Slam.

"Helping Hand!

"Dark Pulse!"

Gumshoos flinches under the power of Porygon's Dark Pulse, and while the Golbat Grunt is free to do something, apparently the only thing she knows is trying to create openings for her partner. So I'm free to ignore her and tell Glaceon to take out Gumshoos in short order.

Golbat falls soon after that and finally, Jupiter deigns to look at us as her second pair of minions stumble back in defeat. "How irritating," she says. "I suppose you're here to stop us from collecting data on the meteorites. The righteous folly of children."

"You call it collecting data, but your grunts were trying to take the whole meteorite for themselves," I correct her. "So yeah, we're trying to stop you."

A flash of irritation crosses Jupiter's face, before it's wiped off. "Is that so? They weren't supposed to be doing that," the two grunts in question shrink back at her words. "But the intention was never to simply steal one. We would simply borrow it if it had significance; Team Galactic has quite the collection of brilliant minds, even though our grunts don't always give that impression."

"In the middle of the night?" Lucas asks, crossing his arms, not buying her wordplay.

Jupiter shrugs cooly. "The park is open all hours. You're here, after all."

I really don't like how smart Jupiter sounds, and how she has answers to everything. Clearly, she's doing something wrong here. I just need to get her to admit it. I hear some police sirens in the distance and grin. "If that's the case, you won't mind answering some questions when the police arrive. Like what Team Galactic was doing, taking energy from the Valley Windworks. Or why you joined up, and what you're using that data for."

The commander raises an eyebrow. "I think you'll find the police are more than a bit occupied right now." That doesn't sound good. "And besides, do you have a warrant for your claims?"

Lucas and I look at each other. "Uh, no?"

"Then I'm under no obligation to answer any questions, or hand over anything," Jupiter says in a bored tone. "You have no authority to do anything. Or delve into my personal business, for that matter."

Whatever. "Listen, you old bag." I drop the veneer of politeness. "I don't give a damn about whatever midlife crisis you're undergoing that caused you to join up. Hand over the data, and I'll be nice enough to give you a five minute head start before everyone comes after you."

"Insolent brats," Jupiter mutters under her breath. She survey's her three remaining grunts, before pointing at two of them, who stand to attention nervously. "You and you, give your Pokémon to her, and continue with our research". She nods at the final one. "We'll take care of this."

"Yes!" the female grunt cheers, coming to stand by the commander's side. "I knew I was better than the rest of you," she brags to her compatriots. "I deserve a title. Like, Assistant Galactic Commander!"

"Assistant to the Galactic Commander," Jupiter corrects without missing a beat. "There's a difference."

"With potential to go up?" the grunt asks. I'm still referring to her as that as long as she wears that dorky outfit.

"And down," Jupiter replies.

"Well, that means I better show out! Go, Mawile!"

Jupiter wordlessly throws out her first Pokémon as well, a spinning starfish standing on two of its limbs with a glowing red gem in the center.

Porygon floats out in front of Lucas at his command, but I put up a hand when Glaceon steps forward. If she had mastered Freeze Dry and Shadow Ball, this would be a cakewalk. But she hasn't, and thus we don't have a good way to hit Starmie. In addition, the previous Magneton proved that taking down Steel-types can be an issue with this combo.

With Charmeleon in the Pokémon center, that leaves me one good option. "Bellossom, I know you're hurting, in more ways than one, but I need you right now, okay?"

I get a yes from her, but when I throw her out, Jupiter hides a laugh behind her arm. "What's so funny?" I challenge.

"Oh, nothing," she dismisses me, sitting down criss-cross. "This will be interesting, that's all. Starmie! Gravity!"

The battle starts before we even realize it, and I'm on my butt, unable to stand up when Starmie increases the gravity level in our area. Porygon, who usually floats a couple of feet off the ground, is also bound there, though Bellossom and Mawile, short as they are, aren't that affected.

"Hydro Pump!" Jupiter orders. Starmie fires off a cannon-like hose of water from its gemstone, straight at Porygon.

"Sunny Day!" Like in the gym battle, Bellossom creates a ball of light in lieu of intensifying the actual sun's rays. That, combined with Porygon changing typing to resist Starmie's attack, means Hydro Pump hits more like a Water Gun.

"You're making this too easy!" The grunt boasts. "Mawile, Fire Fang!"

I raise an eyebrow, as Mawile charges towards Bellossom as fast as it can, backwards, with its maw side open and coated in flame. "Weather Ball!"

The grunt quickly changes her tune. "Dodge!" she shouts hastily, and her Pokémon cancels the Fire Fang and flattens itself ungracefully to duck under our Weather Ball.

"Thunder!" Jupiter calls, and a storm cloud appears over Porygon, before a lightning bolt comes down from it. Lucas immunes the attack by having Porygon convert into a Ground-type, and that has the grunt asking questions.

"Commander Jupiter, what's going on with that Porygon?" she asks, keeping an eye on the battle, unfortunately, keeping Mawile aware of the Weather Balls we throw its way.

"It's using Conversion to change its typings to respond to every move we make," Jupiter surmises correctly, a bit too quickly for my liking. "We need to hit it with two moves at the same time so that it can't pick one type to counter with. Starmie, Blizzard!"

The grunt catches on surprisingly quickly. "Mawile, Thunder Fang!"

Blizzard is headed for Bellossom too, so I have to hope Lucas can handle this. "Brace yourself with Moonlight!" With Sunny Day up, and the moon, I guess, being that it's night, Bellossom is able to heal through the super-effective attack.

"Porygon, electric conversion into Discharge!" Lucas's answer to the enemy's attack is to power up his Discharge and send it flying at everyone. Bellossom grits her teeth and heals through that as well, but our enemies have a different response.

Well, one of them. "Camouflage!" Jupiter orders, taking a page from our book, turning her Starmie into a Ground-type to immune our electric attack. The grunt and her Mawile aren't so lucky.

By the way electricity crackles across its body, I think we've hit the jackpot and paralyzed it as well. I point to Mawile. "Weather Ball!"

"Tri Attack!" Lucas adds.

"Power Gem!" Jupiter says. Starmie's gem glows before it fires a beam of energy at our two attacks, protecting Mawile. The grunt's eyes shine with happiness.

"Thank you, Commander!" Jupiter ignores her minion, waiting for our next move. I take a second to evaluate what I've seen so far.

Like, Jupiter is pretty good, considering she's got a lot of powerful moves, and a decent strategy, having Gravity to increase the effectiveness of these sometimes unwieldy moves, but I feel like she's not as good as Mars. That, or I'm just a much better trainer now than back then. I mean, Lucas and I used to have trouble with grunts, and now we smoke them easily.

Speaking of grunts, two of them are still working on the meteorite with their assortment of instruments. I feel like Jupiter's plan is simply to stall us until they're done.

But if she thinks she's going to get away scot-free, she's sorely mistaken.

"Fake Tears!" the grunt shouts, taking advantage of my inaction. Mawile turns around, and it's real body and face start crying Croconaw tears. I'm not fooled, and neither is Porygon, not being well versed in emotions as it is, but Bellossom is vulnerable, since it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since Vivillon has left.

She completely drops her guard, and to compound this issue, the ball of light in the air winks into darkness, as Sunny Day fades.

"Blizzard!"

"Dark Pulse!"

Both attacks are targeted straight at Bellossom. And we don't have a recourse.

"Porygon, block!" Lucas shouts urgently, before turning to me. "Take them out!" He urges, as his digital Pokémon suffers the brunt of the two powerful attacks.

I nod dumbly. "Petal Dance on Starmie!"

Bellossom summons a storm of petals to her command with several twirls and flourishes, and sends them straight at Starmie, who's still weak to Grass, even though it has changed types.

"Psychic!" I feel the effects of Gravity wear off as Starmie puts all its effort into controlling our attack instead, and I gratefully stand up. This time, Bellossom has turned the Petal Dance into a bunch of stalactites, which she is trying to bring down on Starmie, though the starfish is just holding them back with its Psychic.

Out of the concern of my eye, I see Porygon going down, but that only strengthens my resolve. After all, we didn't put all this work into manipulating Petal Dance only for that one contest! "Split it!" I call and at Bellossom's command, the stalactite missiles explode into clumps of petals, which swirl into a funnel and descend on Starmie.

I can imagine the starfish being sucked into the tornado and being thrown about like a ragdoll, until Bellossom finally lets it die down and brings the petals back over her head in a cloud. Starmie's red gem is no longer blinking brightly, I'll tell you that.

Still, the only reaction we get out of Jupiter is a glance back to look at her subordinates working. I do the same, seeing no one on our side. Surely Rockruff hasn't gotten lost, right?

"Thanks," I mention to Lucas, before I forget.

"Don't mention it," he replies, recalling Porygon and throwing out Monferno, presumably to clean up this Mawile.

Jupiter does the same with Starmie. This time, she sends out a Pokémon with a pretty simplistic blue body, though it has a giant, bright red flower on its head.

Bellossom looks upon the Vileplume with wide eyes, before spinning around to me. I can tell she isn't in the right frame of mind to fight her sister Pokémon, as it were. "It's fine," I assure her. "You've done plenty today."

"A shame," Jupiter says, upon seeing my recall of Bellossom. "I wanted to see who was better." Her Vileplume backs up her statement by shaking its flower aggressively, letting spores fall to the ground.

"Our team is better than yours, and that's all that matters," I respond snidely. "Let's show them, Lucas, Glaceon!"

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Right!" my tag partner agrees. "Flame Wheel!" Monferno races towards Mawile covered in fire.

"Play Rough!" the grunt responds.

"Icy Wind!" I point at Vileplume.

"Sludge Bomb," Jupiter says simply.

Vileplume and Glaceon's attack collide evenly while Mawile kicks up a cloud of dust to obscure itself as Monferno zooms in. I can't actually tell what's happening in there, but Monferno is the one backflipping out, as opposed Mawile, who lays prone on the ground.

The grunt quickly recalls it and sends out another Pokémon. "Go, Lunatone!"

The crescent moon shaped Pokémon hovers over the other battlers. Pretty fitting, to use a Lunatone at night, I would say.

"Swap?" Lucas asks me, to which I oblige. We don't have a great matchup against Lunatone, but we should be fine, and we aren't losing the good matchup we have against Vileplume.

In theory, of course. Our opponents are quite happy to put us to the test. "Lunatone, Power Gem!" the grunt directs her Pokémon.

"Moonblast!" Jupiter adds. Vileplume builds the silver ball above its flower and throws it at Monferno, while Lunatone shoots the crystal-like beam from its eye.

"Fire Punch!"

"Water Pulse!"

We meet our opponents' attacks and match them easily. "Water Pulse again!" I order.

"Acrobatics!" Lucas commands Monferno.

The female grunt scoffs at my display. "Is that all you've got to hit us with? Cosmic Power, Lunatone!"

Jupiter eyes Monferno leaping into the air, heading for her Pokémon, and decides against trying to hit my acrobatic teammate. "Moonlight, Vileplume."

Lunatone twinkles like a star as it glows, while Vileplume shines like the moon, ironically enough. They both get hit by our attacks; Lunatone gets sent spinning for a bit, while Vileplume hunkers down and takes the Acrobatics right in the flower, scattering spores everywhere.

Now that I think of it, I'm almost certain Lunatone learns Moonlight as well, because it's literally, you know, a moon. I can't let this thing get too many defense boosts with Cosmic Power, because it can heal itself as well.

"Can you taunt Lunatone?" I ask my friend. Monferno's face seems a little green, after its clash with Vileplume, but Lucas obliges.

"Sure," he says slowly, because his Pokémon is struggling to breathe. Still, the fire monkey manages to infuriate Lunatone enough to where that red aura appears around it, signifying that it's in attack mode only.

We're both looking over Monferno in concern, though. I don't remember Vileplume using Stun Spore or Poison Powder, so what's up? "Remember that list you keep of Pokémon you don't want to make contact with?" Lucas questions me out of the blue.

"Uh, yeah?"

He points at Vileplume. "We might need to add a few more to it. Vileplume's special ability is Effect Spore, which can also inflict status upon contact.

Jupiter claps at his observation. "Well, aren't you knowledgeable? But seeing as your partner won't fall for it too, I'll have to bring the status over there! Vileplume, Poison Powder!"

Her Pokémon lowers its head and points it at us, shaking it to release a poisonous cloud. Monferno is struggling, having already been poisoned, so it's up to me and Glaceon to deal with this.

"Psychic!" Jupiter's assistant shouts, and Glaceon is forced to stand like a statue from the psychic hold on her.

"Use Rain Dance," Lucas tells me urgently.

"What about Monferno?" I ask, glancing between the slowly advancing cloud and Lucas's Pokémon.

"I don't think we'll have much effectiveness while being poisoned," Lucas admits. "And rain will cut down their Moonlight healing, and give you a lot more options to attack."

"Alright," I agree. "Glaceon, break the hold with Bite, then use Rain Dance!"

First, she maliciously bites down at the blue aura covering her to shatter it. As Lunatone recoils, Glaceon quickly summons a dark cloud to dumb a deluge of rain on us, and to wash the Poison Powder into the ground.

"I'm going to need a new wig," the grunt mumbles, though Jupiter doesn't drop her cool persona when she gets drenched, which is a stark departure from the previous galactic commander I've encountered.

"Weather Ball on Lunatone!" I order, since Monferno's on a timer for how much longer he can fight. Glaceon's attack sucks in the rain to become a swirling ball of water that she launches at our floating opponent.

"Acrobatics on Vileplume," Lucas urges his Pokémon, who grits his teeth through the poison and leaps into the air again to start the attack, since their Fire-type attacks aren't going to do much.

"We have more ways to heal," Jupiter tells us ominously. "Strength Sap!"

Vileplume glows green as Monferno slams into it this time, latching on with its stubby arms before Lucas's Pokémon is able to wriggle out of its grasp, looking even more tired than before, while Vileplume seems no worse for wear.

At least my side of the battle is going better. "Rock Polish!" the grunt calls, forgetting that her Pokémon is still taunted. When Lunatone makes no move, she curses and quickly changes her strategy.

"Moonblast!"

Her attack might actually be able to match our rain-boosted Weather Ball! Lucas and I look at each other, and we make the decision without even speaking.

"Mach Punch!" Monferno coughs several times and grimaces before launching himself at Lunatone.

"Grass Knot!" Jupiter tries to trip them up, but I'm ready to cover their backs.

Glaceon freezes a sheet of droplets at my command and sends them flying at Jupiter, too fast for either of them to do anything but be startled, and let Vileplume get struck. With Grass Knot interrupted, Monferno is free to slam a fist into one side of Lunatone's floating body, and then drop down in time for Weather Ball to hit it hard.

The enemy Pokémon drops several feet, as its ability to hold itself up is weakened, a great sign that Lunatone is almost finished.

I point triumphantly at Lunatone. "Water Pulse!"

Monferno does his best to keep Vileplume occupied with a series of weak Fire Punches, and it's enough to let Glaceon's Water Pulse wave swamp Lunatone into defeat.

"I'm sorry, ma'am!" the grunt cries, as she recalls her fallen Pokémon and brings out one more Pokéball. "I'll show you how much I've learned! You won't regret making me an Assistant Galactic Commander!"

"I made you Assistant to the Galactic Commander."

When she throws out her Pokémon, Lucas and I take several steps back, because of what it is; a giant smelly skunk. I figured Jupiter would have the Skuntank, not her assistant, though I suppose doubling up on the stink with Vileplume and Skuntank would be too much odor for any one trainer to handle.

I suppose we'll find out what else Jupiter has soon enough, because our opponents aren't exactly letting up the pressure.

"Venoshock!" the grunt orders, and Skuntank sprays poison from its mouth, thankfully, aiming for Monferno.

"Water Pulse!" I counter after a delay, thrusting a finger at Skuntank. I'm counting on Monferno to still be able to dodge, even though this poison has taken a toll on him, and I delayed for a couple seconds because I don't want the attacks to collide.

I want Jupiter to order Vileplume to block our attack, and that's exactly what she does. Vileplume plants itself (heh) in front of Skuntank, and I snap my fingers. Flash Frost smacks into the Grass-type, putting it on its butt temporarily.

It's not without a cost though, because I hear both the sound of Monferno getting splattered with Venoshock, and his agonizing wail after.

Damn it. I guess I overestimated his ability to dodge. Not a great display of teamwork on my part. "I"m so sorry," I apologize profusely, as Jupiter's assistant calls for a follow up Poison Jab to finish off Monferno.

Lucas sighs heavily, worry clear on his face for his Pokémon, but then he nods towards Vileplume. "Don't be. Just make it count."

I'm about to call for another Ice Barrage when the rain stops pouring on us abruptly. That pause is all the time Jupiter needs.

"Ingrain!" she calls, and now I'm getting really annoyed. How many healing moves does her Pokémon have?

"Leech Seed!" Jupiter says next, and I hear the hit as Skuntank and Monferno collide for one last time, but I can't do anything about that anymore.

"Ice Shard!" I bellow, and Glaceon rips through the Leech Seed with Ice Crystals that form around her.

Jupiter is still not done showing me Vileplume's arsenal of healing moves. "Giga Drain!" Vines sprout up around Glaceon, no doubt connected to their underground system of ingrained roots, trying to steal even more health away from us.

"Armor!" I order Glaceon. She splashes a Water Pulse over herself and freezes it, denying the Giga Drain vines from wrapping themselves around her and sucking her energy away. "Now, Ice Shard!"

"Skuntank! Block it!" The grunt shouts, and her Pokémon does so when Glaceon shatters her armor and sends it screaming at Vileplume. Lucas is in the process of recalling Monferno and issuing him a quick thank you, so we're faced with two Pokémon temporarily.

"Icy WInd!" I command, not waiting to give Jupiter a chance to have her Vileplume heal more. The polar winds threaten both Pokémon, but the grunt has a better option than blocking it this time.

"Flamethrower!" Skuntank breathes a river of fire, easily pushing back our attack. Jupiter is extremely smug, but her expression changes as Lucas throws out his final Pokémon.

"Stantler, Bulldoze!"

The ground erupts under Skuntank, and that one second is enough for the flames to cut off and give us a window. "Flash Frost!" I seize the moment, and finally, Glaceon puts Vileplume down to the point where it can't sustain standing any longer.

I feel like it took forever to take down this Vileplume, but I think we're in a decent spot, depending on what Jupiter's last is. And depending on if Ursula and Rockruff are ever going to get here.

Seriously, where are they?! I've been hearing police sirens in the distance this whole battle, but they haven't gotten any closer.

The Galactic Commander pulls out her third Pokéball. "As much fun as this has been, it's time for me to finish this."

She throws out her Pokéball, and I curse internally as a pitch black hound from hell appears, with sharply curved horns, a skull on its chest and white bands like shackles around its ankles.

Stantler paws at the ground nervously and takes several steps back, despite Lucas trying to reassure his Pokémon at the sight of the Dark-type that injured him so badly. The grin on Jupiter's face looks like it came from her Pokémon.

"Scared, are we? That's good. Don't worry, though. My darling Houndoom won't tear you two up too badly."

Regardless of that statement, we need to neuter this dog. "Rain Dance!" I order Glaceon again, to try and quell some of Houndoom's fire.

"Toxic!," the assistant to the galactic commander shouts, reminding me that she's there, and that she still poses a threat. I really can't afford Glaceon to get badly poisoned, and I buckle in the face of the toxic blob Skuntank spits at her.

"Cancel and dodge!" I shout. Jupiter smirks, seeing as we can't rain on her parade.

"Flamethrower." Houndoom spits out a river of fire, and the grunt copies her commander, and Skuntank adds its Flamethrower to Houndoom's.

This is not looking good! Glaceon shoots a massive Water Pulse at the ground that just about stops the attacks in a burst of steam, which is a relief, because our partner is struggling to find the courage to fight.

Lucas is doing his damndest to change that, but it's not a fast process.

"Acid Spray!"

"Sludge Bomb!"

Skuntank spits a debilitating acid designed to weaken and make you susceptible to a follow up attack, which is what Jupiter is going for. We have to stall somehow until Stantler and Lucas can participate again.

"Armor!" I order. Glaceon covers herself in ice, and thankfully, Acid Spray is too weak to penetrate the armor. It splashes off, hissing as it hits the ground, and Sludge Bomb, though it explodes on her and pushes her back, doesn't do much on anything either.

I observe Glaceon for signs of being poisoned, but she seems healthy for now. Things are starting to look upward. Jupiter doesn't seem as cocky as she was when she first sent out Houndoom, and Lucas is starting to work his magic on Stantler.

He has his Pokémon by the head, covering Stantler's ears in what I assume is an effort to reduce Stantler's stimulation. And maybe to blockout Houndoom's eerie growls. "Stantler, I know it's hard," Lucas says, forcing his Pokémon to look him in the eye. "All I'm asking is that you trust in our friends. Luna and Glaceon will make sure Houndoom doesn't hurt you, okay? Focus on Skuntank."

Lucas gives me a sideways glance to shut up for a second as I open my mouth to retort, because that's asking a lot, for us to deal with Houndoom, a powerful Fire-type, and keep it away from Stantler, but the Normal-types quivering legs start to stabilize, and he looks less likely to dart off.

No time to think. Only to take action, and trust they can handle Skuntank. "Quick Attack!" I shout, thrusting a finger at Houndoom.

"Are you daft?" Jupiter asks me, before laughing when she realizes I'm serious about having Glaceon race towards her Pokémon. "Fine. Iron Tail!" The hellhound's whip-like tail lights up in preparation for the move.

Glaceon skids to a halt on my next command, as Houndoom lashes out with its tail. "Sand-Attack!" She throws a clump of dirt straight into its face, causing it to sputter and miss wildly.

On the other side, Lucas is having Stantler use Bulldoze, which is good, considering Ground is the only weakness Skuntank has.

"Jump and use Poison Jab!" the grunt shouts. Her skunk leaps up to avoid the exploding earth underneath it, claws dripping with poison.

"Confusion!" Lucas orders next, to which the grunt laughs like her commander.

"A Psychic-type move against a Dark-type? Really?"

Lucas gives a smile right back to her. "It's not aimed at Skuntank, actually." All of Stantler's practice moving rocks is coming in handy, finally, as he picks up the exploding chunks of earth from Bulldoze and sends them flying at Skuntank, who struggles to break them with its Poison Jab.

"Flamethrower!" Jupiter orders, brow furrowed. I might actually make her break a sweat! Houndoom breathes fire at us once again.

"Water Pulse!" Glaceon creates a wall of water by splashing it on the ground once again.

"Thunder Fang!" Huundoom's mouth crackles with electricity as lunges forward, trying to turn our attack against us, by electrifying the water.

But we're one step ahead. "Icy Wind!" Glaceon freezes the water wall into one of ice, and Houndoom smacks against it instead. It snarls at us and melts the ice with its overheated breath.

Stantler is pushing Skuntank back steadily, which means we have to keep up the offensive to prevent Jupiter from getting involved. "Quick Attack again!"

"Dark Pulse!" Jupiter shouts preemptively, not willing for us to get close enough to blind Houndoom again. Her hellhound shoots a spiraling dark beam into Glaceon's path.

"Water Pulse on the ground and freeze it!"

This is something we've been playing around with, seeing as Glaceon has had a lot of free time, since she wasn't involved in the Veilstone Gym battle. Turning the terrain into an ice rink.

She fires Water Pulse low to the ground, and freezes the wetness to create an icy path, which doubles her speed so she can zoom right past Houndoom's attack and get behind it before Jupiter or the hellhound can react.

"Ice Fang!" Glaceon snaps down on Houndoom's hind leg with icy jaws and while it isn;t the most damaging move, it's very annoying for our opponent.

"Payback!" Jupiter roars, and her Pokémon literally explodes with hateful black energy, as if it was unleashing Houndoom's pain and frustration twofold. Glaceon tumbles backwards, but that's not the most important thing going on.

"Headbutt!"

"Night Slash!"

"Flame Charge!" Jupiter declares. Houndoom lights up with fire and charges forward, gaining speed with every step.

I make my decision. "Helping Hand!"

Even though it means Glaceon gets run over by our fiery opponent, sending the energy Stantler's way is worth it, as the bonus power means he bashes through Skuntank's Night Slash to finish our stinky opponent emphatically. The grunt immediately gets on her hands and knees, and presses her head to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Commander Jupiter! I failed you! Please don't demote me!"

"I think that will be the least of your problems," I interject cheekily. "The offer's off the table. "Glaceon, Rain Dance!"

Houndoom's growl is a lot less threatening as it crouches and backs away as soon as the rain starts to fall again. "We won't hurt you too badly," I mock Jupiter, repeating her words from earlier. "Now, return your Houndoom and come-"

A bright blue flash interrupts my monologue, and I flinch backwards at the burst of light. Backup has arrived, but not for me. A young woman with bright red hair and a hula skirt shakes her head to orient herself after arriving via teleportation.

Well, shit. I glance behind me, hoping to make Ursula and Rockruff appear magically, but of course I have no such luck.

"What's taking you so long?" Mars asks Jupiter aggressively. "This was the easy mission! But I'm already done on my side."

Jupiter seems unphased by the younger commander. "I had some interference, if you didn't notice." She jerks her head towards us.

"Is that another one of their leaders?" Lucas asks me in a hushed tone, but my response is interrupted.

"It's you!" Mars directs that statement at me with so much venom that I can't resist turning around and pretending that she's talking to someone else.

Then I put on my best innocent face and point to myself. "Who, me?"

Mars sounds like she's grinding her teeth together as she speaks. "I thought it was you earlier. Of course it has to be raining when I run into you again. Whatever. I've been waiting for this!"

Jupiter steps back to her grunts still working on the meteorite as Mars furiously flings out her Pokéball. "Go, Bronzong!"

There's so much to unpack in those few sentences I don't know where to begin. Mars had a mission simultaneous to this one? Doing what? How'd she already evolve her Bronzor?

And of course there's the fact that she apparently ran into me at some point, even though I haven't seen her since way back in Floaroma Town.

We'll figure all of that out later, though. I don't have to be scared of Mars anymore, even if she's stronger now. I'm stronger too, and though Lucas and Stantler might not be of much assistance, with their Normal, Psychic, and Ground coverage, we can take her.

"Glaceon, return. Go, Absol!"

"You think I'm scared of a little Dark-type?" Mars asks me, not in the least intimidated. "Bronzong, Iron Defense!"

Her Pokémon shines with the power of steel to better endure our attack. It reminds me a bit of Moonlight, with the way Bronzong is glowing, and that reminds me of a move Absol can use.

"Thank you!" I tell Mars as cheerfully as I can, to annoy her further. Her expression gets even grumpier as Absol understands, and swipes a paw through the air. A dark replica swipes through Bronzong and snatches that shiny glow and bonus defense for ourselves.

"Weather Ball!"

"Psycho Cut!

Absol sends a psychic slash out to chop through the rainy orb she sends our way. "Flash Cannon!" Mars orders next angrily.

We slip by it at the last second with Detect, just for fun, and fire off a Dark Pulse, which Mars meets with Flash Cannon.

"Psychic into Rock Slide!' she calls next. Obviously, she can't attack Absol directly, but Bronzong can bring forth several rocks from the earth to hurl at him, an amped up version of what Stantler used against Skuntank.

"Us first!" It's all too easy for Absol to predict the moment Bronzong is going to throw its rocks, and lunge into it with Sucker Punch, scoring Bronzong's steel (or bronze, I guess) body.

"Knock Off!" I quickly follow up, and all the rocks fall back to earth as Absol smacks Bronzong in the face.

"Body Press!" Mars all but screams, and her Pokémon glows orange with Fighting-type energy and falls towards Absol, like the rain that was falling a few seconds ago but has finally let up.

I'm not worried. "Megahorn!" Absol catches the attack with his extended horn, and flips the much heavier Pokémon back, though Bronzong rights itself with its psychic levitation powers.

Mars's next move confirms we have her on the run. "Confuse Ray!"

Bronzong's red eyes glow sinisterly, but I scoff. "Get out of here! Taunt that thing!"

Absol actually rolls over, like the playful Pokémon he never is, demonstrating his utter disrespect for our opponent. The telltale red aura appears around Bronzong, denying it from confusing us.

"Dark Pulse!"

"Gyro Ball!"

Spinning is a good trick, but it doesn't help Bronzong one iota in this circumstance. The massive thud from it hitting the ground almost knocks me from my feet, but I can't help the smile that appears on my face.

We didn't even take any damage! Absol plus Glaceon surely will be able to beat her Purugly, and I have full confidence Vivillon can handle her Noibat-

...Right.

"How is this possible?" Mars mumbles to herself. "Me, losing to someone like you? You're nothing!" It's kind of crazy that she has such a personal vendetta against me. I've never met someone that hated me this much. Her face is in a permanent scowl, not to mention her words…

It hits me like a bolt of lightning. That girl in the department store earlier! Marianne, the veteran trainer in the circuit! She's…

I mentally compare her appearance, mannerisms, and dislike of me to the commander across from me, and it all clicks.

Famous trainer by day, galactic commander by night?! All she did was chop off most of her name and add an S?

But before I can even begin to formulate a question, Mars slash Marianne is recalling Bronzong and pulling out another Pokéball. Absol and I tense up for this next opponent, but Jupiter's hand on her arm stops her.

"What?!" Mars shouts to her fellow commander.

"We're done here," Jupiter says calmly. "Despite the meteorites being extremely old, they aren't in any way related to the creation of the world. There's no need for us to take one."

"You're interested in the mythology behind the creation of the world?" Lucas asks carefully.

"And what's this about leaving?" I add my two cents in. "You're not going anywhere."

The purple haired commander doesn't answer me. "Perhaps I'll tell you more about us next time. Until then. Ta-ta, kids!" Not a second later, they're all gone in flashes of blue light, as some unseen Pokémon teleports Mars, Jupiter, her assistant, and the rest of the grunts out.

We saved the meteorites, and sent them packing, I guess, but it doesn't feel like a victory. Tonight brought up more questions than answers.

To compound everything, I hear an engine behind us. It's Officer Jenny in her motorcycle, with Ursula and Rockruff in the sidecar.

You cannot make this stuff up. Right after Team Galactic leaves, our backup arrives. "Did you get lost?" Lucas questions, not wanting to ask if Rockruff had led Ursula astray.

It seems that isn't the case. "No," our friend replies tiredly. She doesn't have the battle adrenaline helping her overcome losing so much sleep. "We had to go to another place, where a robbery was occurring. Nobody on the police force could be spared until just now."

Was that what Mars was up to, before she showed her face here? Must have been some crazy operation, to get that much attention. "What did they steal? Money? Jewels? Priceless pieces of art?"

"Worse," Officer Jenny tells me gravely. "The stolen item is a priceless artifact, but also an irreplaceable part of Sinnoh's history. Tonight, there was a break-in and a battle at Galactic Energy headquarters, and the Adamant Orb was stolen."

Team Galactic stole the Adamant Orb… from themselves?! I'm so confused.

Sorry, Vivillon, but I'm going to truly have to let you go. Because Team Galactic is on the move once more, and even the Flower Paradise won't be safe if they manage to get their way.