I set out for the Valley Windworks the very next day right at sunrise, because it took a couple of hours to get there on foot, and if a Team Galactic Commander really was there, mucking things up, this would be a long day. It was quite a pleasant walk, the entire route beside a medium sized river, with no one challenging me at all to battle. Most people understood that people were primarily going this way for tourism, and that it was bad business to bother them with Pokémon battles, so most trainers were on the other side of the river, where there was much rougher terrain, more suitable for training and getting stronger, where they could prepare for a long trip to Eterna. The only problem is that the drawbridge that connected the two sides was up, with two more Galactic grunts standing at the entrance on the other side of the bridge.

A young girl, maybe only seven or eight years old, is yelling at them. I tense up while I watched the scene. The Grunts like to joke about beating kids, but surely that's only trash talk against younger trainers. They wouldn't harm a defenseless child, would they?

Thankfully, it appears that they would not, despite the girl throwing a bunch of high-pitched insults at them. "Spacesuit meanieheads!" she accuses, yelling across the river to make herself heard, before huffing and plopping on the ground with a visible pout.

I walk over to see what the matter is. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She looks up at me, before pointing at the grunts across the river. "My dad works at the Valley Windworks, but those weirdo men in spacesuits came and are forcing him to work all day and night! They won't even let me see him! Can you help me? I really miss him…" She says, with glistening eyes and a slightly runny nose.

I hastily console her before she bursts into tears. "Yeah, of course. I'll go save your dad from those spacemen."

That instantly cheers her up, and she wraps her arms around my waist before turning back to the river and starting to shout. "Hear that, meanies! This nice lady is going to mmph-!" I slap my hand over her mouth and drag her away before she can give away my intentions.

I park her next to a couple of nearby flowering berry bushes before I uncover her mouth. "Stay right here until I come back. And don't tell those two that I'm going to go rescue your dad."

I wait for her to nod before I take my leave. Easier said than done, unfortunately. Especially since I was going in here solo, and these Galactic Grunts preferred strategy seems to be working together, whether to fight in pairs or go one after another against a single opponent. They also weren't too concerned about fairness. Gym Battles and organized tournaments were monitored, referred, and chock full of safety procedures and measures. Even the ones you had while walking around tried to imitate those battles to the best of the trainer's ability, and there was an unwritten code about what was and was not ok. It's probably not worth it to try and train up my Pokémon against these guys. I should just go for the win.

There's a sole guard standing at the entrance to the main facility when I arrive at Valley Windworks. I would have taken some time to admire the majestic windmills, but unfortunately, there were more important things to do.

I size him up as I walk up to the entrance. I don't recognize him, but again, they all look the same. He doesn't appear to have a partner, so he probably isn't one of the ones I have encountered before.

"Don't you dare go into the Valley Windworks main building, kid. The commander's orders for me are crystal clear. We of Team Galactic are conducting extremely important business here. I'm to allow no one that isn't part of Team Galactic to pass by me."

I stop a respectable distance away from him, and wordlessly expand a Pokéball as my response.

He pulls his own out of his pocket. "So, you're gonna try and get in, huh. Well, I was getting bored, anyway. You'll have to battle me for it!"

"Go, Glaceon!"

"Zubat, go! Use Steel Wing!"

"Icy Wind, now!"

Finally, we've managed to find a Galactic Grunt with a Zubat. How low on the totem pole you have to be to get stuck with this thing as your Pokémon?

Judging by his battle style, pretty damn low. He throws away the main, and only, really, advantage his Pokémon has by commanding it to fly straight towards us instead of trying to maintain distance and use Zubat's aerial mobility. The bat Pokémon's wings glow white, and it flies toward Glaceon in an attempt to use the super-effective attack.

Only to get blown back and one-hit-ko'd by the sheer cold power of our icy attack. The grunt ducks as his bat smashes into a lightbulb above the door, and is plastered there like a frozen, macabre Halloween decoration. He recalls it in disgust.

"What a shitty Pokémon. My bosses expect victories over tough trainers, but all they give me to battle them is a useless Zubat!" he complains, pocketing his Pokéball and not bringing out another, though he is holding something.

It seems he doesn't have a second one. "Why don't you just let me in and go look for another Pokémon in the meantime?"

He shakes his head. "No way. Just because I got owned by some girl doesn't mean I don't take pride in my job. I'm going to prove to the commander that I'm not an incompetent waste of oxygen. Sorry to renege on our deal, but you're not getting in even if you trashed me." He flashes the item in his hand, a key identical to the one that had been dropped in the flower meadow by his compatriots. "I can just go inside and lock the door behind me so you can't get in! There's only two of these Works Keys, and my fellow grunts have already come back from their mission! Hahahaha! In that sense, I'm no longer the loser!" With that, he opens the door, darting inside and slamming it behind him, and I hear an audible locking sound from the other side.

Poor guy. Time to shatter yet another grunts' dreams.

But before that… I grab both of my other Pokéballs and summon Charmander and Oddish to my side. No point in playing fair. It's not my fault all these grunts only have one Pokémon each.

I pull out the Works Key from the flower meadows, insert it into the keyhole and turn it to unlock the door. We all quickly shuffle inside and confront the grunt once again. He's right in front of the entrance and has a stupefied look on his face. "It- It's not possible! You have the other key! Those idiots must have dropped it on their way back… Locking the door was meaningless! I am the loser after all!" He shakes his head again. "This is no time for self-pity! I have to alert the commander! Even if I have to face her wrath. This is going to cost me in the wallet…" He winces and bolts down the hallway, disappearing to the right.

We all chase after him, kicking up a ruckus as the grunt pulls down a couple of potted plants in an effort to slow me down. At least there's no point in trying to act stealthy, since I literally walked in the front door, and now someone is going to go alert the Commander. I'm stopped halfway down the first hallway by two more of his coworkers. By the expressions on their faces, I assume they are the two from the meadow that Lucas and Monferno sent packing or the two in Jubilife. Their words confirm their identity.

"Oi! You're friends with that brat who ended our honey collecting scheme! This isn't fun and games for us, you know. This is work!" Grunt one shouts.

"Yeah! You cost us our chance at a promotion!" Grunt two adds, before a thought comes to him. "Wait, if we kick out the intruder, we can be redeemed! No way they'll pass us up if we beat you right here!

They both send out their Pokémon, the same as before, Joltik and Raticate, this time intending for a double battle. But that works for me too, and I might as well use my numerical Pokémon advantage.

Grunt two holds back, no doubt waiting for an opening to use Sucker Punch while Grunt one commands his Pokémon immediately.

"On the wall and use Electroweb!"

Like the spider it evolves into, Joltik defies gravity by skittering up the wall, charging up and firing a sticky web made of electric energy.

"Oddish, block that attack and go for Stun Spore on Joltik." Sucker Punch should fail if the opponent isn't going for an attack. The grunt doesn't even go for it. But that means Joltik is wide open.

Even though she is covered with and takes damage from the electric web, Oddish releases the paralyzing spores towards Joltik, giving it a taste of its own medicine.

"Now use Magical Leaf on Raticate!" She glows green under the web and as Oddish is about to fire a barrage of leaves at the rat, its trainer smirks cockily.

"Do it, Raticate!"

As expected, Raticate flashes in to deliver a headbutt, but it's not gonna get away so easily this time.

"Helping Hand on Oddish, Glaceon! Charmander, take out Joltik with Dragon Rage!

Charmander blasts the paralyzed bug with blue fire, leaving it fainted among a black patch of wall. And even as Oddish is sent flying from the Sucker Punch, she fires her attack, juiced up by Helping Hand, and the homing leaves return the favor.

"Quick Attack, and don't let up!" Glaceon darts into the rat over and over, not letting it have a chance to retaliate. "Sorry for making you take all that damage Oddish. Go ahead and heal up with Moonlight." She glows silver as I turn to Charmander. "Get ready to take it out."

Finally the grunt gets frustrated. "Come on! Get that thing with your Hyper Fang when it comes close!

I give Charmander the nod. "Glaceon, jump!" Raticate lunges forward, fangs bared, but all it gets is a faceful of dragon fire instead.

"Damn," Grunt one gripes. "The two of us, defeated by two different brats, on two consecutive days. What will the commander say?"

"Fucking kids, messing with our jobs. I just hope that we don't get put on toilet scrubbing duty like yesterday. Have you seen how many stalls those bathrooms in the main building have?" the second one says, both recalling their Pokémon, and passing me to leave out the front door.

"You all healed up Oddish?" I ask, and she answers with a cheery nod, the Electroweb finally gone. "Then let's keep going."

One more grunt comes to confront me as I enter a large conference room with a massive wooden table on my right. This one is a woman, though she has an almost identical bowl cut to the men. The only real differences I could see are in her facial features and the fact that the rubber pants and tinfoil socks the male grunts wore have been replaced with a short skirt and long metallic colored leggings that go into her boots.

"Hold it, kid! Team Galactic has big plans for the electricity produced here!" she shouts, as I finally run into a grunt who has two Pokémon, a Glameow and a Bellsprout.

"Bellsprout, use Acid and Glameow, use Assist!"

Glameow's assist turns into a Stun Spore, sending a massive cloud of yellow spores at my three Pokémon, along with a glob of acid. "Icy Wind!" I shout. And use your own Acid to counter, Oddish!"

Icy Wind freezes the spores in their tracks, while the two poison moves meet above the large table, dripping into it and causing a hole to form in the wood from the acid chewing through it. I wrinkle my nose at the acrid stench of the smoke. "Use Water Pulse on Glameow!"

"Glameow, Confuse Ray! And block that for her, Bellsprout!

Gotcha.

"Flash Frost!" I call out the new name for Glaceon's frozen water pulse. She sends the attack flying at the enemy, and as Bellsprout moves to cover the cat Pokémon, whose eyes are glowing, it freezes, knocking the Grass-type into its partner and both of them into the wall like a couple of bowling pins.

"Follow up!" I shout, pointing at the struggling enemies, and after an attacking combination of fire, water and grass, both enemies are left knocked out within a newly formed wall crater.

She stomps her foot in frustration. "Ugh! This is why I had my husband get a vasectomy, so I could focus on my career! I hate kids, especially ones who are tough trainers!"

…I really did not need to know that.

The defeated grunt complains about the misery that having children must be under breath the whole way out, recalling her Pokémon before leaving through a side door. She can't resist a parting shot before she leaves, though, sticking her head out to get the last word in. "Just you wait, brat! The commander is better than all of us combined. She's going to smash you!"

One last glance at my Pokémon tells me that they are ready to go. In fact, the prospect of a powerful opponent, likely the strongest since our gym battle, has them raring to fight.

I take a deep breath to steel myself, before pushing open the door to the next room and revealing four people inside. One is the galactic grunt who had locked the door on me, forced to stand in the corner facing the wall, like a naughty child put in time out. A second, older man with wild, receding hair is hunched over a computer screen, typing away furiously, not even bothering to look up to see who had opened the door. A third is also working, though his normal brown hair and being middle-aged means that he's likely the father of the little brunette girl I had met on the road. And the fourth … Her bright scarlet hair, cut to look like a helmet, wide hula hoop skirt and gleaming, polished outfit tells me exactly who she is, but I still wait for her to introduce herself.

The only thing that struck me about Mars as she turned around to face me was that she was young. Age meant different things in the Pokémon world, since little kids were allowed to have Pokémon, where even the likes of Magikarp and Feebas have the possibility of becoming exceptionally powerful Pokémon. In a team full of adults, rising to Commander when you were what, eighteen? Twenty at the most? She must have written a killer resume and nailed her interview, unless she's another one of these child prodigies with who graduate college when they're twelve.

Mars looks me up and down, and smirks dismissively after evaluating my three Pokémon. She turns to address the grunt in the corner.

"So this is the 'super tough trainer' that managed to defeat you and the other grunts?"

The grunt actually turns around to check, an action that has Mars's eye twitching and causes a vein to bulge in her forehead.

"Didn't I tell you not to turn around?"

Instead of cutting his losses, he actually tries to explain himself. "Well, Commander, you asked, and I was mak-"

"It was rhetorical, you idiot! Face the wall! I'm tired of seeing your stupid face."

The commander turns back to me, breathing deeply.

"Now, where was I. Ah. I'm one of Team Galactic's three Commanders." She slides a glance over to her right. "Four Commanders," she amends.

"My name is Mars!" She pauses before actually saying 'is Mars', which indicates that it's probably a fake. Makes sense, because I'm pretty sure the Roman God Mars is male. "You're probably wondering what we are all doing here. Well, Team Galactic is committed to making a better world. And this is a step toward that."

A better world, huh? As in improving this one, or creating a new, more ideal one? Cyrus wanted the latter, but I could see a grunt joining up, being fooled by the play on words. Now where did Mars fall on that spectrum?

"That's rather vague, isn't it?"

"You're sadly mistaken if you think I'm going to tell you anything else. I really don't like nosy brats, especially ones who try to interfere with my mission," she informs me bluntly.

Wow. What a stingy bitch. What kind of villain doesn't take the opportunity to gloat about their evil plan? "Well, I don't like bullies who barge in and force people to do their bidding."

"You're the only one who barged in uninvited, aided by the sheer incompetence of my underlings, of course. Dr. Kaze here is helping us of his own free will." The girl's father pulls at his collar, not meeting my eyes when I glance at him.

Something stinks like a Skuntank. Chose to help Team Galactic willingly? Why would he do that?

"I can tell that you don't believe me," Mars challenges, holding out a Pokéball. "In that case, let's have a battle to decide what we should do next. If I win, you leave. If you win, we, Team Galactic, will leave!"

That's surprisingly straightforward. What's the catch? "Two Pokémon each then?"

Her smile is all teeth. "Oh, I wouldn't want to leave anyone out." She pulls out two more Pokéballs with her free hand to go with the one in her right. "Let's make this a three-on-three!"

The red light on the left turns into another bat Pokémon, this one purple with oval yellow eyes and oversized ears, while the one on the right forms as a floating blue hexagon. As surprising as it is to see a Galactic member with what I'm pretty sure is a rare Dragon-type, all my attention is on the Pokémon in the center, which is very aptly named.

Mars's middle Pokémon is built more like a small bear than a graceful feline. It's bulky, it's ugly, and it looks aggressive. Hard to believe something as elegant as Glameow turns into a brutish Pokémon like this.

I did not expect this to turn into a triple battle; I wasn't even sure if Mars even had three Pokémon. This could get rough, because my knowledge of these is even less than what I know about double battles. One fact I do recall is that your Pokémon formation is extremely important. Mars has put her strongest in the center, so I did the same. Of course, that also means Purugly and Glaceon are the most susceptible to being attacked. I then array Charmander against Bronzor, to ensure at least one favorable matchup, since Oddish will fare terribly against both of her other Pokémon. The way I see it, there's two ways to approach this; either I concentrate on taking this fat cat out, or strike at the other Pokémon, and leave Purugly for last.

There's one other thing I know about triple battles. Certain attacks can hit all the Pokémon at the same time, if they have a huge area of effect. One of which we have, which makes the second option much more preferable.

"Icy wind!" A hit on her bat should be a powerful, potentially quadruple super-effective one.

"Absorb that!"

To my astonishment, Purugly jumps in front of Glaceon's attack, looking cocky as it puffs up like a balloon to double its size, standing right in the way and looking ridiculously unbothered as it endures the brunt of the attack, even as ice crystals form on its fur. Purugly makes sure nothing could get through to the other, more vulnerable members. This is already looking bad, but I try and press through regardless, mentally shifting to plan one.

"Attack Purugly with Magical Leaf and Dragon Rage!"

Bronzor, protect! And Noibat, Air Cutter!"

Bronzor swoops down in front of the cat Pokémon and summons a green bubble that blocks Charmander's attack, while Magical Leaf is shredded by Noibat's Air Cutter. which means both of my plans for this battle have been foiled already.

Uh oh. The female grunt's words are starting to sound true. Mars has already demonstrated her skill by handling my opening salvo of attacks flawlessly, without even breaking a sweat.

The Galactic Commander knows it too. "Is that the best you can do?" she gloats. "Let me show you how a real trainer battles! Use Iron Tail on Glaceon! Bronzor, Psybeam on Charmander! Noibat, use Tailwind to support Purugly!

"Dodge!" I screech. Some fancy footwork from my Pokémon is the only thing that saves me from getting wiped right there.

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

As the battle rages, what's becoming painfully obvious is that Mars is a much better battler than me. She isn't stupid enough to tell her Noibat to fly in and attack head on. She knows that her two fliers are better utilized at range, and she uses them to pepper my team with attacks like Dark Pulse and Air Cutter from Noibat, or try and hit them with status moves like Confuse Ray from Bronzor. And despite its size and bulk, Purugly is fast, especially with Tailwind behind it helping cancel out any slow effects from Icy Wind, and it has a wide array of powerful moves to throw out, like Play Rough, Iron Tail, and Shadow Claw. It's no slouch defensively either. I suspect it has the ability Thick Fat, because Mars is quite happy to let her cat take on any Fire or Ice moves I throw its way.

My inexperience with this type of battling is showing too; I'm doing my best to keep my head on a swivel, but I'm not omniscient. I'm missing things, and that's reflected in the state of my Pokémon. Glaceon is moving a little gingerly from taking a stray Iron Tail, and I have to yell at the top of my lungs a couple of times to snap Charmander out of confusion caused by the very annoying Confuse Ray or by another Psychic-type attack, though bright red scratches from where he hurt himself with his own Metal Claw are visibly dripping.

Oddish is looking the most ragged, however. Her leaves are totally wilted and torn up from repeated Air Cutters. Mars has zeroed in on her as still the weakest member of my team, not to mention the atrocious matchup she has against the Noibat opposite to her. As terrible as it's going now, it'll be far worse if one of my Pokémon is to go down. "Oddish, heal yourself with Moonlight!"

Mars's expression is condescension with a smidgen of pity mixed in. "Are you that naive to think I'm just going to let you spend time healing your Pokémon unpunished? Use Air Cutter! Purugly, Crush Claw!"

I see out of the corner of my eye Bronzor preparing another Psybeam, but I can't issue an order to Charmander right now. Both attacks are aimed right at a vulnerable Oddish. "Glaceon, Water Pulse on Air Cutter! And- and block that Crush Claw!"

I don't know what else to do! Oddish is too busy healing herself to dodge. Water Pulse cancels out Air Cutter in a shower of droplets, but Purugly is unimpeded, and savagely rends Glaceon's side, turning it into a bloody mess. She screams in pain, but manages to stay upright on sheer effort alone.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK! We're even worse off than before! Oddish might be looking much better, but now my strongest Pokémon is just as wounded, and she doesn't have a way to heal herself. I need to do something to surprise Mars, that she won't expect and easily counter. But how? Purugly is nigh immune to Fire and Ice attacks, so it will block those, and Bronzor knows Protect. That leaves Noibat as the most vulnerable Pokémon, the one I can target. But with what? It resists almost everything I have, meaning Dragon Rage is the best of my options.

I have to catch it off guard somehow, or it'll dodge. And I somehow have to occupy Bronzor, so it can't use Protect to save Noibat. So where does that leave me? Hoping for a miracle.

We just have to go for this. No time to reconsider. "Glaceon, go for Icy Wind!"

Even while injured, and while wincing just to breathe, Glaceon sends out a powerful polar wind, perhaps understanding that this is going to be our last stand.

Mars actually yawns, before making a gesture with her hand. Her Pokémon doesn't even need its trainer's command to jump in the way and take on the attack.

"Magical Leaf!" I command, pointing at Purugly. "And Charmander!" I shout so loudly that he looks toward me with a start. I tilt my chin toward the ceiling, trying to will him to understand what the plan is. "Dragon Rage on Purugly!"

I don't know if it's the desperation and the tone of my voice, or maybe because he's remembering our first ever battle together, where I performed a similar fake to get him an opening to attack, but Charmander understands. He flicks his tail quickly and I can tell that he's on the same wavelength as I am. I only wish I had a moment to marvel at our synergy and how intelligent Pokémon are.

"I can't believe a loser like this is who all my grunts lost to. You don't even remember what happened earlier? Once I remind you, I'll finish your Pokémon off for good! Air Cutter, Noibat, and block that attack Bronzor!"

Noibat takes out Magical Leaf with Air Cutter as usual, while Bronzor swoops down while Charmander charges up and launches a ball of blue fire. The Steel-Type turns to face the oncoming attack with a protective bubble of green…

Only for both Purugly and Bronzor to look up in surprise as the fireball flies straight over both of them, instead headed for Mars's third Pokémon, who's currently preoccupied.

"Noibat!" the Galactic Commander screams to get her Pokémon's attention.

Time almost seems to slow as the fireball is on a collision course with its target. Noibat cuts off its attack and turns at the sound of Mars's voice, yellow eyes widening upon seeing the attack almost being upon it.

It just takes a bit too long. Noibat stops flapping its wings entirely, dropping like a stone so the attack misses the top of its large ears by mere inches. It continues on its flight path and smashes into the ceiling instead, leaving a giant burn mark and setting off the smoke detector, its incessant beeping only adding to the headache inside my skull.

All that, for me to not take into account how far Dragon Rage would have to go to actually land. Of course Noibat would have time to react. Mars's expression turns into a cocksure grin, her and I both knowing that I'd basically blown my last opportunity to turn the tides in this battle.

As shameful as this is, there's only one thing left to do.

"Charmander. Use Smokescreen."

The black fog fills up all the space between us, and while I hear the distinct sound of a door being opened and Mars's voice commanding her Noibat to blow this smoke away, this should buy us enough time.

It stung my pride, to be sure, to be forced to retreat after getting so thoroughly outbattled, but it is what it is. I don't even think it's because my Pokémon are much weaker than hers. The real canyon of difference in this battle is between the two trainers. She's just way better than me.

I back up towards the door from where I came, and my Pokémon huddle around me. I quickly pull out a potion to spray on Glaceon's wound and then an Oran berry for Charmander to eat, that I end up tearing in half when the potion isn't healing the damage to Glaceon's side as much as I would like. Glaceon's injury probably needs a super potion that I don't have, but hopefully this would ease the pain and make her feel better until we returned back to Floaroma Town.

They all look to me for instructions as soon as they are finished. I respond by pulling out all their Pokéballs.

All three of my Pokémon protest my decision immediately. "What!" I say defensively. "Listen, this has nothing to do with you guys. You've all fought awesome. In fact, I'm the one who's been outclassed today. But we're injured, and we're slowly losing. "

Glaceon and Charmander look at each other before turning their heads to the side. Oddish hesitates a second longer before ruffling her leaves wildly and doing the same; all three clearly want to keep battling. I could overrule them. I'm the trainer here, and while the ideal relationship between trainer and Pokémon should be a partnership, unless they really wanted to defy me by popping out of their Pokéballs as soon as I recalled them, the last say on this goes to me. But I've been put in a pickle. Either I go against my better judgment and send my Pokémon back into a losing battle, or I have to deal with the lingering fallout of this disagreement, the fact that I didn't believe in them to win this battle, for who knows how long. Such is the burden of a Pokémon trainer and of leadership.

Maybe I can convince them with some good old-fashioned logic. "Look, I don't like losing anymore than you three do, but what exactly has gone right in this battle that makes you all think we can win?" I know they're smart enough to understand how poorly we were faring.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Both Oddish and Glaceon gesture at Charmander, who tilts his head back and shoots a flame straight up as a response. A blue flame. Why is that the reason they want to stay here? Almost didn't cut it in a Pokémon battle. "The last attack? It didn't work, remember?"

Now Glaceon is the one to shoot a miniature water pulse straight up. I pull my hand over my face. Yeah, I managed to figure out a strategy to take out Roark's Rampardos, but I had two battles worth of observation to formulate it with, and it wasn't like I was one-hundred percent confident that it would work! While it may not have been a fifty-fifty coinflip, it was still a risky gamble! I peer at my Pokémon's faces between my fingers. All I see is confidence and faith. Faith in me to make some magic, to craft a genius plan that would lead us to victory. No pressure, right? The smoke has almost faded; I can see Mars's bright scarlet hair through what's left of it. "Alright," I say more to myself than them. "Alright. Let's do this."

They all give me determined nods, turning to face Team Galactic's commander for another round with her Pokémon. Glaceon stays back just a moment, glowing a brilliant rainbow color, clapping her paws together and sending it at me before my Ice-type turns around. The Helping Hand washes over me and while it doesn't make my brain operate fifty percent better or anything, it helps my resolve. A little.

I see two discarded potions next to Mars's white boot. It seems she is of the same mind as me, and also took the time to heal up her Pokémon. Fantastic. She raises a red eyebrow upon seeing that we were still here. "I thought you would have run by now," the young galactic commander sneers condescendingly. "I'll make sure you regret that decision to stay."

Her voice isn't nearly as grating as this stupid smoke detector, assaulting my ears with it's nonstop beeping while I'm out here trying to think up a miracle strategy. I glare at it, as if that would make the damn thing stop, but as I do, my eye wanders a few feet to the right, to another fire safety measure present on the ceiling.

I stare at the sprinkler for five seconds before shaking my head. I mean, come on. This has to be the most ridiculous idea that has ever been concocted in my brain. But in fairness, it did get a win in what was otherwise an impossible matchup. But am I really that desperate, to try and replicate one of Ash Ketchum's signature strategies?

Yeah. I am.

"Charmander, take out that thing above you with Ember!" I yell, pointing at the sprinkler. He hits it with the fire attack, and it explodes in a massive spray of water. Mars and her Pokémon had been looking up, and she flinches back when she gets some water right in her face. The Galactic Commander clenches her fists and shouts over the spray of the sprinkler, makeup dripping down her cheeks. "Just what do you think you're doing! Do you think a cheap trick like this is actually going to give you an advantage against me!"

Finally, finally, I've managed to do something that injected some chaos into Mars's carefully conducted style, and loosened her stranglehold on this battle. Now to really go for the throat. "Glaceon! Use Ice Barrage on Noibat!"

"When are you going to stop wasting my time! Purugly!"

Glaceon had started to tense up as soon as the water started to spray, anticipating what was coming next. But even I didn't expect the amount of power she puts in this one. Forget a localized flurry of ice and snow; instead, the whole room drops way below freezing, to the point that I can see my breath.

"Wha…" Mars breathes, in awe despite the circumstances, and I have to agree. There must have been hundreds, or even thousands of water droplets, and now every single one is a marble-sized pellet of ice, suspended in midair. As one they all start to quiver, and every single frozen droplet is then sent rocketing right at Noibat.

"Bronzor, Protect! Purugly, get in the way!"

It's not enough, even with Purugly blocking as much as it can, and Bronzor throwing up the green bubble of protective energy. Trying to intercept this attack would be like trying to walk through a hailstorm with a newspaper as your only shield from the onslaught of ice. Purugly and Bronzor perhaps block two hundred frozen pellets, but there are a thousand more behind them, and while Noibat can dodge a few, it starts getting hit. Each one might not do much damage on its own, but this is like the equivalent of death by a thousand papercuts. Noibat is battered and battered until it finally can't fly anymore; it drops, landing limply on the polished tile floors.

"What a fool!" the redheaded commander snarls angrily as she recalls Noibat. "All that work to take out just one of my Pokémon, but you left one of yours weakened! Purugly, use Crush Claw!" Purugly jumps into the air, claws on its right paw extended and glowing wickedly, as it threatens, with all of its one hundred plus pounds of weight with gravity behind it threatening to deliver a savage blow to one of my Pokémon. My first inclination is that Glaceon is the target, but my stomach drops when I realize who it actually is.

Oh, damn it all! What kind of trainer am I! Charmander can't be out during the rain, let alone a freezing cold one! This sprinkler is still going strong, spraying out water constantly. I expect to see Charmander laying on the floor with a sputtering flame or cowering while trying to shield his tail.

Instead, even while he's soaking wet, his tail flame is burning so hot and bright that I can literally hear and see steam coming off of it. I'm stunned into silence, and I can't even bring a command to my lips watching him. Not that he needs it, as he grows his claws and imbues them with the resilience of steel, matching Purugly's attack head on. While it looks to be even for a couple of seconds, with some reservoir of strength that seems too much for his small body, Charmander actually manages to throw the larger Pokémon backwards, forcing Purugly to ruin a few floor tiles by digging its claws to slow its backwards momentum. Where is this power coming from?

I should have expected Charmander's whole body to light up. I mean, I had just seen this yesterday, and I have an evolved Pokémon already. Now, I truly understand why Professor Rowan chose to devote his life's work to researching Pokémon evolution. Something about it is just magical, every time you see it.

"Char… meleon?" I call out, testing the name on my tongue once he's emerged as a taller, ganglier fire lizard, with a more angular head, fur much closer to a deep red than the previous orange that it was as a Charmander and a fanged smile full of confidence. With his newfound power, Charmeleon tilts his head back and unleashes a breath of real fire, not a barrage of superheated coals, before glaring at our opposition as if to "have a go at me now."

"Honestly. How fortunate can someone be! First you stumble into a cheap trick, and then your Pokémon evolves mid-battle?" Mars grits, and I'll even admit that she might be right. Too bad I couldn't care less. Now, not only are we up three Pokémon to two, we have two evolved Pokémon to one for Mars.

Charmeleon looks absolutely raring to give this Purugly a taste of his new strength, and I'm happy to oblige him. Let's see if Purugly can stand up to this type of firepower. "Okay Chameleon! Hit that cat with your best shot!"

Mars seems to have gotten over some of her misfortune and regains a touch of bravado. "Evolved or not, that pathetic excuse for a Pokémon is no match for my Purugly! Your Charmeleon's fire attack won't leave a mark on her! Show them exactly what I mean!"

Charmeleon seems to take that personally, flaring his tail and building fire in his maw before launching it in the shape of a ball, in a similar mold to Dragon Rage but with orange and red flames instead of blue. straight at the Normal type, who puffs up, not fearing it in the slightest. Mars is not bluffing about her Pokémon's level and defensive capabilities. I don't see it flinch in pain or take one step back, even as the fire attack literally explodes on the cat's body. I do hear a cry of pain from a Pokémon, though.

Somehow, when the attack had exploded, a jet of fire had flared off from the main fireball and smashed into Bronzor instead. It has a black burn mark on its blue steel body, and it dropped a foot in height. I immediately point at the weakened Steel-type.

"Take it out!" I shout, as Mars screeches in disbelief. Purugly, despite how many times Bronzor has covered it in this battle, is not willing to return the favor. The Normal-type simply gets out of the way of a combined fire, water and grass triple attack with an expression of catty disdain on its ugly face. Purugly's choice means that nothing prevents Bronzor from getting totally annihilated, and without the psychic strength to levitate its heavy body in the air, it too drops to the floor. Unlike Noibat, it leaves a massive crater, as if someone dropped a massive anvil from a story high. Mars is forced to recall it as well, and the Galactic commander's angry red face is the same color as her hair. "You… you uppity brat of a trainer! How dare you do this to me!"

Her Purugly is still strong, and healthy enough to fight, but this is in my hands now. I just need to keep my cool and slow play this. It doesn't have anything to cover it from any other attacks. The goal should be to pin it down to where it can't avoid any attacks, and this battle is mine to win.

But before I can order anything, a slow but loud golf clap interrupts me. Mars and I both look over to see that the older, slightly balding, man with strange mirrored glasses and a long white labcoat has come off of his computer. "My, my," he taunts, directing his words not at me, but at the redheaded commander. "driven into a corner already, Mars? And by a child of all things. What an embarrassment of a performance."

How long has this dude actually been watching? Did he not see Mars giving me the business for the majority of this battle?

The young commander did not take insults nearly as well as she dished them out. "You stupid old fool! Who do you think you are, to talk like that to me! Only one person in all of Team Galactic has any authority over me, Charon. So don't think of yourself as important!"

Charon is probably a fake name as well, but that's all I have to go by. He unplugs something and closes his laptop before he responds. "I am important, Mars. Far more important than someone like you. I have the ear of our glorious leader, because I am one of the very few who can match his genius and turn his plans into reality. The only reason you were made a commander is for your alleged battle skill, and all I can see is a shameful loser and a mediocre loudmouth."

The teamwork between these two makes Lucas and me look like Wallace and his Milotic. It seems that Team Galactic isn't exactly a united front. At least I'm learning some valuable information out here.

If Mars gets any more heated, steam will come off her like the sprinkler water, now finally finished, evaporating on contact with Charmeleon's tail. "Bastard," she spits. "I'd put my battle record up against anyone. Had I not been restricted in what Pokémon I can use-"

Charon's voice cuts across her complaining. "You were our third choice, don't flatter yourself. And don't blame your inadequacies on Pokémon. You were allowed to keep one of your own, which is more than most of our grunts are afforded."

"Why you pathetic little-"

He ignores her. "Fortunately for you, Mars, my report to our leader on your performance today won't be one of complete failure. We have been able to source a great amount of power from this plant over the past few days, as well as incredibly valuable research. I foresee many spectacular possibilities for Team Galactic. But for now, we should leave before you humiliate our name even further." Charon pulls out his own Pokéball and summons an alien-looking Pokémon with calculating green eyes that probably should be the mascot for this team of spacemen.

"Beheeyem, grab those. We are leaving."

For a second, I think that Mars is going to initiate a battle with the other Galactic Commander for usurping her authority, or even just run over and punch him in the face herself, by the way she looks like a volcano set to erupt. Eventually, she settles on kicking the wall behind her with an enraged scream of frustration, adding one more hole to the already numerous damages caused by our battle. "Grunt! Get the door for me! NOW!"

The grunt in timeout jumps up, and runs straight to the door, shoving it open with his shoulder, all while ensuring that he did not make the mistake of showing his face to his beyond livid commander. Beheeyem levitates several canisters marked with a lightning bolt symbol with its psychic power, and is next out the door, followed quickly by its scientist master. Mars is the final one to leave, recalling her Purugly first, though she stops, turns around in the doorway, and glares at me with so much venom that I take a step back. All of my Pokémon move towards me despite her not posing any threat on her own.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, you lucky runt of a trainer," she seethes. "That battle was nothing more than a fluke! A lucky fluke! I won't forget this humiliation. The next time we battle, I'll destroy you so thoroughly that there won't be a shred of doubt in your mind on who is the better trainer! DO YOU HEAR ME!" With that ominous warning, she violently slams the door behind her, marking the end of my first major encounter with Team Galactic. And I still don't know what to think of them, considering they had a bunch of incompetent grunts and a couple of absurdly competent commanders.

That's a question for the future. Right now, I turn to my Pokémon with a sheepish grin. They somehow look even prouder of me than I feel about them. What a strange reversal of our dynamics. "I guess that means you three were right about staying. I couldn't ask for three better Pokémon. Thank you for everything. Now, return for a long rest." I bring Oddish and Glaceon back to their Pokéballs, but I hold back for now on Charmeleon to give him some one-one-one praise.

"Look at you! It feels like just yesterday that we first met, and you've come so far. I'm so proud of you Charmeleon!" I hold out my arms for a hug, but he looks a bit embarrassed to return the favor.

Ah, it seems that he's reached the teenager phase, where he's too cool for things like this. Well, that won't do at all.

I march on over and grab a hold of him, and to his credit, he only wiggles for a couple of seconds before settling into the embrace. "Listen here Charmeleon. No matter how big and strong you get, you'll always be a cute little Charmander in my heart, understand?" I try to lift him up just to emphasize, but apparently, he's tripled in weight, because I'm only able to get him about a foot off the ground for a second or two before putting him down again. It does get a smile to match mine, which is just what I wanted. "Go ahead and take a rest. We'll get to training to see what that new move was, and test out a whole bunch of other stuff once you're a hundred percent, okay?" His grin gets even wider, and I'm not sure if I should be concerned about how excited Charmeleon looks about that, but that's also an issue for another day. I recall my newly evolved Pokémon, and only then does an absolute wave of exhaustion hit me.

I have been battling all day, and obviously while I'm not physically exerting myself like my Pokémon, there's definitely mental fatigue and stress that comes along with battling, especially one as intense as the last. I need to take my own advice and hightail it out of here and take a power nap. Best case scenario, it would bleed over into my regular sleep, and I'd wake up next morning feeling nice and refreshed. As amazing as that sounds, I should probably go check up on this guy, make sure he reunites with his daughter, and apologize for trashing this whole facility. And if he decides to explain why he was working with Team Galactic, all the better.

"Are you alright sir?" I ask, intentionally avoiding using his name because I forgot what Mars said it was. Thankfully, he has a name tag with Dr. S. Kaze in prominent bold letters.

Dr. Kaze doesn't answer me immediately, instead taking the opportunity to crack every single joint in his body, including twisting around until his spine pops, causing him to sigh in relief. He gives me a wide grin. "Sorry about that. They had me working nearly all day and all night, so I desperately need some sleep. Thank you for showing them the door."

"You're welcome," I reply, and then we stare at each other for a few seconds before the doctor scratches some stubble on his cheek.

"I suppose I should explain why I was working with them," he mutters awkwardly. "First, let me ask you something. What do you know about the Galactic Energy Corporation?"

There's that name again. I'm still positive that those two are the same entity, but of course I have zero proof of that. I opt to parrot what Lucas said about them in Jubilife. "They're a large and famous company in eastern Sinnoh that supplies power to most of the settlements over there."

"The largest, most powerful, and most ruthless," Dr. Kaze corrects me before sighing heavily. "Which is why when Team Galactic approached me, I jumped at the opportunity to strike out at them."

That sounds like he thinks Team Galactic and Galactic Energy are somehow different organizations, which is absurd. "What makes them so ruthless that you'd do that, exactly? Do they like, charge exorbitant prices for their energy?"

"The opposite, in fact," he laughs darkly. "Galactic Energy is by far the most affordable energy in all of Sinnoh. They produce so much power, at such a low cost that they can afford to sell it at cheap rates, and because so much of the populace runs on their grid, they still make ridiculous amounts of profit. It's been that way for the longest time, and even Eterna City is starting to source their electricity from there. If it were not for maintaining some of the specific economies in a few cities and towns in Southwest Sinnoh, the entire region would run on it. The only, and I mean the only reason that Volkner managed to convince the people of Sunyshore to wean off it was because he had an option that is free: solar power."

What a strange business model. Not exactly evil corporation behavior, providing cheap electricity for all of Sinnoh. "How does that make them ruthless, though?"

Dr. Kaze gives me a knowing look. "You're a Pokémon Trainer, and you look like you have some smarts to you. Don't overthink this. If you wanted to produce as much electricity as you possibly could, pure raw, volatile power, what's the easiest possible way?"

The answer comes all too easily. It's demonstrated in every episode, after all. "Electric Pokémon. You're saying they're using Electric Pokémon to generate their electricity?"

He nods grimly. "Using up Electric Pokémon, to be exact. It's quite easy to source common, weaker Pokémon, force them to evolve, so that the amount of electricity they can generate skyrockets. Galactic Energy has mastered the process of draining them dry, and converting all of that into power for everyday consumption."

He's the electrical expert here, so I'll take his word on that, but I still can't believe it. "There's no way! People wouldn't accept that, no matter how cheap their power bill is!"

"Perhaps they wouldn't, if they knew. When you have as much money, and as much popularity as Galactic Energy, you can say and do anything you want. The owner of Galactic Energy is a brilliant, brilliant man, but he doesn't view Pokémon or even humans as anything but tools and a means for an end." Dr. Kaze grimaces. "There have been investigations, but a couple of well-placed donations here, a few bribes there, and nothing ever comes of them. To the everyday person, Galactic Energy is nothing but a large and famous company as you said."

"So, how do you know all of this, if they can manage to keep it all hush-hush."

He scratches at his stubble beard again. "For such a simple question you asked, I certainly made this a long answer. The truth is, I used to work for Galactic Energy. Only the top leadership understands what the true nature of their business is, and I was once one of those individuals. I was there for a decade, and I made an obscene amount of money, so I set my conscience to the side. It was only once my daughter asked for her first Pokémon, and my wife got her a Pichu, that I truly understood what a monster I had become. I resigned my position, moved out here, and poured everything I had into this project, in an effort to absolve myself."

Dr. Kaze takes a deep breath before continuing. "Though I'm still too much of a coward to speak out. I've heard stories of what happened to journalists who pressed through with their investigations, and it's not pretty. The army of lawyers Galactic Energy employs would have taken their firstborn child, had they could. So, when Team Galactic approached me, asking for my help in besmirching the name of Galactic Energy, and to source power for a project to try and break Galactic Energy's stranglehold on the region, I jumped on the opportunity with both feet. Of course, I did not expect them to try and squeeze every last drop out of me."

If this man worked for Galactic Energy, then he should know the truth. "What makes you think that they are different organizations? I mean, they have the same name."

"Believe me, I spent a decade there, and I know the culture. The name is the only thing they have in common. Galactic Energy is all about business. They certainly do not dress up like spacemen, and act in such a ridiculous manner. The reason for the similar name is to start to create doubt within the populace, to associate the actions of Team Galactic with Galactic Energy, so that people will stop holding them in such high regard," he says firmly. "I almost didn't take them seriously until I started speaking to their lead scientist, the man named Charon, who is as knowledgeable as anyone I have ever met in the field."

He certainly has some confidence. I hope he's right, because I still have my doubts about the relationship, or lack thereof, between Galactic Energy and Team Galactic. I know my knowledge is all based on a video game, and not in any logic, but I still think they are one and the same. If what I believe is actually true, I'm really going to have to be careful not to put myself in the crosshairs of the most powerful corporation in the whole region.

"Well, I'll take your word for it," I say, wondering who, if anyone, I should tell about this. Lucas believes in facts, and I think he probably gets that from the professor. They would need proof before they believed me.

Dr. Kaze's face turns into a tired smile. "Again, I can't tell you how grateful I am for you forcing them to leave. I haven't seen my daughter in days!"

Just as he finishes that sentence, said daughter barges through the door and envelopes her father in a hug. "Papa!" she shouts in glee. "I saw all those meanie Spacemen leave, so I came as fast as I could to see you!" She buries her head in her father's leg as she grips him even tighter for a second hug. After a moment though, her nose wrinkles in disgust and she breaks off, taking two large steps back. "Yuck! Papa, you're stinky! Go take a shower now, stinky!"

Dr. Kaze lifts one arm to scratch his neck, sniffs at his exposed armpit, and grimaces. "Ahaha!" he chuckles weakly. "I'm sorry! They had me working non-stop!"

His daughter grabs my hand and shakes it up and down wildly. "Thanks trainer lady! You made all those bad spacemen go away!" Then she gasps, looking at her father. "Maybe the balloon Pokémon will come visit again!" She looks back at me. "A balloon Pokémon comes every week to the windmills. Daddy always comes out with me to see it!"

I'm glad for that. At least her dad knows not to leave his daughter alone with a Drifloon.

It's getting rather late, so I wave goodbye to daddy and daughter, making my way back to Floaroma Town. Dr. Kaze said he's going to file a police report, blaming Team Galactic. I did not want my name anywhere near that mess, thank you very much. It's bad enough that I made such an impression on a Galactic Commander. And I definitely wanted to leave before they saw how much damage all that battling had actually done to the facility and they try to find me culpable or something.

Team Galactic… I've learned so much about them today, yet my opinion somehow remains unchanged. Despite Dr. Kaze's insistence that these two organizations are different, I still feel like they are not. An emotionless, cold leader who views his minions as nothing more than pawns… Well, that sounded eerily like Cyrus. And as for the Galactic Grunts, what if they were just a bunch of regular old employees, desperate for some adventure to break the monotony of cubicle life, some way to climb up the corporate ladder, some way to stand out amongst a thousand employees just like them?

Joining Team Galactic and undertaking some potentially dangerous, criminal missions would be a potential way to make your name known. Extra cash never hurt anyone, either. The problem is, this is all hypothetical, and all I know about Team Galactic is the endgame, in which Cyrus tries to summon the legendary Pokémon at the summit of Mt. Coronet to create his utopia. I don't fucking know how your supposed to accomplish that, and I definitely don't know why they showed up here to steal energy. I'm going to live up to my name and sound like a lunatic if I just start spouting these random conspiracies about the most venerated company in Sinnoh. I need evidence, and this is just the first step of their schemes. There's plenty of time. Once I get the proof I need, maybe starting with a visit to the Galactic building in Eterna, then I can tell everyone what they're up to.

At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

The only thing I know for sure is that I need to get stronger, before my next run in with Mars and her demonic Purugly. If that thing is like any of the other cat Pokémon I knew, and based on how its trainer wanted to get revenge on me, it would hold a grudge, and be extra vindictive and nasty for round two. I mean, Meowth basically chases Pikachu all over the world to try and capture it. No way revenge isn't a huge motivating factor in that. And don't get me started on Purrloin. Those things are everywhere in Unova, in seemingly every wealthy lady's handbag, and all they are is a pain in the ass. They steal from you, like to scratch you when you're not looking, and of course their owners let them get away with it because they look "Soooooo cuuuute!" You'd never see me with one of those things on my team.

Of course, when I finally arrive home, another one of the aforementioned devils is thrust right into my face.

"Look!" Ursula crows proudly, as if she wasn't holding her new Pokémon a matter of inches from my eyeballs. "I bought him off a tourist from a region called Alola! Have you ever seen a more absolutely adorable Pokémon?" the coordinator says, shaking the feline slightly for emphasis. "And I do not want to hear a single complaint about how I treat him. Perhaps Gible needs adversity in his life, but this Pokémon does the best with lots of attention and pampering!"

I eye up the dark gray Pokémon, who I would describe more as arrogant or haughty than adorable, who looks like it was contemplating how my face would look with some diagonal scar lines, but I didn't dare say anything, in fear of both Pokémon and trainer. "Right!" I said, grinning, hoping neither Ursula nor her new Meowth would sense the falseness in my voice or in my smile.

Thankfully, the Dark-type was pulled away from my face, so Ursula could smother it more, the feline looking exceedingly content with all of the attention it was receiving. Lucas and I share a commiserating look from around our coordinator companion.

What a day.