The trip to Jubilife turned out to be surprisingly uneventful: aside from the occasional odd look at the Pokémon parade following them due to Hareta's adamant refusal to place them inside Poké Balls, nothing exciting or unusual happened on the way to Sandgem and the subsequent routes. Well, aside from Hareta's recent complaints, at least.

"This is kinda uncomfortable." Hareta tugged at his new red scarf, breathing heavily as he kept scratching his black jacket and grey pants and adjusted his bonnet.

Mitsumi groaned and stared at him, trying not to think about how much that outfit made her wallet bleed.

"Wasn't it more uncomfortable to just run around in shorts?" She shook her head and took a deep breath. "It's better if you don't stand out, we don't want to turn our journey into the latest story on Sinnoh Now."

Hareta just blinked and tilted his head, before his attention turned to the greenery around them. "When will we reach Jubilife?"

"Not much longer." Mitsumi checked her Town Map, then pointed straight ahead. "It's the biggest city in Sinnoh, so someone is bound to know about your father."

"Cool!" Hareta beamed, arms raised. His family behind him yelled after him with just as much enthusiasm.

As a smile flickered over her face Mitsumi turned back to Jubilife, taking a deep breath. Without a Galactic Building the chances to run into members of Team Galactic in the city was pretty low, and even if there were some she could probably deal with them.

She instinctively hovered her hands above her Poké Balls, her whole team back in their rightful place. It was better to avoid any other Onix incidents in the near future.

She glanced over Hareta, trying her damnest to stay calm. He couldn't get him involved in her mess, no matter how strong he was. Team Galactic didn't need another target.

Mitsumi clenched her fists tight enough to make them shake. She wouldn't be scared of anything ever again.

Then Hareta jumped ahead of her, Mitsumi shrieking and falling on her rump as her heart thumped against her ribcage.

"Hey, I see it!" He pointed to the many buildings ahead. "That's Jubilife, right?"

A hand over her chest, Mitsumi took a deep breath and looked that way. "Uhm, yes it is, but-"

"Great!" Hareta beamed and turned to his family, raising a fist to the sky. "Let's go, everyone! We gotta find dad!"

Onix, the Aipom and the lone Bidoof nodded, and the boy and his Pokémon rushed towards the nearby city as one.

Mitsumi paled, then jumped back on her feet while she ran after them. "Hey! You can't run off without me!"

She actually managed to keep up the pace pretty well considering how fast Hareta and his family were, and almost caught up to them by the time they entered Jubilife.

And then she ran headfirst in a large crowd of people, while Hareta jumped and made its way through it far faster than her. She tried to follow him and shove people out of the way, but there were too many all around her. Before she realized it, Hareta and his family were completely out of her sight.

Mitsumi rubbed her forehead and sighed, then started shoving her way through the rest of the crowd as she looked for Hareta. With the giant Onix and the troop of Aipom at his side, she should've easily found him before he could become a target.

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

Big cities like Jubilife were always bound to catch even the most savvy traveller off guard by their size alone. And for a boy whom hadn't seen a city for months, the contrast with Sinnoh's other cities and their routes was even stronger.

So it was far from a surprise that Hareta was looking left and right with his mouth agape, the gang of Pokémon mirroring him. He had been to a few cities at times and knew that there was much less green and much more people around, but the sheer number of grey buildings and hordes of people going back and forth through their days still managed to feel very foreign. Even the smell was different from any other city he had been in, more pungent and unnatural with little in the ways of parks and trees. It was only cement, buildings, and taller buildings, each with something new and foreign to see.

The more things Hareta saw, the more the boy's smile got wider. He couldn't remember the last time he had so much to explore!

Quickly, he rushed towards a lamp post and climbed up to its peak, the Aipom troop following close by. Once he was on the vantage point he looked down, observing all the people and trying to glean their habits.

"So this is a city! It sure looks fun!" Hareta beamed, before noticing an open window and a woman cleaning it close to his position.

He inched closer, arm raised. "Hello! Have you seen my dad?"

The woman flinched, turning around with her heart racing; seeing a kid waving at her while hanging from a lamp post upside down made it worse, and then she registered the question.

She shook her head, trembling. "Uhm, no-"

"Ah, okay! Thanks the same!" Hareta waved back, then leaped away. The woman kept staring after him, utterly confused.

It had been a few years since the last time Hareta had visited a city, and all the difference from the routes of Sinnoh couldn't help but make him more curious to learn about it.

Right then he was climbing over cement and glass, way colder and smoother than any tree. Thankfully, the glass was also more fragile than wood, which meant he could easily punch, kick and bite some nooks to climb further up. It was a shame it didn't taste nearly as good as wood.

Hareta could see people moving around both beneath him and inside each of the buildings in frantic patterns, all while they kept looking at their... phones and computers, he thought were the names?

Regardless, they all seemed absorbed enough in their tasks that Hareta punching his way in and waving in salute was enough to make them jump on their seats and yell at him. Hareta was a bit disappointed that no one was willing to give him informations about his father, but he understood they were working and let them be with another wave. And then the same pattern repeated as he climed further ahead, and Hareta wondered if city people were just rude in general.

At the same time, his family was keeping up the pace, with the Aipom troop thrusting themselves upward in a rhythmic fashion and Onix smashing his head into the buildings to propel himself upward with surprising agility. Without a word, the climb turned into a race towards the tallest building in Jubilife, with everyone jumping and climbing to the top at the best of their ability.

However, none of the Pokémon could compare to Hareta, as the man grabbed onto ledges and poles as if it was second nature for him to leap the other way, fearless even as the ground grew increasingly distant and enjoying the breeze washing over his body, the smells and air growing cleaner and more familiar the more he left the city under him. The boy couldn't help but smile throughout as he took in all the sights Jubilife had to offer, and before he realized it Hareta reached the top of the tallest skyscraper of Jubilife, from which all the city was visible and teeming with life all over. It was a different rhythm than the relaxed and vibrant life in Sinnoh's forest, but one that was just as interesting to follow.

Standing atop of Jubilife, with the people below now smaller than dots and his family at his side, Hareta took a deep breath. The air was much cleaner up there, almost as much as in Sinnoh's routes.

His eyes went to the sky, blue and almost cloudless, and his smile returned. He extended an arm towards the sun, closing it in as memories flooded back to him, of him and his family above Mt. Coronet, observing all of Sinnoh around them.

Of his father scruffing his hair and smiling at him, then going back to the forests and cities below.

"You see this? It's all of our region, from Twinleaf Town to the Lily of the Valley Island. We have everything from ancient ruins to big modern cities, all in one nice package. Pretty cool, right?"

Hareta had smiled at that, trying to make up the shapes and sizes of everything as he imagined how each place was like. "I want to see it all, dad!"

"Oh, you will. You have the guts and willpower to go through all of Sinnoh and uncover all its mysteries, for sure." His father gave him a supportive pat. "But when you start your journey, there are two things you'll always have to remember."

He had perked his head up, blinking. "What, dad?"

"Always keep your family close, and live a new adventure everyday." He chuckled, then watched over the setting sun. "Life is no good if you don't have fun, and it's even worse if you've got no one to share that fun with. Be sure to always do what you want to do, alright?"

Hareta laughed in response, but not out of malice. In fact, he took his father's words to heart, and even now lived every single day looking for the next fun thing to do, never without his family at his side.

"I'm doing it, dad." Hareta beamed, then pumped his fists in determination. "And I will find you, too!"

All his family members behind him agreed, shouting alongside the boy. Hareta beamed back at them in response.

Then, noises from below caught his attention, and the kid peered down: several feet under him, various people were gathered around a small plaza, closing into a circle around two humans and two Pokémon: a Starly and a Luxio, staring down each other and trading blows at close and long range.

He blinked and jumped on a nearby lamppost, following each Gust and Thundershock thrown around. They were pretty basic moves, but each move segued into another, a dodge, and a repeat, with both Pokémon showing far more finesse and skill than any Pokémon he had ever seen before.

Hareta's curiosity peaked, and he dropped back on the ground while his family struggled to catch up. He reached for a nearby spectator, and poked his back.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Hareta asked, trying to stand on his toes to watch over the crowd.

The man turned around with a scowl a sneer. "A Pokémon battle, duh. What else could it be?"

As the spectator scoffed and turned back to the match, Hareta finally found a good position to continue watching on his own, with the Luxio managing to corner Starly and trap him between several Electric-type moves, with the Starly flying above it and replying in kind with Mirror Move.

Pokémon battles. He had heard them described by his father and gramps once in a while, and caught glimpses of some while travelling, but he had never manage to watch one at full attention. They were rather similar to battles in the wild, yet completely different: wild Pokémon would've just unloaded their strongest attacks to get the enemy defeated quickly, or in rare cases led their opponents into a trap, but these Pokémon were clearly following practiced patterns, and were both trying to break the opposing one. In the wild, the Luxio would've destroyed Starly in one hit; here, the Starly was quickly turning tables on its enemy.

The battle continued for a short while, each fighter making mundane moves look more impressive, until the Starly managed to break through the electric waves Luxio had set up, firing a Gust at point blank range.

The Luxio was blown back and hit a wall, cracking it as it fell unconscious. The Starly strut around victoriously even as he panted and wheezed heavily.

A reporter jumped in, clutching her microphone and grinning wide. "And with this, Luxio is knocked out! The winner is Park, once more!"

She pointed at Starly's trainer, a young man with black hair and glasses, whom raised his fist in victory as he recalled his Pokémon. All around him, the crowd erupted in claps and cheers while his opponent left in disappointment.

"You rule, Park!"

"Great showing!"

"And that, our dear viewers, was yet another close and exciting battle!" The reporter said again, as she walked closer to the winner and pointed her microphone at him. "Say, how does it feel to be the indisputed champion of Joy Plaza?"

Park smirked and shrugged. "It gets kinda boring, really. I wish there could be tougher challengers here, but that's not really something one can just ask for-"

"Hey! Let's have a battle!"

The reporter, Park and everyone else turned around bewildered, moreso when they saw Hareta jumping over each person in the crowd with all his family following behind, Onix included. He reached the opposite end of the makeshift arena and waved at Park with the biggest smile he could muster.

Park blinked, then smiled as well. "Well, looks like I was wrong."

"A new challenger approaches, ladies and gentlemen! And judging by how many Pokémon he has, this is gonna be a hectic fight!" The reporter said, joining on the grinning.

The champion of Joy Plaza crossed his arms, observing his new opponent. "The name's Park. What's yours?"

"Hareta!" The boy pumped his fists and beamed back. "Let's make this a good battle!"

"Sure, sure." Park eyed Hareta's Pokémon, frowning. "So, who are you gonna use? The Onix, or maybe one of the Aipom?"

"Nah, they are my family and are just here to watch me." He grabbed his lone Poké Ball, and readied his throw. "I'm gonna fight with my partner! Go, Piplup!"

Hareta aimed and tossed, but the Poké Ball didn't hit the grass. Instead, it overshot and homed right between Park's legs.

Park let out an inhuman scream, and many of the male members of the audience stared on in shock and shared pain.

The reporter winced as well. "Ouch, that's gotta hurt."

The Poké Ball burst open, and Piplup materialized with an arm raised in salute. And then, it desperately tried to break free of Park's legs, as the man tried to suppress other screams. Everyone else could only look on in utter confusion as the pathetic show went on. It took a few minutes before Piplup and Park finally managed to break free, both more flustered and red-cheeked than they had ever been.

Hareta rubbed his neck and smiled sheepishly as Piplup waddled towards his position. "Sorry about that."

"N-no worries." Park winced and gulped, then grabbed a Great Ball from his bag. "We will settle this in battle, anyway. Go, Gible!"

The ball was thrown perfectly, and a small landshark Pokémon appeared, staring down Hareta and Piplup. The boy had seen his share of Gible in his travels, and knew they were strong Dragon-types. But they were also Ground-types, and that gave them a good advantage to start with.

Hareta stroked his chin and thought, then looked back at Piplup with a grin. "Alright, we'll start! Bubblebeam!"

No Bubblebeam came. Instead, Piplup scowled at Hareta and turned the other way, stubby arms crossed.

Hareta tilted his head. "Huh? What's wrong?"

The puffed cheeks and blushing by Piplup were enough to answer that, as he absolutely refused to look at Park. At the same time, the champion of Joy Plaza and his Gible were sending Hareta quizzical looks.

"Your Pokémon has an attitude problem, huh." Park scratched his head. "How long have you been a trainer?"

Hareta raised an eyebrow, then looked at his fingers. "Uhm... a few hours, I think?"

Park paled and stared at Hareta, then at his horde of Pokémon, then at his Piplup. He almost did a double take before he glared at Hareta again.

"A few hours? Are you kidding me?"

Hareta smiled and shook his head. "Nope!"

Park didn't know what to say at that, while Hareta kept smiling like an idiot. His surprise quickly morphed into anger as his glare intensified.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Fuming, Park jabbed at Hareta and bared his teeth. "I have no time to waste on weaklings! Gible, Draco Meteor!"

Gible threw his head up and fired the meteor right away, flying skyward and shattering overhead in a colorful display of explosions and sounds.

Hareta widened his eyes, then beamed even more at the lightshow. "Woah, cool!"

Then he heard terrified high-pitched squeaks, and looked down to see Piplup stumbling around left and right as the shards, well, meteored his way. He jumped on his feet and stared on puzzled, while the rocky onslaught kept raining over Piplup, eliciting more than a few incoherent squeaks of pain.

Fortunately, the rain petered out just a few moments later, and Piplup raised his stubby arms in victory as he sighed in relief, still unharmed.

Park gave a cheeky grin, then snapped his fingers. "Great job! Fire another, Gible!"

The rain began anew, and one of the shards bonked Piplup right on his butt; the penguin let out a shrill cry as he waddled around and blubbered incoherently, stumbling just out of the path of the remaining shards.

As Piplup continued with his one-mon marathon and the draconic shower pressed on, Hareta squinted his eyes and thought, finding no solution; Piplup somehow kept waddling, flopping, ducking, and generally barely avoiding any incoming shards of doom better than any starter Pokémon would've normally done, but judging from his terrified shrieks and sluggish motions, his luck would probably not last much longer.

Park grumbled as the latest Draco Meteor proved ineffective. "Keep going, Gible! That stupid Pokémon can't dodge forever!"

And thus another Draco Meteor was fired, and the rain began anew to a soundtrack of desperate squeaks and chirps.

As his starter lucked his way out of being hit, Hareta analyzed the situation. To win, he and Piplup needed to somehow overcome the Draco Meteor, but with Piplup needing to dodge the shards continuously there wasn't much they could do. Then, he thought back to the Onix battle, and he beamed.

"Oh, right!" Hareta cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, Piplup! Listen to me, I've got a plan!"

Piplup let out a flurry of squeaks at him, but quickly changed his tune as a shard almost bonked his head and he fell on his tummy. He turned back to his trainer in wait and fear at once.

Hareta nodded, and grinned at the incoming Draco Meteor. "Alright, use Bubblebeam on that, as strong as you can!"

Piplup flinched for all but a second before perking his head up and observing the incoming shards. The pieces of meteor where falling everywhere, and he couldn't hit them with one straight shot of Bubblebeam. Thus, he narrowed his eyes, aimed, and twirled on himself as he fired bubbles upward.

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The crowd was dazzled as a spiral of bubbles flew overhead, impacting against all the shards and making them explode in a cloud of smoke that swiftly enveloped the whole battlefield.

Park blinked in confusion as he tried to see through the smoke, barely making out where his Gible was. "What the...?"

"Piplup is good at aiming, so I knew he could do it!" Hareta's smile widened as he punched ahead. "Now, go on, Piplup! Show us an awesome Peck!"

Park went back to the smoke, finally making up a shape rushing towards Gible, readying his beak. He tried to order another Draco Meteor, but Piplup proved faster.

And then he overshot and missed Gible completely, slamming Park right on the ground as he pecked him.

"Ow!" Park yelled, grabbing the Pokémon and glaring at him. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Did you hit him, Piplup? Good! Continue!" Hareta yelled from the other side of the smoke curtain.

Park paled as he observed the squeaking penguin in his hand and the newbie weirdo across the battlefield. He stood still with a gaping mouth before he bared his teeth and stared at the boy.

"Time out!" Park yelled, tossing Piplup back at Hareta.

Hareta flinched and caught his starter, then tilted his head at Park. The Champion of Joy Plaza continued to glare at him as he grabbed some money and tossed it to Hareta.

"Here, take this! You win! Buy yourself a sandwich or something!" Park yelled, earning confused looks from the crowd and even his own Pokémon.

Hareta grabbed the money and blinked at it, then stared back at his opponent. "I thought a battle continued until the opponent fainted."

"Well, I'm busy now. Go find someone else to beat up." Park recalled Gible and turned tail, grumbling and fuming. "See you."

And thus Park stormed off, grumbling to himself and shoving people out of the way.

No one knew what to say after that, and even the announcer needed a few seconds to register what happened. "Uhm... looks like the match ended with no winners."

Slow claps and confused looks towards Hareta ensued. The boy was too busy checking out the money Park gave him to notice it however, and left with a smile alongside his family and a rather sour Piplup, hoping to meet Park again to thank him for his kindness.

And in his happiness, he didn't notice a couple of people observing him and Piplup with more than a little interest.

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"Well, that was fun!" Hareta said as he gave a bite to a sandwich he bought with the money Park handed him. All around him, his friends were all treating themselves to some fine dining as well. It wasn't every day that they got the chance to eat Pokémon food, after all. Hareta was still a bit sad that the vendor explicitly forbade him from eating it, but at least the sandwich was a good replacement.

He smiled happily as Onix and the Aipom troop stuffed their mouths full, alongside everyone else. However, he quickly glimpsed Piplup among his family all alone, pouting and still with his food untouched.

Hareta blinked, then sprung up and walked his way. "Hey, is everything alright? Are you tired for all the battles?"

Piplup scowled towards him and sneered away, nuissance seething through his features.

Hareta tilted his head, and then realized "Oh! Is it because you were stuck in that guy's crotch? Well, that was very embarassing. But it was also very fun, right?"

Going by Piplup's muderous expression, he didn't agree. Hareta laughed it off all the same, and offered a piece of Pokémon food to the starter.

"You should open yourself up to others. I think being shut off and superior will get you nowhere," he suggested.

Piplup grumbled and seemed uninterested as he snatched the food away and munched on it slowly, refusing to look into Hareta's eyes.

All the same, Hareta grinned. "Well, your choice. Don't worry though, you will always be my friend at least! Here, have this!"

Piplup just stared at Hareta holding the most cheerful expression on his face and a piece of Pokémon food. He snatched it out of his hand turned away all flustered, tching loudly. Hareta chuckled as he munched over some of the remaining food.

Hareta continued to offer food or to play with the Water-type, no matter how increasingly annoyed he got and how much he tried to keep him at a distance. Hareta was not really respecting his wishes as he tried to befriend the Pokémon in every way he could think of.

Fortunately, help came to Piplup's side when two people approached Hareta and his group of Pokémon.

"Hey, you are the kid who won against the champion of Joy Plaza, aren't you?"

Hareta turned back and gulped down the large chunks of Pokémon food he was eating, looking over the newcomers: they were dressed in a weird grey suit, wore their hair in a bobcut, and looked exactly the same. The boy scratched his neck, then nodded.

"Yeah, I'm Hareta! Though Piplup did all the job here." Hareta beamed at his starter. He just munched his food away from him.

The newcomers grinned and nodded at each other, then looked over all his Pokémon. "How did you get more than six Pokémon with you here?"

"Oh, those are my friends. My team is only Piplup right now."

"I see." One of the men stroked his chin and observed Piplup from a distance before he went back to Hareta. "We are currently preparing a tournament of our own, and we'd really appreciate if you could join us."

Hareta appeared puzzled, tilting his head as he stared at both men. Then, he beamed and nodded. "Sure, I love challenges!"

"Very well." The men walked ahead, pulling Hareta behind them. The boy waved at his companions and they followed right after him, with Bidoof dragging Piplup behind him.

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As she passed through the ways of Jubilife City in large strides, Mitsumi sighed. She had no idea how it was possible to lose a boy with a troop of Aipom and an Onix towering over everything in tow, but she somehow did. She really hoped Professor Rowan never discovered that.

However, Hareta was a very conspicous boy and she was a rather resourceful girl, so it didn't take long to find clues, be it property damage at his Pokémon family's passage or people shocked at a boy leaping around like an Ambipom, and follow a trail that ended with a rather depressed ex-champion of Joy Plaza pointing her to where Hareta had gone. From there, between quite a few smashed windows, Onix-shaped holes marking the sides of most of the city's tallest buildings and befuddled people unable to believe what happened she had no trouble piecing together the rest of her travelling companion's path.

She grumbled and took a deep breath. Despite being older than her, Hareta really acted like a little kid. The moment she found him, he would've really got an earful about not going away alone.

And then, she finally saw him: several steps from her, Hareta stood alongside all of his Pokémon chatting with others. She sighed in relief, until she noticed exactly who he was talking to.

Spacesuit-like uniforms. Those stupid bowlcuts. It was them.

She froze and hid behind a corner, spying Hareta and the grunts. Why the heck was that kid talking with them? She was sure he couldn't know them. Were they trying to coerce him into doing something?

As she kept guessing what was going on, Hareta smiled and happily went with them. Mitsumi frowned and clenched her fists, readying her Infernape's Poké Ball. No matter what was happening, those guys could only be trouble.

And thus she ran after them, ready to fight.

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As Hareta, Piplup and his family were led inside the 'Tournament Hall', they were all rather surprised at how decrepit and ruined the place was. Sure, Hareta was no expert of big cities, but from his earlier trip through Jubilife the kid had a hunch that this was far from normal, though he wasn't quite sure if it was the lack of lighting, seats, general uncleanliness, or the fact that no one bothered to trace anything designating the battlefield.

The boy stepped forward, cocking an eyebrow as he looked around. "This looks like a weird place for a tournament."

"Oh, it's just for thematic purposes. 'Decrepit and shallow building' is all in the rage in competitive environments." The man at his right chuckled, following after him.

Hareta squinted his eyes and sniffed the air. The air was stagnant and quite pungent, and he could smell more than a few things, most importantly several Pokémon species. Pachirisu, Bidoof, Staravia, and maybe even a few Kricketune.

As he finally looked at his right, Hareta widened his eyes: stashed at the very edge of the warehouse were several Pokémon, the ones he smelled alongside many others, all cowering in fear and silently watching at him. He could see more than a few bruises, and none of them seemed to have come from Pokémon attacks.

Hareta instantly clenched his fists and bared his teeth as he faced the men again. Most of his Pokémon did the same, while Piplup simply looked around.

"What's this place really for?" He glared through them, while both men remained calm.

One of them sighed and gave a shrug. "The trick didn't work, then. I hoped you would be dumb enough to fall for it."

"I smelled something was off with you from the beginning, but this..." He gave the cages another look, then glared back at the green-haired guys. "Who are you?"

"We're people interested in Pokémon with great potential, and your Piplup happens to have quite a lot of that." The spaceman grinned while eyeing Hareta's partner. "It'd be a shame to let it go to waste."

Piplup flinched and stepped back until he fell on his rear, shivering.

Before the men could approach him however, Hareta stepped up between them, arms outstretched and determined stare aimed at them. "You are never going to get Piplup! And you will free all these Pokémon, now!"

"Force us." The men laughed it off and crossed their arms.

Hareta frowned and pointed at them dramatically. "Piplup, let's go!"

Piplup didn't go. Instead, he remained supine and turned away.

Hareta quirked an eyebrow at him. "Piplup?"

The penguin didn't reply, and Hareta didn't know what to say. Even their opponents seemed briefly confused, before they grinned at once.

"It's not going to fight? Better for us, then!" One of them tossed a Poké Ball, and a Golbat appeared. "Mean Look!"

The bat flew upward and stared intently at Piplup, his eyes glowing blue; Piplup tried to move out of the way, only for his body to freeze in place. The Water-type attempted to break free, to no avail. Hareta stared blankly at the move, and then at the opposing Pokémon.

The spaceman snapped his fingers. "Perfect. Now, use Leech Life!"

Golbat circled around Piplup and then aimed down, fangs glistening. Piplup could only watch with eyes wide, before bracing himself for the hit.

And then Hareta jumped in the way and decked the Golbat, sending it to splatter on the wall. The Mean Look lost hold, and Piplup flopped on the ground. The penguin perked his head up immediately, and saw Hareta grinning and cracking his fists.

The boy took a battle stance, and behind him his family did the same. "If Piplup doesn't want to fight, that just means we'll have to do!"

The grunts ahead almost seemed worried, before laughing it off.

"Very well." The head grunt snapped his fingers again as he grinned. "Come out, guys."

From the shadows, several grunts all dressed and looking like the first two emerged and surrounded Hareta and his Pokémon, tossing several Poké Ball.

Many Pokémon of all shapes, sizes and evolutionary stages appeared, among them several Golbat, Stunky, and quite a few other Bug and Normal-types. Hareta could sense that while they probably weren't too powerful, but they were much more numerous and all hungering for battle.

The head grunt then raised his arm. "Defeat them, now!"

All the Pokémon of the other grunts leaped over to Hareta, and the boy simply grinned back at them.

And then, an all-out brawl erupted as the men's Pokémon converged towards Hareta and his family.

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For Piplup, it was hard to following everything clearly. Soundwaves, poisonous sludges, tackles, beams of any color and size and spores and smells and everything in between was tossed from one end of the warehouse to the other, and the chaos didn't show any sign to let up soon.

The strange spacemen had numbers on their side and far more coordination to show off as they tried to isolate each Pokémon and Hareta from the others with pincer meaneuvers and attacks meant to hinder their movements, but Hareta and his family weren't going to give them an easy time: in spite of the odds, the wild Pokémon managed to match their opponents' strategy out of sheer ingenuity and determination, like how the Aipom troop formed a Pokémon ladder and swatted away the incoming Glameow and Dustox, or how Onix thrashed around to tank hits and dish out punishment even with how little room it had to move in the warehouse.

And while the Pokémon went for sweeping, coordinated attacks, Hareta zoomed all around by leaping like an Ambipom and punching every Pokémon and grunt away, with far more strength than the average human and leaving the spacemen just as confused as Piplup was. If he couldn't see the boy clearly, the Water-type would've surely thought he was a real Ambipom.

Even as their opponents accounted for their counterattacks by trying to overwhelm the Aipom and Onix, the rest of the wild Pokémon retaliated just as quickly. From his point of view, Piplup spotted Onix thumping on the ground and sending shockwaves all around, making several spacemen and their Pokémon lose their balance and allow the Aipom to swat them further against the walls as Bidoff bit at them; at the same time, Hareta was preventing the spacemen from giving any command by knocking them out, at one point even biting one of them in the butt. Even if he couldn't see everything, Piplup could judge by the screams that everyone else was also working hard, with the caged Pokémon observing the battle in a daze.

Victory seemed within Hareta's reach, and Piplup couldn't help but be impressed. Between the battle with Onix and the current one, there was just... something about them. They were stupid, obnoxious and very irritating, and he still didn't like all the crap that kid had put him in, but maybe, just maybe, there was some good in there. Maybe he could've helped, too.

As he mused about that, Hareta leaped and high-fived one Aipom as they rushed away from a downed Glameow and back towards a Stunky.

"Keep going guys! We can do this!" Hareta yelled, with all of his Pokémon and the trapped ones joining him in cheer as they fought back even harder.

Half the spacemen paled and screamed in fear, while the other half only grew angrier and more focused.

"What the heck is this kid made of? No one can be this strong!"

"Don't get scared now! We're still more than him!"

And thus the counterstrike began, with even more Pokémon joining the fray on the spacemen's side, trying to overwhelm Hareta and his family and sending Piplup hiding behind an empty box. And yet, that didn't deter them: no matter how hard and dire the situation became, neither of them gave up the fight. They constantly came back from the brink and sent the grunts back in the corner. The opposing Pokémon continued to fall unconscious, and the numbers became progressively more even.

The starter had no words, but his stare slowly grew more focused as he followed after Hareta, as the boy jumped ontop of Onix's head.

"Use Headbutt!"

Onix rammed over the ground, and grunts and Pokémon flew away. Hareta leaped and kicked them back on the ground, managing to jump away and remain on the air until everyone crashed down. Piplup widened his eyes, stunned.

And then, through the flurry of attacks, he noticed the Sludge Bomb about to hit him.

Piplup shuddered and squinted his eyes, bracing himself for the hit. And then, someone leaped his way and grabbed him to safety.

As he fell back on the hard floor, Piplup opened his eyes again and found Hareta observing him in concern. The Pokémon blinked in confusion, while Hareta sighed in relief as he found no injuries.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to fight, I won't force you." Hareta patted his head with a big smile. "Just make sure you are safe, alright?"

Piplup just stared at Hareta, the stupid, brave, heroic wild child that just saved his life again, with a gaping mouth and nothing to say. The boy just kept smiling at him in response.

And then, a piercing cry snapped them back to attention. Hareta and Piplup both turned around, and they flinched at once.

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All of Hareta's family was frozen in place, just like Piplup used to be. Around them, several Golbat were keeping up Mean Look, and many of the Stunky prepared attacks in case the Pokémon broke free. They were all struggling to break free, but just like with Piplup it was for nothing. Hareta sweated cold as dread crawled under his skin.

"Looks like these Pokémon aren't that fearsome with nobody to coordinate them." The head grunt checked them out, focusing on Onix in particular. "I'm sure our boss will find this a good haul."

Hareta glared at him, fingers digging into his palms as he clenched his fists again. The head grunt chuckled at his helplessness, then strided towards him.

"Let's make a deal, shall we?" He folded his arms and eyed Hareta's starter. "You give us that Piplup, we give you back all those random Pokémon. A starter is much more valuable than all of them, and what use do you have for someone that doesn't even listen to you?"

Hareta fell silent and stared at the floor. At his side, Piplup shifted between him and his family, worry drawn on his face. The grunt waited and continued to grin in the meantime.

And then, Hareta looked back up and grinned. "Not a chance."

"What?" The grunt frowned and tilted his head. Even Piplup observed Hareta in confusion.

"My dad always said bad guys never keep their promises." The boy's grin widened as he thumped his chest. "And my family and Piplup are all important to me. I have no intention to leave any of them with you."

"You can't face all of us. We're too many." The grunt scoffed as his and his allies' Pokémon stepped up.

Hareta kept his smile up as he raised his fists. "Let's see about that."

His opponents didn't show any fear. If anything, they were holding themselves back from laughing at his expense as they readied their next attacks. And yet, Hareta didn't seem concerned about it.

And it was then, seeing his trainer about to face all those opponents, that Piplup made his decision.

He stepped up and jumped ahead of Hareta, trying to mirror the boy's pose.

Hareta turned to his Pokémon and gave him a confused look. "Piplup?"

Piplup replied with a cocky grin, and Hareta understood. The boy beamed again, before facing his opponents alongside the Water-type.

"Alright, let's do this!" He raised an open hand. "Bubblebeam all around!"

Piplup leaped and rotated on himself, firing several bubbles like a machine gun. The bubbles grew in number, blasting through each Pokémon and item scattered around the warehouse, more and more and more with no end in sight.

And then, there were so many bubbles that they quickly began to drown everyone's vision. The grunts and Pokémon panicked as Hareta and Piplup basically disappeared.

"I can't see anything!" One grunt yelled as he pushed the bubbles away.

"Tch, don't panic!" The head grunt gritted his teeth as he squinted his eyes through the bubbles. "Golbat, find that kid and use-"

Before he could finish, Hareta jumped out of the stream of bubbles and headbutted the Golbat back on the wall. He leaped and raised his arms, revealing Piplup as he kept up the stream of bubbles.

Hareta grinned as the grunts' Pokémon locked onto him, holding Piplup tight before tossing him towards Golbat. "Now! Rapid-fire Peck!"

Piplup meteored towards Golbat and readied his beak, then pecked at him furiously and without stop. The Golbat couldn't move or react as Piplup only grew faster and faster.

And then he let out a mighty last peck straight on Golbat's face, cracking the wall behind them. Golbat slid on the ground unconscious, and Piplup landed on the floor and puffed his chest while that Golbat's Mean Look faded away.

Onix broke out of Mean Look's hold and fell on the ground, and the shockwave knocked several grunts and Pokémon off their feet. He then headbutted the nearby Golbat and sent them sprawling on the ground, freeing the rest of the family. The grunts were frozen in fear as the giant rock snake faced them next and charged his next hit.

Hareta grinned as he kicked a Stunky away, giving Piplup a wave. "Yes! Great job!"

Piplup flaunted himself and looked at his flippers nonchalantly. In the meantime, the grunts started to understand just how outclassed they were now, as the Aipom troop and the Bidoof rejoined the fight.

"W-we should run!" one of them yelled. Most of the others found themselves in agreement as they all ran towards the warehouse's entrance.

An entrance that was quickly set ablaze, halting their great escape. The grunts panicked again, while Hareta and his Pokémon kept mowing down their Pokémon.

The arsonist quickly revealed herself as a young green-haired woman walked into view, an Infernape by her side. The already panicking grunts paled completely as they saw her.

"You aren't going anywhere." The girl's tone was firm and unflinching, and her stare cold as ice.

The head grunt stepped back, then scowled her way. "You...!"

"Mitsumi!" Hareta yelled, popping out of a bunch of Golbat and punching them away.

"I thought they instructed you Galactic grunts better these days." Mitsumi furrowed her brow as she studied her opponents. Then, she eyed her partner. "Infernape, Flare Blitz."

Her partner blurred into fire, disappearing and reappearing in a zig-zag of flames all around the warehouse. Blazing punches and kicks sent each Galactic Pokémon skyward, and they all fell down with pathetic whimpers without putting up any fight. As Infernape finally stopped, none of its opponents were left standing.

Hareta, Piplup and the family were all left speechless at that display of power. The grunts, instead, all turned to their head grunt.

The grunt gulped and checked their surroundings, finding Hareta and his bunch ready to strike on one side and Mitsumi frowning with her Infernape ready to hit. He scoffed and grabbed another Poké Ball.

"Well then." He tossed it quickly, and an Abra appeared between them. "Teleport us-"

A rock fell right on Abra's head, and the Psychic-type collapsed unconscious. The grunts all turned to Hareta's Onix, only to find him and everyone else as surprised as they were.

And then, a new voice was heard. "Sorry, but I can't allow you to leave just yet."

Everyone turned to the warehouse's entrance, where a man was making his way through the smoke of Infernape's flames. He was dressed in a grey mine-worker uniform with a red helmet, with cordovan hair and wearing a pair of glasses. At his side stood a Cranidos, and around him were several Golem and Onix, some of the latter even dwarfing Hareta's in size. A couple of Agent Jennies accompanied him, and the Galactic grunts started sweating cold.

As he observed the newcomer, Hareta scratched his head and quirked an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

Mitsumi seemed similarly confused, until she observed him further. She widened her eyes and covered her mouth.

"Wait, you are Roark, the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City!" Mitsumi said. Hareta gave her a puzzled look before going back to the newcomer.

"In the flesh." Roark smiled and adjusted his glasses, then stared at the grunts. "Thanks for having made our work easier here. The police will take over now."

As he and the Jennies closed in on the grunts and proceeded to the arrest, Hareta and Piplup shared a high five and a grin. The boy would've done the same with Mitsumi, if he didn't found her staring on towards the grunts.

"Something wrong?" He tilted his head and poked at her shoulder.

Mitsumi snapped back to attention, and put on an uneasy smile. "It's nothing, don't worry."

Hareta wasn't entirely convinced, but left the topic die there as everyone left the warehouse at once.

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As the Jennies departed with several of the grunts in tow and many recovered cages, Roark turned back to Hareta and Mitsumi.

"We were just about to prepare our infiltration when you entered the warehouse and dealt with them." Roark smiled. "It was unexpected, but I have to thank you. You gave us a huge help."

"You're welcome!" Hareta beamed, only to scowl as he eyed the police cars racing in the distance. "Who were those people, anyway?"

"Their uniforms match the ones worn by Team Galactic." The man frowned while rubbing his chin. "Which is weird, given they are a clean energy company."

Mitsumi grabbed her bag, sighing. "Yeah, they are."

"This isn't an isolated case either, there's been many sightings of people wearing Galactic garb trying to steal Pokémon or force fights with trainers. I was looking into them and found that warehouse earlier." Roark folded his arms as he glanced at the remaining cages. "I already made arrangements so that each Pokémon was either released in the wild or returned to their proper trainers."

"I'm glad." Hareta's smile faltered and turned into a grimace as he eyed back the remaining Pokémon. "Those Pokémon were suffering too much."

Roark looked over the boy and his posture, and then he chuckled. "You know, you remind me of someone. An old colleague of my father."

"An old colleague?" Mitsumi quirked an eyebrow and inched closer. "Was his name Kaisei, by any chance?"

Roark nodded. "I think it was, yeah."

"You know my dad?" Hareta widened his eyes, then pumped his fists. "We're looking for him! Can you tell us what you know?"

"Sure, gladly." Roark took out a Pokégear and checked a few bits of information there, before he looked back to Hareta. "I need to attend some pressing matters in Oreburgh City first, however. Would it be a problem for us to go there?"

"Not at all!"

"I'm glad." Roark smiled again. "Come along, then."

The Gym Leader strided towards the route up ahead, with Hareta and Mitsumi quickly following after him. All along, the boy kept up the biggest grin he had worn that day as he waited impatiently to learn of his father's whereabouts.

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The grunt had spent a lot of time relaying to his superior of what had happened. He felt bad for leaving his fellow grunts right when they needed him the most, but someone had to keep the Admins updated about their operations, and if anything he escaped prison.

"And so I managed to escape, though that kid bit hard..." The grunt snereed as he scratched his swollen butt, before he looked back to the screen and his superior. "It seems our jaunt in Jubilife is done for, however."

On the other side of the conversation, Galactic Admin Charon listened carefully to his words. The grunt gulped and stood in fear, expecting the incoming backlash.

Instread, Charon sighed and rubbed his temple, then looked back at the grunt.

"I was afraid of that possibility, we were becoming too visible recently." He frowned and adjusted his glasses. "Still, this is quite troubling. First, that kid managed to break that Onix free of our device, then managed to hold his own against several of our grunts at once. Not to mention he's travelling with our ultimate fighting machine... We can't let them run around unchecked."

The grunt paled. "Are you suggesting to-"

"No no, I don't plan to kill him. That'd be an utter waste of interesting potential." Charon grinned. "For now, B-2, keep an eye on him. I have a feeling he will be extremely helpful in bringing our plans forward."

Hearing his codename, the grunt kneeled and nodded. "As you wish, sir Charon."

As the comunicator shut off, B-2 spied his new target leave the edge of Jubilife City, alongside one of the finest trainers who had ever been in Team Galactic and one of the eight most powerful Gym Leaders of the Sinnoh region.

He sighed and rubbed his butt again, then walked after them as he wondered where did he go wrong in his life, beyond joining a secret organization of course...