[Pokémon] Pokemon Brigade

Pokemon Brigade [PG-13]

This is my first time writing a pokemon fanfiction, and my first time with a fanfiction on this site. My writing style is affected more by the "Pokemon Adventures" manga than the anime, as I prefer it by a landslide. Any suggestions would be appreciated. ^^


Chapter 1: From Peace to Calamity

I love Johto. I really do. My family had grown up in this one region for decades, and I didn't even know the area past the Indigo Plateau too well. I didn't want to, quite honestly. Johto was a free, unique place that may have been overshadowed by its eastern neighbor, Kanto, but its identity was undeniable.

At least, that's what my grandparents told me. I never knew the free Johto. I never got to know what the world was like when Pokémon trainers went on adventures to capture and train Pokémon, traveling from town to town. I never got to meet any of the people famed for their talent as gym leaders or elite four. Sadly, the Pokémon Association had banned that system decades ago, about the same time when they began laying hard rules on all the regions within their reach.

Fifty years ago, the Pokémon Association's director passed away due to natural causes and his brother assumed the position as director ofthe largest organization in the world. That was when things began to change dramatically. Gyms closed down, the Pokémon professors everywhere were called to Unova's Castelia City for an unknown reason, and the annual Pokémon League Championship stopped being held. Harsh rules were placed on all the towns and the Pokémon Association's army, called the Century, spread across the glove in order to enforce these rules. As one would expect, these rules met resistance, and rebel groups sprouted in every region, trying to fight for the freedom that the old regime had given us.

Though I say this, it wouldn't be fair to say that the Pokémon Association had become some sort of dictator. They weren't entirely oppressive. Though there were more rules to be followed, trainers could still battle and train as they liked. But if talent was seen, they were recruited immediately into the Century with no option to refuse given. That has been seen less often, lately, and a small sort of peace has fallen over Johto. The rebels continue to cause trouble for the Century, whose sole purpose has been to put down the resistance once and for all.

But now the rebels have begun to press harder against the Century. Why? A reliable source in another region had sent information regarding the Century's objective. Though the reason was unclear, they were looking for the legendary Pokémon in all the regions, aiming to use their brute force to capture them. They seemed earnest in their actions, too, so the rebels could only imagine that their plans for these Pokémon weren't good. So the resistance groups all over the glove began to search for legendary Pokémon ourselves, with the purpose of warning and protecting them. Though the scattered resistance groups had no name before, they've collectively begun to be referred to all over as the "Pokémon Brigade".

As for me, I am Lloyd, a member of the Pokémon Brigade.

Cherrygrove city hadn't changed since fifty years ago, or so I've been told. Ever since the new director of the Pokémon association was appointed, a law had been passed that all the cities were to maintain their appearance without altering in anyway unless given permission. As such, this quiet town was completely the same. The smell of flowers wafted in the air, filling my nostrils as I stood at the edge of the city, facing the east. My dirty blonde hair blew into my eyes fromt he wind but I didn't mind. I wasn't really looking at anything in particular, so I ignored the obstruction entirely. Further ahead in the direction I was facing was where Gold and Crystal, two of the Pokédex holders (a trainer entrusted with the Pokédex by one of the famous professors, Elm in Johto) had come from. New Bark town, it was called. I'd been born and raised in Cherrygrove, not far from New Bark town, but I knew that no Pokédex holder would ever pass through. Not in this lifetime, anyways.

I watched as a Combee flew from one of the flowers to another, spreading its pollen. A mass migration of Pokémon had occurred in the past five decades, and no one knew why. Pokémon from different regions could be found everywhere, completely annihilating the sense of identity that came with the Pokémon exclusive to certain regions. It was considered a natural phenomenon, but sometimes I wondered…

That was when I heard it. I had been so busy enjoying the view; I had forgotten why I had come all the way back to my home town. The scream of a woman pierced the winds and I wheeled around immediately, heading back toward the center of town. I spotted the bright red clothes of the Century before I even reached them. Five 'soldiers' stood by one of the shops thats old the flowers as medicinal herbs, one of them holding the shop owner, Ms. Williams, by the arm. My anger flared immediately. I had heard that this was going on, but seeing this with my own eyes was different. These soldiers had been bullying Ms. Williams to give them their herbs for free, as they worked wonderfully as depressants for when they were off duty. It disgusted me to even know people like them were out there.

"Hey!" I called as I finally reached them. "Hands off the lady!"

"What do you want, kid?" One of the soldiers demanded,standing in my way. "We're working."

"You're bullying a sixty year old woman." I growled angrily as I glared up at him. He was surprised by how vicious I acted. "Is this what the Century do with their free time?"

"Whoa, kid." The solider raised an eyebrow as two of his friends came up behind him, frowning at me with discontent. I assessed them with my eyes quickly, judging their strength by looking at them first. "Think about who you're dealing with before acting like the hero. We're part of the Century. You don't want to get hurt, do you?"

"You think threats will work because you're in a strong group?" I snorted as he reached into my pocket. The three soldiers noticed and drew out Pokéball quickly, releasing three Golbats. My Escavalier appeared before me and blocked the three poison fangs that the Golbats attempted with ease, remaining completely unaffected. Though they were jerks, they were trained jerks. Their attack had been timed well and fluidly. I gripped my hands tightly as I thought of what a waste their talents we going to.

"Fury attack!" I ordered Escavalier. My partner jabbed out rapidly with its lances, striking at the Golbats in quick succession. The three bat Pokémon scattered to evade, surrounding Escavalier from three sides.

"Air cutter!" One of the soliders ordered. The Golbat to Escavalier's left swung its wings, throwing cutting winds toward my Pokémon.

"Don't stop your fury attack." I said without hesitation.Escavalier charged through the air cutter fearlessly and barraged the Golbat with its lances, knocking it out. The other two Golbats kept their distance as they saw this.

"Confuse ray!" One of the soliders ordered. I frowned as a flash of light blinded Escavalier and he began to stumble through the air, uncertain. I wasn't found of indirect tactics.

"Air slash!" The two Golbats swung their wings fiercely and slashing winds cut at the disoriented Escavlier. Escavalier raised its lances over its heads to protect itself from the attacks, unable to dodge them.

"You did well for a kid." One of the soldiers grinned at me."But you can't handle three on one."

"You think you've cornered me?" I snorted in derision. I had to struggle not to smile. I enjoyed being put in difficult situations. The glory in finding a way to get out of it was all the more enjoyable. Although, this was hardly a difficult situation, so much as a slightly unfavorable one, if even that. "Escavalier may be bug, but it's steel also. Its defensive abilities are nothing to laugh at. And though air slash has an increased chance of critical hit, you won't be able to break through his Battle Armor ability. Twin needle!"

Escavalier's eyes opened fiercely as it snapped out of confusion and it charged through the winds once again, swinging one of its lances at a Golbat.

"Wing attack!" One of the soldiers ordered. The Golbat blocked the attack with its wing, using its other one to block Escavalier's other needle. The solider was surprised.

"Impossible!" He cried. "Wing attack is not only a stronger move than twin needle, it has a type advantage of flying over bug! Why are you able to hold against it?"

"Because, though it's defensive, my Escavalier's attack power crushes your own. Iron head!"

Escavalier charged into Golbat with its head, knocking it into the ground with no way to block or fly. That was two down and one to go. Escavalier turned to face the last Golbat.

"Iron head, once more!"

"P-Poison fang!"

Golbat sank its fangs into Escavlier's shell as the knight Pokémon crashed into its, knocking it to the ground, knocking out the last of the three.

"Poison attacks like poison fang don't work on steel types." I reminded the soldier with a sigh. "I guess you forgot when you panicked."

"Damn it!" One of the soldiers cursed. I looked toward the remaining two, who had been watching out battle. One of them looked anxious to fight, while the other looked thoughtful. Either one looked stronger than thethree combined, and I was prepared for a potential double battle.

"What's your name, kid?" The calmer one asked after a moment.

"Lloyd." I replied without hesitating. They'd find out assoon as they went back to headquarters anyways. "And before you ask, yes. I am part of the resistance."

"Strange. I was going to ask if you wanted to join the Century. Someone of your talent would be a great asset."

"Are you kidding?" The other solider demanded incredulously. "He assaulted three of our men unprovoked!"

"I beg to differ." I muttered indignantly. "But your request is even more absurd. There is no way I'll join you guys. Not when you bully old women for drugs."

"You have to understand," The calmer one sighed. "This job gets stressful at times. We need a way to cope with it all. We're only human."

"Being human is the exact reason you can cope with it." I growled angrily, already becoming fed up with this guy. "Now beat it before I get violent."

"Are you sure about my offer? I'm serious, you know."

"Get out!" Escavalier brandished its lances at the soldier got the message. He motioned for the other four to follow him as he retreated, heading in the direction to leave town.

"Are you alright, Ms. Williams?" I asked gently after taking a deep breath to cool down a bit. The old lady smiled at me gratefully as she nodded.

"I see you haven't changed much since you've joined the Pokémon Brigade." She noted as I helped her back into her shop. "Still as righteous and radiant as ever."

"Thanks." I smiled, flattered. "But I would like to think I have changed. It's been nearly five years by now."

"Well, yes, you've grown." Ms. William looked at me with her big brown eyes, making eye contact. "But you haven't changed. There's a difference, you know."

"Ah." I didn't bother asking what the difference was. I didn't want to hear a proverbial explanation or something.


"Didn't I tell you just to protect the old lady? Why did you have to start a fight withthe Century? And alone! As if you aren't a big enough target for them as it is! You should have just given them the depressants and paid for it with your own pocket money!"

"I had no choice!" I tried to defend myself against Kyle's accusations, though it was pointless. The head of the Pokémon Brigade's Johto Branch didn't listen to reason, even when I tried to explain it to him over my pokegear. "They attacked me first! Technically…"

"Technically? As in, you provoked them by getting ready to battle first?"

"Not exactly."

"I'm sending Justin and Reyna over there to pick you up. Don ot cause any more unnecessary damage than you already have!"

I moaned. Justin and Reyna? Two other rebels who did work just like me all over the Johto region. We were all about the same age, so why did he have to send them down to get me like I was a kid they had to look after? "Look, Kyle-"

"Don't cause trouble." He ordered before hanging up. I sighed. There was no convincing him. I laid back against the bed I'd rented in the Pokémon center, ready to fall asleep. After a long day's travel for a personal mission, I needed to get some rest.

I didn't sleep long, though. I could hear bustling around me as people stuffed themselves in the Pokémon center. I ignored them at first, not wanting to lose any sleep for whatever was going on. But when someone began shaking me gently, I had no choice but to sit up with a yawn.

"What is it?" I asked Nurse Joy miserably, registering her anxious look with a frown.

"You need to leave." She whispered urgently. "Some men from the Century are marching into town, demanding that Lloyd of the Pokémon Brigade shows himself. They barred both the northern and eastern access route, but the beach is still open. You can escape that way—"

"No thanks." I sighed as I grabbed my cestus gloves from under the bed and began pulling them on. Three Pokéballs were embedded into the wrists of each one for easy access. "If I run, they won't leave the city alone. I can't do that to you guys."

"But no one recognizes you—" Nurse Joy blinked in confusion. I stood up and stretched my arms out, sighing in relief to feel the mobility and movement.

"They won't mistake me for someone else." I promised as I grabbed my bag and slung it over my back. "Don't worry, I'll try to contain the fighting. How many are there?"

"…About ten dozen." Nurse Joy said after a moment's hesitation. I grinned in anticipation. What fun.

Chapter 2: Lloyd's Damage Control

Ten dozen. That seemed about right. As soon as I stepped out of the Pokémon center, the sea of red by both exits was obvious. I walked right up to the northern access route. I knew that the main brunt of their numbers must have come from the north, while the rest hiked down the mountains from the east in order to perform some sort of pincer attack. In other words, their leader would never voluntarily go through that trouble, and would be with the group that had the easier traveling method.

I was unsurprised to see my friend from the day before standing at the head of the group at the north, alongside his friend who wanted to fight me and another strong looking man who stood with his arms folded over his chest as he glared at me.

"Trying to scare me into joining you with sheer numbers?" I asked with a grin, looking straight to the guy I knew. He grinned slightly.

"Is it working?" He asked honestly. I shook my head.

"If you want to impress me, you've got to show me that you're strong."

"Oh, we'll show you're we're strong, alright. With numbers."

The sound of the soldiers shifting broke the otherwise silent morning as each of them drew pokeballs. I noticed that the soldiers from the east entrance to the town had come up behind me as well.

"Is this the way Century fights?" I asked, slightly nervous. Ten dozen. Wow. "Why don't you fight me fair and square?"

"If you refuse to join us, then we have to get rid of any opposition, such as the resistance. But if you want to have a double battle so bad, Tyler and I will fight you along with the other centuries."

I grimaced as I was soon surrounded by a flock of Golbat. Why did these people like that Pokémon so much?

The one who wanted to fight me so bad, Tyler, released a Crobat in front of him (finally, some change!!) and the other soldier released a Donphan. I released my Escavalier, obviously, and coupled him with my Cloyster, deciding that staying defensive was probably the best strategy. I kept an eye on the third strong looking man who showed no intention of getting involved. I frowned to myself. For some reason, I felt that I should remember his face.

"Attack!" Tyler yelled the order allowed and the flock of Golbat charged toward me.

"Cloyster, spike canon!" I said quickly. My Cloyster receded into its shell and fired powerful spikes in all directions from the protrusions on its shell. Though several of the Golbat were struck, most were able to evade and slashed at Closter with their wings. Luckily, Cloyster's defenses were too thick to be penetrated so easily. Escavalier, however, didn't have it so easy. He swung his lances around furiously to fend off the Golbat, but they sailed around his attacks and overwhelmed him furiously with the wings. Donphan shot out suddenly and slammed into Escavalier with a powerful rollout that knocked him out.

"Dang it." I muttered as I returned Escavalier to its Pokéball. "Cloyster, keep up your spike cannon!"

"As if I'll let you!" Tyler screeched. "Now that your Escavalier was knocked out by Gregory, I can use my poison attacks easily! Cross poison!"

Crobat sailed forward and slashed its wings through the air at Cloyster, digging in deep with its poisonous claws. I saw Cloyster shudder from the damage, but its defenses still held up.

"Icicle crash!" I called. Cloyster fired several frozen pikes into the air that rained down on the Golbats and Crobat, who flew out of the way to dodge. Though I managed to get a few, most of the Golbat remained unharmed, attacking with their wing attack.

"Take down, Donphan!" Gregory ordered. Donphan crashed into my Cloyster and send it flying back, almost into me, creating a small crater in the ground.

"Are you alright, Cloyster?" I asked, concerned. Cloyster smirked at me tiredly as it forced itself up, opening its shell slightly. It was injured, but still alive. I smiled in relief before glancing up toward Tyler and Gregory.

"What do you think?" Gregory was saying. "This is the power of two seated officers in the Century."

"You're just using numbers to keep me pinned." I hissed. "If it was even, you wouldn't be having such an easy time."

"I wonder? Donphan, time for another take down—"

"Ice beam!"

A beam of pure, solid ice shot through the air suddenly and several Golbat froze instantly in blocks of ice. The ground was sheeted in frost as well, turing into an icy tundra as Donphan quickly hopped out of the way of the ice beam to avoid a direct hit. That perfect precision could only have come from a Pokémon with the Sniper ability, I realized.

"How many times have I told you to watch you back?" A voice sighed from behind me. I looked around to see both Reyna and Justin behind me. Reyna was the beautiful emerald eyed girl with wild raven colored hair, wearing a jacket with a high collar, leather pants, and boots. She had a tonfa in one hand with a Pokéball based at the butt. Justin was wearing a normal t-shirt and slacks, his grey colored buzz cut looking as static as usual. His Flareon stood on the ground beside him as Kingdra stood beside Reyna, already searching for its next target.

"Since you're having such a hard time," Reyna said as she walked over to. "How about I help you?"

"I would have managed on my own." I muttered insolently, though I was secretly relieved. "Took you long enough to get here."

"We were told that you'd stopping causing so much trouble, so we took out time. Hey, Justin, can you take care of the Golbat for us?"

"I'm already on it." Justin replied easily. He was standing away from us, his Flareon spewing flames at the Golbat, who sailed around furiously, trying to find a way closer. "You just finish up over there. I'll be fine."

"Wonderful." Reyna grinned over at Tyler and Gregory. "So then, shall we start with an actually fair fight?"

"Who are you?" Tyler demanded. "Back up from the resistance?"

"Correct! I'm Reyna of Blackthorn, and I'm here to kick your Century ass! Kingdra, use ice beam and freeze the ground completely!"

Kingdra did as he was told, firing the beam everywhere. Tyler and Gregory hopped quickly as the ground beneath them froze solid and nearly stumbled to the ground as they slipped. I struggled to keep my balance as well.

"What are you doing?" I demanded of Reyna angrily. "Why the whole ground?"

"Because we're not showing any mercy." I saw that reckless light in her eyes that I loved. "Use it, Lloyd."

"With pleasure. Cloyster, icicle spear!"

"Kingdra, water gun!"

Cloyster fired a massive spear of frozen ice toward Crobat and Donphan and Kingdra fired a powerful water blast at the back of the spear, propelling it forward with even greater strength. The spear slammed into the ice with great force, throwing frozen chunks of ice everywhere. Tyler and Gregory jumped out of the way in surprise.

"Donphan, use rollout and slide on the ice to pick up more speed!" Gregory ordered.

"Ice beam, Kingdra!"

Kingdra created a ramp of ice and Donphan's path, and since Donphan couldn't turn, he went flying in the air with the momentum he had gained.

"Icicle spear!" I called. Cloyster fired another large icicle at Donphan, unavoidable in the air.

"Cross poison!" I heard Tyler call. Crobat flew forward and slashed at the icicle, slashing it in half with its wings. Donphan landed on the ground once again, unharmed. Or so it seemed. Both Donphan and Crobat were surprised to see frost forming slowly over the bodies, creeping over them to encase their bodies completely. Both Tyler and Gregory were shocked.

"How?!" Tyler demanded in surprise.

"We froze you." Reyna replied simply, grinning with self-satisfaction. "Don't you remember? When I used ice beam the first time? And the second time?"

"They didn't hit, though!"

"Not directly, but the freezing properties did, in the form of a mist. If you had noticed, you might have been able to evade it. Your loss, though."

"You're patting yourself on the back a little too hard." I accused. "Show some modesty."

"Excuse me for acknowledging my own talent! If I recall, you couldn't even beat these two on your own."

"I was dealing with about ten dozen other Golbats at the same time!"

The two of us were so busy bickering, we didn't even notice that the man who hadn't been fighting before stepped up toward us. But at the sound of ice being crushed under his boots, we both glanced up, ready for another fight.

"Oh dear," Reyna murmured as she eyed the man. "I didn't expect to run into you here."

"You recognize him?" I blinked at her in shock. Reyna rolled her eyes at me.

"Of course I do! That's Command Bryant, one of the three Century commanders of Unova!"

No wonder I recognized his face. The commanders were in charge of the military and were the strongest. I knew why Reyna was surprised now. Why had this guy come here?

"The resistance has always been a pain for us." Commander Bryant said calmly as he drew a Pokéball from his pocket. "But I didn't expect you all to be so talented. I guess I'll have to drag you back to headquarters and get information out of you."

Chapter 3: Commander Bryant

"Alone?" I raised an eyebrow. "Your two seated officers were defeated, and Justin is finishing off the last of your Golbat army. What can you do alone?"

"It looks like I'm being underestimated…Swampert, earthquake."

His Swampert appeared on the ground as he released it from his pokeball and slammed its forearms onto the ice with incredible force, shattering it. A shockwave went through the ground and the entire earth began to shake, all the ice breaking into slushy snow. The force of the attack was even enough to knock out my Cloyster in a single hit, and even severely weaken Reyna's Kingdra. I struggled to keep my balance as I returned my Cloyster and released my Skarmory. Reyna swapped her Kingdra out for her Gallade.

"Leaf blade!"Reyna called. Gallade shot forward, its blades sprouting from the back of its arms.

"Muddy water." The slushy ice mixed with the dirt beneath it, forming into a viscous mud that slowed Gallade's progression before swamping over him completely. My Skarmory shot forward and helped Gallade out of the mud before it could be completely overwhelmed, grabbing onto Gallade's shoulders and flying in reverse.

"We won't get anywhere like this." I muttered as a wave of mud slammed into me, nearly throwing me off my feet from the force. "We need to find a way through all this mud."

"Get Gallade into the air!" Reyna told me. "Attacking from above is our best option!"

"Automize, Skarmory!" I said. Skarmory's spare armor chipped off of him and fell to theground as he took off into the air with Gallade holding onto one of its legs. With the weight of its armor relieved, it was easy for Skarmory to glide through the air over the mud below.

"Drain punch!" Gallade let go of Skarmory's leg as he reached directly above Swampert and swung one arm out as he fell with enormous force. Swampert raised its arms above its head and blocked the strike. A shockwave went through the mud on contact, and I shivered as my shoes were covered, completly soiled. Swampert gripped Gallade's arm with its thick forearms and slammed it into the mud forcefully, sending another ripple of waves through it.

"Gallade!" Reyna cried as she swung her tonfa. Her Kingdra came out once again. "Kingdra, use surf!"

Kingdra called upon the water within the mud, sending it fly over Swampert's head and covering it, giving Gallade a chance to retreat quickly. Commander Bryant snorted.

"Is this all you kids have?" He asked. "You're insulting my seated officers."

"Hey, rude much!" I said with a frown. "Skarmory, aerial ace!"

Skarmory made a wide loop in the air before flying straight down into Swampert with enormous speed, slamming its beak right into its chest. Swampert wrapped its arms around Skarmory and prepared to throw it. "Guard swap!"

Skarmory went sliding through the mud from Swampert's throw, but with their defenses swapped, Skarmory wasn't badly hurt by the strike.

"Taking my Swampert's superior defenses to try and last longer?" Commander Bryant said appreciatively. "Not a bad strategy. But you'll have to do better than that. Why not use your numbers to your advantage?"

I gritted my teeth. I didn't like that idea, but we really had no choice. He lived up to the title of 'commander' extremely well. I glanced at Reyna and she nodded reluctantly. She didn't like it either.

"Skarmory, aerial once more!"

"Gallade, close combat! Kingdra, use hydro pump!"

Swampert flailed its arms fiercely, knocking Skarmory out of the air as it attacked, blocking Gallade's barrage of punches and taking a forceful waterblast to the side all at once. That was one bulky Pokémon.

"We need to fall back."

I turned to glare at Justin. He had finished finishing off the last of the Golbat with his Flareon and had finally decided to join us. Though I couldn't blame him for not jumping into the fight. He only had his Flareon, and against a Swampert, that was a terrible matchup.

"We're not running." I said angrily. "That's cowardly."

"I don't care. We won't be able to win like this! We need to retreat for now. It's better to keep our lives than to fight meaninglessly."

"Says you! If we run now, he might destroy the town!"

"The town is already in bad shape." Justin glanced around at the wreckage. The fighting had caused a lot of unintended damage to buildings nearby. Good thing we weren't near the Pokémon center.

Justin tried to continue to convince me, but we were suddenly interrupted by a yell from Reyna. I whirled around in time to see a wave of mud heading in our direction, towering above us.

"Skarmory!"I called reflexively. My Skarmory flew in my direction immediately with incredible speed. Thanks to his ability, Weak Armor, he had gained high levelsof speed in exchange for defense after every hit he took. "Steel wing!"

Skarmory slashed its wings through the mud, splitting a large hole down the center. I was surprised when I saw that there was yet another wave of mud directly behind the first, unseen from our position. It slammed into us with amazing force, throwing Justin and me in completely different directions. I went sliding against the ground quickly, unable to control myself as I slammed into the side of a building.

"Ugh…" I groaned painfully as I struggled to sit up. I assessed the damage around me quickly. The soldiers of the Century had retreated quickly, apparently familiar with the Commander's fighting style. The ground was covered in mud and all the ice had all melted by this point. Reyna was incapacitated with her Pokémon not far away while Justin was unconscious not too far from me. Commander Bryant was walking toward me casually, his Swampert right beside him.

"Well then," he sighed as he approached. He knelt right in front of me and grabbed my hair roughly, forcing me to look at him directly. "Time to tell me exactly what you know about the resistance. How deep are you into it? Why are they hiding? Who is the leader?"

"I'm not telling you crap." I chuckled insolently, wincing at the pain in my body. Getting hit by that muddy water had taken its toll. "But if you want to know about me, I'll tell you. I'm Lloyd of Cherrygrove. My family has lived here for decades, maybe even longer than the Century has existed. I love this city like you wouldn't know. And you thrashed it with you indiscriminate attacks. I should kick your ass."

"You tried and failed, though." Commander Bryant shook my head and I winced inpain. "You can't beat me. I want to know about the resistance."

"Well, that's a conflict of interest, cause I've got nothing to say."

"Really?" He released my head as she stood and I sighed as the pain in my scalp receded. "Fine then. Swampert, hammer arm."

Swampertr aised its arm above its head, ready to slam into me. I braced myself, but not for the hammer arm. The mud beneath us was cut in a small current, swirling around us. Commander Bryant raised his hand, indicating for Swampert to stop as he looked around. He turned his attention to Reyna and her Kingdra, who had its nozzle in the mud.

"You'restill struggling?" Commander Bryant sighed. "Why don't you just give up?"

"I'm a rebel." Reyna smirked insolently. "I've never heard of that blasphemous concept. I always keep certain techniques on hand for situations like these."

"'Situations like these'?"

"Situations where I need to do this!"

Kingdra began to spout water from its mouth into the mud and pillars of water sprouted from the mud around Commander Bryant, obstructing his view. I stood up quickly, ignoring the pain in my body, and motioned to Skarmory, who struggled to stand.

"Automize." I told him. Skarmory shed the pieces of armor on its body that were covered inmud, getting rid of the extra weight. I hopped on its back and we soared toward Justin, who grabbed onto one of the Skarmory's legs as we wheeled around to head toward Reyna.

"Decided to listen to me for once?" He asked as Reyna grabbed onto Skarmory's other leg, returning her Pokémon into the pokeballs based on her tonfa. Swampert slammed its body into the mud and sent a wave that washed over the water spouts, completely getting rid of them. Commander Bryant watched as we soared high in the air above him, heading north.

"He's not attacking?" Reyna blinked in surprise.

"He doesn't have any attacks to hit those in the air." I replied as I pulled my pokegear out. "He won't be able to attack unless we go down to him. Escaping is easier than fighting back is, sadly."

I clicked on Kyle's number on my pokegear and held it to my ear. We needed to head back to headquarters and recover pronto.

This concludes part 1. Any comments or review would be much appreciated before I start Part 2 ^^

I haven't been able to finish reading the first chapter, but as far as I got, I gotta say that it's quite an interesting story. A world with no leaders, or league? I shudder with that idea.

Anyways, even when I haven't read it all, I know your story will be awesome!
I'm really looking forward to the next chapters, that is, after I finish reading the first three, of course.

Chapter 4: Infiltration


"Sheesh, this place is packed." I muttered as I looked around. Men with lab coats were all over the place. Almost everyone I'd passed by had either been barking orders to lackeys, being given orders by their seniors, or staring at some sort of chart in their hand. I kept my distance away from them, although technically I wasn't labeled as an intruder or anything. But I didn't know which parts of the Power Plant was open for public access and which parts were closed off for authorized personnel only. Not that I would really care if someone started yelling at me when I walked by. But I would prefer to not attract attention to myself.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kibudo Oak of Viridian, descendant of one of the strongest trainers from Kanta, a.k.a. Blue Oak. Even further up in my family tree by two generations is the former Kanto Champion and the one who began the creation of the Pokémon information repository (Pokédex to you), Professor Samuel Oak. Two geniuses famed throughout the strongest region before the leadership change in the Pokémon Association were related to me. Did I have their genius? Nope. Did I have their good looks? Clearly. Did I have their battle prowess? Hell yeah. In all honesty, I didn't care about reasons to fight against the Century or the Pokémon Association. I just loved to battle strong opponents. Ever since I joined the Pokémon Brigade, I haven't been disappointed.

But despite my preferences, I often got stuck doing jobs that required some problem solving. People say that I didinherit my ancestors' genius; it just didn't match my personality. If it wasn't part of my personality, what was the point in having it, then? Really didn't make
sense.

Anyways, I was in the Power Plant in Kanto, south of Route 10 and the entrance to Rock Tunnel, and east of Lavender town. Why was I here? Well, we hadreceived intel that a certain Pokémon was here and trapped somewhere. My job was to find and release it at any cost. I even had permission to go wild and wreak havoc if it proved necessary. It definitely wasn't a job I could refuse.

So I'd come straight here by air and entered through the front door. Security hadn't given me much trouble, but after I snuck around the tour guide waiting to take the next group in, I'd quickly gotten lost. There was someone who worked here who was secretly an undercover agent for the Pokémon Brigade. Of course, I had no idea where to find them. I couldn't remember if I was supposed to meet them at a designated spot or not, so wandering was my best option.

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice caught my attention and I looked around. One of the lab coat wearing geeks was glaring at me, one hand on his hips, and a clipboard in the other. "Shouldn't you be with your tour group?"

"Uh, yeah?" I said, cursing my lack of luck. "I got lost looking for the bathroom."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't call me on my lie."The bathroom is down the hall to the right." He said pointing. "After
you finish your…business, you need to go back to the front desk and wait for your tour group to return, understand? There's some dangerous stuff here and you don't want to get hurt."

"Right, thanks." I said as I turned and headed in the direction he indicated. I passed right by the bathroom—I had already used it not long ago—and made sure I wasn't within his sights before stopping and sighing. If I kept running into people, they'd begin to get suspicious pretty quickly. I hoped that he didn't call the front desk to make sure I got there on time.

Without thinking, I turned into the room behind me, hoping to randomly find a room with a map of the place somewhere. I might be able to find my destination if I had it.

"Welcome~"A lazy voice said as I entered the room. I froze in mid-step. There was no map in the room, sure enough. It was a small office with a desktop sitting on the counter on the wall opposite me. The person sitting in the swivel chair in front of the laptop sat with his back to me typing quickly even as they greeted me. "Can I help you?"

I hesitated, trying to decide what to say. I considered just saying I was looking for the bathroom, but that would lead to this guy asking me questions, which I didn't have time for.

Before I could think of what to say, the person in the swivel chair turned around and I was surprised to find that it was a woman. She had her blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail and wore white slacks to match her open lab coat. She wore large thick glasses so white that I couldn't even see her eyes, and I wondered if she could even see through them.

"You're Kibudo Oak." She said with a small smile. "Aren't you?"

"Who's asking?"

"The person you were supposed to meet over half an hour ago at the guest services desk. I'm Shelly, the undercover agent."

Oh, that's right. I was supposed to meet her there, wasn't I? Ah well, it was too late now. Things had apparently worked themselves out.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked, pocketing my hands. I counted the pokeballs my fingers touched, coming out to all six. I wasn't so sure that she was telling the truth yet, so I was being careful.

"They said that Kibudo Oak would have crimson eyes and bronze colored hair. I don't think someone described like that could possibly be mistaken for someone else."

My shoulders relaxed. True enough, my strange eye color made it easy to identify me.

"Alright then, Shelly, shall we get going?"

"Oh, of course." Shelly grinned mischievously. "But you've gotta' put on a lab coat first. There are no visitors allowed where we are going."

I sighed as I looked at the white jacket she held up to me. She saw lab coat, I saw a straightjacket.