We find him standing over a Team Rocket grunt's Rattata. Chiaroscuro winces at the sight of the peck marks, deep and ugly wounds gouged into the side of the beast's flesh, with Ten a ways off. The Team Rocket grunt has a Pokeball ready, but I catch him first.

"Ten!" I fall to the ground and hug him. "You're alright!"

He cooes softly. "I'm well, yes. It's only been thirty minutes, Ashley."

I drop him immediately. "Thirty minutes! Ten, you could have been killed down here."

"In thirty minutes, how many more of these Slowpokes will be killed?"

"I don't think they're being killed. As far as I can tell, they're just cutting off their tails and leaving the Slowpokes here. It's kind of disgusting but they seem to be... alright." Reginae pokes one with his stubby front foot. It falls over onto its back, feet flailing in slow motion. "Woah, is that Trichophilus welckeri?"

"Speak English, please?" I suggest.

"It's moss." he says dully, flicking it aside. He sighs. "Back on topic. Fortunately for the Slowpokes, they can't really feel it either. Slowpokes have almost no pain receptors."
"So what's the problem here?" asks Chiaroscuro. "It's not like we want to be here."
"Stealing local Pokemon, illegal production of a contraband substance, general hostility, claiming local property as a base..." I count the reasons off my fingers.

"You're telling us it's just a lot easier to frame it as 'what about the Slowpokes'?" Chiaroscuro asks. "What about us? It's cold and wet down here..."

"Past that, knowing what I know, it's also just really gratifying to beat the daylights out of them." I smirk. Just the thought of it makes my fists curl.

"I think that one is looking at me funny..." Chiaroscuro backs away from the apathetic Slowpoke, which has managed to right itself.

"Anyhow, we should probably start taking down the grunts now."
"Does anyone know if Slowpokes are carnivores or not? Please say they aren't carnivores."

The grunt is backing away slowly. He either thinks I'm crazy or knows I'm a threat. Then again, knowing me, it's probably a mix of both.

Other grunts are appearing from behind the rock, although their numbers are far fewer than I remember in my old attacks on HQ and they look scrawny, as if they themselves were underleveled instead of their Pokemon.

A plethora of Zubats, Rattatas, and Koffings appear around us, small but many in number. Their glinting eyes follow us in the dark, stained an ugly shade of yellow I'd hesitate to call gold.

"Everyone, go!" I yell.

Ten leads the charge with his short but powerful beak, spreading his wings as if to use some of the more powerful Flying-type moves. Reginae cuts dozens of Pokemon, even those that resist his type, to confetti with Razor Leaf. Sunny is hanging back, spending more time healing herself than actually fighting, but with her current power level she should be fine. Chiaroscuro also seems to be hanging back, cowed by the massive amount of Pokemon, but D'spinas seems to be the biggest participant in the battle, despite being right in the middle. Hundreds of needles fly through the air, hitting Zubats and felling Koffings left and right.

Within minutes, all the Grunts are defeated. They're beginning to mumble among themselves about retreat, but I push past them to Proton. He's brandishing his knife and he has a Slowpoke held down. A female grunt by his side is gathering up the tails. The air is damp and smells of blood, so strongly that even my pathetic human nose reeks with it.

"Stand down." Proton warns, his blue hair and uniform dappled in blood. The knife turns from the Slowpoke to me.

"Make me." I tell him. The team approaches, all of them apprehensive. They can feel the tension in the air more powerfully than I ever could.
The knife flies out of his hand and Reginae's Razor Leaf knocks it against the wall. I find myself breathing heavily, my heart flying out of control against my will. For a second, my life flashes before my eyes before my body realizes that I'm not dead.

Reginae looks incredulously up at me. His body glows white and begins to grow, the buds around his neck growing into leaves and his whole body growing bulkier. His skin, now visible again, is a dark yellow.
Proton sends out a Zubat and D'spinas drills it into the ground without hesitation. A Zubat soars out, emits a high pitched screeching, and Reginae stumbles forwards for a second. Confusion. The Zubat's wings raise and it swings them down for a Wing Attack just in time for Reginae to rear up and slam it down.

I breathe a sigh of relief. That was easy- perhaps a little too easy- but the important thing is that it's over.

"You're even more pathetic than I remember." I call, hoping to Mew he can't see that my breath is still quick with the knowledge that I almost died.

Reginae kicks the body aside. His new body is far bulkier, but there's still a childishness about him, distinctly in his eyes. More so, there's a paranoia within them that I can't quite explain as he stares at the lifeless eyes of the dozens of Slowpokes scattered around us, wallowing in their own blood.

"Chiaroscuro was right. We need to get out of here." he says finally. "Ashley, withdraw us."

I think of the broken ladder and pucker my lips. I guess I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it. "Alright," I sigh, "If you say so."

Ten swells in indignation. "I can fly, Ashley! It'll be no problem if-"
"You too." I say dryly, holding out his Pokeball.
Ten makes some very angry bird noises before returning in a flash of blue light. The others quickly follow, leaving me alone with only some terrified Team Rocket grunts and some disoriented Slowpokes.

"So," I say, "How are you gentlemen today?"

Footprints sound in the distance, echoing through the cave. Their wide eyes and terrified expression are oh so satisfying. One of them attempts to bolt for it.

"I wouldn't do that. This is a dead end, you know? Kind of a shitty place to have a 'secret hideout'. Anyways, besides the high leveled Pokemon you'd have to deal with... I'd also find you and track you down myself. Besides decking you earlier, I could probably do it all again. I'm also not completely against sicking my Pokemon on you, just in case you're still feeling an itch to go somewhere."

The footsteps grow louder. I hear a woman's voice call, "They're in here!"

"Oh, and that must be the police. Officer Jenny is going to have a field day with all of you."

"Like hell we are." Several women burst onto the scene, all of them equipped with Growlithes save for one, who boasts a fearsome Manectric. Kurt stands just a little ways off, smiling satisfactorily. The lead officer asks him something I can't hear, and he nods.

"You did this?" asks an officer, pointing at me.
"She did this." Kurt confirms.
"We can't thank you enough." The officer tells me, walking up and shaking my hand while the fiery canines pin down the criminals in the background.

"It's fine," I asserted. Their gaze was quickly growing very uncomfortable.

"Speaking of suspicious individuals, there's this red haired hooligan who we've seen around town lately. If I were you, I'd try to steer clear of him." she grumbled. "Thank Arceus there are good kids like you running around. Pokemon Trainers get sort of a bad rep in some parts recently, but I think you kids are alright."

"... Thank you?" I attempted to sound somewhat gracious.

She nods and turns back to the crime scene, barking orders to the other 'Jennys'. Funny thing about Officer Jenny- while you generally hear about them as cookie cutter models of each other, Officer Jennys are just an elite squad of the police force named after an original band of sisters. The actual Jennys nowadays are far more diverse, although they are all still female.

I peer back towards the exit, thinking about my Pokemon's warnings, and the beginnings of an idea form in my mind. I bite my lip and pull out my Pokedex. Hastily, I open the type search and put in 'Slowpoke'.

"Slowpoke," the Pokedex announces, "This Pokemon is both water and psychic typed."

Well, that explains Reginae.

The distant sound of officers in my ears, I close it with a sharp click and turn back into the shadows.