Trevor continues to stare at the unknown figure, while the key-shaped weapon in his hand suddenly disappears. The young Pokemon Ranger then grabs one of his Pokeballs from his belt.

"Well," Trevor said to his unknown challenger across from him. "If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get."

His Mewtwo looks at its trainer with a serious expression, before communicating with him.

"Be careful," Gregor said with caution to Trevor. "We don't know who this guy is, so don't get cocky."

"Gregor," Trevor begins to say to the Genetic Pokemon standing next to him. "When have I ever been cocky?"

"You don't want me to answer that right now," Gregor stated before Trevor turned to face his mysterious opponent.

The man in the red-black coat silent tosses his Pokeball into the air. An Aerodactyl was revealed when the light from the Pokeball faded away. The Fossil Pokemon lets out a mighty roar, which does not intimidate Trevor at all.

"Geez," Trevor responded to seeing his opponent calling out an Aerodactyl. "Is everyone getting Aerodactyls nowadays?"

His opponent does not reply to the young man's comment. Trevor activates his Pokeball and tosses it into the air.

"Alright then, Aegislash! Let's go!" Trevor shouted out.

From the Pokeball, a Pokemon whose body resembles a golden sword emerges. The edge of its steel blade is white and somewhat serrated near the tip. Where the blade meets the hilt is a single, purple eye with a white slit pupil surrounded by black space. The handle forms a thick, striated spike. Two cloth-like arms emerge from the sides of the hilt. Each arm is primarily black and transitions to a pale purple with a slight swirl pattern at the tip. The sash-like arms split into four tassels at the tips. It always carries an ornate shield in at least one of its arms. The shield is gold and has three brown rings surrounded by black in the middle. It also has a brown rim with three lines radiating toward the center. Aegislash was currently in its Shield Forme. In this form, the Royal Sword Pokemon holds its shield up in front of its blade with both of its arms crossed behind the shield. In this form, the centers of the rings on its shield are white.

The Royal Sword Pokemon's face expresses seriousness as it looks ready to fight its opponent. Trevor makes the first move.

"Use Sword Dance! Now!" Trevor commended his Pokemon.

Twelve blue glowing swords circle around Aegislash. Red and orange lights shoot upwards in front of it and then balls of the same colored aura appear in front of Aegislash, before disappearing, raising its attack. The man in the red-black coat shows no expression to this sight.

"Now then," Trevor stated as he's ready to attack. "Iron Head!"

Upon hearing that attack order, Aegislash changes to its Blade Forme. While in this form, the Ghost and Steel-type Pokemon now carries its shield in its left arm and exposes its blade. It then starts charging towards the Fossil Pokemon with its blade covered with a shiny metal pattern.

At the last minute, before Aegislash could strike the Fossil Pokemon, the mysterious figure breaks his silence and orders a counterattack.

"Use Crunch." The man calmly said to his Pokemon.

Without hesitation, Aerodactyl bites down on the blade of the Royal Sword Pokemon, trapping it within its mouth, with no hopes of escape.

"What?!" Trevor said, regarding how Aerodactyl stopped their attack.

"Now, Fire Fang." The unknown figure said as the inside of the Fossil Pokemon's mouth becomes covered in flames

The flames started covering Aegislash's entire body as it was trapped in Aerodactyl's mouth with no way to escape it. The Royal Sword Pokemon cries out in great pain as the flames continue to consume its body. Trevor groans out of frustration while witnessing this sight happening before his very eyes. The man in the red-black coat grins as he believes this round belongs to him. However, Trevor has a trick up his sleeve.

"Aegislash! Hit Aerodactyl's chin using your shield!" Trevor exclaimed.

With all its strength, Aegislash slams its shield in an uppercut-movement directly under the Fossil Pokemon's chin, causing it to let out a groan of pain, while also freeing the Royal Sword Pokemon from its mouth.

"Now, strike down with your Sacred Sword!" Trevor shouted out.

The blade of Aegislash starts glowing light blue as it rapidly assaults the Fossil Pokemon with its blade. The man in the red-black coat seems to be impressed with how Trevor's Aegislash attacks with its Sacred Sword, as a small grin appears on his shadow-covered face. The Royal Sword Pokemon inflicts a total of thirteen blows onto the Fossil Pokemon before striking it with one more powerful blow that sends it crashing to the ground. A barely conscious Aerodactyl struggles to get up, but there was no way that Trevor will give it a chance to. He then goes for the finishing blow.

"Finish it with Iron Head!" Trevor yelled out as Aegislash's blade glows a shiny metal pattern and it charges straight down upon the Fossil Pokemon and strikes it with its powerful Steel-type attack.

The Fossil Pokemon cries out in agony as it collapses to the ground and swirls appear in its eyes. The man in the red-black coat silently returns his Pokemon to its Pokeball, while showing no emotion to his Pokemon's defeat, nor even praising its hard work.

"That was too close," Trevor stated as he breathed a sigh of relief, while his bruised Royal Sword Pokemon hovered back to him. "Thanks, Aegislash. Take a break. You've earned it."

Aegislash happily nods to its trainer as he recalls the Royal Sword Pokemon to its Pokeball. As Trevor puts his Pokeball back on his belt, he stares at his mysterious opponent, who already has another Pokeball in his hand, with eyes of curiosity and confusion.

Just who is this guy? Whoever he is, he must have known my father because I did inherit his Keyblade, but how does this guy know that this Keyblade was my father's? Trevor's thoughts were racing with questions.

The mysterious man then puts a stop to Trevor's racing thoughts as he silently brings out his next Pokemon. When the light from the Pokeball faded away, a Poliwrath was what appeared in front of the unknown figure. The Tadpole Pokemon was expressing its eagerness to battle as it shows off its muscles to the stunned Pokemon Ranger across from it.

"Ready to battle, my old friend?" The man in the red-black quietly said to his Pokemon, who nods back at its trainers, which answered the man's question.

Trevor was puzzled by his opponent's words, but he then quickly shakes this feeling of confusion off as he grabs a Pokeball from his belt and tosses it into the air.

"Let's go! Leavanny!" Trevor shouted out.

Appearing in front of the young Pokemon Ranger, it was a thin, yellow, bipedal insectoid Pokémon. The Nurturing Pokémon has a broad, split-leaf around its large, round head and it has long antennae that end in semicircles. Its eyes are red with no apparent sclerae. Its tiny thorax is dark green, and its long abdomen is yellow and covered in a green leaf. Its hands are long and leaf-like with a "bite" taken out of each. Leavanny's upper arms are also leaf-like, but with a vein of yellow at the top. Its thin legs are yellow with dark green, thick segments around its upper legs, making them appear armored.

The Nurturing Pokemon gets into a battle stance and gazes at the Tadpole Pokemon with its serious eyes to show it that it was no pushover. Trevor, without a moment to think, then gives his Pokemon an attack order.

"Energy Ball! Go!" Trevor shouted with a sense of quickness in his voice, hoping to end this battle quickly.

Leavanny opens its mouth and its antennae glow light green. They also become surrounded by light green sparkles. A light green orb of energy then forms in front of its mouth and Leavanny fires it at the unworried Water and Fighting Type Pokemon.

"Send it back with Focus Punch." The unknown figure said to his Pokemon with a gentle voice.

One of Poliwrath's fists glows orange and it punches the Energy Ball. With so much power, the punch was able to send the Energy Ball back to its user, while hitting the Nurturing Pokemon as well. Leavanny let out a soft cry of pain, as it looked stunned to see its own attack used against it. Trevor grunts out of frustration as his opponent calls out an attack.

"Ice Beam." The man calmly said to his Pokemon.

A light blue ball starts forming in front of the Tadpole Pokemon's body. The ball moves forward and releases light blue beams directly towards the stunned Bug and Grass-type Pokemon.

"Protect!" Trevor countered as a bluish-green force field appeared around Leavanny's body, protecting it from the chilling beams.

"Swords Dance, and then into Leaf Blade!" Trevor yelled out a set of commands to his Nurturing Pokemon.

First, twelve blue glowing swords circle Leavanny. Red and orange lights shoot upwards in front of it and then balls of the same colored aura appear in front of Leavanny, before disappearing, raising its attack. Then, its hands start glowing a bright green color as the Nurturing Pokemon runs towards the Tadpole Pokemon. The man in the red-black coat chuckles, before calling out his counter against the attack,

"Double Team." The unknown figure said as Poliwrath creates multiple copies of itself.

Leavanny strikes one of the copies, as it quickly vanishes. Trevor and his Pokemon are surprised by this turn of events. However, before they could figure out which Poliwrath was the real McCoy, the mysterious man quickly responds with an attack command.

"It's over. Use Ice Punch." The man stated.

All of a sudden, the real Poliwrath appears behind Leavanny and strikes the Nurturing Pokemon down with one of its fists, covered with light blue energy, resulting in a loud cry of pain coming out from Leavanny's mouth.

"Leavanny! No!" Trevor responded as he watched his Pokemon getting struck down.

When Poliwrath moves out of Trevor's viewpoint, the young Pokemon Ranger can see his unconscious Pokemon laying on the ground, as it gives. He returns his Pokemon to its Pokeball while praising it for doing the best it can. He puts the Pokeball back on his belt and then turns to face his mysterious opponent, while barely hearing what the man had said to his Pokemon.

"Well done, Poli..." The man said while the softness of his voice made it impossible for Trevor to hear the rest.

"Hmmm," Trevor said, before going to his thoughts. So he does praise his Pokemon. I still wish I knew who the heck he is. Once this battle is over, I hope I will find my answer.

Trevor quickly detaches an Ultra Ball from his belt. Upon the sight of this Ultra Ball, Gregor's face expressed curiosity and wonderment as it turned to look at its trainer.

"You sure it's ready for battle?" Gregor questioned the young Pokemon Ranger.

"Well," Trevor started to answer. "Let's hope Beginner's Luck is on our side today! Bewear, let's go!"

Trevor tosses the Pokeball into the air. As the light from the Pokeball faded away, it revealed a black and pink Pokémon that resembles a bipedal bear. Bewear's legs and the front of its body are black, while its head, back, and tail are pink. Across the top of Bewear's head is a white band with two tufts of fur on each end. This white marking gives it the appearance of wearing a headband with decorative bear ears. Bewear has a short, white muzzle with a triangular black nose and two small, black eyes. There are pink paw pads on its front paws consisting of the palm and three digital pads. The hind paws have three white digital pads on the front. The Strong Arm Pokémon has a short tail with dark pink rings.

Bewear extends its arms out in joy while letting out an adorable cry. It then turns back to view Trevor who smiles upon the sight of his new Pokemon that he caught while vacationing in Alola. The Strong Arm Pokemon stares at its trainer with eyes of curiosity.

"Alright, Bewear," Trevor said to his Pokemon. "This is our first battle together. Let's see what you got."

Bewear nods back at its trainer before turning to gaze upon the Tadpole Pokemon with a blank expression across its face. Poliwrath gets into a battle stance as it's ready to face off against this adorable, innocent-looking bear. The mysterious man, while expressing no reaction whatsoever to Trevor's new Pokemon, calls out the first attack.

"Focus Punch." The man calmly said as the Tadpole Pokemon starts running towards the Strong Arm Pokemon with one of its fists glowing orange.

"Now, Bewear," Trevor starts to order his new Pokemon. "Dodge it!"

But for some strange reason, instead of dodging the Focus Punch, Bewear suddenly rushes directly towards Poliwrath. Trevor is stunned and shocked by his Bewear's strange action. But then, Bewear suddenly grabs a hold of Poliwrath and embraces it with a huge, bone-crushing hug. The Tadpole Pokemon is gasping for air as its body is getting crushed by this powerful hug from Bewear.

"Oh my..." The man responded to seeing his Pokemon getting crushed by a hug.

"Ok then," Trevor said, while he and Gregor expressed confusion on their faces at what Bewear was doing. "That was unexpected."

"But it did stop that attack from striking a blow," Gregor explained to its trainer, who was at a loss of words.

"True," Trevor said, quickly snapping out of his confused state. "Can't argue with results. Now, Bewear, use Sword Dance!"

Twelve blue glowing swords circle around Bewear, who was still hugging Poliwrath, while also crushing its lungs. Red and orange lights shoot upwards in front of it and then balls of the same colored aura appear in front of the Strong Arm Pokemon, before disappearing, raising its attack. On the shadow-covered face of the mysterious figure, there appears to be a look of worry on it, as he realizes what Trevor was about to do. He had to act quickly before it was too late.

"Double Team. Now." The man in the red-black coat stated.

Suddenly, multiple copies of Poliwrath appeared around the Strong Arm Pokemon, who looked around in wonderment, while the Poliwrath it was hugging vanished in thin air. Bewear then starts surveying its surroundings while not expressing any signs of panic or confusion at all. Bewear's calmness impressed its trainer quite a bit.

Amazing. Bewear is remaining calm despite not knowing where the real Poliwrath might be hiding. So far, I'm impressed with our new friend's battling style. Trevor thought to himself as he stared at Bewear's calm demeanor.

"Alright, Bewear," Trevor called out to Bewear and then gave it a set of instructions. "When you know which one is the real McCoy, I want you to strike it with Thunder Punch! Okay?"

Bewear nodded back as it understood what Trevor wanted it to do. As the Poliwraths continue to surround the Strong Arm Pokemon, Bewear closes its eyes so that it can hear where the real Poliwrath would be attacking from. While the Strong Arm Pokemon tries to figure out where the real McCoy is, the mysterious figure calls out an attack.

"Use Focus Punch." The mysterious man said as the multiple Poliwrath started running towards the Strong Arm Pokemon that they had been surrounding.

As the Poliwraths get closer to the Strong Arm Pokemon, Trevor starts to sweat out of concern for his Pokemon, who still has its eyes closed. But then, Bewear opens its eyes, while both its fists and body become outlined by yellow electricity. The Strong Arm Pokemon then punches one of the Poliwraths. This blow upon that one caused the other copies to vanish, while the real Poliwrath let out a groan of pain as the punch sent it flying upward and hitting the ceiling.

"What?" The man in the red-black coat responded to Bewear finding the real Poliwrath.

As Poliwrath begins its descent, Trevor grins as he takes this opportunity to deal a finishing blow to the Tadpole Pokemon.

"Let's end this with Close Combat!" Trevor shouted with excitement ringing from his voice.

Bewear jumps up high to meet Poliwrath in the air. It then repeatedly punches and kicks the defenseless Tadpole Pokemon at a fast speed. With each blow, Poliwrath cries out loudly as each punch and kick to its body is more brutal than the last. Bewear then delivers one final powerful punch to the back of Poliwrath, which sends it crashing to the ground.

Just as Bewear landed, the dust clouds had settled and they revealed a knocked out Tadpole Pokemon. Upon viewing its unconscious opponent with a blank expression, Bewear turns to its trainer, who gives it a thumb's up for a job well done. When it sees Trevor's thumb's up of approval, the Strong Arm Pokemon smiles and then starts to run towards the young Pokemon Ranger with its arm extended out. Fearful of its hug of death, Trevor quickly returns Bewear to its Pokeball.

"Good response time there, Trevor," Gregor stated, as it and Trevor both breathed a sigh of relief in avoiding Bewear's hug of death. "But still, Bewear is quite strong and smart in battle."

"I'll say," Trevor responded as he put Bewear's Pokeball back onto his belt. "Not bad for its first battle, huh?"

"Yeah, but still," Gregor started to answer while glaring at the mysterious figure across from them with a look of seriousness and uncertainty in its eyes. "Our foe is very powerful. I can sense a power that's beyond my own from within him. However, I cannot figure out who he is. His mind is like a thick fog that you cannot cut with a knife. His origins are unknown."

"I hear you, Gregor," Trevor stated as he watched the mysterious man return his fallen Pokemon to its Pokeball, and then the Pokeball disappeared, while another appeared out of thin air, in the palm of his hand. "We'll just have to be careful going forward."

The mysterious figure quietly calls out his next Pokemon. When the light faded away, it revealed a Venusaur who let out an intimidating roar. This roar did not scare the young Pokemon Ranger one bit, as he grabbed a Pokeball from his belt. Trevor gazes upon the Seed Pokemon with a tensed expression in his eyes.

"A Venusaur," Trevor said, before tossing the Pokeball into the air. "Aegislash! Come back out!"

A bruised Aegislash appeared in front of Trevor. Despite Aegislash not having fully recovered from its battle with Aerodactyl, it was still raring to go head to head with the Seed Pokemon. Trevor quickly calls out the first attack.

"Use Iron Head!" Trevor yelled out, without giving the mysterious figure a chance to strike first.

Aegislash charges towards the Seed Pokemon with its blade glowing a shiny metal pattern. However, Trevor failed to notice the small grin on the shadow-covered face of the mysterious figure. He was charging straight into a trap.

"Vine Whip." The mysterious man said with a serene, yet commanding tone in his voice.

Two dark green vines come out from under the leaves on Venusaur's back and start tangling the Royal Sword Pokemon, trapping it in the vines. As Aegislash struggles to get out of the vines, the mysterious figure forms a small grin on his face upon the sight of the trapped Royal Sword Pokemon.

"Aegislash! Use Sacred-" Trevor started to say before he was interrupted by the mysterious man's voice.

"Sleep Powder." The man said as the Seed Pokemon releases a sparkling blue powder out from the flower on its back.

The blue powder was forcing the struggling Aegislash to fall into a deep slumber. The Seed Pokemon then slams the sleeping Pokemon to the ground with its vines. When the dust settled, Aegislash was still fast asleep.

"Aegislash! You've got to wake up! Now!" Trevor pleaded with his sleeping Pokemon, but it couldn't hear what its trainer said in its deep sleep.

"Frenzy Plant." The unknown man said, which made Trevor gasp in horror.

Venusaur's body becomes outlined light green and it stomps on the ground. Giant roots with spikes on them started coming out of the ground and striking the sleeping Royal Sword Pokemon. The Royal Sword Pokemon was sent flying straight into the wall behind the horrified Pokemon Trainer. When Trevor turned to see what had happened to his Pokemon, he noticed swirls in his Aegislash's eye. He quietly returns the fallen Royal Sword Pokemon to its Pokeball, while also praising it for all its hard work.

After putting the Pokeball back on his belt, the young man turns and notices a small smile on his opponent's shadow-covered face. Trevor was surprised to see that from his mysterious opponent, as he did not express much emotion throughout this battle so far. This made the young Pokemon Ranger curious.

Is he enjoying this? Well then, let's see how he deals with this. He thought as he looked down at the Pokeball of his next choice. My good old friend.

Trevor lifts his head and looks directly at his opponent, before tossing the Pokeball into the air.

"Charizard! I'm counting on you!" Trevor yelled out, as his Charizard appeared right in front of him.

His Flame Pokemon lets out a thunderous roar that shook the whole area around them. The Seed Pokemon looked to be intimidated by the power that flowed from Charizard's roar. The man in the red-black coat gasped at the sight of Trevor's Charizard, who was staring at Venusaur with a predator-like look in its eyes.

"Interesting." The man said with a grin while staring at the young man across from him.

Knowing Venusaur has to recharge after using Frenzy Plant, Trevor took this opportunity to inflict some damage to the stationary Seed Pokemon.

"Air Slash! Let's go!" Trevor shouted as Charizard's wings started glowing light blue.

It then flapped its wings, firing multiple light-blue glowing blades of energy from them at the motionless Seed Pokemon. Venusaur lets out a small groan of pain as the Flying-type attack inflicts a blow onto it. The man in the red-black coat does not seem to be concerned by this, as he stands there in a calming pose with no expression at all.

"Alright! Use Air Slash again!" Trevor ordered his Pokemon.

Just before Charizard could launch its attack once more, the voice of the unknown figure is heard by the young Pokemon Ranger.

"Vine Whip." The man said, forcing Trevor to change his command to Charizard.

"Charizard! Get away from those vines!" Trevor yelled out to his trusty Flame Pokemon.

Two dark green vines came out from under the leaves on Venusaur's back and they were about to reach the Flame Pokemon. However, Charizard quickly flies away from them, but the vines have now started to chase the fleeing Flame Pokemon. Charizard lets out a stream of fire at its pursuers, hoping it will repel them. Despite the Flamethrower attack repelling the vines back a bit, they still kept on pursuing the Flame Pokemon. Eventually, Charizard got cornered and the vines started wrapping around the Flame Pokemon's arms and body, bounding it tightly within them.

Trevor gasped in shock and horror as he watched his beloved Starter Pokemon bound by the vines and moved closer to the Seed Pokemon, so that Venusaur could put it to sleep again, leaving Charizard defenseless against any attack.

I've got to stop this now! Trevor said in his mind as he quickly thought of a move that could end this battle right now.

"Enter into a deep slumber. Now then, use Sleep-" The smirking mysterious man started to say before getting interrupted by his opponent's voice.

"Blast Burn! Go!" Trevor exclaimed, which wiped the smirk off of the unknown figure's face.

Charizard forms a big ball of red-orange fire in its mouth and then launches a giant red-orange flame from it directly at the terrified Venusaur, who could not dodge this close-range attack. A big explosion then occurred from where Venusaur and Charizard were located, and it made the whole room shake for a few seconds. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a stand-stilling Charizard, with smoke coming out from its mouth, and a knocked out Seed Pokemon laying on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Thank goodness. That worked." Trevor said, breathing a sigh of relief, as he stared at his triumphant Charizard, who smiles back at him. "As always, great job, Charizard!"

Charizard gives its trainer a thumb's up for his praises towards it, which made Trevor smile at this sight. He can always count on Charizard to help him get out of a tough situation. Charizard and Trevor have been together ever since they first met at Professor Oak's lab when Trevor became a Pokemon Trainer and picked Charmander as his starter Pokemon. To this day, whenever he's picking the Pokemon he might need for a Pokemon Ranger assignment, he would always bring Charizard along for the ride. Trevor then turns to the Genetic Pokemon who stood next to him and smiles upon seeing Gregor, who smiles back at him. He, Charizard, and Gregor have been with Trevor the longest, and Trevor knew that he can always count on their help for anything.

However, their trip down memory lane was interrupted by the soft voice of their mystifying opponent, who just returned his fallen Venusaur to its Pokeball.

"Poliwrath...Venusaur...My oldest friends...defeated," The man responded with a soft, yet saddened voice, while extending his hand out and pointing at the young Pokemon Ranger that stood across from him, before finishing his sentence. "...by you."

"Not just me," Trevor explained to his opponent. "My Pokemon were the ones who defeated them. They deserve the credit."

Charizard lets out a roar at the unintimidated man in the red-black coat, as it reaffirms Trevor's statement and agrees with its trainer too. The man takes a quick look at Trevor's Charizard, before focusing his attention back on the young Pokemon Ranger he's battling right now.

"You too have a Charizard..." The man stated in a soft voice, before finishing his observation. "Just like him..."

"Huh?" Trevor said, before starting to interrogate his mysterious opponent for answers. "Who are you talking about?! Who's 'him'?! Are you talking about Riku, or someone else?! Answer me!"

Trevor and the mysterious man stood there in silence for a few moments before the man in the red-black coat ended the quietness between them with a two-word answer.

"Michael..." The man replied before saying the final word in his answer to the young Pokemon Ranger's question.

"...Hallett."