Waking up to feel my back twinging and my legs burning as if they were on fire was not an uncommon occurrence in my profession. It had been several weeks since I discovered that Pikachu Boy had been in Oreburgh City and ever since then I'd practically lived in the forest surrounding the mining town. It only took me half a day to track down the friends that the jerk who broke his arm had mentioned. I forced them to show me where they had fought against the Aggron but I was beginning to wonder if the idiots had suffered memory loss because I found no sign of Team Galactic.

Shaking myself out of my negative thoughts, I swiftly broke camp and warmed up my body by running through a quick exercise routine Detective Looker had insisted on. My mood turned even darker at the thought of my partner.

Life had seemed to be in a constant downward spiral since the day I found out Detective Looker was missing. I couldn't help but blame myself because for the first time in nearly four years when Detective Looker asked if I wanted to join him on a mission, I declined. A clue about an unsolved case that was the reason I joined the police force had just turned up and I was too headstrong to think about WHY a clue would pop out of nowhere like that. By the time I realized that the tip was a dead end, Detective Looker had disappeared.

It hadn't taken long for me to figure out that the newly reorganized Team Galactic was behind the kidnapping. But finding out who the culprit was and finding WHERE they were hiding were two entirely different beasts.

I'm not giving up now when I finally have a decent lead though, I thought to myself fiercely as I finished up my workout routine. I released Empoleon and clenched my muscles in preparation for the deluge of water that he shot towards my battered body. After my Hydro Pump shower, I dried myself off, changed clothes, and returned my partner with a nod of thanks.

Refreshed and wide awake, I checked my PokeCommunicator to double-check my location and then made my way back to where the boys had thought they fought against Pikachu Boy. I had already combed the surrounding areas and even bumped into the Aggron that I thought might have been the four boy's target, but I hadn't seen anything. My instincts were screaming at me that I  missed something though, and one thing I had learned from my time as a detective was to trust my instincts.

Taking a leap of faith, I set out in the direction that I'd worked out that the jerk must have flown when he was beaten back by Pikachu Boy's Pikachu. I had gotten here too late to really track anything, but there were still some scorch marks on the ground from an electric attack of some kind so I had used that as my guide. As I walked quietly through the forest I tried to look for ANYTHING out of the ordinary. Even though I kept passing by tree after tree I forced myself to carefully inspect for anything that might be out of place.

"Man, how many of these stones do we have to dig up?" My entire body went on high alert at the sound of someone speaking and I swiftly hid behind the nearest tree. My presence seemed to have gone unnoticed and the voices were getting farther away, so I crouched down low and moved stealthily forward, trying to find the source of the voices.

"Seriously, when Proteus said he had a 'very important job' for us... I thought we were going to do something fun! Like kidnapping someone again or blowing up a building or something," the voice grumbled from ahead of me. 

My eyes narrowed at this line of conversation and I fought back the rush of elation that I had actually found some grunts from Team Galactic! But I needed to focus, so I pushed that feeling away and continued following after the men who were now close enough for me to see they were wearing telltale gray jumpsuits.

"Ugh no kidding. I know we're called 'grunts' but I didn't think we'd be actually doing heavy labor!" another voice grumbled loudly and I shook my head. 

For a team bent on destroying the world, it shocked me how many losers joined up with them. What, did they think that since they couldn't make it as real trainers they could just eliminate the competition and then magically feel better about themselves? Lazy cheats.

"What are they even going to do with all of these stones anyways? I don't have any pokemon that could use them," the first grunt said as he hefted a large box in his arms, getting a better grip on the bottom.

"Who knows? Miss Neptune doesn't tell us anything," the other grunt said with a sigh. "We should definitely ask Proteus for a wheelbarrow though. My arms are going to fall off!"

"At least we won't have to go back for a week," the first grunt said. I continued following silently behind the two, listening intently as they conversed and committing to memory the names they were spewing.

Neptune was a name that I knew and had grown to loathe. Detective Looker was the one who had taken down the original Team Galactic and Charon's renewal of the team later on. I hadn't been on the International Police Force at that time, but when I joined and Detective Looker had taken me on as his junior partner, he told me several times of the "poor girl" who'd been dragged around by her evil grandpa. Something about the situation didn't sit right with me when I heard that Neptune had inherited a vast fortune from her Grandpa. Even though Detective Looker had assured me that we just had to give her a chance, when she disappeared from our radars and whispers of Team Galactic being recreated came about I had no doubts who the new leader was.

Proteus, however, was not a name I was familiar with. I made a mental note of the name as I continued to tail the two grunts. Before I knew it we had come to a small clearing where a black jet was sitting quietly, awaiting the grunts' arrival. One of the grunts kicked the bottom of the jet, letting out a loud metallic banging and the door on the side of the jet slid open for them.

"You guys are so slow," someone with a deep voice complained from inside the jet.

"We'd be faster if you helped us," the first grunt sneered up at the pilot, who shrugged.

"Gotta watch the jet," he quipped with a cruel grin, causing his fellow grunts to mutter something I couldn't hear. The three men made quick work of moving the wooden boxes into the jet and they all hopped in and closed the jet, cutting off any other tidbits I might have been able to glean.

A feeling of excitement went through me and as the jet began to wake up with a purring of its engine I selected a pokeball from my hip and tossed it straight up above me. With a tired rumble, a massive pokemon appeared from the ball and sidestepped between the tight trees to find a more comfortable position for his big body. I grinned at the blue dragon with red wings and cocked my head towards the jet that was just beginning to take off.

"Ready to test your stealth mode, Salamence?" I asked him in a voice just loud enough to be heard over the jet's engines. Salamence's lips cracked in a toothy grin and he crouched down, looking eager to take flight. A brief guilt hit me as I realized that I had been so focused on finding Team Galactic that I hadn't been properly caring for my team.

As if he could sense my disappointment in myself, Salamence looked over at me and released a small wisp of fire towards my chest. I immediately rolled to the side and promptly smacked into a tree trunk I hadn't been expecting. Salamence let out a throaty chuckle and then cautiously reached out one of his thick wings to offer me a friendly claw up. I grabbed onto the claw protruding from the tip of his wing and hoisted myself up, shaking my head.

"You got me," I grinned, trying to bite back a laugh. "But we need to get going."

Salamence immediately became serious and tucked one large wing down so that I could take my spot on his back. With three beats of his powerful wings, Salamence locked onto the jet as it began slowly making for the opening in the forest above the clearing then he launched himself up.

Grinning wildly at the rush of leaving the ground far behind me, I leaned forward to create the least amount of air resistance as I could for Salamence and he streaked after the jet. They hadn't kicked in their insanely annoying invisibility mode yet, so I assumed that Salamence was successfully staying in the pilot's blind spot. I wasn't sure where Neptune got her technology, but after months of trying to track down her grunts and using them to find her hideout, I had to admit that they had some crazily advanced tech under their utilization. It made me wonder why they needed to kidnap a researcher from the Poketch Company anyways.

I could feel Salamence's body shivering in delight underneath me from being up in the sky again. Back in the days when Salamence had first evolved, we had gone on regular flights together, which was why I had chosen to buy a motorcycle instead of a car like Detective Looker had suggested. I was just too used to the wind in my face. If I could, I would fly Salamence everywhere I went. But Salamence was an important member of my team and in my line of work you never knew when you'd get into a fight, so I tried to keep all of my pokemon healthy and energetic as much as I could.

The jet was picking up speed but Salamence seemed up for the challenge as he raced after the black machine. As we followed behind the almost noiseless jet, I puzzled over what the grunts had been saying between their complaints. They had mentioned stones, and that their pokemon couldn't use them, so the only thing they could have been referring to were evolution stones. Judging by how large the boxes were (and how loud they whined) I was assuming that there were anywhere from 150-200 evolution stones in each box. I had no idea if they'd only made one trip or if that was their last of several rounds from wherever they were coming from, but even if it was just one trip of two full boxes that still meant they had nearly 400 evolution stones in that jet and were planning to come back in a week to get more.

Where are they getting so many evolution stones? And what on earth could they want with that many? I thought to myself with a frown. I mentally went through the Sinnoh pokedex in my head, which I had completed several years ago thanks to my OCD tendencies and having a breeder as a best friend. There were only a dozen pokemon that I could think of that even used evolution stones, obviously the eeveelutions being the first to come to mind, but it was rare to find a grunt with an eevee. I supposed it could be to evolve Murkrow into Honchcrow, or Misdreavus into Mismagius, but even if they planned to have every member of Team Galactic catch and evolve a pokemon that required a stone, that still wouldn't explain the sheer number that they were gathering.

Dangit Looker, why'd you have to get kidnapped? I could really use you right now, I thought with disgust at myself for not keeping a better eye on him. Shaking my head, I refocused and watched the jet carefully. I nearly swore when the outside of the jet began to ripple like someone had just dipped their hand into a puddle. Within moments the jet had completely disappeared and I wanted to scream in frustration.

"Faster, Salamence! Aim for where it was last and see if you can grab onto it." It was a desperate move, I knew that, but I couldn't bear to think that I was so close yet have them slip through my fingers yet again. Salamence kicked it into high gear, using the move Aerial Ace to streak forward at a blinding speed. He reached out his clawed feet to where the jet had last been but I wasn't surprised when they passed through the air harmlessly.

I was just about to lose my cool when I realized where we were. Glancing over Salamence's scaly side, I realized that we were only a mile or two from the base of Mount Coronet. Could this be one of their security measures? Turn invisible at a certain distance from their base so no one can follow?

"Salamence, go down lower and circle the base of the mountain. Maybe we'll see something," I called over the sound of the wind. He immediately followed my instructions, spiraling down fast enough to make me queasy before leveling out and skimming inches above the treetops.

We circled the base of the mountain slowly three times but I didn't see anything suspicious or out of order. My inner voice said I was being ridiculous and that Neptune would never be dumb enough to make her hideout in the same mountain that Cyrus had used. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered whether it was my own arrogance that was getting in the way of this new possibility.

I had completely lost track of time in my desperation to find some hint of a clue, but I could feel Salamence beginning to slow down. My gut reaction was to search the mountain blindly for some kind of entrance into what could potentially be a honeycomb of a hideout, but I took a deep breath and thought my options through.

What do I know? I asked myself reasonably. 1. That Team Galactic is bringing crates of evolution stones to somewhere within a mile of Mount Coronet. 2. They are most likely weekly trips. 3. I have no idea if their hideout is at Mount Coronet or if they turned invisible because they spotted Salamence. 4. Salamence needs a rest and my fingers are about to fall off because of the cold.

After analyzing all of the facts the most logical next step became clear and I gently nudged Salamence back toward Oreburgh. I wasn't the most patient guy in the world, especially when I had no idea if Detective Looker was even alive... but I knew that searching Mount Coronet blindly and potentially falling into a trap wasn't worth it. Instead, I would head back to where I had found the grunts and wait for them to come back next week.

A small 'ping' sound caught my attention and I pulled out my PokeCommunicator with numb fingers. Glancing down I saw a message from Bree and I couldn't help but grin at the message.

Me and Serena just won a race riding Rapidash! Come chill with us if you're not too busy, Mr. Workaholic - Bree

Attached to the message was a picture with her and Serena pressing their faces up against the cheeks of two full-sized Rapidash. They were wearing matching burgundy suits of a weird leather-like material and they were both grinning brightly. A peaceful feeling descended over me as I looked at the two smiling girls.

It had been a long time since someone had edged through the wall I'd built up around my heart, and I didn't even really understand how it happened. It had been a whim to go to the bakery that day I met Serena. I'd just finished up the last of the cases I was assigned by the International Police Force before they would let me search for Detective Looker who they said was "allegedly missing." It made my blood boil to see that the bigwigs who had praised Detective Looker for his service and said they would always have his back were now saying that he turned on them and was working for an evil organization. I decided to buy something sweet in an attempt to calm myself down and while I was off in my own world I bumped into the customer in front of me, causing her to drop her cake.

When I saw the tears dripping helplessly down her face and the expression of utter defeat she was wearing I knew instantly that she wasn't crying over her Mont Blanc. It had been almost a relief to listen to her troubles and stop thinking about Detective Looker and the people who were badmouthing him for a while. It had been surprisingly relaxing to talk to her and I found myself wanting to encourage her to follow her heart.

After that, every time I saw Serena's innocent and happy smile, so different from the hopeless expression I'd first seen from her, I felt re-energized. Like anything was possible, almost. I knew that was dumb of me, but when my life was filled with dead ends and unanswered questions I found myself clinging even tighter to the one ray of normalcy that popped into my life. And now she had even reunited me with Taylor's kid sister, Bree! I could hardly believe that the little munchkin that cheered for me and her brother in our trainer days grew into a fiery young woman with confidence spilling out of her ears. I looked at her almost challenging text again and couldn't help but let out a sputtering laugh before tucking the little device back into my jacket pocket.

"Can you make it to Oreburgh, Salamence?" I called to my loyal pokemon over the rush of the wind. Salamence bellowed loudly, sounding annoyed that I would question his stamina and I couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, big guy. I'll give you some Pomeg berries as a treat when we get there."  He bellowed again, this time happily, and I clutched his neck tighter as he suddenly sped forward, obviously anticipating the rare treat.

A/N Kind of a shorter chapter, but I hope you liked it! As Aryan closes in, things are going to start heating up with Team Galactic. I hope you're all ready for what's in store! And I hope it turns out as surprising as I am intending it to be :P :P