GRACE'S POV

Now that everyone's eyes were on me, I felt a bit pressured to rethink my plan. With our lives on the line, I found myself speaking anyway.

"I-It might seem a little crazy, but you guys will have to hear me out. Since we can't figure out where the Inteleons are located, we can try to use moves that don't miss. For example, I have Swif—"

"Not a chance." Vince quickly shut it down, and I turned to look at the visible grimace on his expression. "You'll become a target, and I'm not gonna let you get hurt."

"But i-it might be the only chance we have to find them!" I quickly added. "Does anyone else have an efficacious move?"

"I have Aura Sphere, but it requires me to read their aura...and they appear to be out of its range." Leon's eyes scrolled past the skies. How in the world did they manage to outrange a Lucario's aura? I guess I thought it went farther than that.

"I only know Shock Wave for that." Rayne turned to offer. "It never misses, but the range is shorter than theirs."

"See?" I turned to the disapproving Greninja in front of me. "This can only work if I do it!"

"We'll find a different way." He shook his head, turning to the rest of the group with a frown.

"Vince, I don't recall you being the leader of this team. In fact, I don't think any of us are." Luster stepped up to narrow his eyes at the frog. "So I think it would be better to consider it."

"Are you serious? You heard what they said; Snipe Shot never misses its target!" Vince protested, his webbed hands pointing at nothing in particular.

"Yes, but there have got to be workarounds." I sat on my haunches to place a thoughtful paw against my chin.

If I could get this to work, then maybe we can figure out where the Inteleons are. After a few seconds of thinking, I heard Vince's voice chime in. "Fine, but yer gonna have to follow my lead."

"Yes, sir!" My smile grew with excitement as I watched the Greninja nod in approval.

"You should try sending it in the general direction where they shot from." Sherwood added, his eyes still locked onto Sam. I almost forgot how essential he was for this plan to work; Sherwood had to sit there waiting and make sure they didn't try to escape. If Sam manages to leave, we're all good as dead.

"That looks to be about south-east." Rayne trudged up behind me and straightened her paw in the aforementioned area. "Remember that you will be a target after you use this move. Do you understand?"

"I do." With my eyes now narrowed in focus, I leaped into the area and swung my body around to control a wave of stars on my tail. The moment I gracefully landed, the attack would start to dance in spastic directions, almost as if it was tracking something in real time. After what felt like a while, a decent explosion was witnessed in the air, and a blurry glimmer of ocean blue fell from the sky.

"There!" Laker pointed out with a claw as we watched the silhouette fall to the ground a great distance away from us.

"That's one, do we know how many there are?" Zantai was the only one to look away from the fallen Pokemon and scan for any other threats in the area.

In the distance arose a moonlit Inteleon, and even though he was a great length away from us, it was clear he had a grin on his expression. The water chameleon raised an arm with a pointed finger, now aimed at me. Vince instinctually lowered his arm to try and protect me but quickly remembered it would be of no use.

"Grace, run at him." Vince ordered. At first, I thought he was joking, but craning my head to see his deadpan expression was enough of a contradiction. "Run at him."

"W-What!?" I blurted. "What the hell?"

"Do it! You said you would follow my lead, I'm tellin' you right fuckin' now! Run at him, trust me!" The Greninja yelled out in a tone I'd never heard him speak at, so the pressure took over and I found myself running out of the Light Screen dome.

This was stupid, what the hell was I even doing? Leaving the protection of Sammy's screen and running directly at my assailant? I looked to my side for half a second—Sam and her Gengar were staring at me with an amused grin. Even though they were too far to stop me, they still happily watched with an expression screaming "This won't end well for you".

I trusted Vince, though. Of course I did; he had far more battle experience than I did. The closer I got to the Inteleon, the more confused his expression grew. It was as if he was expecting me to stop at any time, but all I did was just continue running directly into his range.

Was this some distraction tactic? Maybe Vince would show up any time now and attack, but he never did. In fact, he was still standing in the Light Screen dome. What now? I'm too close to the Inteleon and too far from the group. I was seconds away from turning around and hurling curses in Vince's direction, but the chameleon charging a Snipe Shot was enough to make me freeze in place.

This was it, I was about to receive the full brunt of this move. How dangerous could it be? I'm only a couple of feet away, it shouldn't be that bad, right?

...

What am I even thinking!? This could kill a small Pokemon like me! Why am I even here!?

As I watched the attack blast out of his fingers and toward myself, I felt a cry for help leave my mouth. "V-Vince!"

...

Suddenly, I was in the dome.

"H-Help..!" I still cried out and watched as Loki wrapped her arms around me. "Lo...ki?"

"You're alright..! So it worked!" The Zoroark grinned, still sitting on Luster's back.

"What worked?" My confusion would soon be answered as I turned to where I was previously. Across the dome was Vince, and he was knelt down holding his shoulder in front of the Inteleon. "Arceus."

I knew what he did, that was Baton Pass. Not a bad idea at all; Snipe Shot is a guaranteed hit on me specifically...unless he perfectly times a Baton Pass and takes the blow for me. Still, even for being a water type I could tell the attack did a number on Vince—I suppose he is too used to avoiding damage rather than taking it.

"Not bad..!" Vince's distant voice coughed out as he was back on his feet. Before saying anything else, the frog leaped onward and swung his arms while holding a blade coated in pure darkness. The attack connected, launching the Inteleon a good number of feet away. "Not good enough, though."

Vince didn't push his initiative, however, as he visibly showed signs of knowing a different presence.

"I feel the aura of another." Leon muttered under his breath before uncharacteristically running forward and calling to the Greninja. "From your west!"

Vince's body reeled around to watch as a Snipe Shot from a completely different Inteleon beamed its way across the air to shoot at him. I felt my body wince at the sight of the attack piercing through the frog like a blade, and for a moment I wanted to scream. However, something about this was weird...it was as if Vince temporarily liquified and reassembled in the same spot.

"Whoops! You were so close!" The Greninja cackled loudly and pointed to the spot where the Snipe Shot landed. "Missed me by exactly seven water particles!"

"His trick..." Zantai mumbled subconsciously. "Water won't affect him if he does that."

"It looked like he made the water around him malleable..." Sammy noted as she walked forward with interest. "Why did he not mention this earlier?"

"Because it doesn't help the Snipe Shots being shot at us." Rayne quickly objected. "I'm actually frustrated he revealed this hand, now they will refuse to target him."

"But he's still a fuckin' problem, no?" Zantai chuckled at the Manectric's bluntness. "Dude will wreak havoc if they don't stop him now."

"Then why not join him?" Sherwood turned to smile at the rest of us with a small grin. "Light Screen is comin' down soon and I gotta stay watching these lovebirds." He turned to glare at the pair of Gengar with Sam.

"Not all of us are exactly in tune with our moves. It might some warming up for that to happen." Sammy crossed her arms in protest. "But you're right, the screen is coming down soon and I will not be able to recast it for a while."

"Hey, Grace!" Vince's voice snapped them out of their focus as they watched the frog stand over an unconscious Inteleon. "Shoot another attack to the right of me! It's time to find the other o—"

Before he could finish the statement, the Greninja was slammed by a large shadow fist emanating directly behind him. Clearly not expecting this attack, Vince was lunged toward our direction as I watched him slide across the dirt in horror.

"Vince! You okay?" Rayne was the best of our reaction times to run forward and stand to guard the frog.

"Urggh..." I finally caught up to watch Vince groan and barely stumble up to his knees. "Fuck that...give me a second."

Zantai grimaced at the sight of him before stepping forward. "Aye, who the fuck did that? Come out, pussy! I'll fuck you up!"

Luster's eyes widened in horror. "What the hell are you doing? You'll get shot!"

"I was wonderin' where he went." Sherwood called out to us from our hold position. "It was the other Gengar, m'not seein' him here."

Our heads swiveled around in unison to see Sam was now only guarded by one Gengar. Even if she had less protection, the manic Braixen held a confident grin on her lips. "Ahh, I'm loving this hope you all have~!"

"Sammy..." I turned to the younger Braixen in realization. Her plan was something I fully trusted, but I'm starting to have doubts about our outcome. "How long are we supposed to keep this up for?"

She was clearly hesitant to answer, but after a deep breath, she faced me with a straight face. "An hour."

An hour?

"A fuckin' hour." Zantai scoffed in amusement. "That's great, especially since I can't attack a Gengar with my strongest moves."

"There is no reason to worry, we are capable." Leon reassured and walked forward to presumably analyze the aura around him. "I can sense the Gengar cloaked in the ground, but I cannot attack him from this range either. I may serve as a quick warning, however."

"That's enough for me." Rayne spat at the dirt and stomped forward. "Grace, get ready to use Swift. Only after I get shot you may use it."

What? What was she talking about?

"I-I thought you weren't able to get close!" I quickly stepped forward. "And you don't have Baton Pass, do you?"

"Nope, I do things my own way. Just tell me where they are." The Manectric carelessly shooed me off and walked into the open air.

The Light Screen behind us crumbled and fell to the ground, but it's not like we were using it anymore. Sammy looked a little drained from controlling it the entire time, so she rested by leaning against Leon.

What do I do now? Swift wouldn't work on the hidden Gengar, so I have to be careful where I place it. I took Rayne's advice and focused, continuing to stay still until she called for my help.

"Gengar approaching from your flank!" Leon warned as he charged an Aura Sphere.

"Don't bother, it won't affect him." Zantai muttered.

"I am waiting for the other Inteleon to fire...then this attack will be shot in their direction." The Lucario said as he continued to hold his attack between his palms.

"Assuming there is another, perhaps Grace can use her swift to find the other Inteleon and kill two Pidgeys with one stone?" Loki added while Luster nodded in agreement.

"Sherwood, make sure you keep an eye on Sam." The Luxray turned to watch the Sceptile.

"She ain't movin' a muscle. Looks like she's entertained with your guys' battle." Sherwood crossed his arms, the Gengar next to Sam blowing an informal raspberry at him.

THIRD PERSON

Rayne was at the center of all the action, but she had yet to move a muscle. Instead, the Manectric only stood up with her eyes fully shut, a determined expression clearly present. She trusted her senses completely, but she knew that there was something currently more trustworthy than that.

"Now!" Leon's voice called out to her from a distance, and as if she were a sleep agent, the electric canine sprung into action. Her body leaped into the air as she felt the static electricity gather into her core and centralize into one singularity.

The Gengar that planned to attack her realized all too late what she was planning, and no amount of hiding could prevent the Shock Wave from tracking him. From the shadow in the ground, the ghost Pokemon was spat out and rolled across the ground in audible pain.

As promised, Grace had already launched her Swift into the skies. Everyone watched as the attack surprisingly shifted towards the ground and landed on its target. This Inteleon in particular was female, and she also appeared to be surrounded by a green shell-like barrier.

"Protect." Rayne muttered with a grimace.

Now that Sammy's light screen was down, the group had scattered into little formations that they hadn't realized they were in.

"I guess we're getting predictable now..." Loki muttered under her breath. "Where's the third one?"

"Already on it..." Leon quickly replied before launching his previously charged Aura Sphere into the air. The attack was a lot faster than last time, and it didn't take long before a loud explosion was heard in the distance. "One of them appeared in my range for a split second, that is all I required."

"Leave that one to me." Zantai patted the jackal on his back and dashed off into the distance.

"Hey..!" Laker raised a claw in complaint as he watched the bird leave the group. "You can't just run off!"

"Too late! I'm sick of standing still doing nothing, I need some fuckin' action!" The Blaziken flashed a sly grin before chasing down the Inteleon that Leon had shot down. It took about ten seconds of running for the fire type to stop and watch as the tall chameleon rose off the ground.

"Urgh, what a pain." The Inteleon hummed lightly, his voice smooth and posh.

"Oh? You talk? I thought all you goons were just mindless slaves." Zantai smirked and readied his stance.

"That is because I am the founder of my squadron." He brushed the excess dirt off his arms before pointing a finger at the Blaziken. "You may call me Aqua."

"Hah! So it's just you that talks?" Zantai audibly chuckled. "What kinda hivemind is that? I'm guessing you get paid for doing this?"

"Everything has a price." Aqua frowned. "You are not entitled to that knowledge, however. Now perish."

Zantai took this as a sign to start blocking, as his attack could fire at any moment. As he expected, a Snipe Shot was lunged in his direction, and he quickly crossed his arms in anticipation to block it. The Blaziken hissed in pain from the sharp contact, but it was much better than the attack hitting his chest like it was intended.

However, when he let down his arms, a much more surprising sight was witnessed by the fire type. Aqua was...running directly at him? Before he could even consider how weird that was, the Inteleon was suddenly shrouded by a stream of water and already shoving himself directly into the Blaziken's body.

Zantai felt all the air leave his body as he rolled on the grass in shock. Though admirably, he kept his composure and quickly rose to his knees.

"Ghhr...I thought you fuckers didn't like to get up close and personal?" The Blaziken held his chest. Aqua's attack was painful, sure, but it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be.

"We are not all the same." The Inteleon crossed his arms, his tail flicking in annoyance. "That was Aqua Jet, by the way. Nice name, I know."

Aqua Jet? All Zantai knew was that a move like that was fast—unreactable, even.

"Arceus, are you always this pretentious?" Zantai managed to get back on his feet and snarl at the tall chameleon.

"Ooo~!" Aqua giggled to himself. "Isn't that a big word for you? Pretentious? Not bad for a meathead!"

"Keep thinking that way, it'll get you killed." The Blaziken exclaimed and sprinted to close the gap between them. If he could just get close to Aqua, then maybe he'd have more of a chance to hit him. He was recently hit by an Aura Sphere, there's no way an Inteleon could take many more hits.

As predicted, Zantai's Blaze Kick was evaded without the Inteleon breaking a sweat. All it took was a slight weave in a different direction and the slick chameleon was already behind the fire bird. This time was different, as Zantai lunged his body around to charge an attack coated in light blue energy.

Aqua saw this as nothing special, and he knew this attack would be easily avoided. He watched as the Blaziken jabbed his arm forward, and the Inteleon did as intended to duck under it. However, Aqua also witnessed as the bird's fist followed his movements down to the inch, and he knew what was going on all too late.

The Inteleon was launched a few feet away from the attack, but it wasn't as far as Zantai would have wanted. "Aerial Ace...not bad..." Aqua held his head in pain before facing his opponent once more.

"Suddenly, you're too scared to come closer, huh?" Zantai grinned.

"Not quite, meathead." Aqua hummed and pointed his finger at the Blaziken once more. The Inteleon didn't give him any time to consider the attack and immediately fired a Snipe Shot at the Blaziken.

This time, the attack landed center mass in Zantai's chest. He couldn't help but cough out a stream of blood as he watched the Inteleon dash at him at blinding speeds.

As the next Aqua Jet coated the Inteleon in a stream of water, it was clear what the outcome looked to be for the Blaziken.

"I told you..." Zantai muttered past the blood in his maw. Suddenly, he felt his body able to react to Aqua's move as he charged one of his own—it was as if time slowed down to a millisecond for him. Before he knew it, his palm had already lunged forward and struck Aqua directly on the temple of his head. "...thinking that way will get you killed!"

Below him was a now unconscious Inteleon. Upper Hand was a move that would only work if the opponent was utilizing a priority move. If the Inteleon had not charged an Aqua Jet at that moment, Zantai would most definitely be the one on the ground right now.

"I hope...everyone else is good." The fire bird groaned and fell to one knee. "I need a break, though..."

In the distance watched a Weavile, who was making sure to keep an eye on Zantai the entire time.

"That dumbass..." Laker heaved a sigh of relief at seeing the Blaziken win his battle before turning to the rest of the group. "That's all of them, right?"

The participants all seemed a little weary from their individual fights—some way more than others. Both Rayne and Vince matched each other's aggressive energies and managed to take down the final Inteleon, not counting Aqua. Both were injured, specifically Vince, as he was not used to taking hits very often.

"We only got a half hour left before the symptoms take place!" Sammy quickly announced as everyone merged into one group.

Once Zantai limped his way back Leon would soon get to work in powering a wide Heal Pulse in everyone's direction. It wasn't exactly the most perfect solution, but it felt far better than nothing.

"You're runnin' out of 'mons, Sam." Sherwood, who was watching the manic Braixen very attentively, flashed a wide grin at her.

"This is so cute~!" Sam gushed and squirmed her arms up to her chest. "Everyone working together in the name of hope! I love it!"

"Arceus, she's miserable." Laker crossed his arms and turned to glare at the Gengar next to her. "You only got one Gengar left...even if you brought more we'd just take them down again. Just give up already!"

"Hah...you all should know something's wrong if I'm this confident." Sam shook her head and waved at the ghost next to her. Suddenly, the Gengar disappeared into thin air.

"What?" Loki sharply inhaled. "Where'd he go?"

"He's not here." Leon quickly answered. "She dismissed him."

"Why?" Sherwood raised a brow. "You realize that was your only escape, right?"

Everyone seemed on guard, but for what reason? They could easily take down any other Pokemon she decides to throw at them, but how come they all felt a terrible pit in their stomach?

"G-Guys..!" Leon suddenly hurled forward and fell to one knee, holding the temples of his head. "Ghr..! T-There is a great presence! It's fogging my aura!"

"Leon..!" Sammy was the first to run forward and wrap an arm around the jackal. "From where?"

"Oh, you silly bunch!" Sam grinned widely. "My Gengar didn't run away, he was sent to retrieve my trump card!"

Suddenly, everyone felt obligated to turn their heads towards the growing shadow in the ground in front of the devilish Braixen. It was easy to tell it was a ghost type's doing—presumably a Gengar—but what was it dragging along with it?

The shadow in the dirt distorted and widened in size, and many assumptions were made as to what it could be. A Mingle? Sam did mention she was working on something, but they could have never imagined it would be something of this size.

However, it was something they would have never predicted.

"Behold, the product of what happens when you push someone away!" Sam cackled into the air before the figure rose from the ground to reveal a large and muscular silhouette.

A collective wave of gasps and hitches in their breaths caused everything around them to practically freeze in place.

Growing from the shadow in the ground was a very large Lucario, and not just any jackal, it was Hydra.

"H-Hy...dra..?" Loki muttered under her breath and watched as the tall Lucario wordlessly stepped forward to stand next to Sam. "W-What is he doing with her?"

"There's something wrong with him." Sammy was very quick to note and flash a disgusted grimace. "What the hell did you do to him!?"

"Good eye!" Sam giggled to herself. "No wonder you're my sister..!"

"That can't be Hydra, right?" Laker turned to the younger Braixen on their side. "Why does he look so...empty?"

"I have you to thank for this, Loki." The manic Braixen on the other end paced around her silent brother before leaning her head against his side—which was as high as her head could be placed anyway. "Whenever I analyzed his vitals after your encounter, I learned that Hydra was actually capable of feeling strong emotions!"

"Strong emotions, capable..?" Loki echoed with a sense of unsureness. The shock alone of seeing the jackal again definitely threw her off, but watching as he stood by Sam rubbed her the wrong way.

"T-This has something to do with the fact that he's not your actual brother, right?" Grace timidly questioned. "We know that Hydra died a long time ago."

"Ah, so even that's common knowledge here?" Sam playfully rolled her eyes and stood up straight to address her audience. "It's true that long ago Hydra passed away and I was motivated to begin my research in resurrecting the dead. Ever since I've accidentally brought him back to life, I've been looking for that solution for a very long time now. However, after finding the answer, I realized that I was only inhibited by one thing; resources."

"...and what are those 'resources', might I ask?" Rayne narrowed her eyes.

"Seeing as how just you replied to that, I feel as if you didn't tell everyone the full story of what Laker said!" Sam folded her arms and teasingly waved her tail around. "Don't act so surprised that I know what he told you; I know everything that happens once a memory gem is used!"

"If that's the case, t-then..." Loki stammered.

"Then you should recognize that's why your plan with Hydra failed." Sam suddenly held a stern expression. "You had hoped that he would find out where the machine was controlled and learn more about how to escape, correct? You forget you activated a memory gem the moment you realized the two of you would die, letting me know exactly of your plan. Though I did not expect you to pose as Hydra—that sure was a nice trick!"

"What happened to him after?" Luster was the one to ask this time, his eyes still focused on Hydra, who was nothing but a silent and empty husk.

"I...'deactivated' him with Kanom's help. You should know by now that every creator has a method to control their creations when needed. It's no surprise that I can mold Hydra to my liking and prevent him from helping you all."

"B-But what about the memories? All of that has to go somewhere! He can't just forget everything he did for us!" Grace seemingly pleaded.

"Memories?" Sam mocked with feigned sadness. "Please, as if I wanted my brother to feel bad for some criminals. Or worse, fall in love with one." Sam would lock eye contact with Loki after finishing her last sentence, taking the Zoroark by surprise.

"...what are you saying?" Loki questioned with a glare.

"I so willingly took Hydra apart once again because I initially believed he couldn't feel such a strong emotion as love...but you proved me wrong. Now, here we are." Sam turned to motion towards the large jackal behind her. "My greatest creation, exactly what I intended Hydra to b—"

The manic Braixen's words were interrupted by a sudden grunting fit. Sam's body lurched forward as she held her head in pain, the feeling of gagging overwhelming her. "W-What...the fuck..!"

"I-It's working..!" Sammy whispered to the Zoroark next to her. "She hasn't used the machine in a very long time...she's experiencing withdrawals right now!"

"How much longer until the effects wear off?" Luster asked.

"I don't know, but the longer we stall the closer we are to curing the machine's effects." The younger Braixen answered with a determined look.

"Arceus, I guess I'll have to speed this up!" Sam announced before hiding behind Hydra. "I didn't bring my brother along just to show him off, this is my final trump card. This is the reason why you all are completely powerless against me."

Everyone was now on high alert. Leon quickly realized the reason why he was feeling great pain in his sensors, and it was all explained after noticing the lack of aura restraints on Hydra.

"His a-aura is no longer inhibited, he's at his max." Leon warned before holding his head. "He's already attacking me through my aura..!"

"Is his aura that strong?" Zantai turned to glare at the tall jackal across from them.

Vince shook his head in frustration before taking a battle stance. "We're not just gonna sit here and fall to it, though. We gotta do somethin'..."

"Are you all ready?" Sam chuckled. "I sure am! Hydra, I command you to attack! Don't make it too flashy, I need to get back to my work."

Like a mindless slave who had heard his purpose, Hydra's eyes lit up with a deadly glare. His body appeared to move on his own as the tall Lucario marched forward, ringing many mental alarms in the group's brains.

"W-What do we do?" Zantai shook his head and subconsciously backed away. "That guy isn't gonna hold back like last time."

As Hydra approached, it was as if the gravity around them multiplied. The sheer waves of energy grounded them, and Leon was the first to start writhing in pain as the younger Lucario felt his aura be challenged.

"Hydra!" Loki couldn't bear the sight as she leaped off the Luxray's back to start limping at the shell of what was Hydra. "Please, don't! Please tell me you're in there, I need you to stop!"

The Zoroark's legs didn't hold up for very long, especially in the heavier atmosphere due to the powerful aura. She still continued to crawl at him, her determined look unwavering.

"Loki, stop!" Luster attempted to move forward but was almost blown back by a small wave of invisible energy sent his way. "He'll kill you!"

"Hydra..." Loki finally crawled close enough to crane her head up at the jackal. "Please...please tell me you're in there. I know you are, you're a good person."

Without a word, Hydra raised an arm before a sphere of bright blue energy formed at the end of his palm.

"I-I'm sorry..." The Zoroark pleaded.

The Lucario kept his ruthless silence and fired his attack straight at the fallen fox, the ground below her cratering as a gust of smoke and dust clouded the area.

"When will you learn?" Sam grinned as she watched the dust collect into the air. "He will never remember you again."