Now, how should I get it? Aqua thought, keeping her focus on the shiny item behind Doom.

"You got nowhere to run now. Prepare to meet your 'Doom', you little Figy Berry."

Aqua groaned hearing the pun that he made. Finally, the female Popplio got a solution for her problem.

"If only you can hit me. Come on, hit me right here," Aqua provoked while pointing at her head, getting on Doom's nerves.

"We'll see!"

Doom charged towards Aqua with his Crunch. Aqua immediately blew up a bubble and bounced on it, followed by a midair somersault. She pushed him away as soon as she landed on his back and landed on the sand spectacularly. Doom lost control of his balance, then had his face buried in the sand because of the female Popplio. Aqua quickly 'ran' towards the shiny item and examined it.

Just like I thought! It is a Z-crystal. But it looks weird.

Unlike any other Z-crystals, the one in Aqua's flipper didn't have any color or a symbol of some sort. It almost seemed lifeless.

What can this thing do? Nevermind that! I need to give it to Boboiboy!

"Boboiboy! Come here! Double quick!" Aqua called him over.

"For what?"

Aqua face palmed(or face flippers?) with a sigh hearing Boboiboy's response.

Running out of choices, she told Boboiboy, "Use this Z-crystal!"

"Oh no, you don't! You Houndours! Stop that weird Eevee!" Doom, finally got his head out of the sand and commanded his grunts.

The Houndours obeyed and attacked Boboiboy with their Ember and Bite.

Boboiboy ran towards the Sea Lion Pokemon while avoiding attacks from the Houndours. Without giving any chances, Doom attacked Aqua with Flame Thrower and Crunch. Aqua tried to evade every attack from Doom but a Flame Thrower managed to hit her, inflicting a burn on her. Aqua landed pretty clumsily and grunted in pain. The Houndoom grinned seeing her suffering from the burn.

"Aqua!" Boboiboy became worried seeing his friend getting burned.

"Hu-hurry up, Boboiboy,"

Boboiboy sped up as much as he can while dodging every attack from the Houndours. With every dodge he made, he became faster and faster, until he finally ran so fast that he left a trail of white energy on his track.

"That's Quick Attack! Boboiboy learned it!" Plasma exclaimed, much to everyone's surprise.

"Go get the Z-crystal!" Spin encouraged Boboiboy.

Finally close enough to her, Aqua threw the strange Z-crystal toward the accelerating Eevee. Boboiboy caught it in his mouth and hit Doom in the face. Boboiboy tried to attach it to his Power Watch. The watch split open, revealing an empty kite-shaped slot. He attached it to the empty slot and started to gather Z-power. He could feel the Z-power flowing into his body. The Houndours rushed towards the Evolution Pokemon but a Spinda stood in front of them, blocking their way.

"You all have to pass through me first!" Spin covered for Boboiboy by distracting the Houndours from interrupting him.

With his unusual walking pattern(because he's a Spinda), none of their attacks hit him. But Spin can't hit them since their team coordination prevented him.

"Oh no, you don't!" Doom charged up his Flame Thrower, aiming at Boboiboy.

Upon realizing it, the Sea Lion Pokemon slapped Doom's face away with her Pound, causing the Hellhound Pokemon to miss his shot. The black canine Pokemon shot a glare at her.

"G-get through me, first!!" Aqua growled rather coldly while holding up her burning pain, scowling at the Houndoom.

"Very well."

Doom blew up a Flame Thrower at the Popplio. Aqua tried to jump away from the blast but her burn stopped her from doing so. Boboiboy's Eevee eyes widened in horror as he watched his first-ever Pokemon friend being engulfed in the intense flame. Boboiboy cried out her name in desperation.

When the flame subsided, the semi-aquatic Pokemon was seen in a giant bubble, unscathed(minus the burn she got earlier). Aqua popped out of it with a smug. Upon seeing this, Doom gritted his teeth, feeling unsatisfied. Before everyone knew it, Boboiboy was done gathering Z-power, his body covered with them.

Is this Z-power? It feels so powerful! Boboiboy whispered in his mind as he felt the energy roaring wildly in his body, waiting to be unleashed.

"Unleash it now, Boboiboy!!!" Plasma signaled the dinosaur-capped Eevee to execute it.

"EEVEELUTIONS TRIPLE SPLIT!!!" Boboiboy unleashed his 'Z-move'.

To everyone's surprise(especially Aqua), he disappeared into the middle of a giant circle with the logos of his accessible Eeveelutions at the edge of the circle, each in their own smaller circles. All three Eeveelutions came out of the giant circle from their respective logos(Umbreon from the yellow crescent moon, Sylveon from the bow tie, and Jolteon from the lightning bolt) simultaneously and the circle disappeared, showing that he already split.

"Can this gets any crazier?" Aqua muttered under her breath.

"Woah! Are we a Pokemon now?" Sylveon was impressed seeing his body and his other 2 Eeveelutions.

"It seems so," Jolteon replied.

"Wow! Lightning! Earth! You guys look cool! What about me?"

"Wind! Focus!" Sylveon stopped hearing Umbreon snapping him out of his excitement. He turned his focus on the enemies in front of him.

The other three Uncharted Galaxy team members were dumbfounded hearing the Eeveelutions' conversation. It's not because of their personalities, it's the way how they referred to each other: Sylveon as 'Wind', Jolteon as 'Lightning', and Umbreon as 'Earth'.

"Nevermind," the sea lion Pokemon muttered.

"You think you can win with that strange Z-move?! Houndours! Destroy them!!"

The Houndours surrounded the Eeveelutions and blasted Embers toward them. Before the Embers hit the Eeveelutions, a beam of psychic energy and a Bubble Beam clashed with the Embers, canceling the attacks. The Eeveelutions saw Spin and Aqua land in front of them.

"Let us take on those Houndours. Doom is all yours," Aqua told the Eeveelutions.

"Hold on! You probably need this. Wind! Lightning!"

The Eeveelutions touched Spin and Aqua's back with one of their front paws. The two felt a surge of energy run through their body, making them feel stronger.

"Triple Helping Hand!? That's spectacular!" Plasma exclaimed.

After Spin thanked them, the Eeveelution charged straight toward Doom. The Houndoom readied himself for the 3-on-1 battle.

"Bring it on! I won't be defeated that easily!" Doom snarled and charged his Flame Thrower.

Umbreon took the lead and charged up some energy on his forehead. Once Doom blew up his Flame Thrower, the Dark-type Eeveelution shot his Dark Pulse toward the Flame Thrower, stopping it from hitting the trio. The impact caused an explosion, whipping up a cloud of sand on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Spinda and the Popplio were having a rather fair fight against the Houndours. One of them tried to Bite Aqua but she simply dodged it. With her Aqua Jet, the sea lion Pokemon took down half of the Houndours. Spin used Dizzy Punch and Feint Attack at the other Houndours while avoiding their attacks, knocking them out one by one. The two Galaxians celebrated it with a fist bump, snickering at each other.

Back at the Eeveelutions, Doom was having a hard time finding the Eeveelutions in the cloud of dust. Suddenly, a gust of sparkling wind blew away the dust clearing up the view. The Fairy Wind from Sylveon was so strong that it lifted the Flaming Darkness' leader in the air. Jolteon then jumped straight towards Doom with Quick Attack. Doom narrowly evaded the attack.

"Ha! You missed, yellow fella," Doom commented, but Jolteon only smirked at him.

The yellow Eeveelution zapped him with a Thunder Shock at point-blank range. Then, Jolteon kept striking the Houndoom with Quick Attack from different directions, increasing the electrical power in every strike with his Thunder Shock. To finish it up, Jolteon nosedived towards him with a full-power Quick Attack and Thunder Shock, pummeling Doom to the ground hard. Sparks of electricity dispersed from the impact and disappeared. Doom lay on the ground, unable to battle. Aqua, Spin, and Plasma rushed toward them when they saw the impact Jolteon did. The Eeveelutions rejoined, turning back into the Eevee they know and love.

"Looks like you're the one who was 'Doomed'," the Sea Lion Pokemon taunted.

Witnessing himself lose to a few newbies, he got up and ran away, feeling humiliated. His followers hurriedly trailed behind him without looking back.

"We'll beat you next time! Just wait and see!!" Doom shouted before disappearing from the Galaxians' view.

"We did it! We beat those hooligans!"

Spin and Aqua hugged Boboiboy tightly, feeling happy with their achievement.

"Um, guys? I can't breathe!"

The Spinda and the Popplio let go of their embraces, letting the dinosaur-capped Eevee breathe again. From the hole under the pile of rocks, a black lizard Pokemon came out. He thanked the Galaxians for saving him.

"So, are you the Salandit named Dan?" Boboiboy asked him. The Salandit nodded, confirming that he was Dan.

"And, are you guys a rescue team?" Dan asked about their identity.

"No, we're members of the Tapus Supporter Organization, or TSO for short. We're team Uncharted Galaxy! I'm Boboiboy."

"Spin."

"A-Aqua."

"And I'm Plasma."

Spin recalled something to ask the Salandit out of the blue, "How long did you hide in there?"

"5 hours until you guys saved us." The Galaxians were caught off guard by Dan's reply.

"Hold on! Us? There's someone with you?" Plasma asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, I think I forgot to write it in the job request letter! Anyways, I came here from Mt. Overheat to visit my best friend, Spikes. He's a Cacnea that lives around here. After I finally meet him, we were attacked by the Flaming Darkness out of nowhere. We managed to get away before they stole anything I brought. Fortunately, my Fire-typing prevented me from getting burned by their Fire attacks. Spikes, on the other hand....."

The Salandit stepped away from his hideout after a long explanation, letting the Galaxians in. They saw a Cacnea lying on the ground groaning in pain. The burn marks on his body chipped away his consciousness as time went on. The Galaxians gasped seeing how much the Cactus Pokemon suffered. How could those bandits hurt an innocent Pokemon like this?

"Those thugs. I won't let them get away next time!" Boboiboy growled.

Remembering why they came to the desert in the first place, Aqua took out a Rawst Berry from their travel bag.

"H-here." The sea lion Pokemon handed the berry to the fire lizard.

"Oh, thanks! I'll reward you guys later," Dan thanked the Galaxians.

Receiving the blue-colored berry, Dan quickly fed Spikes with the Rawst Berry. The burn marks on the Cacnea slowly wore out, leaving him for good. Spikes slowly stopped groaning in pain, with his face eventually relaxed. The others calmed down a bit seeing the Cacnea looking better.

"We should also give him an Oran Berry to replenish his energy." Spin gave Dan an Oran Berry.

After eating the Oran Berry that Dan gave him, Spikes started feeling re-energized. Plasma suggested they bring Spikes to the TS headquarters for further treatment.

"But how do we get there fast? The HQ is far away from here," Boboiboy asked.

"Easy! Just push the button on your team badge and touch it to anyone you want and you all will be teleported to the HQ. Allow me to demonstrate."

"Hold on! Plasma, is that a Sparkling Stone?" Aqua asked, pointing at a rock covered by the sand near Dan's hideout.

Plasma and Spin went towards the stone and dug it out. They closely inspected the rock. The rock had a Z-shape on it with an empty slot fit for attaching a Z-crystal into it. Spin's hands felt warm when holding it.

"It's 100% confirmed to be a Sparkling Stone! Let's bring it to Prof. Delia to turn it into a Z-ring," Plasma confirmed with Spin nodded.

So, Aqua took the Sparkling Stone and put it into their travel bag. Plasma borrowed Boboiboy's badge and pushed the round button on the badge. The button slowly blinked in flashes of red and blue with a beeping sound. Plasma then touched its 'wings' to everyone and they all teleported out of the desert.

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

(At the Tapus Supporter Recovery Centre)

Boboiboy, Spin and Dan sat down on a bench, waiting quietly for any news about Aqua and Spikes. The worries from the three Pokemon caused them to become fidgety and unable to keep calm. Neither of them started a conversation due to how tense the situation was. Some passerby Pokemon can feel the tension. The smell of some medicines in there only increases the tension in the air.

After waiting for a while, a fat, cream and pink-colored Pokemon wearing a nurse hat walked out of the Emergency Room. Boboiboy and the others came to her like fangirls chasing after their favorite celebrity. But instead of eyes of admiration, their eyes were full of worries.

"Nurse, are they going to be fine?"

The nurse grinned hearing Dan and Boboiboy's question.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. Thanks to the treatment you gave to Spikes, he can be discharged soon. As for Aqua, she still needs more time to recover. But she'll be alright," she explained, much to their relief.

"Thanks a lot, Nurse...."

"Dia, Dia the Audino. And you're welcome. It's our job to heal those who are injured."

So, Dia went back to her work. The three tiny Pokemon sat back on the bench, feeling relaxed after the long, tense waiting. Then, Spin saw Plasma go out of the room with the Sparkling Stone they found back at the Vast Desert. The others looked at him as well.

"Hey, Plasma! Where are you going?" Spin asked, out of curiosity.

"I want Delia to turn this Sparkling Stone into a Z-ring," Plasma explained, showing the stone.

"Oh, I see."

With that out of the way, the sentient Pokedex went to the Research Facility. The Galaxians' focus went back to the Salandit as he had something to say.

"Thanks so much for delivering the Rawst Berry and saving us back then. Here's the reward for your deed." The fire lizard gave them a total of 1500 Pokés.

"Wait!? Are you paying us this much!?" Spin questioned him in utter shock.

"Of course! You've crossed that scorching desert, fought some random Pokemon, beat those Flaming Darkness just to deliver that berry plus you helped me to cure Spikes from his injuries. You guys deserve it,"

Receiving the money, Spin and Boboiboy thanked him. Then, the Salandit gave the dinosaur-capped Eevee a yellow-colored stone looking like amber with a fiery mark on it.

"What is this?" Boboiboy asked.

"That's a Fire Stone. It causes certain Pokemon to evolve, mainly Fire-types. I don't really need it though and I figured that I should give it to someone that can use it."

"Err, thank you?" Boboiboy received it and put it into the travel bag.

Then, the Cacnea that Dan had been waiting for finally came out of the emergency room, looking good as new. Feeling overjoyed, the Salandit ran towards Spikes and wanted to hug him but he stopped due to the thorns on Spikes' body. Boboiboy and Spin giggled at the scene.

"Spikes, I'm glad you're okay now! Let's get back home, shall we?"

"Yes, buddy."

"Bye, you guys! I hope to see you Galaxians again someday!" The two clients left the HQ.

The two TSO recruits sat back on the bench. They still couldn't believe how much they got from the mission. A few minutes later, Plasma came back

"So, how about that Sparkling Stone? Is she done with it yet?" Boboiboy asked.

"Not yet, but she said it'll be done once Aqua came out of the Patient's Room. Also, she wants us to meet her after Aqua fully recovers," Plasma explained.

"So, what did I miss?"

The Galaxians turned around and saw the Popplio they have been waiting for finally come out, fully healed.

"Aqua! You're okay!"

Boboiboy and Spin rushed towards her. From their eyes, she can tell how worried they were. But seeing them come to her like that embarrassed her a little.

"Guys, chill down! It's not like I'm dying or something," Aqua tried to chill them down.

Then, Spin and Boboiboy told her everything that happened before the semi-aquatic Pokemon was discharged. She couldn't believe the amount of Poké they got.

"REALLY! HE GAVE US THAT MUCH!? Are you guys exaggerating it?" Aqua asked for conviction.

"No, we don't!" The other two denied it.

The two male Galaxians tried to convince her but Aqua still couldn't believe them. Plasma, being quiet for most of the time, recalled something. He broke the Galaxians from their arguments.

"Anyways, remember our appointment with Prof. Delia? We should meet her right now!" Plasma reminded them.

"Right!"

So, they quickly headed towards the Research Facility to meet the Delphox. On their way there, a Pokemon glanced at them. One can see interest in its eyes if only it didn't have a newspaper covering its face.

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Sorry for the late update. I was checking this chapter and changed it little by little. And I also stumbled across writer's block. So, what do you think of this chapter? I hope you enjoyed it.