I ran like the Devil was after me.

I sprinted down the street faster than I had ever ran before. Faster than the time I almost got trampled by a herd of Tauros. Faster than when we were outrunning the Galarian Meowth in Wyndon. Even faster than the one time I outran four angry Gyrados on a rampage. Well, technically, I outswam them, but the important part was that I got away.

I was running as hard as I could, but no matter how much distance I thought I was putting between myself and the residents of Spikemuth, they always seemed to be growing closer and closer. Tossing out a luxury ball I yelled, "Espeon, use Psychic and knock over the boxes in the streets! It should buy us time!"

She complied, throwing everything to the side of us in the path of our enemies. I could hear grunts, crashes and curses coming from behind us, and I said a silent thank you to whatever thing had given Team Yell the inability to dodge debris.

After a few minutes of throwing trash in the path of our enemies, the voices grew dimmer and dimmer. Then, just as I thought we'd lost them, we came across a huge barrier made of metal shipping containers, cardboard boxes and littered with broken glass and trash of all kinds. "Oh, come on," I wailed. The shouts of angry Spikemuthians (Spikemuthers? Spikemuthees?) were becoming louder by the second. I was running out of time.

Bright lights caught my right eye, and I turned to see a deserted little area inside a building I could only assume was a clubhouse of some sort. The giant poster of Team Yell's logo in the back was a pretty dead giveaway. It looped around inside the building, and an exit could be seen on the other side of the mountain of debris. Unfortunately, there were a few people inside, and they started to hear the shouts of their fellow teammates.

Without thinking, I ran for the barrier. Jumping and pushing off a platform of metal sticking out, I leapt up the summit of trash like a goat would a mountain, using the little footholds like a ladder to jump up and over. Just as I cleared the summit, I leapt over the edge without looking down...

...and landed right on top of a napping Zigzagoon trio with their Linoone leader.

Jolting awake with a start, the quartet clamored around in confusion, until all their eyes focused on me. Growling and snarling, they came closer to me, closing in on all sides and forcing my back against the barrier of metal. "Meowsie! Can't you use Attract on these guys and make them back off?!"

"Well, yes, but what would it do?!"
"Just make them stop attacking us!!!" Meowsie let out a low note in the form of a meow, the sound echoing around the area. The Zigzagoon and Linoone perked up their ears in response, slowly relaxing as the sound droned on, delicately securing Meowsie's grip on their minds.

"Okay, good," I said, backing around the Zigzagoon and Linoone that were fixated on Meowsie, perched on my shoulder. "Now tell them that if they want you to stay, they'll have to do what I tell them to." Team Yell was just on the other side of the roadblock, now. I could hear Piers and Marnie shouting and struggling to get around it.

"Espeon, drag a huge box into the doorway of the building to buy us some time!" Espeon complied, shoving a huge wooden crate into the frame of the entrance to the hideout. As the grunts started beating down the wooden box, I scrambled to arrange the Zigzagoon into a basic phalanx formation around me. Then, just as the grunts beat down our defenses, I shouted out a command.

"Alright, Zigzagoon, all three of you, use Snarl!" As the yells of the Zigzagoon formed dark energy to knock back the ranks of Team Yell flooding into the street, I focused my attention on the Galarian Linoone next. "Zigzagoon, keep up the Snarl attacks! Linoone, take the time to use Hone Claws to boost your power, then use Fury Swipes! Go for the big, stupid Linoone first!"

"Gooooooon!!!"

The Linoone howled, slashing the air with its claws and, somehow, making them sharper and shinier in the process. Then, leaping into the fray, the Linoone slashed and clawed its way through the shrieking crowd of operatives, until it found Piers. I knew because I heard shrieks of pain and the slicing of fabric from the general direction of the hideout.

For a few minutes, our attack was working. The grunts were pushed back, and the fight was looking to tip in my favor. Then, Team Yell started to fight back against my small army. Once they got their heads straight, they brought out their own Pokemon to counterattack.

"Zigzagoon, change tactics," I shouted. "Get up close, and then use Lick and Headbutt to take out the opponents!" The Zigzagoon complied, dashing towards them using zigzagging movements and then attacking with their tongues and heads. I grinned as the lines of Team Yell's Linoone, Thievul and Liepard fell back under the strong attacks of my team, but, once again, they got their heads on straight and countered with surprising force.

"Enough is enough! Toxie, use Power-up Punch and make it hurt," I yelled, flinging her luxury ball with the force of a professional pitcher. Bursting out in a bunch of sparkles, Toxie leapt into the fray with a wail worthy of a cranky toddler, fist already glowing with power. The more times her fists connected with her opponents, the more damage she did to them until they were all lying in a heap. "Now, use Power-Up Punch to collapse the building!"

As Toxie leapt to connect with the building's base, a Pokemon burst out of a Pokeball with a puff of murky, black mist, and Toxie froze in midair. Crying out in alarm, she struggled to free herself from the telekinetic force stopping her from moving. Then, she was sent flying back, and I caught her before she hit the ground. Looking up, I saw Piers, in considerably rougher shape than when I last saw him, standing behind a Malamar, its eyes and spots glowing with psychic power.

"Meowsie, use Attract on Malamar!!" Meowsie started to turn on the charm again, but was cut off by a horrible screaming noise that drowned out her voice and snapped the Zigzagoon out of their lovestruck daze. Struggling to not scream in agony, I saw it was a Skuntank, also standing by Piers' side. "Okay, new plan," I yelled over the noise. "RUN!!!!"

And so, we ran. I sprinted down the streets, passing a few confused tourists and even more confused Team Yell members, who eventually started chasing after me as well. Unfortunately, this part of Spikemuth was mostly made up of one large street, and a few alleys ending in dead ends branching off of it, so I couldn't just duck into another street and double-back on Team Yell for risk of getting trapped.

We were running for a few minutes, until Meowsie cried out in alarm and I skidded to a stop just before I hit a huge, metal shutter. "And my day just keeps getting better and better," I groaned. "Salazzle, Shelgon," I yelled, tossing out their Pokeballs. "Buy me some time any way you can!"

Luckily, they knew the drill. Shelgon put up a barrier of Protect, encasing me in a turquoise shield. Salazzle had leapt over him and into the fray, slashing at the enemy using Fire Lash, whips of flame sizzling and connecting with targets with a CRACK!

I fiddled with the door, edging my nails under the edge of the door and trying to lift it like you would a garage door. It wouldn't budge. "Why won't this stupid thing open?!" I hissed in annoyance, frantically yanking at the door with both hands. "Tox!"

The horrible scream of squeaky gears turning pierced my ears, and a moment later, the shutter started to rise. "Tox, toxel," Toxie cooed in delight, clapping her little hands while sitting next to a giant lever I'd missed due to giant boxes. "You child genius," I cried, scooping her up and whistling with two fingers.

"Let's move!" Salazzle leapt back over Shelgon, and I returned her to her home. At the last minute, I returned Shelgon and Toxie to their luxury balls, and I turned and sprinted. "Yahoo!" I shouted in delight, soaking in the cloudy morning while running. "I'm finally fr-Woah!" I slammed into something cold and clammy, and stumbled back. Or, at least, I tried to.

Instantly, something squishy and slimy wrapped around my leg. Screaming, I tried to jump away from whatever had a hold on me, but it had a really tight grip. Another slick limb slid around my other ankle, and one slid around my waist, then made its way up my bodice until it was constricting my chest. That was when, when I was being squeezed to death, I noticed the mysterious squishy limbs were tentacles.

Navy blue undersides of tentacles, connected to a cerulean body, connected to a giant, yellow octopus head. "I knew you jinxed it," Meowsie said miserably, who was wrapped in another tentacle.

"Let me go," I howled, struggling to wriggle my trapped arms away from the Pokemon's iron grip. Unfortunately, it had very sticky suction cups that tore out my hair whenever I tried moving. "What kind of Pokemon is this?!" Meowsie squeaked as a tentacle wrapped its way around her neck.

"Grapploct," I gasped as another limb curled around my throat. "A Fighting-type. It lives in the water and comes onto land to battle opponents, and when it wins it goes back into the sea! If we don't do something soon, we're gonna be seafood!"

"Malamar, use Psycho-Cut!" The Grapploct shrieked in anger as blades of psychic energy from Piers' Pokemon cut its arms. It threw the limbs holding us out in front of itself to use us as human shields. "Don't shoot," I yelled, wriggling and kicking my free legs. I managed to score one good kick on its chest, but it soon wrapped another arm around my knees, squeezing them firmly in place.

"Meowsie! Use Attract and make it back down!!!" Meowsie started to hum, but was cut off by a tentacle slapping across her mouth. "Mmmph!" she squealed, wriggling around like a Rattata with its tail caught under a Skitty's paw. The Grapploct moved to cover my mouth, but I was not about to suffer public humiliation by a mollusk Pokemon.

As the tentacle came down on my face, I forced my mouth open and clamped down on the fleshy limb, a salty taste filling my mouth. The Grapploct howled in pain, flinging me away but keeping its hold on Meowsie. She let out a muffled screamed in fear, the Grapploct fending off Team Yell with its meaty limbs.

"Let. Her. GO!" I bellowed, flinging Espeon's luxury ball out. "Use Dazzling Gleam!!" Bursting out in a flash of golden sparkles, Espeon howled and lit up with pink energy, sparking and sending out flashes of rainbows. "HIT THE DECK!!!!" someone shouted, and we all ran for cover as Espeon exploded.

A shockwave of energy engulfed everything, turning my vision white as I dove for cover, knocking over a little girl in the process. The whole outer region of Spikemuth was totally enveloped in the blast of Fairy-type energy that knocked the Grapploct out cold.

Meowsie was struggling to get out of its now limp tentacles, looking quite damaged but still standing nonetheless. Espeon was panting, still slightly glowing with pastel pink energy, twin tails hanging limp behind her. Her red orb had faded from ruby to a dark mahogany color.

Jumping up, I threw a hard fastball towards the Grapploct before it could get back up. The Pokeball bounced off its big head and sucked it inside with a flash of red light. It wiggled around a few times, the grass rustling beneath the ball, before bursting open again and freeing the Grapploct, now awake and truly terrified.

"RAWR," I howled, raising my arms to look bigger and stronger than the wild Pokemon. To be fair, I've wrestled with many Fighting-type Pokemon and won, and I can lift almost 100 pounds.

Whimpering, the Grapploct slunk away on all sixes and scurried away, disappearing into the frigid bay to the north of Spikemuth. "Urara," a little Pokemon cooed from behind me. I turned to see a little Morpeko, gently nudging the gym leader, Marnie, who was lying in a heap. A loud groan later, and she was sitting upright. "Blimey," she murmured. "That was some Dazzlin' Gleam!"

"Umm, thanks...?" I said, confused.
"How'd you train Espeon to be that big and bright?"
"Uh...How come you're asking me? Shouldn't you ask someone more, I don't know, qualified to teach you about Fairy types?"
"Opal retired, an' Bede's a real piece of work. I'm not takin' anythin' from him!"
"That, at least, we can agree on."

"If you're gonna be all chatty, why don't I just fetch you a nice cuppa?" Piers drawled, interrupting our conversation. "Don't you remember that she stole Wishin' Stars from the Gym Leaders? She made total fools outta you!"
"Correction: She made a fool outta you, bro," Marnie snickered. "I think you're just sour 'cause she pulled your hair."
"An' bit me."
"It was self defense!"

Team Yell just glanced between the three of us having an odd form of family spat. Even Meowsie was sitting by the foot of one of them, staring. "Ugh. Enough! Espeon, use-" I faltered as I saw Espeon surrounded by Dark-type Pokemon, almost blocking my view of her completely. I was too far away to get her back into her luxury ball, and Team Yell was starting to close in around me as well. "Don't even think of tryin' anythin' slick. We don't need anymore kerfuffles 'round here."

Giving Piers the coldest death glare I could muster, I slowly raised my hands over my head in surrender. I said nothing, and was forced into a sitting position by someone kicking in my knee joint. "You know what comes next, then?" I nodded, and braced myself for the bash that would send me off to dreamland.