Before arriving to our destination, I started to realize how little I had gotten out of the house, or I guess the Pokémon Center and Rudi's place. If I thought cities were somewhat similar to each other, I was proven wrong everywhere I went. Nacrene City, the place I called home, was a quiet place when compared to Castelia or Nimbasa. While Castelia was clearly bigger, the coastline made it feel more open. Nimbasa didn't have that luxury as it was just buildings with a Ferris wheel in it.

Driftveil didn't compare to any of those places. While it was by the water, it was nothing like Castlia, which felt like a city. This place felt more rural as I watched the people dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls roaming around the street, like in one of those old western movies Nurse Joy would sometimes watch.

It was almost hard to find where the news claimed to have seen Team Miasma, but then I saw them. They surrounded a building with the Pokémon League symbol on it. Of course they would try and take over the gym. That's where they failed last time in Opelucid City, as the Gym Leader made people feel safe in returning to the city.

Team Miasma probably thought that if they could overwhelm the Gym Leader and do the same amount of damage as they could in Opelucid City, then they could weed people out of Unova. Well, too bad they weren't going to do it, at least, not on my watch.

Swanna flew until I saw a broad-shoulder cowboy standing his ground with Excadrill out in front of him to stop Team Miasma's Pokémon. Exadrill was a brown Pokémon with sharp silver claws as hands and a sharp spear over its head. This Pokémon was dubbed the mole Pokémon by Nurses as its anatomy was very similar to a Drilbur.

I let go of my Pokémon when I was just a few feet above everyone's heads, landing right beside the cowboy. Everyone's eyes widened in shock, not expecting my sudden encounter. To make matters worse for Team Miasma, my Swanna swooped in, using a water gun attack on a Pokémon that was charging towards Excadrill.

When that happened, the Team Miasma grunts started to talk.

"Look, it's her!" one yelled.

"I thought she was dead," another confessed.

"What's she doing here?" someone asked.

"I lost a shoe!" a random grunt complained.

Ignoring the last comment, I looked at the cowboy. By the number of Poké Balls on his belt and wrinkles on his face, the cowboy did seemed experienced. It wasn't like he really needed help if this was a fair fight. Regardless, the cowboy smiled upon seeing me.

"Sorry I'm late," I apologized to the cowboy that everyone was ganging up on.

"Nonsense. Excadrill use dig," the cowboy warned his Pokémon before looking back at me. "Name's Clay."

"Nice to meet you," I said, before looking at Swanna, who was battling two purloins with a water gun attack. "Try water pulse, Swanna!"

Swanna switched tactics, sending a powerful pulse of water, knocking the two purloins out of the way. I smiled before seeing a weird serpent Pokémon flying towards Swanna, bearing its fangs.

"Fly right!" I warned.

My Pokémon did as asked, but when she did, I didn't anticipate what happened next. A groups of grunts with Poocheyna had their Pokémon bite Swanna. With six of them grabbing onto her wings, tail, and right leg, all Swanna could do was yell in pain.

That was when I felt a sharp wind blow past me. I ignored it at first, trying to think fast on a way to help Swanna.

"Use—" I yelled, before someone clasp their hand over my mouth.

For a moment, I forgot what was going on. The scene almost felt too familiar. A single hand preventing me from doing anything. My stomach tightened as all I could think about was that one day I was truly trapped. It was dark then. I was outnumbered now.

One thing was for certain: I felt alone.

My eyes averted over to Swanna, who was in more danger than I could possibly ever imagine. The serpent Pokémon that fell from the sky snaked it's way towards her. It was purple with its head over a huge disk like body that I could see Swanna's eyes pleading back at me. She needed my help.

And she wasn't going to get it if I just stood here afraid. I jammed my elbow into the person's stomach. The person let go just in time for me to warn my Pokémon what to do.

"Use hydro pump into double team!" I screamed.

Even though we've never practiced a combination like this, Swanna seemed to know exactly what I meant. I watched as she used the powerful attack to knock the purple serpent away. In the meantime, the cowboy's Pokémon helped out by using dig, causing all the poochyena to fly in the air.

That was when Swanna used her double team and started fighting on her own. While she did this, I turned to see who had the nerve to prevent me from battling.

I found myself face to face with a man behind a Duskull mask wearing a black coat. My eyes widened, realizing who he was. He was one of the Krait twins I met last time, but which one, I'm not sure.

In the corner of my eyes, I could see Clay the cowboy busy instructing his Excadrill on what to do. He had no idea what was going on just a couple of feet from him. My eyes turned slightly, seeing Swanna was also busy taking care of a pair of serpent Pokémon, only, she was doing a lot better on her own.

This meant I was alone. I had to face one of the Krait Twins alone. It wasn't fair, but that was just how Team Miasma rolled.

There was only one thought rolling through my mind. It was that thought that I tightened my jaw and balled my hands into fists. Team Miasma was a wicked group of people who needed to be stoped. I needed to be the one to stop Team Miasma. The thought repeated itself through my brain.

For Rudi.

"Well, well, well, look what the Delcatty brought in," the Krait twin greeted.

"What do you want?" I questioned. "Why can't you just leave Unova alone?"

"What fun would that be?" He asked. "You know, I might have let you off easy last time, but I think it's time you've seen my face, so it can be the last thing you ever see."

Before I could say anything, the man—who I figured was Hunter Krait as he was the one who made this odd threat last time—grabbed the mask off his face. Of all the things I was expecting, the eyes of a Ekans wasn't what I had in mind. They were yellow with oddly shaped black pupils.

Other than that, everything seemed to be normal: black hair, fair skin that looked paler than most, even a thin smile that crept on his lips. It was just the eyes that threw me off kilter.

"See, not everyone is loved," he said, pushing the mask back onto his face. "That is why we must strike back at society, and make it our own. Too bad, you won't be there to stop us."

Before I could even ponder more into his words, I felt something jab into my back, draining the energy from me. I fell to my knees, feeling dizzy and sick all at once.

Pokémon moves aren't to be used on people for a reason. We weren't nearly as strong as they were. That's why Pokémon could be there to help us when we needed it.

It's also the reason why this attack on my back killed me so much. Sharp pain spread across my back as if someone was stabbing needles into it. It burned like someone was using flamethrower on an open wound, bubbling as it brushed the skin. There was also a feeling of nails scratching down my back, as if one of the purloins decided to use scratch.

While this all happened spontaneously, there was only one thing I felt that I knew was there. It was the only part that made contact to my body in the lower part of my back. Energy just happened to trickle away from me and towards that spot, making it unbearable.

I looked up at Hunter, who stood there triumphantly over me, with his hands on his hips. I gave him a mean look of my own.

"This will never," I hissed in pain before continuing my thought, "be over. I won't give up, not as long as I have my Pokémon with me."

Hunter tilted his head. "Sorry, Swanna sweetie, but your time is up."

No. It wasn't over yet. While I was in pain, I knew the only way out of it was to cause myself more pain. I ripped my body away, feeling myself completely drained before swinging my legs across, kicking Hunter around the ankles. The man fell down on his butt. While he was down, I forced myself to get up and turn around, seeing Scrafty standing there. His fists slowly loosing its glow.

Drain punch. Of course, of all the moves I had to be hit with, it had to be a drain punch. Sweat poured from my forehead, as I knew what had to be done.

"Swanna," I yelled, "help me by using attract!"

Not knowing where Swanna was at, I expected to see her fly in front of me and using the attack to show off; however, that didn't happen. Hearts flew past my head, as I could feel the warmth of a fuzzy feeling brush my skin as it flew. Soon, Scrafty was engulfed with hearts in his eyes.

As soon as the Scrafty fell in love with Swanna, a red beam of light flew past time to return the Pokémon.

"Now that isn't fair," Hunter protested.

I turned around, seeing Swanna landing in front of me. We watched as Hunter switched Poké Balls, throwing out his Pokémon from before: Toxapex. Last time, we were able to defeat this Pokémon alongside Scrafty. This time, things were going to be different because Hunter knew my tactics.

Only, he wasn't going to get away with it.

"Toxapex, use poison sting," Hunter yelled.

"Double team to dodge!" I called.

The odd-looking Pokémon shot its attack towards Swanna, only she dodged making a few copies of herself. We worked really hard these past couple of days in particular. After seeing Rudi, I didn't want something bad to happen again.

Which meant I had to give it everything I got, changing my tactics to see what happens. I realized his as Hunter's back straightened. While I couldn't see his face, I could tell this is exactly what he wanted.

"Toxic spikes, Toxapex," Hunter called.

I watched as these spikes landed around my feet and underneath where Swanna flew. None of it made sense. Because Swanna was a flying type, this wouldn't have any effect on her. Just what was he up to?

"Use water pulse," I told my Pokémon.

"Protect!" Hunter yelled.

A protective covering wrapped itself around his Pokémon while Swanna's water pulse wrapped around it. As this happened, I noticed Hunter's face staring up at the sky. It was as if he was watching for something very specific, but I wasn't sure.

Maybe there'd be more back up, but why would he need backup when his team outnumbered Clay and me?

Hunter pointed up into the sky. "Now, Use poison jab."

"Counter it with Hydro pump," I countered.

Swanna sent the powerful attack from the sky in every direction, but Toxapex was quicker and, somehow, smarter. He leapt up into the air, dodge the attack until his poison jab hit his opponent. My eyes widened as all the copies disappeared as Swanna fell from the sky.

Without thinking, I ran towards her, feeling something piercing into my feet as I did. I didn't care. My feet could be taken care of later. Right now, Swanna needed my help.

Motivation like that helped drive me to sprint to the area underneath her and catching her in my arms. Swanna looked at me just before something sharp hit my knee, forcing me to kneel down on one knee. My Pokémon flew up, knowing that if I was going to need help, she'd have to fight by herself now.

Why did I feel so horrible? I felt nauseous, like I could throw up any moment. The sickening feeling made me look down seeing the purple spikes on the ground.

Ponyta crap!

A menacing laugh escaped Hunter's lips. "You're worse than Braviary Man. Here I though I'd have to force you into the ring yourself. Pity. Toxapex, finish her with poison jab."

When I looked up, I noticed Hunter's finger pointing right at me. He knew I didn't want Swanna to further injure herself. He knew I would do anything to protect her. He knew, so he used my weakness against me.

There was no way I was getting out of this one. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding my arms up in front of me to defend myself because it would be too late to call an attack. There wasn't anything I could think of that could save me in an instant like this.

"Braviary, use brave bird!"

I unshielded my eyes to see to see a Braviary swooping down to attack the Toxapex. That poison type Pokémon flew back into his Trainer. My eyes widened to see this whole thing happen.

"What? I thought—" Hunter Krait started as he fell to the ground.

"Look around, it's over," a familiar voice declared.

My head snapped behind me to see Braviary Man walking triumphantly towards me while the members of Team Miasma sprinted away. He didn't look too happy, but he had every reason to be mad at the situation at hand. I turned to look the single Krait twin, who duplicated.

Wait, where did the second came from?

I took a step back, feeling pain shooting up from my calf. There was no choice I could do but fall down. As I did, the poison barbs just mysteriously disappeared.

Curse that stinking Toxapex.

Swanna flew down in front of me, spreading her wings, so the Krait Twins wouldn't see me. She looked back, giving me a nod. At least she was watching out for me, no matter how weak I felt.

A laugh escaped one of the twin's mouth. "You underestimate us."

"We never travel alone," the other one said, "so go, Toxicroak!"

I felt someone pat me on the back. When I looked up, I saw Clay giving me a reassuring smile. He offered me a hand, which I gladly took, leaning on the older man.

"Braviary," the superhero yelled, "use Aerial Ace!"

I opened my mouth to have Swanna help him out, but Clay stopped me. "Now now, you did enough for one day. Let's get you into safety."

"No, Swanna help out by—" I started, but that was when things got worse for me. A migraine took over, pounding on my head, while everything started to spin.

Then, everything went black.

Author's Note:

It's time for the weekly question, as you know, many of the characters specialize in one type of Pokémon: the super heroes specializes in flying types while Team Miasma tries sticking with the dark and poison types. With that being said, if you could chose one type of Pokémon, what would it be? This may come to you all as a surprise, but mine would specialize in dark types as I love Umbreon and Absol. What about you all?

Can't wait to hear your favorite type to specialize. Hope you're having an awesome day. Au Revoir readers!