After finding out that Hugh had gone missing, the next day felt like a blur. Rosa and I spent the night at Rood's place and left the next day with Rood saying that we were welcome to stay again if we wanted to.

   "Take this with you, I know you'll treat her with kindness," Rood said as I left. He handed me what Rosa called a Dusk Ball. Inside was a cute foxlike Pokémon Rosa's Pokédex had said was a Zorua. I thanked Rood for my new Pokémon and bid him farewell, excited to learn what this little Pokémon would be capable of.

   Like usual Rosa went to search for Pokémon, leaving me to wander the city on my own. Some time later I found myself in front of the Driftveil City Gym. I didn't have anything else to do, so I challenged the Gym.

   It was easy, ridiculously easy. I wanted to use Zorua, but I ended up using only Saber because the Gym Leader used nothing but Ground-type Pokémon. I was sure he had a Krokorok? I didn't really remember because of how easily it went down.

   The only reason I could recall Krokorok's name was because it was the last Pokémon Saber defeated before he evolved. Saber emitted a powder blue light and his shape changed. He was now on all fours and had hard shells plating his legs, tail, and head. He looked nothing like the Oshawott I once had, but he was still my Saber, and I was so proud to see him fully evolved. It hardly seemed like half an hour had gone by when I stepped out of the Gym, the Quake Badge in my hand and Saber by my side.

   Because I thought he needed a stronger Water-type move other than Razor Shell, I used the HM Colress had given me and taught Surf to Saber. The Quake Badge allowed me to use Surf outside of battle, and I decided to test it out. I rode on Saber around Driftveil's bay for a while, getting soaked in seawater in the process. As a result, I had to chill in the Pokémon Center until I dried off. Maybe going for an impromptu swim wasn't the best thing to do in the fall.

   Later in the day, I was walking near the Driftveil market when I saw a Tranquil flying very low overhead, no more than two stories off the ground. It was scanning the ground, as if searching for something. It saw me and squawked loudly, diving towards the ground as it did so. I covered my head and ducked, afraid it was dive-bombing me. Instead, it landed on the ground at my feet. It looked up at me and chirped.

   She's asking if you're Nate, Soul said from inside his ball.

   How does some random Tranquil know me? I wondered. "Uh... yeah, I'm Nate," I said to the Flying-type. It chirped again and raised its right leg, teetering in place to keep its balance. I was momentarily confused when I saw that it had an Xtransceiver attached to its leg. I carefully removed the device. It had red and black designs on its white surface and was a relatively new model. I turned the thing over and saw a name stamped on the other side. It read, "Hugh Vallance." What?! I stared at the Tranquil, mouth slightly agape and not sure what to think of what this meant. The Tranquil began chirping wildly.

   I'll translate, Soul said. 'My name is Nightwing, and you are holding my Trainer's Xtransceiver. My Trainer asked me to go to you and Rosa for help.'

   "Help?" That was the one thing I could get out between the twenty-billion questions I wanted to ask. Hugh was in trouble? Did something bad happen to him? Was he hurt? Was he even... alive? I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear that last question from my mind. Hugh wasn't dead, he couldn't be! Jumping to conclusions, that was a new habit I'd picked up recently and would probably never be able to break. I immediately called Rosa. She had to see this.

   "What?" Rosa gasped, staring wide-eyed at Hugh's Xtransceiver. She had come as soon as I told her about what happened and was now standing next to me, Nightwing perched on her shoulder.

   "Yeah, Hugh's Tranquil just showed up with his Xtransceiver attached to her," I said.

   "Is it turned on?" she asked.

   "I dunno." I fumbled with it and soon found the "on" switch. The device's screen flickered to life and a notification popped up on the screen. "One new recording," it read. I pressed the confirm button and a play button came up on-screen. After pressing that, the recorded message played. It was Hugh, except he sounded scared and panicked.

   "Nate, Rosa, it's me, Hugh. I'm in the Driftveil cargo yard near the very back and was chasing some Neo Plasma grunts. And... they have Pearls. I can't talk for very long because they're looking for me, but if you two come looking for me, be careful of the Triad. They not only have Pearls but a..." Hugh exhaled shakily, "a Tangrowth. I need to go now, hopefully I'll see you guys later." The recording cut out after that.

   Both Rosa and I were speechless. I'd never heard Hugh sound like that before, so these "Triad" people must have terrified him. And not only that, they had Pearls. But what was a Tangrowth? I asked my sister and she looked horrified.

   "Tangrowth... is the evolved form of Tangela. Oh, Hugh..." Rosa said, her voice bordering on a whimper.

   Tangela..? So that Tangrowth was probably the one that had attacked him and Lily, I thought.

   "We need to go there," Rosa said abruptly.

   "Where?" I responded, confused.

   "The cargo yard. We need to go there. Now," she stated.

   "But what about Hugh's warning? We have no idea how many people were after him, or if he even if he actually got out or not. And that 'Triad' thing he mentioned, they could be really tough if we ran into them! We could just tell the police."

   Rosa looked at me with a grim expression. "The police can't help us. Remember what Iris said? They didn't the want authorities involved since it could ruin No. 18's mission."

   "But... but what if we get caught?" I said, growing frightened at the prospect.

   "Okay, how about this? We can go take a quick look and if anything seems off, we'll get out of there. We'll Surf on Saber if that makes you feel safer. They can't exactly attack us that easily if we're out on the water," she said. "Don't think I'm not scared too, but we can't leave Hugh!"

   She was right. I couldn't let my best friend suffer because of me being scared. Like back at the sewers, I told myself to suck it up and just do it. "Okay, let's do it."

   Rosa smiled. "Thank you, Nate."

                            ~*~*~*~

The water was perfectly calm, the only waves being created by Saber as his powerful legs pushed us forwards. He didn't seem to have much trouble carrying two people at once, so that was a plus. I calmly held onto both sides of Saber's neck, careful not to hurt or hinder him. Rosa clung to my shoulders, positive that she would slip off Saber into the water. We had ended up leaving Nightwing at Rood's place in case Neo Plasma came looking for her.

   Soon we rounded a corner leading to the back end of the cargo yard, and we saw something strange.

   "A sailing ship?" I wondered aloud. It was true, there was a massive ship docked at a tiny dock built off the cargo yard. At a glance, I could tell it was at least three-hundred feet long, and it was constructed from various types of dark colored wood and what looked like metal. The ship had a wide blue stripe running around the entirety of its exterior and its sails were furled. Out of all the strange things I'd seen on my journey so far, this easily got second or third place on that list.

   "I didn't know those still existed," Rosa commented.

   I wasn't exactly sure, but I thought the ship had something to do with Neo Plasma. It just seemed so out of place. "Saber, steer clear of that ship and let us off over there," I said, pointing to a spot a good dozen yards away from the vessel. Saber nodded and changed course.

   Now back on dry land, I tried to think of what our next plan of action would be. The cargo yard was eerily quiet, and it gave the entire area an unsettling vibe. Even though we were hidden by the crates, I felt like we were being watched. It gave me an uneasy squirming feeling in the pit of my stomach.

   "Okay, we're here. Now what?" Rosa said quietly.

   "I was hoping you had thought of something," I responded, not taking my eyes off of the bit of ship I could see over the crates. "You're the smart one, I was just the transportation."

   "Very funny. But really, I'm serious. What do you think we should do?"

   "You run..."

   Both of us whirled around and were practically face-to-face with a man dressed in all black. He stared down at us with cold, heartless eyes and wore a mask similar to the ones Neo Plasma grunts wore. Rosa and I screamed in shock when we saw him.

   "So many visitors... first it was that boy, and now you two," another voice said from behind us. I looked and saw an identical man standing directly behind me. I was about to scream again when Rosa beat me to it. Yet another man had appeared out of thin air beside her, all three of them blocking us on three sides and the water on the fourth.

   "Saber, use Surf!" I cried. Saber was still in the water and I was glad he was. He roared and a large wave rose from the ocean behind him. I grabbed Rosa and rushed past the man blocking our side as the wave crashed down upon the men. We managed to duck behind a different crate before we could be hit by the wave. After the water had washed back into the ocean, I peeked around the corner of the crate only to see that the men had vanished.

   "You almost caught us off guard." One of the men had appeared on top of the crate across the aisle Rosa and I were in. He removed a coal black Poké Ball from his belt and sent out a huge Grass-type Pokémon. "You almost." He pointed a gloved hand at Saber. "Power Whip."

   The Grass Pokémon mumbled and shot two glowing vines at Saber. Before I could react, Saber was ensnared by the vines and lifted from the water. Without hesitation, Tangrowth threw Saber at the nearest crate. My Samurott created a huge dent in the crate and fell to the ground. He had been knocked out in one hit!

   "Saber!" I exclaimed, completely shocked. A split-second later, my shock was replaced with rage. How dare he hurt my Pokémon like that! "You monster!" I sent out Soul. "Soul, use Psyshock!" Soul summoned sharp purple shards and launched them at Tangrowth. With a lazy sweep of its arm, Tangrowth simply swatted the shards out of the air.

   "Ariados, Bug Bite."

   From out of nowhere, a spiderlike Pokémon appeared and sank its previously hidden fangs into Soul, cutting right through his gel coating and into his body. Soul's cry of pain screeched out loud and inside my mind at once.

   Soul, no!! Bow's voice screeched next. A flash of light lit up Rosa's backpack and the light darted from the pack to the ground where it took the shape of Bow. The light faded and Bow appeared, looking extremely pissed. Psybeam! Bow's attack was rendered mostly ineffective against the Ariados. It caused little to no damage and Bow was hit with a Fury Cutter, knocking her out as well.

   From there it became a futile struggle to win against the men's Pokémon. Surge was taken down by Tangrowth, and both Slinky and Lucky were knocked out by Ariados. And not only that, a strangely colored Liepard had joined in the fight too. Soon it was just Ivy and Lilith against the men's Pokémon. The first man and his Tangrowth leapt from the crate standing beside his cohorts and their Pokémon. Rosa was terrified out of her mind and I was on the verge of a panic attack. With every Pokémon that went down, the more afraid I got. I had never lost before, and it seemed like I would this time. And if both of us lost... I didn't even want to think about it!

   "Pathetic, really. At least the other boy had the sense to run," the man with the Ariados said.

   He's talking about Hugh... I thought, a sick feeling rising in my chest. There was nothing I could do except try to attack. "Lilith, use Crunch," I said, none of my previous anger in my tone. There was only panic and fear.

   "Ivy, Leaf Tornado," Rosa said.

   "Power Whip."

   "Slash."

   Tangrowth smashed Ivy into a crate and Liepard slashed at Lilith with elongated claws. As expected, they fainted on the spot. All of our Pokemon lay littered among the destroyed crates and the dirt that had many ruts carved into it. They were gone, we... had lost. Rosa and I looked at each other fearfully, afraid of what would happen next.

   "Such a pitiful attempt at fighting back... it was amusing, really," one of the men said, feigning sadness.

   "But now that you have no means of resisting, it'll make things easier for us," the second continued.

   "We'll try not to hurt you... much," the third finished. The way they completed each other's sentences made the men all the more unnerving.

   "Don't you even think about laying a hand on him!" Rosa proclaimed, protectively pulling me close to her. I could feel her trembling. "Y-you'll have to get through me first!"

   One of the men shrugged. "Very well, Since you offered, we'll be happy to oblige." All of a sudden, Liepard lunged at Rosa. The worst flashed through my mind, and I had a horrible feeling about what could happen next. Even though I was terrified, I refused to let it happen.

   My body was moving before my mind could process what was happening. I threw myself in front of Rosa, trying to shield her. The Liepard was now right before me. It hissed loudly and raised a sharp-clawed paw, and I covered my face with my arms, bracing myself.

   Nothing could've prepared me for the pain I felt a second later. Three ribbons of white-hot agony tore across my front, and I instantly doubled over and collapsed to the ground.

   "Nate!!" Rosa screamed, falling to my side. My stomach was burning. It literally felt like it was on fire. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All I could do was lay there in shock.

   "A useless act of valor," the man with the Tangrowth scoffed. "You just made things worse for yourselves. Now Tangrowth, Power Whip."

   The Tangrowth then shot a vine straight at Rosa. With no way to stop it, the vine wrapped around her neck and lifted her a foot off the ground. She let out a strangled shriek and clawed at the vine looping her neck. I tried to stand, but I was in too much pain to even move.

   The man with the Liepard walked over to me, looking down at my pathetic form with what seemed like curiosity. "I'm surprised you even tried to fight us," he said. "It's almost admirable, really."

   A small whimper escaped my throat. Arceus, it hurt so much! But I didn't have to deal with the pain for much longer. It might have been from the shock, but I soon slipped out of consciousness, my sister's listless form on the ground being the last thing I saw.