Drakloak was fast—faster than Sam expected, but Typhlosion was already prepared for a battle when it lunged. She had withstood its Dragon Pulse, but it wasn’t attempting to use a special attack. No, it was trying to make use of its prodigious speed to get close.

  Bringing down its head, Drakloak shot off to the side like an arrow and slipped into the shadows of the warehouse’s boxes to cloak itself. Its body became phantasmal, shrouded in pitch-black darkness. Even through that, however, its eyes locked with Typhlosion’s own.

  “Mines!” Sam shouted.

  Typhlosion roared her name, and wisps of Infernal Parade sparked up around her. They were a minefield to prevent Drakloak’s approach, but it continued unbothered, the presence of the deep purple flames not worrying it in the slightest. The Pokémon clearly expected to phase right through, using the effects of its move to completely ignore the floating fire. However, Infernal Parade was not a mundane attack, and Drakloak was caught unprepared. It ran head-first right into the fire and jerked away. For a split second, a sizzling noise rang out as the flames seared its scales.

  “Not burned,” Sam said as he checked over the wild Pokémon. “Not sure if that's good or bad.”

  He had conflicting feelings about battling Drakloak, but if it was going to fight them, then of course he was going to fight back. A burn just felt a little too mean. He wanted to catch this Drakloak, and catching a Pokémon often involved weakening it in battle and convincing it afterward. He just wished they could have convinced it first.

  “Typhlosion, that was Phantom Force,” Sam warned as Drakloak pulled back. Shadows dripped from its body as it eyed Typhlosion warily. “Think of it as a stronger Shadow Sneak that’s much slower. Rather than use shadows to move around, it uses shadows as protection to let it slip past most moves.”

  Sam was only somewhat familiar with Phantom Force thanks to the New Pokédex. Only one member of his team had bothered to try to figure it out so far. However, it seemed the attack came naturally to Drakloak. Phantom Force wasn’t a move commonly found in Johto, and its use here almost seemed to emphasize just how out of place this species was.

  Yet, it was almost like Drakloak knew that, as it had used Phantom Force with the intent of finishing this match quickly. As Sam had warned Typhlosion, Drakloak shot him a glare. Its look actually surprised him—Drakloak’s glower was full of genuine hate.

  “What have you been through to react like that?” Sam mumbled.

  Typhlosion took the initiative and charged. Though she was better at range, she’d already proven her Infernal Parade could disrupt her opponent’s movements. While her control was great, it was faster to conjure her wisps in the area immediately around her than from afar. She wanted to lock down this Pokémon to restrict its speedy movements, so she ran with her neck already blazing and a swarm of wisps following her.

  However, Drakloak was faster, and the moment she started to run, it shouted out a command. The Dreepy on Drakloak’s head whined about getting involved in this fight, but there was still an eagerness to its eyes that came with the request to be a part of a move.

  It jumped, grabbing Drakloak’s forehead to throw itself forward, and it was immediately hit by a Dragon Pulse from behind. Except, rather than take damage, the move seemed to form around it. Like a missile, the combined attack saw the Dreepy rocket forward.

  The Dreepy-Pulse slammed into Typhlosion’s chest right as she tried to rear back in an attempt to dodge. Unlike the last Dragon Pulse she withstood, the physical aspect of the combination that came from the Dreepy caused her to recoil.

  “We can’t forget this will evolve into a Pseudo-Legend! It’s strong—think of Dragonair!” Sam shouted.

  Typhlosion growled as she rubbed where the move had slammed into her chest. She briefly checked on Sam before watching the Dreepy return to Drakloak. The impact had caused it to bounce off of her, and it used that momentum to quickly fly back.

  While the Drakloak was preoccupied with catching the Dreepy, Sam sent Typhlosion a nod, causing her to grin.

  “Double Team,” he ordered.

  Faster than ever before, an image of Typhlosion split off to her right, and then both copies of herself split again. Drakloak let out a threatening hiss from where it floated, but that did nothing to stop the illusory duplicates from surrounding it throughout the room.

  Typhlosion smirked at it from the floor, from atop the storage boxes, and even from atop the metal catwalk above. While this wasn’t as strong a trap as her Infernal Parade, she was still able to threaten Drakloak from every angle simply because it didn’t know where she was.

  “Great! Now—”

  Yet, Drakloak was more angered than it was intimidated. Before Sam could give any further commands, it took off to slam right through one of the illusions surrounding it. Its Take Down did nothing—not like it could have done much to the Ghost Type Typhlosion, anyway—but the move did let it continue right through that copy to escape the circle and charge at someone else.

  It charged at Sam.

  His next order caught in his throat when he saw Drakloak rocket toward him. The Dreepy on its head looked just as surprised, and it attempted to grab Drakloak’s eyelids and pull, desperately trying to get it to turn or move back.

  But its panicked attempts did nothing, as all Drakloak did was continue to rush Sam like a missile. However, while Sam had been caught off guard by the sudden change in targets, it wasn’t like he was unprepared.

  As vulnerable as he seemed, Sam had other Pokémon hiding around him. Haunter rose up from the floor, and Misdreavus phased into existence behind him. Two hands, slightly enlarged thanks to the gathered shadows of Shadow Punch, opened up to serve as a flat, defensive wall. Misdreavus’s eyes then glowed for a Psychic as she prepared herself to grab Drakloak when it got too close.

  A growl.

  Briefly, Drakloak looked genuinely frustrated, and the Dreepy on its head breathed out in relief. At the very last moment, instead of slamming into Haunter’s awaiting palms, it pulled to the side to scrape against them in a move that reminded Sam of a fly-by attack performed by a bug—a U-Turn.

  Though Haunter resisted the Bug Type U-Turn twice over, his lack of reaction didn’t interfere with Drakloak’s plan. The U-Turn let it maintain its momentum even as it twisted into that sharp angle. Before anyone knew it, it was traveling perpendicular to them toward a wall. And at the very last second, it turned translucent to phase right through, escaping the fight alongside Dreepy all in the blink of an eye.

  It was gone.

  Tension leftover from the fight hung in the air for a single second longer, but that quickly vanished once it set in that Drakloak had fled rather than leave to reposition. The glow around Misdreavus’s eyes faded, and Haunter lowered his hands. From on top of the crates, Typhlosion let out a sad whine while letting her many Double Team duplicates disappear.

  “Mis?” Misdreavus asked.

  Sam let out a groan and rubbed his head.

  “I’m not sure if we can give chase. It’s passing through buildings, has turned half-invisible, and is moving faster than any of us can run.”

  Typhlosion spoke up—she could keep up if she used Agility, but Sam just sent her a look.

  “You can’t exactly phase through walls,” he said.

  Haunter snickered at the flat reaction, and Typhlosion huffed in reply. A few Gastly pulled themselves out from where they’d been watching from the shadows.

  “I hate to say it, but we don’t have a choice. We’ll call it here for the night. We’ve at least sensed the Dreepy and Drakloak, so we shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding them again. We can pick up again tomorrow, but...” Sam sighed. He couldn’t say he enjoyed how he saw the Drakloak react. “I don’t know. I know we came here to catch them, but I need some time to think.”

  Sam missed when solutions were easy. Oh, Team Rocket is chasing you? Just beat them in a fight. Oh, some Dratini were illegally captured? Just break into the game corner and call the cops.

  But three times now, Sam had encountered a Pokémon with an “unhappy” past. Annihilape was technically the first, but everything with his brother hadn’t happened until later in their journey. Trevenant was the big one, with him taking control of a whole route and causing a retaliation from the local Gym. And now? There was a Drakloak out there that was still reeling from whatever had happened to it when it was poached.

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  It was a morbid thought, but Sam almost considered that “unhappiness” to be a part of the nature of Ghost Types. They were driven by their emotions and desires, which could be both good and bad. While most Ghost Types could act almost whimsical with their pranks and scares, it was easy for them to fall into darker thoughts. Primeape and Trevenant had both nearly been consumed by revenge, and now there was this Drakloak. While the Dreepy seemed okay at a surface level, the Drakloak certainly wasn’t. There was true hatred in its eyes when it had attacked Sam—and there was also the fact it had attacked Sam in the first place.

  As Sam walked Olivine’s midnight streets to return to the Pokémon Center, Misdreavus made a noise from behind him—she was worried. Both about him and about everything involving that Drakloak.

  “Yeah,” he said with what felt like the hundredth sigh tonight. “But they were poached. I can’t exactly blame them for that kind of reaction.”

  He glanced over his shoulder to check on Misdreavus, and the ferocity of her glare almost made him stumble. She didn’t just look angry, she looked downright apoplectic. Either due to Sam being attacked or due to recognizing what Drakloak had been through, there was nothing about this situation she enjoyed.

  I wonder if she’s being reminded about something that happened to her in the past.

  But as Sam looked at her, Misdreavus realized he was staring, and she forced a smile to calm down. She wasn’t okay—this situation was still clearly affecting her—but she at least seemed better at the reminder she was surrounded by friends.

  “We’ll do something,” Sam promised. “I just don’t know what right now. As much as I just want to sit around and gnash my teeth, that’s just the Ghost Type energy talking.”

  He turned back around.

  “Agatha gave good advice—it’s nice to have a set of rules to fall back on. The poachers might already be captured so we can’t get revenge on them, but there are Pokémon that need help. We’ll do something to help them, instead.”

  However, when it came to helping Drakloak, the big question was how. As much as Sam wanted to catch it, he doubted that would make it happy.

  I need time to plan.

  When he arrived back at the Pokémon Center, it was empty like usual. Not only were most people asleep at this time of night, but he was pretty sure only three or four other trainers were staying there. Set at the edge of a residential district, there was little reason for any traveling trainer to choose this Center as a place to stay. The grand, hotel-like Pokémon Center in Olivine’s downtown was likely more stuffed. There were probably a bunch of trainers hanging out there, awake and talking about ways to catch those Dragon Types even right now.

  “Samuel!”

  But there was an advantage to staying at a smaller Pokémon Center. With fewer people around, it was easier to be remembered. The second he stepped into the building, the nurse at the counter looked up and recognized him, putting her book down to beckon him over.

  “I finally have an answer,” she said, and she looked rather proud about it, too.

  “To what?” Sam asked.

  “...To what? Oh, ‘to what,’ he says.” The nurse shook her head. “I finally managed to get an answer to your question. After a bit of asking around, I now know who put up that job you were so curious about.”

  And just like that, she immediately captured every ounce of Sam’s attention. When she saw just how alert he’d become, she gained a satisfied smile.

  “At first, I thought the job was posted by an independent agent because there was only one name listed in its files,” she began to explain. “However, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer and did some more digging. Turns out, that man puts up a lot of jobs, and he actually works on behalf of a larger organization, which is where all of that reward money is coming from.”

  “And that organization is...?” Sam asked. The mention of a “larger organization” suddenly made him feel sick.

  But thankfully, his gut feeling was wrong. The nurse gained a warm smile and answered quite merrily.

  “The Blackthorn Clan!” the nurse said happily. “They’re the ones who put up that job. The individual I mentioned is essentially a broker for them—he’s the one that administrates the jobs put up on their behalf all across the region.”

  Sam was relieved that Team Rocket wasn’t involved, but he still couldn’t stop his grumble.

  “Of course it’s the Blackthorn Clan.”

  Because when Dragon Types were involved, who else could it be?

  Rich people and collectors always had money to spend, but spending such an extreme amount of cash just to obtain Dragon Types was something only the Blackthorn Clan would do. To them, these Dragon Types represented more than just new Pokémon. They represented a way to grow their strength, increase their power, and help them maintain their otherwise dwindling influence.

  As much as the Clan wanted to stick to tradition, they probably had to recognize the changing situation of the world. Everyone else was moving on and forming connections to other regions. Being known for a single species of Dragon Type wouldn’t be enough to stay relevant moving forward.

  So then if the Blackthorn Clan put up that job, then I bet they’re the ones who’ve been keeping everything quiet, too. They kept their listing far too purposefully vague to not cause people to make connections. No one else would have the influence to shut down that news story so quickly, either.

  ...I need to thank Matilda again for telling me that.

  To the Blackthorn Clan, even a single new species of Dragon Type was genuinely worth that ridiculous amount they were offering as a reward. And paying such a sum would also scare other offers away. After all, why bother putting up a reward if someone else was paying even more? If the Blackthorn Clan had truly put up that job, then they were more in control of the entire situation than Sam would have thought.

  “Are you okay?” the nurse suddenly asked.

  Sam realized he’d been scowling.

  “Sorry. I’m just not a fan,” he grumbled. “It just feels messed up.”

  From what he’d heard, a Shelgon had already been captured and turned in for that reward, so the Blackthorn Clan likely already had at least one new species. The only positive thing, in his opinion, is that there was no way the Shelgon wouldn’t live a good life.

  But it still left a bad taste in Sam’s mouth. Honestly, part of it was probably just because the Blackthorn Clan hadn’t shared much information on the Ghost Type Dreepy when they had likely known far more.

  “How so?” the nurse asked.

  Sam looked up.

  “How is this messed up?” the nurse asked again.

  “It’s like... I don’t know. It feels like they’re just trying to capture these Pokémon to increase their power. The Blackthorn Clan doesn’t care. These Pokémon were poached, and now they just want them for their personal benefit. And... And—!” He stopped himself. He couldn’t say he hadn’t been doing the same thing.

  But even as his grumbling continued, Sam suddenly had a thought.

  “Wait. Hold on,” he said, interrupting himself. “Where did these Dragon Types come from in the first place?”

  “Dragon Types?”

  The nurse blinked at him. Sam blinked back. He quickly realized that her Pokémon Center was likely out of the way enough that she didn’t have the full story.

  He went on to hand over Typhlosion and Haunter’s Pokéballs to have them be checked over just in case, and a Chansey brought them to the back. While they were being treated, he shared everything he knew about the situation with the Dragon Types.

  Turns out, the nurse already knew about the poachers—that event had been big enough for all the nurses in the city to hear. She also knew that some Pokémon had escaped, but according to her, not every Pokémon had. Apparently, the Pokémon League had recovered plenty of poached Pokémon from the ship itself, and many had already come and gone from the city’s Pokémon Centers after being treated.

  But the detail she lacked was that most of the missing Pokémon were Dragon Types, and upon hearing that, she pressed her lips together for a frown. She was also able to intuit that trainers were out there trying to capture those Dragon Types, but she grew visibly suspicious about why the League wasn’t doing more.

  “Because they don’t need to,” Sam answered. “Dragon Types are Dragon Types, sure, but these ones are only mid-stage Pokémon at best. Even if they were trained, they can't be more dangerous than something like an evolved Dark Type. There are only so many of them in Olivine, which is an entire city, so making sure there are jobs up for trainers to handle them is the League doing something. Team Rocket is out there. There are bigger threats.”

  “I suppose,” the nurse said. “But you do seem rather bothered by the Blackthorn Clan’s involvement.”

  Sam frowned again.

  “I know. It’s just... Ugh.” He rubbed his temples. “The Blackthorn Clan is fine. Clair is fine. Lance is probably fine, too. But I know a few of their members are complete jerks, so I can’t say I’m a big fan of them getting a bunch of scared Pokémon under their control.”

  And a little voice whispered in the back of his head—why was there a boat of poached Dragon Types in Johto? There had to be a reason that those Pokémon were brought here, and given who stood to profit from them the most...

  “But I might be focusing on the Blackthorn Clan a little too much,” Sam said, letting the feeling drop before it could consume him. “There’s no way Clair, Lance, or this one really old elder I met would ever let the Blackthorn Clan even think about interacting with poachers.”

  If he had to guess, even if the Blackthorn Clan had been involved, they were either tricked, or the poachers had been grossly misinformed.

  Probably the second option, to be honest. After all, the poachers were captured pretty much the second they docked in Olivine. Someone had to have learned about them almost immediately for something like that to have happened.

  He let out a sigh as the Center’s Chansey brought his Pokémon back. Typhlosion and Haunter were fine. They might have been somewhat injured in battle, but those injuries were surface-level at worst. At most, their treatment was the same as usual—a minuscule amount of medicine, but they mainly needed a good night’s rest.

  For now, Sam planned to head up to his room to think of a plan on how to deal with the Drakloak, but the nurse suddenly spoke up.

  “You know,” she said, tapping her cheek, “if you really don’t trust the Blackthorn Clan, there is one thing you can do.”

  He looked up at her, and a corner of her mouth quirked up for an amused smirk.

  “While I can’t say it’ll be anywhere as much, the League reserves a part of its budget solely for rewards. Trainers that perform great services on the League’s behalf are paid to encourage that kind of behavior.”

  Sam stood up a bit straighter.

  “Oh. I know about that. My friend and I captured one of Team Rocket’s lieutenants so she got a TM for Teleport while I got a favor.”

  The nurse opened her mouth but failed to speak. Doubt crossed her face and she had to briefly close her eyes, but she had just seen two impossible Pokémon on Sam’s team. A Hisuian Typhlosion and Annihilape weren’t exactly common.

  But when she opened her eyes again, that doubt had vanished. She might have believed him, but she also seemed intent on pretending she hadn’t heard what Sam just said.

  “What I’m trying to say is that if you feel so strongly about helping these Pokémon, and if you don’t trust the Blackthorn Clan, there’s always another option. The League’s Pokémon Rangers are responsible for helping wild Pokémon—”

  Sam’s eyes lit up.

  “So if I bring those Pokémon to you, you could bring them to the Pokémon Rangers, and then the Pokémon Rangers make sure they’d be returned to their home regions,” he finished.

  “You’ll also still get a reward, just not as much,” the nurse added.

  Sam stepped away from the counter to begin to pace, trying to weigh everything in his head. On one hand, it would be selfish of him to capture those Pokémon before any other trainers could, but on the other hand, who cared about those other trainers? These were Pokémon stuck in a region far away from home, and the other trainers would just turn them in for the reward or do what he had planned to do—keep them for their team.

  But Pokémon Rangers were famously nonpolitical, at least when it came to their duty to wild Pokémon. This wasn’t a situation where Sam would turn in the Dragon Types and just see them be sent to the Blackthorn Clan anyway. No, Pokémon Rangers solved Pokémon problems. Ace Trainers also solved Pokémon problems, but they solved Pokémon problems that involved people. Rangers wouldn’t be influenced by the Blackthorn Clan to hand over any species.

  Sam had no doubt in his mind that relying on Pokémon Rangers would see the Dragon Types sent home. The poached Pokémon wouldn’t need to be stuck in a foreign-to-them region or be handed over to the secretive Blackthorn Clan.

  But he was then struck with a thought.

  What about Drakloak?

  Sam stopped walking.

  I... I don’t know.

  However, he knew he could do at least something for the rest of the wild Dragon Types in Olivine. With his team, he would have no problem going around and capturing them. He could make sure all of those missing Pokémon were properly returned while also screwing over the more selfish members of the Blackthorn Clan.

  Yeah, he thought to himself, coming to a decision, I think I like this plan.

  As a quick clarification, this is not a Mankey/Gastly situation. Sam won't adding any extra Dragon Types to his team.

  Sam’s Team:

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Fog, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier)

  Approximate Team Strength: 7 Stars

  (Fire / Ghost Type, Female, Timid Nature +Spe/-Atk)

  Abilities: Blaze

  Held Item: Charcoal

  Moves: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen, Ember, Flame Wheel, Curse, Will-O-Wisp, Incinerate, Detect, Quick Attack, Swift, Flame Charge, Flamethrower, Double Team, Infernal Parade, Confuse Ray, Hex, Shadow Ball, Night Shade, Shadow Claw, Agility, ???

  (Fighting / Ghost Type, Male, Impish Nature +Def/-SpA)

  Abilities: Vital Spirit

  Moves: Scratch, Leer, Low Kick, Karate Chop, Fury Swipes, Assurance, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Cross Chop, Curse, Brick Break, Rock Smash, Rock Slide, Bulk Up, Rage, Rage Fist, Close Combat

  Haunter (Ghost / Poison Type, Male, Naive Nature +Spe/-SpD)

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Confuse Ray, Spite, Mean Look, Hex, Shadow Punch, Night Shade, Acid Spray, Ominous Wind, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater, Nightmare

  (Ghost Type, Female, Hasty Nature +Spe/-Def)

  Pokéball: Friend Ball

  Abilities: Levitate

  Moves: Growl, Psywave, Astonish, Confusion, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Shadow Ball, Nasty Plot, Psybeam, Will-O-Wisp, Psychic, Hex, Power Gem

  Trevenant (Ghost / Grass Type, Male, Quiet Nature +SpA/-Spe)

  Pokéball: Moon Ball

  Abilities: Harvest, Frisk (Developing)

  Held Item: Sitrus Berry

  Moves: Horn Leech, Tackle, Confuse Ray, Astonish, Growth, Ingrain, Leech Seed, Forest’s Curse, Shadow Claw

  Auxiliary Pokémon: A decent number of wild (only increasing)

  At Home (non-battlers): ,

  At Carl’s Ranch: (more than twenty), (Annihilape’s brother)

  Redi’s Team (at last sighting):

  Badges Earned: 7 (Mineral, Plain, Hive, Zephyr, Rising, Glacier, Fog)

  Approximate Team Strength: 6 Stars

  (Normal Type, Male, Adamant Nature +Atk/-SpA)

  Abilities: Guts, Quick Feet

  Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Fire Punch, Baby-Doll Eyes, Slash, Ice Punch, Focus Energy, Thunder Punch, Hyper Beam, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Giga Impact, Shadow Claw, Sleep Talk

  Porygon (Normal Type, Genderless, Quirky Nature +-n/a)

  Abilities: n/a

  Moves: Tackle, Sharpen, Conversion, Psybeam, Thunder Shock, Charge Beam, Discharge, Tri-Attack, Charge, Teleport, Recover, Thunder Wave, Magnet Rise, Lock-On, Zap Cannon

  (Dragon Type, Female, Rash Nature +SpA/-SpD)

  Abilities: Shed Skin

  Moves: Wrap, Leer, Thunder Wave, Twister, Slam, Agility, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush

  Auxiliary Pokémon: x2 (Tibia and Fibula)

  Pokémon included in this chapter:

  /

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