Partner

Belltower

Up north of Ecruteak City lies the Belltower, which was currently in turmoil.

Looming over the Belltower was the flying ship of the team shadow. The area around the bell tower was silent.

Vidal was hiding behind trees some distance from the tower. Upon assessing the situation, the ship had just been fixed in place. Shadow warriors did not act.

"Are they waiting for something?" thought Vidal. Then something happened that shocked even Vidal.

Raikou, Entei, and Suicune all three Pokemons appeared simultaneously in front of the bell tower. Despite this, there were no activities from the shadow team.

"What is the matter?"

"Something is wrong. Gengar, come out."

"You see that tower, just check if there is anyone inside. And return immediately." Vidal was unable to even guess what was happening there.

…

Gengar appeared and tried his finest to interact.

"Someone is sleeping inside."

"Someone is on the ground."

"Someone is injured." Finally Gengar gave a thumbs up.

Due to the ship being directly above the tower, it was impossible to pass through the survey of team shadow.

"Someone is injured. Then what is team Shadow waiting for?" Vidal ran his mind trying to connect dots.

"Injured… Bell tower…"

Then it dawned upon Vidal, "They are trying to lure Ho-oh. Then the injured one inside must be a Pokemon."

"But why the hell are these three legendary figures suddenly here?"? Please send someone to answer my question." Vidal could only watch from the sideline.

"I almost forgot. Alakazam, come out. You need to use your teleport." Vidal pointed to the bell tower and instructed Alakazam.

…

As Vidal crept into the Bell tower, he took cover in the shadows and peered around.

Vidal easily noticed the injured Pokemon lying on the floor, "Ho-Oh." Vidal's mind was hurting from the series of unexpected events.

'What is Team Shadow waiting for?' Vidal sighed. But Vidal didn't waste the golden opportunity. Before the three legendary guards outside noticed anything, 'Pokeball GO.'

"It isn't shameless. It's called taking advantage of the situation."

An easy catch, but he didn't get chance to celebrate as a chuckle resounded behind him.

Turning around a ring came into his view, and a blue portal was swirling inside the ring. A hand appeared and yanked him inside the portal.

"Shit"

Next moment he was standing between trees, alone. There was no sign of the person responsible for pulling him anywhere near.

*Bang**Boom*

The sound of an explosion was echoing in the entire forest. "Someone is fighting in the middle of the forest."

"Dragonite, follow the sound." Vidal took off towards the sound.

At a distance, in the open area of the forest, two familiar figures and a group of black-clad individuals were fighting some trainers and... researchers.

"Looks like I am not the only one pulled to this area. But, where am I?"

"Dragon, let's fly higher." Vidal spotted a mountain and a stadium from his height.

"Stadium… Looks like I am still in the Johto region. Let's ask the guys below if they are responsible for giving me this free trip." But looking at the heated battle going on, Vidal stopped for the show.

Croconaw, Noctowl, Golem and Politoed were facing Exploud, Decidueye, Houndour and Absol respectively. When the battle progressed it was evident that all Pokemon belonged to the trainer.

Although the trainer could have won the match, the shadows weren't inclined to play fairly. Each shadow warrior called out one Houndour totaling ten in number.

The battle changed immediately. "With this rate, she won't be able to last longer. Let's get on to the main business first."

"Starmie, Alakazam… Come out to play."

Susan, who was getting the upper-hand in the battle, was immediately overwhelmed by the appearance of the ten Houndours. Everybody gets out of here. I will hold them as much as I can."

Just when she had finished her sentence, Starmie and Alakazam appeared in the midst of battle. Both the Pokemon used Psychic and threw the ten Houndours flying.

"That Starmie looks familiar."Vega, why does it seem like the abnormal Starmie we saw on Mount Moon?" Zeph asked with a worried tone.

"I am up here. We seem to meet every now and then." It looked like team rocket was reserved for Ash and team shadow for him.

Looking up riding a Dragonite was familiar face, "It's you?"

"Yup, I am right here. So, did you guys pull me here?"

"No. It was Hoopa who pulled us here, when we were preparing to catch a certain Pokemon on the tower." Vega was the one who answered his question.

'Hoopa. It's no wonder the ring appears. But, why is that guy running around in Johto?'

"Vega, you don't have to answer every question asked by puny brats. We should get out of here," Zeph took a glance at the Starmie and retreated.

Vidal didn't make any effort to stop them. 'And the guy named Vega is very suspicious. It feels like he is trying to help me or maybe I am wrong.'

Vidal landed on the floor. "Is everyone OK?"

The answer he got was somewhat unexpected.

"Why did you let them get away?" Susan cried in anger.

'Because they are very good at locating legendary Pokemons, and have benefitted quite a lot from them.' Vidal sized up the girl from top to bottom, "Well my priority was the safety of you guys."

The researchers pulled Susan and introduced themselves, "Thank you for the help. I am Sam; we are the researchers here at the Pokemon Preserve in Mt. Silver. Those guys appeared suddenly and started attacking the Pokemon in the Preserve and Susan was the only trainer in the vicinity who came to help."

"Who were those guys? They seem to recognize you." Susan asked after calming down.

"We have crossed paths in the past few times. Nothing more than that." Vidal answered.

'Sam, is there a video phone nearby?' Vidal felt like informing some Professors about the team's shadow movements.

"Yes, you can follow me to the laboratory. We can talk there." Sam showed the way to the Lab.

…

Vidal made a call to Professor Oak. But before he could say anything Professor Oak said, "Oh Susan you are already in Johto." Susan was standing behind him.

Vidal didn't make a sound and just looked at the girl standing behind him.

"Yes, Professor. I will give you some time to talk." Susan tried to avoid Vidal who was staring at her.

"Don't worry. You two are working on the same thing. So, it is beneficial to share information that you have with each other." Professor Oak said with a smile.

The stare from Vidal intensified, but he had no problems with Susan working on the team shadow case. As a result, his work will be lessened.

Both Vidal and Susan shared some information. Professor Oak reported news of two professors missing from Sinnoh.

"And Vidal there is another critical thing I need to inform you."

"From now on you two will be working together." Professor Oak smile intensified.

Vidal Grabbed both sides of the Video TV and stuck his face on the screen, "Professor I don't think you can make such a decision for me."

"Ha... Ha... Ha... You might have misunderstood me about something. You remember the 25 people gathered at my lab right? That has increased to 30 and it was the decision made by the whole group." Professor Oak explained in a clear way.

Vidal returned to his seat, "So, who was the one responsible for bringing this idea up?"

"Such information is confidential among researchers. Sorry, I cannot share anything on this matter. You two are going to work together and that's all. You two talk with each other about your ways of cooperating." The screen turned off.