As their friendship and trust is strained, they will have to come together...


Chapter 18
Desert Rendezvous

The Next Day…
Dante, Trisha, Mary, Avery, and Kasi waited at the entrance to Agate Village, the splices of the group wearing clothing that disguised them, shielding their true identities: Dante was wearing his trenchcoat, long shorts, and cowboy hat with a new addition: A metal fighting staff strapped to a holster on his back. Trisha was wearing a sweater cut off at the elbows along with a stocking cap and her signature black jeans with a set of knightsticks strapped to the back of her hips. She wasn’t the only one packing weapons, either. Mary, wearing a pair of high-cut shorts with a t-shirt and cargo vest with her usual boots, had an electric pulse pistol strapped to her hip, along with slinging a long range electric rifle over her shoulder.
Avery was wearing a white hoodie with a Pokemon League symbol stamped on the back with some sweatpants, and Kasi was wearing a baseball cap with long-sleeved shirt and some pants.
Dante had told them that they were going to get a lift to Outskirts Sand with some members of the Orre Region chapter of the Balancers: Mikalette and Lucas. Members that Avery and Kasi had not met yet.
“Wonder what kind of ride they have?” Avery asked, referring to the vehicle that they would be riding in.
“It’s nothing flashy, but it gets the job done.” Dante said. “…Ah, there they are now.” Dante noted a dust cloud in the distance.
Shortly after Dante finished that sentence, a heavily-modified hover van sped up to them, sliding to a stop in front of them with the side door coming a few feet from Dante’s face. Dante, unphased, took a few steps back as the hover van landed, and the door swung open.
Standing on the van’s deck was the teenage human girl, Mikalette. She was of fairly-thin build, with black, naturally curled hair that went down to her elbows, freckles on her face, and green eyes. She wore a tank-top with cargo jeans and sneakers, along with a pair of chique yet edgy glasses on her face. In the driver’s seat was a Lucas, a teenage boy of what appeared to be the same age with a slightly scrawny-looking build. He had auburn-colored hair with blue eyes, dressed in a t-shirt and some shorts, with some sandals on his feet. He was also wearing a backwards-facing baseball cap with square-shaped sunglasses covering his eyes.
“Heyo, Dante!” Mikalette said with a smile, her voice a southern drawl. “We’re right on time, as usual.”
“Awesome, Mika.” Dante said as he stepped into the hover van and settled in one of the seats, the others following suit. “Nice slide by the way, Lucas.”
“Thanks, I’ve been practicing.” Lucas said in a normal American accent. “Glad to see you again, boss. I’m glad that courier job you assigned us is now done. Next stop: Outskirsts Sand!”
# # # # # # # #
Later, at Outskirts Sand…
Ash and Pikachu waited in the Outskirts Sand gas stop with Professor Oak, Misty, and Tyler. Because of Avery’s phone call yesterday morning, along with the ambiguous explanations, and request to turn off their GPS Trackers, tensions were strained. Especially with Tyler.
“…I just don’t get it.” Tyler spoke as they sat at a table next to a large window that showed a clear view of the desert outside, drinking a cup of coffee. “Why have us meet here, and why did he want the trackers shut off?” This was clearly grating at his nerves, as well as his patience. “This doesn’t make sense! What is he so damn afraid of?!”
“Besides the obvious?” Misty responded in a chastising tone. “I have no idea, but I’m sure he has his reasons, one of them being Team Midnight.”
Tyler sighed. “…I just hope he can give me a better explanation then what he gave me on the phone yesterday.”
At that moment, a hover-van pulled into the gas stop, next to Professor Oak’s pickup and Tyler’s dune buggy. A short time later, five individuals entered the gas stop. As they approached the table Tyler and the others were sitting at, Tyler realized that the two leading the group was Kasi and Avery.
“About time.” Tyler said, fatigued irritation in his tone. “Good to see that the two of you are okay. Now would you mind telling us what the hell is going on, here?”
“That’s why we’re here.” Said the individual behind Avery. “Mind scooting down and making room so we can sit down? It was a long drive.”
It was then that everyone sitting at the table noticed that two of the three new arrivals were splices! One was a Jolteon splice from what Tyler could recognize from her visible cues. As for the other splice, Tyler assumed his form was related to Mew’s somehow from what he could see through the disguise.
All of them made room for the new arrivals to sit, Tyler being a bit reluctant to do so at first. He knew something was afoot here.
# # # # #

“So, you must be the ‘brothers and sisters’ Avery mentioned on the phone.” Oak said as Dante and the others sat down at the table. “Which one of you is in charge?”
“That would be me, Samuel.” Dante said to Oak, calling him by his first name. “It’s good to see you here.”
Oak was now confused. “…I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet, and you are calling me by name. Nor do I recall meeting you before. Would you kindly care to explain?”
“Lumen iam lucet expellere mala.” Dante told Oak in Latin, seeming like he was using the language as some sort of code phrase. “You should recognize one of my lady friends, as her father payed a visit to you when you had barely established your lab.” He motioned to Mary, to his left.
Oak’s face lit up with horror. “My god… Why are you here? I’ve done as you asked, and have not strayed from the set morals and ethics…”
“Calm down, Samuel.” Dante reassured. “We’re not here to punish you, or anyone else here.” Dante then fished out a paper from his pocket and handed it to Oak. “We are here because we need your help. On this list is all the items and equipment we need to heal Takuya. Right now, he’s on life support so he’s still safe. If he’s going to awaken again, nonetheless be walking on his own two feet, we need the items on that list delivered to Agate Village. Soon.”
Oak, now calm but still fairly shaken started looking through the list. “…Okay. Professor Krane will have the items you require; I can have them delivered at this time tomorrow.”
“Very good, Samuel.” Dante said. “I look forward to seeing you back at Agate Village tomorrow.”
Tyler finally lost his patience. “Okay, what the shiz is going on here?! You better start explaining right now, or I will dig out the facts on my own.” Tyler said, leering at Dante.
Dante looked back into Tyler’s eyes, unphased. It almost appeared like he was trying to read Tyler like a book. There was a temporary silence.
“…So, they did things to you too, huh?” Dante asked. “The Magician Initiative… Abra genetics and brain chemistry alteration… Man, they really did a number on you, like they did with kid and his girl over here.” Dante motioned to Avery and Kasi. “Not to mention what they did to us. Though it appears you’ve learned how to control your newfound abilities on your own, from what I can read. Very interesting… I admire you for your effort to bring the fight to Team Midnight, though. Along with preventing others from suffering your fate, as well as ours.”
Tyler looked at Dante with shock. “How did you know that?”
“I read your mind, young Sapphire.” Dante explained. “It’s one of many gifts I have due to my abilities. Believe it or not, we have the same goal.”
Tyler finally couldn’t take this anymore, fed up with the cloak and dagger. “Okay, that’s it. I’m done.” He stood up from the table, getting ready to walk off. “I’m not helping with anything else until someone has the balls to be straight with me, instead of trying to force feed me this enigma bullshit!” Tyler then started to walk towards the exit.
“Tyler, wait…” Avery stood up from the table and put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder, stopping him before he could get five feet away from the table . “…I know you are starting to get short with all of this, but there is a reason-”
“Reason?!” Tyler finally flew off the handle, getting right in Avery’s face as he cut him off. “So far, you haven’t given me any reason, Avery! At all!” He shouted. “You haven’t given me anything but smoke and mirrors since trenchcoat cowboy showed up and swept you, Takuya, and Kasi off to who-knows-where! So, until someone decides to cut the crap, I’m done helping!”
“Tyler, that isn’t fair.” Kasi said flatly, standing up. “Takuya was on his death bed when that happened. This friend is the only reason Takuya’s still alive.”
“…Still alive?!” Tyler’s rage was now steadily starting to build up. “He’s on life support right now! Vaquero Joe just said it himself! Is that really what you would think of as saving him?!”
“Ty, knock off the hissy fit and sit your ass down if you want to know the facts.” Dante said in a commanding tone, his irritation showing. “Right now, the last thing you should do is issue a curtain call for your role in current events. Team Midnight wants to divide us. It only makes it easier for them if you walk away.”
Tyler paused, considering his options. Finally, after a tense silence he sat down across from Dante with a glare.
“Then how do you suppose we should proceed?” Tyler asked.
“A simple exchange of information.” Dante said. “On a mental level. We connect our minds together via our psychic abilities, exchange the info, and we go from there. Just remember, you will be bound to the same rules that Avery and Kasi are abiding by.”
“Rules?” Tyler questioned.
“You’ll figure them out in the exchange.” Dante said. “So, are we going to do this?”
Tyler leaned forward on his elbows with his hands crossed, his eyes narrowing. “Try me.”