CHAPTER 25—LINDA, LINDA, MELINDA!!




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ARTWORK BY   Damodoko

In the dungeon of the Fountain of Lost Dreams, Aurora Ribombee flew wildly from side to side, while Akeldama the ghost Zoroark practiced his illusions as Rubro Croconaw. The Pokémon then notices its ally's concern, Zoroark then returns to its common form waiting for it to approach, when it does so it uses its hair, now dyed purple, to hold Ribombee:

—“Stop, okay? You’re already making me worry, too.” — Says Akeldama, trying to calm her companion, Aurora puts her two paws on her own face, scratching it.
—“I'm sorry, I can't help but be worried, shouldn't I have insisted more on Mei giving up that crazy idea? I'm rooting for her to succeed, but part of me keeps thinking that everything will go wrong.”— Ribombee responded, shaking a lot, from Zoroark's dyed hair then comes out a Leppa Berry in which he offers using his own hair to take it to the ally.
—“She seemed to have everything under control, Mei showed us how the disguise was and spoke to us as if she were another Pokémon, I'm a master of illusions, remember? Do you think I would let her leave if I didn’t have complete trust in her?”— Akeldama asked Aurora, Ribombee looked into the eyes of the ghost Zoroark and smiled, taking the Leppa Berry with a simple smile.
—“Thank you, I needed to calm down… *Nhom*… Akel… EEEEKK YUCK, YUCK, SHE TASTES LIKE FUR CHEMICAL, HOW DISGUSTING, HOW DISGUSTING, HOW DISGUSTING!!”— Fairy Type shouted while flying around and spitting out the Leppa Berry to avoid vomiting, Akel laughs at that funny situation.
—“Hehehe, m-my bad, haha, Haha, I-I think the purple dye that Mei put in my hair, i-is still very fresh hehehe, it's better *COUGH* hehehe, I, I'm going to wash my hair things I put back in my hair and wait a little longer before putting them back pffff hehehe. Thank you, Aurora, hahhaha, w-without you I wouldn’t have realized this, heheheh, you’re the best!”— The ghost Zoroark apologized without stopping laughing at his friend's purple mouth, the furious Ribombee throws his Pollen Puff move at the Pokémon he dodges.

Akeldama apologizes to Aurora again, but she was furious with his attitude and his synic apologies, so Ribombee forgot her concern for Mei Servine, just chasing the ghost Zoroark to hit him with her Pollen Puff.
In Argules, Luke Croconaw returned to the palace following Furfrou of the Diamond cut, upon arriving at the Lacustre guild sector, Luke could feel the looks of disapproval along with laughter, entering there was always painful to Luke. Furfrou then arrived at Trevor Houndoom's door where it was protected by two Lycanroc, one in Midday form and the other in Midnite form, the three Pokémon talked briefly, Croconaw was already so worried that he didn't even pay attention to the content of the dialogue.
Lycanroc Midnite opens the door to the guild master's room, then enters, it doesn't take long for him to return conveying Trevor's thanks for Furfrou's service, dismissing her, then sends Luke to enter the room, the nervous Croconaw is scared when the Lycanroc gives him directs the word. The Midday Lycanroc hides its face to laugh at Luke, the Midnite Lycanroc growls, moving out of the way for Luke to enter, the Croconaw apologizes to the duo as it enters the room, quickening its pace, when it completely enters the room, the Rock Type Pokémon closes the door behind him:

—“Hi, Luke, good afternoon, it’s been a while since you’ve been here, hasn’t it? I’m happy to come, we need to talk.”— Trevor spoke in a friendly manner, but given the situation of the conversation, Luke did not let his guard down.

Feigning nervousness, Croconaw observes Master Trevor's room, there were several Oran berry trees positioned in the corners of the room in which the Houndoom was cultivating, Luke approaches slowly, stepping on the comfortable carpet in the room used for the four-legged Pokémon to sit on. Before getting too close to Trevor's table, Croconaw pays respect to the master of the Lake base by bowing, because even though he is very close to the Houndoom, that was his place of work:

—“Good afternoon master, yes, I haven’t been here for a long time, what do you want?” — Croconaw questions respectfully, without raising his head, but the master snaps his paw fingers, making Luke raise his head.
—“Okay, before I tell you why you came here, I want you to give me more details about what we witnessed here.”— Said the Dark Type Pokémon, fiddling with its red collar while picking up its Gadget, then carefully placing the device on its desk.

The Houndoom taps its paw on the device's screen, then a holographic screen comes out of it, Trevor turns the screen away from him and pushes it towards Croconaw, the holographic screen stops in front of Luke showing a recording. The recording transmitted on the screen was of the battle in which Croconaw fought with Nero Jolteon, the Water Type still pretending to scratch his head showing nervousness:

—“Aw this? Well, Nero challenged me to battle, and I couldn't deny the challenge, he knows how to be very persuasive…”— Luke said, his eyes irritated due to the holographic screen being too close to his face, Croconaw starts to hand to remove it from his face, only to see that Trevor had gotten up and was right behind her with a murderous look scaring him.
—“It's not the king of Judicium that interests me, since when do you know how to fight? Your strikes came out perfectly… Your Mystic Water, give it to me, now.”— Ordered the Houndoom, stretching out his paw for Luke to give him the item.
—“ARRG, i-it’s ok, I-I-I’ll get it now…”— Croconaw replied, trembling with fear at the master's gaze, however, that was still an act, this intimidation strategy was commonly used by Trevor and from the moment he threw the screen in his face he was already expecting the technique.

Due to the Houndoom with the red collar being too close, Luke could not manipulate Aqua Tail's PP to create another replica, but he could still manipulate Blizzard's PP using one of his hands. Because he was pretending to be scared, Croconaw panted a lot and discreetly used the Blizzard, Luke then channeled it into his hand, going through the secret compartment of the red scarf, taking out the pendant, but without its string:

—“H-here it is…” — Said the Croconaw with a trembling voice as he placed the pendant on Trevor's paw, the Houndoom looks intently at the Mystic Water.
—“What happened to her golden chain?” — Trevor asks as he continued to check the item.
—“After the battle I kept it in my scarf, I must have dropped the cord, or it must still be in the middle of my scarf, arrrg, I don't know anymore.” — Luke replied, closing his eyes and scratching his head, the Houndoom then laughs briefly and strokes Croconaw's head.
—“Okay, okay, you don’t need to be scared of me, here, take it back.” — Trevor says, extending his paw with the item to Luke, he takes it and puts it back in the scarf.
—“I don't know why Nero is interested in your Mystic Water, for me, it's identical to any other… Your new look conveys much more confidence and I see that the foreign Ribombee has done you good, don't worry about Nero, keep using your Mystic Water on your neck…”— Spoke the Houndoom as he walked away, the Croconaw then extends his hand to the Master calling him.
—“BUT TREVOR… I mean, Master Trevor, King Nero told me that this Mystic Water was the reason my powers were weak, should I really use it?”— Luke asks, looking nervous, placing his hand on his chest over where the pendant was.
—“If you really believe that, attack me, use your Blizzard on me.”— Orders Trevor, facing Croconaw, the master looked at his subordinate seriously.

Luke thought for a while, squeezing the Mystic Water, Croconaw then closed his eyes hoping that Aurora's plan was right, remembering the looks and mocking laughs of everyone in the guild at him and took a deep breath. Holding the Mystic Water tighter through the red scarf, Luke inhales then launches the Blizzard with the same power used in the battle against Jolteon, Trevor in turn received the blow with his head up smiling, when the Croconaw finishes he sees the master look at you with pride:

—“That was refreshing, and it hurt me, my paws even froze… Luke, you are not strong or weak just because of an item, your father and I already knew that you could achieve much more than you showed.”— Speaks the Houndoom approaching and placing his warm paw on the Water Type's shoulder, Luke lowers his head shyly thanking his master.

Two scenarios went through Croconaw's head, if he didn't show the equivalent power, Trevor would take his Mystic Water or make his father Lúcios demand that he abdicate it, the other was to demonstrate the common form of his power at the risk of being unmasked. Luke lied a lot to Nero, but not about the value he placed on the pendant and his red scarf, these were treasures too precious to be thrown away like rubbish, besides Ribombee was right, he no longer needed to pretend to be a failure:

—“Look, it's very convenient for all of us that you're using your moves correctly…”— Trevor said after removing his paw from Croconaw's shoulder, the Dark Type Pokémon went to its place, stretching out its paw to one of the chairs in front of the table as a signal for Luke to sit down.

Worried, Croconaw goes to the indicated chair and sits down, Luke then catches a glimpse of a Pokémon sitting in the chair next to him, discreetly he tries to see who it was, however, when he exchanges glances with the other Pokémon he looks away in embarrassment:

—“Luke, yesterday in the early afternoon, according to one of the secretariats, you left this bottle here, the chemical team at the base confirmed it to be Luminous water, today I would send an Exploration team to the location you gave to look for the source …”— Contextualizing the Fire Type Pokémon while showing the bottle to the Pokémon with the red scarf and his company, the Houndoom then has an angry face.
—“Arrrg, however, with the Hellstalkers' attack last night, the city was left in a mess and the Exploration and Rescue teams are taking care of the calamitous situation the Network find themselves in.”— Explained the base master, Trevor then starts strumming on his Gadget showing images of the previous night's conflict and its consequences.
—“As you can see, many parts of the city were covered in sand and there are Pokémon still trapped in their homes. The Argules police force was restored last night, however, it is still weakened. What I will do is unusual because Luminous is an invaluable water, Luke Hidron, meet your partner in the search for this continental treasure, Miss Melinda Olerácea a Servine…”— In introducing the illustrious company, Trevor stood up, leaning on the table, pointing one of his paws to show the Pokémon next to Croconaw that…
—“Good afternoon dear, I'm Melinda, a student from Quezali in the eighth semester of Advanced Exploration, to be approved I need field study, but the University does not allow us to form teams with Pokémon from the institution itself, and it has to be on another continent with already established Pokémon.”— Quickly getting up from her chair as soon as she was announced and taking care of the rest of the presentation, Servine at first impression seemed very eager and happy and was quite chatty.
—“I chose Argules, knowing its high security and stability, plus it has lush landscapes and several Water Type Pokémon that I have an advantage in battle, you know?” — Melinda said, always with her head held high, looking like a noblewoman, Luke blushed as he began to notice Servine's body more than her words due to the gestures she was making, and her pink hat stuck in her head, her back with an elegant white scarf.
—“I talked to Master Trevor, I decided it was a bad time to come, even so when he talked about the Luminous water and being a partner with the son of the royal advisor KYYAAAA!! I got too excited! I am studying to discover magnificent treasures, and doing this while still studying will give me a lot of fame, KYYYAAA WE WILL BE THE BEST DUO!”— Melinda finished by jumping up and down with a smile on her face and an excited scream, which finally caught the attention of Croconaw who had gotten lost in his thoughts.

Luke smiles embarrassed, not knowing how to react, seeking a supportive look from the Houndoom, the guild master just winked at the Water Type, making an “OK” sign with both paws as if he was presenting an attractive female. Not the expected reaction from the Dark Type, but Croconaw had this degree of intimacy with Trevor, because the guild master was also his godfather, helping Nái and Lúcios take care of him.
Knowing that the excuse of being weak wouldn't work, Luke thought about trying to appeal to his recent “trauma” with the Servine by trying to blame it on Mei Charlotte, who pretended to be his friend. Croconaw gets up to begin his drama, however, Houndoom interrupted him by showing through his Gadget the amount of money they would earn for the day's working in exploration, a very large amount to the point that Luke's mouth opened:

—“Heheheh, by the look on your face, I think you agreed to be my partner, you were very happy, dear.” — Melinda said as she gently closed Croconaw's mouth with her paw.
—“Yeah… Well… I was really in need of money, so… When can we start?”— Luke asked, blushing, without looking at Servine.
Both accepted the mission, and with that, Trevor showed through his Gadget images of Rubro Croconaw telling them to be careful with the Beserker avoiding combat, Melinda gave a snobbish laugh stating that she could deal with the situation and that with Luke she had no reason to fear a Beserker. The Houndoom admired Servine's attitude and encouraged her, even so, he decides to show the more sensitive images of the Pokémon which Rubro attacked.
When Melinda saw it, she gave a small cough, trying not to vomit, Croconaw gently touched Servine's back and asked if she was okay, Grass Type said she was and understood why the cash value was inflated, it was a suicide mission. Trevor laughs a little, stating that it was because of the water and not because of the danger of Beserker, telling them to always act with caution, now with the messages given, the master tells them both to leave for work immediately, Luke and Melinda salute, leaving the room immediately.
In another wing of Argules' palace, Nero Jolteon had already arrived in the throne room being received by Cody Charmeleon and Lúcios Feraligatr, Jolteon laughed nervously feeling the thirst for blood in the air:

— “Nero, could you explain to me, what made you want to go into combat with my son?! I had only allowed one conversation between you… AND YOU CONFRONT HIM WITH A POKÉMON BATTLE!”— Screams the Feraligatr with the black scarf, apparently, his children were really his weak point, Lúcios didn't seem calm and centered as he usually is.
—“First me, now Luke, who is your next victim? The second son of Lúcios?”— Asks Cody in such a sinical way, that not only irritates Nero but also Feraligatr.
—“Hahaha, Nero hunts puppies, very funny Cody, I wanted to know where was all that empathy yesterday when you were trying to suffocate Lúcios’son?”— Jolteon mocks, causing the flame of Charmeleon's tail to burn intensely.
—“ENOUGH! Enough with so much nonsense…, I didn't order you to come back to argue, it was obvious that my son was out of control yesterday and I know he regrets it, and the battle you had with Luke was friendly. I know more than anyone what you are capable of, and I know you know it too Lúcios, calm down and let’s deal with the important matters.”— Ordered Queen Lencia Charizard, even getting up from the throne to shout her “enough”, not taking long to sit back down after a short sigh.

Giving a growl, Feraligatr begins to breathe deeply, calming down on the outside, as for Cody taking advantage of his real bandana, he tightened it a lot to relax with the pressure of the grip, Nero just yawned, shaking his ears Hastily. With everyone calmer, Lúcios asked what Nero had thought of his son in battle, the Jolteon scratched his ear with his back paw casually, claiming to be average, not strong like Raijin Heliolisk and not exceptional like Cody, just average.
The Pokémon with the black scarf asks if the monarch was sure, Nero without hesitation confirmed while shaking his head standing up like a common Jolteon, Feraligatr touched his chest giving a sigh of relief saying he was very happy to know. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nero states that perhaps Luke would be more powerful if he gave up his Mystic Water, Lúcios immediately looks at Jolteon seriously:

—“Don’t talk nonsense Nero, that pendant is the best luck for my son, me, my ex and my current wife tried everything to improve his skills and failed, your theory has already been tested and without success.”— Feraligatr stated with conviction as he walked, the Pokémon only stopped when he stood next to Empress Charizard's throne, the prince approaches the Electric Pokémon in a restrained manner.
—“Battles like the one you had, I've had with Luke several times, with and without Mystic Water, he was never as strong as what I saw… If something influenced him, I'd say it was his partner Ribombee, before you found him, he was with him in my quarters, there he told me that he went through several training sessions with that Bug Type to find Nadim Druddigon.”— Charmeleon said, a little blushing and without making eye contact with the others, saying that he was alone with Croconaw made the prince shy.
—“Hehehe, so you mean that Luke made me look like a fool? Humph, him lying so blatantly just shows that he has something to hide, HAHA, who is the idiot now?”— Nero argued, sitting up and raising his snout, Lúcios sighed, shaking his head negatively, expressing shame.
—“IT’S STILL YOU, YOU BIG SUCKER! You don't know Luke as well as Lúcios and I, he didn't lie to you, but I doubt he's entered a battle using his Pokémon moves before… Raijin, I need visual examples, please, could you show us the images of the Theo’s attack yesterday?”— Cody shouted as he approached the Jolteon, Nero because of the scream even lost his balance almost falling to the ground, however, when he started talking about Luke he calmed down until he politely asked for Heliolisk's help.

Raijin salutes, strumming his special Nexus, creating several holographic screens showing the events captured by the stadium's Time Flowers, Charmeleon then asked Heliolisk to focus only on those that captured Croconaw. With the request fulfilled, Cody showed that the whole time Luke just fought with the staff without demonstrating his Pokémon moves, the king, on the other hand, didn't care about Charmeleon's words, just observing the Mystic Water on his chest:

—“Didn't react at this moment of danger and urgency…?”— Jolteon murmurs, watching the recordings, irritated at being ignored, the prince tells Nero to explain himself.
—“I thought I was facing a Frag-A, Cody, do you remember how I realized that there was a fight in the stadium? My earring can detect Frag-A, and I caught a wave of thought… Arrg if I remember correctly, the Pokémon thought “I can't lose, not now, I have to save…” he said two names, but I don't remember which ones, DAMN IT!”— Jolteon explained, hitting the ground with his paw frustrated at having forgotten the names he had heard.
—“I think we've already wasted too much time with all these suspicions, Luke Hidron is not Rubro nor is he carrying a Frag-A, this matter is closed, and let's move on to the real reason we called him here. Raijin, could you show what you were showing me, Lúcios and Cody earlier?”— The queen highlighted what he had said with great conviction, this made Nero uncomfortable, as he knew that Lencia was not the type to speak lightly.

As ordered, Heliolisk changes the images showing scenes of Rubro Croconaw on the holographic screens, Jolteon smiles, being impressed with what that Water Type Pokémon was able to do with its movements. However, the king was still curious to know what Charizard wanted to show him, Raijin noticed that his leader had not yet paid attention to the most important of the images and therefore enlarged one of them:

— “NOT THAT, AW MAN, YOU'VE GOT TO BE PLAYING ME LIKE MR. MIME, THIS CAN'T BE TRUE! Grrr…”— Nero screamed when he noticed that there was a glow on the back of Rubro’s hood, the part that had a pendant similar to Mystic Water’s.
—“We realized this after you talked about the Frag-A yesterday, but as Raijin wasn't here it was Trevor who checked the recordings, this took a lot of time and I asked Lúcios to check Luke's Mystic Water due to suspicions that Cody there was.”— Lencia says calmly, Jolteon stutters a little and looks seriously at Feraligatr with the black scarf.
—“I convinced my son to sleep in our dorm, and while he slept I analyzed the Mystic Water without using another Frag-A, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the item, and I received a message from Trevor while Cody discussed, and he also didn’t find anything out of the standard, and you, Nero, did you find anything?”— Lúcios asks at the same time, showing the message from Houndoom, thus confirming what he had said.
—“Grr, no… I left my earring near Luke's Mystic Water, and they didn't react, this indicates that he doesn't wear a Frag-A around his neck and that is a regular Mystic Water, I still can't believe I made a mistake so big.” — Nero speaks with his ears down, the Pokémon was really sorry for having exposed Luke the way he did.
—“That’s exactly what you get when you don’t work as a team and want to act alone, you owe Lucius and the queen an apology for offending them.”— It was the voice of Beelzeby Luxray, the Jolteon raised his ears, wanting to find where the voice came from, imagining that it could be the voice of his conscience.

Noticing his leader's confusion, Raijin laughs briefly, then pretending to cough to get Nero's attention. When the Pokémon looks at him, Heliolisk shows with its claw that Luxray was on an audio call, as well as Rex Lucario, Naz Gabite, Melissa Zoroark and Trevor Houndoom:

—“We are all here to work as a team, acting together to achieve the best possible result, we need to have trust and be open among ourselves, the future of Argules depends on it.”— Complements Beelzeby in a serious and disciplined manner, Jolteon even murmurs in frustration at receiving a moral lesson.
—“Melissa and I are at the hospital with Naz, she will be released any moment, when that happens we will join you and discuss the next step in our defense plans.”— Rex calmly states.

Nero wondered what they were up to, however, the king yawned and lay down on the floor, after all, if the conversation needed to be done in person it would still take a while for everyone to show up, so the king wanted to rest before the boring conversations that were to come.
Far from there, Luke and Melinda had already left the trail to Argules and were walking in the dense forest, the Croconaw with the red scarf was pushing away the bush with his arms while Servine with the pink hat followed behind, the Pokémon were approaching the area belonging to the mysterious dungeons. The Water Type Pokémon thought about entering a safer dungeon to begin with, as the source that the Grass Type was looking for didn't exist, he had to deceive it as much as possible, not only to keep the lie but also to receive the guild's money:

—“The Calypso continent is magnificent, isn’t it?”— Questioned Melinda with a voice of admiration, Luke stopped a little and turned to his ally to answer her question, however.
—“He gets even better with my presence here, don't you think? Stay tuned to your favorite fashion explorer, linda, LINDA, MELINDA!”— Servine was not talking to him but to her Gadget, she had activated the holographic screen mode and was filming herself while talking and posing showing the environment, but mainly herself.
—“Melinda, what do you think you’re doing?” — Croconaw asked, visibly embarrassed and worried, when Melinda focused the screen on Luke, the Pokémon tried to hide its face with its hands, turning red.
—“Hehehe, what a fool I am, MY LINDO, LINDO, meet Luke Hidron, he is the son of the royal advisor Lúcios Hidron, he will be my partner, together we are a team of treasure discoverers! Linda, LINDA, MELINDA!! *SNAP* CUT AND SEND!”— After introducing Croconaw, who was already writhing with embarrassment, Servine snapped the fingers of her grass paw, a command to make the screen stop recording and deactivate it.

With her recording over, Melinda explained that she had a page on her Gadget where she talked about fashion in general, however, as she was going to start working as an explorer, she decided to change the focus to her adventures, Luke took a deep breath, giving a disapproving look. Servine felt a little offended that Croconaw disapproved of her activity, but the Pokémon with the red scarf quickly stated that she wasn't worried about that, but rather about her doing that in the forest, that place was dangerous to do things like that.
The Pokémon with the pink hat understood the concern by apologizing, Luke just smiled, saying that mistakes were common for a beginner, also stating that he would follow his partner on her page, which returned Melinda's smile, and she hugged the Pokémon with the red scarf in gratitude. Embarrassed, Luke returned the hug, which strangely gave him the feeling of déjà vu, almost as if he were interacting with Mei.
However, the Pokémon hear a suspicious sound in the woods breaking away from their embrace, Croconaw thought it was a Beserker and a big one with firm steps, since, as the Pokémon got closer, the noise got a little louder. Luke noticed that Servine seemed to be ready to use an offensive move, not wanting her to hurt an innocent Beserker or get into an unnecessary fight, Croconaw used Blizzard immediately in the woods, however, with the move slightly modified by MPP:

—“BY ARCEUS, WHAT GIRATINA WAS THAT?!”— Shouted a Pokémon from the other side of the thicket.

Luke and Melinda exchanged worried looks then ran in the direction of the scream, passing through the tall grass, they went through everything until they stopped in front of a giant ice boulder made by Croconaw's Blizzard, and inside it was a Druddigon with a pink sweater holding a chest in your claws:

—“NADIM?!”— Asked the Pokémon with the red scarf, surprised to see Druddigon there again, Luke then delicately touched the block of ice where Nadim was imprisoned.
—“HEY, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! FREEZING MY PARTNER LIKE THIS, TAKE HIM OUT OF THE ICE NOW, OR I WILL MAKE HIM REGRET IT!”— Threatened Nonato Dottler, the Bug type Pokémon with the pink cap appeared behind the ice block very angry.
—“Humph, you scared us, we only reacted to the scare. Me, why are shorter people always more irritable?”— Said Servine, irritated at being threatened by Nonato, Bug Type started fighting with Grass Type, that was the distraction Croconaw needed, manipulating Crunch's Dark Type power in his hand, Luke breaks the ice stone freeing the Druddigon.

Upon shattering the ice, all the Blizzard's effect disappears immediately, Nadim begins to shiver from the cold, being surprised that even though he was trapped in the block of ice, everything that happened to him was a mere cold. Astonished, the Dottler asked if his companion was okay, and he confirmed that he was safe, Nonato then noticed the ice disappearing, amazed that the Blizzard was strong enough to freeze Nadim with just a touch, but weak enough to break apart in the air.
The Croconaw immediately apologized for the inconvenience, justifying having attacked for fear of it being Crimson or some other Beserker in the woods, however, before the Dottler could complain again, Melinda gets in front of Luke. Servine questions the presence of two Network in the forest, as all the rescue and exploration teams were helping the citizens, the Druddigon looks suspiciously at Grass Type asking how she knew they were an exploration team:

—“A question of deduction, dear, the missions of a team of Punishers depends on the Argules police, and I learned that it hasn't been working for days without the help of the Lacustre base. Besides, you guys are dressed really adorable for being a team of Dominators, it looks more like you're going to a slumber party than destroying a mysterious dungeon.”— Melinda responds in an extremely arrogant and mocking way, the Dottler makes a few small jumps in anger.
—“Nhehehe, I think you're right, sorry for scaring you my friends, my name is Nadim and this is my partner Nonato, we are a team of Explorers indeed. It's just that we were away from our activities for a while, and we decided to carry out our missions before the deadline, and we lost the right to do so.”— Druddigon justified hastily, he spoke so kindly that Servine even apologized for what happened.
—“I can't believe it, haven't you recognized me so far? It’s me, Luke Hidron, the Croconaw… GHAA!!”— Before Luke could even finish speaking, Nadim jumped very quickly and grabbed him in her arms, hugging the Water Type.

Smiling, Luke responds to the hug, even touching Druddigon's uncovered head a little, which makes small cuts; The four Pokémon, seeing that they would stay there for a while, set up a temporary camp where they could talk.
Nonato explains to everyone what happened after Rex sent them to the base of the tree of life, according to Dottler, the place looked like a Fairy Type story, the tree was gigantic and thick, its roots looked like different Onix and came out of the island. They arrived through a center that was close to the sea and were then taken inside the tree, there it looked like a gigantic lodge full of Soldiers of all types and sizes with one sacred item more wonderful than the other:

—“It was magnificent, and at the same time, suffocating, I felt like we were among gods, Soldiers are still new to us, there were so many there with sacred items that even lowly Pokémon like us could feel the power.”— He described Nonato sitting on a pile of soft grass, Luke and Melinda were stunned by the story, that was when Nadim started scratching his head in embarrassment.
—“They checked me from top to bottom and Nonato also went through it, so after that, they wanted me to become a Soldier. Because, according to them, when my condition was reversed I maintained some peculiarities necessary to be a Soldier.”— Reported the Druddigon, visibly uncomfortable with the experience he had, Luke frowned curiously.
—“What kind of quirks have you kept?” — Croconaw asks, stretching his large head and resting his mouth on his two hands, Servine looks at Luke for a moment with concern, but then looks back at Nadim who stuttered a little before speaking again.
—“Well, according to Mr. Rime who analyzed me, my senses were improved, it's as if I had stopped being a Hellstalker, but had maintained the improvements that this condition gave me. My body is tougher than a regular Druddigon, and I can also detect the Hellstalkers' Matter aura and Miasma, cool, right?”— Druddigon said, appearing to be very proud of his condition, Luke smiled and agreed with Nadim, Melinda looked at the Pokémon in surprise and then began to look at her own body curiously.
—“They tried everything to make Nadim become a Soldier, but I'm not the brains of the team for nothing, I knew exactly what to say to get back to Argules, firstly, they couldn't keep us there since Nadim didn't have Aura Matter, and secondly, because he was sent to be tested and not enlisted, they are totally different procedures.”— Nonato stated, full of pride in himself, the Druddigon then took Dottler in his arm, hugging him and thanking him.

The two Pokémon then said that it was very difficult to convince Kirlia that she controlled the place, even with Nonato's arguments she still tried to arrest them on the island, but after much insistence they allowed them to be brought back as long as they were escorted by a Soldier of upper class. Unlike the public, Mei had known the soldiers for some time, knowing their way of operating, so she realized that the pact was great for the Pokémon and Madame Xerneas because there was a limit to how many Soldiers could act in one place, using Nadim and Nonato as her justification sent more Soldiers.
Both said they liked the Soldier who came, Ralm the Quilava was friendly and talked a lot, being extremely affectionate, a different report from what Cody had said to Croconaw, leaving him suspicious about the Quilava. Melinda then took the lead by asking what dungeon the pair were in and if there were many treasures, after all she was seeing the Druddigon carry a very simple chest with him.
According to Nadim, their mission was to go to the new dungeon and map it, the Pokémon even delivers a copy of the map to Croconaw using Gadget's bond, Nonato says they took advantage of the work to see if the dungeon had treasures, and they found chests and gold there. Luke takes a look at the holographic map, the Water Type Pokémon states that it appeared to be a housing dungeon, that is, that Beserker usually live and take what they find, Druddigon praises Croconaw's insight:

—“We thought we wouldn't find anything important there, but we managed to fill up our Deposit Orb a lot, and we'll practically be in a very pleasant financial situation. The Lacustre base will keep 65% of the profits from this mission, but the treasures remain entirely with us and that is where we derive our livelihood.”— Explains Nonato, apparently happy with the achievement, Servine's eyes shine, and she tells Luke that she wants to have luck like theirs, revealing that they were an Exploration team.
—“Look hahaha, I hope you're very lucky, words aren't enough to say how grateful I am that Luke didn't give up on me, I could be in a much worse place right now if it weren't for him.”— Druddigon speaks, looking at Croconaw in a friendly way, the Pokémon even offers the chest in his hand as thanks to Luke, but he promptly refuses.

A while later, the Pokémon organize their things and say goodbye, exchanging warm smiles, Croconaw was very happy that Nadim and Nonato had returned to Argules so quickly, after all, Druddigon and his partner Dottler deserved to continue their happy lives. Luke and Melinda started walking again, Croconaw then took out his gadget to review on his map where the easy dungeon was to start with, Servine, in turn, was able to see her partner's map giving a slight mocking laugh, already suspecting her friend's plan.
However, suddenly, the two Pokémon hear a loud explosion that makes the ground next to them shake, they then hear the sounds of footsteps and Luke tells Melinda to climb a tree as quickly as she can. Speed ​​was not a problem for Servine, which climbs very slightly up the nearest tree, but the Croconaw had a little more difficulty, needing to strengthen itself with the Dragon Dance movement to assist it.
Nevertheless, before he completed the rite for the blow to take effect, hundreds of Sawsbuck and Deerling Beserker appeared at a gallop, Luke could have been trampled by the pack, if it weren't for the help of Melinda who used the Swift movement to move several of the Beserkers away from her partner. With the Dragon Type move finally active, Croconaw manages to climb a tree, the Pokémon breathes heavily, relieved to be okay and thanking Servine for the help, praising the move she used:

—“Nhehehe, thank you darling, a stellar coup for a star like me suits you well, don’t you think?”— Melinda boasts, raising her nose high to the sky, Luke just gives a small laugh.
—“I think it's a very beautiful and effective movement, yes, I would say it combined, yes, and it prevented me from becoming a Muk on the ground… This behavior is not common, what made these Beserker become like this?”— Croconaw asks, watching everyone move forward desperately, some even hitting the tree, which forced both Pokémon to climb even higher.

Luke and Melinda were in different trees, even so, the two had already reached the top of them, hiding among the leaves to the point that the Pokémon below could not see them, but with both having vision of each other. Presently, a black beam swallows part of the flock of Deerling and Sawsbuck Beserker, petrifying them, to make matters worse at the same time, it hits a tree trunk that begins to collapse.
The giant tree would shatter the Beserker statue, however, using the Blizzard movement, the powerful icy winds that came out of Croconaw's mouth pushed the tree, causing it to fall elsewhere, saving the Pokémon's lives:

—“MELINDA, WE NEED TO GET AWAY FROM HERE, NOW… Melinda?!”— Luke shouted for his partner to escape right after using his blow, however, she was no longer there in the tree, believing that Servine abandoned him to escape, the Water Type is grateful that he doesn't have to worry about her.

The Croconaw eats three Heart Scales that he took from his scarf, with his MPP he activates Liquidation on his two arms, rotating with them open at the top of the tree with the active blow, the pressurized water surrounds his body forming a bubble whose liquid moves violently. Luke undoes his entire scarf using pressurized water, remaking it into a red hood with two sticking out of the back of the clothing, removing the Mystic Water from his neck and placing it on the tip that was behind the hood, Luke then opens his two scarves, hands undoing the Liquidation and thus bursting the pressurized water bubble, finally, turning Rubro.
Going towards the ground with a jump, Croconaw uses the Liquidation move modified by MPP, making water to get the petrified Beserkers out of the way, Rubro imagined that the Hellstalker that caused that would appear at any moment and also thought about using those Beserkers for an experiment. While he was thinking, a Rock was thrown in the direction of Croconaw, however, Rubro quickly used Liquidation on the water present in the bands of his hood, cutting the projectile before it was hit, doing the same with others that approached.
It is then that the Hellstalker reveals itself, a Toucannon wearing green galoshes, the Pokémon screamed in anguish while crying, its behavior made it very clear that it was a level 1 Hellstalker. The Croconaw uses Ice Fang to fire its stakes, but Toucannon starts advancing before the Water Pokémon uses MPP, the screams hid the Flying Type Pokémon's beak had charged a move, and so the Hellstalker uses Beak Blast strengthened by the miasma of Dark Matter.
Rubro narrowly dodges the movement, having his arm scratched in the process, the blow causes Croconaw's arm to begin to petrify, so Rubro had to cancel Ice Fang to focus on his arm, keeping his mind calm to reverse the effect of Miasma. Unfortunately, Toucannon didn't hesitate, using a Rock Blast to crush the hooded Croconaw, Rubro managed to dodge it consistently, however, as he wasn't concentrating, causing the effect of petrification to get worse quickly, turning part of his right arm into stone.
The Hellstalker was going to fire another Rock Blast, but Mei fell from the top of a tree, spinning head-on using the Iron Tail, hitting the Toucannon's beak, the Hellstalker swallowed the rock that was going to fire and was sunk into the ground by the impact of the Steel Type movement. Servine sighs seeing the Pokémon passed out in the crater, she had her back to Croconaw and in order not to take her eyes off the enemy, she jumps doing three backflips, stopping just next to her partner, Mei opens her tessen, getting into a combat position:

— “I can't believe it, you were being beaten by a level 1 Hellstalker, don't you know you have to be careful?”— Mei asks, looking at the fallen Toucannon with the green galoshes, Rubro takes advantage of the moment and breathes calmly, concentrating and thus healing his arm.
—“Thank you, Mei, I will try to be more careful, I will finish him soon before he causes more harm.”— Speaks Croconaw as he raises his arm, activating Liquidation on the red bands on his hood, the bands tie the wings and Toucannon's beak lifting him.
—“I'm going to test this new move, I hope it works, but if it fails, get ready Mei…”— Rubro warns, Mei murmurs signaling understanding and soon after Croconaw holds both hood bands red and uses Liquidation.

A blast of water shot from Rubro's hands follows the trail of the red bands, upon reaching the Hellstalker the tether comes undone, but the Pokémon is trapped in a bubble of water, Croconaw closes its eyes and the water begins to glow intense. Two minutes later, Rubro pulls the bands red to their normal position, bursting the pressurized water bubble, Servine questions in her mind whether the plan had worked, they both begin to hear the petrified Sawsbuck and Deerling get up and run away, making sure that the Toucannon was saved:

—“*COUGH, COUGH, ARRRF* Where am I?! What is happening?! WHY AM I SOAKED?! AWWWW, THERE ARE SO MANY QUESTIONS, MY ARCEUS!!”— Toucannon screamed in the crater, the Pokémon looked like he was about to have a panic attack.
—“Filthy creature, you’re lucky to be alive… URF?!”— Rubro was about to play his role as the “bad guy” with a threatening voice, but was immediately silenced by Mei's Leech Seed who tied Croconaw's mouth keeping it closed.
—“Forgive my partner, relax, everything is fine now, I'm Mei and this is Rubro, we are the Renegades, a team of Punishers… Differentiated.”— Said Servine, approaching the panicked Pokémon gently, Toucannon seemed suspicious and looked at Rubro, gagged, showing panic.
—“Don’t be intimidated, my partner is still a Reformer learning to behave like a decent Pokémon.”— Mei justifies when she notices the exchange of glances between Network and Croconaw.

Rubro gives an intimidating roar and lies down on the ground pretending to act like a Beserker, this makes Toucannon believe Servine's lie and begins to explain what had happened to him. His name was Lamar, and he came from the Pyroclast continent, his objective was to reach Argules flying for convenience, however, the Pokémon got lost due to the giant trees that prevented him from seeing far, being trapped in the forest for days.
Mei understands the situation, stating that it is a common problem to happen to Network Flying Types who do not prepare properly for long trips, still acting as if they were part of a common Punishers team, Servine pulls her gadget from the fanny pack on her side:

—“I will send you to the Lacustre Base in Argules, don't worry, but please let them know that you were saved by the Forsaken team and pay the amount of 30 Pokens for our service.”— Mei warned in a friendly way, the wind that blew in the dense forest still made Servine's white scarf move as if she were some kind of superhero.
—“Incredible, very incredible, I have no words to thank you and the price of this rescue, it's practically a bargain because it's so cheap, I thought you would ask me for at least 3,000 Poken…. Arrrgg, my head, I don't know what that happened to me right, but I feel like I owe them both a lot of thanks.”— Toucannon thanked him while kneeling on the ground, making small bows to the team to show them exaggerated respect, Mei and Rubro were over the moon with so much praise.

Servine uses her Gadget sending the Pokémon to the Lacustre base with a yellow glow, Mei then redirects her attention to the Croconaw in which it got up from the ground as soon as Lamar left, the hooded Pokémon removed the dirt from its body using the Liquidation movement gently. Smiling cynically, Servine moves her small grass fingers on Rubro's face, making him red, she then brings her mouth closer to his, making Croconaw close his eyes, maliciously Mei holds the Leech Seed vines that were in the Pokémon's mouth and the pulls very hard:

—“GHAAAA!! DAUGHTER OF A DITTO, THIS STUFF HURTS A LOT, ARRRRRGGGG, AAAARRGG!!”— Rubro bellowed so loudly that the Flying Type Beserker Pokémon flew away, Croconaw caressed its mouth using Liquidation with MPP to heal Servine's movement marks.
—“It's your punishment, first, for being careless to the point of almost turning to stone in such an easy fight, second, for trying to scare the Pokémon you just saved, and third… Hmmm, no, the third mistake is mine, unfortunately I don’t know how to remove these plants without pain.”— Mei speaks, swinging the Leech Seed vines in her paw, Servine then throws them upwards, releasing the blow in the air with a green color, the Croconaw then begins to look around.
—“I had a fight with you later, I had a female Pokémon here in the woods, I'm worried about her, I didn't see where she went during the confusion with the Hellstalker.”— Rubro said, looking towards the top of the trees, Mei blushes, apparently happy to see her partner's concern, and she then takes out a tiny orb from her bag.
—“Believe me, she’s doing great, in fact, she’s closer than you think.”— Said Servine purposely throwing the orb up and catching it, as soon as the Croconaw looks at her, Mei activates the orb revealing Melinda's pink hat.
—“WHAT!! WAS IT YOU THE WHOLE TIME?! ARE YOU CRAZY?! IF TREVOR DREAMED IT WAS YOU, HE WOULD ARREST YOU, OR WORSE, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE RISKS YOU TOOK BY DOING THAT?!”— Cried Rubro, gesturing in a hysterical way, Servine laughed at his worries and gave him a small kiss on the nose to make him shut up, which works.
—“Okay, okay, enough wasting time here big boy, let's go to the Dungeon of Lost Dreams, I bet Aurora must be worried about me and everyone together, I won't need to explain twice. RACE, WHOEVER COMES LAST KISSES MUK’S ASS!”— Mei shouted as she ran towards the dungeon, the Croconaw was red and speechless because of the kiss, but he shook his head and started running too.

In Argules, the Houndoom with the red collar was in his room listening to the conversation taking place in the throne room, Trevor was grateful to be in the comfort of his room relaxing and eating his Oran fruits without anyone noticing. However, currently, his Lycanroc guards enter his room abruptly, almost causing the Master of the base to choke on a fruit, the Houndoom knocks on the table, standing nervously asking why they disobeyed his order not to disturb him.
When Trevor got nervous he changed a lot, becoming very scary, the Lycanroc were unable to speak due to fear, through the call, Lúcios Feraligatr asked the Houndoom to calm down and repeat the question, because knowing the Lycanroc clan he knew there was a big reason for that attitude. Trevor takes a deep breath and sits down, agreeing with Lúcios and then asks why the Lycanroc entered his room, Lycanroc Midnite still seemed scared, so it was up to Midday to explain:

— “We-We are sorry master, but a Toucannon appeared at the base via Gadget transport and went to pay for your ransom… *GUCK*!”— The Rock Type Pokémon choked in fear when it realized that the Houndoom's bloodlust was growing again.
—“Please get straight to the point, and pray it’s really important, or else I will discipline you both… Severely discipline you…”— Warned Trevor with his eyes glowing black, Lycanroc Midday's teeth shook with fear, preventing him from speaking, that's when Lycanroc Midnite took the lead.
—“TOUCANNON WAS RESCUED BY MEI CHARLOTTE AND RUBRO THE RED HOOD BESERKER, THEY ARE WORKING TOGETHER!!”— Shouted the Lycanroc Midnite, shaking with fear, almost pissing himself in front of Trevor, the bloodlust in the Houndoom's eyes completely disappeared and he calmed down.
—“Ow, it really was interesting, well, send this Toucannon to a Musharna, we need to collect his memories, if he has nothing suspicious left, release him, good job, you can go now.”— Orders Trevor, the two most relieved Lycanroc salute leaving the master's room quickly, almost hitting each other.
—“Is Mei renovating it? When I intercepted her she said that we didn't know what we were dealing with, she also told me that their relationship was not work or subordination…”— Naz Gabite speaks from her bedside through the joint call.
—“No, I don't think Mei is responsible for this, you said earlier that Servine seemed to be whispering to someone she helped escape with supplies. Maybe this Pokémon is reforming Beserker, after all, Mei was still a Hellstalker during the confrontation with Ursaluna Dynamax and in the fight Rubro already spoke to us, in a rustic way, but she did.”— Highlighted Cody Charmeleon from the throne room.

Trevor had a bad feeling, so Houndoom checked their system to see if Luke and Melinda's Gadgets had any activity during the incident, but the last apparent activity on their devices was a link they made with Nonato Dottler and Nadim's team. Druddigon. The master is relieved, apparently not one of them was responsible for transferring Toucannon to the base, even so, it was just another coincidence for Rubro to act close to Luke:

—“Trevor… Trevor… TREVOR!!”— Lúcios shouted, scaring the base master.
—“Hahaha, sorry Lúcios, I was lost in my thoughts, can you say, what do you want me to do?”— Asks the Houndoom, a little nervous.
—“Collect the information that Musharna gets from this Toucannon’s head and come here immediately, who knows, maybe Rubro and Mei have made a mistake that can be used to our advantage.”— Orders Feraligatr, Trevor takes a puff, already frustrated with having to leave his room.
—“I understand, I'll go there, and then I'll come with you, I hope that by then it will be enough time for Naz to be released from the hospital, hanging up.”— The Houndoom turns off its monitors, then lays its head on the table, murmuring, the master just wanted to rest a little more.

At this exact moment, Mei and Rubro arrive at the Fountain of Lost Dreams dungeon, Servine boasted about winning the race while Croconaw complained that she cheated by coming out ahead. Both Pokémon then stop talking when they step on something gooey purple on the ground, Mei says that it was Pokémon hair paint, and that's when Akeldama appears in front of them with a swollen face and the paint that Servine had done on her was ruined:

—“AWWW DAMN IT, AKEL YOU COULDN’T HAVE MOVED SO MUCH, NOW YOUR PAINT DIDN’T DRY PROPERLY, IT ONLY HAS TWO PURPLE STRIPES, IF I KNEW YOU WOULD MAKE A MESS I WOULDN’T HAVE SPENT THAT ON MY INGREDIENT!”— Mei shouted angrily at the Ghost Zoroark, the Pokémon lowers its head and responds.
—“But it wasn't my fault, I just gave Aurora a fruit, and she went crazy, look at my face, I didn't do it, it's an allergic effect to that crazy Ribombee's Pollen Puff…”— Akel responds, murmuring due to her face being swollen, Aurora then appears, making Servine and Croconaw laugh a lot, as her mouth was purple due to the dye.

A while later, Mei washed the paint in Ribombee's mouth using the water from Rubro's Liquidation, Servine states that she cannot replace the paint damaged by Aurora due to the product being expensive, but that she could keep Akel's purple locks and leave them stylish. Mei then told Rubro that she created Melinda's disguise so as not to live on the base, Rubro went back to wearing her Luke clothes and understood her partner's reason for praising her cold-bloodedness in lying to Trevor:

—“My only problem with this disguise is that I can't do what you just did, like, wouldn't it be cool if I could change my clothes whenever I wanted using my moves…”— Argued the Servine cunningly, the Ribombee in her hands was about to protest, but was immediately silenced by Mei who was washing her mouth.
—“Think Luke, wouldn't it be great if we, the renegades, used the MPP, it would help our crusade a lot, Mei and I are no longer Hellstalkers, that is, there is no more risk in teaching us.”— Even muttering, Zoroark complemented what his companion had said.

Ribombee looked at them very angrily, unable to say anything audible, Luke thought for a while:

—“My stepmother taught me these techniques to defend my brother and my father, due to everything now I have become Argules' defender, as Mei said yesterday, I'm not fighting the problem, just its consequences…”— Croconaw remained silent and thought with his head down, Mei and Akel looked at him apprehensively while Ribombee shook her head negatively.
—“Okay, I'll teach you how to use MPP, but I still don't know how to use everything, so Aurora will teach me, and I'll teach you little by little as I learn… And speaking of which, Aurora, I'm afraid of something like what happened in the stadium and the Drapion incident happens again, I will find a way to bring Saren here too, he needs to learn more about MPP.”— Luke states with conviction, the little Bug Type closes her eyes feeling like she lost the battle, while Ghost Zoroark and Servine celebrated.
— “AW, another thing, Mei, when you were a hellstalker you knew where the petrified Pokémon were, didn't you? Do you know of any spawning grounds? I need a petrified Pokémon.”— Luke questions, leaving Mei surprised and a little scared.

This would be the next step that Croconaw wanted to learn, he already knows how to synthesize Luminous water, he knows how to cure Hellstalkers, he knows how to reverse the effects of his own petrification, his next step was clear, he wanted to restore the Networks victims of Hellstalkers. Servine understands and says she will help Luke with his request, Akeldama looks seriously at her, to get what Croconaw needed the time has come for Arbustos Trevenant to reveal themselves to Arbustos Trevenant as the most powerful Hellstalker on the entire continent.