Zac looked at the ball in his hand. It was yellow and black and oddly warm. He gripped it hard, as if to contain its secrets. "Yeah, I know what's in it," Zac said, dry throat clicking. "If she'd used this little bugger on us we wouldn't have had a chance." Zac licked his dry lips. Should he....open it?
    Dusclops's Future Sight shattered against the champion, sending it tumbling from the cave mouth. Zac hadn't even seen her approaching! 
    Zac's nerves and mind were fried. They'd just fought tooth and nail against the strongest, most brutal opponent Zac had ever encountered. Nine Pokemon between the two of them and they'd scraped a victory against Bailey and her five. That hadn't been a Pokemon battle. It had been a barely contained massacre. Zac felt the weight of his fainted Pokemon, heavy as cannonballs in his bag. He shoved the 6th of Bailey's Pokemon into his bag and crossed the cave, joining the girl at the entrance to the waterfall.
    She's tiny! He thought, as if noticing her properly for the first time. I hardly saw it before. She's got one hell of a presence. She was slender as a pocket knife and twice as sharp. "Thank you for your help. This is it for me, I think. I got what I came here for."  
    "By the way," she said "I'm Chryssa." Zac blinked. "Hey Chryssa!" Zac said, reaching out a hand to shake with her. His hand disappeared inside his own, like a Ducklett in a duvet. "My name's Zac. Pleasure to meet ya!"
    He met her eyes. They shone like shards of the shattered future sight. 'You're slow. Unbelievably slow,' they seemed to say. 'Join us,' they seemed to say. 'Trust me,' They seemed to say.


    They were bright enough to make you wonder.

---

    Two days of recovery later back at his home in Lavaridge, Zac found himself staring at the ball. It sat on his deck table, stilled in the groove between two wooden slats. The orb was silent, and strangely hot. It couldn't be...could it? Zac asked himself for the hundredth time. He reached for the ball...then pulled back. His brain played the cry of the champion over and over again.



<GO-O, GRO-O-->



    That was the champion, right? So there was only one Pokemon that it could be. Zac put his hand on the sun-soaked ball. It was uncomfortably hot, like a plate fresh from the microwave. I'm a trainer, and I have the Pokeball. I'm ready.
    He stood up and strode out into his unkempt garden. Dull, scraggly bushes and waxy leaved shrubbery dotted the rich soil. "Ready everyone?" Zac called out to his team. The earth rumbled as Kev ground his way to Zac's side. The massive metal serpent let out a low roar, he was ready. Zappa hissed from his spot on the burning roof. He was ready too. Shin stamped and poured at the ground, Busta fired a warning volley into the bright sky, and Oscar and Oakley floated close, pink mist pouring from their mouths across the soon-to-be battlefield. Dusclops stood silently at the corner of the house. His single, red eye was wide and ready. 
    "Come on then!" Zac shouted, as he hurled Bailey Ooper's 6th ball far across the garden. "Time to wrap up this bloody fight!" The ball hit the ground, and a gleaming wave of ruby light shuddered and solidified...into a tiny, little bug. 
    "Stop!" Zac shouted, and a half-dozen Pokemon held themselves back. Kev groaned like a keeling cargo tanker, Buster reluctantly lowered his claw cannon. "It's," he frowned, scratching his beard. "It's a bug..." He crossed the garden and found the little Pokemon curled up in the grass, its chubby grey body quivering with fear. "It's alright buddy, we're not going to hurt ya! We just thought you were, uh, someone else."
    Zac scooped up the little bug. It barely fit into his hand. It uncurled. slowly, and looked up at him with wide, simple eyes.  "A bug," Zac said softly. He let out a tense breathe that was half laugh and half sigh of relief. "A bloody bug! Can you believe it?" Zac walked back over to the house, holding the champion's last Pokemon. It clung to him with stubby feet, holding on to his arm like it was a branch. "I think I'll call you Don, how does that sound?" Zac asked the little insect. It wriggled happily, waving its orange head. "You like that, ay? Great! Let's head inside Don. You must be starving mate!"
        Zac headed back into the house, flanked by his team of Pokemon. They pressed in close, eager to see the Champion Baily Ooper's 6th and final Pokemon: A Grubbin.