Soul alerted the man of the approaching presence that was coming from behind them. This was good as hopefully it was the person assigned to help him in this mission. The faster they got going the better as they didn’t have time to waste. There was an invisible timer on a mission like this, one that Adam kept in his mind and would continue to do so as they moved forward.

Some might think that to be a terrible idea, just adding unneeded stress to an already stressful situation. But a man like Adam strived under conditions such as these, he did his best work in them.

”That’s the plan.” The man would respond, turning to face whoever it was. And much to his surprise, it was a face that he hadn’t seen in quite some time, a face he wasn’t sure that he’d ever see again.

”My, oh my! Cecilia Silph! Didn’t think I’d run into you of all places. Though it’s nice to see you again.” Adam was convinced at this point he’d run into Santa Claus with all the people that were just popping up out of thin air. There wasn’t time to talk and reminisce, unfortunately; they had a job to get done.

”Wish it was under better circumstances but let’s get moving.” He’d motion for her to follow him. With the two canines leading the pack they moved further into the mountain’s range.

”I’m assuming that you’re all caught up the details? Who this person is and what they look like?” He wouldn’t turn to her as he spoke, his focus on the path in front of them and to the two Pokémon who were tracking their target down. Prometheus had their scent and from the looks of it, they were heading the right way. And for as long as the terrain permitted it’d be a straight shot to where they going but Adam expected things might get a bit more difficult.

”I would say so,” He responded, a quick shrug of his shoulders as he did so. As they walked his eyes scanned their surroundings, trying to see if he could spot any foul play. There had been nothing but dirt and stone, nothing useful to them.

They were still on the right path but both of his tracks hadn’t changed much in disposition so he didn’t think they were that close. ”I’ve been good, life’s been good. How about yourself? What brought you to Hoenn?” A curiosity he had from the moment he spotted her. He felt like he had been asking that question a lot.

A brow raises as Cecilia asks him to carry the lantern. Why in the world did she bring it if she wasn’t going to hold on to it herself?

”Alright, I’ll hold onto it for now.” He’d take the lantern supposing that there was some merit to him having it given that he was the one leading the charge. ”I don’t think it’ll be much farther from here.” Prometheus and Soul looked to be on to something and the Lucario nodded at the man to confirm his words.

Adam couldn’t shake this feeling of something being off. As if they were walking into a pretty shaky situation. Despite this his composure hadn’t changed, the man remained cool, calm and collected. Not being the type to let himself and his nerves get easily shaken the man noticed the change in demeanor of his two canines, he had been right on the money.

If they were reacting negatively to the situation then there must be something going on, something that while Adam might not be able to see it his Pokémon would act as his eyes. They would work together as a unit.

”Is it our target?” He’d ask, specifically to Soul. The Lucario’s ability to sense auras would allow him to differentiate between them and tell which was human and which was not. The question was answered but the result given was not what Adam had expected.

There wasn’t just one being in their path but at least two. That news led the man to pull out a capsule from his belt, one which contained his wyvern Siren. She would excel in battling with conditions like this; most Pokémon would not be able to keep up with a Noivern in the dark.

Granted this would still be home advantage for whomever it was they were facing so their guard had to be up. The light of the lantern would shine against a metallic surface, one which confused at first but after realizing what it was it most definitely caused distress.

”Shit!” Adam cursed under his breath as he looked away but his Arcanine wasn’t as lucky and started to feel the effects of the hypnotism. At the sight of this the man released his Noivern but instead of doing so before him, Adam made sure that the Pokémon would be released behind them.

The silver-haired male and the Lucario were luckier than their Arcanine companion as they both managed to avoid the hypnotic rhythm of the Hypno’s pendulum. ”Soul keep your eyes away from that pendulum. Close them if you have to and sense it by aura!” Adam directed before turning to Cecilia.

”We can keep the Hypno’s attention while you go ahead. Soul detected another life signal just beyond this point.” He added, Siren flying nearby. ”She’ll give you help if you need it. Now Soul! Use Extreme Speed!” Per his trainer’s orders the Lucario charged forward with blinding speed, attacking the Hypno.

Siren would land near the Silph, offering her back if the woman wanted to hop aboard to get where they were going faster.

If not the wyvern would hover nearby to protect the woman if the Hypno tried to aim for them. With the dragon’s ability to use sonic waves to traverse through the darkness they’d be able to find their target in no time.

The Noivern’s mix of natural advantages in the dark made it easy for her to traverse the dark cave and locate their target. Her cry would indicate her discovery and fly ahead, hovering over where the man that they were looking for was. While this was happening the Hypno still needed to be dealt with.

Adam blinked at the sight of the little Purrloin which flung itself at the Hypno with a Night Slash. ”Good job!” They’d have to follow this momentum up and let the Hypno have a break. ”Soul, use Extreme Speed again!” Without missing a beat the Lucario attacked, another flurry of attacks on the Hypno.

The psychic type looked tired at this point and they had it on the ropes but this brought about its desperation and in an attempt to turn the tide around the Pokémon released a stream of poisonous gas from its mouth, an attempt to mask its position while also hindering their aggression.

”Shit! Stay away from that gas!” Adam covered his mouth and nose. It probably won’t do much help but it was most certainly better than nothing. Even with the gas limiting their eyesight Adam believed both Pokémon should find navigating through it. In fact, it wouldn’t help much against Soul.

”Soul fight back with an Aura Sphere! Cut through this gas!” Using his ability to see the auras of all living things, spotting the Hypno through the gas was easy work for the Lucario which then fired off an Aura Sphere at the Pokémon. They had it on the ropes just a few more attacks and Adam was sure that it would go down.