Travel light.

Bring only the Pokémon you need.

Lars followed these instructions to the letter, and was now headed out from Pacifidlog riding on Ro, his Metagross. Formerly a dull shade of blue, some strange event had happened that caused his metallic surface to take on a ridiculously silver sheen.

It made him extremely visible while coasting above the water, of course—but this was the fastest and most comfortable way for him to travel through the water routes that comprised Eastern Hoenn’s treacherous waters. Reports of pirates had reached the Ranger HQ, and while normally they would be passed off to high-ranking League officials to deal with…

…there were some pockets of pirate activity that dealt with Pokémon smuggling, hence his appearance today. Long blue-and-white scarf trailing behind him in the salty brine, the Metagross caught sight of a moored vessel—the intel was that the other person had already arrived at the location to wait for him.

“Slow down, Ro,” he said as he navigated the Metagross closer to where he spotted a young person inching away from the cave entrance. Switching tactics, the beast hovered for a few more moments before coming close enough to a part of the outcrop where he could land without worrying too much about balancing himself.

Recalling the silver beast, he turned to the one waiting for his arrival and inquired quietly, “Do they have any weapons? I only have reports here that there’s a bunch of them, and that supposedly they’re also smuggling stolen Pokémon?”

Thank the hell he didn’t close up his overcoat today—the heat was starting to get really uncomfortable, close to ‘I’ll murder for cold air’ kind of weather.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

“Then you should know the fastest way to help us escape should things spiral out of our control then,” he acknowledged to her sailing and diving skills.

“But of course—our aim here is to bring them in without having to use too much brute force. And only then, if we have to, we retaliate in self-defense,” he added a few moments later.

Looking up at the Skarmory, he nodded.

“You can send in your Dusknoir to look ahead for us, and return when he gathers enough information. I presume you didn’t think of that since majority of Ghost-types can turn invisible?” he continued quietly.

Lars then did some quick math in his head.

Ten… against two that’s going to be odds against us, but if I count her two Pokémon and my six, we can reasonably take on them… he thought to himself as he pondered on the various possibilities.

“Of course, our advantage here is that we can wait for one of their number to come out and catch them by surprise—without causing too much noise to draw their attention. What do you think?”

Seeing as he was the one who had more experience when it came to handing situations like this, he seamlessly took charge while thinking of other options that were available to them. They still had the element of surprise on them, after all.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

“General layout, traps, and if there are Pokémon in cages would be good,” Lars remarked at the offer. “We can get a lot from a simple scouting trip, and luckily for us Ghost-types do that just fine,” he nodded a few moments later. He had also considered the other option which involved her Lapras, however…

“If we went that way we’d get caught in the crossfire too, and that would be bad,” he added. “You said they come out to do their business, right? I… I have an idea. Let’s wait until your Dusknoir gets back before I put it into action, though.”

He then rummaged through his pockets for the same Heavy Ball that his Metagross was resting in.

“If my hunch is right—they’re definitely going to want to come after something shiny. That’s what my Metagross is going to do should they not come out from within the grotto.”

All they were waiting for now was for the Dusknoir to return. While it was admittedly risky for him to have Ro act as bait, honestly it was the other option that he had in his head right now.

“I also have… a Lucario, an Altaria, a Swampert, and a mated pair of a Gardevoir and a Gallade on my person. Let’s wait for your Dusknoir, Vox, to return so we can plan this accordingly.”

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

It was only mere minutes before the Dusknoir returned and drew out a rough map of the area—and the sight of the multiple squares confirmed his suspicions. There were Pokémon here, and they were going to get them out as soon as possible!

Before he could remark about the feasibility of the plan, he felt his center of balance shift before getting dragged to one side as he heard loud, boisterous laughter.

Crap, we were almost seen! He thought, his eyes picking out where the Dusknoir had drawn lines and shapes into the sand. Mercifully, those were gone—and the two men were none the wiser.

“Alright, we take them out slowly, whittle down their numbers,” he said as he rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a Pokéball at random. “Hey… are you okay?” he inquired a few moments later, as he spied her shaking hands.

“Deep breaths, we got this,” and he quietly sent out the occupant of his Pokéball—revealing Gareth, his Gallade. “He can Teleport… but I have a better idea. We can use your Vox’s Confuse Ray, but first… Gareth, pin their shadows down,” he added quietly.

The Gallade nodded and stood still, before watching the long shadows extend from where he stood, heading right where the two were—most likely doing their business or something else unmentionable. It took a few moments before the Gallade’s eyes glowed, and he nodded.

“Go,” he said to her a few moments later. “Confuse Ray, if you can put them to sleep all the better,” as the two began making a ruckus about how they were stuck and couldn’t move.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

“Bring the duct tape,” was all he said as the Dusknoir reappeared a few minutes later.

He didn’t know what gave him that big brain moment, but it was better safe than sorry, right?

He’d heard the exclamations of surprise before they were quieted down, and knowing that they would still pose a danger if their hands were free, it was a safe idea to bind their hands together at the very least.

Her exclamation a few moments later made him look over, and his normally stoic face changed to one of utter… well, he couldn’t exactly put a word on it either, but hell, seeing that exposed was definitely something that would be burned into his eyeballs for a good while.

“You know how pirates behave when they see sparkly things, right? They become a one-track hive mind. At least that’s what pop culture says they’d do,” he said before unballing the rest of his party as quietly as he could manage. The Gallade had followed over, watching as a Gardevoir, a Lucario, a Swampert, an Altaria and a familiar Metagross emerge from the flashes of red light.

“Gareth, take Lynette with you. The both of you, go with her,” he said as he tilted his head towards her. “They’re capable, they know how to work together. They can handle any situation thrown at them,” he added.

To the Altaria, Swampert, Lucario and Metagross, he turned to face them. “Ro, go out and get the rest of them here. Nami, Ryujin, Alpha, hide yourselves until they start coming out. Then we strike,” he added.

The other four Pokémon nodded, before the Metagross folded its legs in and used Magnet Rise to float off the sandy ground and made a beeline for the entrance—the other Pokémon scattering as well.

“Be careful not to get caught!” he added in her direction.