"It's only a matter of time before my conquest of this pitiful region begins," Gary said on his throne. "Once that weakling Ninjask comes back, I'll be able to get rid of him once and for all. His brother, though, may be a reliable ally." "Letter for Gary Gengar," the Wingull said as he flew through the open window of the throne room. "What's this? A letter?"

He read the letter aloud. "Dear Gary, if you are reading this, it means that I have died while in custody of Kilian's squad. They captured me at Meteor Falls, as well as tortured and interrogated me, but I kept my lips sealed until the very end. Just remember, that even in life and in death, I remained loyal to you. Tell my brother to stay strong. Signed, Elijah Ninjask."

He leaned back to take all of this in. "Wingull, who attached this to you?" "A Ninjask, good sir." "Traitor! Does he take me for a fool? Well, I'll keep his brother strong," Gary said as he shot the Wingull out of the air with a Charge Beam.

"I'll personally send him a gift basket. But first, I have another thing to attend to. Starmie!" A Starmie flew into the room. "Yes, Gary?" "Fly to Meteor Falls and find an ally of Kilian's. Find a way to turn them to our side, a way to make them evil and sabotage their plans to fight against me. And find someone who is strong. A weak ally won't benefit me." "Sir, yes sir," he said before flying towards Meteor Falls. "Now, time for that gift basket."

"Mr. Whirlipede? Ephraim Whirlipede? Are you available," Gary asked at the door. Ephraim opened the door. "Oh, hello Gary."

"Why, hello, Ephraim! Now, I'm very busy, so I'll skip to the point. Your brother died on the mission." Ephraim fell sideways to the floor, crying his eyes out. No, no, no! Say it ain't so Gary, say it ain't so!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't lie to you about this. Your brother is gone, killed at the hands of that evil Shelgon. But here, something to help your spirits." Gary set down a basket of Rare Candies in front of Ephraim. "What, r-rare Candies? W-why are you g-giving me those?"

"These Rare Candies are of my own design, and perform the same function, but taste far better. And they're all yours. As a sort of control group test, if you will. I plan to give these to the families of anyone who tragically dies in service to me."

Ephraim ate one, and a succulent taste filled his mouth, while a warm feeling spread throughout his body. "Thank you, sir. These are very good. The feeling I'm getting from them is making me a bit drowsy." The feeling spread through Ephraim's body, at an alarming rate.

"Wait, what's happening? This doesn't feel good anymore!" Ephraim spit out the candy, before he fell and started blacking out. "Now, say it with me, 'Hail Gary.' You know you want to." "H-h-hail G-g-g-Gary," Ephraim said. He did so involuntarily, but had no time to notice, as it was the last thing he heard before blacking out.

(Meanwhile, at Meteor Falls)

"Hi mom! We're back," I said as we walked into the house. "Hi honey! Grandpa already told me about what happened. What did you find out?"

"Well, the Ninjask was a scout for a newly formed army headed by Gary. He's about our age and is now a traitor to his army. Now he's living with Josh and will start going to school tomorrow." "His family was killed by a Shelgon when he was 5, except for his brother. It was all around a very sad story, and I'm glad that he is in a safe place now," Emilee continued.

"Well, Emilee, are you eating dinner here?" "No, ma'am. I have to be home by 8:00." "I was just about to take her home, I just wanted you to know where I was." "Well, stay safe, be home soon Kilian!" "I will, bye!"

Emilee and I walked down to her house. We stopped outside her front door and talked for a bit. "Should I tell them about the now healed wound?" "Probably not, as it's not showing anymore, is it?" Emilee ran her paw over the previously lacerated side.

"No, it's not, so I won't mention it." "8:00, it's exactly time!" We shared a quasi-kiss before ringing the doorbell. "Oh, hello kids. How was your day," Austin asked. "It was good, dad. We learned about history, our abilities, and that we'll have new students tomorrow at school." "Interesting. Well, come on in, Emilee!" "Alright. Bye Kilian!" "Bye! See you tomorrow!"

The door closed and I walked back to my house. Half way up the street, I looked back and saw Keeton looking at me through the window. I gave him a glare and started walking again. I got home and sat at the dinner table with my family. For dinner, we had a delicious Farfetch'd stew with a side of Oran Berries. Afterwards, I said goodbye to grandma and grandpa and went to bed.

I woke up to the dream with Gary, but in a different place. Instead of my house, I woke up in the middle of the street, almost exactly where I left off. I got up and walked around, looking for any signs of life. I found Josh, a Raichu who I thought was Haylee, and Joey, laying in a pile by Josh's house. I walked around some more and found Elijah, dead by the Route 114 exit of Meteor Falls. I went back to where I started, trying to find my family, when I found an unknown figure. It was a tall, human-like Pokémon, with light blue hair and arms, and a mask, facing away from me, and towards Gary. Gary looked over her shoulder and smiled when he saw me.

"Well, you just don't know when to quit, do you? Take care of him, honey." She nodded and launched a Moonblast at me. I was able to barely dodge it and ran towards her. I tried to use Dragonbreath, but she wasn't even phased.

"Nice try, Shelgon, but that has no effect on me." I assumed that her Special Defense was through the roof, and tried using Dragon Claw. I rushed and attacked her, but the attack just stopped when it connected to her side. She laughed and threw me away with her telekinesis. Then, out from behind me, S ran up to the Pokémon and used Bullet Punch on it.

She fell to the ground in pain while S scolded me. "Kilian, why are you taking her on? Your Dragon-Type moves won't affect a Fairy-Type like her!" The masked Pokémon got back up, now with Gary by her side. The Pokémon launched a Moonblast at me, but I blacked out before the hit connected.

(Meanwhile, in a secret lab under Dewford Town)

Ephraim woke up, a strange helmet on his head, and tied to a chair. He looked around, and saw that he was in a square, featureless room, save for a single door. Gary walked through that door, holding the basket of Rare Candies. "Gary! What do you want? Why have you tied me up like this?"

Gary just smiled, walked over to him, and stuck a Rare Candy in his mouth. Ephraim chewed it. "Now, now, we can't go getting all excited over nothing! Now, what should you say?" "H-hail Ga-GAH!"

He spit the Rare Candy out. "What am I doing? Why am I trying to praise you?" "Oh, no reason. It may be because of the mind controlling Rare Candies I made."

He put another one in Ephraim's mouth, but also pushed the button on the remote he was carrying. The helmet on Ephraim's head started to shock him, but it started gradually. Every time he refused to swallow the candy, the voltage got more intense, to the point where you could hear it in the air. "You can stop this right now, Ephraim, just swallow the candy and the torture will stop." Ephraim swallowed the candy, which caused the voltage to stop, but also for Ephraim to black out, and start glowing. "Let's hope he has Speed Boost like his brother. A slow commander won't benefit me."

(Back at Meteor Falls)

I woke up in my bed, at the time I usually do. I got up and went downstairs for breakfast. I ate a piece of toast with a Red Pokéblock on it, half a bottle of S' protein and drank a glass of Miltank milk. I walked out the door and over to Emilee's house. She was waiting for me on her front porch.

"Hey, you ready to introduce some new students to the school," I asked. "Sure! We'll finally get to see what Keeton looks like, and maybe meet his sister that he said he had," Emilee said while we were walking to the school. "Wonder how Elijah is holding up at Josh's house." "Well, we should ask, we're rounding around their corner right now."

They turned the corner and looked over to Josh's house. Josh and Elijah were just walking out the door and towards us. "Hey, guys! How's living together?" "It's pretty good! I haven't lived in a house with stairs since I was 5!"

"Yeah, and Elijah's a pretty cool guy. He knows quite a lot about the world outside of Meteor Falls. He kept me up until late at night telling me about the rest of the Hoenn mainland, and it never once got boring." We were on Haylee and Joey's street by now. They both were waiting on the curb for us.

"Hey, guys! Who's the Ninjask," Haylee asked. "Joey, Haylee, this is Elijah. He was a scout for Gary's army, but is now living with Josh and going to school." "Nice to meet you, Elijah. I'm Joey, and if you X-Scissor me, I will kill you."

"And I'm Haylee. I go here because the classes at the school I'm supposed to be at were far too easy." "Wait, how old are you Haylee," Elijah asked. "10 years old."

"Wow, would have never guessed. And don't worry Joey. I know not to use X-Scissor on anyone weak to bug. Isn't that right, Emilee?" "Yeah, it is. Be glad that Kilian and S were there, or else Kilian may have killed you in cold blood." "Wait, who's S? Why was it good that Kilian was with you? Explain, Emilee," Haylee said.

"Well, Kilian and I were in the park, looking for a Salamencite. A Lucario told us where to find it. He later appeared to give Kilian a bag of special Protein bottles, which will work until his limit is maxed out. Then, after Elijah made a gash in my side in our first confrontation, Kilian learned that he's able to use Aura to heal wounds. S was there to use Heal Pulse, but because Kilian fixed it, he left, and we haven't seen him since."

We were almost to the school at this point. "Be ready, as we may need to introduce some new students today, not including Elijah," I said. "There's a new Pokémon family that moved into 475 Dragon Rage Ct yesterday. Emilee and I tried to find out who lives there, but we got a hold of one of the residents, a kid our age named Keeton. He didn't reveal what kind of Pokémon he was, but he did say that he's going here for school."

We walked through the front doors of the school and over to the lunch room, except for Elijah, who went to the office to clear up any enrollment issues. When the bell rang, one of the office aides said, "Kilian Shelgon and Emilee Espeon, please come to the office. Kilian and Emilee, please come to the office," over the intercom. "That's our cue. Let's go introduce some new students," I said. Emilee and I walked down to the office and through the door.