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The team met up for breakfast that morning following the morning rush, having slept in after their gruelling battle with Team Phobia. The sheer scale of the battle had exhausted all of them, even Mikhail who had spent most of the night tending to the team -repeated use of heal pulse took a lot of energy, and the aspiring doctor had been quite busy, healing Hank and Kage especially since they had taken more external damage than anyone else had.

One by one, they arrived at the hall, which had all but emptied by this point; only a few servers were still there, but the other competitors -now spectators- had finished their meals and cleared out. None of the food remaining was completely fresh, but the exhausted Pokémon team was far too hungry to care. The first there was actually Kage, who was already seated at a table with a platter of food in front of him. Arriving next were Hank and Volcan, followed by Katsu and Eagle Eye -once more with the latter perched on the back of the former.

They lined up for their breakfast, taking whatever was left under the heating lamps, and they sat as close together as possible at the tables. Eagle Eye and Hank were still bleating joyously about them defeating Team Phobia the day before -although Hank routinely picked on Eagle Eye about losing in the first battle, which was usually met with him being reminded that he had been equally 'curb-stomped' by Howler during their battle with Team Kama. Even Hank had no counter for _that_fact.

Halfway through the meal, Volcan perked up, and surveyed the room, realizing someone was missing. "Hey... has anybody seen Luke?" He asked, remembering that normally the Lucario was the first one up, and yet that morning he was nowhere to be found.

The rest of the team looked around at one another for a bit, and then back to Volcan. "I ain't seen him." Hank said with a shrug.

"Same." Eagle Eye chimed in.

"Perhaps he is still resting off his wounds." Katsu offered.

"Maybe... but he's always been a way earlier riser than me." He looked at his plate of food for a second. "I wonder if he's okay? He took a pretty big hit from Romulus yesterday."

"So did _I_rookie, and look at me; I'm just fine," Hank boasted. "Minus the burnt fur anyway."

"_You_aren't a Steel-type," Volcan reminded. Volcan went back to staring at his plate. "Well... I'll give him a few more minutes, anyway." He muttered before he went back to eating his breakfast. "Hope he remembers the strategy meeting today."

"Luke is not one to forget something as important as that." Katsu assured the Blaziken. "I'm sure he'll be here shortly."

Volcan nodded to the Samurott, trusting his word, though still wondering what could be keeping Luke. But, he said nothing more of it, instead just enjoying his breakfast and occasionally glancing out the window towards Valvatna, wondering what the townsfolk were doing that morning.

Soon though, Luke eventually did show up, walking through the door with possibly the biggest smile anyone had ever seen from him. He looked_incredibly_content and confident, but above that, it looked as if he was beaming about something.

"Hey the boss finally arrives!" Eagle Eye hollered.

"Hey Luke!" Volcan called, waving to him, but then noticing that pleased look on his face. "What's up? Have a really good dream?" The Blaziken asked.

"You could say that." He said as he took his seat next to him, looking around at his team. "I trust you all slept just as well?"

"Yup!" Eagle Eye squawked.

"Like a fuckin log." Hank seconded.

"Aye." Katsu returned with a nod.

"Hmm..." Kage hummed in reply, not even making eye contact with Luke.

"Alright, looks like we're all rested up," said Volcan. "Let's let Luke get himself some food first before we start discussing our plan for tomorrow night."

Once Luke had collected some breakfast for himself, the team went back to their meals once again and were mostly quiet for the duration of their dining, other than a few bits of small talk. When they were finished, they took their plates back to the front counter to leave in the dish tray for the staff to collect later, and then returned to their seats again to let their food settle, and -as Luke put it, "It's time to get down to business

"So," began Volcan. "Now we know who we're up against with Team Warmachine. Eagle Eye already called dibs on Razorwing so that leaves five more; Shamshir, the Scizor, Timber the Haxorus, Kari the Ninetales, Leon, their strategist, and of course the head honcho himself, Torolf." He looked around the group. "Thoughts?"

"Think maybe I should take on that Kari lady." Hank returned, rubbing his claws together. "Show her how a _real_trickster does his thing."

"I will fight Leon," Kage said stoically, again his gaze facing away from the group, as if something were on his mind.

Volcan noticed this, narrowing his eyes at Kage. "You don't sound too sure."

"I never face an enemy without a plan..." He replied, still keeping his gaze away.

Luke felt a little suspicious about Kage's behaviour, but decided not to pursue it and returned to the matter at hand. "So that leaves Torolf himself, Timber, and Shamshir."

"With all due respect..." Katsu began. "I feel I should take Torolf."

"You sure you _can_take him?" Volcan asked. "That guy fought Sol and won when all of us agreed we were no match for him.

"I feel I am the only one who can match his titanic strength," stated Katsu. "If we are to win, we must-"

"I'm taking Torolf," Luke suddenly spoke up, cutting Katsu off.

Hank near spat out his drink in shock as he heard that claim. "Say what?!" He demanded. "Are you crazy, boss?"

Volcan looked at Luke with equal surprise. "But Luke, the guy was strong enough to beat Sol for crying out loud," the Blaziken protested. "The only way we'll have a chance is to meet muscle with muscle; only Katsu has a shot at matching him."

Luke closed his eyes. "Perhaps you're right..." Luke admitted. "However... I guess you could say my 'inner Nido' is kicking in."

"Inner wha-?" Eagle Eye asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"It's a little something I've named for whenever I encounter something I_really_want." Luke said. "It started back when I was travelling with Nido... whenever he saw something he wanted, either for himself or something he wanted to overcome, he'd rush right into it head first and keep working until he either achieved it or overshot it." Luke explained. "In the years I've known him, I... I guess I picked that up; when I really want something, I just _have_to have it, and in this case, it's a battle with Torolf."

"You had a similar drive when you wanted to fight Sickle, right?" Volcan asked.

"Yes." Luke answered. "I wanted to fight him as one team leader to another...I want the same thing with Torolf." Luke said. "Even if I lose, I'll have no regrets... getting this far is a victory of its own."

Katsu sighed and shook his head. "I guess there is no way to sway you from your resolve..." He said. "Very well, I will battle Timber then."

Volcan nodded. "I guess that leaves _me_to take on Shamshir, then," he stated. "Actually, it might have to be a last man standing matchup; both teams have even numbers. If both sides score 3 wins they'll have to have a tie breaker."

"Which means that if things go well enough, we might not all have to fight." Hank returned.

"In a perfect world," Luke returned in a wary tone.

"Yeah; let's not forget who we're fighting here," Volcan added. "Team Warmachine's taken on some tough opposition; we just fought their rivals yesterday, and that was no picnic."

Luke nodded. "We'll have to really plan ahead before we face them tomorrow..." Luke stated. "Like with Team Phobia, we have to be prepared for absolutely anything."

Volcan stood up and began pacing around the dining hall a little as he thought. "So our opponents are a Bug/Steel, a Flying/Steel, a Water/Steel -lots of Steel types, I'm noticing- a Water/Ground, a pure Dragon-type and a pure Fire-type; we've all got something to meet those, but for our respective opponents we..." He paused as he stared across the room to another window, something catching his eye and making him halt mid-word.

"What's the matter?" Luke asked, looking over to Volcan, tilting his head.

"...Something just fell past the window and went over the side," he replied in a very focused tone, as if whatever he had seen had switched on something in him. In that instant before anyone could utter another word, the Blaziken bolted for the deck access door of the dining hall, leaping across tables as he made a beeline straight for the door.

"Hey wait!" Luke called to him, rising up from his seat and chasing after Volcan.

"Wait for us!" Eagle Eye called as the rest of the team got out of their seats and followed after the two.

Volcan threw open the alternate exit for the dining hall, which lead out to the bow of the ship, and he strode over to the side where he had seen something go over the front of the anchored ship -thank Arceus it_was_anchored or whatever it was would have been swept beneath the keel and surely been lost to the depths. When they reached the rail, they all looked over to see something in the water; a dark figure, sinking below the waves, with bubbles and a cloud of steam rising up as they sank. Someone was in there!

"Katsu_,_Kage!" Volcan barked, prompting the Samurott and Greninja to action as it became clear someone was in trouble.

They acted immediately. Katsu leapt over the railing and plunged into the waters below with a heavy splash, while Kage unfurled his tongue from around his neck, wrapping it around the railing and using it to rappel himself down the side of the ship, using the hull like he was descending the side of a cliff, and watched the waters below out of one eye, waiting for Katsu to emerge.

The Samurott appeared, but not before he launched whoever was in the water out into the open air; a red figure was sent flying up into Kage's grasp, from which he threw them up over the rail where they were caught by Volcan. Once he had them, the Blaziken knelt down, radling the figure and rested them against his chest, keeping them in an upright position as they realized it was a Charmeleon that had fallen into the water. Had he been under much longer, his tail flame -the source of his life as was common in the evolutionary line of the Charmeleon- would have surely been extinguished. Only the sheer heat of it had kept it alive, evaporating the water enough that it had failed to douse the flame.

The team recognized the Charmeleon instantly, shocked to find just who it was they had rescued from drowning. "It's... Kaen," Volcan said in disbelief.

"Get him to the medical ward!" Luke commanded, looking at Hank.

The Zoroark complied immediately, quickly kneeling down down to take Kaen from Volcan and lifting the Charmeleon up into his arms, then made a beeline for the infirmary as swift as his legs could carry him as Katsu and Kage returned to the deck from over the side, leaving all of them scratching their heads in wonder.

Hank ran only twenty steps before he felt something grab his chest fur harshly. Looking down, he saw Kaen had woken up, and was looking up at him with a strained gaze. "Not the... infirmary!" He forced out, coughing up some seawater. "Not there!"

"Whoa, yer conscious?" He asked, stopping in his tracks. "The hell happened to you man?"

The others had already begun to follow the Zoroark, only to be surprised to turn the corner and find Hank had stopped "What're you doing?" Volcan demanded, pointing ahead. "The medical bay's that way!"

"The guy said not to," replied Hank, laying Kaen back down -this time against the rails

"Are you _daft?!"_Katsu hollered to him, but then Kaen coughed and spat out more seawater, splashing all over. Katsu took a step towards him, intent on using compressions to get the rest of the water out, but Volcan stopped him.

"No don't!" He exclaimed. "Look at his chest!" He pointed at Kaen, how he was clutching his chest in agony even as he tried to retch out the rest of the seawater, but it was what was under Kaen's claw Volcan was pointing two; Kaen wasn't skinny, but he was thin enough that his ribcage was somewhat visible, and Volcan had taken notice of a bruise on his chest and some ribs that seemed to be out of place. "He's injured; we can't risk aggravating it further!"

"Then what do we do? He's drowning, man!" Eagle Eye exclaimed, flapping his wings feverishly.

"I have an idea!" Luke exclaimed, quickly darting to Kaen's side and placing his paw over the chest of the Charmeleon, shutting one eye as Kaen coughed up more seawater that splashed against his face.

Luke focused his aura into his paw, measuring just the right amount of force to apply with it, and aiming beneath Kaen's ribs to his lungs underneath. With a grunt, Luke emitted an aura pulse into the Charmeleon's chest, avoiding his ribs and successfully applying compression without aggravating them. Kaen's eyes widened as he spewed out a mouthful of sea water, going into a fit of coughing and holding his chest as he rolled over onto his side, gasping for breath.

"Not... the infirmary..." he whispered. "D-Danger..."

Volcan and Luke shared a puzzled glance for a second before the Blaziken then turned to Kage. "Go find Mikhail; tell him to head to my cabin. We'll take Kaen there."

Kage nodded, and jumped up to the deck above without another word, striding along the walkway to cross the ship in search of Luke's brother. Meanwhile, Luke himself picked up Kaen in his arms, gently, and made sure he was secure before he urged the group to move, running back to the residential quarters with the injured and half-drowned Charmeleon in tow.

~~~~~

Volcan practically broke down the door to his cabin as they arrived, letting Luke and Hank through first. Luke carried Kaen over to Volcan's bed to lay him down, while hand propped up his tail on a footstool by the bed to keep it elevating in an oxygen-rich area so it would keep feeding -and not set the bed on fire. Volcan stopped Katsu and Eagle Eye from entering, telling them to keep watch for now -whoever had attacked Kaen was still out there, and if they suspected he was still alive they might come looking for him.

The Charmeleon was having trouble breathing, clutching his chest every time he inhaled and writhing with pain. Hank and Luke had to hold the Charmeleon still to keep him from aggravating his injuries any further. Luke could see that Kaen's ribs were definitely broken, and the flowering bruise over his chest was huge, indicating his assailant had to have been quite large -not to mention powerful to inflict so much damage to him.

"Dammit, he needs medical attention _now!"_Luke growled. "Where is Mikhail?!"

Almost as if on cue, there was a voice at the door. _"Let me through!"_And Volcan turned to see Katsu move aside as Mikhail practically glided into the door, hopping over the lower rim of the doorway and turning immediately towards Volcan's bed. "Out of the way!" He urged further, prompting Luke and Hank to move aside and let him approach.

Mikhail was at Kaen's side swiftly, already charging one paw with a heal pulse that he administered to Kaen in an effort to numb his pain while he began his examination. Kaen cringed as Mikhail touched his chest, growling through clenched teeth blowing smoke from his nostrils as he tried to stay still as best he could.

"One... two... three broken ribs on his right," Mikhail muttered to himself. "One... two on his left; five ribs fractured." He looked over the bruise, cringing when he touched it and Kaen snarled again. "A very... large bruise on the surface, and..." He looked back at Volcan. "You saw him fall into the water?"

"Yes, but Luke already cleared his lungs," the Blaziken replied.

"He still needs professional medical attention," Mikhail went on. "He could be bleeding internally after a strike like this."

Volcan shook his head in disbelief. "Kaen is almost as tough as any one of_us_! Who the hell could do this to him?"

"It doesn't matter right now," Mikhail stated. "We need to get him to the doctors! Why didn't you take him straight to the infirmary?"

"We tried, but he refused to go," Luke replied.

"Why not?!" Mik demanded.

"We don't know; he can't really tell us, can he?" Volcan returned, perhaps a bit too harshly. "Something's going on aboard this ship." He put a talon to his chin, thinking only for a few seconds before he looked towards the door. "Maybe there's a hospital or clinic in Valvatna somewhere," he suggested. "We might be able to take Kaen there."

"We can't move him any further," Mik stated. "The movement could aggravate his wounds and make things worse."

"Then what else is there that we can do?" Luke asked.

Mik looked down at Kaen, sweating visibly as he tried to come up with a solution, seeing the pain that Kaen was in, lying stretched out across the bed and clutching his chest. The Lucario's eyes slowly drifted to his medical bag, which he had brought with him; he knew it contained the materials he needed for what was required, and his hesitation was brief before he reached for the bag, opening it to reach in for the contents.

Luke looked oddly at Mikhail. "What are you doing?"

Mik glanced over to his brother. "Putting my training to the test..." He said as he put on a pair of gloves, and then opened the case up, revealing many different surgical tools. "My boyfriend has been tutoring me on how to be a surgeon, and I've studied almost all different Pokémon and their anatomies." He looked at Kaen, swallowing nervously. "I...I think I can operate on him here."

"Wait a minute; you can't do that while he's awake!" Volcan exclaimed. "He'd never survive the trauma; he needs to be put under or something!"

"I-I-I don't have any anesthetics I could give him," Mikhail realized. "And knocking him out won't do him any favors."

"Leave that to me," Hank bade, stepping forward and looking at Kaen as his eyes began to shine brightly. "Sorry, pal," he said before he cast his illusory powers over the Charmeleon. Kaen looked up at him through one clenched eye, until both of his eyes shot open, reflecting the light emitting from Hank's own, locking gazes with him until Kaen's eyes rolled back into his head, and he stopped moving as they slowly closed.

"...What did you do?" Volcan asked.

"Put 'im in a trance," replied Hank. "It should keep 'im out long enough for Mik to work 'is magic."

Luke looked up at the Zoroark, nodding in approval. "Good work, Hank," he complimented his teammate.

"Alright, we need to find out what happened to Kaen and find him some additional help," Volcan stated, before turning to the others. "Kage, keep an eye out in case anyone comes -don't let _anyone_into this cabin until Mikhail's done with Kaen. Hank, you head into town and look around for a hospital; see if you can't get anyone else to come here to pick him up."

"On it." Hank said with a nod, before hurrying out the door and disappearing around the corner as Volcan continued.

"Katsu, Eagle Eye, you two head up to the upper deck where Kaen fell from; try to find any clues to can as to what happened to him, and watch out -whoever did this might still be on the ship."

"We'll go at once," Katsu returned.

"Back in a flash!" Eagle Eye added as he and the Samurott departed as well, with Eagle Eye taking flight just as they began to leave.

With the room now quiet, Mikhail put on a surgeon's mask, adjusting his gloves and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he grabbed a scalpel from his bag, sterilizing it with a solution before he took in one last breath. "Okay," he whispered, and then looked back to Luke and Volcan. I'd advise you look away...and stay quiet. I need _absolute_focus." He said in a surprisingly stern tone, and then looked back at his patient, the scalpel hovering over his chest. "I've never done this by myself..." he thought aloud.

Volcan stepped forward, appearing at Mikhail's side. "I'm not queasy at the sight of blood, and you may need an extra hand," Volcan stated. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

Mikhail looked up at the Blaziken for a moment, unsure of how to respond -whether he should deny him or not, but the Lucario eventually replied with a simple "Wash your hands, and put on some gloves and a mask. We're going to be here for a while," he instructed as he began to make the first incision...

Mikhail and Volcan worked on Kaen for over an hour. Volcan stayed out of the surgical process, instead focusing on cleaning Mikhail's surgical instruments and passing them to him as requested and dabbing the sweat from the Lucario's brow when he needed it, all while keeping an eye on Kaen to make sure he hadn't stopped breathing or was starting to wake up from the induced trance Hank had put him under. All the while, Luke stayed by the door to make sure no one tried to come in to interrupt his brother's work, as did Kage, who stayed outside.

Despite the pressure, Mikhail's paws were _very_steady, every movement he made never being flawed or wasted during his operation. The process was slow to him, and felt like hours as he calmly did his best to mend the fractures Kaen had suffered. When he was finally certain he had done everything he needed to, he sealed up the incisions with stitches and administered a heal pulse to partially heal them and hopefully numb any discomfort Kaen might feel when he arose from the trance.

"I've... I've done it," Mikhail said as he started to lean backward, feeling like he was going to faint. Luke darted across the room and caught his brother by the shoulders, steadying him.

Even he could hear Mikhail's heart thundering in his chest, but he could see the results of his work as Volcan gently wiped away any excess blood from Kaen's chest with cloth doused in boiling water. The Blaziken checked Kaen's breathing once more, and listened to his heart rate; he was stable but weak, and still in the trance. "Good job, Mikhail..." Luke said to his brother with a smile. "Mordecai would be proud of you."

"It's too early to celebrate." Mik said. "Even though I worked quickly, he may need a blood transfusion -which we can't do here, not without knowing his blood type, and he needs to be on life support to monitor his condition."

"Hopefully Hank found the hospital by now," Volcan bade as he went to clean and put away Mikhail's tools, as well as dispose of their now dirtied gloves.

At that moment, the door opened, and Hank stepped into the room accompanied by a Kadabra wearing the smock shirt of a nurse. "Where's the patient?" The Kadabra asked, urgently.

Mikhail pointed over to the resting Charmeleon. "Right there..." He answered. "I've done what I can to stabilize him; at the very least it should be safe to carry him to the hospital."

"That's why they sent me," the Kadabra replied, walking up to Kaen and holding up his hands as he cast Psychic over the Charmeleon, grasping him with telekinetic energy and forming an invisible stretcher under him to lift him off of the bed gently. "Do any of you wish to accompany him?" He asked.

"I should," Mikhail replied. "I'm the one who operated on him; if he doesn't make it for any reason then I should be held responsible for it."

"Don't say that!" Luke suddenly shouted to Mikhail. "You did everything in your power to save Kaen. No one can fault you for that!"

"How many can you take?" Volcan asked the Kadabra.

"I can take two of you," he replied.

"I'll go then," Hank offered. "Luke's bro is a good kid; I'll vouch fer him. Plus you'll need me to take Kaen out of the trance I put him in."

"Thank you." Mik said back to Hank.

"Alright. We'll meet you guys there," Volcan stated, and firmly added. "When Kaen wakes up we need him in order to find out who did this to him, and we can go make sure that they answer for it."

"Took the words right outta my mouth." Hank replied, and then looked to the Kadabra nurse. "Let's move already!!"

"Grasp my shoulders," he instructed.

Both Hank and Mikhail walked over and gripped the Kadabra's shoulders firmly as instructed. With that, he Kadabra used Teleport to take them off of the ship, all four of them vanishing in a blink of light.

"I think it's time we run our own investigation," Volcan stated, "now that Kaen is in good hands."

Luke nodded. "I'm curious though; Kaen told us _not_to take him to the Infirmary." Luke then rubbed his chin. "I can't understand why though."

With that question, Kage suddenly turned and walked out of the cabin and was already on his way to the infirmary. Volcan looked over his shoulder as he heard Kage leave, calling after him. "Kage? Where are you going?" But he received no reply.

"...It looks like he might be wondering the same thing..." Luke deduced. "This is not the first time he's run off alone."

"Well he's not going lone Growlithe this time," Volcan stated. "Someone tried to kill Kaen; if there's a killer on board this ship, none of us are approaching them alone. Come on!" He hurried out of the cabin, followed by Luke, and the two began to sprint up the deck in the direction Kage had gone. "We can't tell anyone else about this, either, not even Team Warmachine."

Luke looked over to Volcan with mild surprise. "...Why not?" He asked. "Why would we keep this from his team?"

Volcan looked at Luke. "Because of what you said," he replied. "Why would Kaen not want to go to the infirmary -especially when it's run by_one of his_teammates?" The Blaziken counter-questioned.

Luke's eyes widened a little. "You think... one of _them_did this to him?"

"You're right on the button," replied Volcan. "Unfortunately that also includes Torolf. I don't want to think it was him -my first suspect would be Maggie or that creepy Malamar, but Kaen was clearly hit physically; neither of them possesses the strength to do that much damage to him."

Luke could not help but nod in agreement to the Blaziken, realizing everything he was saying was correct. It also made sense as to how Kaen could suffer such damage; Luke had seen his claws, and noted the lack of defensive wounds on them and his arms. The Charmeleon had not even fought back against his attacker, whether because he didn't have the chance to, or because he couldn't.

Either way, something was amiss aboard this ship, and only _they_could stop it.

~~~~~

Kage stood outside of the door of the infirmary. He had known immediately something was off the moment he arrived there, even though the room itself appeared very unassuming. The beds were empty, freshly made, and the Gardevoir known by the name of Gallia, Team Warmachine's personal physician, was present and accounted for, standing over by the porthole window and staring out into space, not even acknowledging the Greninja.

And that was what set off Kage's suspicions. He was not even _trying_to hide his presence at that moment -the very thought that Gallia did not know he was there was preposterous, and her lack of behavior was equally suspect. She was just staring out the window, almost statuesque and utterly silent -there were no patients to treat but surely she had other duties besides daydreaming. All of this told Kage that something was terribly wrong...

Luke and Volcan arrived a short while later as he watched the Gardevoir. He glanced over at them, motioning for them to stay quiet, but Volcan, in a rather irritated manner, spoke regardless.

"Kage, I know you're not exactly talkative," he said. "But we're trying to solve a mystery here -a possible attempted _murder_in case that skipped your attention. This is not the time to be running off alone."

Kage looked back over to Volcan after he spoke, and then moved his gaze forward again. "I work better alone at things like this; any help risks unintentionally destroying evidence," He replied plainly and without hesitation. "Though you may wish to see this."

Volcan grunted, still shooting Kage a displeased look before stepping forward and peering into the infirmary, quickly spotting the Gardevoir. "Hey, it's the doc. But... why's she just standing over there?"

"That's why I'm here..." Kage returned silently. "Her behaviour is... odd."

Volcan narrowed his gaze, staring at the Gardevoir as he considered her lack of activity. "It's like she's... off in her own world or something. How does she not know we're here already?" He looked at Kage. "Has she done anything at all since you got here?"

"Nothing; she just stands there," Kage returned. "She's not meditating else my Extrasensory would have picked up on it..." He then narrowed his eyes, and then started to sink into his shadow with Shadow Sneak, slowly gliding along the ground until he was in a better position to look at the Gardevoirs face from under a bed.

Even in shadow form, someone of her power should have at least felt some minor hint of his presence, yet still she did not even move or even look back in suspicion, still staring out the window. But from what he could see, her eyes were half-lidded, staring off into nothingness, completely oblivious to the world around her.

Kage slipped back to Volcan and Luke, appearing before them. "It's safe to enter; the Gardevoir is under some kind of hex. I'm going to try and wake her up. You search the room for clues." He then gave each of them a stern glare. "Any evidence you find, do. Not. Touch." He said in a threatening tone before rounding the corner and crossing the room slowly but silently, approaching Gallia from behind.

Volcan and Luke entered the room just after Kage did, and began to search the interior, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. But they were in the room for all of a few seconds before the Gardevoir suddenly turned around, making them all freeze as she asked in a toneless voice. "Do you require any assistance?"

"Busted," Volcan muttered, but quickly calmed down, trying to act normal.

"We uhm... we're just searching for something we think we might have left behind." Luke said, trying to save face. "Right?" He asked Volcan. "That thing you lost?"

"Uh-yes! It's an important keepsake; a photograph," Volcan replied. "I think it fell out of my satchel somewhere so we're just retracing my steps."

"I have found no such item in here, I am afraid," she replied, sounding almost like she was talking in her sleep. "You must have dropped it elsewhere; I am sorry I cannot be of assistance."

"She is _definitely_not all there," Volcan muttered to Luke.

"Agreed..." Luke returned, looking over to Kage, who had already slipped out of sight and approached Gallia from the side, his eyes shining as he prepared to cast.

But much to his dismay, his Extrasensory wasn't enough to remove whatever spell she was under, nor did she even react to his attempt to do so, completely oblivious to the Greninja's probing. Kage increased his effort, trying to find some way to remove it, but whatever ailment had befallen Gallia, it was beyond his power to remove.

Eventually, she turned to Kage, and spoke again. "Is there something you require?" She asked.

"Let's get out of here," Volcan mouthed to the Greninja; they had seen enough.

Kage glanced to Volcan, catching the words he mouthed before silently turning on his heel and walking out of the room without saying anything to Gallia. "Hope to see you again soon," the Gardevoir called as they left, her hand elevating to absently wave after them.

The three of them exited the medical room, walking down the hall a ways before they stopped to assess what they had seen. "Okay; anyone else _super_creeped out by the fact that a _doctor_just said that?" Volcan asked, before looking at Kage. "Were you able to break whatever hex is on her?"

"No...whoever has hexed her is far beyond _my_psychic abilities," Kage returned, crossing his arms. "There's no saving her unless we disable the caster."

"That will be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Luke commented, already reminiscing of how many Pokémon they had seen at this tournament that would've been capable casting such a hex over someone else; certainly the list was smaller knowing that Gallia was a powerful Psychic-type Pokémon herself, but still too many to investigate one at a time.

Volcan looked between the two. "Do you think; Kaen knew about this?"

"I think so," returned Luke. "It's the only reason why he wouldn't want to come here; whoever did this to Gallia is connected to, if not the one responsible for what happened to him."

"That is the most likely scenario," Kage agreed, closing his eyes in thought.

"One thing that really bothers me is...why would one of their own try to kill one teammate and hex the other? It just doesn't make sense." Luke queried.

"Someone doesn't like the fact we have advanced this far in the tournament," Kage answered. "They may be trying to frame us for a crime we didn't commit."

"That doesn't seem likely," Volcan stated to Kage. "None of us can hit hard enough for the amount of trauma he took, and even if we could, to properly frame us, he'd need to think it _was_us who attacked him or he'd vouch for us as soon as he woke up. Besides, Kaen's no pushover; _nobody_could walk away from a fight with him without getting roughed up, not even us." He rubbed his chin in thought. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'm thinking Kaen saw something that someone didn't want getting out. It's the only reason they'd try to kill him; to keep him silent. Us being there to save him was just dumb luck."

"How callous," Luke growled. "Now I'm _really_hoping this wasn't an inside job. I can't have been; none of Team Warmachine's members seem like they'd turn on their comrades on the tip of a hat."

"_All_of them?" Kage asked. "That's quite a claim, Luke. You might want to rephrase what you just said."

"Yeah; Maggie and that Malamar are pretty sketchy," stated Volcan. "And we don't know much about the rest of their team; the only ones we've spoken to that much are Torolf and Leon."

"We must be open to the idea that anyone on that team is a suspect," Kage added. "There is however, _one_discrepancy that makes things rather... intriguing."

"What's that?"

"The severity of Kaen's wounds," Kage replied. "A Mismagius and a Malamar couldn't do that much damage, even working together; they couldn't be the ones responsible."

"I_already_said that," Volcan reminded, scornfully.

Kage ignored him, and Luke asked the next question. "You're thinking, accomplice?"

Kage nodded to Luke. "From who we have seen there are three prime suspects on Team Warmachine alone who could inflict such harm on Kaen. The first, obviously, is Torolf, followed by the Haxorus and Chestnaught -both of them have more than enough strength for that."

Luke frowned. "Torolf wouldn't hurt his own teammates. He values them as comrades and friends. I've even spoken to him in person, he's a very honourable Swampert."

"Stop acting so naive." Kage said sharply to Luke. "There's always the possibility it was one big act; to get you to trust him and throw you off his scent just in case he _was_involved in a situation such as-"

"I'm not ready to believe Torolf is involved either," stated Volcan, cutting Kage off before he could say more. He endured a dirty look from the Greninja, and then looked at Luke with an expression of doubt. "But, unfortunately, Kage has a point. Those three are the only Pokémon who could be strong enough to do that to Kaen, beyond maybe a few others at this tournament I can think of. But without motive, we can't point the finger at any of _them_either, and Kaen not wanting to go to the infirmary run by his own teammate is so far our only clue."

"Regardless, we can't make any accusations without more solid evidence," Kage stated. "And the way I see it, Kaen is the major key in this investigation; the only one who can expose the culprit." The Greninja narrowed his eyes again. "Which also means he's still in danger of being attacked _while_he's recovering..."

"Hank and Mik are with him at the hospital, but just the same, we better get over there too," Volcan stated. "Let's check in with Katsu and Eagle Eye and see if they found anything either."

"Agreed. We're done here for now. Let's get going." Luke said as he turned and led the two in the direction of the access stairs to the upper decks.

~~~~~

Katsu and Eagle Eye searched over areas they believed Kaen might have fallen from to land into the water where he did. While the walkway above the bridge seemed the most likely area, as it was high up to offer the required elevation if something hit Kaen hard enough, their search proved fruitless as there was no sign of a struggle or any indication as to what had actually hit Kaen.

The upper deck was, in the wrong sense, clean. It was as if someone had simply launched Kaen through the air, and left him for dead.

Eagle Eye landed atop of Katsu's shellmet, looking down at him. "You find anything?" He asked.

The Samurott shook his head lightly. "Nothing. It's as if he just... flew off the deck." He grunted angrily. "This is most troubling; who would attack Kaen, and why?"

"Yea I got nothin either." The Talonflame returned.

Katsu rubbed his whiskers a little. "I hope Kaen is alright; as of now, he is our only chance of finding out what happened."

A moment later, the two of them heard footsteps approaching; they turned, and saw down the corridor behind them, a trio of familiar faces rounding a corner from the stairs to the lower decks. It was their friends; Luke, Volcan and Kage all emerged, quickly locating their comrades and regrouping in the empty corridor.

"Did you guys find anything?" Volcan asked.

"Nay," Katsu replied in a disheartened tone, shaking his head to show disappointment. "We couldn't find anything pertaining to Kaen's attack."

"It's alright Katsu, you did what you could." Luke said with a nod.

"What about you guys?" Eagle Eye asked. "Find anything?"

"Nothing concrete... but we have some ideas as to who it could possibly be." Luke answered.

"And we think there's more going on than what we see," Volcan added. "The Medic downstairs was acting _really_weird."

"What do you mean?" Katsu asked.

"She was hexed..." Kage answered, quietly, in case anyone was listening in.

"Hexed as in... cursed?" Katsu asked

"Entranced," Kage corrected. "There are only two Pokemon we know capable of performing a hex like that." Kage said, glancing to Volcan to finish his sentence.

"That Malamar we've seen floating around with Maggie, Team Warmachine's coordinator, who is the other suspect," the Blaziken explained. "Those two are our prime suspects, at least for what happened to the Gardevoir downstairs. As for Kaen, we're only speculating... but we think it was an inside job."

"So one of his own comrades attacked him," Katsu said, furrowing his eyes angrily. "Despicable..."

"Yea what Kats said. Anyone who attacks their own friends is scum." Eagle Eye added.

"Given Kaen's injuries, that could only mean..." Katsu's eyes widened as it dawned upon him. "Surely you aren't suggesting that!"

"Suggestin' what?" Eagle Eye asked.

"Team Warmachine's strongest members," replied Kage. "No one else could hurt Kaen in such a way, and the only reason there are no signs of a struggle out there," he gestured up the hall, onto the deck where Katsu and Eagle eye had been. "Is if Kaen did not fight back."

Luke visibly cringed at the thought of Torolf willingly attacking Kaen. He didn't want to believe it, even if it _was_true. Volcan speaking out brought him back to the present.

"Either way," Volcan added. "We've deduced Kaen may still be in danger, as he's the only one who can provide any answers. If his attacker finds out he's still alive, they'll try again. Let's all get over there; hopefully he'll wake up soon and shed some light on this," Volcan suggested.

"Aye," Katsu added.

"Let's go then." Luke said, looking toward the city. "The longer we wait, the greater the danger Kaen will be in."

~~~~~

The team arrived at the hospital after a quick sprint through the town. As Hank had been the only one to actually find it, the others had to ask directions from a few pedestrians before they managed to locate the hospital. Upon arriving, Luke had Eagle Eye fly a perimeter above, acting as an early warning system in case the attacker, or attackers, tried to finish what they started.

The rest of the team entered the hospital and searched until they found Kaen's room, where Hank and Mikhail were keeping watch over the recovering Charmeleon from the outside window, seated on stools. The two looked over at the team as they entered, and Hank noted the sour looks on their faces. "Something tells me you guys found something pretty bad," Hank commented.

"You could say that," Luke answered, looking over to Mikhail. "How is he?"

"He's stabilized." He answered. "Hank undid the trance he left on him, but he's still sleeping. He's in no danger anymore, though; he'll recover." He said with a smile. "The doctor said I performed my surgery flawlessly, like a true professional."

Luke allowed a smile. "Your studies have been paying off." Luke returned. "Good job, Mikhail."

He blushed softly. "I...had one amazing tutor...I can't take all the credit," and then looked up at Volcan. "And I had help; you handled yourself quite well, assisting me in the operation."

Volcan chuckled at Mikhail's blushing and his compliment. "Kaen will be glad you came along with us, buddy," he said. "You saved his life, and every one of us are proud of you for what you've done for us on this adventure."

He looked over to Volcan after that comment, visibly touched by his words. Unexpectedly, he walked over and hugged Volcan warmly, nuzzling his chest in an affectionate manner. "Your words mean a lot to me; thank you Volcan." He said. "Luke's very lucky to have you as his friend."

This time it was Volcan's turn to blush, looking down at Mik but allowing himself a smile. "Well... thanks," he said, realizing Mikhail's manner was probably after-effects of the stress caused by the operation, and simply returned the hug gently.

"If we're done with sharing affection..." Kage harshly interjected. "We have a case to solve." He said, brushing past Volcan and Mikhail to look down at Kaen, seeing if he was conscious yet.

Volcan scowled at Kage. "One of these days, Kage, I'm going to punt you right over a boat," he muttered before he joined the others to follow him over to the window where they could peer inside.

The Charmeleon was still sleeping, with a couple of doctors giving him an examination and changing the IV he was hooked up to in order to provide him nutrients until he was awake, while also administering heal pulses to accelerate the mending, giving him energy and relieving the pain. Kaen had a tortured look on his face though; not from the Illusion that had initially put him to sleep, as Mikhail had already claimed that had been abolished, but from something else.

"Think we should wake him up?" Hank asked.

"TIme may be against us, but no," replied Volcan. "He needs to heal; the heal pulses those doctors are giving him will help, but he took a lot of damage."

"But... he looks like he's suffering," Mikhail whimpered softly.

"I know...but we don't have any choice." Luke said softly to Mikhail. "I just pray he'll recover before we have to depart to our battle against Team Warmachine."

"That gives us only a day, unfortunately," Volcan returned, rubbing his chin in thought. "I just can't believe anyone would do this to him... poor guy."

The others were in silence as they stood there, watching the doctors work to speed up Kaen's recovery. As much as they didn't want to admit it, there was nothing more they could do for the Charmeleon. All they could do now was continue with their investigation and uncover as much evidence as they could.

"...Standing around here and moping won't get us anywhere." Luke finally said, breaking the silence. "We have to uncover as much as we can if we're to figure out who attacked Kaen and why."

"Two of us should stay here and watch over him; the rest head back to the ship to do some more digging," Volcan suggested. He looked at Luke. "You should stay; if anything goes awry you can signal us with your aura sphere or just use your earpiece... wait, did we even bring those?"

As if to answer his question, Kage held up six different earpieces that he plucked from his belt. "...We never embark on a mission without them." He said as he distributed them to the team.

"Heh, always planning ahead." Hank smirked, fitting his on his ear. "Need a hand with yers chicken boy?"

"Yeah probably; I haven't used these yet," Volcan replied, nodding to Hank.

The Zoroark walked over and helped Volcan fit his on so it rested comfortably on his head. Volcan had to tilt his head slightly to give Hank better access, but once it was on, he stayed securely. He scratched under it briefly before nodding. "Alright then," he said, adjusting to the feeling of having the little object lodged in his earhole.

"Button's right here to turn on the mic." Hank said as he pointed to his own earpiece, showing Volcan what to press. "Give 'er a whirl."

Volcan reached up, finding the button in question and gingerly pressing it with his talon. "Testing," he said.

Everyone turned over to Volcan as he spoke, even Eagle Eye's voiced chimed in after. "Hey, that you rookie?"

"Yeah it's me; just checking my earpiece, making sure it's working."

"Guess that means yer officially one of us now."_The Talonflame said with a snicker. _"We ought to do the proper initiation when we get back home."

"Alright." Luke began, getting everyone's attention. "Eagle Eye will maintain his perimeter above the hospital, but in a wider arc around the city." He explained. "Katsu, you, Volcan and Kage head back to the Kyogre's Rest and perform one last sweep around and inside the ship for any more clues -there _must_be something we missed. Hank and myself will remain here to guard Kaen."

"Alright; We'll check back with you later," Volcan stated.

"I... I should go back to the ship too; I need some rest," Mikhail stated. "If you need me, I'll be there."

Luke nodded to his brother, and shared a brief hug with him before sending him on his way. With that, the group separated, splitting off into two teams with Volcan leading Katsu, Mikhail and Kage out of the hospital, while Hank and Luke stayed outside of Kaen's room, watching over him as the doctor's worked...

A few hours passed; the doctors came and went from the room, checking on the Charmeleon. Kaen remained fast asleep each time they returned, until about the sixth hour of their wait, when it was late into the afternoon and Luke began to wonder if Kaen would ever wake up that day, that the Charmeleon finally began to stir. The first to notice was Luke, still outside the room -as he wasn't allowed to enter, seeing the sky blue eyes of the fire lizard starting to open.

Luke blinked a bit as he saw the Charmeleon awaken, and then tugged at Hank's shoulder fur to get his attention. The Zoroark looked up from the magazine he was reading and peered into the room. "Whaddya know? Sleeping Beauty awakes." Hank commented. "Let's get in there."

"Hold it." Luke firmly said. "We have to let the doctors know and then ask to see him." Luke added, stepping back from the door and heading down the hallway for the nearest Doctor.

A moment later, Luke returned with one of the doctors -another Kadabra, but not the same nurse they had met before, who immediately went into the room to check on the Charmeleon. After a short examination, Kaen looked out the window at the foot of his bed, and then glanced over to the Kadabra, whispering something to him. The Kadabra physician looked up, before back at Kaen, who nodded to him, and then the Psychic-type headed back over to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway.

"He wants to speak to you two in private," he said. "Be brief; he's still very weak."

"We will." Luke said, then stepped past the Kadabra with Hank right behind him, with the Kadabra shutting the door behind them to give them privacy. Luke walked around the bed, and then pulled up a seat as he addressed Kaen. "How do you feel?" He asked softly.

Kaen chuckled weakly, wincing after doing so. "_Very_sore," he replied. "You guys..." He looked between the two. "You guys brought me here?"

"Yea." Luke returned. "Though you were in pretty bad shape... Mikhail had to operate on you in order to stabilize your condition enough so we could transport you here."

Kaen looked down at his chest, listing off the blanket to see the incisions and expert stitching done on his chest. "Your buddy did all this?" He asked, and then smiled. "And I'm still alive... he's good, that one."

Luke smiled. "He's actually my brother, and he's working to become a surgeon." Luke added. "You were his first patient really."

Kaen's smile faded and his eyes rounded with mild concern. "...You're saying he hasn't done this before?" He asked.

Luke flattened his ears a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you like that," he stated. "But he knew what he was doing. He's studied almost every Pokémon and their anatomies, and his boyfriend tutors him." Luke assured the Charmeleon. "Honestly you wouldn't even be alive now if he didn't perform his surgery on you. If you have anyone to thank, it's Mikhail."

Kaen let out a sigh. "You're right," he returned. "Obviously, he knew what he was doing, else I _would_be pushing up daisies right now." He looked at Luke again. "When he has a moment, tell him to stop by so I can thank him personally."

"Will do." Luke returned, then he leaned closer to Kaen. "However, as much as I'd like to let you recover fully, we need your help." He said.

"No... just the opposite," Kaen interjected in a stern yet still raspy voice as he began to try and sit up, gritting his teeth against the pain. "It's actually _my_team who needs _your_help, and fast."

"Hey, hey, take it easy!" Hank hissed, rushing over and steadying the Charmeleon as he rose up and propping him against his pillows. "Whaddya mean they need _our_help?" He asked.

"Something's come over them," Kaen began as Hank helped him lean back against the headboard of the bed, panting for breath. "I think... Maggie, and Bialo... they did something to them."

Luke then reached for his earpiece, turning it on so that the rest of his team could listen in. "Tell me everything Kaen..." He said softly. "Take as long as you need."

Kaen looked at him, the pained look returning to his face as he began his explanation. "I was on my way to see Torolf, about an errand he sent me on," he began. "When I got there, I found the rest of the veterans -the guys you're fighting tomorrow, in his office with him, but they were acting... weird; they were lined up by the wall like some sort of brigade, and I saw Bialo -our resident interrogator, a Malamar, hovering in front of them, light emitting from his chest.

"I didn't know what was going on, so I laid low and simply watched. I heard Maggie talking Bialo as he kept emitting that light -which I later realized was him using Hypnosis- talking to him about... how you guys were a threat to us. How you were trying to take everything away from us; I knew it was all nonsense, but then I remembered last night I heard Maggie and Torolf arguing over that Sol guy; Maggie was trying to make Torolf think you guys had brought Sol here deliberately, to try and cause chaos in the tournament, and then appear later as a sympathetic party to try and fix the tournament. I didn't know what else she was going to say because Torolf didn't let her finish, saying she was being paranoid.

"She left in a huff after I came in, but Torolf told me not to worry about it when I asked about it, telling me it would be fine. But then, today, when I stumble on this scene... I figured out the two times must've been connected; Maggie was hypnotizing them to make them believe her whole conspiracy theory. Gallia showed up at the worst possible second then too, giving away our position. Bialo came out of the office and turned his Hypnosis on us; even Gallia couldn't resist it, but before it took hold of me I nailed him with a Flame Burst, breaking his concentration.

"After that, I ran. Torolf came barrelling out of the office and chased after me. I got to the railing at the end of the deck, but there I was trapped; Razorwing had gotten there ahead of me and wouldn't let me get to the stairs. Torolf caught up, and then..." He shut his eyes. "Well, you probably can guess the rest."

So it had been true all along... it _had_been Torolf who attacked Kaen. Not of his own choosing but nonetheless the Swampert had nearly killed his own teammate, and it had been by Maggie and Bialo's decision, consciously willing to kill their friend, just to hide what they were doing. Luke's expression slowly contorted from his usual calm, collected composure to that of extreme anger as Kaen finished his story and his works sunk in.

Both the Charmeleon and Hank could see that Luke was absolutely _fuming_about the news he heard. He then reached up for his earpiece and relaxed his gaze a bit, but _only_a bit. "...You all get that...?" He asked in a low growl.

"_I'm already looking for that fucking squid and polter-dyke now,"_Volcan's voice replied, sounding just as angry as Luke fell now.

"I've recorded the conversation. We now have solid proof of their foul play," Kage returned. "We must approach this cautiously though. If any of you find them, call for me; I will make them squeal..." The Greninja added in a dark tone.

"_Understood."_Katsu replied.

Luke then lowered his paw from his earpiece and looked to Kaen. "We'll bring those two to justice," He assured him despite his pent up fury. "I swear my life on it."

"I know you will... but you guys might have a harder time finding them than you think," Kaen stated. "If they know I'm alive they won't be on the ship, and they won't have let anyone in Valvatna see them either. Your best chance to help my team now is at the tournament tomorrow."

Luke's earpiece was still transmitting, and Volcan heard him speaking. "How exactly does that work?" He asked, and Luke repeated the question on his behalf since, even though Volcan could hear Kaen, the Charmeleon could not hear him in turn.

"In order to control them, Bialo is going to have to still be in sight of them at the colosseum, to control them and maintain the hypnosis," Kaen explained. "However tough they are, a glorified zombie is still a really lousy fighter, so if he wants to have a chance of winning that round, he'll have to -for lack of a better term, control them remotely, but even he can't see through _their_eyes, so he'll need to be somewhere that he can use his own."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "One of us will have to stay out of the contest..." Luke muttered. "But we can't spare anyone; we need all six of us."

"When does the singles division begin?" Kage asked suddenly. "Wade could look for us after his battle with Aegis."

Luke relayed the suggestion to Kaen, who replied, "it'll be first," replied Kaen. "But it'll take more than just one guy to find Bialo."

"What about Sickle's team?" Volcan suggested. "Maybe we can ask Sickle for help; hell, Howler could probably find Bialo faster than all of us."

"That... is actually a good suggestion," Kage returned, almost hesitating to complete the statement.

"Yea! Four heads are better than three!" Eagle Eye added. "Especially when one of those heads is a big flaming dog!"

Luke gave a nod. "Then I'll go talk to Sickle the next chance I get." Luke stated.

"You guys sure you can trust him to help?" Kaen asked.

Luke nodded. "Without question. He is..." He paused for a moment. "He hass become a very good friend of ours since we met him. I personally trust him without question."

Kaen nodded. "Well, if I can trust you guys, then I suppose any friends of yours are friends of mine too." He reached over to Luke, placing his claw onto Luke's shoulder. "Thank you... I owe you big time."

Luke shook his head. "You don't owe us anything..." he said in return. "You've already helped us by warning us about this."

"Well," Kaen began, his eyes rolling as something seemed to occur to him. "Maybe I can help you guys in another way," he offered. "I lost my keycard when I got launched over the railing, but if you guys can break into my room, there's something in there that should help you guys win."

"What's that?" Hank asked.

"I don't want to say it out loud here; Maggie and Bialo don't know I'm the one who has them, and if they know I'm alive they might be listening in even now," replied Kaen. "But let's just say your 'rookie' will be going up a notch."

Luke's ears twitched and his eyes widened, having a suspicion as to what Kaen was implying but remaining silent. He looked to Hank. "Go to Kaen's room; pick up Volcan on the way. He should be strong enough to break through the door. I'll stay with Kaen." He said.

"Done!" Hank said, quickly turning and bolting out the door to find Volcan.

Luke looked back to Kaen. "I should go find Sickle, to tell him what's going on," he said. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Don't worry about me; I'll be safe here at the hospital," Kaen said as he put his claw over Luke's paw, giving him a desperate, pleading look. "Just save my team, before it's too late."

Luke gripped his claw tightly back in return. "We will," He promised Kaen, squeezing his claw tightly for a moment before he let it go, laying it across Kaen's chest and helping him get comfortable. After, he rose from his seat and then turned for the door. "I stake my entire reputation on it..." He said as he took his leave, heading off in search of Team Kama's Captain...

~~~~~

Hank met Volcan at the gangplank of the Kyogre's rest after making his way back to the docks where the ship was moored, ascending the plank and only the deck of the ship where he found the Blaziken panting as if he had been running for the last hour or so -which probably had been, now that Hank thought about it. When the Zoroark was there and Volcan finished gathering his breath, the Blaziken looked at him and shrugged helplessly.

"I've scoured this whole vessel high and freakin' low. I can't find Maggie, that Malamar, or any of Team Warmachine's top members; Gallia's right where we left her and only their auxillary team is still here but I don't know who among them Maggie might have in her pocket so I didn't speak to them. It looks like they abandoned ship."

"They definitely know we're onto them." Hank said, crossing his arms and tapping his claws against his bicep "Well; we'll nail em soon enough. Fer now let's head to little zippo's room."

Volcan nodded. "Right. Team Warmachine had cabins on the upper decks behind the bridge," he said as he looked up to the higher levels. "How about a shortcut?" He asked, hopping in place for a second to emphasis his meaning.

Hank smirked. "Sure why not?" He asked, stepping closer to him. "Just make sure you don't drop me." He said with a small flirty wink.

"C'mon; would I do that?" Volcan asked, putting one arm around Hank before, on the count of three, he sprang from the deck, Hank in tow, up to the next level, and then again to the top-most deck where Warmachine's cabins were located.

When they touched down, he let go of Hank, letting him stand on his own feet again. "Safe and sound."

"Heh, you really _would_give Kats a run fer his money." He stated with a chuckle, poking at Volcan's chest as he walked past him. "Ooookay... where to begin." He said, rubbing his claws together and eyeing the row of doors stretched out before them.

"Let's try and figure out which room is Kaen's," Volcan suggested, gesturing to said doors "Easier said than done, I grant you."

"Wanna split up?" Hank asked. "Cover more ground?"

Before he answered, Volcan walked up to one of the doors and noticed that the doors were each marked with the first initials of those who inhabited them. "Hang on... 'T-I'... who in Team Warmachine has the letters 'T-I' in his name...?"

"Wasn't it that big Haxorus?" Hank asked.

"Oh yeah! Timber!" Volcan exclaimed. "Well there's our answer; the doors are initialled. We can find the one with Kaen's name on it."

"Sounds simple enough." Hank returned, following after Volcan.

"I suppose with how many team members they have they'd need to leave some kind of indicator as to whose cabin was whose," Volcan bade as they began to walk down the row of doors, checking each one until they found Kaen's room, marked with the first two letters of his own name; 'K-A'. He went over who else on Team Warmachine shared those initials, and looked for any other that started with 'K', finding one marked only with that letter.

"Okay, problem," Volcan stated. "One door has 'K', one has 'K-A', but there are _two_that have those same initials; Kaen is one, and that Ninetales, Kari, is the other."

"Kari's probably been on the team longer than Kaen," Hank suggested. "No other doors have 'K-anything' on them, so I cast my vote on_that_door." He pointed at the one marked 'K-A. "...How _is_that little lizard's name spelt anyway? Is it 'K-A-N-E' or 'K-A-I-N'? Or maybe its 'K-A-E-N' as that's another word for Fire in some places."

"Either way it's still 'K-A' so, this must be it." He said, raising his leg to kick, only to pause, and hum in thought as he realized that kicking this door would make quite a ruckus, and placed his foot back down as he turned to Hank "Can you project an illusion around us to make this place look undisturbed and like no one is here?"

"Fuckin child's play." He said, his eyes glowing yellow in preparation. "Knock it down, chicken-legs."

"Alright," Volcan returned. "Keep cool; someone is _bound_to hear this." He stepped back, aiming for the door handle and kicking _hard_into the area above it, shattering the deadbolt and sending the door flying open with a crash; the door remained largely intact, but the noise was enough to wake the dead. "Right... and like stealthy little Ratatta, we advance." He remarked sarcastically.

When they entered, Hank quickly cast an illusion to make the door look like it hadn't been kicked in and also to cover them with a glamour that would make it seem like the area was void of life at that moment. "Alright. We're good." He said to Volcan

"Not yet," Volcan replied, waiting.

A moment later, someone did indeed come up to investigate the noise. The ship's captain -a Croconaw- wandered past, examining each of the doors one by one. Evidently Hank's illusion was working, as he looked directly at Kaen's door and didn't even react to it, his eyes tricked by the mystical veil hiding the break & enter. He went down the entire row before eventually shrugging and went back to the stairway he had come up before, grumbling.

"Okay,_now_we're good," said Volcan, "Now, look for a box or anything Kaen might be keeping this item in. Something secure and easy to hide."

"Roger that." Hank said, looking around and starting to rummage through the bunkroom, starting with the closet in the corner.

Volcan started with Kaen's footlocker at the foot of his bed -the most obvious place first, but when he opened it he found it empty. He closed the lid, and looked up when he saw Hank looking under the bed mattress. Volcan shot him a quizzical look, and Hank shrugged. "I'm told it's every guy's favorite hidin' place," he remarked.

"Fair enough," returned the Blaziken before he fell prone and slid under the bed to look around. There was a thunk as he felt around the dark underside with his hand, and rapped his knuckles against the object that had made the sound. "Wood?" He asked, finding it odd to find wood on a metal ship.

He grasped the object, and then scrambled to pull himself out, pulling with him a small, flat box with iron banding, with two padlocks holding it shut. "Bingo." He said.

"Find it?" Hank asked, looking over to Volcan.

"I think so," Volcan replied, showing Hank the box. "If I wanted to keep something valuable anywhere it'd be in here; no way we're breaking _this_open without an axe or something." He eyed one of the padlocks, checking the underside. "These are combination padlocks; so only Kaen's can open this thing."

"Then let's take it to him and get him to open it." Hank urged. "Times a wasting!"

Tucking the box under his arm, Volcan headed for the door, looking both ways to make sure that they were alone before stepping out, followed by Hank. When the Zoroark was outside, Volcan pulled the door shut as best he could, grimacing at the busted deadbolt above the handle. "Hopefully no one sees that for a while," he said. "Come on!" He then strode for the edge, heading in the direction of the town with the box in tow.

~~~~~

Hank and Volcan returned to the hospital discreetly with the box carried under their arm; Eagle Eye swooped down to meet them as they approached, checking to make sure it was them before allowing them past. He didn't inquire about the box, and resumed his aerial patrol. With that, the Blaziken and Zoroark entered the hospital and headed for Kaen's room.

When they got there, they found Luke waiting, but he wasn't alone. Standing outside of Kaen's room with him were Sickle and Howler. Luke was explaining the situation to him -discreetly, keeping their voices low when a doctor or nurse walked past. Volcan and Hank arrived just as Luke concluded the details of Kaen's story, leaving Sickle and Howler to stare at each other in bewilderment as they took in the information, finding it very perturbing.

"This is a pretty grim situation, without a doubt," Sickle stated, stroking his chin in thought. "Have you guys tried to find where Maggie or this 'Bialo' guy are?"

"Tried, and failed," Volcan chimed in as he and Hank walked up with the box still carried under Volcan's arm, joining the conversation. "The rest of the team is still searching but I scoured most of that ship myself; there's no sign of them or any of Team Warmachine's top members. I think it's safe to say they've abandoned ship to lay low until tomorrow. Which is where we need to make our move; the only way to break Bialo's control is to take _him_down."

"So you need my team's help to find where he is," Sickle stated; it wasn't a question. "Because you can't look for them and fight in the match tomorrow at the same time. Is that about right?"

"That about sums it up." Luke returned, crossing his arms. "If you could help us out with this, we'd really appreciate it, Sickle. I've no doubt Kage has informed Wade of the situation and he will help you as well after his match tomorrow." He added.

Sickle smiled at him. "Alright; we'll help you guys out," he said. "Howler will go over to Bialo's room to get a sample of his scent, and then when the match begins and we know he's nearby, we'll track him down. You guys just need to hold on until then; I'm sure when Torolf's mind is free he'll have some... 'words' for his rogue teammates."

"My thoughts exactly." Luke returned, then he looked over to Volcan and Hank. "You two found what you were looking for?"

"Right here," Volcan replied, showing them the box. "But it's locked with two combination locks; we need Kaen if we want to open this."

Luke nodded. "Let's take it in to him, then," he said, turning to the door and pushing it open. "Let's hope whatever is in that box, it'll give you the boost you need."

"Did he even say what was in here?" Volcan asked.

"No, not really." Luke said. "But the way he spoke about it, I think I might have an idea..." He added, holding the door open for Volcan.

Kaen, who had been resting his eyes while waiting, was roused from his half-doze when the door opened and Volcan stepped into the room. He saw the box in his arms and smiled. "You found it," he said. "I'm guessing it wasn't opened, then?"

"Not when we found it, no."

"Good; then the contents are safe," said Kaen, carefully sitting up in bed, waiting until Volcan placed it in front of him before he started on the locks. "Did anyone see you guys?"

"The captain heard us break down the door, but otherwise, no," replied Volcan. "Hank saw to that."

"Like I said, Childs play." Hank said with a wink back at Kaen and a smug grin on his face.

"Fortunate that Kari wasn't there; that illusion wouldn't have fooled her," Kaen pointed out as the first lock popped open. "Was _anyone_there?"

"No," replied Volcan. "I scoured that entire ship; only found the newer members of your team, but not Torolf or any of the ones we saw in the arena."

Kaen sighed. "Just as I thought... Maggie and Bialo are probably hiding, and took them with them so that I wouldn't try to free them -in the event I survived and," he cocked his head towards each of them. "Found friends."

"What end is Maggie working towards anyway?" Sickle asked. "What could she have to gain from brainwashing her own team?"

"As much as Torolf values her council and opinion, he values a challenge as much as he does the act of doing the right thing," replied Kaen. "He and Maggie both started from the same place." The other lock popped open. "Blackcoast."

At that, Sickle cringed. "They're _both_from that cesspool?"

"Sounds like you've seen it," Kaen remarked.

"I smell the damn place every time my team and I go east; it's not too far from where Bluegrove is. And let me tell you, that place reeks, in every sense of the word."

"I've heard rumours of it, but that's about it." Luke said. "They say it's one of the most vile, dangerous cities in the land, and that it houses the most dangerous criminals ever to exist."

"Those rumors are true," replied Kaen. "The only good people to ever come out of there either live in the sewers." He gestured randomly. "Or are here in the city right now; Torolf came from there as a Marshtomp; place hardened him up but he hated it with every fibre of his being."

"Maggie was from there too; he rescued her from a gang boss. After that they left together and Torolf started up Team Warmachine -though back then he was young and... it had a sillier name." The Charmeleon chuckled. "The Beatdown Squad. Sounded more like a gang than a Rescue Team so Torolf changed it about four months later."

Hank snickered. "Hehe... the Beatdown Squad..." He said, covering his mouth. "I've heard some odd names, but that takes the cake."

Kaen smiled, staring at the box. "Torolf became legendary to rescue teams everywhere... criminals fears him, other teams idolized him, including me. Before I was accepted into the team. He selected me from a potential few; said he saw something in me that he wanted on his team." He shrugged. "I've known the fame and glory myself ever since."

Sickle's eyes narrowed. "Maybe that fame is what Maggie thinks she's protecting," he suggested.

Kaen looked up at him. "You think so?"

"I've met some guys born into wealth before. The only thing they're ever afraid of, is ever having to do a hard day's work themselves for what they've got," said Sickle. "But, then there are the ones who rose to wealth from poverty. The only thing _they_fear is ever going back to the latter. Sometimes, it makes them paranoid; cheap; jumpy at the sight of a bill or an invoice, even, always afraid it'll be the one that wrecks them and sends them back to their roots."

"You think that serves to be their motive?" Luke asked. "I mean, it makes sense, but that doesn't mean I condone it."

Kaen perked up at that, as if sudden realization dawned on him. "...He's right," he said. "Maggie... when I heard her and Torolf arguing, talked about that if you guys win, and beat us, something about back to a time she never wanted to see again."

Volcan's eyes widened. "She thinks _losing_to_us_will take away all of your guy's fame and wealth?" He asked. "That's ridiculous! One loss isn't going to destroy everything you guys have built."

"Maybe_she_doesn't see it that way," said Kaen, finally opening up the box, and revealing, much to the surprise of the others, that the box was full of Mega Stones. Ten of them, divided into two rows, all of differing colours both internally and out but each one sharing that DNA strand pattern in the middle that they all had. To add to the surprise, one of the stones was actually shining, as if reacting to something.

"...Whoa," was all Sickle could say.

"Say hello to the grand prize," stated Kaen. "Mega Stones, collected by Team Warmachine on our many adventures around the world."

Luke slowly started to smile as he saw the Mega Stones, especially the one that was shining. "I knew it..." He muttered.

"Fucking Mega Stones!!" Hank exclaimed. "Score!!"

"_Shush!"_Kaen hissed, giving Hank a dirty look. "Maggie doesn't know I have these, bigmouth; you want Timber in here hacking down walls until he finds them?!"

"Oop!" Hank covered his mouth. "Sorry..." He said sheepishly.

"It's a miracle they _haven't_heard you..." Luke said with a frown.

"How does Maggie not know you have these?" Sickle asked.

"Because she thinks that a rookie shouldn't be trusted with such a rare and valuable prize," replied Kaen. "Torolf thinks that it's a sign he trusts me, by leaving them with a newer member. That and, he probably also thought that anyone who might want to steal them, I'd be the last one they'd check with."

"Why's that one shining?" Volcan asked, pointing at the one stone in the mix that was glowing; a stone with a red exterior.

"Because it's a Blazikenite," replied Kaen, reaching in and plucking it out before he offered it to Volcan. "Luke told me you're fighting Shamshir. You're going to need that if you want to take _him_down. Next to Torolf he's the toughest member of the team."

Volcan gingerly took the stone in his talon, staring at it in wonderment as its glow faded once he grasped it, rolling it over in his hand. "You're saying... I'll be able to Mega Evolve now?"

Kaen nodded. "Yep."

Luke then placed his paw on Volcan's shoulder. "Personally I say you've earned it," He stated.

Volcan looked at him, and then again at the stone resting in his palm. His brow furrowed, and he closed his fist around it before turning his gaze to Kaen again. "I'll make it count," he promised, earning a nod from Kaen.

Sickle peered over Luke's shoulder into the box. "Don't suppose you've got a Sceptilite or Blastoisinite in there, do you?" He inquired, though his tone suggested he wasn't serious.

Just the same, Kaen closed the box with a squeak of the hinge and a thunk as the door shut, flashing Sickle a wry smile. "Don't push your luck," he replied.

Sickle only grinned back, both lizards chuckling.

"I think we've done all we can for now," Luke said. "We've searched everywhere for Maggie and Bialo, but at this point I don't think we're going to find them." He then looked to Volcan. "However, now that you have a Mega Stone, you have to work to understand and master its power as best you can... and being the only one on Team Valiant that has any experience in such a topic, it falls unto me once more to help you with that." He said with a small smile.

"Then we better get started ASAP," Volcan stated. "Time's against us, and we've only got tonight to learn how to use this thing." He looked at Hank. "Take a nap somewhere; sleep a bit. We're going to need you to stay here with Kaen overnight until the tournament. If Maggie has even a faint idea he's here, she'll strike when the hospital's quieted down. You're his first line of defense."

"Trust me, they'll regret even _trying_to break in if they show their rotten mugs around here." The Zoroark said, crossing his arms. "I'll just pull up a chair here and take a small nap, and then I'll be good to go." He then looked to Kaen. "You don't mind the company, do ya?"

"Not at all," replied Kaen, laying back down in bed. "Maybe you can read me to sleep or something." He added in jest before looking at Luke, where he proceeded to close the locks of the box and passed it to him. "Make sure Maggie doesn't find those. I don't know what she might do with them but as of right now I'm not taking any chances with that witch-ghost."

"I will." He returned. "I'll find somewhere safe to hide it, and then we'll begin our work." He added, looking over to Volcan.

"I'll check back here whenever I can," Sickle offered, directed at Hank. "We should make a code word so that you know I'm not some puppet on a string when I show up."

"Psh, please. Give yerself more credit. Yer a tough cookie." He said with a shrug.

"Not a question of toughness," Sickle returned. "Malamar may be lousy fighters but they have the strongest hypnotic powers of _all_Pokemon, right up there with Darkrai's ability to cause nightmares. Last one I ran into made me do a jig in the middle of a village, yelling..." He paused. "A word I will not repeat here." He shook his head. "Either way, if I don't say that when I show up here, knock me out, 'cuz it probably means he's got me."

"Ya know, I was trying to fill you with confidence pal." Hank said with a sigh.

"I_am_confident," replied Sickle, smiling at the Zoroark. "But I'm also practical."

"If that even makes sense." Hank returned to the Grovyle. He then looked over to Volcan. "Yo rookie, c'mere a sec."

"Hm?" Volcan asked, stepping closer to Hank. "What's up?"

"Good luck with yer mega evolution shit." He said, then he leaned up close and whispered in his ear. "Word of advice... don't wait _too_long to make yer move..." He whispered, pulling back with a sly grin.

Volcan eyed him with a questioning gaze. "What?" He asked. "What move?"

He grinned wider. "I'll tell ya later." He returned, sneaking another wink at him.

Volcan looked at him oddly for a moment, before, at Luke's insistence, they left the hospital room, following the Lucario out, with Sickle and Howler following them to the front door, saying goodbye to them as they stepped out of the hospital and headed their separate ways.

"Alright then, teach," Volcan said to Luke, looking at the stone in his hand again, the light of it reflecting in his eyes as they walked down the street. "I'm ready to start learning..."

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NOTE: I recently lost my usual Word program and am now left using OpenOffice; uploading these chapters apparently causes some errors when I copy right from there, so please bear with me if you see any errors such as inconsistent paragraphs and indents X(