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Penny groaned and rolled over in bed as one of the alarms on her computer started going off. It was the tone she had reserved for things that were actually important, too, so she couldn’t just clamp a pillow over her head and pretend that it didn’t exist. Well, she could, but she shouldn’t.
She sat up, accidentally dislodging Bowser from where he was serving as a heating pad; the Flareon tumbled to the floor and accidentally set the carpet on fire with a startled spit of flame before Sidon, well used to his teammate’s accidents by now, doused the flame with a little jet of water. Penny sighed and reached down for apology scritches before fumbling for her glasses, which were deposited in her hand by one of Zelda’s ribbons.
Now that she could see, she popped open her laptop and checked the alarm- it was a security alert from the Zero Lab.
Penny groaned; it was probably just Jules or Nemona running off to fight the weird ancient Pokemon again. She should really move those alerts to a lower priority. Just in case, she pulled up one of the few still-working camera feeds to check.
That wasn’t Jules or Nemona. (Come to think of it, the both of them were off in Unova with Geeta for some Champion-related thing right now.)
What it was was a bunch of people with teal bowl cuts and uniforms like a retro sci-fi cosplay hauling in a bunch of mining equipment. Which was a problem, because between the stuff that was immediately dangerous and the stuff that could be dangerous in the wrong hands, Geeta had put the whole place off-limits to anyone who didn’t have her permission to be there- and for good reason. Penny had read the reports (that she had dubiously legitimate access to) about the potential for a region-shattering explosion or collapse in the worst-case scenarios.
Geeta was also unavailable right now. In fact, since this was a break week at the academy, most people were unavailable right now- heck, the only reason Penny was still here was because her dad was out in the wilderness looking for Pokemon, and Penny wasn’t really one for camping (and hadn’t felt like asking dad to cut the trip short just to hang out with her). Penny sent messages out to everyone relevant anyway, but it would be a while before any of them could get back.
Basically no adults were on hand at the moment, Arven was in Kalos for a paid internship with that famous Elite Four chef that Jules had somehow gotten for him, all of the Blueberry kids were at, well, Blueberry, and Penny wasn’t about to bring Poppy into the murder hole. That left only a very small group of people who Penny could trust and were potentially strong enough trainers to go through Area Zero- the Team Star bosses.
Penny’s first instinct was to recoil at the thought of dragging any of her treasures into something that perilous, but… this was important. The more Penny studied Area Zero, the more she realized that there was the potential for someone to use it to cause a lot of trouble if they wanted. And the crater wasn’t as dangerous as it used to be, now that Nemona had caught the second Koraidon, the AI’s security measures were gone, and new paradoxes weren’t coming through. Plus, now that all of Penny’s friends were hanging out together, everyone’s team had wound up getting a strength boost courtesy of Nemona- even Penny had overhauled her Veevees’ moves based on her and Jules’ ideas.
Penny had done stupider things for worse reasons. She pulled up the Team Star groupchat and started typing.
vv-queen: im really sorry to ask this
vv-queen: but do any of you want to go to area 0 with me to do something important but dangerous
vv-queen: and maybe a little stupid
MadeForFirewalking: when and where
Fairy_Prince: She literally just said Area Zero.
MadeForFirewalking: thats not when dumbass
vv-queen: asap
Starheart: omw!
Fairy_Prince: Should I get some supplies? Starmobiles?
Fairy_Prince: Do you think the Starmobiles can handle the terrain in there?
vv-queen: probably not
vv-queen: but healing items for pokemon would be helpful
Fairy_Prince: I’ll stop and buy out the Full Restores, then.
vv-queen: revives might be good too just in case
VenomShadow: Perilous Quests are best undertaken with True Companions
VenomShadow: it would be my Honor to assist you, no matter the Endeavor
DJVICE: name a time and place and we’ll always be there
DJVICE: you can count on that
Starheart: yeah!
vv-queen: you guys
vv-queen: thank you so much
vv-queen: lets meet up outside the academy
vv-queen: ill explain on the way
---
Less dangerous or not, Area Zero didn’t feel any less freaky. But it was easier with repetition, and easier with friends.
Said friends were currently surrounding Penny, keeping an eye on things while some of their more obviously fearsome Pokemon walked with them to discourage the wild ones. Penny was taking advantage of their protection to research the team that they might be facing in battle soon on her phone.
“It looks like these guys are from a sketchy energy company called Team Galactic that’s headquartered in Sinnoh.” she reported. “They’ve been involved in a bunch of nonsense- apparently they blew up a lake once?- and it keeps mentioning how they nearly destroyed the universe one time, but won’t give any details.”
“A legendary, right?” Mela suggested. “That’s usually what happens.”
“I’ve heard of legendaries that can threaten regions before,” Eri mused, “but the whole universe?”
Giacomo thought for a moment.
“Aren’t Sinnoh’s legendaries supposed to have something to do with time and space, though?”
“No, they have Psychic types that embody emotion, willpower, and knowledge.” Ortega corrected.
“Yeah, in the lakes, but I’m pretty sure they also have, like, spacetime dragons or something.”
Penny groaned.
“So we have a bunch of idiots who thought messing with dragons that control reality was a good idea, and they’re running around in a lab full of super powerful energy that no one fully understands, that also has the remains of an actual working time machine-”
“The remains of what?” Ortega yelped.
“Oh, right, that’s still classified. Don’t tell anyone I told you that, please.”
“If stuff like that is down there…” Eri trailed off and shook her head. “I can see why you were worried.”
“Fear not!” Atticus cut in. “With our powers working in concert, we will doubtless win the day, no matter what trials lie before us.”
“Speaking of which, freaky Pokemon at three o’clock!” Mela cut in.
Everyone turned to look at it, and then everyone except Penny relaxed.
“It’s not that freaky,” said Ortega, approaching slowly. “Honestly, it looks pretty tame for a wild Pokemon. Let me see if I can calm it down.”
“No!” Penny yelled, lunging forward and pulling Ortega back by the collar an instant before he would have been swatted off a cliff by a Scream Tail. The two of them tumbled to the ground in a heap, and Penny fumbled for a Pokeball, before Giacomo beat her to it and had his Kingambit land a Sucker Punch that didn’t do much.
“It’s psychic and fairy!” Penny called out as a Psychic Fangs splashed over the Kingambit to no effect.
“Gotcha! Nocturne, try Iron Head!”
That hit harder, and the Scream Tail fell back with a yelp before Ortega’s furious Hatterene caught up and finished the job with a Shadow Ball.
There was a tense moment before Ortega let out a shaky laugh.
“As if I didn’t owe you enough. Thank you very much, Penny.”
“D-don’t mention it.”
If Eri noticed how much Penny’s hands were shaking as she pulled her and Ortega up, she was kind enough to just pull the both of them in for a hug instead of mentioning it.
“What part of ‘dangerous wild Pokemon’ did you not understand, Ortega?” Mela groused.
“Hey, I-”
“I did kind of the same thing the first time I saw a Scream Tail.” Penny admitted before an argument could start.
“They do hide their savage disposition quite artfully,” said Atticus.
“Yeah, just, in Area Zero, if you see a Pokemon you don’t recognize, assume it’s gonna try and get you.” Penny told them.
“Noted.”
“Alright, into the depths then!” Mela said cheerfully. “More carefully, this time.”
---
They managed to avoid any further incidents until they were right outside the entrance of the lab, where they were confronted by a crowd of agitated ancient Pokemon.
“Probably stirred up by these Galactic guys,” said Eri.
“Doesn’t look like we can get around them either.” Giacomo added as Flutter Manes started circling around the party.
“We’ll just have to show them some Team Star spirit, then,” said Mela, slamming a fist into her palm.
Penny nodded as she sent out her Umbreon.
“Be careful, these guys hit hard. Ridley, Light Screen!”
The shield of light went up just in time to dull the effects of a Dazzling Gleam, and the fight was on.
It was five minutes of pure Pokemon brawling between Team Star’s Pokemon and the paradoxes, with ancient brawn and speed going up against modern training and movesets. There were a few scary hits, but the modern team prevailed in the end, as Penny called out types and information about the ancient mons so that every hit against them could be effective, while the trainerless wild mons frequently used weak or useless moves against their targets. Penny also kept an eye out for whenever someone’s Pokemon was in trouble so that she could send a Veevee to the rescue, and with that kind of coordination, soon all the ancient mons had fainted or fled.
Penny’s friends even managed a few catches; Giacomo had gotten frustrated enough to chuck a Timer Ball at a particularly stubborn Brute Bonnet, Ortega caught a fleeing Flutter Mane by surprise, and Eri snagged a Great Tusk because she felt sorry for it after it got poisoned.
“Is this, you know, okay?” Eri asked, cradling the Heal Ball.
“These ancient Pokemon actually get used to humans really quickly,” Penny assured her. “Though I’d probably wait to let them out until Jules or Arven or Nemona are back to help you out.”
“Well, that’s good, but I meant are we gonna get in trouble for catching these?”
Penny thought for a second. Technically, there was no rule against catching the paradoxes, even if no one who wasn’t a champion had done it before now. Really, they were the invasivest species ever, so Geeta ought to thank them. And if she didn’t, well, Penny had ways to deal with that, and more friends to sic on her.
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Penny told Eri.
Eri beamed.
“Awesome!”
There was a clatter from near the lab entrance; the whole party whirled, expecting another wild Pokemon, but instead it was one of the bowl-cutted grunts, who peeked outside, saw them, and ran for it.
“So much for the element of surprise.” Ortega sighed.
“Is there a back door?” Giacomo asked.
“Nope.” Penny told him. “We’re lucky this one’s still open, even.”
“Well, our course, however strait, seems clear,” said Atticus. “Let us grant our companions succour and proceed into the citadel.”
---
The lab was still a rather forbidding place, but Penny comforted herself with the thought that it couldn’t be worse than last time. Tracks and debris from where Galactic had forced the doors and dragged in a bunch of equipment lined the hall, and their bustling back and forth echoed from the main chamber.
No one was guarding the door into the main lab, and the party walked right into the main room, where bowl-cutted grunts milled about everywhere, and the one who had run off earlier was giving a breathless report to three commanders that Penny recognized from her earlier research.
“-and they- aah! They’re right there!”
Everyone turned to stare at Penny and the others, who admittedly made for quite a sight, since no one except Penny had the sense to wear something practical for an expedition into Area Zero instead of their boss outfits. (At least Mela had settled for knee-high boots.) Penny wilted for a moment under their stares, before shaking her head; her friends were counting on her to lead them. Time to be Cassiopeia.
“Who the heck are you?” asked Mars.
“I’d call you lost circus performers, but there’s no way someone could get lost down here by accident,” added Jupiter.
“Why, you-” Mela started, before Saturn, who seemed to be in charge, cut her off.
“Now, now, no need to get testy,” he said. “My name is-”
“Saturn, Team Galactic’s top commander.” Penny cut in. “Along with Mars and Jupiter. Would you care to explain why the second-sketchiest energy company in the world is running around in a restricted area in the wrong region?”
“Second-sketchiest?” Mars asked, affronted.
“What, would you rather be first?” Jupiter snarked.
“Kind of?”
“We are here to research the potential of Area Zero,” proclaimed Saturn, ignoring his compatriots. “Team Galactic is always on the lookout for new energy sources to pave the way to a brighter future.”
“And you came down here without telling anyone because…?” Giacomo asked.
“Well, no one would give us permission.” Saturn admitted. “But the power that could be unlocked! I only managed to read about half a page of the report that was on the champion’s desk before she covered it up, but the numbers are astonishing.”
“Who are you to question us, anyway?” Jupiter asked. “You sure don’t look like you’re with the Paldea League?”
“We’re Team Star!” Mela exclaimed.
“And we’ll question whatever we like.” Ortega added.
“League or not, we don’t want our region messed up by a bunch of tourists playing with things they don’t understand,” said Giacomo.
“I understand plenty, thank you,” said Saturn. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“We could blow up Paldea?” Mars suggested.
“Not helping, Mars.” Saturn gritted out.
“You could blow up the region,” said Penny. “Or collapse the caverns, or drive the Pokemon here out of the crater and cause an ecological catastrophe. Considering your history…”
“I didn’t know Cyrus wanted to destroy the universe!” Saturn protested.
“I was referring to you blowing up Lake Valor, actually.”
“That was one time!”
“If you want to play around down here, I want you to promise that you’re going to be careful.” Penny concluded.
“And if we say no?” Jupiter asked. “What are you going to do about it? In case you haven’t noticed, you’re a little outnumbered.”
Penny had noticed that, actually. But showing weakness now could be bad, so she was doing her best to ignore the growing crowd of grunts filling the room and surrounding them.
Behind her, Eri laughed.
“You think we’re scared of a bunch of grunts? Dream on!”
“Numbers alone do not decide battles.” Atticus added.
“Jupiter, please.” Saturn scolded. “There’s no need to fight.”
“Wimp.”
“We aren’t going to do anything reckless, so there’s no need to worry. Our bombing days are behind us. Why, we didn’t even bring any explosives with us this time!”
“What about-oof!” Mars was cut off with a hiss as Jupiter elbowed her in the ribs.
“No real explosives!” Saturn clarified as his fellow Commanders started scuffling behind him. “We’re just here to look around, take some readings, and maybe take a few little tiny samples of these crystals.”
“You sure brought an awful lot of minions if that’s all you’re doing.” Ortega pointed out suspiciously.
“Well, it is dangerous down here.” Saturn explained as Jupiter tapped out from the half nelson Mars had gotten her in. “Can’t be too careful.”
“You’re not going to blow anything up?” Penny demanded. “Or try and mess with any legendaries?”
“No, no, no,” Saturn assured her. “Exploration only, nothing that has even the slightest risk of damaging-”
“Commander Saturn!” said an enthusiastic grunt rushing in from the back. “The Galactic Bombs are primed and ready! Have you decided where you want to start blasting the first mineshaft yet, sir?”
The room was dead silent, except for the sound of Jupiter’s forehead impacting her palm.
“Guess we’re battling, then.” Mars laughed.
“Darn right!” Mela yelled. “Get ready to get burned by a Team Star nova!”
“Well, at least this might be fun.” Jupiter sighed.
“You know, the Galactic Bombs are a lot safer than they…used…” Saturn trailed off as Penny glared at him. Then he snapped his head up to meet her gaze. “Fine. We’re not letting a bunch of kids get in the way of a better world yet again. I’ll handle the leader. Team Galactic, attack!”
Penny sent out her Umbreon again, while Saturn led with a Kadabra. Around them, the room burst into chaos as everyone else set to battling too. Penny was just going to have to trust her friends to handle themselves while she dealt with the boss.
“Ridley, Light Screen.” Penny ordered, while across from her, Saturn cursed, withdrew the Kadabra, and sent out a Toxicroak.
Now it was Penny’s turn to bite back a curse. She thought about switching, but none of her other Veevees would particularly appreciate getting switched into one of a Toxicroak’s attacks, and Ridley was tough enough to hopefully take one good hit.
“Psychic!”
“Brick Break!”
The Toxicroak lunged, but got nowhere near Ridley before he glared, flared his markings, and sent the other Pokemon flying into the opposite wall in a heap. Penny blinked; she’d expected a Toxicroak to be faster.
Saturn sent out a Golbat, and Penny had Ridley use Reflect, sending the screen up a moment before the Golbat hit home with a Confuse Ray.
Penny switched out her confused Umbreon, and sent in Pit; her Jolteon took an Air Cutter to the face, but barely noticed the hit. Saturn switched in a Bronzong, just as Penny gave her next order.
“Thunder!”
The bolt crashed down and KOed the Bronzong in one shot. Saturn sent out the Kadabra again; it tried something, but Penny never found out what, because Pit was faster and one-shot it with a Shadow Ball.
The Golbat came out again and caught a Volt Switch to the face, which knocked it out. Penny pivoted in Ridley again, ready to reset some screens, only to be faced by an empty field and Saturn gawping at her.
“Was that all your Pokemon?” Penny asked.
“Gah…how?” Saturn spluttered. “Well, whatever! You and your dumb team are still going to lose.”
Penny ignored him and went to help her friends with the rest of the grunts. Not that they seemed to need it much. Eri was putting the fear of Annihilape in them, Ortega looked delightfully smug as his cute Pokemon effortlessly tossed around fearsome foes twice their size, and Giacomo was adding insult to injury with a clever one-liner after each victory.
“Hah!” Mela crowed as her Houndoom scored a particularly nasty Fire Blast on Jupiter’s Bronzong. “I’ll melt you down to slag! Attaboy, Blazer!”
“Don’t get cocky, you fashion disaster.” Jupiter snarled back.
“Oh, like you’re one to talk!”
The only Galactic member who seemed to be holding her own was Mars; her Earthquake-using Scolipede gave Atticus fits until he thought to switch in his Revavroom early and use its Zen Headbutt- only for Mars to send in a Salazzle and put Atticus in the unusual position of having one of his Pokemon poisoned.
Penny picked out a few stray grunts and sent out her Leafeon; Isabelle could get antsy if she went too long without exercise, and she was sure to enjoy this. Sure enough, Isabelle’s Leaf Blade was enough to one-shot every Pokemon she encountered. Including the Poison- and Flying-types. Huh. Apparently even half-hearted training with two champions really paid off.
Meanwhile, Jupiter’s last Pokemon was overpowered by Mela’s Armarouge, and the Baneful Bunker-Venoshock combo on Atticus’s Toxapex reduced Mars to her final fighter, a Purugly.
“Don’t worry, guys!” Mars called, holding up a dented Tera Orb. “I think I figured out how to work this thing!”
Sure enough, she had, and the familiar energy burst out and covered her Purugly, terastallizing it into… a Steel-type, somehow?
“Ah.” Atticus winced. “A masterful stroke, yet the struggle continues.”
“I dunno what this does, but I bet it’s cool,” said Mars. “Go get ‘em, Pancake!”
What was left of the grunts seemed to be heartened by their commander’s display, and that wouldn’t do, would it? Mars wasn’t the only one here who could pull off that trick. Penny sent out Zelda, letting her Sylveon cry out to draw attention before pulling out her own Tera Orb and leaning into the dramatic a little. The Tera energy swelled, and it almost felt like the crescendo of a song was playing as she cried out:
“Become who you want to be, and blast everything into stardust!”
Penny followed up her proclamation by having Zelda use Moonblast on the toughest looking Muk in sight; the boosted attack got a KO despite the resistance and left the Muk lying in a little crater on the floor until it was recalled.
The rest of the grunts gave up after that, and Penny got to bask in the admiration of her friends before checking in on the last battle still going, where Mars and Atticus were both down to their last Pokemon; a rather battered Purugly that had already beaten two other ‘mons versus a Revavroom.
“Shadow Claw!”
“Overheat!”
The Purugly struck first, but Revavroom just barely hung on, and thanks to the Steel Tera, the super-effective Overheat did the trick.
Mars shook her head as she called her Pokemon back.
“Dang it! Ah, well. Good battle, kid.”
Just like that, the only active Pokemon left in the lab belonged to Team Star. Penny’s more extroverted friends cheered, and Penny herself cracked a smile. The energy in the room was electric, almost as if-
Penny blinked and looked over at Giacomo.
“Did you bring a speaker with you?”
Giacomo shrugged and turned off the speaker on his belt that had been playing the theme music he had written for he and his fellow bosses.
“Seemed like it’d get everyone in the right mood for a battle.”
“Utterly defeated by teenagers who play their own theme music,” Jupiter sighed. “This is easily one of the top five most humiliating things to ever happen to Team Galactic.”
“Worse than that time in Alola?” Mars asked. “Or Saturn’s dumb plan with all the exercise bikes?”
“One of the top ten most humiliating things to ever happen to Team Galactic.”
“Ah…so, about our expedition?” Saturn asked.
“You’re going to carefully gather up your bombs and the rest of your stuff, and then we’re leaving.” Penny told him.
Saturn held up a hand like he wanted to protest, then sighed.
“I suppose we don’t have a choice.”
“You don’t.”
---
Getting out of the crater while escorting so many grunts was a bit awkward, but they managed; the wild ‘mons weren’t eager for a repeat of their last fight with Team Star. Things got a lot less awkward when they got to the edge of the crater and ran into Director Clavell, who had gotten Penny’s offhand text while on the other side of Paldea and rushed over in record time with every vaguely qualified adult he could scrounge up. It was really rather kind of him; Penny made a note to do something nasty online to some of the ‘parents’ rights’ circles who complained about him not spying on their kids enough, as a thank you.
In no time, they made it back to the Academy, where the grunts were herded into the cafeteria for sandwiches and Pokemon healing, while the commanders waited in Clavell’s office with Penny and her friends. Saturn and Jupiter sat sullenly, while Mars struck up a conversation with Atticus, trading advice about Poison-types.
“Yeah, I like to pick up Pokemon that I find rummaging through the trash, ‘cause I think it shows spirit, and somehow I wound up with half a team of Poison-types that way,” Mars was saying as Penny got done sending ‘all clear’ messages and started paying attention.
“Explains a lot.” Jupiter muttered not quite under her breath.
“Hey, who’s the strongest battler in Galactic after the boss these days?” Mars asked.
“Only because Cyrus keeps letting you take vacations to other regions under the guise of training!” Saturn snapped.
“Whadda you mean, ‘guise’? I actually am stronger now.”
Clavell came back in before the commanders could argue any more.
“Excellent news,” he said. “I had put a call in to the Sinnoh League before setting out to the crater, and the response was surprisingly quick. Apparently a very important person is coming to deal with this mess, and has actually arrived by Pokemon in the courtyard just now.”
“Please don’t be her, please don’t be her, please don’t be her,” Saturn started praying.
The clack of heeled boots echoed down the hallway, the office door was flung open rather forcefully, and the Champion of Sinnoh stormed into the room.
“Aw, Heatran’s slag.” Jupiter cursed.
“Lovely to see you too, Jupiter,” Dawn shot back as she stalked towards the commanders, the long red coat that she wore as a tribute to her predecessor swirling around her. “Now. Explain.”
“Well, you see,” Saturn started, “last month, when you called me to your office over the Honey Incident, you had a lot of papers on your desk, and I happened to glance over them, just kind of thoughtlessly, you understand, not attempting to spy or anything, and I saw some of the readings about Area Zero and-”
“Explain more succinctly.”
“I wanted to mine in Area Zero to figure out if the tera crystals could be used as an effective energy source if they were removed in large amounts.” Saturn hastily got out. “No one would let me go in there, but I saw the incredible readings in the papers on your desk and decided that the potential was enough to do it anyway.”
Dawn tilted her head and smiled in a way that made it clear why she had been voted ‘scariest champion’ for a decade and counting.
“Ah, I see. And did you consider that those incredible readings might have something to do with the fact that no one wanted you in particular to go anywhere near them?”
“Um…”
“You’d think that you’d have learned your lesson after what happened the last five times you went off to another region to stumble around the most dangerous places there in search of a magic energy source. Especially after Alola. Or Galar- I still get snippy emails from Gloria over that, you know.”
Penny felt a nudge at her shoulder; it was Mela, handing out snacks as everyone watched Galactic’s dressing-down.
“Oh, come on!” Jupiter complained as she saw them. “Really?”
Dawn’s gaze turned to Jupiter, who seemed to immediately regret drawing attention to herself.
“And just why did you decide to come along on this, let me be clear, incredibly idiotic expedition, Jupiter?”
“Thought it’d be fun.” Jupiter muttered sheepishly.
“Of course. And you, Mars?”
“Cyrus asked me to tag along in case of trouble.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Dawn turned back to Saturn. “Cyrus was very surprised to hear that you were in Paldea. What did you tell him?”
“That we were heading down south to do some field research.” Saturn admitted.
Dawn shook her head.
“I have got to teach him to be more suspicious of you. So, you went to Area Zero, but you don’t seem to be there now. I don’t suppose you had a sudden epiphany about how stupid you were being and left on your own?”
“Hey, I think our plan was very reasonable in terms of risks versus potential rewards.”
“Actually,” Ortega cut in, wearing his best innocent face, “he was planning on blasting mineshafts with something called a ‘galactic bomb’, if I heard correctly.”
“Haven’t you people ruined my day enough already?” Saturn complained.
“Thank you, that’s very interesting,” said Dawn, glaring even harder at Saturn. “Especially since a certain somebody promised me that all of the Galactic Bombs were dismantled.”
“The design was considerably refined, explosives in mining are perfectly normal, and frankly, I feel like I have the right to complain somewhat about having my potentially world-changing scientific expedition cut off by an attack from a gang of teenage delinquents!”
Saturn finished his complaint by glaring at Penny; her friends all bristled, but Clavell pointedly cleared his throat before anyone else could speak.
“Team Star is a credit to this academy and to Paldea as a whole, thank you.”
“Yeah, ignore Saturn,” Mars agreed. “He’s just pissy because their boss swept him in seven moves.”
“Hah!” Dawn laughed, quite genuinely. “Saturn getting swept, now that brings me back. So Team Star stopped you before you could cause a catastrophe and probably get yourselves killed in the process. Quite heroic. I think you ought to show your appreciation by paying out double the usual prize money for all the battles that I’m sure you lost.”
“Ah, well, that sounds nice,” said Saturn, “but it wasn’t easy to arrange transportation to Paldea for everyone, and some of this equipment was quite expensive as well, so paying out double prize money for all of our grunts might be just a bit of a strain on the budget. Perhaps you ought to consider the effect on Team Galactic’s finances?”
Dawn smiled brightly at him.
“You’re absolutely right, Saturn. I really should consider the effect that I would like to have on Team Galactic’s finances. Triple.”
“Hey-”
“Shut up before she makes it quadruple.” Mars hissed as she got Saturn in a headlock.
Triple prize money? Penny could appreciate that. Her Veevees were gonna get even more spoiled than they already were.
“Now, I’ve arranged flights to take all of you back to Sinnoh.” Dawn concluded. “They leave in six hours, and if you miss them, I will be even more annoyed with you than I already am, so I suggest you get going.”
“As you wish.” Saturn sighed.
“Welp, guess we’re leaving,” said Mars, waving at Team Star. “See you guys around. Atticus, I’ll be sure and get you added to the Poison specialist groupchat. Oh, and, uh, Giacomo? You’re the one who wrote that battle music, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me. I go by DJ Vice on Exploudcloud if you wanna hear more.”
“Ooh, I’ll have to look that up later, but I was actually wondering if you took commissions?”
Giacomo blinked, then laughed.
“Sure, why not? Gimme your number and we’ll work it out later.”
“Are you seriously going to buy your own theme song?” Jupiter asked incredulously as Mars wrote down her number.
“Master Cyrus says that my self-expression is charming and I should lean into it more.” Mars said primly.
“Can we just leave already?” Saturn snapped.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
With a last wave from Mars, the three commanders set off. As they reached the door, Dawn spoke up once more.
“Oh, Saturn and Jupiter? One last thing.”
The two commanders stopped dead in the doorway to listen.
“The next time either of you so much as sets a toe outside of Sinnoh without running it by me, I will let Gloria feed you to the alien crystal murder dragon.”
“What about Mars?” Jupiter complained.
“Without you two, Mars only commits misdemeanors, so it isn’t my problem. Have a nice flight.”
The bickering and grumbling commanders left, and Dawn waited for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath.
“Well, at least no one got hurt. Director, if you could please convey to Geeta my deepest apologies and my assurance that this will never happen again, I would appreciate it.”
“Of course.”
“And as for the rest of you…” Dawn looked them over appraisingly, before reaching out to shake Penny’s hand. “Thank you for handling that, and I’m sorry that you had to pick up my slack.”
“It happens.” Penny shrugged. “Thanks for the extra reward money. It’ll go to a good cause.”
“Which is?” Dawn asked.
“Treating all our Pokemon for their good work.”
Dawn smiled.
“The best cause there is. If there’s a silver lining to this, it’s getting to meet you.”
Dawn pulled out a business card and flipped it over to Penny.
“I somehow get the feeling we’ll meet again. If any of you ever happen to visit Sinnoh, give me a call. We’ll get you the VIP treatment. Now if you’ll excuse me, I had best get after Saturn before he somehow manages to tear a hole in reality on the way to the airport or something.”
She left, and Clavell sat down at his desk.
“You’ve had quite the long day, so I won’t keep you any longer. Suffice it to say that that was well done. Do get some rest.”
Penny was starting to feel exhaustion catching up with her and didn’t need to be told twice. They all made it back to the dorms, but before they could part ways, Penny decided that she didn’t feel like being alone and dragged everyone inside.
“Cuddle pile kind of night?” Eri asked, bemused.
“It might be.”
Penny promptly found herself on the floor buried in friends and Veevees; the pile ought to have been uncomfortable, but instead it just felt like home.
“Have I ever told you all how great you are?” Penny asked as she started to drift off.
“All the time,” said Mela.
“With considerable eloquence and elaboration.” Atticus agreed.
“But, hey, don’t let that stop you.” Giacomo added.
“You guys are great. Best friends anyone could ask for. Greatest treasures. Love you all.”
And with that, Penny nestled into them and dropped off to a well-earned sleep.