Dameon's P.O.V.

"Michka!" Kate happily called out to her savior and friend. It had been several days since the incident with Crowley and James, and Kate was feeling better after being nursed of her injuries by Kenta. At first, it was a real struggle to get Kate to settle down and let Kenta touch her to use his skills. She threw small fits and yelled for Michka to be present by her side each time, as if to continue overseeing her protection. Or safety. She was like a little kid, and it was kind of amusing to watch, but it was clear that she was dependent on Michka to stay sane for the time being. I could understand the reason why, at least. Crowley had traumatized her, beat her, and charred her. However cute Kate's clinginess may have seemed, she was anchoring Michka to our group. Not that that's a bad thing. I wasn't confident that Michka could handle things on her own if she met up with those guys again. I know for sure that they wouldn't give her a third chance.

"Hey, Kate," Michka genuinely laughed as Kate dove into her arms for a hug, "You're doing okay?"

One thing I have noticed, though… Ever since Kate has been staying with us here at our hideout, Michka hasn't been the same. Before Kate, she didn't smile, didn't laugh, didn't talk, and didn't stay around for too long. In fact, it was the same day we met Kate that Michka announced she'd be leaving us. That was before meeting Kate, of course. It's a complete flip of personality. Heh.

"I'm doing really well!" Kate pulls out of the hug to speak face to face with Michka, "Kenta's healing is starting to take away the burn, so it looks nicer now!"

"That's good, Kate," Michka chuckles, patting Kate's head gently, "Are you cooperating with Kenta?"

"Yeah…sometimes," the blonde teen giggled mischievously.

"Kaaate," Michka smirked, placing her arms in akimbo as if readying to reprimand Kate for her mischievous behavior.

"Most times, most times!" Kate raised her hands in defense as she laughed more freely. I just shook my head. For a timid girl, she was certainly bustling with energy around Michka. Not long after their conversation, Kate turned her head and spotted the man we had to call 'Guardian' walking into the cave headquarters from outside with fresh meat, "Oh! Mr. Guardian! You're back!"

"Good morning, Kate," he spoke softly with his husky voice.

"You left so early, I didn't get to see you off!"

"I apologize… I brought more food."

This "Guardian" guy… It's been days, but we still don't have a single drop of information about him, who he is, what his special is, why he helped, nothing. He hasn't even taken off his cloak or gas mask. To have worn a gas mask for days straight, it must be hard to breathe. He may have taken it off while everyone was asleep or no one was looking. Either way, we still know nothing about this guy. I can't complain too much, however. He's very good to us and brings us food every day or every other day. Definitely a helpful addition to the team.

"Awww hell yeaaaah!" Rein threw a fist into the air before jumping towards Guardian and eyeing the dead mammal in his gloved hand. "Man, I LOVE when you bring these corpses back! So cool!"

"I do not enjoy murdering these little ones, as they are innocent," Guardian spoke solemnly, "But they allow us to live on, so I thank them for what they do for us."

"Bleh, don't get all sappy on me, you're the cool one!"

I rubbed my temples before pulling Rein away from Guardian by the neck of her tank top.

"What'a ya think you're doing?!" she fought. I just groaned and let her go when there was enough distance between her and Guardian for him to be comfortable.

"Leave him be, Rein," I began to scold her, "He just got back from doing real work, let him come back to relax."

"Oh, please, Dameon!" she snorted. "As if you do a damn thing!"

Ungrateful, little girl.

"Listen," I pointed a warning finger towards Rein, "I do as much as I can within my power and according to the circumstances. While Kenta is our medic and Guardian is our new primary hunter after I was, I chose to protect you all around the damn clock. Be thankful that I haven't had to do too much."

"Hmph, don't wag your finger at me!" Rein stuck her tongue out at me before turning tail with her arms crossed.

"Ugh. Stop it, you two," Michka called out from where she was sitting on her ground-formed sofa, "No arguing this early in the morning, I don't want to hear it."

"Sure thing, Mom," Rein rolled her eyes as she walked back to "her side" of the cave where Tyranitar was sitting comfortably, waving his tail back and forth as he saw Rein walking to rejoin him.

"Why is Tyranitar never in his Pokeball?" Kate curiously turned to Michka and attempted to whisper.

"He don't like 'em, so I don't make 'im," Rein answered very simply, patting Tyranitar's head, much to his pleasure.

Kate looked towards Michka, looking a little embarrassed that Rein heard her question so easily, and saw that Michka was just pointing towards Rein as if saying 'there's your answer'.

"It's the same thing with Kaizen," Michka added in her opinion while turning her attention to the Blaze Pokemon who was leaning against the wall near the entrance of the cave with his arms crossed, "Not that he doesn't like them, he just prefers to stay out of them as much as possible."

I looked towards Kaizen, Michka's Blaziken. He's a Blaziken in every sense of the word. From abilities to power to personality, he fit the bill perfectly. Something about him gave me another feeling, though, that I just couldn't put my finger on. Each of us here has had a chance to train our team leaders, so I've seen each Pokemon in combat, but I've also noticed that only two of us have diverse teams that can combat different enemies.

My eyes darted until they were met with Michka's figure. She and I had a team capable of battling multiple types while everyone else had only one, maybe two, types in their party. That's why no matter where we go, one of us had to be with the group. Unannounced leaders, you could call us.

"Dameon," the very same woman that I had been speaking of called out to me. I looked up to see Michka, standing by the entrance of the cave, gesturing for me to come over by here. Slightly grumbling, I strode over there, wondering what she would want. Probably a plan. Maybe she felt something? She stroked Kaizen's chest and whispered some words to him before walking out.

"Where are you two goin'?" Rein busied herself in our business, "Don't go off makin' out or somethin' like that unless you bring back somethin' for me!"

"Pft," Michka snorted, and hopped off the ledge on to the one below. I just shook my head and announced to everyone else that we'd be not too far from the entrance, in case they needed something or our assistance.

Out of the cave and walking along the ledge under our "base" we began our slow stroll around the perimeters. We were silent for enough time to round half of the mountain before Michka began.

"We've been here for too long," she didn't look up at all and kept her eyes focused forward, continuing to stroll, "We need to relocate soon to stay on the move so that they don't pinpoint our location after laying waste to all the others."

"Although I agree with you, I feel we've been more than safe where we are," I replied, "I'm sure they'll check around this area, but I've thought about how to combat that."

"You want to fight them with our little Special Force when they find us?" she finally turned her dulled gold eyes in my direction, giving me a look of disapproval. I knew that look well by now, from the many arguments we've gotten into more than enough times so far, "You and I are different from everyone else in there…give or take with Guardian, since we don't know his background info. You and I are the only experienced soldiers, if you can call me that. Everyone else is clueless to war and – "

"Let me cut you off there for a second," I stopped her before I got nagged at. We both stopped walking and faced one another before I began speaking again, "When I said 'to combat that', I didn't mean physically against them. I'm trying to minimize any fighting the team has to do, knowing that they're regular civilians."

"Team?" Michka smirked at that. Ignoring that for now, I continued.

"Yeah, now, what about you? Still, no one knows a thing about you and your background. I've asked Kate, but she doesn't know a thing either, as warmed up to you as she is," our eye contact seemed to have gotten tense once I began this topic, "Who are you? Why does Crowley take a set on you? Even with his hunting of Kate, it almost seemed as if he were trying to pry you out of hiding. You're something he wants, that's what I take out of the events that have happened since meeting you."

Michka's eyes slightly narrowed, but not as much as I thought they would have.

"Think of me as a police officer with special ties," was all she said before turning back towards the direction of the cave opening.

"That's it?" I called out to her, though she didn't stop walking.

"It's what I said, isn't it?"

"A police officer doesn't have such a high-standing badge."

Instantly, Michka's foot stomped on the ground and she whirled her upper body 'round to see me holding her Federal badge. I know I made a risky move by taking her stuff, but she wasn't telling us anything, and that was too suspicious to keep it that way. Stepping back towards me, slight tremors rumbling at our feet, she shoved my chest harshly and grabbed her badge.

"You fuck!" she yelled up at me. It would have been a little more amusing to see a woman a foot shorter than me acting tough if I hadn't known she was actually tough, "Going through my shit like that, who do you fucking think you are?"

If looks could kill, she was definitely firing rifles at me right now. She grabbed my shirt, but I had enough and grabbed her hand in return.

"Stop it," I calmly, but sternly, spoke to her. No use in getting into fights right now, we have bigger fish to worry about. She snatched her hand away, but I stepped in front of her path towards the cave entrance, "Listen –"

"Get real," she shoved her shoulder past me and continued on. She is so insufferably…, "Don't steal my stuff and then expect me to just –"

"Seriously, Michka," I took her wrist in my hand to stop her, "We really need to talk about my plan for how to stay completely safe. Or at least moderately safe."

She didn't even look up to me.

"You have until the count of three to let go of my hand or I'll throw my hands," she simply spoke, though I could hear a bit of venom on her tongue, "One."

"Michka."

"Two…"

I groaned as I let go of her wrist and she continued walking away. I dragged my hand across my face in frustration. She could be a real pain in the ass for someone who's supposed to stand next to me as an unwavering leader. With a heavy, annoyed sigh, I walked down the same path she took, heading towards the cave.

"How do you always manage to piss her off?" Kenta joked, chuckling to himself as he elbows me in the side. We were sitting next to each other, going through just-in case strategies, when Michka walked past, still pissed from earlier, "Is that your actual Special or something?"

"Ha ha," I deadpanned, not bothering to give a real retort. That only amused Kenta more as he laughed a little louder. I fought the urge to drag my hand across my face again. Apparently, according to Kenta, I did that pretty often.

"On a more serious note, instead of making this," Kenta pointed to one of our sheets of plans, "a just-in-case strategy, why don't we start that right now?"

"Yeah, I was going to propose that option before –"

"Before ya pissed her off, yeah, yeah, I know," Kenta laughed again while patting my shoulder and standing up, "Just let me handle it, smooth talker."

These guys will be the end of me, I'm sure…

I watched Kenta jog over to Michka, who was brushing Kate's messy blonde hair, and they spoke for a short a while. She suddenly looked past him, straight at me, and with a glare she turned back to Kate, giving a last sentence before Kenta got up and walked back to me. Oh boy…

"Hahahah," Kenta smiled sheepishly while scratching his head, "She says that if you have something to ask, be a big boy and ask her yourself."

"For the love of –"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Kenta laughs, waving his hands, "She'll dig the tunnel with her Rhyperior as soon as she's done with Kate's hair."

"Kenta…," my eyebrows were starting to twitch from the aggravation these guys were instilling in me.

"I'm sorry, I just had to," he smiled innocently, "You were definitely expecting it, that's for sure."

"You guys…," I shook my head and laid on my back, throwing my arm over my face.

Third Person P.O.V.

"Ready, Rhy?" Michka was crouching on her Rhyperior's shoulder, gently stroking his head and passing a soft smile to him, "Kenta and Blackburn want us to dig a tunnel a little far down into the mountain. Like an underground base kind of thing. We're gonna start from around the bend and then seal this opening whenever we want to leave from this side, got it?"

"RHY!" Rhyperior cheered at being able to do some digging – something he's been longing to do for a while. Michka continued to stroke his head to calm him down just a bit.

"Some things to be aware of, Rhy!" the cocoa-skinned girl halted her large Pokemon before he could start drilling at the ground, "Don't hit too deep where you might run into some dangerous substances. Don't drill too hard or too fast. That'll make a heck of a ruckus, which is too noticeable, and since I'll be holding up the ceiling on this level to make sure it doesn't cave in, I'll need you to be a little gentle with the earth, alrighty?"

"Rhy, rhy," he nodded.

"Good," Michka pat his head once again before jumping off his shoulder, "Now you have to wait for my signal to go, okay? Don't go rushing into the ground, you hear?"

With a slight grumble, Rhyperior sat on the ground, crossing his arms as much as a Rhyperior could. Leaving him with a smile, Michka walked towards the others.

"All right, everybody, out," she began to shoo everyone from the cave, "Rhyperior and I need to work our magic."

"Why can't I do any of the breaking?" Rein argued, as usual. Tyranitar sighed at her usual bantering against all of her elders.

"We aren't 'breaking' anything, little girl, we're digging," Michka pulled up her index finger as if making a very clear point, "Two very different things. Breaking is what Rock and Fighting types do. Digging and molding is what we Ground types do. We're just moving the earth somewhere else for the meantime.

"Whatever, whatever," Rein rolled her eyes, "I didn't ask for an entire story."

"Where should we wait, Michka?" Kate asked her friend while holding her hands.

"Guardian, Dame, and I found a good spot around the other side of the mountain to hang around until the job is done," Kenta answered, stepping next to Kate with a dashing grin, "It faces a slight bit of grassland that leads to the ocean, so I'll be able to keep you safe if you're scared."

Kate gave the honorary medic of the group a blank stare before turning back to Michka.

"Please don't be gone too long, I might not be able to hold back for long enough," she groaned, walking beside Guardian to avoid walking next to Kenta.

"Oh, ouch!" Kenta laughed, jogging towards the duo.

As soon as everyone walked out with their belongings, Michka slipped on her short, black gloves while heading back to Rhyperior. Seeing Michka return to him, Rhyperior hopped to his feet, fire seemingly burning in his eyes at the excitement.

"All right, boy," she looked up to him with a mischievous smirk, "Let's get to work."

"It's been an hour," Kate announced, seeming unsettled, "Should we go check on her?"

"She can handle herself, I'm sure!" Kenta's voice was as cheery as usual, skidding rocks across the waterfront they sat beside, "But maybe you should go check if you're concerned?"

"I-I can't go by myself!" the Fire type exclaimed as if it were the most obvious fact, just before turning in the direction of Guardian, "Mr. Guardian, could you go with me?"

His chest gently heaved up and down in a steady pattern. The cloaked man had fallen asleep.

"H-he's asleep?!" Kate, wide-eyed, yelled aloud, "He's never fallen asleep in front of us before…he must be tired, huh?"

"Pipe down!" Rein yelled, her back to everyone as she laid on the grass, "I'm tryna sleep over here!"

Kate quickly stopped talking and kept to herself with a slightly saddened look on her face. Staring at her for a short while, Kenta furrowed his eyebrows before turning to his friend.

"Hey, Blackburn?"

"Really, Kenta?"

"Just take her, yeah?" Kenta slightly pleaded, "Just fly there and fly back. Super quick, super simple!"

Just like Guardian, Dameon had been laying comfortably on the grass, resting up a little. With a disapproving grunt, he propped himself up from his position and stood. He gave Kenta a look that practically yelled 'you're-gonna-do-something-for-me-in-return-and-you're-gonna-like-it'. With a quick chuckle, Kenta smiled and continued chucking rocks across the water's surface.

"C'mon, Kate," Dameon walked closer towards the mountain as the tremors became more noticeable with each step he took towards it, "Let's take a quick trip."

"Y-yes!" Kate jumped up and jogged towards Dameon, "C-coming!"

Once next to Dameon, he takes her petite hands and proceeds to steadily lifting himself and then Kate off of the ground, slowly to not frighten her. He knew too well how easily frightened she could become.

"We're going now."

"Okay!" Kate responded, half anxious and half excited to actually go through the sky – flying! She's only seen Dameon fly a few times and she's seen him carry someone only once, so it gave her an adventurous feel.

Not long after, the two made it to the entrance and stepped in. They might have been scolded for coming into the cave while he digging was still in process and tremors still shook the ground and ceiling, but the cave hadn't caved in, so they assumed that Michka was doing a pretty decent job.

"Michka, it's us!" Dameon yelled aloud to make sure she wouldn't be startled when he and Kate walked in closer to her, "We're just coming to check up on things since it's been an hour now."

Further in the room, Dameon and Kate spotted Michka, standing with her back turned to them and her arms raised to the ceiling. Her arms seemed like they were trembling, if only just a bit, and she didn't acknowledge them yet. Stepping closer, Dameon rounded her to see her face.

"Arceus," he slightly flinched, looking a bit concerned, "Do you realize how pale you look? You're sweating bullets."

"Not only did you come in here and disturb me," Michka began, eyes completely focused ahead of her, not even giving Dameon a sideways glance, "But you brought Kate with you?"

"Hey, I was forced to – "

"Use your power and fly up here?"

Rubbing his temples, Dameon gave himself a few moments.

"What's your big problem with me?" he asked, calmly, with his arms crossed, "Even before the badge, we've had more than our fair share of arguments. What for?"

"What for – Ah!" Michka yelped as her left arm nearly lost focus, pushing force down on the entire left side of her body, and causing her to teeter a bit.

"Whoa," Dameon moved to catch Michka's arms by the biceps and hold them up like she had them, "This is a heavy job. You need help."

"Pft," Michka snorted, as she did often whenever Dameon suggested something. Or whenever Rein said something suggestive, "Not from you."

She slightly shook Dameon's hands off of her.

"Kate," she began, "On my belt, take the Repeat Ball and release my Pokemon."

"Okay!" Kate briskly stepped up to Michka, being careful not to shake or move her, and she scrolled through the Pokeballs clipped to it, "Poke Ball…Poke Ball…Net Ball… Ah! There it is, the Repeat Ball!"

With the Repeat Ball in hand, Kate pressed the central button and released the contents of it. The bright white light began to vanish as the green and white Pokemon stood tall, extending his arms and swinging his elbow blades twice for practice.

"Gall-ade!" he shouted, facing Michka and kneeling on one knee, awaiting her instruction.

"Hey, bud, would you mind holding the ceiling up and still for me?" she smiled warmly towards Gallade, a smile she rarely ever showed and when she did show it, it was strictly reserved for her Pokemon.

"Ade!" he spoke with a single nod. He stood and closed his eyes while his entire body took on a purple glow, and he lifted a single arm upwards, covering the ceiling in a purple glow.

"That's it," Michka breathed a sigh of relief, her face showing that a large weight was lifted off her shoulders, though she still kept her arms up. Not wanting Gallade to do it alone.

"If you really wanna help," Michka finally glanced at Dameon from the corner of her eyes, "it'd be great if you had a Pokemon that can use Psychic or some form of Telekinesis and help Gallade hold up the ceiling."

"Yeah," Dameon fished into his jeans pocket and pulled out a Poke Ball, "Sure, no problem."

Quickly releasing the Pokemon, a dark purple shade floated all around the cave until a pair of red eyes were visible, accompanied by a sinister grin.

"Alright, Gengar, time to work a bit," Dameon called out, sternly, "Help Gallade hold the cave steady for some time, all right?"

"Gar!" Gengar stuck his tongue out, while floating upside down and across, but he obliged to his Trainer's commands and he soon began to glow light purple, further keeping the ceiling in place.

"Phew…," Michka's arms dropped as she wobbled to the side, losing all the strength she had withheld until the moment two other forces came to the aid.

"Steady," Dameon caught her from her back as Kate held her side.

"You don't need to keep catching me, y'know," the brunette tried to lift herself from the help, but her strength had been wiped out.

"Stop being a brat and just let me help you."

Saying nothing more, Dameon lifted Michka and brought her to the cave entrance, leaning her against the wall. Kate quickly sat beside Michka, wrapping her slender arms around her shoulders and letting Michka lean against her chest.

"Aw, Kate, you don't need to…," Michka began, averting her gaze, as her cheeks began to tint a light red.

"Why didn't you use Gallade from the start?" she asked, genuinely concerned. From the look on Dameon's face, he had wanted to ask the same question.

"It's much more useful to have my Pokemon at top notch than to have myself," Michka explained, letting herself ease into Kate, "The cavern underneath is nearly ready, anyhow."

"Huh? How do you –?"

"Rhy says so."

For a moment, Kate seemed confused, tilting her head while trying to understand her friend. Like a light switch turning on, Kate snapped her fingers as if remembering something.

"Oh!" Kate's big blue eyes shined, "He must be the Pokemon you're connected to!"

"Mhm," Michka murmured.

"Despite acting tough," Dameon stood back up on his feet to his full height and smirked down at Michka, "You're really just a big softie, am I right?"

"Piss off."

"No, really," he crossed his arms, peering at her, "Maybe not to people, but I see the way you look at your Pokemon, the way you look at Kaizen. You genuinely love them with everything you've got. Am I wrong?"

"Of course I love them," she snapped. She leaned her head into Kate with a sigh, "Not now, Black."

"As you like."

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Brrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Briiiiiiiii –

"Hello?" Dameon answered his Xtransceiver to have Kenta's hologram jump up before his face, "Kenta? What is it?"

Kenta stood atop a large boulder as he looked out towards the ocean with Dameon still on the other side of the Xtransceiver. A long trail of ice spread from far off, deep in the center of the ocean, was heading straight for the mountain area at a fast pace, and on top of that – a person – could be no other than another Special powering it with a wintery blast flowing from her hands along the water. It was a young woman, and she didn't seem like she was friendly or planned on stopping her charge.

"Dame, I think we're about to have a problem."

A/N: Happy (belated) birthday to me! I'm gettin' old, bruh. This was supposed to be up yesterday, but I was partying too hard (not really). Things seemed to have been going well until - what's this? A federal badge?! Now someone's heading straight for the mountain? This can't be anything good, can it?

OCs Met So Far:

Michka Morré (?/Ground Type)

Crowley Drake (BAD/Fire Type)

Dameon Blackburn (GOOD/Dragon Type)

Reinforce Yukimura (GOOD/Dark Type)

James Skyes (BAD/Electric Type)

Levinette Arole (BAD/Psychic Type)

Asami Liu (BAD/Poison Type)

Dane Stark (GOOD/Grass Type)

Cura Belle (GOOD/Normal Type)

ViVian Arole (BAD/Bug Type)

Milo Morré (?/Ghost Type)

Kenta Hammer (GOOD/?)

Kate Argasen (GOOD/Fire Type)

"Guardian"(?/?)

Westley (BAD/?)

? (?/Ice Type)

For other stories that I, personally, keep up with surrounding a somewhat AU Pokémon world:

Rise of the Hybrid by CaptainPrice

Pokémon and humans have been interacting with each other since time began. Now a new discovery of a special gene that resides in humans may bring them closer together than ever before. This is my take on humans with Pokémon powers and abilities.

UnVeRsE by WonderHeroe

In the distant future the world is crumbling in disorder. People are manipulated and Pokémon are used as tools and weaponry. Soon, everyone and everything will be asleep within the Dusk and no one will be free. With the future in shambles, it's up to the ordinary to become the extraordinary. Multi-OC story. M for adult language, violence, and suggestions.

Elementals by Morris Archeltum

"You think you can keep hiding? You think they'll just look the other way? Well you don't have that luxury! They probably already KNOW what you are- What WE are- and they won't leave you alone... Run or fight, those are our options, and with only two of us, fighting is out of the question...we're half-breeds...life will never be normal." M for violence and MAYBE explicit content.

I'm confident that you'll find these fics to be exceptionally alluring, so give them a read and tell these guys what you think!