A/N: Greetings all, it's ya boy.

Now if some of you are thinking that you may have seen this before, it's possible. Back in the day I had another account where this fic was my pride and joy, the epic piece I was building up to finish. Personal life got in the way, however, and made me quit Fanfiction for a while; now I'm back, I wanted to finish what I started, and wanted to update (but not totally rewrite) this to fix some of the little flaws younger me was blind to. So here we are!

To any who have returned, I'm glad you're here, but to all who are new to my work, welcome! This is inspired by Looker's misadventures in Unova, hunting down the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. There will be action, chase scenes, explosions, acts of a badass nature and some tomfoolery to boot, and I hope you enjoy this fic- its prequel, the story of Looker versus Galactic, will be due shortly!

I hope you enjoy...

A light early morning breeze blew through Veilstone City, picking up the leaves on the ground and twirling them around in a miniature blustery tornado. It was very quiet in the city. There were a couple of shoppers, arms already laden with shopping bags, sat outside the Department Store having a coffee and a natter. There was a small group of hungover, grumpy men outside the Game Corner, tired after spending the night gambling their cash away on the slot machines. And, as always, there was a gaggle of small children around the entrance to the Veilstone Gym, many disappointed at not being able to win against Maylene, a few lucky ones parading their badges around and celebrating as if they'd won the Sinnoh League. Otherwise, Veilstone was quiet.

From his bench outside the Pokemon Centre, one man watched the world pass by through his deep brown eyes, occasionally adjusting his black, combed over hair as the breeze messed it up. He was dressed smartly- he wore a white shirt with a black tie, black trousers and shoes and a burgundy waistcoat, with a long brown overcoat over the top. If you passed him by, you would have thought he was a lawyer, or perhaps a casually-dressed businessman. He was neither. He was Looker, Detective of the International Police. And he was relaxing.

For the past few months, Looker had been in Sinnoh investigating the shady Galactic Corporation, a company who seemed to be researching methods of providing cheap, clean and renewable energy throughout the Sinnoh region. However, in his investigations Looker had uncovered Team Galactic, an evil organisation whose boss, a rich philanthropist called Cyrus, was intent on destroying the universe and building a new one in his image. He had come very close too; at Spear Pillar atop Mount Coronet, Cyrus had nearly destroyed creation itself with a Red Chain and the power of Dialga and Palkia. Only with the timely intervention of Looker, three young Trainers from Twinleaf Town, the Champion of Sinnoh and the Legendary Pokemon Giratina itself had Cyrus been defeated. The would-be destroyer of worlds was now trapped in a separate, sealed off dimension ruled by Giratina; Cyrus was out of Looker's reach, but there was no chance he would return to the real world any time soon.

But had Looker's job been done then? Of course not. The remnants of Team Galactic, led by the corrupt scientist Charon, had nearly awakened the Legendary Heatran at Stark Mountain, nearly causing a catastrophic volcanic eruption that would have destroyed Sinnoh. However, the operative word there was nearly; once again Looker had stopped them in their tracks in the nick of time, and now, finally, Team Galactic were down. Out for the count. Sinnoh appeared to be safe.

Looker sighed, his gaze shifting briefly to the north of Veilstone, where, on a high hillside, an imposing and quite frankly ugly building loomed over the city. Galactic's headquarters remained; ex-Commander Saturn, whose dedication to Cyrus' cause had appeared questionable at times to Looker during the investigation, was now actually running the Team as a renewable energy corporation. Of the other Commanders, Mars and Jupiter had disappeared to some unknown backwater of the world, Charon was under arrest, and Cyrus was trapped far, far away. It may not have gone perfectly, but in Looker's eyes, everything was truly over.

Beside Looker on the bench was his Croagunk, his sole Pokemon. Ever since Looker and Croagunk met each other on the first day of Police Academy, on the day trainee Detectives were assigned partner Pokemon, they had formed a stunning team, one that many Detectives in the force feared. But even these two had their vices, and Croagunk was currently showing his, sat beside Looker having a cigarette.

Looker sighed. "Put that out," he said softly, in a strange accent. There were hints of Spanish, Italian, French and all manner of other dialects in there somewhere, but his colleagues simply described his accent as 'foreign', a product of Looker trying to pick up numerous languages to blend in as a local in many regions of the world. "I thought we agreed neither of us would smoke? It's a dirty habit."

Croagunk shrugged, but didn't stop smoking. Instead, he pointed at the Veilstone Gym, and the gathering of people outside it. "Croa."

"What do you see?" Looker murmured, straining his eyes to see.

Croagunk rolled his eyes, before pointing again. First he pointed at a celebrating youngster, about 12 years old, clutching a shiny object that could only be a gym badge. Then he pointed at a group of three 16 year olds, skulking in a corner, talking among themselves and glaring at the celebrator. "Gunk."

Looker put two and two together. This happened a lot outside Gyms all over the world- some cocky person who had just won would pick a fight with someone who'd lost, or some jealous people would wait for a winner and ambush them for their winnings. "Do you think we should move them along?"

Croagunk gave a shrug. Over the years Looker had grown adept at interpreting Croagunk's body language and shrugs (as a Detective, you had to at least be able to understand your partner Pokemon's body language, if not their actual spoken tongue); this one said (roughly, of course) 'You're the policeman, you do whatever. But it's your ass on the line if it goes wrong'.

Looker tutted. "Fine," he said. "My ass on the line. I get it. Let's do it."

The duo got up and strolled over. There was quite a substantial crowd of young Trainers outside the Gym, but Looker made his way over to the group of sullen teens, and walked up to their leader, a burly older boy with muscles that wouldn't have looked out of place in Maylene's Fighting-type Gym. "Good morning! How did your challenge go?"

The youth glared at him. "How d'ya think? Maylene gave us a kicking!"

Looker pretended to look sympathetic, and laughed in his head at how the youth tried to make himself look intimidating. "Oh no! That's a shame! Never mind though, you can always try again next time!"

The youth ignored this. "That little shit over there, look boys. Just cause he won, he thinks he's so tough."

The others grunted, still fixed on staring at the victorious kid, completely forgetting the presence of Looker.

The leader continued. "He ain't so tough, look at him. Wait till he steps into the alley, we'll kick the shit out of him boys."

"Oh really?" Looker put on a surprised face. "Because you'll have to go through me to do that."

For the first time the trio took in Looker properly, and sneered at him.

"You?" the leader said. "What chance do you have against us three, old man?"

"Old? Me? Do I look Bertha's age to you? And it won't be easy for you three, will it Croagunk?"

Croagunk made a 'Don't look at me' face.

The leader scoffed. "Pah! One pathetic little Croagunk? Are you serious? My Psychic-type Kadabra has a 4x type advantage! We'll take you out, then kick the shit out of the kid."

Looker smiled at the type advantage threat, as Croagunk rolled his eyes at being called pathetic. Did the kids really think he hadn't thought of that? As Croagunk was his only Pokemon, he knew all his weaknesses and strengths, and to overcome Croagunk's major Psychic weakness Looker had taught him Sucker Punch and Faint Attack, two powerful Dark-type moves. Not only that, but Croagunk had survived being able to take on the best of Team Galactic; the pair could easily take the youths in a fight and a battle.

But Looker wasn't going to do that. "So we're going to play it like that?" He reached into his pocket to pull out his ID, the plastic card that identified him as a detective of the International Police, and his Police badge. "Then I guess you'll have to come to the station with me. Detective Looker, International Police."

Croagunk tried not to smile at the shocked looks on the youths' faces, and failed. They had been played like the fools they were.

"A p-p-policeman?" stammered one of the leader's friends, his bravado suddenly gone and a squeak in his voice. "Oh shit!"

"That's right," said Looker. "Now do I have to arrest you for malicious lingering, threats to assault a police officer and obstructing a police officer in his duty? Or are you just going to leave now?"

The trio looked at each other, then backed away, fast, before turning the corner out of Looker's sight. He heard their footsteps increase in pace as they ran away though. They weren't coming back any time soon.

"Good work Croagunk," he said, smiling, pocketing his ID card, as Croagunk grinned and offered him a fist-bump.

As they walked away from the Gym, job well done, Looker's phone started ringing in his pocket, so he pulled it out quickly. "Detective Looker speaking."

"I know, otherwise I wouldn't have rung you, genius."

Looker smiled at the sarcastic reply. That was definitely the boss.

There were two main sections to the International Police; not many people knew that. Of course, there were the Police, the men and women who patrolled cities and towns, and kept a watchful eye over things, but when the going got tough the other branch, the Detectives, jumped into action and led the investigations. The commander of the Detective Department was Chief Inspector Charles LaDieux, Looker's overall superior and an ageing veteran who treated his officers well. It was LaDieux who commanded all detectives in all regions, and LaDieux who personally assigned Looker to the Galactic case, telling Looker to report everything directly to him.

"How are you sir?" Looker asked.

"Not bad Looker, though I'm getting a bit bored, sat here in this comfy office chair while my officers chase criminals and have all the fun."

"If you call being attacked by Golbat and spacemen with weird blue hair fun."

"At least you're out in the fresh air. I can FEEL myself putting on weight." Looker laughed at this. "Actually Looker, the Galactic case is the reason why I'm calling you."

"Sir?"

"The Commanders are all accounted for. We arrested Mars and Jupiter yesterday, trying to board a flight to Hoenn. I think it's safe to say with the evidence we possess, thanks to your efforts, that a successful trial is inevitable and only a matter of time. Case closed. However…"

"Sir?"

"I am of the opinion we need a man of your talents elsewhere Looker. The rest of the Police can handle what remains of the situation in Sinnoh perfectly well without you, and I have a new case I'd like you on."

"Really sir?" If he was being totally honest, Looker would admit that he was getting bored in Sinnoh. He hated all the admin work after an investigation, preferring the action and the chase, and everything had been quiet for about a week. He'd done a bit of travelling, trained Croagunk a bit, and lost a little of his paycheck in the Veilstone Game Corner, but there was in all seriousness nothing left for him in Sinnoh. His job was done, and LaDieux was right; it was time to move on.

"You sound wary Looker."

"No, no! I'm curious sir! What's the new case?"

"Well, are you aware of the Unova region to the north? I take it you are. Anyway, recently another Team, called Team Plasma, tried to take over Unova and nearly succeeded. You weren't aware, what with all the Galactic trouble, and I thought I would spare you the concern in case you decided to abandon Sinnoh and hot-foot it to Unova, but yes. Team Plasma almost took over the Unova Pokemon League with the region's Legendary Pokemon. Unova nearly crumbled."

"No way..."

"Yes way. Now, Team Plasma's leadership is very complex. At the top is the King, N, who is on the run at the moment. It is my belief, however, based on reports from our Unovan colleagues, that N was being manipulated into making decisions to take over Unova by his father, Ghetsis Harmonia. With me so far, Looker?"

"I… believe so, sir."

"Good. Now, within Team Plasma, Ghetsis is de facto leader of the Seven Sages, seven old men who are N's immediate advisors and next in command in the Team Plasma hierarchy. Most Team Plasma members think they are allied to the King, but really it's the Sages who run the show with Ghetsis- they determine the cause and direction of Team Plasma. Got that?"

"I understand."

"Now, the police situation is tricky. We stopped Plasma at the last possible minute, thanks to the Gym Leaders of Unova, but the manner in which they were stopped was a mess. We have arrested Ghetsis, and Unova has sent officers in pursuit of N, but six of the Sages are still at large, on the run from the Police."

"So what's my job?"

"Your mission-"

"Should I choose to accept it?"

LaDieux sighed on the end of the phone. "I'm being serious here Looker. But yes, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to hunt down the six remaining Sages of Team Plasma. Arrest them for me, gather evidence from them, and bring them to justice. They have scattered across the region, and it'll be difficult work finding them, so I need a capable man, a man I can trust."

"Interesting..." mused Looker. This sounded like a pursuit case, different to the data collection that was the heart of the Galactic case, and it was a refreshing change. "I'm tempted."

"Good. You and Croagunk are booked on a flight out of Jubilife City tomorrow morning, landing in Unova's Mistaltron City at noon."

Looker paused, frowning. "Sir, you haven't really given me a choice here."

"I know. You are definitely going on this mission." LaDieux chuckled on the other end of the line. "Look Looker, it's six old men to chase, when you boil it down. It'll be easy once you find them, trust me."

"Sure?"

"I'm pretty positive of that so far. Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. Do this well, and I'll personally ensure you're not only shortlisted for a Medal of Honour, but that you receive one. You are overdue it, in my eyes, and don't say something like 'but sir, it's corrupt to pull strings like that'. You know you deserve it."

Looker thought for a moment. "Can I have double pay afterwards, too?"

LaDieux's laugh was much louder this time. "You drive a hard bargain Detective Looker! Alright, double pay, and the medal. And you know what, I'm feeling generous. I'll throw in a 2 week holiday afterwards. Paid, of course."

Looker grinned as wide as Croagunk. "You're the best boss."

"I know. Is it a deal then?"

"Deal."

"Excellent! Now, enjoy your last day in Sinnoh! I hope it goes well in Unova!"

LaDieux hung up, and Croagunk looked expectantly up at Looker.

"LaDieux stood us down. Our Galactic mission is finally over," Looker said, as Croagunk smiled; he could tell his partner was bored of Sinnoh. "We have a new one now instead."

Croagunk made an 'Oh really?' face. "Gun cro?"

"You know the Unova region? We go there tomorrow, to track down and arrest six old men who tried to take down the Unovan government."

Croagunk pondered for a moment, before nodding, looking interested with it. "Croa!"

"Glad you like the sound of it," Looker said, smiling. "Now come on. Last day in Sinnoh, let's hit the town." Croagunk made a face at him. "Alright, I'll buy you a drink. But just the one, okay?" Croagunk smiled at him. "Let's go."

Looker and Croagunk walked off in the direction of the Veilstone Department Store, to spend their last day in Sinnoh well before they flew off to Unova on a new mission. Truth be told, they both needed a breath of fresh air. But one thing was for sure; it wasn't quite as simple as LaDieux had them believe…

A/N- And there we go. A nice little bridge between Generation 4 and 5 for Looker and Croagunk. Obviously if I write Gen 6 Looker at any point, Croagunk won't be around as a partner (well, he isn't in the games), but I like having the partner dynamic for now.

Next time, we arrive in Unova! What fun awaits us there I wonder...

If you want to favourite/follow this to see how it goes, or me to see my other stuff, I'd be very grateful, but as always I'm most grateful for reviews. So long as there's no flaming, I'll love any praise and learn from any constructive criticism.

Thank you all for reading!

Until next time, ya boy, out.