Hiori continued chasing after the cloaked figure, with Lucario running right beside him. He kept glancing at Lucario, who still looked uncomfortable, but he also understood that he had to do this.
Hiori also understood Lucario's expression and met him in the middle, "Lucario, [Aura Sphere] at the trees!"
Lucario hesitated for a moment before gathering energy between his paws and launching an [Aura Sphere] toward the trees in front of the figure.
The attack exploded against a tree, sending splinters flying and forcing the cloaked figure to change direction.
"That's it!" Hiori exclaimed, "Keep them moving! Don't let them get a clear path!"
Lucario immediately followed up with another [Aura Sphere], this time aiming at the ground beside the figure.
The explosion kicked up dirt and forced the figure to leap over the blast zone, but rather than slowing down, they landed on a nearby tree trunk and immediately launched themselves forward again.
Hiori's eyes widened, "What the...."
The figure was moving at a speed that was almost impossible to follow. They darted between trees, leaped over fallen logs, and occasionally used the trunks themselves as footholds to change direction in midair.
"I won't let you get away!" Hiori called out as he grabbed another Poké Ball from his belt and threw it forward.
A flash of light appeared beside him, revealing Gallade, who immediately took off running alongside his Trainer.
"Gallade, use [Psycho Cut]!"
Gallade didn't have the same reservations as Lucario, so his arms glowed with psychic energy before he swung them, sending several crescent-shaped blades toward the figure's path.
The cloaked figure twisted sideways, narrowly avoiding the first attack, then ducked beneath the second before jumping over the third.
"Seriously?!" Hiori exclaimed, "You dodged all of those?!"
Gallade narrowed his eyes and picked up the pace, moving to cut the figure off from the opposite side.
For a brief moment, it looked like they had them cornered, but then the figure suddenly changed direction.
They planted one foot against a tree trunk and pushed off with enough force to send bark flying, launching themselves past Gallade before landing several meters away.
Gallade immediately turned to pursue them, but the figure was already moving again.
Hiori stared in disbelief, "What kind of strength do you have?!"
Lucario glanced at Hiori, his expression growing even more troubled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Hiori said quickly, "Just keep shooting at the trees!"
Lucario nodded and fired another [Aura Sphere] toward a tree ahead of the figure.
The explosion forced them to veer left.
Unfortunately, that was exactly where Rock had been heading. Rock sprinted through the woods, dodging branches as he tried to keep up with the chase.
"WHY ARE THEY SO FAST?!" he shouted, jumping over a fallen log, "THIS IS NOT HOW A MYSTERIOUS POKÉMON THIEF IS SUPPOSED TO BEHAVE!"
He glanced ahead and spotted the cloaked figure racing between the trees, "THERE YOU ARE!"
Rock immediately pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it forward, "Gardevoir, I choose you!"
A flash of light appeared beside him, and Gardevoir emerged, floating just above the ground as she turned her attention toward the fleeing figure.
"Gardevoir, use [Psychic]! Try to hold them in place!"
Gardevoir's eyes glowed as psychic energy surged through the surrounding area, and for a moment, the figure stopped as Gardevoir held them in place.
Rock grinned triumphantly, "HA! GOT YOU! NOW, AS YOUR SUPERIOR RIVAL, I SHALL—"
But then, a pulse of blue light came out of the figure, and Gardevoir's hold shattered, making her fall to one knee while holding her head in pain. Before she could react, the figure landed on a nearby tree trunk, kicked off it, and shot toward another branch, moving so quickly that Rock could barely follow them.
"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU BREAK OUT OF THAT?!" Rock cried out as he frantically pointed at the figure.
Gardevoir immediately launched another psychic attack, attempting to catch the figure as they passed between the trees.
But the figure twisted their body in midair, grabbed a thick branch, and swung around it before releasing themselves toward the ground.
They landed in a crouch, barely losing any momentum, then continued running.
Rock's jaw dropped, "THAT IS CHEATING! YOU CAN'T JUST IGNORE A POKÉMON'S POWERS!"
Gardevoir gave him a look.
"...Okay, maybe you can, but you're not supposed to!"
The figure continued racing through the forest, with Gardevoir and Rock desperately trying to keep up.
"Gardevoir, use [Psychic] again! Cut off their escape!"
Gardevoir immediately spread her arms, and psychic energy surged through the trees ahead of the figure. Several branches shifted and moved, blocking the way and leaving the figure nowhere to run.
For a moment, the figure appeared to have nowhere to go, but then they jumped. They jumped so high that they went completely over the trees and branches. There was no way a normal human should have been capable of doing that.
Then, when they landed, they kept moving through the trees.
Rock stared upward as the figure sailed overhead, "...I hate this…."
At the same time, Hiori finally caught up from behind, with Gallade and Lucario running alongside him.
"There they are!" he shouted, pointing toward the figure as they landed farther ahead.
Rock followed alongside Hiori, with Gardevoir floating beside him.
The figure landed on a thick branch before immediately pushing off again, moving through the trees with almost unnatural speed. Hiori narrowed his eyes, trying to keep track of them, but every time he thought he had a clear view, the figure was already somewhere else.
"Seriously, who IS this person?!" Hiori shouted, "Nobody should be able to move like that!"
"THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING!" Rock yelled back, "BUT DON'T WORRY! ONCE I CATCH THEM, I'LL REVEAL THEIR IDENTITY AND PROVE THAT I AM THE SUPERIOR MYSTERIOUS POKÉMON THIEF!"
Hiori glanced at him, "You know, you really don't have to shout everything you say."
"Oh, right, sorry. Kinda got lost in the moment." Rock scratched the back of his head.
"...Right."
Ahead of them, the cloaked figure suddenly landed on the side of a tree trunk, ran several steps along it horizontally, and launched themselves toward another tree without even slowing down.
Hiori stared, "How?!"
"Perhaps they're using some kind of special training technique!" Rock suggested, "Or maybe they're just showing off, which is incredibly rude, considering I'm the one who's supposed to be impressing people here."
"I'm pretty sure that's not the problem right now."
"I'm just saying!"
Suddenly, the figure twisted in midair, and something shot out from beneath their cloak.
Hiori's eyes widened, "Look out!"
A [Shadow Ball] shot through the space where his head had been a second earlier, exploding against a tree behind him.
Hiori stumbled sideways, barely maintaining his balance, "Whoa! Where did that come from?!"
A ghostly laugh echoed through the forest.
Mismagius emerged from behind the trees, floating effortlessly through the air. Its red eyes glowed ominously as it turned toward the two Trainers, while Dusknoir materialized from the shadows on the opposite side.
Rock immediately stopped running, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. I thought we lost those two."
Dusknoir raised its arms, and its single eye glowed as a wave of dark energy spread through the forest.
"Gallade, watch out!" Hiori shouted.
Gallade immediately crossed his arms in front of himself as the wave struck, forcing him backward across the ground. He dug his feet into the dirt, managing to stop himself before crashing into a tree.
Lucario, meanwhile, barely managed to dodge as Mismagius launched another [Shadow Ball] directly at him.
The attack exploded against the ground, sending dirt and leaves flying.
"Lucario!" Hiori called out.
Lucario quickly recovered and turned toward Mismagius, his paws glowing as he prepared an [Aura Sphere], but Dusknoir appeared behind him and delivered a [Shadow Punch] to the back of Lucario's head.
Lucario stumbled forward from the impact, barely managing to catch himself before falling. He spun around, his eyes narrowing as he faced Dusknoir.
"Lucario, are you alright?!" Hiori shouted.
Lucario nodded, shaking his head to clear it before raising his paws again.
"Alright, then let's do this! [Meteor Mash]!"
Lucario quickly closed the distance and delivered a silver punch to Dusknoir's head, sending it flying backward.
Meanwhile, Gallade rushed forward, his arms glowing with psychic energy as he pursued the cloaked figure.
"Gallade, don't let them get away! [Psycho Cut]!"
Gallade swung both arms, sending several crescent-shaped blades flying toward the figure.
The cloaked figure immediately twisted sideways, avoiding the first blade before ducking beneath the second. However, the third came at an awkward angle, leaving them with nowhere to move without losing their momentum.
For the first time, they couldn't dodge completely.
The figure twisted their body as far as they could, but the blade still connected, slicing through the cloak.
The fabric tore apart, fluttering through the air as the figure landed on a nearby branch.
Rock's eyes widened, "HA! FINALLY! NOW WE'LL SEE WHO YOU REALLY ARE!" He pumped his fist.
But underneath the torn cloak was a girl wearing a Team Galactic uniform. Her light brown hair was tied up into two ponytails, and her face was completely devoid of emotion. Her blank eyes stared ahead without the slightest hint of fear, anger, or even surprise.
Hiori had been running forward, ready to call out another command, but the words died in his throat. His eyes widened, and his entire body froze, "...Lily?"
There was no mistaking it. It was his sister, the sister he had lost during the 'incident'. The sister he had spent so long believing he would never see again. She was standing right in front of him, alive. But she didn't look at him as though she recognized him. There was no happiness, no shock, and no relief at seeing her brother again.
"Li—" Hiori tried to step forward to reach out to her.
But Mismagius appeared in front of him and charged another [Shadow Ball]. This one would hit him point-blank, and Lily didn't tell Mismagius to stop.
Hiori couldn't dodge, Lucario was being held down by Dusknoir, and his legs wouldn't move.
"Oh, cra—"
Just as Mismagius was about to fire, Rock tackled Hiori to the ground, "YOU IDIOT! GET DOWN!"
He managed to get Hiori to the ground just in time, as the orb hit the ground, exploding behind them.
As this happened, Lily looked down at them from the tree, with no emotion behind her eyes. She locked eyes with Lucario for a moment, then turned and kept fleeing, leaving them behind to keep fighting her Ghost-types.
It was one of the things Team Galactic had drilled into her head: they were all expendable. All Pokémon, all grunts, even her. Expendable.
She moved through the trees. That's when she got a call on her communicator. She answered and heard Cyrus's voice commanding her to return to base.
She didn't say anything in return, not even that she had succeeded in stealing the next batch of Pokémon from the black market. She just kept moving, jumping through the trees.
How was she doing it, you may ask? Well, she was gifted in Aura. That's right, she was an Aura user and could use Aura enhancement to move faster.
But as she was jumping from branch to branch, she went to land on the next branch. As her foot touched it, however, it suddenly transformed and came to life, wrapping around her legs before she could react.
She was caught off guard as the branch turned into a purple sludge hand and dragged her off the tree and to the ground.
At the last second, she spread Aura through her feet, breaking free and landing on the ground on her feet. But when she looked up, she saw the sludge hand slithering back. What was most surprising was that she didn't feel any Aura coming from it, so she hadn't been able to see it coming.
Then, from the shadow where the sludge hand disappeared, she heard footsteps. Out of the shadows came D's figure, approaching her casually.
"You didn't really think you would get away that easily. And as for your trick, don't worry about it. I know a few of my own~" D said casually.
Lily didn't react. She kept her blank expression, but when she tried looking at the person's Aura, she noticed that it seemed like he had no Aura at all, which was impossible. All living things had Aura.
But she didn't let her surprise show on her face. She never did. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at him, "I will not allow you to interfere with my mission. Step out of the way," she said, trying to walk past him.
And D didn't stop her. She walked past him, but before she got too far away, the sludge hand came out of D's sleeve and caught Lily's wrist, attaching itself to her.
"Sorry, but no can do. I can't let you leave with those Pokémon," D said. Then he tilted his head back to look at her, "And I have a few questions for you."
Lily's eyes finally furrowed. She tried to push Aura through her hand to break free, but for some reason, it didn't work. She clicked her tongue, then looked up at D, "In that case…"
In an instant, she sprang into the air, aiming a kick directly at D's head, "I'll kill you first!" she said, her eyes turning dark.
But as she brought her foot down, D stepped to the left, dodging it, then caught her leg and flipped her. Lily spun in the air, landing back on her feet before shooting toward D again, her fist pulled back as blue Aura gathered around her knuckles. She threw a punch directly at his face, but D simply tilted his head to the side, allowing her fist to pass within an inch of his mask.
Before she could pull back, D tapped her elbow, redirecting her momentum and forcing her to stumble forward.
Lily immediately twisted her body, bringing her other fist around in a wide swing, but D ducked beneath it.
She followed up with a knee aimed at his stomach, but he stepped backward just enough to avoid the strike before pushing her knee aside with his forearm.
Lily landed back on her feet and retreated several steps. D looked at her casually, "Hm, I can tell you certainly have a lot of force. Too bad you have no technique."
Lily's eyes narrowed as blue Aura began gathering around both her fists, "You talk too much."
She lunged forward, throwing a punch straight at D's chest. The strike was reinforced with Aura, with enough force behind it to send an ordinary person flying if it connected.
D simply leaned backward, letting her fist pass over him before casually stepping to the side.
Lily immediately followed up with a spinning kick, blue energy trailing behind her foot as she aimed for the side of his head, but D dodged again.
She twisted mid-spin and brought her other leg around, attempting to catch him as he straightened up, but D simply took a step backward, allowing her heel to pass harmlessly in front of his mask.
"Three times. You're making this embarrassing."
Lily's expression didn't change, but the Aura surrounding her body intensified.
She planted her foot against the ground and shot forward again, this time throwing a rapid combination of punches. Each strike was reinforced with Aura, her fists cutting through the air with enough force to produce sharp cracks.
D moved between them with almost insulting ease.
He tilted his head to avoid the first punch, leaned to the side for the second, and took a small step backward to let the third pass. When Lily tried to catch him with a fourth strike, he simply bent at the waist, allowing her fist to pass over his head.
Then he casually reached up and poked her nose with one finger, "Boop."
Lily's eyes widened ever so slightly.
Before she could react, D had already stepped out of her reach.
Lily immediately rushed him again, "Shut up!"
She thrust her palm forward, releasing a concentrated burst of Aura directly at his face. D shifted his head to the side. The blast passed him and tore through a tree behind him, sending bark flying.
"Hm, you know, you have a lot of Aura. Too bad you have no creativity in how to use it," D said almost mockingly.
Lily didn't say anything, but her eye almost twitched as she wondered how he knew what her ability was. However, she didn't say anything. She moved forward again, this time gathering everything she had into one last strike.
She ran up, using Muk to pull herself closer faster, gathering everything as she came down with her hands like a sledgehammer.
This time, D didn't dodge. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and raised them. As Lily's hands came down, D pushed upward with his own hands, finally releasing some of his Aura and causing the opposing forces to produce a shockwave.
The Muk tendril connecting them broke apart from the shockwave, separating them. It also caused the Poké Balls Lily had to fall off her body.
Lily's eyes, for the first time, widened in shock. Her empty eyes showed a flicker of something for half a second before it went away. But in that moment, she had one thought in her head.
'He's...just like me…'
Lily landed away from D. As she caught her breath, a drop of sweat fell from her head as she looked at D. Then she heard Cyrus's voice in her ear again, asking why she wasn't back yet and ordering her to get there now.
Due to Lily's 'programming', the first thing she did was follow Master Cyrus's orders, disregarding anything else.
So, ignoring all the Poké Balls on the ground, Lily looked at D one more time as she took a step back, then another, before turning and running away. D let her go for now.
As she jumped from tree to tree, disappearing into the distance, D pulled out his phone and checked it. On the virtual map, he saw a dot moving away. When he had Muk grab her, he had slipped a tracker onto her. Sure, he could catch her now, but if he did that, he wouldn't get any more of the information he needed.
As he put his phone away, Hiori and Rock caught up to him. When they saw him, they ran up to him.
"Pokémon 3! Did you see that cloaked person? Well, she wasn't cloaked anymore. She was wearing, like, a weird suit, and she had brown hair, and—" Hiori frantically started describing Lily.
But Rock quickly pushed his head down to look at the ground, "Calm down. Look at the ground. The Pokémon are here, so obviously he did."
"Oh, you're right!" Hiori said, looking back up at D, "Where is she? Where is Lily?"
D raised his hand, "Calm down and breathe. Lily, is that the name of that girl?" D asked.
"Yeah, I was meaning to ask. You know her name? Is she someone you know?" Rock asked.
"She's…" Hiori lowered his head, "Lily is my long-lost twin sister."
At that, Rock immediately jumped back, "EHHH?!"
Hiori scratched the back of his head and looked down, "I will never forget that day. One day, when I was small, we were playing hide-and-seek like we usually did, but when I went to look for her, she was gone…"
He looked over at Lucario, who slowly walked next to him, "Back then, Lucario was still a Riolu. He tried to help look for her, but we couldn't find her, and I thought I'd never see her again…"
"I see…" Rock tilted his hat downward, "But...meeting your sister, who's been missing for so long, under these circumstances...that must be tough for both of you…"
But Hiori slowly shook his head and gave a small smile, "Nah, I'm okay." He looked up at the sky, "No matter what the situation may be, the fact that she's alive makes me really happy."
Rock could only stay silent and nod, "Hmm...so what will you do from now on?"
Hiori pumped his fist, "First, I want to find Lily as soon as possible!"
"I see…" Rock nodded, then turned around, "Then that has nothing to do with me. Good luck," he said, trying to walk away.
"Oh, if you happen to see my sister, please tell me!" Hiori said, taking a locket off his neck and quickly running up to Rock, "This is a picture of when she was little, but she looks something like this."
Rock turned to look at Hiori, "Why do I have to help y—" But he stopped when he saw the locket. Inside it was a picture of a young girl.
Rock stopped and started thinking to himself. 'This was five years ago, so...now she should be around his age. If we add that up…' He imagined what she must look like grown up and quickly coughed into his hand, looking away.
"It can't be helped. I'll help you look for your sister!" Rock said as he imagined finally having a pretty fangirl.
Oh, and sure, he had kinda seen her, but he had been kinda trying not to die, so he hadn't paid attention to her back then.
But when Rock was about to take the locket, Hiori pulled it back, causing Rock to grab at nothing and fall face-first onto the ground.
Hiori walked over to D and showed him the locket, "Just to confirm, this is the girl you saw?"
D looked at it and nodded, "Yeah, I did see her."
"That's great! Please keep an eye out for her!" Hiori said, grabbing D's hand and placing the locket in it, "Here, hold onto this. This is the best chance I've ever gotten to find her!"
D looked down at the pendant and sighed, "Alright, I'll keep an eye out for her," D said, closing his hand around the pendant.
Rock grumbled as he looked at the ground and started picking up the Poké Balls, "I will go return these and take the credit!"
Hiori waved his hand, "Oh yeah, go ahead, man!" he said happily. He was in a very good mood now that he knew his sister was alive.
Rock grumbled as he marched off, and Hiori looked at D, bowed again, and ran off.
D watched them go, then looked at the pendant and put it into his pocket before starting to walk back. As he did, he pulled out his phone and checked the logs, where he saw all the messages his squad had sent him.
He sighed, seeing that it looked like they had gotten themselves into trouble. He had to go deal with this. As for Lily, he'd deal with her in time.