Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 55: Call to Action

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Sapphire Town, Sinnoh

The room belonging to Mark and Princess' team had a sense of melancholy while filled the air, and their minds. The Garchomp looked between Princess, Mime, Elise, and Star, the latter three having a few bandages wrapped around parts of their bodies. The final member of the team, Cricket, had to be hospitalized from his injuries after getting ambushed by Diligence.

"A few days out from the mission, and still no sign of either of them..." Princess spoke, her eyes soon finding their way over to Mark, "How about you and the travelers?"

The Garchomp leaned back in his seat a bit, "Haven't seen anything myself. The travelers haven't said anything about seeing those two either."

"Did we really lose them?" Elise, who was tired of Mark and Princess being the only ones to address this issue, spoke up, "I mean, you said you, the Snivy, the Pikachu, and the Oshawott had the Greninja cornered, but a portal suddenly sprouts up from the ground and takes him inside? Maybe we should start looking into what that was."

"But we have no idea where to begin! They just vanished into thin air!" Star exclaimed.

Mark raised his claw, "Actually, we do have one lead."

"Go on..." Princess raised an eyebrow.

"During the fight, one of the travelers, Oliver, collected all of that black substance we've been seeing around Sapphire. It seems to be connected to the Greninja and Conkeldurr based on how they were able to use them to their advantage, so in turn, it could also have a connection to what the hell that portal was."

"That does make sense..." The Vespiquen mused, putting a hand to her chin, "Do you suspect that more of this... Substance could be around Sinnoh?"

"Absolutely, and I actually need to address that with Chili."

"How so?"

"I'm going to ask him to investigate this further while the rest of you stay here in Sapphire..." Answered Mark, "There are actually a few folks I need to see back in—"

Cutting his sentence short, a loud chiming could be heard from a mechanical box laid on the other side of the main room. The box was the same box that Princess had used to get into contact with Chili. It, of course, was connected to the Pokémon Center, but what could they possibly want from them at a time like this?

Soon, the box projected the image of a phone icon. It remained for a few beats before switching to a video call. Appearing on the projected screen was a shiny Gardevoir, who smiled once she saw the team.

"This is the residence of team Chili, right?" She asked.

Princess was the first of the team to speak up, "That is correct. What do you need?"

"Well, I've heard that you have been in close contact with a group of travelers, is that right?" The Gardevoir asked, earning a nod from the team, "Well two of them have been paged by a center in Casteel. They said they were looking for an Oliver, and a Jacob."

Mark nodded once more, "I know them. Do you want me to send them over?"

While Mark was over at the base belonging to Chili's team, Oliver, Jacob, Sophie, and Logan remained in the Garchomp's house. He knew that they four were becoming a bit suffocated by how many Pokémon were constantly roaming around the base, so he saw fit that they remain where they had been originally staying upon arriving in Sapphire.