The Relic Seeker: The Council of Grim.

Part 11. Seeking Council.

"We have to protect the artefacts! Especially anything with writing on it!" Jennie ordered before running off to another part of the ruins with Henry.
"Right, let's do this." Jordan opened her bag, letting Cari jump out, as the small Ghost type had been in there for the whole trip. "We have to protect this place, okay Cari?" The fake Pikachu head at the top of Cari's cloak flopped over slightly in a nod before it got into position to attack.

Ash quickly sprang into action as well, pulling out two PokéBalls and throwing them, releasing his two strongest Pokémon: his starter, Excadrill; and Vibrava, who had been given to him as a Trapinch by his twin sister Penelope.

In a matter of minutes, they were surrounded by a group of men who were all wearing electric violet suits with white shirts under their jackets, however only one of them was wearing a tie that matched his jacket, all the rest had no tie at all. All of the men did have a Snubbull by their sides, and the one next to the tie-wearing man was wearing a rather fancy collar adorned with jewels.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The one wearing the tie spoke, stepping forward slightly. "A couple of kids protecting something that doesn't belong to them? Cute."
"We're not kids! And who the hell are you people!?" Jordan yelled, her serious side showing.
"No need to shout, little girl. My name is Michael, and I am with the Council of Grim."
"The Council of what-now?" Ash spoke up. "Sounds like a villain team from some bad cartoon..."
"Shut up!" one of the underlings growled.
"Now, now, Terry, you've been warned about your temper." Michael calmed down the crony who had spoken before looking back at Ash and Jordan. "Besides, these children don't really pose any sort of threat to us. Not when we have the power of the Suzerain behind us!"
"Su-ze-what?" Jordan looked incredibly confused. "Is that some sort of Pokémon?"
"Suzerain is another word for a leader, you idiot!" Ash exclaimed, suddenly very alert and seemingly nervous. He moved his foot ever so slightly, as if trying to feel something that was underground, before once again raising his voice. "Move, Jordan! Now!"
"What the hell are you-" Ash ran over to Jordan and pulled her down to the ground with him, hovering over her like a shield, his hands being cut by the rocky ground beneath them.

Just then, the ground started to shake violently, beginning underneath the Council members' feet and spreading out, which caused them to fall over, unable to get up as the microseism under them seemed to get worse and worse with each attempt to stand.
"Retreat! We can't fight during an earthquake like this!" Michael ordered, and after several minutes of hilarity while trying again to stand, they ran off, the quake stopping when they were gone. Yet, Ash still hadn't gotten off of Jordan.
"Hey, uh, Ashworth? It's over now. You don't need to keep shielding me."
"What? Oh..." Ash realised the position they were in and he quickly scrambled to his feet, his face once more burning red.
"Now, what caused that earthquake?" Jordan asked as she stood up and brushed off her dress, ignoring how red Ash's face was becoming.
"I had Excadrill dig a hole, then Vibrava went into the hole and used Earth Power directly under those creeps."
"Huh, well, good work Ashworth, you really protected the ruins doing that. Now come on, we should check up on the others."