The lead grunt's smile carried confidence that came from numbers and institutional backing.
"Five trained operatives against four traveling trainers," he said, gesturing to his companions as they fanned out behind him. "This doesn't need to be difficult. Hand over any documentation you've collected, step aside, and we'll forget this encounter happened."
"We're on official business," another grunt added, producing a document from his jacket. "Aether Foundation Archaeological Recovery Authorization. Signed by regional administrators. Perfectly legal."
Kiyomi stepped forward before Sasuke could respond, her academic expertise immediately relevant.
"That document is forged," she said flatly. "Archaeological recovery missions require coordination with the Kantonian Historical Preservation Office. I've worked with them for years, I know their documentation standards. That paper uses outdated formatting and references approval processes that were discontinued three years ago."
The grunt's expression flickered. "You're mistaken."
"I'm a registered field researcher under Professor Elm's supervision, with published credentials in this exact field. I'm not mistaken." Kiyomi's golden eyes were cold. "You're stealing artifacts and destroying a historically significant site. Whatever authorization you think you have is fabricated."
"Doesn't matter." The lead grunt's patience evaporated entirely. "We have what we came for, and we're leaving. If you won't move voluntarily..."
Five Pokéballs flew simultaneously.
"...then we move you."
The battle erupted in the ruins' confined space.
Mightyena, Golbat, Houndoom, Weavile, and a pair of Pokémon from the leader himself, Magnezone and Steelix. Seven opponents against whatever Sasuke's group could deploy in the unstable structure.
"Careful with attacks!" Sasuke shouted, already releasing Victini. "This building can't handle heavy impacts!"
The warning was necessary but complicated. They needed to defeat their opponents without bringing the ceiling down on everyone's heads, a constraint the Aether operatives didn't share.
Victini launched immediately, targeting the Mightyena that had positioned itself as the front-line threat. The Dark-type snarled and charged, but Victini's speed was supernatural. The small Victory Pokémon blurred around Mightyena's attack, appearing behind the larger Pokémon before launching a precisely controlled Flame Charge.
Fire erupted against dark fur, the impact sending Mightyena tumbling without generating enough force to stress the surrounding stone. Victini followed with Searing Shot, another controlled blast that ended the Dark-type's involvement.
"One down," Sasuke said. "Keep moving."
Miyuki had released Shaymin, the Gratitude Pokémon's Sky Forme already active. The Golbat swooped toward them with Poison Fang ready, but Shaymin's aerial mobility exceeded the bat's expectations.
"Seed Flare!"
The attack erupted in a targeted burst, grass energy overwhelming the Poison/Flying type's defenses. Golbat crashed against the far wall, not hard enough to cause structural damage, but decisively enough to remove it from combat.
"Two," Miyuki reported.
Kasumi faced Houndoom with Gardevoir at her side. The Dark/Fire type should have had type advantage, but Gardevoir's experience and Kasumi's coordination proved superior.
"Moonblast!"
Fairy energy slammed into Houndoom before it could launch its first Fire attack. The Dark-type staggered, and Gardevoir followed with Psychic pressure that the weakened opponent couldn't resist.
"Three."
Kiyomi's Alolan Ninetales squared off against Weavile, both Ice-types, both carrying secondary advantages. The match was closer than the others, Weavile's Dark-typing providing resistance while its speed matched Ninetales's own.
"Ice Beam!" "Night Slash!"
The attacks crossed, both Pokémon taking damage. Weavile pressed forward with another slash, but Ninetales had been waiting for the approach.
"Dazzling Gleam!"
Fairy energy erupted point-blank, super-effective damage overwhelming Weavile's assault. The Dark/Ice type collapsed, leaving only the grunt leader's Pokémon still standing.
Magnezone and Steelix were different from their fallen companions.
Both Steel-types radiated the kind of power that came from serious training, not grunt-level disposables, but Pokémon that had been developed for actual combat challenges. The grunt leader clearly served a higher rank than his uniform suggested.
"Impressive," the leader admitted, recalling his companions' fallen Pokémon. "You've handled the fodder. But these two aren't fodder."
Magnezone's magnetic field intensified, and the ruins' metallic elements began responding, ancient hinges rattling, buried nails shifting in their settings. Steelix coiled in the confined space, its massive body somehow navigating the chamber without immediately destroying it.
"Your little fire rat won't handle these," the leader continued. "Steel resists everything you've shown."
Sasuke considered the tactical situation. Victini could certainly fight Steel-types, but the leader was right that type disadvantage would make the battle prolonged and destructive, exactly what the unstable ruins couldn't handle.
"Victini, return." The small Pokémon chirped protest but obeyed. "Zekrom."
The Deep Black Pokémon materialized with thunder that shook the chamber, not through physical force, but through the sheer presence of Legendary power. Zekrom's generator tail crackled with electricity that made Magnezone's magnetic field seem like a parlor trick.
The grunt leader's confident expression finally cracked.
"That's... you actually have..."
"Dragon/Electric versus Steel," Sasuke said calmly. "Ideal matchup. Stand down, return the artifacts, and we'll let you leave."
"Aether Foundation doesn't retreat." But the leader's voice carried less conviction than before. "Magnezone, Flash Cannon! Steelix, Iron Tail!"
Both attacks launched simultaneously, a coordinated assault designed to overwhelm through combined force.
Zekrom didn't bother dodging.
Flash Cannon struck the Legendary's chest and dispersed harmlessly. Iron Tail connected with Zekrom's arm and achieved nothing beyond a contemptuous glance from the Dragon-type.
"Fusion Bolt."
The attack came without elaborate buildup. Zekrom's signature technique combined Dragon and Electric energy into a single devastating assault that struck both Steel-types simultaneously.
Magnezone dropped immediately, its electromagnetic systems overloaded by power beyond its capacity to handle.
Steelix lasted slightly longer, its massive body absorbing the initial impact before succumbing to the sustained electrical barrage. The Iron Snake Pokémon crashed to the ground with a tremor that made everyone wince, but the ruins held.
"All down," Sasuke said. "Now. The artifacts."
The grunt leader's hand moved toward his belt, not for another Pokéball, but for something else.
"If we can't have them," he said "no one can."
He pressed a button.
Throughout the ruins, small devices began blinking. Red lights, synchronized timing, positioned at structural weak points that the Aether excavation had identified over weeks of work.
"Timed charges," the leader explained, backing toward the hidden passage his team had originally emerged from. "Ninety seconds. Enough time for us to reach the secondary exit. Not enough for you to defuse them."
"You'll destroy everything!" Kiyomi's voice cracked with horror.
"We'll destroy evidence of our presence. The artifacts we couldn't extract will be buried forever, and so will any documentation of our involvement." The leader's smile was cold. "Aether Foundation doesn't leave loose ends."
He turned and fled, his companions scrambling after him down the hidden passage.
"Forget them!" Sasuke commanded. "We need to leave!"
"The charges..."
"Are too numerous and too dispersed. We don't have time to find them all." He grabbed Kiyomi's arm, already moving toward the exit. "Everything you documented is on your tablet. The physical site is lost, but the records survive."
"Sasuke..."
"Move!"
They ran.
The entrance passage that had seemed comfortably navigable during their exploration now felt impossibly long. Dust cascaded from above as preliminary charges began destabilizing the structure. Stone groaned with sounds that promised imminent collapse.
Fifty seconds.
They cleared the first chamber, murals blurring past as they sprinted through halls that had stood for centuries.
Thirty seconds.
The entrance gap appeared ahead, narrow, difficult, but passable. Sasuke pushed the others through first, his larger frame taking longer to navigate the compressed space.
Ten seconds.
They emerged into forest air just as the main charges detonated.
The ruins collapsed inward.
Ancient stone that had survived four centuries of weather and neglect couldn't survive military-grade explosives strategically placed at structural weak points. The building imploded, walls falling into the chamber spaces they'd protected, murals crushed beneath tons of debris.
When the dust settled, nothing remained but rubble.
"Gone," Kiyomi whispered. "All of it. Gone."
She stood at the clearing's edge, tablet clutched to her chest, tears streaming down her face as she watched centuries of history disappear into destruction.
"They destroyed it," she continued. "Rather than let anyone else study it, they destroyed it."
Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder. "You documented a lot. Photos, translations, samples. The knowledge isn't lost."
"But the site, the artifacts they left behind, the deeper chambers we hadn't reached..."
"Are gone. Yes." His voice was heavy but steady. "And Aether Foundation will answer for that. This isn't the end. It's evidence of their crimes."
Miyuki approached from the other side, her medical instincts checking Kiyomi for physical injury even as she offered emotional support. "We report this. To Professor Elm, to the Historical Preservation Office, to the League itself. What they did here isn't legal, regardless of whatever forged documents they carry."
"We make them pay," Kasumi added, her voice carrying unusual steel. "Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But we make them pay."
Kiyomi's tears continued, but her expression hardened with resolve. "I have everything I recorded. Every mural, every translation, every measurement. They can destroy the site, but they can't destroy the truth."
"Then that's what we carry forward." Sasuke looked at the rubble one final time. "The ancient people who built this site understood something about partnership that Aether Foundation never will. 'Power without bond is tyranny.' They proved it today."
"And we'll make sure everyone knows."
They turned away from the destroyed ruins and began the hike back to their Mobile Home. Behind them, dust continued settling over what had been a window into human-Pokémon history.