Thanks for all the support on my Patreo-n so far! 3 advanced chapters at /xlucqs.

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  William walked calmly through the wreckage, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. Beside him, Shelly and Matt followed. Matt was wrapped in bandages soaked in potions, his body glistening slightly from the potions used to speed up recovery. According to him, after a long, hard-fought battle with one of Team Magma's members—an admin, most likely—both their Pokemon had fallen, and they'd resorted to letting their fists do the talking. That was why he was so injured.

  Shelly wasn't much better off. She had been burned during her battle with Maxie—flames and magma had eaten through her clothes and scorched her skin. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, the pain had begun to set in. The worst of it had been treated with Burn Heals and Full Restores, but the marks would leave scars and pink skin.

  "How many losses?" William asked, surveying the destruction. Grunts and their Pokemon worked tirelessly to clear debris, recover bodies, and salvage what they could.

  "We won't know until we've finished," Shelly said quietly, "but we estimate at least thirty. As for the Pokemon…" her voice faltered, "…at least triple that."

  William nodded solemnly. Thirty people. Thirty souls who had willingly chosen to follow him. Thirty who had trusted him—and thirty who had died because of his mistakes.

  "Identify them and match the names with our records. If they have families, we'll provide financial support for as long as it's needed. It's the least we can do. After that, we bury them." His tone hardened slightly. "We'll bury them at sea, and hope they pass to the afterlife peacefully."

  Matt hunched over, his large frame heavy with guilt. "If only I'd done more…"

  "No," Shelly said, shaking her head. "It was my fault. I was the one left in charge. I'm the one who lost to Hades."

  "It was neither of your faults," William interrupted. "It was mine—mine alone. You both did everything I–ask for—and more. It was me who should've been here, leading you, protecting you—saving this team!. If I had been…" He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. "But the dead can't be brought back. So if there's one thing I can do for them…it's to destroy Team Magma. Melt them in lava of the most violent volcano or send them six feet beneath the ground—whichever they prefer. Some debts money can't solve—only violence. Only when Team Magma is gone will the debt be paid. Only then."

  He said the words aloud, as if forcing them into existence. And he would ensure they became a reality.

  People said revenge was a fool's game—but when it was the only thing that kept you going, that kept you breathing, it was a game you were forced to play.

  "Do not blame yourselves," he finished quietly. "If you need someone to blame…blame me." He sat down on a slab of broken concrete amidst the rubble. "The fact is, if I hadn't left, Team Aqua wouldn't have lost like this."

  "The fact is, if you didn't come back, it would've been the end of Team Aqua," Shelly pointed out.

  "That's not the point!" William snapped. "If I were here, I could've saved them. These were my people."

  Shelly and Matt had no rebuttal for that.

  William exhaled deeply, his tone softening. "We need to rebuild. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger—it's a stupid saying, but one we'll have to live by now. The news of this will spread, and we can't let the underworld think we're weak. That's a fate worse than any attack."

  "Poseidon, I understand collecting the dead and giving them a proper burial," Shelly said. "But what if that…Hades reports us to the government. He now knows our hideout location, and after having been weakened so much—he may report us to the government, and we may have another group of people storming our base soon."

  William shook his head. "No. That's unlike Hades. It's also not smart. The more attention he brings to this attack the more attention he brings to his team. His team is exhausted, depleted—less than ours, of course—but right now he needs to rest and regroup. Bringing national coverage to this is the last thing he would do." he explained.

  "Are you personally familiar with Hades?" Shelly asked.

  "Not personally. Just from what I've seen and what you've told me I know what kind of man he is. And if I were in the same situation as him—I would do the same."

  He stood and looked over the destruction around him. "Despite what's happened, we need to use everything we can to come out stronger. A new hideout, for starters—something temporary at least."

  Right now, he needed to stay in Hoenn—with his people. For now, Poseidon took precedence over William or Shade.

  Of all the places in the Team Aqua base, William's office was one of the few that had survived intact. Most of the damage was centred around the common room, some of the fighting and destruction spreading to the canteen and kitchen areas. The personal quarters had largely survived—his among them—though faint stress lines ran along the walls, a reminder of the violence that had torn through the place.

  William had spent hours helping his team clear debris, personally hauling rubble and carrying bodies. He refused to stand apart or command from afar—he would share in their pain, their grief, their wallow. His body ached from the labour. Quads and calves burned, while a dull throb pulsed in his knees from kneeling for too long.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Now, sitting in his chair, he finally allowed himself a brief moment of rest. It would likely be the last time he sat here. The location of the base was compromised. A shame, he thought—it had been a good spot. In the original timeline, an attack had never occurred. His very presence had shifted the course of events.

  He sighed. Moving so fast, rising so high—it all had consequences.

  If he had paid more attention to Juan's hunger for fame and recognition, maybe he would have foreseen the betrayal.

  If he had understood Giovanni's nationalistic ideals better, he might have anticipated the inevitable betrayal.

  If he had considered just how deeply Maxie viewed him as a threat, maybe—just maybe—he would've seen this attack coming.

  Shelly had told him there'd been a mole in Team Aqua, though she assured him it had been dealt with. Maxie told her that. He believed him. He wasn't the type of man to lie—much less when victory was all but assured. Still, their reduced numbers meant they'd need to recruit aggressively again. But this time, they couldn't just accept anyone—they'd have to judge every new recruit carefully, make sure no traitors slipped through the cracks. Even after that, close monitoring would be required.

  All it would take was one person leaking their new location, and everything they rebuilt would fall apart again. That was the problem with the current setup. What he needed was something that wasn't stuck to one location. What he needed was…a travelling base.

  Yes!

  He smiled despite the situation. It was perfect for a team that prided itself on ruling the seas—travelling from stretch of water to water, sea to sea, ocean to ocean. They'd never put it into practice in how they operated.

  A big ship, almost colossal in size, traversing the seas with speed. A ship that carried and protected allies and brought fear and judgment to their enemies. When they saw the ship—they would pray. Perfect!

  But…that would introduce another problem—there would be nowhere to hide. It would just be a massive ship out in the open. His previous base had been good because it had been protected from the outside world, hidden beneath rocks and caves.

  His mind was running in circles; with one solution, another problem appeared, and now he needed to solve that problem and solve it again and again until no more problems appeared. He wondered, was this how Maxie thought when he decided to attack their base?

  A big ship, out in the open. Maybe they could stay hidden during the night, somewhere no one would look?

  No…that won't work. No matter how small, there's always a possibility of someone seeing our ship. William thought. So, how could they stay completely invisible? That was the question.

  The most obvious solution was to make a submarine. But that would cost too much money, too much resources, and take too much time. He was an extremely wealthy man due to his earnings from Neptune and his role as the leader of Team Aqua—but reinvesting a large portion of the money into submarines was suspicious. In the future, submarines were the answer, but not for now. Now he was thinking of every possibility.

  Maybe have Pokemon create a fog or shroud around the ship? No, that would decrease the visibility, but people would still see a massive fog. Curious minds would want a better look.

  And then it hit him. Bubbles. A bubble, which could wrap around the ship like armour. They could sink their ship underwater, and the bubble would protect them. It would be a massive pocket of air, essentially. There was a Pokemon native to Alola—Araquanid. It had a bubble around its own head, which allowed it to breathe even underwater. It could store things in there, and the bubble was strong enough to withstand the pressure underwater.

  That was their future. That was how they could prevent something like this from happening again.

  The training room was still intact. William understood that if he wanted to destroy Team Magma, he needed to get stronger—stronger than he already was. He sent out all of his Pokemon.

  Lochness, Leviathan, Juggernaut, Vortex, Riptide, Britney, Raiden, Kirby, Bond, and Sneasel. Flashes of light blinded the room, followed by a few cries from the energetic Froakie and Sneasal. First, he had his Pokemon explain the situation to Sneasal. He was no longer in Orre, no longer in the Revolution group. Right now, this was Team Aqua.

  "Come to think of it, I don't think I ever gave you a name," William said. He put a hand to his chin, thinking. He looked at his Pokemon, waiting eagerly, claws glinting from the overhead lights. "How about Swiper?" Sneasel paused, looking up at him, and then nodded with a smile.

  "Good," William smiled. "Now, this will be our last training session here. After that—we will need to find somewhere different. So let's make it count."

  "Raiden, let's work on improving your control and power using electric attacks. Nothing too strong. Leviathan, it will be your job to take those attacks—minimise your four times weakness as much as we can. Kirby, you stay on the sidelines and heal them."

  He turned to his next group of Pokemon. "Lochness, Juggernaut. You will both be doing resistance training. Vortex, you will be improving your psychic attacks at the same time. Restrict them with your psychic powers as much as you can. "Lochness, Juggernaut—your role is to move as much as you can under that strain."

  "Now, Swiper. Your claws are your main source of attacking. We are going to strengthen them. Britney, use your tough exterior and defend against Swiper's attacks." Swiper looked confused, glancing between William and Britney. In response, Britney went into her shell mode. William pointed at her. "You can go all out, don't worry."

  Swiper looked estatic. He most likely wasn't used to a healthy training environment. Britney walked off to a separate training corner, and Swiper followed her, sharpening his claws against one another.

  And that left just two more Pokemon. Bond and Riptide. Bond was usually away on missions, assassinating targets, or often trained on his own. He was a very intelligent Pokemon, and he knew what his strengths and weaknesses were. He would typically just leave it that way, however, there was a reason he had bought him to this training session. William had been planning it for a long time.

  "I believe the two of you have met, but I suppose I should give proper introductions. Riptide—this is Bond, my assassin." Riptide tilted his head. "He deals with problems." Riptide nodded. "And Bond…this is Riptide—your new apprentice."

  Bond recoiled from the shock. He pointed at Riptide, and then himself, tilting his head. "He is my apprentice?" William could guess what he was asking. He nodded to reaffirm his point. "Riptide comes from a line of Pokemon which are stealthy and quick, perfect for missions—just like you. I was hoping you would take him under your wing. Teach him everything you know and everything I taught you. What do you say?"

  Bond looked like a man who had already accepted his fate. With a wistful sigh, he nodded. "Good," William said. The sounds of battling around them had already begun. Sizzling electric, the cries of Kirby, the grunting of Lochness and Juggernaut under the strain of psychic energy, claws sparking against armour like a pickaxe to stone. William tuned it out, moving closer to Bond, voice turning serious: "Things are speeding up. I need all of you in your best shape—including you. Take Riptide in, teach him your ways. He won't let you down."

  He looked at Bond right in the eyes, "Have I let you down? Have Lochness and my team ever let you down?" Bond shook his head. "Then trust me. Once Riptide is trained and evolved, nothing like the situation with Maxie will happen ever again."

  Bond's face turned sour, the memory of a failed assassination passing through his mind. And not just the failed assassination—but the consequences. He was a smart creature. Bond had put together the dots. Maxie was Hades.

  "It's not your fault," William said. "I have underestimated my enemies for far too long. I have failed to act against them. I am reactionary—I only respond to threats. From now on I will create them. I will not make the same mistakes I have already made. Never again. I will never lose again."

  A/N: I think I mentioned it in a future chapter, submarines need to be made with much more sturdy material as there are wild pokemon that could attack them anytime. You not only need to survive the pressure underwater, but the Pokemon