The quarry didn't feel the same the second time.
Grant noticed it the moment they arrived, before the dust, before the broken fence, before the voices echoing between stone walls. The air felt tilted, like something had been nudged out of balance and never quite settled back in.
Nyra slowed beside him.
"You feel it too," she said.
Grant nodded. Dewott's ears were flattened. Venipede clicked anxiously near Nyra's heel. Sewaddle clung tighter to Grant's shoulder than usual, its tiny body tense.
They crested the ridge, and saw the damage.
Cages.
Not crude ones, either. Clean, reinforced, designed for transport. Several quarry workers stood frozen near the edge, hands raised, faces pale.
And standing among the captured Pokémon,
Team Plasma.
White uniforms. Cold eyes. A symbol that promised liberation while delivering chains.
Grant's stomach dropped.
"No," he breathed. "After everything we did!"
"They waited," Nyra said, voice sharp. "For the compromise. For the Pokémon to trust humans again."
At the center of it all, a Plasma grunt raised a device that hummed faintly. Inside the cages, Roggenrola slammed themselves against the bars. A Boldore roared, crystalline body flashing with stress.
And then Grant saw it.
A familiar shape, partially restrained near the far tunnel.
Excadrill.
Its drills scraped the stone as it struggled, not in panic this time, but fury.
Nyra's fists clenched. "They're using the quarry as proof. 'Humans exploit Pokémon, so we take them away.'"
Grant swallowed. "We can't let them."
Nyra met his eyes. "Then we don't."
Confrontation
They didn't sneak.
Grant stepped forward openly.
"Let them go," he called.
The nearest Plasma grunt turned, surprise flickering across his face before settling into smug confidence. "Ah. The negotiators."
Another grunt laughed. "You made this easy. Pokémon accustomed to human presence, minimal resistance."
Nyra's voice cut through. "You're kidnapping them."
"We are liberating them," the leader replied calmly. "From a system that will always choose profit over life."
Grant stepped closer. "Then why cages?"
The leader smiled thinly. "Because freedom must be controlled."
That did it.
Nyra's hand snapped to her Poké Ball. "Grant."
He nodded. "Together."
"Plasma won't listen," the leader said. "Pokémon, seize them."
An battle broke loose between them.
Poké Balls burst open.
A Watchog lunged forward, eyes glowing. A Trubbish oozed into position, noxious fumes rising.
"Dewott, Shell Block!" Grant shouted.
Dewott moved instantly, deflecting Watchog's strike with crossed shells. The impact rattled Dewott backward, but it held.
"Venipede, Poison Sting, pressure only!" Nyra commanded.
Venipede darted forward, forcing Trubbish to recoil.
Sewaddle trembled.
Grant felt it.
"Sewaddle," he said softly, "stay with me. You don't have to rush."
But when Watchog broke through Dewott's defense and lunged again.
Sewaddle moved.
Silk shot forward, binding Watchog's legs mid-stride. The Pokémon crashed into the dirt.
Grant's eyes widened. "Good, good control!"
The Plasma leader frowned. "Persistent."
"Nyra!" Grant shouted. "The cages!"
Nyra nodded. "Pignite, Flame Charge, left flank!"
Pignite roared, flames surging as it barreled into the cage mechanisms, not melting, but overheating the locks until they warped.
Pokémon inside stirred.
Hope flickered.
Then.....
A Plasma grunt slammed a switch.
Electric pulses surged through the cages.
The Pokémon cried out.
Grant felt something snap inside him.
"Stop!" he shouted.
The leader's eyes hardened. "This is mercy."
"No," Grant said quietly. "This is fear."
It was sewaddle's breaking point
The shock rippled through the ground.
Sewaddle shrieked.
Grant dropped to one knee, scooping it into his arms. "Hey, hey it's okay. I've got you."
But Sewaddle was shaking, not just from pain, but from something deeper. Fear. Anger. A desperate need to do something.
Grant met its eyes.
"You don't have to be small," he whispered. "But you don't have to hurt yourself either."
Sewaddle hesitated.
Then..
It slipped from his grasp.
Silk erupted outward, not wild, not frantic. Focused.
Sewaddle planted itself between Grant and the cages.
The silk hardened, glowing faintly.
Nyra gasped. "Grant!!"
Light burst outward.
Sewaddle's small body stretched, cocooned briefly in radiant green.
Grant shielded his eyes.
When the light faded,
A Swadloon stood in its place.
Larger. Firmer. Leaves wrapped around its body like armor.
Swadloon didn't tremble.
It stepped forward.
"Swadloon," Grant breathed.
Swadloon raised its head and stood its ground.
Turning the Tide
"Dewott!" Grant shouted. "With me!"
Dewott surged forward, blades flashing. Aqua Jet carried it straight through Watchog's defense, knocking it back without finishing the blow.
Nyra's voice rang out. "Venipede, Signal Beam!"
Venipede fired, forcing the Plasma grunts to scatter.
But the leader didn't retreat.
"Excadrill," he commanded coldly. "Break them."
The device pulsed.
Excadrill roared.
Then..
It stopped.
The ground shook, not from its movement, but from its refusal.
Grant stared. "It's resisting."
Nyra whispered, "It remembers."
Excadrill turned.
Not toward Grant.
Toward the cages.
With a thunderous crash, it slammed its drills into the restraints, shattering them.
Pokémon spilled free.
Chaos erupted.
The leader staggered back. "Impossible!"
Excadrill roared again, standing beside Grant and Nyra.
Not owned.
Not commanded.
Choosing.
Retreat
Plasma regrouped fast.
Smoke pellets hit the ground.
"Fall back!" the leader snarled.
Grant lunged forward, but Nyra grabbed his arm. "No. They want us chasing."
The smoke cleared.
Plasma was gone.
The Pokémon remained.
Free.
After the dust settled;
Grant knelt, exhausted.
Swadloon shuffled closer, brushing against his arm.
"You were incredible," he said softly.
Nyra laughed weakly. "Guess meek doesn't mean weak."
Excadrill snorted and vanished into the forest, free, this time without fear.
Grant watched it go.
Somewhere, unseen, someone else was watching too.
Not with approval.
Not with anger.
But with questions.
And for the first time,
No clear answers.