D&P045: Vexing Vespiquen & Unmanageable Mothim II

is the 8th chapter of Pokémon Adventures: Volume 34.
==Synopsis==
Riley witnesses a hatching of Riolu. He goes to thank Diamond for the rescue, who explains he is being followed by powerful enemies. In fact, up in the sky, the two find a machine observing them!
==Chapter plot==
Riley, Lucario, the captain and his sailors observe as the egg hatches into a Riolu. Everyone cheers, and the captain is quite pleased with birth, remembering that of his son. The captain yells at the roughnecks, since they wanted to trample over such a beautiful part of life. He demands to know why are they here, but Riley states he tried to interrogate them, but failed. The roughnecks claim that they were hired by a guy, who paid them millions of dollars simply to make mess around the island. The captain notes they don't know much, but senses danger afoot. Riley confirms this, considering there had to be a reason for this. Still, he believes it is good enough just to capture these villains and secure the egg.
The captain wonders where is their hero, Diamond, who is descending the stairs to run away from a Steelix, who snuggles with him. The captain is pleased, while Riley states that Steelix understood that Diamond fought enemies from this island, and it opened its heart. He goes to Diamond, and explains he did his best at this training, and managed to acquire certain skills and abilities, too. Since he did defeat the cretins, Riley thinks it is fair that Diamond passes his graduation exam, despite not being what he wanted to be. Diamond thanks Riley, but admits he doesn't deserve praise. Since the enemy was targeting him, fighting anything would've been heroic.
Riley is shocked that Diamond is saying this, realizing he has a greater enemy around. He stops, and he and Lucario sense something. They look at the sky, as they sense someone spying on them. Diamond goes atop of Steelix, and has Tru use "Dia's one-and-only Razor Leaf". The leaf strikes at a spot, surprising Riley that Tru performed a critical hit. Riley takes a look at the machine, which is a camera. Diamond has seen this before, and explains the enemy has been watching them to learn his tactics, and that's what he meant that the enemy was targeting them. Riley smiles, seeing Byron did sense that Diamond could see things more proficiently than others. It makes the enemy much more powerful than he thought.
Suddenly, Diamond loses balance, and falls off Steelix, and crashes into a door. Riley is in shock, as Diamond just went inside Byron's house, which he uses for training. Diamond states he's Poké-ay and has two Poké Balls on his eyes, but Riley doesn't get the joke. Diamond looks around, and finds an item. In fact, Byron let Diamond have the item, once his instructor declared he passed his training, and give it to Shieldon. Thus, Diamond shows the Metal Coat item to Don. Diamond looks at a photo of Roark and Byron, and compares this family to Lucario and Riolu, as well as Pearl's father, Platinum's Mr. Berlitz and Diamond's mother. Diamond slaps himself, regaining his focus to protect all of them, as well as Sinnoh's future.
Diamond goes atop of Steelix, and looks beyond the sea to find Lake Verity. However, he can't see the lake, nor his future. With everything over, Diamond and the captain board the ship. Riley is counting on Captain Eldritch to get there safetly, and hopes Diamond will be successful at protecting Lake Verity. He also compliments Diamond's rice balls, and is looking forward to eat them. Diamond nods, and the ship sails away. Riley, however, looks at the machine, which shows who employed the two roughnecks. Riley sees the Team Galactic grunt, and senses malice from him.
At the ship, Diamond continues eating the food, which infuriates Eldritch, who demands him to stop eating so much food at once.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Riley's Riolu
==Gallery==
pl:PS382
Category:Pokémon Adventures volume 34 chapters