Payback

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Theo, Kenny and Brandi head to Pyranile, along with Theo's rival and fellow Special Defender Adri Formonsk, in order to prep for their mission to intercept Team Nautilus on the Nidorient Express. Pyranile is a mix of past ruins and present-day, all casinos and tacky facades suggesting ancient relics. The town is most notable for the enormous central Obelisk, although Brandi would tell you its more famous for being the place she first wore the Inferncape. Kenny and Theo meet in the Pyranile museum, and discuss Kenny's fears regarding the lack of limitation in his Pokepowers. He wonders why other Pokepowereds seem to exhibit the abilities of only one Pokemon, while his seem to draw upon several species. Theo reveals that underneath the outer gaudy exhibits, the ChUrch of SlaSlo keeps secret relics in the museum, which may provide answers to Kenny's questions and give them clues to the Kings Rock. Aware of the ever-prying eyes of the museum staff, the pair plan a midnight break-in, to find and explore the secret ChUrch exhibits.

Brandi, meanwhile, tries to get Adri to loosen up at the Casinnoh- a Sinnoh-themed games corner. Brandi plays Voltorb Flip against the Mesprit Dealer, and ends up wagering Gary the Skorupi in a high-stakes game. Despite her best efforts, Brandi loses to the 3-toothed Mesprit Dealer, distracted by a drunk Adri threatening to start a bar fight. Brandi plans a heist to get Gary back, and demands Adri help her.

Brandi and Kenny decide to get more Pokemon for their respective heists- each of the trainers unaware of the other's plans for the night- partly because Theo refused to have a Magikarp involved in their heist. They go to the town dump, where Kenny runs into a former acrobat Salandit, who he catches and names Hoops, after learning of her circus past. Brandi tries to capture a Munchlax who falls into her clumsy trap, but the capture fails, and a masked trainer named Stig attacks her. Figuring out that Stig is the unaware slave of Munchlax. Brandi, with the help of a luck point, captures it, and names it Snorlione, freeing the hapless Stig in the process.

Meanwhile, Theo attempts to sober up Adri; before they accidentally intoxicate themself as well, and Theo turns up to the midnight museum heist drunk. In a chaotic rooftop salvo, Theo crashes through the glass ceiling, and alerts the guarding Gardevoirs to the otherwise flawless plan. Sobered up from the fall, Theo and Kenny run towards a room of held items that Theo is convinced will contain the entrance to the secret ChUrch chambers. In a panic, Theo punches the wall where there was a small gap- where only a ChUrch member would know the Kings Rock should be- to no avail, and the Gardevoirs, led by their ruler Jolly, catch Theo and Kenny, and arrest them.

Brandi, meanwhile, turns up to the Casinnoh with Adri nowhere to be seen. needing a key-card to access the backrooms, she convinced a Gary Smoke fan, the Rioluette Dealer, to give her his in exchange for a phone call with Gary Smoke's other cheerleaders, who say they're heading to Pyranile. Backstage at the Casinnoh, she tries to get Snorlione the Munchlax on her side, and learns that he's the former kingpin of Pyranile's crime world, now deposed by the new mafia leader Buizel. She gets recognized as a trespasser by the staff, and gets thrown into the same prison as Theo and Kenny.

However, before Brandi's arrival, Theo and Kenny are forced to consider what this setback means for their journey to find out more about Kenny's powers or Theo's quest for the Kings Rock. They attempt to work on Kenny's ability to channel his powers using a conduit, and meet their neighbor in the cells- renegade ChUrch member Hillary, who left the ChUrch to run a mobile library and bake cakes. They meet Butang the jailer, and his son, Patang, who feed the grilled cheeses and inform them all their Pokemon have been taken by Buizel. Eventually, a bell tolls and the jailers take Theo, Brandi and Kenny to their ultimate fate.

The group are forced up to the top of the Obelisk, which has been converted into an illegal cage-fighting arena for Mixed-Mon-Arts, observed by the new crime lord, Buizel, and her allies- a mind-reading Shedinja and Jolly the Gardevoir. they learn they will be required, without their Pokemon, to fight Rock the Dwayne Johnson, an incredibly powerful Machamp. The battle goes terribly: Brandi is wounded, Theo sets the crowd seating alight with a Will-O-Wisp, and Kenny's powers freeze him in time. Theo reveals they weren't entirely without Pokemon, having a secret box on their bandolier containing a Togekiss, given to them by Cainan. Togekiss defeats Machamp, and heals Kenny.

The team split up- Brandi takes on the Shedinja, who manages to kill Patang before Brandi and Snorlione defeat it. Brandi inherits Patang's ruler sword; a sword made from a ruler, and surprisingly and terrifyingly sharp. Released from the cage, Theo intercepts Jolly and Buizel's escape, whilst Kenny saves Rock the Dwayne from the fire, by giving him a power boost. Rock throws Kenny into the fray, while Brandi pole vaults her way into the thick of it. Munchlax swallows twelve contraband Pokeballs in midair, meaning Buizel and Jolly would be leaving empty-handed. Jolly gets ready to attack Theo, and Theo has a vision of all the ChUrch rebels who have owned Togekiss before them, and a hint of where the tomes may be. Togekiss defeats Jolly the Gardevoir and knocks them off the Obelisk. Buizel surrenders, but not before Kenny hits her with a fire blast delivered by a dormant Torkoal flying machine.

Munchlax returns to his crime lord throne, once more in control of the Munch Bunch. However, he decides to stay with Brandi, giving temporary control of the Munch Bunch family to Butang the jailer. Snorlione also burps up a Pokeball each for the trio, and the gang have a small celebratory party in the Casinnoh, which is crashed by the arrival of Gary Smoke's cheerleaders, determined to party all night, and keep the trio involved, ruining their chances at sleeping the night.

We learn that C.E.O of Kappa Korp, Seto Kappa, and elite four member Tyler, have been the ones asking Buizel to steal Pokemon from across Pyranile, and the pair imply they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.