Even though the Final Exam is near, Luke, Lillie, Nemona, and I are still going to the North Province Area two to do the final Team Star battle. When we ask Goh and Chloe if they want to come, they refuse our proposal.

Goh says, "Sorry, but I want to catch new Pokemon in the Paldea Region so I can fulfill my Pokedex!"

Chloe says, "And besides, we couldn't really do anything if we come with you, and someone also needs to put Goh in check so that he won't be doing anything stupid."

"I see... that's a shame. But I hope you all are doing well." I say as we all bid them farewell as we head to North Province Area 2.

And just as we get to the Pokemon Center at North Province Area 2, we are delighted to see that there is a lot of Pawniard led by Bisharps. And the Bisharp are holding the Leader's Crest.

"Looks like we found them!" I say with delight as I have my own Bisharp fighting the Bisharps, and after defeating three of them, it finally evolves into Kingambit.

Kingambit: The Big Blade Pokémon: Dark and Steel Type. Evolve from Bisharp by leveling up after defeating 3 Bisharp in groups with Pawniard that hold a Leader's Crest. Though it commands a massive army in battle, it's not skilled at devising complex strategies. It just uses brute strength to keep pushing.

Luke says, "It can learn the move Kowtow Cleave. The user slashes at the target after kowtowing to make the target let down its guard. This attack never misses."

"It is a useful move, but Kingambit might be useless against our final Team Star Base for now." I sigh. "Because it is a Fighting Type, and Kingambit is four times weak to Fighting."

Lillie says, "And according to Ortega, the last leader is a woman called Eri."

"Eri..." I frown a little, "Diantha has brought her friends from the University to our house before, and one of them is actually Eri. We've only met once, but she's a nice person. My mother wants me to have a Lucha libre against her, and she is skilled, but I was barely able to do anything against her. But to think that even she would get bullied... this slightly pains me a lot."

"Why would it be?" Luke asks.

"If my sister is the one bullying her, then I could never forgive her or myself... but then again, my sister doesn't seem like the one who bullies people. She usually helps people, that's why they're best friends..."

"I see... we will understand her backstory after we get into this base..." Lillie says.

"But you mean Lucha libre? I never knew you would do that..." Luke asks.

"Come on, Professor Kukui did that a lot of time." I chuckle. "But the battle with Eri was actually my first time trying this Lucha libre... She also told me that I have potential... that's why when Professor Kukui asked me to do that one day, I agreed."

"Yeah, we did see that." Lillie says.

When we're in front of the base, we get a call from Cassiopeia. "I see you're almost at the fifth base... Holed up inside there is Team Star's last remaining squad. You've fought well to make it this far. Thank you, Ash, Lillie, and whoever's helping you with raiding the base."

"No problem." I say.

"Ash, Lillie, Cassiopeia, guys!" We turn to see Clive walking toward us.

"So you made it as well, Clive." Cassiopeia says.

"Of course - it's the last base! I wouldn't want to miss out on the action!" Clive says while doing his hair again.

"Clive... I owe you my thanks. Your help has been invaluable to the operation." Cassiopeia says. "I'm sorry I was so wary of you at first..."

"Well... that's all water under the bridge." Clive says. "When we're finished with this base, will that be the end of Operation Starfall, then?"

"Not quite. We'll still need to handle Team Star's secret mastermind last of all." Cassiopeia says. Which is you, I suppose?

"Do we have any leads on how to find them?" Clive asks.

"I'm hoping they'll come out into the open once all the squad bosses have stepped down." So you will show up once we defeat Eri, is that what you mean?

"I see..." Clive says.

"We've come so far. Only a few more steps left... Don't let me down, either of you." Cassiopeia says as she ends the call.

"Cassiopeia's hung up? All right." Clive sighs. "Thanks to you guys, I've slowly but surely come to understand Team Star. I know what I need to do... And I know what my final decision will be...For that, I can't thank you enough. Take care in that base. Master Ash, Master Luke, Miss Lillie, and Miss Nemona."

"Wait, so you're not going to act as Clive? Since you just told our names politely..." Lillie asks.

"Ah. Sorry for getting all polite there. Don't know what came over me. Just please still call me Clive before this is over." Clive says.

"Okay..." Then Clive goes to the base first as we decide to prepare our Pokemon at the Pokemon Center nearby.

After we reach the gate, we find that Clive is already facing Eri already. Eri says, "You're pretty skilled. Not many Trainers can shrug off my Pokemon's attacks like that."

"The same to you... Eri, was it? Your Pokemon have clearly spent a lot of time honing their moves." Clive says. "But I'm surprised to find the boss herself out there defending the gates. Don't you trust your grunts enough to put them on guard duty?"

"Watch your mouth! I'm here because I don't want to risk anyone else getting hurt, that's all." Eri says.

"What a benevolent boss. Now, if you want to get on with our battle, I'm all ready on my side!" Clive says.

"Clive? What's going on here?" Nemona asks as we approach, and Eri also notices me with a surprised expression.

"Ash! Lillie! Nemona! Luke! There you are!" Clive says. "I started talking to this girl since she looked like she was with Team Star...then she and her Pokemon came at me without warning! We were just battling it out."

"I know... Eri... I never thought you would be the boss of this squad." I frown a little.

"Tch..." Eri slightly grits her teeth, I think she doesn't know how to face me after that, and then a grunt yells, "Riri! I knew you'd be out here!"

"Carmen!" Eri gasps.

"Are you OK? You're not hurt, are you?!" The grunt named Carmen asks.

"I'm fine, honestly! Now get away from here - it's not safe!" Eri says.

"I'll take over guarding the base, Riri! You should get back inside!" Carmen says.

"No. I won't back down... I can't! Especially since the brother of my best friend is here..." Eri says.

Brother of her best friend? So Diantha and she are best friends...

"Oh, Riri! You need to stop this!" Carmen says.

"Until the big boss comes back, I have to protect all of you in the Caph Squad..." Eri says, "And everyone else in Team Star, too."

"That's why you should get back to the base and rest up - even just for a little bit!" Carmen scolds.

"As the boss of this squad, I... I just can't." Eri frowns.

"Riri, please! I'm your friend! Listen to what I'm saying!" Carmen says.

Eri flinches at her tone and sighs, "Fine... I'll go. I'm sorry, Carmen!"

"Hey, that's no way to sign off! Let me hear an "hasta la vistar!" from you, nice and loud!" Then Eri decides to do the same pose as the grunts and leaves with the words.

"I'm your opponent now, you guys! Come on - I'll take you all down!" Carmen says to us.

"Hey, guys... My Pokemon and I are actually running on empty after that last battle. Sorry to spring this on you, but do you think you could handle this grunt alone?" Clive asks.

So that means Eri's Pokemon's toughness is actually equal to Director Clavell... I guess we should do this. "Fine by us."

"I'll protect Riri with everything I have. You ready to battle?" Carmon asks. "Then here I come!"

She uses Croagunk and Primeape to battle, so Lillie and I use Veluza and Braviary to battle, and we manage to defeat both Pokemon with ease.

"I lost... but my defeat's not the one that matters." Carmen says. "Even if all I did was buy Riri a bit of time, that's fine. My job here is done, so I'll head back inside! Hasta la vistar!"

Then she leaves for the base, as we get the call from Cassiopeia. "I take it you defeated the guard out front. That base is run by Team Star's Fighting crew - the Caph Squad. Their boss, Eri, is a skilled wrestler and coaches the whole of Team Star in Pokemon battling. Of all the bosses, she'll likely be the most alert to hostilities after our declaration of war. She might try to stop this raid in its tracks by challenging you to battle before anyone else."

"Yeah, that sounds like her, and I mean, she did try to do that."

"I knew it! Tell me what happened!" Cassiopeia suddenly shouts, much to our surprise. After explaining to her, she gasps, "She... retreated? We're talking about the same Eri, right? Well... it seems there's nothing for it now but to attack the base head-on. Ring the bell on the gates once you're ready to kick off this phase of the operation. Time to wipe the Caph Squad off the map!"

After the call ended, Luke says, "So Fighting Types are the last... I wonder what you think about that..."

"Well, I use a lot of Fighting Types as well, like Heracross, whose Sleep Talk helps me a lot, Lucario is just great because of our aura, Hawlucha is a little weird because of his constant posing, and Sirfetch'd with his great skills. All of them are great."

"And remember the Z Move All-Out Pummelling? The Melemele Kahuna Hala really does a lot on your Pokemon." Lillie says.

"Yeah, and that is also my first Kahuna battle, how ironic that this is our last Type to face..." I mutter as I press the bell and enter the gate.

"Code red! Code red! Operation Starfall alert! Everyone, get into position and defend the boss with all you got! And rest assured, intruder - we'll deal with you without the boss' help... Unless you manage to beat 30 of our Pokemon in 10 minutes, that is. Good luck with that!"

The Pokemon they are using in the area are Mankey, Primeape, Heracross, Toxicroak, Passimian, Hariyama, Medicham, Crabominable, Falinks, Flamigo, Hawlucha, Gallade, and Breloom. We use Veluza, Braviary, Goodra, and Corviknight to battle the Pokemon, and even though this is the strongest base, all of our Pokemon still fight very hard and they manage to defeat all 30 of them in the end.

"I... I don't think we can hold him off much longer, Boss..." The grunt yells.

So Eri is going to show up now, you may be my sister's best friend, but you still have to pay for your actions by joining Team Star.

Here is a new chapter, and we're beginning the final Team Star Raid: The Fighting Type Caph Squad. I hope you like this chapter, and the next chapter will be the battle against Eri.