After going up a ton more floors than Barry thought were necessary for a building, even one so important, they finally found Volkner on the last room of the highest floor. He sat on the ground with his back to them, ignoring the perfectly good desk and chair next to him. A multitude of cables, chips, tools and other electrical devices were strewn about without care or consideration, as though the man had tossed them across the room at random. There was a pile of empty water bottles atop the desk, as well as a few half-eaten energy bars. And curled up in a ball, asleep on his lap, was a happily purring Jolteon.

Volkner didn't turn around at the sound of the door opening, nor their steps as they entered the room. Barry found the mess before him uncomfortably familiar. Metchi scrunched up her nose, but said nothing.

"Hey, man. Long time no see," said Flint cheerily.

A sigh was heard from Volkner's direction. He hung his head low for a moment before replying.

"You just left," he muttered, voice rich and deep. "What is it?"

"Right! I was on my way out when I ran into some trouble named Metchi." Flint shot her a side-glance. "And this Barry guy too. They've got some business with you, last I heard."

"…Of course."

With some difficulty, Volkner pushed himself up to his feet, every bone in his body cracking and popping as though he'd been sitting there for hours. He probably had, judging by the bags under his eyes. The Jolteon that had been sleeping on his lap jumped out groggily, then shot his master a cold glare, purring more violently this time, a crackle of electricity running through him. Volkner took a moment to stretch, then clicked his neck one more time for good measure before letting his gaze fall on them.

He was tall and handsome, but more in the 'looks like the singer for an emo-punk band' than the way Barry preferred. He'd probably be right up Niss' alley, though. Still…

This is him, thought Barry, gulping. The strongest Gym leader…

"Barry Paladino…" muttered Volkner. "And Metchi…"

He left the sentence hanging, and Metchi only replied after shooting him a cold glare.

"Hayworth."

"Wait, Hayworth!?" Barry turned to look at her, dumbfounded. "Your last name is Hayworth?"

"Yep. Boring, ain't it?" she said. "And before you ask, I didn't tell you because you never asked about it."

Volkner cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention again. He kept his face cold and expressionless, Barry could tell that much at least, but there was something incongruent in his posture, in the way he stood still as a rock, yet his fingers kept tapping nervously against his leg. It was a gesture he recognized.

I used to do that all the time back then, he thought. He probably doesn't like meeting and talking to new people, especially in his office.

"Lucian told me you'd be coming," said Volkner. "He didn't specify for… legal reasons, probably, but I assume you're here in place of Cynthia?"

Barry nodded. "She… told us she needed someone with all eight badges, and I'm only missing yours."

"Figures. Always sending others to do her dirty work." Volkner sighed rubbing the back of his head. "Being a trainer was all she was good for, and she had to get herself fired. And before I got to beat her, too. What a joke."

Barry and Metchi exchanged a look, and he could tell she was holding her tongue as much as she could, arms folded tightly. Flint had no such reservations, though.

"You know there's a reason she got fired, yeah? I mean don't get me wrong, I like her and everything but…" he raised an eyebrow. "Not everything revolves around you and your lust for Pokemon battles, my dude."

"Bah. If she'd only waited a little longer before screwing up like that… I had a team ready for our next fight and everything. Now Lucian's in charge," he complained. "He's strong, but nothing compared to her."

Barry's eyes went wide with wonder. "You… you fought Cynthia before?"

"Hm?" Volkner turned his head absentmindedly. "Oh, yes. A few times already."

"Where did you think we met?" laughed Flint. "One day I get the memo that this rookie Gym leader wants to challenge the Elite Four, and next thing I know he's plowed right through us and is fighting the Champion. He lost, of course, but that hasn't stopped him."

Volkner nodded to himself. "I've challenged the League four times already, and made it to Cynthia three of those times. Came so close to seeing her Garchomp last time, too…" He clicked his tongue. "Guess I can still fight her unofficially, but it won't be the same."

Metchi, who until now had stayed quiet, spoke up at that. "If you're so strong then how come you're still just a Gym Leader?"

"Because being an Elite Four member is a hassle," shrugged Volkner. "Just ask Flint."

"Ohhhoho… yeah. It's a pain sometimes, but that's Pokemon regulation for you," he shrugged. "Volkner ain't interested in a promotion unless it lands his ass on the seat of the Champion."

"That was the plan at least," Volkner whispered. "But trying it now would be too easy. I'll wait for Cynthia to come back or for someone else to take the mantle before I challenge the League again."

Barry nodded almost unconsciously, amazed by what he was hearing. He knew Volkner was strong; Niss had made it plenty clear already by telling him that he defeated more than ninety-percent of the people who challenged him, but to know he was even stronger than most Elite Four members…

"Anyway, you two caught me at a good time," said Volkner, looking at them and clicking his neck again. "I was just finishing up for today."

"How's it coming along?" asked Flint. "Lucian told me to check up on that."

Volkner looked over his shoulder, brow furrowing, and let out a long sigh.

"That bad, huh?"

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"Damn thing's like a black box," he said. "But I'll crack it eventually, trust me."

Metchi frowned. "What are you talking ab…?"

But it happened for both of them at the same time then. Barry and Metchi looked behind Volkner, in front of the spot he'd been sitting in before, and noticed a familiar device resting on the floor. Identical looks of surprise appeared on their faces.

"T-that's…" Barry muttered.

"The Pokeball jammer?" asked Metchi, dumbfounded. "What are you doing with something like that?"

Volkner simply blinked a few times, confused by their reaction. Yet Barry could feel the knot forming in his stomach. The last two times he'd come into contact with that device hadn't been very pleasant.

"Oh, right," said Flint. "Lucian's men actually captured a few of these from Galactic grunts right after the… incident." A sour look crossed his face, and Barry felt the knot in his stomach tighten. He was talking about that night. "These are the new versions. The ones that also return Pokemon to their balls before locking them up. The SIU has been trying to figure them out ever since."

Volkner nodded. "It's a slow process, but I've got my best people working on it. We'll figure it out, and we'll build a way to counter it."

"Hopefully before the world ends," said Flint.

"It will be done," Volkner assured him. "It's my design, and it was his engineering. It's only a matter of time."

There was a moment of silence in which both Metchi and Barry wondered if they'd just heard him right.

"Ex…cuse me?" whispered Metchi. "What do you mean your design?"

Volkner raised an eyebrow. "It means I originally designed it. I thought I'd made that clear when I said the words 'it's my design' out loud."

"Okay dickhead, how about y–!"

A less than wholesome rant would've surely followed if Flint hadn't placed his hand on Metchi's shoulder. He looked at her and shook his head, then pointed with his eyes below. Volkner's Jolteon had stood up. He glared at her with his fur raised on end, small sparks and crackles of electricity running through his body. He clearly didn't like people yelling at his master.

"Wait, I'm confused," said Barry. "I thought Team Galactic designed that thing."

"Design, development and deployment are three different things," Volkner clarified. "The Pokeball jammer was an idea I had some time ago. I drew up the blueprints and thought of a few ways we could build it, but a few other projects came up and I had to scrap it."

Metchi scowled at him. "Then how the hell did it end up in Team Galactic's hands?"

"Word gets around in the engineering community," Volkner shrugged. "I showed the blueprints to a few of my overseas acquaintances, and one of them happened to be a soon-to-be wanted man; Colress. He took my blueprints, improved them, figured out a way to build the device and then sold it all to Team Galactic."

"Yeah, and the bastard didn't even have the decency to give you credit or send you a gift basket for it or anything," Flint pointed out. "I mean I know he's already a criminal but still."

Neither Barry nor Metchi could believe what they were hearing. He swallowed hard, hands clenching into fists at the thought. So back in Celestic, and then near Snowpoint, it'd all been…

"Why… would you think up something like that?" Barry was the first to ask what they were both thinking, his voice slowly rising in pitch. "Didn't you see how it was used? What Team Galactic did with it…!"

"Of course I saw it," said Volkner, frowning. "But what do you want me to do, go back in time and tell myself not to share those blueprints?"

"Well how about having the hindsight not to share them in the first place?" demanded Metchi, already sounding much angrier than Barry. "I mean seriously, aren't you a scientist or something? How the fuck did you think that wouldn't backfire on you?"

Flint frowned. "Metchi…"

"I'm an engineer, not a scientist," hissed Volkner, apparently more bothered by that than anything else Metchi had said. "And that's just how technological leaps are made nowadays; with cooperation. Would you rather we go back ten years to when all the regions kept their advancements a secret? Would you rather a device like this be owned by a single region instead of being available everywhere? That's how wars start."

"I think I'd prefer if they just didn't exist at all," Barry replied, crossed.

Metchi laughed. "Yeah, I guess it's better that terrorists are the first group to test the technology out. Screw beta testers, we should do that more often!"

"Okay, can we all…?" Flint raised his hands and spoke up in an attempt to calm the situation, but Volkner interrupted him.

"Trusting Colress was a mistake. One I won't make again," he said. "And besides, he provided us with plenty in return before his disappearance. Half the initial design for the modern Poketch came from him. Same with the bio-metric reading technology that he lent us; without it we'd be years behind in that department. So yes, what happened was a tragedy, but you'll forgive me for not losing sleep over it."

Barry scoffed. "That's… we almost died because of that jammer! Cynthia too!"

There was a burst of… warmth. Of dizziness and motion that grabbed Barry for a moment, a familiar itch appearing behind his eyes. Volkner's Jolteon seemed to notice, because he growled and sent out a tentative spark forward, urging him to stay back.

"Pulsiver, calm down," Volkner reprimanded him, then looked up at Barry again. "And I don't see how that's an argument against what I did. The Pokeball jammer isn't a more dangerous weapon than what Team Galactic already had at its disposal. And tell me the truth, if you'd had it for yourself, wouldn't you have used it against them too?"

"T-that's not…!" Barry mumbled for a moment, caught off guard by that. "I…"

"You know what the difference is?" asked Metchi. "Barry wouldn't have tried to kill them after disabling their Pokeballs like Cyrus did!"

"That comes down entirely to the user," Volkner argued. "This is a technology that was being talked about even before I drew up the first blueprint. It would've been created regardless someday. You can't blame me for getting a head start on it."

Metchi spat out a derisive laugh. "Right, I guess it's never your fault, is it? Much easier to build shit like this if you never take responsibility for what it's used for, ain't that right?"

"Metchi, come on," whispered Flint. "We all make mistakes, we–"

Volkner clicked his tongue. "I made no mistakes. Don't pin this on me."

"Fuck's sake, man," Flint sighed.

"I guess that's what I'd expect from the genius that brought us the idea of mandatory face-recognition checks in every city," snarled Metchi. "Not really out to upend my expectations, are you?"

"A perfectly reasonable response to the demand for stronger inter-urban security," said Volkner, raising a hand to the side. "At least I'm coming up with ideas instead of only criticizing others. Besides, what room do you have to criticize me anyway, considering you were one of those terrorists you're talking about?"

Metchi's mouth fell open, then closed shut again. She seemed to freeze mid-sentence, eyes shooting up wide open, something like panic crossing her expression. Barry felt it first-hand. It was the first time since losing Mesprit that he'd felt someone else's emotions, and it wasn't nearly as much of a relief as he'd imagined. There was danger building up under that sudden fear and panic.

He gulped, then took a step toward her. "Metchi…"

"Did you think that just because you're working with the Association now that Lucian wouldn't have you investigated?" Volkner asked derisively. "I took a look to both your files. Your identity is not a secret, so I'd really like to know what grounds you believe you have to stand on when it comes to criticizing others for their actions."

"Volkner." Flint took a step forward, his expression growing dark for a moment. "That's enough. Cut it out."

"I'm just replying to her questions," he shrugged. "She's the one that got irrationally angry. I'm just trying to show her that it's not me she's angry toward. Some self-reflection would do you some good, I'd say."

Barry clenched his teeth at that. "W-what the hell is your problem!? Y-you…"

He could feel that heat, that gale inside of him growing stronger and stronger, and a small portion left out of his mouth before Metchi grabbed him by the shoulder. It was a soft pat, simply letting it fall there. It was enough to break him out of it, and next thing he knew that energy, that itch behind his eyes disappeared again.

The anger in Metchi's face had disappeared. There was something else there now, and it wasn't any better.

"It's fine," she said, voice full of venom and exhaustion.

"Metchi…"

"He's right. I am angry," she said, shrugging. "Been for my whole life. May just be because no one ever seems to give a shit, and it doesn't look like they'll start to anytime soon. And yeah, I guess most of that is directed to myself, too. But that's just fine. You keep playing with your toys up here in your ivory tower. I'll go back to where I belong."

She glared coldly at Volkner one last time before turning around and heading for the door.

"H-hey, Metchi!" Barry protested. "Wai–"

"Have fun getting the badge," she said without turning around. "I'll be in the nearest shitty bar I can find. Call me if you need anything."