It took two weeks before Cyrus finally called them up.
Returning ‘home’ to Veilstone was a heartwarming affair. Pranav didn’t realize how much he missed the city until he saw the familiar mountains and artwork in the distance. That odd mismatch of music coming from a hundred different buskers had him humming along as they marched back up the stairs, exhausted and aching all over.
They returned to cheers and confetti, many of the Galactic expedition force smiling ear to ear (Pran included, nothing like a nice bit of attention after hard work) as they clapped each other on the backs and said words of congratulations to one another.
Of course, they were all made to sign psychic NDA’s too. That was a little daunting.
They’d been sat down in groups of 10 while a Hypno placed a “geas” on them. Attempting to talk about the expedition's events to non-Galactic members had them suddenly talking about anything else, and trying to force the conversation back on track was useless. All of a sudden everything else was 10x more interesting than the expedition.
Supposedly it would be very bad if one tried to force it, Pranav didn’t want to find out.
The beginning of their vacation the two brothers didn’t get to enjoy much, as after the geas they’d needed to rush Arun to a hospital, the doctors and the emergency workers staring at the two as if they were fucking aliens when a Porygon identified all the wounds inside Arun.
He was surprised to find there were actual hospitals in the Pokémon world, but then again, wasn’t there that one episode where a doctor was flirting with an underage Misty? Pranav shot a glare at one of the doctors, who looked like he could give less than two shits about what he thought about him.
But the operation came and went, Pranav, admittedly, was hella fucking scared. He’d seen his brother get rolled through a set of double doors that he wasn’t allowed to walk through, which seriously, what the fuck? He’d seen the incarnation of a god of chaos, but he wasn’t allowed to see a surgery?
He’d paced around so much that some of the nurses had to calm him down, force him to sit, and shove a plate of food into his hands so that he’d stop stressing and asking them about the operation. ‘Give it time’ they cooed, in voices Pranav knew were meant to ease his nerves.
The act of knowing it only made him stress further.
“This is new.” Pranav thought, staring at his trembling hand holding a spoon of mashed potato and meat of something. He supposed it was the look on the doctor’s faces, or the growing curses and groans his brother muttered under his breath that brought on the fear.
Of course, nothing wrong happened in the end. Arun’s operation took less than 5 hours to complete, and he was rolled out looking as grumpy as ever. Doctors even said he’d be able to walk the next day, but to take it easy for a few.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, dear brother.” Pranav grinned.
“Yeah yeah.” Arun sighed, rolling his shoulders as he thanked the doctors, “Worried?”
“Why would I be? I’ve seen you handle worse.”
“Oh he was.” A receptionist said, not looking up from her work, “Wouldn’t stop pacing around and asking questions.”
Arun shot the woman a grin, “Oh really?”
“Narc!” Pranav cried out, trying to hide his embarrassment. Their laughter made it hard for that, so he simply took Arun’s wheelchair to hide the flush on his face, “Yeah asshole I was worried about you.”
After that life became almost routine. They’d do their jobs, eat calorie dense food (Pranav was finally starting to gain some weight), do some light training with Aken and Valor. Meet up with Hazel and the others, bother Winton, and then head to the gym from time to time.
It was there, with Pranav struggling to bench 65 lb after his brother had repped 225, that a Galactic Grunt found them.
“You are to be escorted to Cyrus’s office.” The grunt said.
“Alright hold on, he has two more.” Arun said, before nodding down at Pranav.
“The fuck you mean I got two more? That was 10!”
“Two more.”
Pranav let out a huff of frustration, before lowering the bar once more. When it hit his chest, he began pushing up, before his eyes went wide.
“Help.” He gasped.
“Na. You got it.”
“HELP!”
“Light work Felis, come on.”
“He does look like he needs some assistance.” The Grunt frowned.
“I believe in him.”
“FU-”
They walked to Cyrus’s office with Pranav muttering under his breath, rubbing his throat where the bar had landed after his arms gave out.
“In my defense.” Arun said, grinning slightly, “I thought you had it.”
“And I thought you’d be taller than 5’5.” Pranav growled, “We all got our faults, I guess.”
“It’s 5’7, actually.”
He would’ve commented more on his shorter (albeit stronger) older brother, but by then they’d reached the doors, the metallic hiss of the gate opening up and into Cyrus’s office. Both brothers quickly schooled their features, noticing that Cyrus, Charon, and Jupiter were there, the latter two standing nearby the big boss’s chair.
“You wanted to see us, sir?” Arun asked. He had more favor with the psycho anyways, so Pranav was content to let him talk.
“It is to talk about your performance during the expedition.” Cyrus said, steepling his hands in front of him, before nodding to Charon.
“Ehem.” The older man coughed, clearing his throat and adjusting his tie before looking at the two brothers. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, baggy red eyes and jittery hands–likely from an excess of coffee. “Would you two young gentlemen happen to know the contents of what you brought in?”
Pranav glanced at Arun, raising an eyebrow at him ‘Are we being watched?’ Arun blinked twice in return, ‘Yes.’
Great. Another fucking lie detector.
“Some.” Pranav admitted, “I didn’t get a chance to see it all though.”
“And what exactly do you know?”
Pranav hated direct questions like this. Made it hard to twist the truth without outright lying. He just wanted the reward, of course they were going to be suspicious. Nothing he couldn’t handle though.
“I read about the red chains, but that’s about it.” He shrugged.
“And what are the red chains?”
Pranav adopted a frown on his face, running a hand through his hair as he tried to look as flustered as possible, “Ah…I mean, they capture Pokémon right? Will that be useful? We have Pokeballs already so…”
All three admins were silent for a while, as Pranav slowly let himself fidget awkwardly under their gazes. He could play the part of nervous Grunt easily enough, and there was no falsity to his statement, what would they be afraid of? All three seemed to visibly relax after a few brief moments, with Charon cracking a small smile at Cyrus.
“Well, I believe that’s all I require.” The older man said, “I believe it’s time I return to my work, Cyrus, perhaps give the lads their reward and stop bothering me for at least a week. You hired me to bring you progress and results, not to baby some new hires.”
“Ohh shit, can he say that?” Pranav thought, his eyes widening. Jupiter was glaring daggers at Charon, while Cyrus simply regarded him lazily, before waving him away.
“Do as you wish.” The boss said, “And try to get some sleep, Charon. Working as hard as you do at your age won’t be good for you.”
Did…did Cyrus just insult him back? Charon muttered something under his breath before leaving the room, the shouts of “Bring me my Coffee!” being heard as footsteps got farther and farther away.
“Now I see that you’ve marked Grunts Hazel and Emily as having assisted you in this find.”
“Yes sir.” Arun nodded, “They were instrumental.”
“Funny. They seem to have denied this.”
Arun glanced at Pranav asking ‘now what?’, to which Pranav signalled a ‘Do your thing’. It was surprising they denied involvement, but it wasn’t like it risked their lives.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Ah.” Arun said. “That’s….not what we agreed on.”
“Oh?” Cyrus asked, raising an eyebrow at them, “And what did you agree on?”
“That we’d take equal credit for the box.”
“And why would you do that?” Jupiter asked, finally speaking up. Good, she was making Pranav kind of nervous, simply watching their every move. In the games she felt more…boisterous? Or carefree, maybe. This attitude of hers kind of threw him off. He couldn’t plan anything if he didn’t know what she was like.
Arun was silent for a moment, though his brows furrowed as he thought of what to say. Finally, he clasped his hands behind his back and said, “To keep it honest with you sir, Felis and I are alone in this world, without any connections or people who care whether we’re homeless or dead. At the present moment the only ones we can rely on are probably league workers, but even then I doubt I could call the government a friend.”
He smiled slightly, looking between the two Galactic bosses, “Hazel and Emily are the first people who reached out to us, and experience has taught me that if you’re going to make it far, best do it with allies.”
10/10, Nobel-speech level talk. As the duo’s designated “speaker”, Pranav was proud to learn his brother had taken his lessons in emotional speeches seriously. He would have given him a standing ovation right there and then, but that would only ruin the moment.
“So is that your goal?” Jupiter asked, folding her arms “To ‘make it far’?”
Arun looked a little taken aback so Pranav took it as his que to step in, answering with a broad smile, “Of course! Galactic took us in, fed us, clothed us, let us keep the Pokémon we almost stole. So why not? We show that we’re capable, we bring you guys money, we handle any…problems you want dealt under the radar, and you continue your generous support towards my brother and I!”
“And what guarantees do we have that you remain loyal?”
He wanted to roll his eyes, how many times were they going to keep wondering? Instead he let his smile fade just a tad as he answered, “You don’t. But then again, what guarantees do we have that you guys will keep your word and not throw us in a ditch somewhere? The only difference between the two of us is that you guys hold all the power. You have the resources to make us disappear, we don’t. You can have us arrested and locked away whenever you want, we can’t.”
All true, facts that had kept Pranav up some nights. What if Grunts simply burst in through his door and tried to detain him on the spot? The paranoia was getting bad, bad enough that he still kept the razor blade tucked in his sleeve, wishing he had a spot to keep his knife instead.
Jupiter, suspicious fucker that she was, still remained unconvinced, “And when we give you everything you need? What then? What is stopping you from abandoning Galactic to…say, Chronos, if they offered you a better deal?”
Pranav could only shrug, “Look, Ma’am. I don’t know what to tell you. We like being here. What can I say that will give you peace of mind?”
“We can start wi–” She was interrupted as Cyrus raised a hand, silencing her.
“But Cyrus, you can’t–”
“No.” The man said, watching them with an unreadable expression. “I think that’s enough.”
He opened a drawer, and pulled out a small case with a piece of paper atop it. “We didn’t bring you in here just for questioning.” Cyrus began writing something down atop the paper, “Similar to the rest of those who’ve brought me useful things, the two of you deserve a reward.”
Finishing writing, he pushed the case forward, “Take a look.”
Pranav and Arun stepped closer, before a slow grin spread across his face. “Boss, if it weren’t unprofessional, I’d give you a hug.”
Surprisingly, the comment got a chuckle to escape from the boss “I take it this is the generous support you imagined?”
“Better than generous, sir.”
On the case was a simple cheque, the number $50,000 scratched in on the side. Real world terms that meant $5000. Sure, not a lot considering all the shit they went through, but holy hell from being broke to having 5k was definitely a nice feeling.
Plus the whole ‘let’s get Cyrus to acknowledge us and get more benefits’ plan was definitely going well.
“Then I believe you’ll like the second part more.” Cyrus said, gesturing to the case, “Go on.”
After Arun gingerly tucked the cheque away, opening the case revealed three Pokeballs. Pranav’s eyes went wide, holy shit, this was just like the game! Were they…did the plan work so well that they were getting actual starters? Sure, Aken was the best bud a guy could ask for, but getting a Turtwig or a Chimchar?
“When we hire Galactic employees, we usually give them one of three, a Zubat, a Bronzor, or a Stunky.”
Oh. Well that kind of sucked.
“These are the best of their stock, bred to be the strongest of their kind. Go ahead and take one.”
Pranav was a little surprised when Arun immediately selected the Zubat ball, clipping it onto his belt. “Thank you sir, seriously.”
Pranav raised an eyebrow, “Really? Zubat?”
“Crowbat’s cool.” Arun shrugged.
“Already thinking far.” Cyrus nodded approvingly, before looking at Pranav, “And you, Pranav?”
“Ah. I mean no disrespect sir, but I must refuse your offer.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“I’d like to catch my own. A bit of a childhood dream, I suppose.”
Also, he just didn’t like Galactic Pokémon. They were lame. Not that he’d say that out loud.
“Very well. I’ll have the Warehouse know that the two of you may grab 10 Pokeballs of your choice.”
Pranav blinked, another smile came over his features, “Have I ever told you that you’re the best boss I’ve ever worked for?”
A small smile flickered across Cyrus’s face, “Welcome to Galactic boys. Take the day off, we’ll be calling you again soon.”
They were happy to comply.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Cyrus.” Jupiter sighed, as the two boys left his office, “We still can’t trust them.”
Cyrus said nothing, watching on the display monitor that showed the camera just outside his office. He turned the monitor to her and flipped the sound on.
“Dude…50,000.” Pranav said.
“Uh-huh.”
“50,000 bro.”
“Yeah….”
The two did a strange high five, clasping their hands together which resulted in an almost pop sound, before pulling them slightly apart and bringing each other into a hug.
“Let’s fucking go dude, 50,000!”
“God…no more being poor.”
“We can buy real outfits dude! Holy shit let’s go right now, find a thrift store or something.”
“Wait what? Thrift shopping?”
“Duh. Everybody knows you get the best fits from thrifting.”
He turned the sound back off as the two brothers walked away, shooting her a sly smile, “Do those look like mastermind corporate spies to you?”
His friend let out a frustrated sigh, massaging the bridge of her nose as she looked away, “I suppose not. But still–”
“They will be watched, Jupiter.” He interrupted, leaning back in his seat, “Besides, I’ve looked, they are completely off grid.”
“What?”
“Arun and Pranav Khan do not exist. Not in the way it matters, at least. As we had our resident lie-detector watching them, they are correct on all accounts, we essentially own them.”
“That still makes them dangerous. It means they can disappear when they want to, and we’d have no way of tracking them. Watching them isn’t enough, we should keep them as close as possible.”
“Perhaps you have a point.” Cyrus admitted, “But as of now we have more important things to worry about.”
When he’d first seen the brothers, they were an amusing curiosity at best. He’d never met someone, let alone two someones with the gall to steal from Galactic. Of course, they were suspicious, and it would have been easier to simply kill them once he found out they had no attachments whatsoever, but Cyrus was never one to discard a tool simply because it looked dangerous.
And how right he’d been, if the expedition was anything to go by. Both their surprising knowledge and what they’d brought him would greatly accelerate his plans for reshaping Sinnoh, so they’d turned from amusing curiosities, to useful curiosities.
But that was it. At the end of the day, that’s all they were. Oh he was certain they’d grow, so long as that fire of ambition in the younger’s eyes was tempered by the elder, they’d be a force to be reckoned with. But at the present moment, they were nothing in the bigger picture. There were larger forces at play, powers Cyrus could barely fathom that existed out there, and he had the means for their capture.
But all of it would have to wait, as he brought up reports onto his computer screen, reading through them for what felt like the 100th time that day.
Chronos was moving. His network had spotted the familiar uniforms of those Gangsters, alongside some of the Aurafire members in both Oreburgh and Eterna.
“Mars has already set up a counter force in Eterna, you will head to Oreburgh.” Cyrus said.
“Mars? Alone?” Jupiter scoffed, “That girl’s too young to be leading a counteroffensive. A covert one at that.”
While it was true Mars was the youngest of their little group, being 8 years younger than Cyrus, she was like him, a natural prodigy. She’d taken to the Galactic regiment more easily than Jupiter and Saturn combined, half her repertoire filled with custom techniques that gave her an edge on the battlefield.
Cyrus chuckled softly, “You underestimate her, Jupiter.”
“And you think too highly of her. Send Charon to assist, or even Saturn!”
“No. I need Saturn to manage operations while we’re away, and Charon is so wrapped up in his work he’d distract her.”
“Then send me, or go yourself. We can’t leave her alone.”
“Worried?”
Jupiter folded her arms as she leaned against his desk, “She’s too reckless. She’ll get hurt.”
To everyone else, Jupiter and Mars seemed to always bicker. It made sense of course, Mars’s innate talent had easily matched her comrades, who’d achieved everything she’d done through gruelling battles and terrifying experiences. Cyrus knew different, of course. They were raised together, the bickering and ‘jealousy’ was their way of showing they cared.
“I don’t have a choice.” Cyrus sighed. “You’re needed in Oreburgh, Charon and Saturn are stuck here, I will be preoccupied between Mount Coronet and meeting with Astra.”
Jupiter frowned, turning to look at the report on screen, before her eyes slightly widened, “I was wondering why they were pushing for such paltry cities. I assumed it was simply distance, but are you thinking…?”
“Coronet’s old tunnels.” Cyrus nodded, chewing his lip in thought, “They haven’t been used since the League took Sinnoh…but the Diamond Clan is old.”
The Coronet tunnels, multiple routes that allowed access for all of Sinnoh, even the islands to the north. They’d used it for guerilla warfare against the League to some success, but that thing called Red had them all destroyed. The maps were supposedly burned as well, but Cyrus had no doubt Chronos had a few remaining.
“And Astra?”
Cyrus shook his head, “That’s not for you to know right now.” He could see a flash of disappointment flicker across her eyes, but she schooled it quickly, “But I will send some of my Elite with her…and perhaps the brothers too.”
“Cyrus, dear.” Jupiter said, a dangerous tone in her voice, “Surely you cannot be thinking of sending two green individuals to a key operation. Could they even handle what a covert war brings?”
“They’ve proven themselves.”
“All they’ve done is find a box that conveniently had what you wanted. Just how is that proving themselves?”
“Because this discovery changes everything.” Cyrus said, idly looking at the Red Chain data once more. It was a fascinating piece of technology, made up of millions of supercomputers that worked together like a hive-mind to bind a target. Once bound it belonged to the user…in this case, him.
No…no, he was getting ahead of himself. Chronos and Astra first. Then he could work on what truly mattered. He turned his chair to Jupiter, “I understand you’ve all just returned, but how soon will you and yours be ready to deploy?”
Jupiter sighed, “I’d like a couple weeks. But seeing how things are moving already, give me a week. I’ll have scouts in Oreburgh by then and set up an actual base of operations soon after.”
“Get it done, now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting on the more mundane side of things.”
Jupiter smirked, but there was exhaustion to it. Instead of her usual banter she simply lay a hand on Cyrus’s shoulder before slipping quietly out the room, leaving him alone.
Cyrus hated bureaucracy, the constant meetings, the fighting of egos as shareholders and other companies attempted to play a game of hidden daggers and silver tongues to squeeze just a fraction of money away from their competitors. He wished for nothing more than to bash the head of that Silph Co. brat who kept trying to buy more and more of Galactic Shares.
It wouldn’t happen of course, he and his admins owned most of Galactic for a reason.
Unfortunately, appearances were necessary. And he had to play this childish song and dance when instead he could have been working towards a better Sinnoh. He wished so desperately to drop the facade, to scream at the world “Hear me and understand!”, to bring his plans to fruition, but he was still too weak.
Cynthia and her circle were powerful, more powerful than Galactic. He needed more manpower, more allies, more trustworthy equals to match his strength. Idly, he found his thoughts wandering to the brothers once more. If they succeeded…
“Cyrus? Are you listening, Cyrus?” The Silph Co. Brat said from the monitor.
Hm. He’d have to think about it later. Business first.