CHAPTER 42

Twelve hours ago…

If Lance thought listening to the Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders argue was bad, then hearing the Indigo Council locked in an intense argument for hours and hours on end was going to be the death of him.

It was almost worse than hearing the Blackthorn Elders scream at each other. Almost.

To put it simply, the officials were not happy about the situation. They weren’t trainers, but the sudden appearance of foreign Pokemon in Team Rocket’s possession still scared them.

And when people were frightened, they tended to make extreme decisions.

Much like the Kanto and Johto Gym Leaders had been, they were split along two camps: one that wanted to do away with the treaty this instant, and another that didn’t want to let go of newfound connections. Some people were even going so far as to advocate closing up their borders completely until Team Rocket was eradicated. Did he agree?

Not in the slightest.

Lance was so tired of it that he even slipped in and out of the meeting undetected a few times to speak with other departments. The forensics team — now with the addition of Blaine, who’d essentially taken over their office — was still studying the drugged Pokemon they’d brought back. The PR team was swamped with frantic employees figuring out how they were going to handle the public later, the medical department was still treating injured soldiers and Pokemon, and the intelligence gathering department was working around the clock as always to find more hints of Team Rocket’s presence.

By the time Lance returned to the Indigo Council meeting for good, they still hadn’t made any visible progress. So, Lance put an end to their fierce discussion for them by rapping the table sharply with his knuckles.

“The treaty stays in place. End of discussion,” he said simply, and that was that.

There were dissatisfied looks all around as government officials filtered out of the room, but Lance couldn't have cared less. What had he even expected from them anyway?

What a worthless meeting.

The truly important thing on Lance’s to-do list was talking to Alder. One of the worst parts of that day was how long Lance had to wait to actually speak with the man. The foreign dignitaries had left for the Galovea Continent early that very morning and were still traveling, so it was unfortunate timing on their part.

The sky was fast darkening when Lance finally received word that everyone made it back home safely. He wasted no time in video calling Alder.

Luckily, the other man picked up within three ringtones.

“Lance?”

Alder’s haggard face appeared on the phone screen. Lance immediately noticed how puffy his skin was and the dark circles under the man’s eyes. Definitely hangover symptoms if the raspy voice wasn’t already a dead giveaway.

Alder blinked tiredly at him. “This is my work phone, not my—”

“I didn’t make a mistake,” Lance cut in urgently. “Listen, Team Rocket has Unova Pokemon in their possession.”

“What?”

In an instant, Alder had snapped to attention. Gone was the weary traveler still suffering from self-induced fatigue, and in its place was a very serious ruler staring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Please explain,” Alder all but demanded.

Step-by-step, Lance guided Alder through the day’s events and the sights the Indigo forces had seen. With every word he spoke, Alder’s face only grew worse and worse. Now done explaining, Lance tried his hardest to keep a neutral expression as he stared at the other Champion.

“The appearance of these Pokemon have riled up our forces,” Lance admitted. “I’ll be frank with you. Some of my subordinates think that Unova is colluding with Team Rocket.”

To Alder’s credit, the man did not flinch or break out into an emotional outburst. He did, however, visibly frown.

“Do you believe that?” Alder asked him quietly. He’d hardly finished speaking when Lance gave his reply.

“No.”

He wasn’t saying it out of any personal friendships he might have forged with Alder and the other foreign dignitaries recently, either. His gut instinct told him Unova was being framed. Lance could only agree with Pryce on one thing: that someone was trying to play them for fools, and that someone happened to be Team Rocket.

The timing was suspicious, and Lance was on the side of the fence that believed it to be Team Rocket’s doing.

Alder breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief.

“I know it might not mean much to you, but I will swear on our local deities — the Twin Dragons — that I, Alder Adeku, am not involved with Team Rocket,” he said solemnly. “I cannot say the same for the people working under me, but I swear I will launch a full investigation into this.”

Lance dipped his head ever so slightly in acknowledgement. “Thank you.”

Lance wasn’t a terribly religious person himself, but he could respect Alder’s willingness to stake his honor and name on Unova’s own sacred deities. He just hoped the Unova government really had nothing to do with all of this.

“How did the Rockets get our Pokemon though?” Alder mumbled. He swiped a hand across his face tiredly. “The ones you mentioned are common species, but still… our border patrols are extremely thorough. I would have gotten a report if unidentified individuals passed through.”

“The black market? Inside job?” Lance rattled off. “Or your forces simply missed people sneaking into the country.”

Alder didn’t take any offense.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know, but this is quite concerning. A little infuriating, too, to be honest. The audacity of these Rockets to not just take Pokemon from our borders but FRAME my country is…”

Alder fell silent. Only the sound of harsh breathing filled the line as the man took a moment to recompose himself. They talked a little more about the situation, and Lance took the opportunity to inquire about Amoonguss poison. He dutifully jotted down information Alder rattled off. The notes would be passed off to the medical team later.

Eventually, their conversation dwindled to a halt.

“ …Right. I need to go and call an emergency meeting. I don’t know if there are rats hiding here or not, but I want to sniff them out sooner rather than later,” Alder finally said. He wore an apologetic look as he bowed his head. “Thanks for letting me know about this development, and I’m sorry for any distress this has caused. I never thought our new partnership would see trouble so early.”

“It’s fine,” Lance replied. It… kind of wasn’t, but Lance was determined to keep the alliance afloat. If the Rockets wanted to destroy it, well, they had another thing coming. “Please keep me updated on what you find out.”

“You as well. And one last thing before I go: Interpol agents should be getting there soon. They were a bit delayed, but it was for good reason. They’re sending the best they got.”

And with that bit of good news, Alder left the call.

Lance found himself staring into empty space as he reflected on their conversation. Alder claimed he had no idea what was going on which was a concerning matter in itself. If he was innocent, if Unova was innocent… then had Rockets infiltrated that far out into the world?

He quashed any such thoughts for the time being. A headache was starting to come on with all the thinking he’d been doing, and he was nowhere close to finishing tasks for the day.

The Indigo Elite Four were promptly called into his office for a private meeting of their own. Interestingly enough, Bruno actually contributed a lot to the conversation for once. He suggested something Lance had already been thinking about earlier: training sessions at the League HQ over the summer for both ordinary League Trainers and their upper ranks alike.

With the appearance of drugged Pokemon, it was looking to be a rather fine suggestion. There was no harm in making sure their forces were kept on their toes. Koga and Bruno left at one point to go train or patrol, and then it was only Lance and the ladies left in the room.

He still had paperwork left to file, funeral wreaths to send out, and…

“I should go talk to Pryce,” he murmured. His voice hadn’t been that loud, but the others heard him anyway.

“You?” Agatha cackled, and she waved a wrinkled hand through the air. “It wouldn’t work.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped further as he sank into his seat.

“Right,” he said in a resigned tone.

Lance knew tensions were running high and that people were stressed out, and why wouldn’t they be? Good soldiers had died, Pokemon were experimented on and pitted against them… He, the Indigo Elite Four, and the Gym Leaders were all human beings. They couldn’t be perfect or hold themselves together all the time, but now more than ever, they needed to quell any unease they felt.

To that end, Pryce was not helping.

He could intimidate Pryce all he wanted with the reversal in statuses between them, but it wasn’t going to do anything. Pryce had never held a modicum of respect for him even during Lance’s Elite Four days.

“Still, I should at least try,” Lance spoke up, and he raised his head with a determined gaze. “I’m not going to sit around and let our upper ranks fall apart like this just because of baseless speculations on Pryce’s part.”

“He also acted like he was still Champion,” Lorelei added dryly.

That too. Lance still found it odd how Lorelei could so easily disparage her grandfather, but last he’d heard, they were still on frigid terms with one another.

Back to the matter at hand… The way Pryce still seemed to believe he was the person in charge was frustrating, but it was his thoughtless remarks that infuriated Lance more. He wanted to grab the man by his collar and shake him. They had to hold themselves together in the face of a national threat.

Lance drummed his fingers against his desk with a thoughtful expression. “What to do…”

“I don’t know why you’re thinking so hard,” Agatha said with a shake of her head. She looked almost annoyed as she slammed her cane against the rug. “There’s only one person who might actually get into that head of his a bit.”

“There is?” Lance’s brows furrowed.

Agatha stared at him like he was an idiot.

“For the love of Articuno… I can’t believe I have to spell it out for you, boy. Samuel Oak, who else?”

…Maybe he was an idiot.

“Call him please.”

Agatha went off to do just that, and Lance tried not to sigh as he rubbed his temples. The League was set to publish news about today’s operation sometime before midnight.

He only hoped they wouldn’t come under fire too much the following morning.

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[Incoming Call: Agatha Kikuko]

Oak blinked down at his phone screen.

He was getting a call from Agatha of all people. She hardly ever contacted him. He picked up the phone without thinking and continued typing away on his keyboard. There was a regular update for the Pokedex due in another week.

“Good evening—”

“No time for pleasantries,” Agatha cut him off, and Oak zipped his mouth shut.

She sounded unusually serious.

Ten minutes later, Oak was half beside himself with indignation and horror after Agatha explained the day’s events, everything from the botched operation to the meeting and beyond. She didn’t leave anything out.

“And that leads me to my main point: go and talk to him, Samuel. We don’t need a paranoid old man who spews nonsense. We need the Prodigy from Mahogany Town. Smack some sense into him if you have to.”

“I will not be doing any smacking, Agatha. Now, please tell me why Lance can’t do this—”

“Oh, he could,” Agatha interrupted. Oak blinked twice, but his confusion didn’t fade. “He even offered to, but I told him it wouldn’t be that effective. We both know Pryce doesn’t give a Raticate’s ass about him.”

“Then why me?“

“Honestly, you’re supposed to be smart. The boy wonder of our generation tied with Blaine. It’s because Pryce actually respects you, you oaf. So go and talk to him before I decide to pay a visit with Gengar.”

Oh, that certainly wasn’t going to end well if he let it happen.

“What is that term brats use nowadays… ah yes. I’m pissed at Pryce. Tell him that verbatim for me, will you?”

She hung up without another word.

Oak sighed. Why was it that years after retiring, he still found himself cleaning up after people’s messes? Still, this was serious business indeed.

He quietly got up and called for Alakazam.

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Pryce’s feet hurt.

He’d been pacing around in his living room for hours now trying to make sense of everything the League knew thus far about Team Rocket (admittedly very little) as well as his own knowledge from the past. It was absolutely baffling how little progress they’d seem to have made since fifteen years ago. They were nowhere close to unraveling the truth yet or the perpetrators.

Or, if his new theory held out right, maybe they were. Maybe the real villains were half a world away, looking for the best time to take down Indigo.

Ding.

He stiffened when the doorbell rang. He wasn’t expecting anyone. Seeing as how none of his Pokemon had bothered coming to fetch him, though, it didn’t appear to be anyone hostile. Slowly, laboriously, Pryce dragged his feet to the front entrance and opened it.

Pryce took one look at who was outside his door and almost closed it in their face. His eye twitched from annoyance.

“Samuel,” he intoned dryly.

Somehow, he was not surprised to see his former mentor here. Pryce had kicked up a fuss at the meeting after all. He’d half-expected someone to tear him a new one, but he’d left so quickly that he supposed no one got the chance to.

“To what do I owe the pleasure for this sudden visit? Let me guess: Lance sent you here.”

Oak shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He didn’t smile, but his gaze softened.

“Perhaps, or perhaps not. Would you believe me if I said Agatha did?” Oak asked with a near helpless shrug of his shoulders.

Pryce gave him an unamused look. “I don’t have time for games. What do you want?”

“To talk,” Oak replied honestly. He stared past Pryce into the room beyond. “May I come in for a bit?”

“No.”

Pryce even waited a few seconds, but when it became apparent that Oak wasn’t budging, he made a hissing sound through his teeth and opened the door wider. He’d forgotten how stubborn the man could be.

“Fine. You get five minutes. That’s it.”

He turned before he could see Oak’s face, but he imagined the man was probably beaming as he stepped inside Pryce’s home and closed the door behind him. Pryce walked off to the kitchen, grabbed a cup and filled it with water, and shuffled back into the living room. Oak had already made himself comfortable in one of the chairs. Pryce said nothing as he planted the cup unceremoniously on the table in front of Oak. Some of the water jostled around and nearly spilled over the cup’s edge.

Perhaps on any other day, he might have shown a tad more hospitality, but this was not one of those days.

Pryce situated himself in the chair across from Oak and rested his cane against the table.

“Well?” he prompted in a biting tone. “Go on.”

Normally Oak was one for pleasantries and carefully maneuvering himself into more serious conversations, but today, he went right into it.

“Agatha told me that one habit of yours has reared its ugly head. Again,” Oak added emphatically.

Pryce scoffed out loud and turned his head away. Evidently Oak hadn’t been kidding when he said the old bat sent him Pryce’s way.

“Do enlighten me on what this so-called habit is,” he muttered.

Oak was the one to look at him with an unamused expression this time. “I thought you said no games, Pryce,” he said in all seriousness. “You know what I’m talking about. Your tendency to distrust everyone around you if I’m to be frank.”

“And what of it?” Pryce looked back at him with an equally serious gaze. “I don’t have to trust people to do my job as one of Indigo’s pillars.”

“Yes, well,” Oak said, and it looked like he was struggling not to sigh. “It’s also not doing you any favors, I’m afraid. Agatha is, and I quote, ‘pissed.’ You went too far today.”

Pryce almost wanted to laugh.

“I’m not going to apologize if that’s what you’re trying to get at,” he instantly replied. “We both know Team Rocket is not to be taken lightly, so forgive me for trying to be thorough and making any guesses within the realm of possibilities.”

“Even if they’re a bit far-fetched? And wrong?” Oak questioned.

“Any,” Pryce repeated, this time more strongly. He and Oak were locked in a staredown for several tense moments. Pryce thought he heard an almost inaudible sigh as Oak eventually looked away and took a sip of water.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try trusting people for once,” he murmured once he’d set the cup down.

“That was always your way of doing things,” Pryce interjected, but he wasn’t looking at Oak anymore. He was looking out the window instead with a rigid jaw. “Trusting people. Bestowing kindness. Finding common ground. I can’t do that.”

They’d been through this same conversation at least a hundred different times before. Trust your allies, yada yada, and they’ll trust you in return. You could do anything if you worked together. The same old spiel.

Tauros bullshit, that’s what it was. Trusting people got you killed.

People could change at the drop of a dime. They could hide their true colors and then suddenly reveal they were completely different people. They could pretend they had your back and then go fleeing into the night to save their own skin. He’d seen it happen before during major conflicts. He’d seen both the good and the bad in people, but mostly the bad. He’d learned to trust himself, not his so-called allies.

He and Oak had come out of wars two very different people. How was it that Oak managed to retain the kindness he was known for despite all the bloodshed, and why was it that Pryce was left with only bitterness and resentment?

“This isn’t wartime,” Oak interrupted his thoughts. It was almost like he knew what Pryce was thinking, and he probably did.

“Yet.”

“Stop. Listen to me,” Oak admonished, but his voice wasn’t harsh. “Even if this was wartime, I would still advise you to trust people. Like you said, Team Rocket is not to be taken lightly. You can’t take them on by yourself.”

Pryce’s lips curved downwards with displeasure. He couldn’t refute that at least. One man was not going to handle a whole organization by himself.

“Especially your fellow Gym Leaders. If you have trouble trusting, at least trust them—”

Pryce sliced a hand through the air, effectively shutting Oak up.

“Someone has to ask the hard questions. Someone has to be the cold and rational one who will look at situations from every angle and leave no stone unturned, even if it upsets people in the process,” Pryce told him firmly.

If he had seen himself reflected in Oak’s eyes, he might have seen how almost desperate he looked, but no. Pryce kept his gaze out the window instead and refused to look at the man in his living room.

“If no one else will do it, then that someone will be me. I will not be a yes-man, Samuel. That’s how we grow complacent and eventually make mistakes. I didn’t reach where I am today without questioning and scrutinizing everything around me. You know that. Isn’t that why you chose me as your successor all those years ago?”

Oak was silent for several long seconds.

“I chose you as the next Champion because you love Indigo,” he finally said.

They both knew Johto was the more correct word, but neither made a move to rectify the statement. Pryce had no idea what kind of face Oak was making. One filled with regret? Nostalgia?

Regardless, Oak went on. “I didn’t come here to argue with you, Pryce. Just…” He paused, sighing. “These are troubling times. Be careful with your words. Don’t make things worse by casting wild suspicions and sowing discord.”

Oak might have been afraid to say it, but Pryce was not.

“That there might be a traitor in our ranks? That we might have a whole country colluding with Indigo’s nemesis?” he said, and his lips pressed together into a thin line. “They’re real possibilities, frighteningly so, and I want everyone to be aware of them.”

“Did you have to say it so damningly, then, as if they were truths? And call out two of your fellow Gym Leaders?”

It was at this point that Pryce wondered how much information Agatha had fed Oak. Practically the entire meeting’s worth of conversation, if he had to guess.

“Like I said…” Pryce was the one to trail off this time, and he had to breathe in through his nose before continuing. Annoying as Oak could be sometimes, he was still someone he didn’t want to blow up at. “Someone has to keep thinking and consider all the possibilities. I simply made people aware of them.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be making enemies out of allies, Pryce,” Oak said softly.

There was a sense of urgency in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

“Listen, I will vouch for Surge and Arin. Surge did a lot to help us in the Rocket War. He might be a bit rough around the edges, but he’s a good soul. Arin hasn’t been around for long, but you know I have an eye for people. He’s a bright young man with a promising future ahead of him. I think he’s also proven himself already — multiple times if I might add — that he’s with Indigo. You fought alongside him today, didn’t you?”

“I did,” came Pryce’s clipped reply. Holy Ho-Oh, Agatha really did tell him everything.

“So didn’t you see for yourself he’s fighting for the country?”

“What if he’s just pretending?”

“Really now? He also seems to have a credible reputation with the Galovea governments.”

“We don’t even know if those countries are trustworthy!”

“And the most damning evidence of all, let’s not forget the psychic check. My Alakazam handled that himself even. Can you refute that?”

“…”

Oak’s eyes gleamed, almost as if he knew he had Pryce cornered.

“What merit is there in pointing fingers at the innocent a second time—”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

The sudden bellow from Pryce made his guest falter. So much for not yelling at his former mentor.

“I don’t know, Samuel! We don’t know anything!” he shouted. He finally swung his head around to glare at Oak. “Everything and everyone is suspicious! Every time it seems like we’re a step closer to ending this all, something else crops up! Can you blame me if I think there’s something wrong? For grasping at whatever I can and trying to make sense of this all?!”

He was panting by the end of his tirade. Infuriatingly enough, Oak just stared back at him calmly.

“I won’t say it’s bad to consider any and all possibilities,” Oak began in a patient voice, “but there’s a difference between thinking and overthinking. Take a step back. Clear your head. I know how frustrating the situation is, but that doesn’t mean you should be grasping at straws. If you keep this up, you’re practically allowing Team Rocket to make a fool out of you for free.”

That stung Pryce more than he cared to admit, but he didn’t show it.

“Just… think about it, Pryce. Think about everything I said. I know I’ve overstepped way over my bounds with this whole conversation seeing as I’m no longer at the forefront of things, but I care about Indigo as much as you do. I’d rather see our country’s leadership unified instead of fractured.”

Oak paused. A single shaky breath filled the air.

“Agatha and I are worried about you. You’ve got to stop being your own worst enemy.”

Pryce closed his eyes. He was silent for a long, long time. The next words that finally left his lips were quiet and yet so immensely loud.

“Leave.”

He didn’t have to say it twice.

Oak wordlessly got up and left the house. What did he say again? That he hadn’t come here to argue? Well, he’d certainly had his fill of lecturing disguised as concern at least. He’d always been disgustingly good at that.

Pryce was still stewing in his thoughts long after Oak left.

The psychic check. No, of course he hadn’t forgotten that. He didn’t doubt Oak. By extension, he didn’t doubt the man’s Pokemon either. Oak’s Alakazam had greatly aged, but its psychic skills had not rusted in the slightest. There was no way it would have missed any mental tricks from other psychics like hiding memories or emotions.

But what if it had?

What if there was a human or Pokemon psychic out there whose skills exceeded Oak’s Alakazam? Pryce had been satisfied at the first meeting, but it was a possibility he’d started to entertain as of today and why he’d gone ahead and accused people.

The discovery of drugged Pokemon was the leading reason. Maybe there was a Psychic type out there whose abilities had been enhanced, and they had allowed Arin, Surge, or any other Gym Leader to pass the test—

There’s a difference between thinking and overthinking.

Pryce clenched his jaw. Oak’s words were getting to him. Was he overthinking? Filling his own head with senseless scenarios?

He went over his conversation with Oak, replayed the memories of today and the Rocket War all over again, and then re-evaluated what he knew of Surge and Arin from firsthand interactions. Surge was as devoted and as military as they got, and Arin… well, begrudgingly, Pryce had to admit the young man had done good work today. Pryce hadn’t had to yell at him for doing something stupid on the battlefield.

And… Arin had Oak’s vote of confidence. Lance’s, too, if the previous meeting was anything to go by. Pryce tapped a finger against his arm in a rhythmic motion.

Seconds rolled by. He continued thinking.

It was then Pryce idly realized that well over five minutes had passed, but he didn’t even have the energy to scoff out loud.

More of Oak’s words echoed in his head.

Team Rocket is not to be taken lightly. You can’t take them on by yourself.

Damn Oak, always trying to get in his head and infect him with his ideals…

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Oak was back home in Pallet Town, but his mind was still miles away with Pryce.

There was so much more he’d wanted to say to his old friend and former pupil, but he’d held it in. If he’d pushed too far, more harm than good would have been accomplished. Pryce would never admit it, but Oak knew. Some of his true feelings had leaked out during their conversation.

Pryce was as terrified as the rest of them.

He could pretend to be bitter and foul-tempered, but it didn’t fool Oak. It was that carefully hidden fear that was further diluting any common sense the man might have had. He cared too much about the country and keeping it safe that he was letting it blind his vision and very being.

Oak could only sigh to himself. Since when had Pryce changed so greatly?

There was only so much he could do to try and nudge Pryce back in the right direction… to maybe see a glimpse of his former self someday. It certainly wasn’t going to happen overnight. Maybe it would never happen. Maybe Pryce was too far gone, but Oak had always been a hopeful person.

“Get it together, Pryce,” Oak muttered to himself as he rubbed his temples. “Agatha was right. We need the Prodigy from Mahogany Town, not a cynic who never fails to see the bad in people.”

The new developments with Team Rocket were troubling him as well. Oak was half-considering whether or not to ask Lance if he could be accepted as an advisor, but he ultimately shook his head.

They’d come to him if they really needed help. And with old veterans like Agatha and Blaine around, they’d be fine.

He hoped so.

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Present day.

I woke up the next day surprisingly not feeling like shit.

Part of it was because I’d had enough time to dwell on and then get rid of bad thoughts before falling asleep, but the rest of it was thanks to my Pokemon. Sometime during the night, a collection of them had sneaked in through the balcony and squeezed themselves onto my bed.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

That was how I woke up under a mountain of fluff and dog fur. It was obvious they were worried about me, and I clumsily patted their heads as I tried — and failed — rolling out of bed.

They asked who they should beat up, and I snorted.

“No beating up anyone.”

A collection of groans rang out as I finally extracted myself from their cuddly clutches. I heard cheerful talk of violence and bashing in the head of a certain old codger as I left my room, and I shook my head fondly.

Typical Fairies.

Once I’d gotten changed, I crept downstairs. The TV was playing loudly in the living room.

“—resulted in three deaths. The Indigo League advises utmost caution. If you come across any Pokemon in the wild exhibiting red eyes or unnatural symptoms, please get to safety and contact your local authorities immediately,” a woman’s voice said. Her voice grew louder with every step I took. “Now, onto protests at the Indigo Plateau. There are rising concerns about Team Rocket as well as people clamoring for justice for the minor—”

It appeared the League had finally broken the news to the public.

I’d barely made it around the corner when dad intercepted me. He appeared so suddenly in front of my face that I almost flinched from the surprise. We stared at each other without saying anything as the news droned on in the background.

“Tea?” Dad eventually asked.

He obviously wanted to talk about something. The instant I nodded, dad headed towards the kitchen. I followed him without a word. I could tell he wanted to chat right away, but he sat me down in a seat and got started on making drinks instead. Our family Chansey helped him.

Minutes later, he sat down with me at the kitchen table. Two cups of steaming tea went untouched for the time being. A soothing scent drifted upwards from them. Lavender.

I spoke first with the intention of reassuring dad. “Sorry if I was a bit… off yesterday. I just needed some time alone.”

“Of course,” Dad was quick to say, and he waved a hand through the air. “I understand now it was because of a Rocket operation. I’m glad you’re looking better today.”

He got it half-right. The meeting had played a part as well. Regardless, my lips curved upwards into the faintest smile. “Thanks.”

Dad reached up with a hand and idly traced the rim of his teacup, eyes wandering across the porcelain surface.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly. “Anything. The… deaths of those soldiers for example.”

I was silent as I picked up my cup of tea and blew on it.

Yesterday was not my first time coming across death. During my travels across the world, I’d seen people and Pokemon alike pass away. I’d seen wild Pokemon die from wounds sustained from territorial fights. I’d seen people die of old age like Poppy’s predecessor, a former Paldea Elite Four. I’d even seen people die from conflicts, some of which I’d had a hand in quelling.

Death was a natural part of life. It was not something that could be avoided, and it was not always easy to bear witness to or talk about. Dad understood that. He was concerned about my mental health. We were still learning about each other and the people we had become after ten years apart, so he didn’t fully know the kinds of life experiences I’d had yet.

I still vastly appreciated that he was looking out for me.

“I’m good,” I told him, and I made sure to look him in the eyes when I said that. “You don’t need to worry about me falling apart because of that. I didn’t take up the mantle of being Gym Leader without understanding there wasn’t always going to be peaceful times. But if it ever becomes too much… if I ever need to get something off my chest… I’ll come to you. I promise.”

Something shifted in dad’s demeanor. His shoulders drooped a bit with relief, and he wrapped both hands around his cup to warm them.

“Okay,” he said softly. He repeated it once more. “Okay. I’ll be here if you ever want to talk about anything, anything at all. I mean it.”

We left that particular conversation there and smiled into our teacups.

I couldn’t talk to dad about the details of the operation or the meeting since he wasn’t a Gym Leader anymore. We talked about other things, though, like how the gym Pokemon were doing or any plans I had in mind for the summer. I felt myself relaxing the more we talked.

Even in the midst of such troubling times, simple moments like these gave comfort and grounded me.

The rest of the morning passed peacefully. I was in a significantly better mood when I went out to the backyard to exercise and conduct morning training. My gym trainers gradually dropped by. Even Kari and Yulian showed up, and they all asked me how I was doing.

First dad, now my gym staff. I was touched by everyone’s concern.

“I’m fine,” I promised them, making sure to keep my tone lighthearted. “Just had a lot to think about.”

I didn’t want to worry them too much, so I left it at that. I was their employer, the Gym Leader of the Cherrygrove Gym, and also the person the locals looked up to keep our city safe.

There was no room for weakness, only unwavering determination.

I also told everyone to gather for a weekly meeting on the Gym’s second floor once we were done with morning training. I couldn’t sit around doing nothing while I waited for Lance to call everyone back for round two of discussion. I’d installed a warp tile in our backyard that connected with the staff break room, so it was a smooth trip to the Gym. Dad came with us. He was practically official gym staff at this point.

Everyone took their seats and eyed me with careful, almost nervous gazes. I remained standing at the front of the room with a serious expression.

“You’ve all heard the news by now,” I said, delving right into the meeting. My gaze hardened as I replayed the events of yesterday. “Team Rocket has drugged Pokemon in their possession.”

More than a few people tensed at that, but I kept going in a calm voice.

“We might not know how many they have, but they exist, and they’re stronger than you’d expect. There haven’t been any Rocket sightings around Cherrygrove so far, but I need you all to be aware of these drugged Pokemon from now on. If you think you’re outmatched…”

I trailed off to sweep my gaze over everyone. In particular, my eyes rested briefly on my most inexperienced gym trainers, Souta and Haru. The others were at a level where they could handle or at the very least hold off said Pokemon until backup arrived, but it was out of the question for those two.

“Then retreat immediately,” I finished. “Get me, my dad, or any other backup like the LDF in town. Everyone understand?”

I got a wave of uneasy looks and nods in return.

“Good. I’m thinking of doing weekly group training sessions on top of any private lessons from now on,” I told them, and I almost smiled when I saw people perk up. “I want everyone to not just be at their best but continuously grow. Sound good?”

A more enthusiastic round of nods came this time, and I finally dropped my serious expression.

“That’s the end of serious talk. Let’s talk about something happier. How are your Pokemon Eggs doing?”

Much to my amusement, everyone fished out their Egg incubators from bags they’d been carrying around and carefully placed them on the table. Any nervous expressions morphed into more joyous ones with the shift in topics.

“I swear I saw mine moving the other day!” Yurie declared in a giddy voice. She rubbed one hand against the glass surface of her incubator while Hazel shot her a disbelieving look.

“You sure about that?” he asked with a raised brow. “I looked up how long it takes for a Mime Jr. Egg to hatch last time. Should be another week and a half for you.”

Yurie rolled her eyes, huffing. “Please. I know what I saw, Haze. I’m not gonna listen to research about average egg hatching cycles.”

“I’m just saying that… hraaa…”

Hazel broke off mid-sentence to yawn widely.

“Are you staying up to look after your Egg or something?” Yurie laughed.

“No, I go to sleep early every night unlike a certain someone.”

“You— ugh, I’m not gonna get into this. Stop yawning then. This is like the fifth time today already.”

“I can’t help it! No idea why I’m so tired.”

We all watched them squabble with amused expressions. I turned to the others. Souta and Haru were more than happy to update me with their progress.

“I clean the incubator every day,” Souta informed me. He looked like a proud student trying to get praise from their professor.

“Me too!” Haru chimed in, and he was nearly bouncing up and down in his seat from excitement. “I haven’t seen mine move yet, but I keep talking to the Egg—”

“Same! I’ve been talking to my Egg like you said, Arin—”

“—and it makes me wonder how much the Pokemon is consciously hearing—”

Their overlapping voices ended up asking the same question at the same time.

“Do you think it’ll hatch soon?”

I refrained from chuckling as I looked at their shining eyes and balled fists. Raising Pokemon Eggs and seeing them hatch was always a memorable experience, especially for young trainers.

“I’m sure they will,” I replied. “Keep talking to the Eggs. Who knows, your excitement might rub off on them.”

The boys both beamed at my answer and resumed chatting with each other excitedly. I liked seeing them like this rather than how gloomy they’d been moments ago. I turned now to Murata with an expectant gaze. Even the older man looked as excited as everyone else.

“I don’t know who’s more excited for this Egg to hatch: me, my Pokemon, or my daughters,” Murata confessed with a laugh. “All I know is that I’m looking forward to hatching day.”

I joined him in his carefree laughter. For a few minutes, I was content to simply watch and let everyone chat happily with each other about their Eggs. Eventually, I clapped my hands together to get their attention again.

“I’m glad everyone is doing well with their Eggs,” I said with a smile. I knew Luca was doing well with his, too. He never failed to send me updates and pictures every day, and he asked basically every question under the sun regarding Egg care. I cleared my throat. “We’ll hopefully be getting a few new gym trainers soon. I’ve opened up applications again and am going to start interviewing people.”

“Ooh…”

Murmurs of appreciation arose in the audience. New staff was always exciting, and it would help lessen the workload around the Gym in the future.

I turned now to Kari and Yulian with a questioning gaze. “Right now it’s just you two managing public relations. Do you need any help? I was thinking about hiring another member.”

Kari and her brother shared a glance. Then Kari’s hand shot energetically into the air.

“Yulian and I were actually talking about that the other day,” she mentioned with a smile. “But, um, instead of opening up applications… we’d like to recommend someone instead.”

My brows rose a bit.

“Who?”

Kari whipped out her smartphone and tapped rapidly a few times. Eventually, she held the device out to me and showed what was on the screen. Now my brows flew up to my hairline.

I’d literally just been thinking about this person.

“We’d like to recommend Tuff Tuff King as a candidate. I’m not sure if you know him, but he’s a popular social media influencer. He’s also a major fan of the Cherrygrove Gym and a new resident here. He’s posted a lot — and I mean a lot — of videos about us and the city. He even came to the grand opening and advertised it on a livestream. We got so many new followers because of that…” Kari rambled on cheerfully, but I was only half-listening.

My eyes were glued to Kari’s phone. She was scrolling through a gallery of videos, photos, and notes she’d put together. She hadn’t been kidding when she said Luca had been busy making Cherrygrove-related content. I almost whistled out loud when I saw how many views his videos were getting.

I snapped back to attention as Kari wrapped up her long-winded talk.

“Anyway, we thought he’d fit really well on our team. Between me and Yulian managing our online platforms and Tuff Tuff King handling the marketing side of things, we’d be unstoppable,” she paused, smiling bashfully. “Of course, you have the final say. And we don’t even know if he’d be interested in the job when he’s working full-time as a content creator already…”

Somehow, I had the feeling he would probably jump for joy if I offered him a job at the Gym. I still remembered how excited he was at our initial meeting in that grocery store. It wasn’t like I was against hiring him either. He was friendly and clearly appreciated the Gym.

Kari and Yulian had also put a lot of thought into this proposal.

“I’ll reach out to him,” I promised. “I actually met him before. He’d be a good fit with our crew.”

Kari’s eyes lit up. “Wait, really?! Awesome!”

I could tell she wanted to ask more about the circumstances regarding my acquaintanceship with Tuff Tuff King, but that would have to be for another time. We were still in the middle of a meeting. My eyes flickered over to Neil.

“The protestors?” I asked.

It wasn’t just Neil. He and everyone else in the room cringed at the mention of the protestors who’d been lingering around the Gym the last few days.

“I think they finally switched targets. Didn’t see any of ‘em today,” Neil said with no small amount of relief. “I’m guessing they’re probably at the Plateau to lobby for change.”

Now that I thought about it… I’d heard something about that on the TV in the living room, the tail end of it at least. I wondered how Lance and the League were holding up. They had to deal with not just public opinion regarding Team Rocket extermination efforts but complaints from supporters of minor gyms now.

I wasn’t necessarily unsympathetic to their plight. It was tough seeing an institution you supported not get the love or justice it deserved, and I was speaking from experience. The Cherrygrove Gym used to be a minor gym, too, after all. It had always frustrated me how little support we got from the League compared to the major gyms. Johto was the worst place for a minor gym on top of everything. So much emphasis was placed on history and tradition here.

At least compared to ten years ago, things had changed a bit with the flow of time. There was a new generation of young trainers who didn’t care as much about said traditions, a rise in technology and the way we communicated with each other and the world… Johto was changing.

I didn’t know too much about Kanto, but I did know tradition mattered much less there. There were always a few different minor gyms depending on the generation. Right now, Kanto had three if I remembered correctly. The problem over there wasn’t so much tradition as it was with their minor gyms themselves.

To put it simply, they were not as skilled as the major gyms.

After the protestors came by for the first time the other day, I’d looked up information online about the Kanto minor gyms. I came across hundreds of complaints from trainers all agreeing that their experiences at said gyms weren’t very challenging. Sure, people wanted to win and get badges for the yearly Conference, but the best and most serious trainers also wanted to get something else out of their visits: growth.

And sadly, the Kanto minor gyms were currently not doing a good job of giving trainers what they wanted.

Therefore, I could only sympathize with the protestors to a certain extent. Perhaps the promotion exam the League administered was more than a little difficult and unclear, but it was also on the minor gyms and leaders themselves to prove they had the strength.

Admittedly, I was a little interested in meeting said minor gym leaders. It was not because of any political reasons like the protestors had spoken of, but because I simply believed having more major gyms in Indigo would be beneficial both for safety and for educating future generations of trainers. I was already kicking up a storm of change in Johto with Fairies. Why not kick the Beedrill’s nest a second time and help usher about more changes?

That was something I was going to have to address when I had more downtime. At any rate, the protestors were seemingly gone. One issue was taken care of. As for the next one…

My smile took on a playfully evil edge as I looked around the room.

“Right. Hopefully they don’t come back,” I said, and I drummed my fingers against my leg. “By the way… have you all been making steady progress with the notes, reference packets, and books I handed out?”

I received a mixed bag of reactions, everything from energetic yeses from the more studious fellows like Souta or Hazel to terrified expressions from the less academically inclined like Yurie.

I almost snorted out loud with laughter.

“It’s fine. The summer’s just begun. We’ve still got time before we need to really buckle down on preparations for the next League Circuit,” I told them. More than a few sighs of relief echoed in the room because of my words.

The reading materials I’d mentioned all had information about my gym challenge. Everyone needed a sufficient understanding of the gym challenge and how it would work first. Then, we could actually start practicing said gym challenge over the summer and finesse it during trial runs.

I was looking forward to it.

“Alright, that’s all I wanted to talk about for now. Let’s get to work.”

Everyone dutifully shuffled out of the room. Ever since the Cherrygrove Gym became fully operational, we’d settled ourselves into proper working routines. Dad, Murata, and Souta left to go patrol the town since it was their turn. The others either patrolled the building itself or went to go do the homework I’d assigned.

I headed straight for my office, plopped myself down at my desk, and started another day of work. Lance still hadn’t messaged me or the other Gym Leaders yet.

The annual gym audit was coming up. I’d already set aside neat piles of documents for said inspection which included everything from financial records to health records and more. Speaking of which, I needed to add updated papers to the collection soon. Some of the gym Pokemon had recently evolved, so a trip to the local Pokemon Center was due. There, they would update existing health records and make sure there weren’t any problems with the Pokemon post-evolution.

The Cherrygrove Gym had a few in-house medical staff I’d hired to help look over all our Pokemon, but their credentials wouldn’t cut it for the audit. They needed official documentation specifically from a League-affiliated medical institution… in other words, a Pokemon Center. Most cities or towns had anywhere from one to three depending on their size. Cherrygrove had two.

I made a note to visit the Center before the day was up. Next, I pored through the applications portal on the Cherrygrove Gym’s website. Maybe it was because people actually knew what the Gym looked like now, or the fact that I was able to advertise staff lodgings this time around with pictures, but there were a ton of interested applicants. Ideally, I’d be hiring at least two new gym trainers soon.

For the next hour, I went through resumes. My speed this time was a lot faster than the first round of hiring I’d done. Most forms went straight into the rejected pile, but there were a few I was interested in and sent out interview requests for.

One of them was a person I’d already been expecting to get an application from: Fantina’s mystery former apprentice. Sure enough, he had a letter of recommendation from said Gym Leader and an impressive number of accomplishments to boot. It wasn’t often you saw people who were capable of pursuing careers as both Trainers and Coordinators, so I was looking forward to meeting him in person.

There was one other person that caught— no… demanded my attention the moment I looked at their resume. Out of everyone who’d ever applied to be a gym trainer for me, both in the last hiring round and the current one, this individual was the strongest.

In fact, it was to the point where I wondered why they’d even applied for this position. Their time was probably better spent elsewhere. Were they being genuine? Did they just want to grab my attention somehow and ensure a meeting to talk about some other purpose? I didn’t know. I could only hazard guesses.

Still, I was intrigued enough that I sent them an interview request. I even stopped looking through applications to further research this person online. Eventually, I found myself studying recordings of their past battles. They weren’t half bad.

I was in the middle of watching an intense battle when my phone rang. I immediately paused the video and held my wrist up. Lo and behold, it was Lance. He was calling for another meeting at the League HQ, and this time, he had more news.

Interpol officers had arrived.

I breathed in and out first before moving. I was not going to walk in or out of that meeting without a clear head. When I was ready, I collected my Pokemon first before Teleporting to the Plateau. Whether it was intentional or not, we were using the meeting room from the day before.

About half of us were gathered at this point, and that included the Indigo Elite Four. Lance wasn’t in the room yet. My eyes spotted Bugsy and Whitney hanging around together in the corner, and I moved towards them almost without thinking.

Dad had checked up on my mental health this morning. I felt like I needed to do the same for the younger Gym Leaders. I had seen Jasmine talking to them in a quiet voice yesterday, but I still wanted to make sure they were okay.

“Hey,” I called softly. Both teenagers raised their heads at the sound. They didn’t look distressed, but they weren’t smiling either. “How are you guys doing?”

Whitney caught onto my intentions right away if the way her eyes lit up meant anything. She gave a small reassuring smile, and I was glad to see it didn’t look forced.

“Okay,” she said honestly. “Better than bad at least. I spent time with my family yesterday.”

“I’m okay, too,” Bugsy followed up in a soft voice. He scuffed one foot against the ground as he took a deep breath. “I-I won’t be scared.”

His voice trembled, but his eyes were resolute. I stuffed my hands into my pockets with a small smile of my own. It looked like I didn’t need to worry about these two after all. Bugsy and Whitney were strong. Hopefully the other young Gym Leaders from Kanto were doing okay as well.

We chatted in quiet voices while we waited. The other Johto Gym Leaders joined our group as they arrived. I would have kept talking with them, too, if someone didn’t suddenly clap me on the shoulder and pull me aside in a single movement.

“Surge,” I uttered. I stared up at the absolute giant of a man and tried not to feel confused. We’d hardly talked to each other before.

“‘Morning,” he grunted, and he fixed narrowed eyes on me. “Just wanted to see how you’re holding up. You’re not letting that asshole’s senile ramblings get to you, right?”

I understood right away he was talking about Pryce, but I was more surprised that he actually felt worried about me. I must have shown it on my face because Surge barked out a laugh.

“Wipe that surprise off your face,” he chortled out. “We’re all allies here. Ain’t nothing wrong with checking up on a fellow Gym Leader, much less someone who was unfairly blamed like I was.”

Huh. Surge was… a lot friendlier than his appearance or manner of speaking suggested.

“Thanks,” I finally said, hoping I didn’t sound too awkward. “I’m fine. Slept off most of the anger.”

Surge nodded approvingly. “Good. I’m still mad as hell myself if I’m gonna be honest, but we have to focus on wiping out the Rockets. No time for stupid drama.”

“Exactly.”

“You using those weights I gifted you, by the way? Gotta keep yourself in shape.”

“Uh… I’ve been too busy to get in the training room lately. I do morning exercise at least?”

“Not good enough. You don’t want to get screwed over by Rockets if you find yourself in an up and personal fight…”

That was how I ended up talking to Surge of all people for a bit. I felt less intimidated by him the more we talked. He certainly tended to scowl a lot, and he was blunt, but he was a genuinely nice person.

Almost everyone was in the room now. We were just missing Lance, Blaine, and…

“Where is that asshole anyway? He’s usually one of the earliest ones— ah, speak of the devil…” Surge broke off, and his eyes went to the other side of the room.

I followed his gaze. Sure enough, Pryce had popped into this plane of existence. He looked as cold and arrogant as ever, walking with brisk and decisive strides…

…straight towards me and Surge.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Surge tense in place next to me. I also remotely registered that the room had fallen completely silent. Everyone had noticed Pryce’s appearance, and everyone definitely noticed his destination. We were all waiting for this impending disaster.

I tightened my jaw as I stared at the incoming menace. He wasn’t seriously about to start up the nonsense from yesterday again, right?

Pryce eventually stopped in front of us. Even though Surge was so much taller than him, he kept his head raised with an almost regal gaze. He opened his mouth, and I prepared myself for scathing insults—

“I apologize.”

Instead, an Arceus damned apology fell from his lips. Torn, really, if the almost iron-tight grip on his cane was anything to go by. I stared at him with a neutral expression, but internally, I was so very confused by this turn of events. So was everyone else. The already quiet room felt like it’d been smothered by an additional blanket of heavy silence.

Pryce Yanagi of all people apologizing? The world must have been on the verge of collapse.

“I’m sorry, could you say that again?” Surge asked in a low voice, and he leaned forward with lips drawn back in the beginnings of a snarl. “Don’t think I heard you right.”

“I apologize,” Pryce repeated. Each word was drawn out and enunciated slowly even though he was clearly aware of what Surge was up to. Dark eyes cast their frigid gaze on us as Pryce continued. “I was out of line last night by making wild accusations.”

And that was it. He didn’t say anything else and snapped his mouth shut. He’d said everything in an icy tone, but he hadn’t looked away from us while apologizing. I couldn’t tell if the apology was truly genuine or not. What had precipitated this… apology… that, I had no idea about.

The fact remained that he’d actually said it, though, and straight to our faces in public with everyone watching. That seemed to indicate some degree of sincerity.

Did that mean I was going to smile, say thank you, and pretend like I wasn’t still pissed at him?

Hell no.

I settled for a curt nod as my answer. Surge, meanwhile, scoffed out loud and crossed his arms over his chest.

Pryce didn’t care. He’d apologized, we’d shown that we heard him and acknowledged his apology in albeit less than friendly manners, and that was apparently enough for him. The sound of his cane clacking against the floor filled the room as he walked over to the still empty meeting table and took a seat.

Sound returned back to the room as people conversed again in low voices, eyes darting between me, Surge, and Pryce. I shared a look with Surge before heading for the meeting table. I took a seat far away from Pryce, nearly opposite, and the rest of the Gym Leaders followed suit.

As I swept my gaze across the room and wondered where Lance was, I caught sight of Agatha standing by the wall with the Indigo Elite Four. She was staring at Pryce with a certain expression. It was hard to place what that emotion was. Triumph? Smugness? Whatever the case, she was smiling, and it was scary.

We didn’t have to wait long. Lance swept into the room moments after everyone took their seats, and he was not alone.

Blaine and three other individuals were with him. They were all dressed in the same dark uniform, and they had small shiny pins attached to their shirts. I recognized them.

Interpol.

Lance swept his gaze over us as he stopped in front of the meeting table. He did not sit down but remained standing. Blaine and the others stood dutifully at his sides.

“I know many of you probably weren’t expecting another meeting quite so soon, but we’ve got things to talk about,” Lance began. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “I trust we’ve all had enough time to rest and think? And that we’re ready for a more calm discussion today?”

There were some uneasy looks thrown around, but everyone nodded. I, for one, was in a better headspace today, and I planned on keeping it that way.

Lance inclined his head. “Good. We’ll begin immediately. Like I mentioned in the call, Interpol forces have finally arrived from the Galovea Continent. They will be assisting in any Rocket-related operations from now on. They’ve sent over thirty agents belonging to their upper ranks, but more will be dispatched as needed. These are their commanding officers who will be joining us in meetings from now on.”

With a swift extension of his arm, Lance gestured to the people in uniforms. One of them, a man with sharp eyebrows and dark hair, stepped up.

“Thank you, Champion Lance. It’s an honor to be here. I’m Agent Looker, a senior officer with Interpol,” the man politely introduced himself. I barely stopped my brows from raising.

I’d heard that name — or codename, really — before in the past. I’d only interacted with a few Interpol officers before while traveling, but they’d mostly been rank-and-file members in charge of minor cases. Most agents affiliated with Interpol usually stayed out of the public eye, but those who handled particularly high-profile cases typically became famous whether or not they wanted to.

Agent Looker was one of them. Geeta had even brought him up before a few times. Looker had tried sniffing around in Paldea before because of ‘suspicious’ incidents, basically Area Zero related incidents disguised as simpler cases of scientists trying to steal research. Geeta had immediately shut down any questioning from Interpol and shooed Looker away.

He definitely had a keen mind. I felt a little more reassured knowing Interpol had sent what was probably one of their best members to help.

“These are my associates, Echo and Mint,” Looker continued, and he gestured to a woman and man standing next to him.

The woman named Echo was short with a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, and the man named Mint was much bulkier and intimidating than his moniker implied.

“Both of them are Ability Holders. The three of us swear that we and the rest of our forces will do our best to help Indigo and resolve the crisis here.”

That statement caught a lot of attention. Everyone looked at the Interpol members with renewed interest. We only had four Ability Holders in Indigo including myself, and we’d suddenly increased our numbers by half.

No matter what their Abilities were, they would probably be useful going forward. I found it hard to believe Interpol would have dispatched useless agents to Indigo otherwise.

Done with introductions for the time being, Looker stepped back and folded his hands behind his back. Lance nodded his head at Blaine now.

“Next, we have an update from Blaine,” he said.

The Cinnabar Gym Leader stepped forward with a remote in hand. He clicked it, and suddenly all eyes were drawn to the images that had popped up on the back wall’s projector. There were two columns of them. One was full of grainy-ish images of Pokemon, and the other held crisper and more defined ones. They both showed the same thing: Pokemon that looked like they’d been experimented on.

“I’ve been working with the forensics team to uncover more about the drugged Pokemon,” Blaine began in a clinical tone, “and we’ve determined a few things. First, this is indeed an improved version of a drug they used in the Rocket War. I even compared it to an old vial to be sure.”

We all stared at him with incredulous looks, even Lance. I assumed Blaine hadn’t run that by him. He looked back at us with an indifferent expression as if he hadn’t just told us he had been holding onto a deadly drug from over a decade ago. Shouldn’t he have destroyed it after the scientists at that time studied everything about it…?

Only Agatha didn’t seem surprised. In fact, she looked bored as if this was something Blaine regularly did.

Said Cinnabar Gym Leader went on and ignored our stunned faces. “The last drug was called Red. Not very creative, but we had other things to worry about at the time than picking a name. For simplicity’s sake, let us refer to the new version as R2. I’d need more samples to conduct testing with to be sure, but this one seems to be twice as powerful.”

While I committed the coined name of the drug to memory, Blaine used his laser pointer to direct our attention back to the photos on the wall.

“Left side is fifteen years ago. Right side is yesterday and up until this very morning,” Blaine said brusquely. “Very similar physical symptoms, yes? In the Rocket War, the drug was highly unstable and caused Pokemon to explode after the drug finished running its course.”

My stomach churned a bit at that. In my peripheral vision, I saw the older Gym Leaders like Chuck or Giovanni grimace. They were probably dwelling on said memories from the war.

“Luckily or unluckily, the Rockets have managed to stabilize it somewhat. R2 stays in the system longer than its predecessor did. Pokemon injected with R2 also don’t explode, but they become useless afterwards,” Blaine went on. He shrugged his shoulders carelessly. “They don’t move or talk. They lose their will.”

One of the Waterflower sisters spoke up in a trembling voice. They voiced a question I’d just begun to form. “Can… can they be cured?”

Blaine was silent for several long seconds. I thought he was going to give the worst possible answer for a second, but…

“Perhaps,” he finally said. For some reason, he sounded a bit… emotional. “I would need more samples before I can say anything conclusive.”

That was better than nothing. Pokemon drugs weren’t anything new in the world, but it was despicable seeing the level the Rockets had reached with R2.

Blaine clicked his pointer again. All at once, the projector shut off, and the images disappeared. He turned to us with crossed arms and resumed his talk. His voice went back to its previous indifferent tone.

“Ice or cold temperatures slow down the drug, but it won’t stop these Pokemon,” he warned. “R2 forcibly increases their type energy reserves and muscles past their normal safe limits, and it’ll keep doing so until the Pokemon truly can’t take it anymore. We’re in the middle of a crisis, so don’t spare them if it takes too much time. Put them out of their misery if you have to. Like I said… I don’t know if I can make a cure for this drug.”

With those ominous words, Blaine finally walked over to the meeting table and sat down in one of the remaining empty seats. He put the laser pointer on the table with a heavy bang and then fell silent.

Lance cleared his throat. “Thank you, Blaine. We truly appreciate the help you’ve given the League. Onto the next matter… Unova. I’ll ask again: are we ready to have a more calm conversation today?”

As he said that, he eyed one person in particular: Pryce. The old man didn’t react, and neither did anyone else in the room. Satisfied, Lance continued.

“I’ve spoken to Champion Alder,” he revealed. “According to him, Unova is innocent. They have not noticed anyone sneaking past their borders or taking native Pokemon without authorization. I have chosen to believe him for the time being until we can find evidence — hard evidence, mind you — to suggest otherwise. The treaty will stay in place, and our alliance will go on.”

“Is that wise?” Falkner asked in about the most polite voice I’d ever heard from him.

Lance didn’t blink. “Before I open the floor to discussion, I will tell you what I think. While we do not know how Team Rocket acquired these Unova Pokemon, I am under the belief they acquired them for the sole purpose of misdirecting us. It is suspicious that we found out about these Pokemon right after the treaty was made, and I believe it’s to throw us off their scent and go after Unova instead.”

He held out his hands to us in a gesture that said he was done and that we were free to chime in. Erika spoke up first in a questioning voice.

“I can see the logic in that,” she admitted in a quiet voice, and she was careful to keep her tone respectful, “but I also find it hard to believe the Unova government didn’t catch wind of people getting past their borders. Shouldn’t they have noticed if someone was taking their Pokemon?”

I kind of agreed and kind of didn’t. Unova border security was absolutely no joke. Speaking as someone who had gone through a… interesting experience with their border patrol in the past, they took their jobs very seriously over there. They’d be on you faster than you could blink. I would even say they were tied with Paldea for how zealously they guarded their borders and local Pokemon populations. But…

“About that…” I began. All eyes turned to me as I continued talking.

Today, I was going to nip this Unova theory in the bud, or at least offer more reasons against it while everyone else was still keeping calm.

“The Unova border patrol is airtight, yes. But Basculin, Amoonguss, and Garbodor. These three species are all incredibly common Pokemon in Unova. Basculin is the most common Water type in Unova and can be found in essentially every river. It’s the equivalent of our Magikarp if that helps put things in perspective.”

“And Amoonguss propagate quickly. They’re invasive fungi on the level of Paras here in Kanto,” Surge tacked on before I could continue. I refrained from smiling. He saw where I was going with this conversation. “Garbodor are the filthy equivalent of Grimer. They form from excess amounts of garbage.”

“Exactly,” I nodded. “The point Surge and I are getting at is that these are all incredibly common Pokemon. I don’t know how, but maybe the Rockets sneaked past the border patrol and nabbed these Pokemon. The Unova government wouldn’t have noticed them going missing because of their sheer numbers in local ecosystems. It’s also possible Rockets could have easily swiped them farther out and away from Unova’s search radius.”

The comparisons between Unova and Kanto Pokemon helped more than I thought they would, or at least, that’s what I hoped. I saw people nodding their heads or others mulling over our words with thoughtful expressions.

Even better, Lance nodded his own head. “Alder did mention these Pokemon are very common in Unova,” he agreed. “I find your argument convincing.”

I silently shifted my head to stare across the table. Pryce had his eyes trained on his cane as he tapped a finger against it. His expressionless face gave no hint as to what he was thinking. Around us, other Gym Leaders gave their thoughts.

“I think we can put aside the matter of how Rockets got Unova Pokemon for now. We can only make wild guesses about that,” Morty pointed out. “This, at least, is something plausible backed up by known information.”

“So…” Bugsy piped up timidly, eyes darting back and forth across the table. “We can agree that the Rockets could have stolen Pokemon without Unova knowing, right…?”

“Yes.”

“I agree.”

A round of agreement rang out at the table. Some of the Gym Leaders still didn’t look convinced, but this was much better progress than yesterday. I opened my mouth to speak again, but someone beat me to it.

“If I might add my thoughts to the situation…” a male voice spoke up after clearing their throat. It was Looker. “My team and I are still being caught up on the history of Team Rocket from Champion Lance and the Indigo League, but… may I direct your attention to a certain point?”

Lance didn’t say anything. He merely nodded his head for Looker to go on.

“I understand there are suspicions about Unova being the backer of Team Rocket or colluding with them in some way,” Looker said, and he began pacing from one end of the room to the other. “We don’t have any hard evidence yet to deny or confirm these suspicions, but let’s look at this from the perspective of Unova. If they were colluding with the criminals…”

Looker paused in place.

“Then why would they out themselves by revealing Unovan Pokemon?”

Silence fell over the room. Looker started pacing again.

“They could have supplied the Rockets with Pokemon snatched from Hoenn, Sinnoh, or any region that wasn’t theirs. Instead, they gave the Rockets Pokemon native to their country. To put it simply, it doesn’t check out. Why would they leave a trace of their involvement? Why not stay hidden?” Looker asked.

“…He’s right,” someone new said. It was the young Gym Leader of the Pewter Gym, Brock. “I don’t think an affluent region’s government would be that stupid. It’s more likely that—”

“Unova is actually innocent, and the Rockets want us to suspect them,” Falkner finished for him. He’d closed his eyes and crossed his arms. It looked like he was deep in thought, and so did the others in the room.

I clenched a fist under the table. I was glad the tides seemed to be shifting in the favor of Unova, but that didn’t mean I was happy about the implications.

Looker wasn’t afraid to say them.

“I’ll be frank with the Indigo League,” he told us with a serious expression. “This organization of criminals — Team Rocket — might be more deeply rooted than we initially thought. The fact that they came up with a ploy like this, even if it failed, suggests some level of intelligence among their ranks. There’s also the fact that they obtained foreign Pokemon somehow.”

Looker took a deep breath.

“I believe we should start fresh.”

I looked at him with narrowed eyes while Lance raised a brow. He didn’t need to prompt Looker for the man to elaborate.

“I know I talked earlier about needing hard evidence to deny or confirm suspicions, but… I’d like to reiterate again that this organization is probably smarter and bigger than they seem,” Looker explained. “Up until now, you weren’t having issues with Team Rocket. Then yesterday, you suddenly came across drugged Pokemon and foreign species you’d never seen before.”

Looked paused. “I don’t want to say too much without further research into Team Rocket, but they’re hiding things.”

“…I think they are, too,” Lance finally relented.

“That’s why I think we should work from the ground up and erase any previous assumptions about the Rockets,” Looker said. “Whatever threat level you assessed them at before, move it up several ranks.”

He left it at that. Lance took over from there. It honestly looked like he was withholding a sigh as he swept his gaze over us.

“I think we should leave today’s meeting there. Our new Interpol allies need time to look into Team Rocket, and we also need to finish interrogating the grunts we captured yesterday. Sabrina?” Lance spoke.

Said woman nodded as she rose from her seat. She walked over to him as the rest of us got up.

“You as well, Arin. I’d like to speak with you,” Lance added. “Thank you for coming today, everyone. I’ll send out news and ask people to come in as necessary for Rocket operations.”

With that, the meeting was adjourned. It had ended on a much more positive note than the last had with a fruitful discussion. Everyone started Teleporting back home but not me. I wandered over to where Lance and the others were, and I followed them out the room into the hallway.

I wondered if Lance needed my opinion for something.

Sabrina and the Indigo Elite Four split up from us and made a turn at some point, but Lance beckoned me to follow him to his office. When we were finally inside said room, he closed the door and turned to face me with a tired yet serious expression. It was now I saw the dark circles under his eyes that had come from exhaustion.

“Arin,” he began, and I subconsciously straightened. His voice sounded grave. “We might have helped smooth over tensions in our ranks today regarding Unova, but the public’s still a bit agitated. You’re the representative we chose for the Kinjoh Area. I’m going to need you to go out and work with the Interpol in public sometimes to show the country we are unified and that this alliance is strong.”

I nodded instantly. Lance was trusting me to share some of his burdens.

“You can count on me,” I promised.

The man opposite me cracked a small smile.

“Thank you. Please keep an eye on Interpol, too, when I’m not directly there to supervise them,” he said. “It’s not that I distrust them, but this is our first time working with their organization. I just want to make sure they’re truly as politically neutral as they claim to be.”

I nodded again. “Just call me whenever you need help. And… no offense, Lance, but you look like you need sleep.”

This time, he laughed.

“I do, don’t I?”

----------------------------------------

“Should we have told them?” Echo asked.

She, Mint, and Looker were all still in the meeting room discussing how to split up tasks for the day among their limited Interpol forces in Indigo. Already, they were thinking about calling Headquarters and requesting more help.

This was looking to be an even bigger case than they could have imagined.

Looker saw the uneasy look on his associate’s face and tried not to grimace. He knew what she was talking about.

“No. It would only do more harm than good.”

“But I think we should still warn them—”

“Don’t let emotions get in the way of work,” Mint interrupted. Looker nodded.

“He’s right. I know it’s something hard to keep to ourselves, but we need to verify it first… or attempt to at least. When’s the next time you can check?”

Echo hesitated.

“Anytime, but if we want the results to be as accurate as possible… probably the summer solstice.”

“So a month from now?” Looker asked after mentally running through a calendar in his head.

“Yes.”

Looker sighed to himself.

“Okay. Okay. I just hope we can finish this case before we even have to look again.”

Because what they had seen was definitely ominous.