A/N

Shout out to ballandcup, for being the only consistent (and only) reviewer of the story. Hats off. Also this is a filler chapter, yes.

Bring Em Back Alive

"What do you mean, you didn't get Birch!?" She yelled at Kato. Kato stood at attention, ramrod straight. He yelled back at his superior officer

"Ma'am! We failed to retrieve Birch because he was being protected by Roxanne and three other trainers, ma'am!" Aqua Admin Shelly slowly shook her head in disappointment, and paced behind her desk. After a few seconds, she stopped pacing, and looked Kato square in the eyes.

"And… you mean to tell me that at least three of our operatives are dead or captured?" Kato didn't respond; he merely nodded, not wanting to show his fear by having cracks in his voice. Shelly walked from behind her desk to stand directly in front of Kato. Without warning, she unleashed a massive slap on his face. He staggered backwards, holding his face, an expression of shock on it.

"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL!" Shelly screamed at Kato. "YOU HAD ONE JOB! GET BIRCH! YOU ASSURED ME YOU HAD IT! ARGH!" She started to pace back and forth again. "Now Archie is going to kill me…" She muttered to herself. She stopped, and looked at Kato with a curious expression on her face.

"Sub-Commander Kato, I'm hereby promoting you to Mid-Commander. Effective immediately. Your new orders are this; report back to my office at 0700 hours tomorrow. Understand?" Kato snapped to attention, and barked his affirmation.

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Shelly nodded at him.

"Dismissed." Kato walked out of Shelly's office, thinking about what had just happened, a puzzled expression on his face. He was walking around the bustling secret Team Aqua base, in a cave just north of Rustboro, near the ocean. The cave was technically a part of Meteor Falls; however, Aqua had blocked off some entrances to make it all one large connected cave. At least 400 Team Aqua members were stationed there; it was the Aqua base responsible for the entire northwest of Hoenn. Consequently, it had a large responsibility.

"Hey Kato!" Kato looked around for the source of the voice, and quickly found it. It was his oldest friend and constant companion, Sub-Commander Dirk Gavin. A relieved smile washed over Kato's face; Gavin always knew how to make a day better in the often-dreary world of working for Team Aqua. "What's up? How did your meeting with Shelly go?"

"It was weird. I got slapped, then promoted to Mid-Commander. Effective immediately." Gavin threw his hands up in sarcasm.

"Watch out guys, looks like we have a Mid-Commander over here!" Kato chuckled at his joke.

"I have to report to her at 7 tomorrow morning. That'll be fun. I'm guessing she wants me to go try and get Birch again… sigh… Sometimes I hate this."

"Ahh, cheer up. Remember, it's for a good cause. That PokeNav that Birch has been developing with Devon Corp. will really speed up communication in Aqua. And we're not trying to kill him… just capture him." Kato nodded. He already knew this… and Team Aqua's goal was just… But it still felt wrong, somehow. Gavin noticed how his friend had a pensive look on his face.

"Ahh, cheer up! We'll be fine. Could be worse; could be raining."

Kato woke up at 6 AM to get ready to meet with Shelly. He was a bit nervous, which was expected. She was famous for her temper and strange mood swings. Most grunts attributed it to PMS, but… that was just an urban legend. Regardless, he had to see her. "This could be a chance to redeem myself." He thought to himself.

Kato had reached Shelly's door and was about to knock, before he froze. He had no idea what was about to happen… but he still had to do it anyway. He had to go through with this. He knocked on the door.

On the second knock, Shelly's voice sounded out sharply.

"Enter!" Kato quickly walked in and stood at attention in front of her desk.

"Mid-Commander Kato, reporting as ordered, Ma'am!"

"At ease, Kato. Here's my plan for you." Kato relaxed, and listened with rapt attention to her plan.

"Here's what's going to happen. You volunteered to get Birch after they got out of Petalburg Woods, but you royally fucked that up, so I'm going to let you get a second shot. That little op was low-key, but this next one I'm planning will be large in scale. It'll show everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, that Team Aqua is not to be fucked with. You with me so far?" Kato nodded his affirmation. "Good, because I'm letting you be in charge of this. If you fuck it up I don't want it to fall down on me. Understand?" Kato nodded, but inwardly he sighed. "That's the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose." He thought to himself.

"You're going to hand pick yourself an assault force. I have eyes in Rustboro and they're saying that Birch is holed up in Devon Corp. Headquarters, guarded by security and, on occasion, Rustboro Gym Members. From what my guy has seen, they have at least 15 guys on the OUTSIDE of the building at all times. Arceus knows exactly how many people are on the inside, but my guy says he's estimating between 20-30 every day, based on them coming and going. Questions?"

"Yes ma'am. How many people do you want me to take?" Shelly thought for a few moments.

"At least a dozen but less than 20 or so. I want to maximize strength without sacrificing mobility. You're going to hit that building hard and fast, and then get out hard and fast. 40 grunts would be too much. No, pick the best. Pick the guys who you know can do this without breaking a sweat. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then dismissed!" Kato turned around to leave, but before he could, Shelly said something else.

"Oh, and Kato?" They made eye contact. "Bring 'em back alive."